Device management method and device management system

Abstract

To provide a device management method capable of easily inspecting a device.SOLUTION: A device management method includes: (a) a step of registering device information on a device 4 in a database 28; (b) a step of attaching, to the device 4, an acceptance certificate 6 on which the device information registered in (a) above is described; (c) a step of photographing the acceptance certificate 6 attached to the device 4 with a camera 20 of a mobile terminal 10 when the device 4 is inspected; (d) a step of determining the device 4 corresponding to the device information matching the image of the reception certificate 6 photographed in (c) above by referring to the database 28; and (e) a step of causing a display unit 22 of the mobile terminal 10 to display an input screen 36 for inputting inspection items of the device 4 determined in (d) above.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 4

Description

[Technical field]

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

[0002] There is known an equipment management method for managing equipment used in construction work (see, for example, Patent Document 1). In the conventional equipment management method, a worker inspects the equipment by taking out an inspection form attached to the equipment and manually filling in the inspection items on the inspection form while visually checking the equipment. Then, for example, once a week or once a month, the worker collects the completed inspection form and stores it in a file, and attaches a new inspection form to the equipment. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0003] [Patent Document 1] JP 2013-214205 A Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0004] However, the conventional device management method has a problem in that inspecting the devices is very time-consuming.

[0005] The present invention is intended to solve the above-mentioned problems, and has an object to provide an equipment management method and equipment management system that can easily inspect equipment. [Means for solving the problem]

[0006] An equipment management method according to a first aspect of the present invention is an equipment management method for managing equipment, comprising the steps of: (a) registering equipment information relating to the equipment in a database; (b) affixing a receipt containing the equipment information registered in (a) to the equipment; (c) photographing the receipt affixed to the equipment with a camera of a mobile terminal when inspecting the equipment; (d) determining the equipment corresponding to the equipment information that matches the image of the receipt photographed in (c) by referring to the database; and (e) displaying an input screen for inputting inspection items for the equipment determined in (d) on a display unit of the mobile terminal.

[0007] According to this aspect, when inspecting a device, the worker can take a picture of the receipt attached to the device with the camera of the mobile device, and an input screen for inputting the inspection items of the device can be displayed on the display unit of the mobile device. This allows the worker to easily inspect the device by simply inputting the inspection items of the device into this input screen.

[0008] In addition, in the device management method according to the second aspect of the present invention, in the first aspect, the device management method may further include a step (f) of printing a receipt containing the device information registered in (a), and in (b), the receipt printed in (f) may be affixed to the device.

[0009] According to this aspect, a receipt containing device information can be easily printed using a printer or the like.

[0010] In addition, in an equipment management method according to a third aspect of the present invention, in the first or second aspect, the equipment management method may be configured to further include a step of (g) storing the inspection items entered on the input screen in the database and aggregating the inspection items stored in the database.

[0011] According to this aspect, the tabulated results of the inspection items can be easily confirmed.

[0012] In addition, in the equipment management method according to the fourth aspect of the present invention, in any one of the first to third aspects, the equipment may be configured to be a vehicle, machine, or tool used in construction work.

[0013] According to this aspect, daily inspections of vehicles, machines, or tools used in construction work can be easily performed at a construction site.

[0014] Further, a fifth aspect of the present invention provides an equipment management system for managing equipment, comprising a mobile terminal and a server device capable of communicating with the mobile terminal via a network, wherein the mobile terminal has a display unit, an input unit for accepting input of equipment information related to the equipment, a camera for photographing a receipt that is affixed to the equipment and contains the equipment information when inspecting the equipment, and a first communication unit for transmitting the equipment information input to the input unit and image data showing an image of the receipt photographed by the camera to the server device, and the server device has a second communication unit for receiving the equipment information and the image data from the mobile terminal, a database for storing the equipment information received by the second communication unit, a determination unit for determining the equipment corresponding to the equipment information that matches the image shown by the image data received by the second communication unit by referring to the database, and a presentation unit for displaying an input screen for inputting inspection items for the equipment determined by the determination unit on the display unit of the mobile terminal.

