Transportation and delivery planning device and method

Abstract

To provide a transportation and delivery planning device and method capable of reducing the occurrence of delayed delivery of luggage.SOLUTION: The transportation and delivery planning device is configured to create an allocation plan for allocating each transportation instruction to each service for which a schedule has been created in advance, based on the created allocation plan for each transportation instruction, develop a package sorting plan at a transfer point, and calculate the work time required to sort at a transfer point according to the sorting plan, and based on the calculation result, evaluate the transportation plan. The transportation and delivery planning device is configured so as to, based on the evaluation results of transportation and delivery plans, change the sorting plan or modify the allocation plan so that the sorting work for each package is completed before the departure of the connecting flight assigned to the delivery instruction at the relay point.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 15

Description

[Technical Field]

[0001] The present invention relates to a transportation and delivery planning device and method, and is suitable for application to, for example, a transportation and delivery planning device that creates transportation and delivery plans for packages that pass through relay points. [Background technology]

[0002] In recent years, with the expansion of the electronic commerce (EC) market, the volume of parcels being transported and delivered has been increasing year by year. In transportation and delivery services, a base date is set as an estimate of when a parcel will arrive at its destination. In some cases, a delivery deadline may also be specified at the request of the customer. Meeting such delivery deadlines is important as it affects the credibility of the transportation and delivery company.

[0003] Transportation and delivery companies plan service schedules that predetermine the number of services between logistics bases such as collection and delivery depots and relay bases, the arrival and departure times of transportation and delivery vehicles at each logistics base, and driving routes, and arrange transportation and delivery resources that will be the main or means of shipping and transportation and delivery, such as transportation and delivery vehicles, shipping workers, drivers, etc. Transportation and delivery companies also plan transportation and delivery plans in response to requests for transportation and delivery of goods from customers, and transport and deliver the goods in accordance with the planned transportation and delivery plans.

[0004] In relation to the development of transportation and delivery plans, for example, Patent Document 1 discloses a method for efficiently creating plans for transferring cargo between transport services in order to improve transportation efficiency and service quality without making major changes to transportation plans between bases.

[0005] Patent document 2 also discloses that, with regard to cargo delivery management, multiple relay station candidates are set up where cargo can be transferred from a deposit vehicle to a delivery vehicle, an index is created that indicates the degree of conditions involved in the work up to transferring the cargo at the relay station candidate, and a relay station is selected from among the relay station candidate based on the created index. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0006] [Patent Document 1] Patent No. 03586822 specification [Patent Document 2] Japanese Patent Publication No. 2022-138271 Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0007] However, in the past, when planning transportation and delivery, the working time at relay points was often not taken into account. As a result, in actual operations, there was a problem where luggage could not be loaded onto connecting flights due to delays in work at relay points, resulting in delayed delivery of luggage.

[0008] The present invention has been made in consideration of the above points, and aims to propose a transportation and delivery planning system and method that can reduce the occurrence of delayed delivery of packages. [Means for solving the problem]

[0009] In order to solve such problems, in the present invention, a transportation and delivery planning device that creates a transportation and delivery plan by allocating transportation and delivery instructions for each parcel to a service is provided, which includes an allocation plan creation unit that creates an allocation plan that allocates each transportation and delivery instruction to each service for which an operation plan has been created in advance, a sorting plan creation unit that creates a sorting plan for the parcel at a relay base based on the allocation plan for each transportation and delivery instruction created by the allocation plan creation unit, and an evaluation and judgment unit that calculates the working time for sorting work at the relay base in accordance with the sorting plan and evaluates the transportation and delivery plan based on the calculation results, and based on the evaluation results of the evaluation and judgment unit, the sorting plan creation unit changes the sorting plan or the allocation plan creation unit modifies the allocation plan so that the sorting work for each parcel at the relay base is completed before the departure of the connecting service allocated to the transportation and delivery instruction.

[0010] In addition, the present invention provides a transportation and delivery plan creation method executed by a transportation and delivery plan creation device that creates a transportation and delivery plan by allocating transportation and delivery instructions for each parcel to a service, the method including: a first step of creating an allocation plan that allocates each transportation and delivery instruction to each service for which a service plan has been created in advance; a second step of creating a sorting plan for the parcels at a relay base based on the allocation plan for each transportation and delivery instruction created; a third step of calculating the working time for sorting work at the relay base in accordance with the sorting plan and evaluating the transportation and delivery plan based on the calculation result; and a fourth step of changing the sorting plan or modifying the allocation plan based on the evaluation result of the transportation and delivery plan so that the sorting work for each parcel at the relay base is completed before the departure of the connecting service allocated to the transportation and delivery instruction.

[0011] According to the transportation and delivery planning device and method of the present invention, it is possible to create transportation and delivery plans that take into account the work times at relay points, thereby preventing situations in which luggage cannot be loaded onto connecting flights due to work delays at relay points, etc. [Effects of the Invention]

[0012] According to the present invention, it is possible to realize a transportation and delivery planning device and method that can reduce the occurrence of delayed delivery of packages. [Brief explanation of the drawings]

[0013] [Figure 1] 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a transportation and delivery planning system according to an embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 2] FIG. 1 is a conceptual diagram illustrating an example of an operation plan. [Figure 3] 10 is a diagram showing an example of the configuration of a flight information table. [Figure 4] (A) is a diagram showing an example of a vehicle-based fare table, and (B) is a diagram showing an example of a small-lot fare table. [Figure 5] 10 is a diagram illustrating an example of a base information table. [Figure 6]10A is a diagram showing an example of the configuration of a first sorting capacity information table, and FIG. 10B is a diagram showing an example of the configuration of a second sorting capacity information table. [Figure 7] 10 is a diagram showing an example of the configuration of a transportation and delivery instruction information table. [Figure 8] 10 is a diagram showing an example of the configuration of an allocation information table. [Figure 9] 10 is a diagram illustrating an example of the configuration of a priority index information table. [Figure 10] 10 is a diagram illustrating an example of the configuration of a relay information table. [Figure 11] 10 is a diagram showing an example of the configuration of a sorting plan information table. [Figure 12] FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating an example of a screen configuration of a transportation and delivery plan creation instruction screen. [Figure 13] FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating an example of a pop-up display. [Figure 14] FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating another example of a screen configuration of the transportation and delivery plan creation instruction screen. [Figure 15] 10 is a flowchart showing a processing procedure for transportation and delivery planning processing. [Figure 16] 10 is a flowchart showing the processing steps of a transportation and delivery instruction allocation plan creation process. [Figure 17] 10 is a flowchart showing the processing steps of a first relay station assortment plan formulation process. [Figure 18] 10(A) to 10(C) are diagrams illustrating the first relay station sorting plan formulation process. [Figure 19] 10A and 10B are conceptual diagrams illustrating the first relay station sorting plan formulation process. [Figure 20] 10 is a flowchart showing the processing steps of a second relay station assortment plan formulation process. [Figure 21] FIG. 10 is a conceptual diagram illustrating the first relay station sorting plan formulation process. [Figure 22] 10 is a flowchart showing the processing steps of a transportation and delivery instruction allocation plan correction process. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0014] An embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail below with reference to the drawings.

[0015] The embodiments described below are merely examples for explaining the present invention, and some details have been omitted or simplified for clarity of explanation. The present invention can be implemented in various other forms. Unless otherwise specified, each component may be singular or plural.

[0016] In order to facilitate understanding of the invention, the position, size, shape, range, etc. of each component shown in the drawings may not represent the actual position, size, shape, range, etc. Therefore, the present invention is not necessarily limited to the position, size, shape, range, etc. disclosed in the drawings.

[0017] Examples of various types of information may be described using expressions such as "table," "list," and "queue," but the various types of information may also be expressed using data structures other than these. For example, various types of information such as "XX table," "XX list," and "XX queue" may also be expressed as "XX information." When describing identification information, expressions such as "identification information," "identifier," "name," "ID," and "number" are used, but these are interchangeable.

[0018] When there are multiple components with the same or similar functions, they may be described using the same reference numeral with different subscripts. When there is no need to distinguish between these multiple components, the subscripts may be omitted.

[0019] In the embodiments, there may be a case where a process performed by executing a program is described. Here, a computer executes the program using a processor (e.g., a CPU or a GPU), and performs the process defined by the program while using storage resources (e.g., a memory) and interface devices (e.g., a communication port). Therefore, the processor may be the entity that executes the program and performs the process.

[0020] Similarly, the entity that executes the program and performs the processing may be a controller, device, system, computer, or node having a processor. The entity that executes the program and performs the processing may be any computing unit, and may include a dedicated circuit that performs specific processing. Here, the dedicated circuit is, for example, an FPGA (Field Programmable Gate Array), an ASIC (Application Specific Integrated Circuit), or a CPLD (Complex Programmable Logic Device).

[0021] A program may be installed on a computer from a program source. The program source may be, for example, a program distribution server or a computer-readable storage medium. When the program source is a program distribution server, the program distribution server may include a processor and storage resources for storing the program to be distributed, and the processor of the program distribution server may distribute the program to be distributed to other computers. In addition, in the embodiments, two or more programs may be realized as one program, or one program may be realized as two or more programs.

