System and method

Abstract

To create an efficient visit plan.SOLUTION: A system for creating a visit plan comprises: a setting part for setting planning conditions including the number of days remaining until products run out, the number of vehicles available for transporting the products, and working hours of a person in charge of replenishment work of the products; a simulation part for simulating the replenishment work for visit destinations that need to replenish the products, based on the planning conditions to create a plurality of visit plans and calculate a remaining rate, a total travel distance, and a total operation time when the replenishment work is performed according to the visit plans; a calculation part for calculating a prescribed index value for each of the plurality of visit plans; and an output part for outputting a visit plan with a highest index value. The simulation part adds unexpected visit destinations to the visit destinations included in the output visit plan and then creates a new visit plan by newly simulating the replenishment work with the visit time to the added visit destinations as a constraint condition.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 2

Description

[Technical field]

[0001] The present invention relates to a system and method. [Background technology]

[0002] Product providers of liquefied petroleum (LP) gas cylinders, vending machines, etc. regularly or irregularly visit the installation sites to replenish products (LP gas, drinking water, etc.). This type of replenishment work is generally carried out by replenishment personnel who create a visiting plan in advance that specifies the installation sites to be visited and the order in which they will be visited, and follow this visiting plan.

[0003] Furthermore, because product shortages can lead to lost sales opportunities and the need for sudden replenishment, it is common to create visiting plans that give priority to locations with low product stock. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0004] [Patent Document 1] Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 10-3493 [Patent Document 2] JP 2008-293262 A Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0005] However, traditionally, visit plans were created based on the intuition and experience of the person creating them. This resulted in inefficient visit plans, for example, without considering the locations of the places to be visited (in other words, the distance between the places to be visited). In addition, resource conditions such as the number of vehicles to transport goods and the working hours of replenishment staff were not considered, and replenishment work was sometimes carried out with an excessive number of vehicles, or conversely, replenishment staff were overworked.

[0006] An embodiment of the present invention has been made in consideration of the above points, and has an object to create an efficient visiting plan. [Means for solving the problem]

[0007] In order to achieve the above object, a system according to one embodiment is a system for creating a visiting plan for replenishing products at at least some of a plurality of visiting destinations, the system including a setting unit that sets planning conditions including the number of days remaining until the products run out, the number of vehicles available for transporting the products, and the available working hours of a person in charge of replenishing the products, and a simulator that creates a plurality of visiting plans by simulating a replenishment operation for a visiting destination that requires the products to be replenished based on the planning conditions set by the setting unit, and calculates the remaining rate of the products, the total travel distance of the vehicles, and the total working hours of the person in charge of the replenishment operation when the replenishment operation is performed according to the visiting plan. a simulation unit that calculates a predetermined index value for each of the plurality of visiting plans created by the simulation unit from at least one of the remaining rate, the total travel distance, and the total operating time when the replenishment work is performed according to the visiting plan, and an output unit that outputs the visiting plan having the highest index value calculated by the calculation unit among the plurality of visiting plans, wherein the simulation unit adds a visiting destination where it becomes necessary to suddenly replenish the products to the visiting destinations included in the visiting plan output by the output unit, and creates a new visiting plan by newly simulating the replenishment work with a constraint on the visiting time to the added visiting destination. Effect of the Invention

[0008] You can create an efficient visiting plan. [Brief description of the drawings]

[0009] [Figure 1] 1 is a diagram illustrating an example of an overall configuration of a visiting schedule creation system according to a first embodiment. [Diagram 2]FIG. 11 is a diagram for explaining an example of creating a visiting schedule. [Diagram 3] 1 is a diagram illustrating an example of a hardware configuration of a visiting schedule creation device according to a first embodiment. [Figure 4] 1 is a diagram illustrating an example of a functional configuration of a visiting schedule creation device according to a first embodiment. [Diagram 5] FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an example of product management information. [Figure 6] 11 is a flowchart showing an example of the flow of a visiting schedule creation process according to the first embodiment. [Figure 7] FIG. 11 is a diagram for explaining an example of a case where a visiting schedule is re-created taking into account an unexpected visiting destination. [Figure 8] 13 is a flowchart showing an example of the flow of a visiting schedule creation process according to the second embodiment. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0010] Each embodiment of the present invention will be described below. Note that in each of the following embodiments, LP gas is assumed as a product, and a case where a visiting plan for refilling gas cylinders installed at various locations with LP gas will be described. However, this is only one example, and the present invention can be similarly applied to the case where a visiting plan for refilling, delivering, selling, repairing, etc., any product is created. Specifically, the present invention can be similarly applied to the case where a visiting plan for refilling products such as drinking water to vending machines installed at various locations, or a visiting plan for performing maintenance and repair of equipment such as printers installed at customer sites, etc. is created.