[0015] According to this aspect, when inspecting a device, a worker can take a picture of the receipt attached to the device with the camera of the mobile device, and an input screen for inputting the inspection items of the device can be displayed on the display unit of the mobile device. This allows the worker to easily inspect the device by simply inputting the inspection items of the device into the input screen displayed on the display unit of the mobile device.

[0016] In addition, these comprehensive or specific aspects may be realized by a system, a method, an integrated circuit, a computer program, or a non-transitory recording medium such as a computer-readable CD-ROM, or may be realized by any combination of a system, a method, an integrated circuit, a computer program, and a recording medium. Effect of the Invention

[0017] According to the device management method and the like relating to one aspect of the present invention, inspection of devices can be easily performed. [Brief description of the drawings]

[0018] [Figure 1] 1 is a conceptual diagram showing an overview of a device management system according to an embodiment; [Diagram 2] FIG. 13 is a diagram showing an example of a receipt relating to an embodiment. [Diagram 3] 1 is a block diagram showing a functional configuration of a device management system according to an embodiment; [Figure 4] 4 is a flowchart showing a flow of operations of the device management system according to the embodiment. [Diagram 5] FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an example of an input screen according to the embodiment; [Figure 6] FIG. 13 is a diagram showing an example of a tallying screen according to the embodiment; DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0019] Hereinafter, the embodiment will be specifically described with reference to the drawings.

[0020] The embodiments described below are all comprehensive or specific examples. The numerical values, shapes, materials, components, component arrangement and connection forms, steps, and order of steps shown in the following embodiments are merely examples and are not intended to limit the scope of the claims. Furthermore, among the components in the following embodiments, components that are not described in an independent claim showing a top concept are described as optional components.

[0021] In addition, the drawings are not necessarily strict illustrations. In the drawings, the same reference numerals are used for substantially the same configurations, and duplicated explanations are omitted or simplified.

[0022] (Embodiment) [1. Overview of the equipment management system] First, an overview of a device management system 2 according to an embodiment will be described with reference to Figures 1 and 2. Figure 1 is a conceptual diagram showing an overview of a device management system 2 according to an embodiment. Figure 2 is a diagram showing an example of a receipt 6 according to an embodiment.

[0023] As shown in FIG. 1, the device management system 2 is a system for managing a device 4.

[0024] The equipment 4 is, for example, a vehicle, a machine, a tool, or the like that is brought to a construction site and used in construction work. The vehicle includes, for example, a transport vehicle such as a dump truck, a loader dump, or a mixer truck. The machine includes, for example, (a) a hydraulic excavator such as a backhoe, a power shovel, or a backhoe, (b) a wheel loader, or (c) a crane such as a mobile crane or a rough terrain crane. The tool includes, for example, (a) a manual tool such as a ratchet wrench or a hammer, or (b) an electric tool such as an impact driver. For convenience of explanation, only one equipment 4 is shown in FIG. 1, but in reality, multiple equipment 4 are brought to the construction site.

[0025] In this specification, construction work refers to, for example, (a) architectural work to construct buildings such as houses, condominiums, and buildings, (b) civil engineering work to construct structures such as tunnels, bridges, dams, and roads, and (c) various types of work associated with these, such as demolition work and waterworks.

[0026] An acceptance certificate 6 (so-called acceptance certificate for brought-in machinery notification) is affixed to the side of the equipment 4 brought to the construction site. As shown in FIG. 2, the acceptance certificate 6 is a label on which equipment information regarding the equipment 4 is written using letters, numbers, symbols, etc. The equipment information includes, for example, (a) the model of the equipment 4, (b) the name of the company that brought the equipment 4 to the construction site (bringing company name), (c) the name of the company that uses the equipment 4 at the construction site (using company name), (d) the period of use of the equipment 4, (e) the date on which the bringing of the equipment 4 to the construction site was accepted, (f) the acceptance number assigned to the equipment 4, etc.