[0022] (1) Configuration of the transportation and delivery planning system according to this embodiment In Fig. 1, reference numeral 1 denotes an overall transportation and delivery planning system according to this embodiment. This transportation and delivery planning system 1 is configured to include a transportation and delivery instruction management system 2, a service management system 3, a sorting control system 4, and a transportation and delivery planning device 6 connected to these systems via a network 5.

[0023] The transportation and delivery instruction management system 2 is a computer system that has the function of creating, storing, and managing transportation and delivery instructions in response to each request for transportation and delivery of a package from a customer. Here, "transportation and delivery instructions" refer to instructions for transportation and delivery of a package, including the departure point (departure base), possible departure time, arrival point (arrival base), arrival deadline, volumetric weight, actual weight, and number of parcels, for the package requested for transportation and delivery by the customer.

[0024] The bus management system 3 is a computer system that has the function of managing pre-created operation plans for each bus (plans on what time to depart from which base and what time to arrive at which base) and information about the bus itself, such as the loading capacity and vehicle type of the bus, as bus information.

[0025] Furthermore, the sorting control system 4 is a computer system having a function of controlling sorting equipment such as sorters and chutes installed at each base station. The sorting control system 4 controls the sorting equipment at each base station in accordance with a transportation and delivery plan formulated by the transportation and delivery plan formulation device 6, as will be described later.

[0026] The transportation and delivery plan creation device 6 is a computer device having a function of creating transportation and delivery plans for each package to be transported and delivered based on the transportation and delivery instructions created and managed by the transportation and delivery instruction management system 2 and the service information managed by the service management system 3. Note that, hereinafter, "creating a transportation and delivery plan" includes creating an allocation plan for allocating each transportation and delivery instruction to a service (more precisely, allocating, for each transportation and delivery instruction, a service that will carry the package), and creating a plan for sorting the packages at each relay point (hereinafter, this will be referred to as a sorting plan).

[0027] The transportation and delivery planning device 6 is configured from a general-purpose personal computer or server device equipped with a CPU (Central Processing Unit) 10, memory 11, storage device 12, input device 13, display device 14, and communication device 15.

[0028] The CPU 10 is a processor that controls the overall operation of the transportation and delivery plan planning device 6. The memory 11 is configured from a volatile semiconductor memory such as an SRAM (Static Random Access Memory) or a DRAM (Dynamic Random Access Memory), and is used as a working memory for the CPU 10.

[0029] The storage device 12 is composed of a large-capacity nonvolatile storage device such as a hard disk drive or SSD (Solid State Drive), and is used to store various programs and information that needs to be stored for a long period of time. The programs stored in the storage device 12 are read from the storage device 12 to the memory 11 when the transportation and delivery plan planning device 6 is started up or when needed, and the programs read to the memory 11 are executed by the CPU 10, thereby performing various processes of the transportation and delivery plan planning device 6 as a whole, as described below.

[0030] The input device 13 is composed of devices such as a keyboard and a mouse, and is used by the user to input necessary commands and information to the transportation and delivery plan planning device 6. The display device 14 is composed of a liquid crystal display device, an organic EL (Electro-Luminescence) display device, or the like, and is used to display necessary information.

[0031] Furthermore, the communication device 15 is configured by, for example, a NIC (Network Interface Card) and performs protocol control during communication with the transportation and delivery instruction management system 2, the fleet management system 3, and the sorting control system 4 via the network 5.

[0032] (2) Transportation and delivery planning function Next, we will explain the transportation and delivery plan creation function according to this embodiment, which is installed in the transportation and delivery plan creation device 6. This transportation and delivery plan creation function creates a transportation and delivery plan in which each transportation and delivery instruction is assigned to a service, evaluates the transportation and delivery plan in consideration of the baggage sorting capacity at each relay point on the route from the departure point to the arrival point of each baggage, and modifies the transportation and delivery plan as necessary based on the evaluation results so that all baggage arrives in time for connecting flights at the relay points.

[0033] In practice, the transportation and delivery planning device 6 first selects an index designated by the user as a priority index from among several pre-prepared indexes, such as "lowest cost" which minimizes transportation and delivery costs, "earliest delivery date and time" which makes the delivery date and time of each package the earliest, and "minimum number of transfers" which minimizes the number of transfers of packages at relay points, and then uses an optimization method such as a local search method or a greedy method with the priority index as the objective variable to plan the allocation of each transportation and delivery instruction to a service.

[0034] The transportation and delivery plan creation device 6 then creates a sorting plan for each package at each relay point based on the created allocation plan. Furthermore, if there is any package (transportation and delivery instruction) for which the sorting work cannot be completed in time for the departure of the connecting flight (hereinafter referred to as a connecting flight) according to the created sorting plan at each relay point, the transportation and delivery plan creation device 6 modifies the sorting plan or modifies the allocation plan of each transportation and delivery instruction to the flight.

[0035] Furthermore, when the transportation and delivery plan creation device 6 corrects the transportation and delivery plan as described above, it again creates a sorting plan for each relay point and calculates the sorting work time, and repeats the correction of the transportation and delivery plan and the creation of a sorting plan for each relay point and the calculation of the sorting work time until there are no more packages (transportation and delivery instructions) that will not make it in time for departure.The transportation and delivery plan creation device 6 then displays the transportation and delivery plan finally obtained by the above repeated processing on the display device 14 (FIG. 1).

[0036] Details of such a transportation and delivery planning function will be explained below. Note that in the following explanation, it is assumed that there are bases "Base A" to "Base G" as shown in Figure 2, and that packages are transported from "Base A" to "Base C" to "Base F" with "Base B" as a relay base, and that packages are transported from "Base G" to "Base C" to "Base F" with "Base B" as a relay base. However, it is also possible to assume that there are direct flights between each of the bases "Base A" to "Base G," that there are flights operating in the opposite direction to the arrows connecting each of the bases in Figure 2, and that there are also relay bases other than "Base B."

[0037] As a means for realizing the transportation and delivery planning function of this embodiment as described above, the storage device 12 of the transportation and delivery planning device 6 of this embodiment stores, as shown in Figure 1, a flight information table 20, a fare table 21, a base information table 22, a base sorting capacity information table 23, a transportation and delivery instruction information table 24, an allocation information table 25, a priority index information table 26, a relay information table 27, and a sorting plan information table 28, and the memory 11 of the transportation and delivery planning device 6 stores an allocation plan creation unit 30, a sorting plan creation unit 31, and an evaluation and judgment unit 32.

[0038] The bus information table 20 is a table used by the transportation and delivery planning device 6 to store and retain bus information for each bus acquired from the bus management system 3, and as shown in Fig. 3, is configured with a bus ID column 20A, a loading capacity column 20B, a vehicle type column 20C, a departure point column 20D, a departure time column 20E, an arrival point column 20F, an arrival time column 20G, and a fare table column 20H. In the bus information table 20, one record (row) corresponds to the bus information for one bus.

[0039] The service ID field 20A stores a unique identifier (service ID) assigned to the corresponding service. The loading capacity field 20B stores the loading capacity of the service, and the vehicle type field 20C stores the vehicle type of the service. Vehicle types include "large vehicle," "medium vehicle," and "compact vehicle."

[0040] Furthermore, the departure point field 20D stores the departure point of the operating flight, and the departure time field 20E stores the scheduled time when the operating flight departs from the departure point. The arrival point field 20F stores the arrival point of the operating flight, and the arrival time field 20G stores the scheduled time when the operating flight arrives at the arrival point. Furthermore, the fare table field 20H stores the fare table applicable to the operating flight.

[0041] Therefore, in the example of Figure 3, for example, a service called "Flight AB1" is a service in which a "medium-sized vehicle" with a load capacity of "4000 kg" departs from "Base A" at "10:00" and arrives at "Base B" at "12:00", and it is shown that the "vehicle-based fare table" applies as the fare table.

[0042] The fare table 21 is composed of at least a vehicle-based fare table 21A shown in FIG. 4(A) and a small-lot fare table 21B shown in FIG. 4(B).

[0043] The vehicle-based fare table 21A is a fare table for transporting and delivering cargo by vehicle, and as shown in Figure 4(A), it is composed of columns 21AA corresponding to each vehicle type ("small vehicle", "medium vehicle", and "large vehicle"), and rows 21AB corresponding to each travel distance in 10 km increments ("up to 10 km", "up to 20 km", "up to 30 km", ...).

[0044] Each column 21AC where these columns 21AA and rows 21AB intersect stores the freight charges when a vehicle of the type corresponding to the column 21AA to which that column 21AC belongs is used for transportation and delivery for the travel distance corresponding to the row 21AB to which that column 21AC belongs.

[0045] Therefore, in the example of Figure 4(A), for example, the freight charge for using a "compact car" for transportation of "(0) to 10 km" is "15,000" yen, the freight charge for transportation of "(10) to 20 km" is "18,000" yen, and the freight charge for transportation of "(20) to 30 km" is "21,000 yen."

[0046] The small parcel fare table 21B is a fare table for transporting and delivering parcels in units of units, and as shown in Figure 4(B), it is composed of columns 21BA corresponding to each travel distance in 10 km increments ("up to 10 km", "up to 20 km", "up to 30 km", ...), and rows 21BB corresponding to each weight in 10 kg increments ("up to 10 kg", "up to 20 kg", "up to 30 kg", ...).