[0011] [First embodiment] In this embodiment, a visiting schedule creation system 1 is described that can create an efficient visiting schedule by taking into consideration the location of the place where the gas cylinder to be replenished with LP gas is installed (i.e., the visiting location), and resource conditions such as the number of vehicles required to transport the LP gas to the visiting location and the working hours of the person in charge of replenishment.

[0012] <Overall configuration of visit planning system 1> First, the overall configuration of a visiting schedule creating system 1 according to this embodiment will be described with reference to Fig. 1. Fig. 1 is a diagram showing an example of the overall configuration of a visiting schedule creating system 1 according to a first embodiment.

[0013] 1, the visiting schedule creation system 1 according to this embodiment includes a visiting schedule creation device 10, one or more user terminals 20, and a plurality of measuring instruments 30. The visiting schedule creation device 10 and each user terminal 20 are communicatively connected via an arbitrary communication network such as the Internet. Similarly, the visiting schedule creation device 10 and each measuring instrument 30 are communicatively connected via an arbitrary communication network.

[0014] The visiting schedule creation device 10 creates an optimal visiting schedule that satisfies the planning conditions, including the remaining number of available days, the number of vehicles, and the operating hours. Here, the remaining number of available days refers to the number of days remaining until the LP gas in the gas cylinder runs out, and gas cylinders that have less than or equal to this remaining number of available days are the target for refilling. The number of vehicles refers to the number of vehicles that can be used for transporting LP gas when refilling the gas cylinder to be refilled, for example, the number of vehicles owned by the LP gas vendor. The operating hours refers to the time during which a person (a person in charge of refilling) who refills the gas cylinder to be refilled is available to work, for example, working hours.

[0015] The user terminal 20 is a terminal (for example, a PC (personal computer), a smartphone, a tablet terminal, etc.) used by a person in charge of creating a visiting plan. The person in charge of creating a visiting plan can set plan conditions in the visiting plan creation device 10 using the user terminal 20. In addition, when a visiting plan is created by the visiting plan creation device 10, the visiting plan is displayed on the display of the user terminal 20.

[0016] The measuring device 30 is a device (e.g., a gas gauge) that measures the remaining amount of LP gas in a gas cylinder installed at each installation location. The measuring device 30 measures the remaining amount of LP gas in the gas cylinder to be measured at predetermined time intervals (e.g., once a day) and transmits the measurement result to the visiting schedule creation device 10 as remaining amount information. The remaining amount information includes, for example, gas cylinder identification information (hereinafter referred to as "product ID") and the remaining amount of LP gas in the gas cylinder. In this embodiment, it is assumed that gas cylinders are installed at multiple installation locations (e.g., installation location A representing the location of customer A's store, installation location B representing the location of customer B's store, etc.).

[0017] 1 is merely an example, and other configurations may be used. For example, a terminal used by a restocking staff member may be included in the visiting schedule creation system 1, and the visiting schedule created by the visiting schedule creation device 10 may be displayed on the display of this terminal. This allows the restocking staff member to check the visiting schedule.

[0018] Here, an overview of a method in which the visiting schedule creation device 10 according to this embodiment creates a visiting schedule will be described with reference to Fig. 2. Fig. 2 is a diagram for explaining an example of creating a visiting schedule.

[0019] The visiting schedule creation device 10 according to this embodiment executes a trial of "creating a visiting schedule by simulation based on planning conditions" multiple times while changing the planning conditions, and outputs the visiting schedule with the best index value among the multiple visiting schedules created in these trials. The example shown in FIG. 2 shows how four trials, trial 1 to trial 4, were performed to create visiting schedules 1 to 4, respectively. Note that all planning conditions used in each trial may be set from the user terminal 20, or only one or some planning conditions may be set from the user terminal 20, and the remaining planning conditions may be created by the visiting schedule creation device 10 changing the planning conditions set from the user terminal 20.