[0027] 2, a QR (Quick Response) code (registered trademark) indicating device information may be written on the receipt 6. Alternatively, a barcode indicating device information may be written on the receipt 6.

[0028] The device management system 2 includes a server device 8, a mobile terminal 10, and a terminal device 12. The server device 8, the mobile terminal 10, and the terminal device 12 are capable of communicating with each other via a network 14 such as the Internet.

[0029] The server device 8 is, for example, a cloud server, and is managed by the operating company of the device management system 2.

[0030] The mobile terminal 10 is, for example, a smartphone or a tablet, and is used by a worker 16 who performs construction work at a construction site. An application dedicated to the equipment management system 2 (hereinafter, referred to as a "dedicated app") is installed on the mobile terminal 10.

[0031] The terminal device 12 is, for example, a personal computer, and is managed by a construction management company that manages the construction work.

[0032] [2. Functional configuration of the equipment management system] Next, the functional configuration of the device management system 2 according to the embodiment will be described with reference to Fig. 3. Fig. 3 is a block diagram showing the functional configuration of the device management system 2 according to the embodiment.

[0033] As shown in FIG. 3, the mobile terminal 10 has an input unit 18, a camera 20, a display unit 22, and a communication unit 24 (an example of a first communication unit).

[0034] The input unit 18 is realized by, for example, a touch panel display or the like, and accepts input of various information by the operator 16. Specifically, the input unit 18 accepts input of device information related to the device 4 (see FIG. 1) and input of inspection items to an input screen 36 (see FIG. 5 described later).

[0035] The camera 20 is an imaging unit for capturing an image of a subject that is installed in the mobile terminal 10. The camera 20 captures an image of, for example, a receipt 6 (see FIG. 1) affixed to the device 4.

[0036] The display unit 22 is realized by, for example, a touch panel display or the like, and displays various information. Specifically, the display unit 22 displays an input screen 36 for inputting inspection items of the device 4.

[0037] The communication unit 24 transmits and receives various information and the like to and from the server device 8 via the network 14 (see FIG. 1). Specifically, the communication unit 24 transmits to the server device 8 the device information and inspection items input to the input unit 18, as well as image data showing an image of the receipt 6 captured by the camera 20.

[0038] As shown in FIG. 3, the server device 8 includes a communication unit 26 (an example of a second communication unit), a database 28, a determination unit 30, and a presentation unit 32.

[0039] The communication unit 26 transmits and receives various information and the like to and from the mobile terminal 10 via the network 14. Specifically, the communication unit 26 receives device information, inspection items, and image data from the mobile terminal 10.

[0040] The database 28 stores the device information and inspection items received by the communication unit 26. The device information and inspection items are linked to an ID for identifying the device 4, for example.

[0041] The determination unit 30 refers to the database 28 to determine the device 4 corresponding to the device information matching the image of the receipt 6 indicated by the image data received by the communication unit 26. Specifically, the determination unit 30 identifies the device information (e.g., receipt number, etc.) described in the receipt 6 by analyzing the image of the receipt 6 indicated by the image data. Then, the determination unit 30 verifies whether or not there is device information matching the identified device information in the device information stored in the database 28. If there is matching device information, the determination unit 30 determines the device 4 corresponding to the matching device information. On the other hand, if there is no matching device information, the determination unit 30 determines that the device 4 has not been accepted for delivery to the construction site. The determination unit 30 may identify the QR code (registered trademark) (or barcode) described in the receipt 6 by analyzing the image of the receipt 6 indicated by the image data.

[0042] The presentation unit 32 displays an input screen 36 for inputting the inspection items of the device 4 determined by the determination unit 30 on the display unit 22 of the mobile terminal 10 via the communication unit 26 and the communication unit 24 of the mobile terminal 10. The contents of the inspection items may differ for each type of device 4, or may be common to all types of devices 4.