[0047] Each column 21BC where these columns 21BA and rows 21BB intersect stores the shipping fee for transporting and delivering a package having the weight of the row 21BB to which that column 21BC belongs over the distance of the column 21BA to which that column 21BC belongs.

[0048] Therefore, in the example of Figure 4(B), for example, the shipping fee for transporting a package weighing "(0) to 10 kg" over a distance of "(0) to 10 km" is "500" yen, the shipping fee for transporting a package over a distance of "(10) to 20 km" is "800" yen, and the shipping fee for transporting a package over a distance of "(20) to 30 km" is "1,200" yen.

[0049] The base station information table 22 is a table in which the addresses of each base station that exists within the area managed by the transportation and delivery planning device 6 are registered, and is created in advance and provided to the transportation and delivery planning device 6. As shown in FIG. 5, this base station information table 22 is configured with a base station ID column 22A and an address column 22B. In the base station information table 22, one record (row) corresponds to one base station that exists within the area managed by the transportation and delivery planning device 6.

[0050] The base ID column 22A stores an identifier (base ID) unique to the base that is assigned to the corresponding base, and the address column 22B stores the address of the base. Therefore, in the example of Figure 5, the address of the base "Base A" is shown to be "XX, XX City, XX Prefecture."

[0051] The base sorting capacity information table 23 is a table used to manage the sorting capacity of each base, and is composed of a first base sorting capacity information table 23A shown in Fig. 6(A) and a second base sorting capacity information table 23B shown in Fig. 6(B). In the following, when the sorting operation time depends on the amount of goods, the sorting operation time is calculated by the following formula:

number

number

number

[0052] The first base information table is a table that stores the sorting capacity of each base whose sorting capacity does not change depending on the time of day, and is configured with a base ID column 23AA, a unit operation time column 23AB, a sorting destination coefficient column 23AC, a fixed operation time column 23AD, and a sorting volume upper limit column 23AE, as shown in Figure 6(A). In the first base sorting capacity information table 23A, one record (row) corresponds to one base whose sorting capacity does not change depending on the time of day.

[0053] The base ID column 23AA stores the base ID of the corresponding base, the unit task time column 23AB stores the unit time of the task at that base, and the sorting destination coefficient column 23AC stores the sorting destination coefficient at that base.

[0054] The fixed work time field 23AD stores the fixed work time at that location. Note that the fixed work time refers to the fixed time that is always required for preparation when sorting work is performed. Furthermore, the upper limit of the sorting volume field 23AE stores the upper limit of the volume of material that can be sorted per unit time (upper limit of the sorting volume).

[0055] Therefore, in the example of Figure 6(A), for example, "Base A" is shown to have a unit work time of "0.1", a sorting destination coefficient of "1.1", a fixed work time of "30", and an upper limit on the amount of material to be sorted of "1000".

[0056] The second base sorting capacity information table 23B is a table that stores the sorting capacity for each time period of each base, whose sorting capacity varies depending on the time period, and as shown in Figure 6(B), it is configured with a base ID column 23BA, a unit work time column 23BB, a sorting destination coefficient column 23BC, a fixed work time column 23BD, an upper limit of sorted material volume column 23BE, a start time column 23BF, and an end time column 23BG.

[0057] In the second base sorting capacity information table 23B, one record (row) corresponds to one time period at one base where sorting capacity varies depending on the time period, and for each base, a record is provided for each time period during business hours when the same sorting capacity can be exerted.

[0058] The base ID column 23BA, unit operation time column 23BB, sorting destination coefficient column 23BC, fixed operation time column 23BD, and upper limit of sorting volume column 23BE store information similar to the information stored in the corresponding columns of the base ID column 23AA, unit operation time column 23AB, sorting destination coefficient column 23AC, fixed operation time column 23AD, and upper limit of sorting volume column 23AE in the first base sorting capacity information table 23A. The start time column 23BF stores the start time of the time period during which the corresponding sorting capacity is maintained, and the end time column 23BG stores the end time of that time period.

[0059] Therefore, in the example of Figure 6(B), for example, at "Base B," during the time period from "9:00" to "11:59," the unit work time is "0.05," the sorting destination coefficient is "1.05," the fixed work time is "40," and the upper limit of sorted material volume is "10,000," while during the time period from "12:00" to "17:00," the unit work time is "0.04," the sorting destination coefficient is "1.03," the fixed work time is "40," and the upper limit of sorted material volume is "15,000."

[0060] The transportation and delivery instruction information table 24 is a table in which information on each transportation and delivery instruction (transportation and delivery instruction information) obtained from the transportation and delivery instruction management system 2 is stored, and as shown in Fig. 7, is configured with a transportation and delivery instruction ID field 24A, a departure point field 24B, a possible departure time field 24C, an arrival point field 24D, an arrival deadline time field 24E, a volumetric weight field 24F, an actual weight field 24G, a number of small lots field 24H, and an unallocable field 24I. In the transportation and delivery instruction information table 24, one record (row) corresponds to one piece of transportation and delivery instruction information (transportation and delivery instruction information) obtained from the transportation and delivery instruction management system 2.

[0061] The transportation and delivery instruction ID field 24A stores an identifier (transportation and delivery instruction ID) unique to the transportation and delivery instruction that is assigned to the corresponding transportation and delivery instruction on the transportation and delivery instruction information table 24. The departure point field 24B stores the base ID of the departure base of the package that is the subject of the transportation and delivery instruction, and the possible departure time field 24C stores the time at which the package can depart from the departure base.

[0062] The arrival location field 24D stores the location ID of the arrival location of the package, and the arrival deadline time field 24E stores the deadline time for the package to arrive at the arrival location. Furthermore, the volume weight field 24F stores the volume weight of each package, and the actual weight field 24G stores the actual weight of each package.

[0063] Furthermore, the number of parcels field 24H stores the number of parcels of the parcel, and the non-allocation field 24I stores a flag (hereinafter referred to as the non-allocation flag) indicating whether or not the transportation and delivery instruction could not be allocated to any service (whether or not the parcel that is the subject of the transportation and delivery instruction could not be allocated to any service as a transportation and delivery target) in the transportation and delivery instruction allocation plan creation process described later with reference to Figure 16. The non-allocation flag is set to "FALSE" if the transportation and delivery instruction could be allocated to any service, and is set to "TRUE" if the transportation and delivery instruction could not be allocated to any service.

[0064] Therefore, in the example of Figure 7, the transportation and delivery instruction assigned the transportation and delivery instruction ID "0001" is a transportation and delivery instruction for the transportation and delivery of "4" parcels with a volumetric weight of "4 kg" and an actual weight of "5 kg", and is required to depart from the departure point "Point A" at "9:00" and arrive at the arrival point "Point C" by "16:00", and is able to be allocated to one of the operating flights (the non-allocation flag is "FALSE").

[0065] The allocation information table 25 is a table used to manage the correspondence between each service and the transportation and delivery instructions allocated to that service, and is configured with a service ID column 25A, a departure point column 25B, an arrival point column 25C, and a transportation and delivery instruction ID column 25D, as shown in Fig. 8. In the allocation information table 25, one record (row) corresponds to one combination of a service to which a transportation and delivery instruction is allocated and the transportation and delivery instruction allocated to that service.

[0066] The service ID field 25A stores the service ID of the corresponding service. The departure point field 25B stores the base ID of the departure point of the service, and the arrival point field 25C stores the base ID of the arrival point of the service. Furthermore, the delivery instruction ID field 25D stores the delivery instruction ID of the corresponding delivery instruction assigned to the service.

[0067] Therefore, in the example of Figure 8, for example, "Flight AB1" is a flight with a departure point at "Point A" and an arrival point at "Point B," and it is shown that this flight is assigned a transportation instruction with a transportation instruction ID of at least "0001."

[0068] The priority index information table 26 is a table for managing an index selected by a user as a priority index from among a plurality of indexes prepared in advance. In this embodiment, three indexes are prepared as such indexes: "lowest cost," which provides the lowest transportation and delivery cost; "earliest delivery date and time," which provides the earliest average delivery date and time of each package to be transported and delivered; and "minimum number of transshipments," which provides the minimum number of transshipments of packages at relay points. The transportation and delivery plan development device 6 then develops a transportation and delivery plan so as to satisfy the content of the index selected by the user as a priority index from among these three indexes.

[0069] As shown in Fig. 9, the priority index information table 26 includes a priority index column 26A. The priority index column 26A stores the names of the indexes that the user has selected as priority indexes in advance. Therefore, in the example of Fig. 9, it is shown that the user has selected the index "lowest cost" from among the three indexes in advance as the priority index.

[0070] The relay information table 27 is a table created in the process of formulating a transportation and delivery plan in accordance with the transportation and delivery plan formulation process described later with reference to Figure 16, and is used to manage various information regarding each transportation and delivery instruction in which the target cargo passes through one of the relay points, such as the arrival time and departure time of the cargo at that relay point.

[0071] 10, the relay information table 27 includes a transportation / delivery instruction ID field 27A, a relay point field 27B, an arriving service ID field 27C, an arrival time field 27D, a departing service ID field 27E, a departure time field 27F, a sorting presence / absence field 27G, and a number of lots field 27H. In the relay information table 27, one record corresponds to information at one relay point regarding one transportation / delivery instruction.