[0020] For example, in trial 1, remaining available days = 1 day, number of vehicles = 10, and operating hours = 9:00 to 17:00 are set as planning conditions 1, and a simulation based on this planning conditions 1 is performed to create visiting plan 1. At this time, in addition to visiting plan 1, the simulation also outputs the product remaining rate that indicates the percentage of the remaining amount of LP gas in the gas cylinder when products are replenished according to visiting plan 1 (i.e., (total remaining amount of all gas cylinders after product replenishment / total capacity of all gas cylinders) x 100), the total travel distance of the vehicles, and the total working hours of the replenishment staff. In the example shown in FIG. 2, when planning conditions 1 are created, the product remaining rate = 50%, total travel distance 500 km, and total working hours = 80 hours are output.

[0021] In this embodiment, for simplicity, the total operating time is calculated assuming that one replenishment worker uses one vehicle and performs the replenishment work alone, but for example, two people may use one vehicle and perform the replenishment work by themselves. In this case, the total operating time is twice as long as when the replenishment work is performed by one person. In addition, whether to perform the replenishment work by one person using one vehicle or by two people using one vehicle may be determined based on the experience of the replenishment worker, etc.

[0022] Here, the simulation refers to simulating a case where gas cylinders with remaining available days or less are to be replenished, and each replenishment staff performs replenishment work within working hours using a number of vehicles. Such a simulation can be realized, for example, by a known simulator that determines an optimal visit plan by solving an optimization problem such as a transportation route problem or a VRP (Vehicle Routing Problem) based on the installation positions of the gas cylinders to be replenished, the number of vehicles, and the working hours of the replenishment staff, and then simulates the replenishment work according to this visit plan.

[0023] Similarly, in trial 2, planning conditions 2 are set as remaining available days = 3 days, number of vehicles = 10, and operating hours = 9:00 to 17:00, and a simulation is performed based on these planning conditions 2 to create visiting plan 2. In addition to visiting plan 2, the simulation also outputs the product remaining rate, total travel distance, and total operating time when products are replenished according to visiting plan 2. In the example shown in FIG. 2, when planning conditions 2 are created, the product remaining rate = 70%, total travel distance = 650 km, and total operating time = 80 hours are output.

[0024] Similarly, in trial 3, remaining available days = 3 days, number of vehicles = 15, and operating hours = 9:00 to 17:00 are set as planning conditions 3, and a simulation based on this planning condition 3 is performed to create visiting plan 3. At this time, in addition to visiting plan 3, the simulation also outputs the product remaining rate, total travel distance, and total operating time when products are replenished according to visiting plan 3. In the example shown in FIG. 2, when planning condition 3 was created, the product remaining rate = 80%, total travel distance = 1,000 km, and total operating time = 80 hours are output.

[0025] Similarly, in trial 4, planning conditions 4 are set as remaining available days = 3 days, number of vehicles = 10, and operating hours = 8:00 to 20:00, and a simulation is performed based on this planning condition 4 to create visiting plan 4. In addition to visiting plan 4, the simulation also outputs the product remaining rate, total travel distance, and total operating time when products are replenished according to visiting plan 4. In the example shown in FIG. 2, when planning conditions 4 were created, the product remaining rate = 90%, total travel distance = 800 km, and total operating time = 120 hours are output.

[0026] Then, the visiting plan creation device 10 according to this embodiment selects the visiting plan that has the best index value determined by at least one of the product remaining rate, total travel distance, and total operating time from among the visiting plans created in each of these multiple trials, and outputs this visiting plan.

[0027] Generally, the higher the product remaining rate, the more likely it is that lost sales opportunities and unexpected replenishment work will be prevented. On the other hand, the shorter the total mileage, the more likely it is that operational costs such as gasoline will be reduced, and the shorter the total operating hours, the higher the operational efficiency will be, making it possible to reduce labor costs such as overtime pay. Thus, the index value can be determined in various ways, taking these factors into consideration.

[0028] For example, if you only consider the prevention of lost sales opportunities and unexpected replenishment work, you can use the visiting plan with the highest index value (index value = product remaining rate). In this case, in the example shown in Figure 2, visiting plan 4 will be adopted.