[0043] [3. Operation of the equipment management system] Next, the operation (device management method) of the device management system 2 according to the embodiment will be described with reference to Fig. 1 and Fig. 4 to Fig. 6. Fig. 4 is a flowchart showing the flow of the operation of the device management system 2 according to the embodiment. Fig. 5 is a diagram showing an example of an input screen 36 according to the embodiment. Fig. 6 is a diagram showing an example of a tally screen 38 according to the embodiment.

[0044] As shown in Fig. 1, before the start of construction work, equipment 4 is brought into the construction site. At this time, as shown in Fig. 4, a worker 16 operates a mobile terminal 10 to start a dedicated application and inputs equipment information, which is information related to the brought-in equipment 4 (S101). As a result, an input unit 18 of the mobile terminal 10 accepts the input of the equipment information by the worker 16. The above-mentioned acceptance number among the equipment information is assigned to each equipment 4 by, for example, a construction management company.

[0045] The communication unit 24 of the mobile terminal 10 transmits the device information input to the input unit 18 to the server device 8. The communication unit 26 of the server device 8 receives the device information from the mobile terminal 10, and registers (stores) the received device information in the database 28 (S102).

[0046] Next, the worker 16 prints out the receipt 6 using, for example, a portable printer 34 (S103). The device information input to the input unit 18 of the mobile terminal 10 is written (printed) on the printed receipt 6. Note that the printer 34 can communicate with the mobile terminal 10, for example, via Bluetooth (registered trademark), and the worker 16 can execute printing on the printer 34 by operating the mobile terminal 10.

[0047] Next, the worker 16 attaches the printed receipt 6 to the side of the device 4 in an easily visible position (S104).

[0048] After construction work begins, worker 16 starts inspecting equipment 4, for example, every morning (S105). Worker 16 uses camera 20 of mobile terminal 10 to photograph receipt 6 affixed to equipment 4 to be inspected (S106).

[0049] The communication unit 24 of the mobile terminal 10 transmits image data indicating the image of the receipt 6 captured by the camera 20 to the server device 8. The communication unit 26 of the server device 8 receives the image data from the mobile terminal 10 and outputs the received image data to the determination unit 30.

[0050] Next, the determination unit 30 of the server device 8 refers to the database 28 to determine the device 4 corresponding to the device information that matches the image of the receipt 6 indicated by the image data received by the communication unit 26 (S107).

[0051] Next, the presentation unit 32 of the server device 8 causes the display unit 22 of the mobile terminal 10 to display an input screen 36 for inputting the inspection items of the equipment 4 determined by the determination unit 30, as shown in FIG. 5, via the communication unit 26 and the communication unit 24 of the mobile terminal 10 (S108).

[0052] 5, the input screen 36 displays a plurality of check boxes for inputting a plurality of inspection items for the device 4 to be inspected. The worker 16 inspects the device 4 for each inspection item of the device 4 to be inspected, and inputs the inspection results into the check box for each inspection item (S109). As a result, the input unit 18 of the mobile terminal 10 accepts the input of each inspection item by the worker 16.

[0053] The communication unit 24 of the mobile terminal 10 transmits the inspection items input to the input unit 18 to the server device 8. The communication unit 26 of the server device 8 receives the inspection items from the mobile terminal 10, and stores the received inspection items in the database 28.

[0054] If inspection of all of the devices 4 to be inspected has not been completed (NO in S110), the above-mentioned steps S106 to S109 are executed again.

[0055] When inspection of all of the devices 4 to be inspected has been completed (YES in S110), the worker 16 operates the terminal device 12 to tally up the inspection items stored in the database 28 (S111). As a result, a tally screen 38 such as that shown in Fig. 6 is displayed on the terminal device 12. For ease of explanation, the tally results of the inspection items after January 21 are omitted from Fig. 6. Thereafter, the processing of the flowchart in Fig. 4 ends.