[0072] The transportation and delivery instruction ID field 27A stores the transportation and delivery instruction ID of the corresponding transportation and delivery instruction, the relay point field 27B stores the point ID of the relay point through which the package subject to the transportation and delivery instruction will pass, the arriving bus ID field 27C stores the bus ID of the bus that will deliver the package to the relay point, and the arrival time field 27D stores the scheduled time that the bus will arrive at the relay point.

[0073] The departure flight ID field 27E stores the flight ID of the flight that will relay (sort or transship) the luggage at the relay point, and the departure time field 27F stores the scheduled time that the flight will depart from the relay point.

[0074] Furthermore, the sorting column 27G stores information indicating whether or not the parcel will be sorted at the relay point. Specifically, the sorting column 27G stores "yes" if the parcel will be sorted at the relay point, and stores "no" if the parcel will not be sorted at the relay point (only transshipment). Furthermore, the number of parcels column 27H stores the number of parcels for the parcel.

[0075] Therefore, in the example of Figure 10, for example, the parcel targeted by the transportation delivery instruction "0001" is "4" parcels, and is scheduled to arrive at "Base B" at "12:00" on "Flight AB1" and then depart from "Base B" at "13:00" on "Flight BC1." It also shows that this parcel will be sorted ("Yes") at "Base B."

[0076] The sorting plan information table 28 is also a table created in the process of creating a transportation and delivery plan in accordance with the transportation and delivery plan creation process described later with reference to Fig. 16. This sorting plan information table 28 is used to store sorting plans for each relay point, which are created based on the information stored in the relay information table 27.

[0077] 11, this sorting plan information table 28 is configured to include a base ID column 28A, a start time column 28B, an end time column 28C, a sorting destination ID column 28D, a sorting destination column 28E, and a number of sorted lots column 28F. In the sorting plan information table 28, one record corresponds to one sorting destination for one sorting operation at the corresponding relay base.

[0078] The base ID field 28A stores the base ID of the relay base where the corresponding sorting work is performed. The start time field 28B stores the start time of the sorting work, and the end time field 28C stores the end time of the sorting work.

[0079] The sorting destination ID field 28D stores an identifier (sorting destination ID) assigned to the sorting destination for the sorting task, and the sorting destination field 28E stores the flight ID of the flight that is the sorting destination. Furthermore, the number of parcels to be sorted to the destination in the sorting task is stored in the number of parcels to be sorted to the destination.

[0080] Therefore, in the example of Figure 11, for example, a sorting plan has been devised at "Base B" to sort "4" packages to flight "BC1", which is the sorting destination for sorting ID "1", "3" packages to flight "BE1", which is the sorting destination for sorting ID "2", and "16" packages to "all flights except BC1 and BE1", which are the sorting destinations for sorting ID "3", during the time period from "12:15" to "12:45".

[0081] On the other hand, the allocation plan creation unit 30 is a program that has the function of creating an allocation plan (i.e., creating a transportation and delivery plan) that allocates each transportation and delivery instruction registered in the transportation and delivery instruction information table 24 (Figure 7) to one of the operating flights.

[0082] In practice, the allocation plan creation unit 30 allocates each transportation / delivery instruction stored in the transportation / delivery instruction information table 24 to one of the transportation / delivery services using any optimization method such as a local search method or a greedy method, based on information such as the departure point, possible departure time, arrival point, and arrival deadline of the cargo to be transported / delivered specified in the transportation / delivery instruction (see FIG. 7), information such as the loading capacity, departure point, departure time, arrival point, and arrival time of each service (see FIG. 3), and, if the cargo passes through a relay point, the working time at the relay point. In this case, calculations are performed using the priority index stored in the priority index information table 26 (FIG. 9) as the objective variable for optimization. The allocation plan creation unit 30 then registers the created allocation plan (transport / delivery plan) in the allocation information table 25 (FIG. 8).

[0083] The sorting plan creation unit 31 is a program that has the function of predicting the work time required for sorting work at each relay point when transporting and delivering luggage according to the allocation plan created by the allocation plan creation unit 30, and creating a sorting plan based on the predicted work time.

[0084] The evaluation and determination unit 32 is a program having a function of determining whether there is any baggage for which sorting work will not be completed before the departure of the connecting flight when sorting work is performed according to the sorting plan for sorting work at each relay point formulated by the sorting plan formulation unit 31. When the evaluation and determination unit 32 determines that the sorting plan for sorting work at each relay point formulated by the sorting plan formulation unit 31 is feasible, it displays an outline of the allocation plan and sorting plan created at that time as a transportation and delivery plan proposal on the display device 14 (Fig. 1).

[0085] (3) Configuration of the transportation and delivery plan creation instruction screen 12 shows an example of the screen configuration of a transportation and delivery plan creation instruction screen 40 that can be displayed on the display device 14 by a predetermined operation using the input device 13 (FIG. 1) in relation to the transportation and delivery plan creation function of this embodiment. This transportation and delivery plan creation instruction screen 40 is configured to include a button display area 41, a transportation and delivery instruction number display area 42, a transportation and delivery plan outline display area 43, and a transportation and delivery plan graph display area 44.

[0086] On the transportation and delivery plan creation instruction screen 40, initially, a transportation and delivery instruction / operation information import button 45, a priority indicator selection button 46, a transportation and delivery plan creation button 47, and a transportation and delivery work instruction / sorting plan output button 48 are displayed in the button display area 41, and nothing is displayed in the transportation and delivery instruction count display area 42, the transportation and delivery plan proposal summary display area 43, and the transportation and delivery plan proposal graph display area 44.

[0087] Then, by clicking the transportation and delivery instruction / operation information import button 45, the user can instruct the transportation and delivery planning device 6 to acquire transportation and delivery instructions and operation information of the service from the transportation and delivery instruction management system 2 (FIG. 1) and the service operation management system 3 (FIG. 1). The number of transportation and delivery instructions for the day acquired at this time is displayed in the transportation and delivery instruction number display area 42. At this time, a details button 49 is also displayed in the transportation and delivery instruction number display area 42, and by clicking this details button 49, details of each transportation and delivery instruction for the day can be displayed in a pop-up (not shown).

[0088] In addition, on the transportation and delivery plan creation instruction screen 40, by clicking the priority indicator selection button 46, a pop-up 50 can be displayed, as shown in Figure 13, which has buttons (hereinafter referred to as indicator buttons) 51, 52, and 53 corresponding to each of the indicators that can be selected as priority indicators: ``lowest cost,'' ``earliest delivery date and time,'' and ``least number of transshipments.''

[0089] Thus, the user can click on the desired indicator button 51 to 53 corresponding to the desired indicator from among the indicator buttons 51 to 53 displayed in this pop-up 50 to designate that indicator as a priority indicator when creating a transportation and delivery plan.

[0090] Furthermore, on the transportation and delivery plan creation instruction screen 40, by clicking the Create Transportation and Delivery Plan button 47, an instruction can be given to the transportation and delivery plan creation device 6 to create a transportation and delivery plan. As a result, an outline of the transportation and delivery plan created (including the selected priority indicator) is displayed in the transportation and delivery plan outline display area 43. At this time, a Details button 54 is also displayed in the transportation and delivery plan outline display area, and by clicking this Details button 54, details of the transportation and delivery plan can be displayed in a pop-up.

[0091] Furthermore, when the transportation and delivery plan creation button 47 is clicked, a more detailed summary of the created transportation and delivery plan is displayed in graph form in the transportation and delivery plan creation graph display area 44. Also, below the transportation and delivery plan creation graph display area 44, a transportation and delivery route list 55 for each transportation and delivery plan is displayed, which lists the sorting plans including the transportation and delivery routes of each package corresponding to each transportation and delivery instruction.

[0092] Furthermore, on the transportation and delivery plan creation instruction screen 40, by clicking the transportation and delivery work instruction / sorting plan output button 48, transportation and delivery work instructions for each bus based on the transportation and delivery plan created by the transportation and delivery plan creation device 6 (a plan for allocating transportation and delivery instructions to buses) can be sent to the drivers of each bus, and the sorting plan created by the transportation and delivery plan creation device 6 can be sent to the sorting control system 4. In this way, the drivers load the luggage assigned to them onto the buses they drive in accordance with the transportation and delivery work instructions that have been sent to them, and transport and deliver them. In addition, the sorting control system 4 controls sorting equipment such as sorters and chutes at each relay point in accordance with the sorting plan that has been sent to them.

[0093] Meanwhile, Fig. 14, in which the same reference numerals are assigned to parts corresponding to those in Fig. 12, shows an example of the configuration of a transportation and delivery plan creation instruction screen 60 according to another embodiment. This transportation and delivery plan creation instruction screen 60 basically has the same configuration as the transportation and delivery plan creation instruction screen 40 described above with reference to Fig. 12. However, on this transportation and delivery plan creation instruction screen 60, only the transportation and delivery instruction / operation information import button 45, the transportation and delivery plan creation button 47, and the transportation and delivery work instruction / sorting plan output button 48 are displayed in the button display area 41, and the priority index selection button 46 (Fig. 12) is not displayed.