[0029] Alternatively, for example, by considering both the prevention of lost sales opportunities and unexpected replenishment work and business efficiency, the visiting plan with the highest index value (Index Value = Product Remaining Quantity Rate x (1 / Total Operation Time)) may be adopted. In this case, in the example shown in Figure 2, visiting plan 3 would be adopted.

[0030] Similarly, for example, the index value may be the product remaining rate × (1 / total distance traveled), or the product remaining rate × (1 / total operating time) × (1 / total distance traveled).In addition, for example, the scales of the product remaining rate, total operating time, and total distance traveled may be aligned, and the weighted sum thereof may be used as the index value.

[0031] Since the most important purpose of creating a visiting schedule is considered to be to prevent lost sales opportunities and the occurrence of unexpected replenishment work, it is preferable to determine the index value using at least the product remaining rate.

[0032] As a result, the visiting schedule creation device 10 of this embodiment is able to create an efficient visiting schedule by taking into consideration the locations where the gas cylinders to be replenished are installed (i.e., the locations of the places to be visited), the remaining LP gas rate in all gas cylinders, and various resource conditions (number of vehicles, working hours, etc.).

[0033] In this embodiment, since LP gas is assumed as the product, the product unit price is often constant, but there are also cases where the product unit price varies depending on the item being replenished. For example, when replenishing products in a vending machine, the product unit price may vary depending on the product being replenished. In such a case, in order to prioritize replenishing products with higher unit prices, the index value may be determined using the product remaining rate for each product unit price. Specifically, for example, there is product A with a unit price of a, product B with a unit price of b, and product C with a unit price of c, and the product remaining rate of product A is p A , the remaining stock rate of product B is p B , the remaining stock rate of product C is p C In this case, the weighted sum of the product remaining rate with the product unit price as the weight a × p A +b×p B +c×p C This makes it possible to create a visiting plan that takes into account the unit price of the product and prioritizes the replenishment of high-priced products, making it possible to prevent, for example, a drop in sales due to a shortage of high-priced products.

[0034] <Hardware Configuration of Visit Schedule Creation Device 10> Next, a hardware configuration of the visiting schedule creation device 10 according to the present embodiment will be described with reference to Fig. 3. Fig. 3 is a diagram showing an example of a hardware configuration of the visiting schedule creation device 10 according to the first embodiment.

[0035] 3, the visiting schedule creation device 10 according to this embodiment is realized by the hardware of a general computer or computer system, and has an input device 11, a display device 12, an external I / F 13, a communication I / F 14, a processor 15, and a memory device 16. Each of these hardware components is connected to each other via a bus 17 so as to be able to communicate with each other.

[0036] The input device 11 is, for example, a keyboard, a mouse, a touch panel, etc. The display device 12 is, for example, a display, etc. The visiting schedule creation device 10 does not necessarily have to have at least one of the input device 11 and the display device 12.

[0037] The external I / F 13 is an interface with an external device such as a recording medium 13a. Examples of the recording medium 13a include a CD (Compact Disc), a DVD (Digital Versatile Disk), an SD memory card (Secure Digital memory card), and a USB (Universal Serial Bus) memory card.

[0038] The communication I / F 14 is an interface for connecting the visiting schedule creation device 10 to a communication network. The processor 15 is, for example, various arithmetic devices such as a CPU (Central Processing Unit). The memory device 16 is, for example, various storage devices such as a HDD (Hard Disk Drive), an SSD (Solid State Drive), a RAM (Random Access Memory), a ROM (Read Only Memory), and a flash memory.

[0039] The visiting schedule creation device 10 according to this embodiment has the hardware configuration shown in Fig. 3 and is therefore capable of implementing the visiting schedule creation process described below. Note that the hardware configuration shown in Fig. 3 is merely an example, and the visiting schedule creation device 10 may have other hardware configurations. For example, the visiting schedule creation device 10 may have multiple processors 15 and multiple memory devices 16.

[0040] <Functional configuration of the visiting schedule creation device 10> Next, the functional configuration of the visiting schedule creation device 10 according to this embodiment will be described with reference to Fig. 4. Fig. 4 is a diagram showing an example of the functional configuration of the visiting schedule creation device 10 according to the first embodiment.