[0056] [4. Effects] In this embodiment, when inspecting equipment 4, worker 16 photographs receipt 6 affixed to equipment 4 with camera 20 of mobile terminal 10, and can display input screen 36 for inputting inspection items for equipment 4 on display 22 of mobile terminal 10. This allows worker 16 to easily inspect equipment 4 by simply inputting the inspection items for equipment 4 into input screen 36.

[0057] (Variations, etc.) Although the device management system according to one or more aspects of the present invention has been described based on the above embodiment, the present invention is not limited to the above embodiment. As long as it does not deviate from the spirit of the present invention, various modifications conceived by a person skilled in the art to this embodiment and forms constructed by combining components in different embodiments may also be included within the scope of one or more aspects of the present invention.

[0058] In the above embodiment, the device 4 is a device used in construction work, but the present invention is not limited to this and may be, for example, a device used in a factory for manufacturing products.

[0059] Furthermore, in the above embodiment, a barcode or QR code (registered trademark) indicating device information is printed on receipt 6, but this barcode or QR code (registered trademark) may be omitted.

[0060] In the above embodiment, each component may be realized by a dedicated hardware or by executing a software program suitable for each component. Each component may be realized by a program execution unit such as a CPU or a processor reading and executing a software program recorded on a recording medium such as a hard disk or a semiconductor memory.

[0061] The present invention may be the above-described methods. It may also be a computer program for implementing these methods by a computer, or a digital signal comprising the computer program. The present invention may also be a computer program or digital signal recorded on a computer-readable non-transitory recording medium, such as a flexible disk, a hard disk, a CD-ROM, an MO, a DVD, a DVD-ROM, a DVD-RAM, a BD (Blu-ray (registered trademark) Disc), a semiconductor memory, or the like. [Industrial Applicability]

[0062] The present invention can be applied to, for example, a device management system for supporting the management of devices. [Explanation of symbols]

[0063] 2. Equipment Management System 4 Equipment 6. Certificate of receipt 8 Server equipment 10 Mobile devices 12 Terminal Equipment 14 Network 16 Workers 18 Input section 20 Camera 22 Display section 24,26 Communications Department 28 Database 30 Decision Section 32 Presentation section 34 Printer 36 Input screen 38 Summary screen

Claims

1. A device management method for managing a device, comprising: (a) registering device information relating to the device in a database; (b) attaching a receipt describing the device information registered in (a) to the device; (c) taking a photograph of the receipt attached to the device with a camera of a mobile terminal when inspecting the device; (d) determining the device corresponding to the device information that matches the image of the receipt photographed in (c) by referring to the database; (e) displaying an input screen for inputting the inspection items of the device determined in (d) on a display unit of the mobile terminal. Equipment management method.

2. The device management method further comprises: (f) printing the receipt on which the device information registered in (a) is described; In the step (b), the receipt printed in the step (f) is affixed to the device. The device management method according to claim 1 .

3. The device management method further comprises: (g) storing the inspection items inputted on the input screen in the database, and tallying up the inspection items stored in the database. The device management method according to claim 1 .

4. The equipment is a vehicle, machine or tool used in construction work. The device management method according to any one of claims 1 to 3.

5. A device management system for managing devices, comprising: a mobile terminal; and a server device capable of communicating with the mobile terminal via a network, the device management system comprising: The mobile terminal includes: A display unit; an input unit that receives input of device information related to the device; a camera for photographing a receipt attached to the device and including information about the device when inspecting the device; a first communication unit that transmits to the server device the device information input to the input unit and image data showing an image of the receipt captured by the camera, The server device includes: a second communication unit that receives the device information and the image data from the mobile terminal; a database that stores the device information received by the second communication unit; a determination unit that determines the device corresponding to the device information that matches the image represented by the image data received by the second communication unit by referring to the database; a presentation unit that displays an input screen for inputting the inspection items of the device determined by the determination unit on the display unit of the mobile terminal. Equipment management system.

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