[0094] On the transportation and delivery plan creation instruction screen 60, by clicking the transportation and delivery plan creation button 47, an instruction can be given to the transportation and delivery plan creation device 6 to create transportation and delivery plans in which the priority indicators are "lowest cost," "earliest delivery date and time," and "minimum number of transshipments." An outline of each transportation and delivery plan created at this time in which the priority indicator is "lowest cost," "earliest delivery date and time," or "minimum number of transshipments" is displayed in the transportation and delivery plan outline display area 43.

[0095] In addition, the transportation and delivery plan outline display area 43 also displays detail buttons 54, 61, and 62 corresponding to each transportation and delivery plan that has the priority indicators "lowest cost," "earliest delivery date and time," or "least number of transshipments." By clicking on these detail buttons 54, 61, and 62, details of each transportation and delivery plan that prioritizes the corresponding priority indicator can be displayed in a pop-up.

[0096] Furthermore, on this transportation and delivery plan creation instruction screen 60, by clicking and selecting one desired summary from the summaries of the transportation and delivery plan proposals that have "lowest cost," "earliest delivery date and time," or "minimum number of transshipments" as priority indicators displayed in the transportation and delivery plan proposal summary display area 43, a more detailed summary of the transportation and delivery plan proposal corresponding to that summary is displayed in graph form in the transportation and delivery plan proposal graph display area 44. Also displayed below the transportation and delivery plan proposal graph display area 44 is a transportation and delivery route list for each transportation and delivery plan 55 that lists the transportation and delivery routes for each package corresponding to each transportation and delivery instruction in the transportation and delivery plan.

[0097] At this time, a frame 63 is displayed surrounding the outline of the transportation and delivery plan proposal displayed in the transportation and delivery plan proposal outline display area 43 selected as described above, so that it can be seen that the outline corresponds to the outline currently displayed in graph form in the transportation and delivery plan proposal graph display area 44.

[0098] (4) Various processes related to the transportation and delivery planning function Next, various specific operations executed in the transportation and delivery planning device in relation to the transportation and delivery planning function of this embodiment will be described.

[0099] (4-1) Transportation and delivery planning process Figure 15 shows the flow of a series of processes (hereinafter referred to as transportation and delivery plan development processes) executed in the transportation and delivery plan development device 6 when the transportation and delivery plan development button 47 on the transportation and delivery plan development instruction screen 40, 60 described above with reference to Figures 12 and 14 is clicked.

[0100] When the transportation and delivery plan creation button 47 is clicked, first, the allocation plan creation unit 30 (Fig. 1) acquires transportation and delivery instructions for the day from the transportation and delivery instruction management system 2, and stores information on each acquired transportation and delivery instruction in the transportation and delivery instruction information table 24 (Fig. 7) (S1). The allocation plan creation unit 30 also acquires service information for each service from the service management system 3 (Fig. 1), and stores the acquired service information for each service in the service information table 20 (Fig. 3) (S2).

[0101] Next, the allocation plan creation unit 30 acquires the address of each base from the base information table 22 and the sorting capacity of each base from the base sorting capacity information table 23 (FIG. 1) (S3). Furthermore, the allocation plan creation unit 30 acquires the priority index specified by the user from the priority index information table 26 (FIG. 9) (S4).

[0102] Next, the allocation plan creation unit 30 executes a transportation and delivery instruction allocation process to allocate each transportation and delivery instruction registered in the transportation and delivery instruction information table 24 to one of the service routes while taking into consideration the priority index (S5), and then calls the sorting plan creation unit 31. Furthermore, when called by the allocation plan creation unit 30, the sorting plan creation unit 31 executes a relay base sorting plan creation process to create a package sorting plan for each relay base (S6).

[0103] Thereafter, the allocation plan creation unit 30 calls the evaluation and determination unit 32. When the evaluation and determination unit 32 is called by the allocation plan creation unit 30, it calculates, for each piece of luggage that passes through any of the relay points, the work time required to sort that piece of luggage at that relay point using a calculation method (in the present embodiment, the above-mentioned formulas (1) to (3)) according to the luggage sorting capacity of that relay point (S7).

[0104] Furthermore, the evaluation and determination unit 32 determines whether there is any baggage that cannot be sorted in time for the departure time of the connecting flight from the relay point, based on the calculated work time required for sorting each baggage (S8).

[0105] If a positive result is obtained in this determination, the allocation plan creation unit 30 determines whether it is possible to update the sorting plan (whether it is possible to re-draft the sorting plan) at any one of the relay points (hereinafter referred to as the target relay point) where there is baggage that will not be able to make its connecting flight (S9). This determination can be made in various ways, for example, by dividing a time frame and determining whether baggage that arrives during that time can be sorted together.

[0106] If the allocation plan creation unit 30 obtains a positive result in this determination, it calls the assortment plan creation unit 31. When the assortment plan creation unit 31 is called by the allocation plan creation unit 30, it modifies the proposed sorting plan so that all packages can make their connections in time at the target relay points (S10). When the proposed sorting plan is modified by the assortment plan creation unit 31, the processing from step S7 onwards is executed again.

[0107] On the other hand, if the determination in step S9 is negative, the allocation plan creation unit 30 executes a transportation and delivery instruction allocation plan correction process to correct the allocation plan of the necessary transportation and delivery instructions to the operating buses so that all packages can transfer in time at the target relay point (S11). Then, when the allocation plan creation unit 30 has finished correcting the allocation plan, it returns to step S6. As a result, the processes from step S6 onwards are executed again.

[0108] Then, when an affirmative result is obtained in step S8 due to the fact that an allocation plan and a sorting plan for each relay base are obtained so that all packages will be able to transfer in time at the relay bases, the evaluation determination unit 32 displays an outline of the allocation plan and the sorting plan for each relay base (transportation and delivery plan) in the transportation and delivery plan outline display area 43 of the transportation and delivery plan instruction screen 40, 60 described above with reference to Figures 12 and 14 (S12), and then ends this series of processes. This ends the transportation and delivery plan creation process.

[0109] (4-2) Transportation and delivery instruction allocation plan creation process Fig. 16 shows an example of specific processing content of the transportation and delivery instruction allocation plan creation process executed by the allocation plan creation unit 30 in step S5 of the transportation and delivery plan creation process described above with reference to Fig. 15. The allocation plan creation unit 30 creates an allocation plan in which each transportation and delivery instruction registered in the transportation and delivery instruction information table 24 is allocated to one of the service routes while taking into consideration the priority index, according to the processing procedure shown in Fig. 16.

[0110] In practice, when the processing proceeds to step S5 of the transportation and delivery plan development processing, the allocation plan creation unit 30 starts the transportation and delivery instruction allocation plan creation processing shown in Figure 16, and first selects one transportation and delivery instruction that has not been processed from step S21 onwards from the transportation and delivery instructions registered in the transportation and delivery instruction information table 24 (Figure 7) (S20).

[0111] Next, the allocation plan creation unit 30 refers to the flight information table 20 (Figure 3) and extracts all combinations of direct flights (hereinafter, as appropriate, these will be referred to as direct flights) from the departure point (departure base) to the arrival point (arrival base) of the transportation and delivery instruction selected in step S20 (hereinafter, these will be referred to as selected transportation and delivery instructions) or flights that pass through any of the relay bases (hereinafter, as appropriate, these will be referred to as via flights) (S21).

[0112] For example, the allocation plan creation unit 30 extracts, from among the flights registered in the flight information table 20, the flight of a record in which the departure point in the selected transportation and delivery instruction is stored in the departure point column 20D and the arrival point in the selected transportation and delivery instruction is stored in the arrival point column 20F as a direct flight.

[0113] In addition, the allocation plan creation unit 30 repeats the process of first extracting flights that have the departure point in the selected transportation / delivery instruction as their departure point on the flight information table 20, then extracting flights that have the arrival point of those flights as their departure point, and then extracting flights that have the arrival point of those flights as their departure point, and finally extracts all combinations of flights up to the flights that have the arrival point in the selected transportation / delivery instruction as combinations of connecting flights.

[0114] Next, the allocation plan creation unit 30 determines whether or not there is a combination of direct or indirect flights extracted in step S21 that can transport and deliver the cargo specified in the selected transportation and delivery instructions with the possible departure time, arrival deadline time, volumetric weight, actual weight, and small number of parcels (S22).

[0115] Specifically, the allocation plan creation unit 30 determines whether there is a combination of direct or indirect flights extracted in step S21 in which the operating flight departs from the departure point after the possible departure time specified in the selected transportation and delivery instruction, arrives at the destination by the arrival deadline time specified in the selected transportation and delivery instruction, and the operating flight (in the case of a direct flight, that direct flight, or in the case of a combination of indirect flights, all indirect flights) is capable of transporting and delivering the cargo with the volumetric weight, actual weight, and number of small parcels specified in the selected transportation and delivery instruction.

[0116] If the allocation plan creation unit 30 obtains a positive result in this determination, it selects one of the combinations of direct or indirect flights, allocates the selected transportation / delivery instruction to the selected combination of direct or indirect flights, and stores the allocation result in the allocation information table 25 (Fig. 8).The allocation plan creation unit 30 also sets to "FALSE" the allocation non-available flag stored in the non-allocation column 24I (Fig. 7) of the record corresponding to the selected transportation / delivery instruction in the transportation / delivery instruction information table 24 (Fig. 7) (S23).