[0041] 4, the visiting schedule creation device 10 according to this embodiment includes a product management unit 101, a condition setting unit 102, a simulation unit 103, an index value calculation unit 104, an end determination unit 105, a plan specification unit 106, and a plan presentation unit 107. Each of these units is realized by processing executed by a processor 15 of one or more programs installed in the visiting schedule creation device 10.

[0042] Moreover, the visiting schedule creation device 10 according to this embodiment has a product management information storage unit 108. The storage unit can be realized, for example, by the memory device 16. Note that the storage unit may also be realized by a storage device (for example, a database server, etc.) connected to the visiting schedule creation device 10 via a communication network.

[0043] The product management unit 101 receives remaining amount information from each measuring device 30, and updates the remaining amount and remaining number of days in the product management information stored in the product management information storage unit 108 using the product ID and remaining amount included in the remaining amount information. An example of the product management information stored in the product management information storage unit 108 is shown in FIG. 5. As shown in FIG. 5, the product management information includes the product ID, the installation location of the gas cylinder with that product ID, the name of the customer who uses that gas cylinder, the remaining amount in that gas cylinder, and the number of days remaining until the LP gas in that gas cylinder runs out.

[0044] At this time, the product management unit 101 predicts the remaining number of days from the remaining amount included in the remaining amount information received from the measuring device 30, and updates the remaining amount and remaining number of days of the product management information corresponding to the product ID included in the remaining amount information with this remaining amount and remaining number of days. As a result, the remaining amount and remaining number of days included in each product management information are updated to the latest values ​​at predetermined time intervals.

[0045] The remaining number of days can be calculated by, for example, the remaining amount divided by the average gas usage per day. In this case, the average gas usage per day may be calculated in advance for each customer, may be calculated in advance for each business type or business condition of the customer, or may be calculated in advance uniformly for all customers.

[0046] The condition setting unit 102 sets the plan conditions transmitted from the user terminal 20 as conditions to be used in a simulation by the simulation unit 103 .

[0047] The simulation unit 103 performs a trial simulation based on the planning conditions set by the condition setting unit 102, and outputs a visiting plan, as well as the remaining product rate, total travel distance, and total operating time when products are replenished according to this visiting plan.

[0048] The index value calculation unit 104 calculates a predetermined index value using at least one of the remaining amount of merchandise, the total travel distance, and the total operation time output by the simulation unit 103.

[0049] The end determination unit 105 determines whether or not the trial by the simulation unit 103 should be ended.

[0050] When the end determination unit 105 determines that the trials are to be ended, the plan specifying unit 106 specifies the visiting plan with the best index value from among the multiple visiting plans created by these trials.

[0051] The plan presentation unit 107 transmits the visiting plan identified by the plan identification unit 106 to the user terminal 20. As a result, an efficient visiting plan that takes into consideration the locations of gas cylinders to be replenished, the remaining LP gas rate of all gas cylinders, and various resource conditions is presented to the person in charge of creating the visiting plan.

[0052] <Flow of visit plan creation process> Next, the flow of the visiting schedule creation process according to this embodiment will be described with reference to Fig. 6. Fig. 6 is a flowchart showing an example of the flow of the visiting schedule creation process according to the first embodiment. Note that hereinafter, it is assumed that the remaining amount and remaining days of the product management information stored in the product management information storage unit 108 have been updated to the latest values. It is also assumed that at least one plan condition has been transmitted from the user terminal 20 to the visiting schedule creation device 10.

[0053] First, the condition setting unit 102 sets the planning conditions transmitted from the user terminal 20 (if multiple planning conditions are transmitted from the user terminal 20, one of the planning conditions) as conditions to be used in the simulation by the simulation unit 103 (step S101). As described above, the planning conditions include the remaining number of available days, the number of vehicles, and the operating time.

[0054] Next, the simulation unit 103 identifies the gas cylinder to be replenished and its installation location from the remaining number of usable days included in the planning conditions set by the condition setting unit 102 (step S102). That is, the simulation unit 103 refers to the product management information stored in the product management information storage unit 108 and identifies the product ID and installation location of the product management information that includes a remaining number of days equal to or less than the remaining number of usable days. This product ID and installation location are the product ID and installation location of the gas cylinder to be replenished, respectively.

[0055] Next, the simulation unit 103 determines an optimal visiting plan by solving an optimization problem such as a transportation route problem or VRP, with the installation location of the gas cylinder to be replenished identified in the above step S102 as the visiting destination, and the number of vehicles and operation time included in the planning conditions set by the condition setting unit 102 as constraint conditions, and calculates and outputs the product remaining rate, total travel distance, and total operation time by simulating the replenishment work according to this visiting plan (step S103). This results in one attempt to create a visiting plan. Note that data (e.g., road network data, etc.) required to solve the transportation route problem, VRP, and other optimization problems is assumed to be known. Also, the optimization problem may be solved by simulation or by a known solving method.

[0056] Here, when calculating the product remaining rate, the simulation unit 103 refers to the product management information stored in the product management information storage unit 108, and calculates the product remaining rate by (total remaining amount of all gas cylinders after carrying out the refilling work according to the visiting schedule) / (total capacity of all gas cylinders) × 100. Note that the capacity of the gas cylinder is assumed to be known.

[0057] Next, the index value calculation unit 104 calculates a predetermined index value using at least one of the remaining product quantity, the total travel distance, and the total operating time output in step S103 above (step S104). As described above, the type of index value to be calculated is appropriately determined depending on the extent to which the purpose (e.g., prevention of lost sales opportunities and unexpected replenishment work, reduction in operating costs such as gasoline for vehicles, reduction in labor costs by reducing working hours, etc.) is to be achieved by creating a visiting schedule.

[0058] Depending on the simulator that realizes the simulation unit 103 and its settings, a visiting plan that does not visit some of the destinations may be accepted as a solution to the optimization problem in step S103 above (i.e., some of the gas cylinders to be replenished may not be replenished). When such a visiting plan is obtained as a solution, the index value calculation unit 104 may impose a predetermined penalty on the index value corresponding to the visiting plan (for example, by adding a predetermined large negative value). This makes it possible to prevent a visiting plan that does not visit all of the gas cylinders to be replenished from being presented to the user.

[0059] Next, the end determination unit 105 determines whether or not to end the trial by the simulation unit 103 (step S105). Here, the end determination unit 105 may determine that the trial is ended when, for example, the number of trials exceeds a predetermined number.

[0060] If it is not determined in step S105 above that the trial should be ended, the condition setting unit 102 changes the planning conditions, sets the new planning conditions after the change as conditions to be used in the simulation by the simulation unit 103 (step S106), and returns to step S102. This causes an attempt to create the next visiting schedule.

[0061] In addition, when a plurality of planning conditions are transmitted from the user terminal 20, the condition setting unit 102 may set a planning condition that has not yet been set among the plurality of planning conditions as a new planning condition. In addition, when only one planning condition is transmitted from the user terminal 20 or when there is no planning condition that has not yet been set, the condition setting unit 102 may create a new planning condition by changing a planning condition that has already been set once according to a predetermined rule. Specifically, for example, it is conceivable to increase or decrease the remaining available days included in the planning condition set in the previous trial by a predetermined number of days, increase or decrease the number of vehicles included in the planning condition by a predetermined number, change the operating time included in the planning condition to a predetermined operating time, or combine these.

[0062] On the other hand, if it is determined in step S105 above that the trial should be ended, the plan identifying unit 106 identifies the visiting plan with the best index value from among the multiple visiting plans created in each trial (step S107).

[0063] Then, the plan presentation unit 107 transmits the visiting plan identified in the above step S107 to the user terminal 20 (step S108). As a result, an efficient visiting plan that takes into consideration the locations of the gas cylinders to be replenished, the remaining LP gas rate of all the gas cylinders, and various resource conditions is presented to the person in charge of creating the visiting plan.

[0064] As described above, the visiting schedule creation system 1 according to this embodiment creates multiple visiting schedules while changing conditions such as product remaining quantity, number of vehicles, and operating hours in various ways, and then presents the user with the visiting schedule with the best target index value among the multiple visiting schedules. This makes it possible to create the most efficient visiting schedule that achieves various objectives, such as preventing lost sales opportunities and unexpected replenishment work, reducing operating costs such as vehicle gasoline costs, and reducing labor costs by reducing work hours.