[0117] On the other hand, if the allocation plan creation unit 30 obtains a negative result in the determination at step S22, it sets the non-allocation flag stored in the non-allocation column 24I of the record corresponding to the selected transportation / delivery instruction in the transportation / delivery instruction information table 24 to "TRUE" and excludes this selected transportation / delivery instruction from processing targets thereafter (S24). However, to prevent transportation / delivery instructions from not being allocated to a running bus, the selected transportation / delivery instruction may be allocated to one of the running buses by some method rather than being excluded from processing targets.

[0118] Next, the allocation plan creating unit 30 determines whether or not the processes of steps S21 to S24 have been executed for all transportation and delivery instructions registered in the transportation and delivery instruction information table 24 (S25).

[0119] If the allocation plan creation unit 30 obtains a negative result in this determination, it returns to step S20, and thereafter repeats the processing of steps S20 to S25 while sequentially switching the transportation and delivery instruction selected in step S20 to other transportation and delivery instructions that have not been processed in step S21 and thereafter.

[0120] When the allocation plan creation unit 30 eventually obtains a positive result in step S25 by completing the processing of steps S21 to S25 for all transportation and delivery instructions registered in the transportation and delivery instruction information table 24, it selects one transportation and delivery instruction from among the transportation and delivery instructions registered in the transportation and delivery instruction information table 24 that has already been assigned to a service and for which step S27 and subsequent steps have not yet been processed (S26).

[0121] Next, the allocation plan creation unit 30 determines whether the priority index will be improved by changing the allocation of the transportation and delivery instruction selected in step S26 (hereinafter referred to as the selected and allocated transportation and delivery instruction) to another service (S27).

[0122] For example, if the priority indicator is "cost priority," the allocation plan creation unit 30 searches for a combination of direct or indirect flights that meets the conditions of the possible departure time, arrival deadline time, and load capacity specified in the selected and allocated transportation delivery instruction, and has a lower fare than the combination of direct or indirect flights currently allocated to the selected and allocated transportation delivery instruction, and determines whether such a combination of direct or indirect flights exists.

[0123] Furthermore, when the priority indicator is "earliest delivery date and time," the allocation plan creation unit 30 searches for a combination of direct or indirect flights that can arrive at the destination earlier than the combination of direct or indirect flights currently assigned to the selected and allocated transportation and delivery instruction, while satisfying the conditions of possible departure time, arrival deadline time, and load capacity specified in the selected and allocated transportation and delivery instruction, and determines whether such a combination of direct or indirect flights exists.

[0124] Furthermore, if the priority indicator is "minimum number of transfers," the allocation plan creation unit 30 searches for a combination of direct or indirect flights that satisfies the conditions of the possible departure time, arrival deadline time, and load capacity specified in the selected and allocated transportation and delivery instruction, but has fewer transfers than the combination of direct or indirect flights currently allocated to the selected and allocated transportation and delivery instruction, and determines whether such a combination of direct or indirect flights exists.

[0125] If the allocation plan creation unit 30 obtains a negative result in this determination, it proceeds to step S29. If the allocation plan creation unit 30 obtains a positive result in the determination in step S27, it updates the allocation information table 25 (FIG. 8) so as to change the allocation of operating flights for the selected and allocated transportation and delivery instructions to the combination of direct flights or connecting flights detected in the search in step S27 (S28).

[0126] Next, the allocation plan creation unit 30 determines whether or not the processing from step S27 onwards has been completed for all transportation and delivery instructions that have been registered in the transportation and delivery instruction information table 24 and that have been allocated to operating flights (combinations of direct flights or connecting flights) (S29).

[0127] If the allocation plan creation unit 30 obtains a negative result in this judgment, it returns to step S26, and then repeats the processing of steps S26 to S29 while sequentially switching the transportation and delivery instructions selected in step S26 to other transportation and delivery instructions that have not been processed in step S27 and beyond and that have been allocated to any of the operating flights (a combination of direct flights or connecting flights).

[0128] Then, when the allocation plan creation unit 30 obtains a positive result in step S29 by completing the processing from step S27 onwards for all transportation and delivery instructions that have been registered in the transportation and delivery instruction information table 24 and have been allocated to operating flights, it terminates this transportation and delivery instruction allocation plan creation process and returns to the transportation and delivery plan development process.

[0129] The above-described transportation and delivery instruction allocation plan creation process is an example of allocating a service to each transportation and delivery instruction registered in the transportation and delivery instruction information table 24 using a so-called local search method, and it is also possible to allocate a service using other approximate solutions to optimization problems, such as the greedy method.

[0130] (4-3) Relay point sorting plan creation process Next, we will explain the specific contents of the relay base sorting plan creation process executed by the assortment plan creation unit 31 in step S6 of the transportation and delivery plan creation process described above with reference to Fig. 15. Note that the contents of the relay base sorting plan creation process differ depending on whether the target relay base has a limit on the number of items to be sorted or not, and therefore these processes will be explained separately.

[0131] (4-3-1) First relay point sorting plan formulation process Figure 17 shows an example of specific processing content of the relay base sorting plan creation process (hereinafter referred to as the first relay base sorting plan creation process) executed by the assortment plan creation unit 31 for a relay base with an unlimited number of sorting destinations in step S6 of the transportation and delivery plan creation process described above with reference to Figure 15. The assortment plan creation unit 31 creates a sorting plan for the relay base that is currently the target (hereinafter referred to as the target relay base) in accordance with the processing procedure shown in Figure 17.

[0132] In practice, the sorting plan formulation unit 31 first creates the relay information table 27 described above with reference to Figure 10 based on the allocation information for each bus stored in the allocation information table 25 (Figure 8), the bus information for each bus stored in the bus information table 20 (Figure 3), and the transportation and delivery instruction information for each transportation and delivery instruction stored in the transportation and delivery instruction information table 24 (S30).

[0133] Specifically, the assortment planning unit 31 extracts all records in the allocation information table 25 in which the base ID of any relay base is stored in the arrival location field 25C, and for one of the extracted records (hereinafter referred to as a first allocation information record), acquires the transportation and delivery instruction ID stored in the transportation and delivery instruction ID field 25D, the base ID stored in the arrival location field 25C, and the service ID stored in the service ID field 25A. The assortment planning unit 31 also secures an unused record in the relay information table 27, and stores the transportation and delivery instruction ID, the base ID, and the service ID acquired from the first allocation information record in the allocation information table 25 as described above in the transportation and delivery instruction ID field 27A, the relay location field 27B, and the arrival service ID field 27C of that record (hereinafter referred to as a target record).

[0134] Furthermore, the assortment planning unit 31 extracts a record (hereinafter referred to as a second allocation information record) from among the records other than the first allocation information record in the allocation information table 25, in which the transportation and delivery instruction ID acquired from the first allocation information record is stored in the transportation and delivery instruction ID column 25D and the base ID acquired from the first allocation information record is stored in the departure point column 25B. Then, the assortment planning unit 31 stores the flight ID stored in the flight ID column 25A of the extracted second allocation information record in the departure flight ID column 27E of the above-mentioned target record in the relay information table 27.

[0135] Furthermore, the sorting plan formulation unit 31 extracts from the flight information table 20 (Figure 3) the time at which a flight whose flight ID is stored in the arriving flight ID column 27C of the above-mentioned target record in the relay information table 27 arrives at the relay station whose station ID is stored in the relay station column 27B of the target record, and the time at which a flight whose flight ID is stored in the departing flight ID column 27E of the target record departs from the relay station, and stores these in the arrival time column 27D and departure time column 27F of the target record, respectively.

[0136] Furthermore, the sorting plan formulation unit 31 identifies a record among the records in the transportation and delivery instruction information table 24 (Figure 7) in which the transportation and delivery instruction ID stored in the transportation and delivery instruction ID column 27A of the target record in the relay information table 27 is stored in the transportation and delivery instruction ID column 24A, obtains the number of small lots stored in the number of small lots column 24H of that record, and stores it in the number of small lots column 27H of the target record in the relay information table 27.

[0137] Furthermore, the sorting plan formulation unit 31 determines whether or not the current transportation and delivery plan includes a plan to sort the cargo targeted by the transportation and delivery instruction assigned the transportation and delivery instruction ID stored in the transportation and delivery instruction ID column 27A of the target record at the target relay point, and stores "Yes" in the sorting presence / absence column 27G if sorting is to be performed, or "No" if sorting is not to be performed.

[0138] The assortment plan formulation unit 31 then executes the above process for all records in which the base ID of any relay base is stored in the arrival location column 25C among the records in the allocation information table 25. In this way, the relay information table 27 is created.

[0139] Next, as shown in Fig. 18(A), the assortment plan formulation unit 31 extracts all information (relay information) of each record in which the hub ID of the target relay hub is stored in the relay hub column 27B from the created relay information table 27 (S31). Note that Fig. 18(A) is an example in which "hub B" is the target relay hub.

[0140] Next, the sorting plan creation unit 31 creates sorting plan information for each relay information extracted in step S31 (S32). Specifically, as shown in Fig. 18(B), the sorting plan creation unit 31 creates sorting plan information (creates a sorting plan) with the arrival time in the relay information as the start time, the departure time as the end time, and the departing flight ID as the sorting destination.