[0065] [Second embodiment] Next, a second embodiment will be described. Generally, a visit schedule is often a plan for a replenishment operation to be performed N days later. In other words, a visit schedule is often created N days before the actual replenishment operation is to be performed. Note that N differs depending on the type of product, etc., but in the case of LP gas, it is considered that N=1 to N=3 in most cases.

[0066] However, there is a possibility that a visit to a place that requires replenishment may suddenly occur on the day of or the day before the replenishment work is to be performed. For example, there may be a sudden need for replenishment due to a sudden increase in LP gas usage.

[0067] In the second embodiment, therefore, a case will be described in which the visiting plan created in the first embodiment is recreated so that when such a visiting destination (hereinafter referred to as an "unexpected visiting destination") occurs on the day of or the day before the replenishment work, the visiting plan created in the first embodiment is also visited.

[0068] That is, for example, as shown in FIG. 7, when a visiting plan is created N days before a replenishment operation, "visit destination X", "visit destination Y", and "visit destination Z" are assumed to have occurred as unexpected visiting destinations. Also, assume that a visiting time of "9:00" is specified for "visit destination Z". In this case, in the second embodiment, these unexpected visiting destinations (and visiting times) are added, and a re-simulation is performed to change some of the planning conditions (e.g., operating hours, etc.) as necessary, to recreate the visiting plan. This makes it possible to recreate a visiting plan that can also visit unexpected visiting destinations, based on the visiting plan created in the first embodiment.

[0069] In the second embodiment, differences from the first embodiment will be mainly described, and descriptions of components similar to those in the first embodiment will be omitted.

[0070] <Flow of visit plan creation process> Next, the flow of the visiting schedule creation process according to this embodiment will be described with reference to Fig. 8. Fig. 8 is a flowchart showing an example of the flow of the visiting schedule creation process according to the second embodiment. Note that hereinafter, it is assumed that it is the day of or the day before the replenishment work, and the visiting schedule described in the first embodiment has been created N days before the replenishment work. In addition, for example, it is assumed that information on a sudden visit destination has been transmitted from the user terminal 20 to the visiting schedule creation device 10.

[0071] First, the condition setting unit 102 acquires information about the unexpected visit destination transmitted from the user terminal 20 (step S201). Here, the information about the unexpected visit destination includes, for example, at least the product ID of the gas cylinder that suddenly needs to be refilled. However, it is not limited to the product ID, and any information may be used as long as it is capable of identifying the gas cylinder that suddenly needs to be refilled. Furthermore, in addition to the product ID, for example, the visiting time designated by the customer or the like may be included in the information about the unexpected visit destination.

[0072] Next, the simulation unit 103 refers to the product management information stored in the product management information storage unit 108, and identifies the installation location of the gas cylinder with the product ID included in the information acquired in the above step S201 from the product ID (step S202). This installation location is the installation location of the gas cylinder where the unexpected refill occurred.

[0073] Next, the simulation unit 103 adds the installation location identified in step S202 as a visiting destination to the visiting destinations included in the visiting plan created N days ago, and then creates an optimal visiting plan by solving an optimization problem such as a transportation route problem or VRP, with the number of vehicles and the operating time at the time of creating the visiting plan as constraint conditions (step S203). At this time, if a visiting time is specified for the unexpected visiting destination, the visiting time is also set as a constraint condition. In addition, the number of vehicles and the operating time may be changed. For example, the number of vehicles in the visiting plan created N days ago was 10, but if the number of available vehicles increases after that (for example, if there is a surplus of vehicles or replenishment personnel, etc.), the number of vehicles may be increased. Similarly, for example, the operating time in the visiting plan created N days ago was 9:00 to 17:00, but if overtime is permitted after that, the operating time may be increased. Note that in addition to increasing the number of vehicles and the operating time, the number of vehicles may be reduced if an absence occurs on the day of replenishment work, or the operating time may be reduced if there is a surplus of personnel even after taking into account the unexpected visit.

[0074] Then, the plan presentation unit 107 transmits the visiting plan identified in the above step S203 to the user terminal 20 (step S204). As a result, an efficient visiting plan that takes into consideration the locations of gas cylinders to be replenished, the remaining LP gas rate of all gas cylinders, various resource conditions, and also unexpected visiting destinations is presented to the person in charge of creating the visiting plan.

[0075] As described above, the visiting schedule creation system 1 according to this embodiment presents the user with a visiting schedule that further visits unexpected destinations based on the visiting schedule with the best index value desired by the user (i.e., the visiting schedule created in the first embodiment). This makes it possible to create the most efficient visiting schedule that also takes into account destinations where a sudden need for replenishment arises on the day of or the day before the replenishment work, for example.

[0076] The present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments specifically disclosed, and various modifications, changes, combinations with known technologies, etc. are possible without departing from the scope of the claims. [Explanation of symbols]

[0077] 1. Visit planning system 10 Visit planning device 11 Input Devices 12 Display device 13 External I / F 13a Recording media 14 Communication I / F 15 Processors 16 Memory Devices 17 Bus 101 Product Management Department 102 Condition setting section 103 Simulation Department 104 Index value calculation unit 105 End Judgment Section 106 Planning and Specific Department 107 Planning Presentation Section 108 Product management information storage unit

Claims

1. A system for creating a visiting schedule for replenishing products at at least some of a plurality of visiting destinations, comprising: A setting unit that sets a schedule condition including the number of days remaining until the product runs out, the number of vehicles available for transporting the product, and the available operating hours of a person in charge of replenishing the product; a simulation unit that creates a plurality of visiting plans by simulating a replenishment operation for a visiting destination that needs to replenish the products based on the planning conditions set by the setting unit, and calculates a remaining rate of the products, a total mileage of the vehicle, and a total working time of the person in charge when the replenishment operation is performed according to the visiting plans; a calculation unit that calculates a predetermined index value for each of the plurality of visiting plans created by the simulation unit from at least one of the remaining rate, the total travel distance, and the total operation time when the replenishment work is performed according to the visiting plan; an output unit that outputs a visiting plan having the highest index value calculated by the calculation unit among the plurality of visiting plans; having The simulation unit is The system creates a new visiting plan by adding visiting destinations where there is a sudden need to replenish the products to the visiting destinations included in the visiting plan output by the output unit, and then simulating the replenishment work anew with the visiting time to the added visiting destinations as a constraint.

2. The calculation unit is The system according to claim 1 , wherein if at least some of the plurality of destinations are not included in the visiting plan, a penalty value that takes a negative value is added to the index value for the visiting plan.

3. The calculation unit is The system according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the index value for the visiting plan is calculated based on the remaining rate when the replenishment operation is performed according to the visiting plan and the unit price of the products replenished by the replenishment operation.

4. A method for creating a visiting schedule for replenishing products at at least some of a plurality of visiting locations, the method comprising the steps of: A setting procedure for setting planning conditions including the number of days remaining until the product runs out, the number of vehicles available for transporting the product, and the available operating hours of a person in charge of replenishing the product; a simulation procedure for creating a plurality of visiting plans by simulating a replenishment operation for a visiting destination that needs to replenish the products based on the planning conditions set in the setting procedure, and calculating a remaining rate of the products, a total travel distance of the vehicle, and a total working time of the person in charge when the replenishment operation is performed according to the visiting plans; a calculation step of calculating a predetermined index value for each of the plurality of visiting plans created in the simulation step from at least one of the remaining rate, the total travel distance, and the total operation time when the replenishment work is performed according to the visiting plan; an output unit that outputs a visiting plan having the highest index value calculated in the calculation step among the plurality of visiting plans; The computer executes The simulation procedure includes: A method for creating a new visiting plan by adding visiting destinations where there is a sudden need to replenish the products to the visiting destinations included in the visiting plan output by the output unit, and then simulating the replenishment work anew with the visiting time to the added visiting destinations as a constraint condition.

5. The calculation procedure is as follows: The method according to claim 4 , wherein if at least some of the plurality of visiting destinations are not included in the visiting plan, a penalty value that takes a negative value is added to the index value for the visiting plan.

6. The calculation procedure is as follows: The method according to claim 4 , further comprising calculating the index value for the visiting plan based on the remaining rate when the replenishment operation is performed according to the visiting plan and a unit price of the product replenished by the replenishment operation.

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