[0141] The sorting plan information is created in accordance with the following four policies (A) to (D). (A) Sorting plan information is created so that all sorting work to be carried out at the target relay point is completed by the departure time. (B) All packages arriving at the relevant transfer point on the same flight will begin sorting at the same time. (C) Time slots may be divided and the number of sorting destinations may be limited for each time slot. (D) If the equipment has a limit on the number of sorting locations and it is necessary to sort more destinations than this, the packages will be prioritized and sorted in multiple stages.

[0142] In this case, the following (E) and (F) will be applied to assign "baggage priority." (E) The transportation and delivery instruction with the earliest departure time from the target relay point to be sorted shall be given priority, and the bus to which the transportation and delivery instruction is assigned or the next point shall be assigned as the sorting destination. (F) When there are multiple transportation and delivery instructions with the same departure time but different sorting destinations, priority is given to sorting the transportation and delivery instruction that arrives at the target relay point later and has a shorter time between arrival and departure.

[0143] In addition, the "sorting destination" in (E) and (F) refers to each assigned operating flight, each base station that will be the next destination, or a combination of multiple operating flights or base stations.

[0144] Specifically, as shown in Fig. 19(A), the assortment planning unit 31 first sorts the relay information extracted in step S31 in descending order of departure time from the target relay point in accordance with the above-mentioned policy (E). At this time, for relay information with the same departure time, the assortment planning unit 31 sorts the relay information in descending order of arrival time in accordance with the above-mentioned policy (F).

[0145] Next, the sorting plan formulation unit 31 sets sorting for each sorted relay information in descending order of sorting ranking, as shown in Fig. 19(B). Note that in Fig. 19(B), all sorting is assumed to be completed in 30 minutes. The same applies to Fig. 21, which will be described later.

[0146] In this case, the sorting plan formulation unit 31 sets the sorting in accordance with the above-mentioned policy (E). For example, in the example of Fig. 19(B), the sorting order of the relay information from the service "GB1" to the service "BC1" is the highest, so first, the sorting from the service "GB1" to the service "BC1" is set.

[0147] Furthermore, in accordance with the above-mentioned policy (B), the sorting plan formulation unit 31 sets the sorting of the service "GB1" to the service "BC1," and also sets the sorting of the service "GB1" to the service "BD1," the sorting of the service "GB1" to the service "BE1," and the sorting of the service "GB1" to the service "BF1." Therefore, in this case, the sorting is set so that the luggage loaded onto "GB1" is sorted into the services "BC1," "BD1," "BE1," and "BF1" during the time period of 12:30 to 13:00.

[0148] Furthermore, the sorting plan creation unit 31 then sets sorting for the relay information from the flight "AB1" to the flight "BC1," which has the next highest sorting priority after the relay information from the flight "GB1" to the flight "BC1," for which sorting has already been set, and the relay information from the flight "GB1" to the flight "BD1." At the same time, in accordance with the policy (B) above, the sorting plan creation unit 31 also sets the sorting from the flight "AB1" to the flight "BD1," the sorting from the flight "AB1" to the flight "BE1," and the sorting from the flight "AB1" to the flight "BF1."

[0149] Next, the assortment plan creation unit 31 combines the assortment plan information that can be combined from the assortment plan information created in step S32 (S33). Specifically, as shown in Figures 18(B) and (C), the assortment plan creation unit 31 combines the assortment plan information if there is assortment plan information that has the same sorting destination and overlaps in the time period between the start time and the end time. In this case, the assortment plan creation unit 31 combines the assortment plan information using the earlier start time and the later end time.

[0150] Then, the assortment plan formulation unit 31 ends the first relay station assortment plan formulation process.

[0151] (4-3-2) Second relay point sorting plan formulation process Figure 20 shows an example of specific processing content of the relay base sorting plan creation process (hereinafter referred to as the second relay base sorting plan creation process) executed by the assortment plan creation unit 31 for a relay base with a limited number of sorting destinations in step S6 of the transportation and delivery plan creation process described above with reference to Figure 15. The assortment plan creation unit 31 creates a sorting plan for the target relay base in accordance with the processing procedure shown in Figure 20.

[0152] In practice, the sorting plan development unit 31 first creates a relay information table 27 (Figure 10) (S40) in the same manner as steps S30 and S31 of the first relay point sorting plan development process, and extracts relay information for all transportation and delivery instructions in which the target cargo will be relayed through the target relay point from the created relay information table 27 (S41).

[0153] Next, the sorting plan creation unit 31 selects, from the relay information extracted in step S41, relay information that has not been processed from step S43 onwards and has the shortest time from arrival to departure (S42).The sorting plan creation unit 31 also extracts, from the relay information table 27, all relay information of luggage that arrives at the target relay base on the same flight as the flight carrying the luggage corresponding to the relay information selected in step S42 (hereinafter referred to as selected relay information) (S43).

[0154] Next, the sorting plan creation unit 31 extracts the relay information from the relay information extracted in step S43, from the connecting flight with the earliest departure time up to (maximum number of sorting destinations - 1), and creates sorting plan information for each of the extracted relay information (S44).

[0155] Specifically, for example, in the case of Figure 19(A) where the upper limit on the number of sorts at the target relay point is "3", the sorting plan development unit 31 sets sorting plan information for sorting from the service "GB1" to the service "BC1" and sorting plan information for sorting from the service "GB1" to the service "BD1", as shown in Figure 21.

[0156] Furthermore, the assortment plan creation unit 31 creates assortment plan information for each piece of relay information extracted in step S43, for which assortment plan information was not created in step S44, by sorting the piece of relay information into "other" (S45).

[0157] For example, in the example of Figure 21, sorting plan information is created for sorting from flight "GB1" to flight "BE1" and from flight "GB1" to flight "BF1" with "Other" as the sorting destination.

[0158] Next, the sorting plan creation unit 31 creates sorting plan information for each relay information for which sorting plan information to be sorted into "other" has been created in the same manner as in step S44 (S46). At this time, the sorting plan creation unit 31 delays the start time in the sorting information for each relay information by the sorting work time calculated by the above-mentioned formula (3) from the start time in the sorting plan information created in step S44, so that the number of destinations for sorting plans processed simultaneously does not exceed the upper limit of the number of sorting destinations.

[0159] In addition, if the number of relay information for which sorting plan information to be sorted as "other" has been created is greater than (upper limit of number of sorting destinations - 1), the sorting plan development unit 31 repeats the processing of steps S44 to S46 (multi-stage sorting) to create sorting plan information for each relay information sorted as "other" in step S45.

[0160] Next, the assortment plan creation unit 31 combines the assortment plan information that can be combined among the assortment plan information created up to step S46 in the same manner as step S33 of the first relay point assortment plan creation process (S47).

[0161] Furthermore, the assortment plan creation unit 31 determines whether or not there is any relay information that is not linked to a assortment plan (steps S42 and onward have not been processed) among the relay information extracted in step S41 (S48). If the assortment plan creation unit 31 obtains a positive result in this determination, it returns to step S42, and thereafter repeats the processes of steps S42 to S48 while sequentially switching the relay information selected in step S42 to other relay information that has not been processed in step S43 and onward.

[0162] Then, when the assorting plan creation unit 31 eventually obtains a positive result in step S48 by completing linking of the assorting plans to all of the relay information extracted in step S41, it ends this second relay base assorting plan creation process.

[0163] (4-4) Correction process for transportation and delivery instruction allocation plan Fig. 22 shows an example of specific processing contents of the transportation and delivery instruction allocation plan correction process executed by the allocation plan creation unit 30 in step S11 of the transportation and delivery plan creation process described above with reference to Fig. 15. In the processing procedure shown in Fig. 22, the allocation plan creation unit 30 corrects the transportation and delivery instruction allocation plans that have been created up to that point, in accordance with the following policies (G) to (K).

[0164] (G) If there is a flight that passes through the same section and can make it to the arrival deadline at the destination, and if there is available loading capacity, it will be assigned to that flight. (H) If there is a service that passes through the same section and can make the arrival deadline at the destination, and there is no available loading capacity, the allocation of other transportation and delivery instructions assigned to that service is changed, and the transportation and delivery instructions that cannot make the deadline are assigned to that service. (I) Assign the route to a flight that meets the conditions via another route. (J) If there is a transportation / delivery instruction that can be allocated to another service that satisfies the conditions among the transportation / delivery instructions that are sorted before the transportation / delivery instruction that cannot be made on time, the allocation of that transportation / delivery instruction is changed later.

[0165] In practice, when the allocation plan creation unit 30 proceeds to step S11 of the transportation and delivery plan formulation process described above with reference to Figure 15, it starts the transportation and delivery instruction allocation plan revision process shown in Figure 20, and first selects one arbitrary transportation and delivery instruction for which steps S51 and beyond have not been processed and for which the cargo will not be able to make the transfer in time at the target relay point described above (S50).

[0166] Next, for the transportation instruction selected in step S50 (hereinafter referred to as the target transportation instruction), the allocation plan creation unit 30 extracts, from among the operating flights (combinations of direct flights or connecting flights from the target relay base) that run from the target relay base to the destination, the operating flights that have a later departure time than the original operating flights (S51).

[0167] Next, the allocation plan creation unit 30 determines whether or not there is any service among the services extracted in step S51 that satisfies the constraints of the arrival time at the destination and the load capacity in the target transportation and delivery instruction (S52). If the determination is positive, the allocation plan creation unit 30 modifies the allocation plan so that the target transportation and delivery instruction is allocated to one of the services among the services for which the positive result was obtained in step S52 (S55), and then ends the transportation and delivery instruction allocation plan modification process.

[0168] In contrast, if the allocation plan creation unit 30 obtains a negative result in the judgment of step S52, it extracts other combinations of flights from the departure point to the arrival point of the target cargo for the target transportation and delivery instruction, excluding the combination of flights currently allocated (S53).

[0169] The allocation plan creation unit 30 then determines whether or not there is a combination of flights among the combinations of flights extracted in step S53 that satisfies the constraints (requirements) of the arrival time and load capacity of the cargo in the target transportation and delivery instruction (S54).

[0170] If the allocation plan creation unit 30 obtains a positive result in this judgment, it modifies the allocation plan so that the target transportation and delivery instruction is allocated to any one of the combinations of flights detected in step S54 that satisfy the constraints of the cargo arrival time and load capacity in the target transportation and delivery instruction (S55), and then terminates the transportation and delivery instruction allocation plan modification process.

[0171] On the other hand, if the allocation plan creation unit 30 obtains a negative result in the determination in step S54, it extracts all transportation and delivery instructions that do not satisfy only the load capacity constraint condition (S56).The allocation plan creation unit 30 then determines whether or not there is a transportation and delivery instruction among the extracted transportation and delivery instructions that can be allocated to another operating service (a combination of a direct service and a connecting service) that is allocated to another transportation and delivery instruction (S57).

[0172] If the allocation plan creation unit 30 obtains a positive result in this judgment, it replaces the transportation and delivery instructions extracted in step S56 with the transportation and delivery instructions extracted in step S57 (S58), and then terminates the transportation and delivery instruction allocation plan correction process.

[0173] On the other hand, if the determination in step S57 is negative, the allocation plan creation unit 30 considers countermeasures to allow all packages to arrive at the destination before the arrival deadline, such as adding more flights or increasing the sorting capacity of the target relay base (for example, temporarily adding workers), and modifies the allocation plan based on such countermeasures (S59).The allocation plan creation unit 30 then terminates the transportation and delivery instruction allocation plan modification process.In this case, the countermeasures are displayed on the transportation and delivery plan creation instruction screens 40 and 60.

[0174] (5) Effects of this embodiment As described above, the transportation and delivery plan development device 6 of this embodiment develops a transportation and delivery plan in which each transportation and delivery instruction is assigned to a respective operating flight, evaluates the transportation and delivery plan taking into account the baggage sorting capacity at each relay point on the route from the departure point to the arrival point of each baggage, and modifies the transportation and delivery plan as necessary based on the evaluation results so that all baggage arrives in time for connecting flights at the relay points.

[0175] Therefore, the transportation and delivery plan creation device 6 of the present invention can create a transportation and delivery plan that takes into account the work time at relay points, and can prevent the occurrence of a situation where luggage cannot be loaded onto a connecting flight due to work delays at relay points, etc. Therefore, the transportation and delivery plan creation device 6 can prevent the occurrence of delayed delivery of luggage.

[0176] (6) Other embodiments In the above embodiment, the transportation and delivery planning device 6 is configured as one computer device, but the present invention is not limited to this, and the transportation and delivery planning device 6 may be configured as, for example, a distributed computing system made up of multiple computer devices.

[0177] In the above embodiment, the transportation and delivery plan creation instruction screens 40, 60 are configured as shown in Figures 12 and 14, but the present invention is not limited to this and various other screen configurations can be widely applied. In this case, the sorting plan for each relay point may be displayed in a more easily understandable manner, for example, as shown in Figure 19(B).

[0178] Furthermore, in the above-described embodiment, the sorting control system 4 controls the sorting equipment at the relay point in accordance with the sorting plan formulated by the transportation and delivery planning device 6, but the present invention is not limited to this, and the transportation and delivery planning device 6 may also control the sorting equipment at the relay point in accordance with the sorting plan formulated by itself. [Industrial Applicability]

[0179] The present invention can be widely applied to transportation and delivery plan making devices of various configurations that make transportation and delivery plans by allocating transportation and delivery instructions for each package to a service. [Explanation of symbols]

[0180] 1...Transportation and delivery plan development system, 2...Transportation and delivery instruction management system, 3...Operation service management system, 4...Sorting control system, 6...Transportation and delivery plan development device, 10...CPU, 13...Input device, 14...Display device, 20...Operation service information table, 21...Freight rate table, 22...Base information table, 23...Base sorting capacity information table, 24...Transportation and delivery instruction information table, 25...Allocation information table, 26...Priority indicator information table, 27...Relay information table, 28...Sorting plan information table, 30...Allocation plan creation unit, 31...Sorting plan development unit, 32...Evaluation and judgment unit, 40...Transportation and delivery plan development instruction screen, 50...Pop-up.

Claims

1. In a transportation and delivery plan making device that makes a transportation and delivery plan by allocating transportation and delivery instructions of each package to a service, an allocation plan creation unit that creates an allocation plan for allocating each of the transportation and delivery instructions to each service for which an operation plan has been created in advance; a sorting plan creation unit that creates a sorting plan for the packages at a relay point based on the allocation plan for each of the transportation and delivery instructions created by the allocation plan creation unit; an evaluation and determination unit that calculates a work time for a sorting operation at the relay point according to the sorting plan and evaluates the transportation and delivery plan based on the calculation result; Equipped with Based on the evaluation result of the evaluation and determination unit, the sorting plan creation unit changes the sorting plan, or the allocation plan creation unit modifies the allocation plan, so that the sorting work for each of the luggage at the relay base is completed by the departure of the flight at the connecting destination assigned to the transportation and delivery instruction. A transportation and delivery plan planning device comprising:

2. The allocation plan creation unit, The allocation plan is created by a predetermined optimization method using a pre-specified index as a target variable.

2. The transportation and delivery planning device according to claim 1 .

3. The evaluation and determination unit is The sorting time is calculated using a calculation method according to the sorting capacity of the package at the relay point.

2. The transportation and delivery planning device according to claim 1 .

4. The evaluation and determination unit is Depending on whether the sorting capacity of the luggage at the relay base corresponds to a case in which the sorting time varies depending on the amount of goods processed simultaneously, a case in which the sorting time varies depending on the amount of goods processed simultaneously and the number of destinations, or a case in which the sorting time varies depending on the amount of goods processed simultaneously and the number of destinations and the upper limit of the number of sorts of the sorting equipment, the sorting time is calculated using the calculation method according to the corresponding sorting capacity of the luggage.

4. The transportation and delivery planning device according to claim 3.

5. The evaluation and determination unit is Depending on whether the sorting capacity of the luggage at the relay point varies with time of day or does not vary with time of day, the sorting time is calculated using the calculation method according to the sorting capacity of the luggage.

4. The transportation and delivery planning device according to claim 3.

6. The evaluation and determination unit is The final allocation plan and sorting plan are displayed.

2. The transportation and delivery planning device according to claim 1 .

7. A transportation and delivery plan creation method executed by a transportation and delivery plan creation device that creates a transportation and delivery plan by allocating transportation and delivery instructions for each package to a service, comprising: A first step of creating an allocation plan for allocating each of the transportation and delivery instructions to each service for which an operation plan has been created in advance; A second step of creating a sorting plan for the packages at a relay point based on the created allocation plan for each of the transportation and delivery instructions; A third step of calculating a work time for the sorting work at the relay point according to the sorting plan and evaluating the transportation and delivery plan based on the calculation result; A fourth step of changing the sorting plan or modifying the allocation plan based on the evaluation result of the transportation and delivery plan so that the sorting work for each of the luggage is completed at the relay base by the departure of the transfer flight assigned to the transportation and delivery instruction; A transportation and delivery plan planning method comprising:

8. In the first step, the transportation and delivery planning device The allocation plan is created by a predetermined optimization method using a pre-specified index as a target variable. The transportation and delivery planning method according to claim 7 .

9. In the third step, the transportation and delivery plan planning device The sorting time is calculated using a calculation method according to the sorting capacity of the package at the relay point. The transportation and delivery planning method according to claim 7 .

10. In the third step, the transportation and delivery plan planning device Depending on whether the sorting capacity of the luggage at the relay base corresponds to a case in which the sorting time varies depending on the amount of goods processed simultaneously, a case in which the sorting time varies depending on the amount of goods processed simultaneously and the number of destinations, or a case in which the sorting time varies depending on the amount of goods processed simultaneously and the number of destinations and the upper limit of the number of sorts of the sorting equipment, the sorting time is calculated using the calculation method according to the corresponding sorting capacity of the luggage. The transportation and delivery planning method according to claim 9 .

11. In the third step, the transportation and delivery plan planning device Depending on whether the sorting capacity of the luggage at the relay point varies with time of day or does not vary with time of day, the sorting time is calculated using the calculation method according to the sorting capacity of the luggage. The transportation and delivery planning method according to claim 9 .

12. In the third step, the transportation and delivery plan planning device The final allocation plan and sorting plan are displayed. The transportation and delivery planning method according to claim 7 .

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