Supply chain network creation device, supply chain network creation method and program

Abstract

To provide a supply chain network creation device, a supply chain network creation method, and a program capable of extracting up to upstream companies when creating a supply chain network of a target item and hardly including companies not related to the item.SOLUTION: A supply chain network creation device 100 is provided with a BOM creation unit 122 for creating a BOM (Bill Of Materials) based on a transaction history 132 having information on an ordering enterprise, an order receiving enterprise, and items to be traded between the ordering enterprise and the order receiving enterprise, and a supply chain network creation unit 121 for creating a supply chain network representing a transaction relation between the ordering enterprise and the order receiving enterprise based on the BOM.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to a supply chain network creation device, a supply chain network creation method, and a program. In particular, the present invention relates to a supply chain network creation device and the like that can be suitably used for hierarchically extracting a supply chain network between an ordering company and an ordering company.

Background Art

[0002] Recently, for example, in the manufacturing and distribution industries, risks that threaten stable production and business continuity, such as shortages of components such as semiconductors triggered by disasters, financial crises, terrorism, pandemics, etc., and soaring raw material and energy prices, have been increasing. In addition, with the global expansion of businesses, the proportion of companies such as suppliers, manufacturers, wholesalers, logistics companies, and distributors that make up the supply chain (SC: Supply Chain) related to one product is dispersed worldwide, and the proportion of exposure to these risks has also been increasing. In response to such a situation, attention has been focused on strengthening the supply chain. Specifically, it is necessary to identify the companies that make up one's own supply chain, grasp in advance the risks that may affect production activities, take countermeasures in advance, and be able to quickly grasp the situation and take immediate countermeasures in the event of an incident. However, although companies grasp the items with suppliers (conveniently called Tier 1) that have direct transactions with themselves, the information on the suppliers (conveniently called Tier 2) involved in the production of each Tier 1 is confidential information, so it is difficult for companies to grasp the companies and items upstream of Tier 1. Currently, it is necessary to spend a lot of man-hours to conduct investigations using a large number of people or to estimate and identify them by some method.

[0003] Patent Document 1 describes an information processing system. This information processing system includes a supply chain network acquisition unit that acquires a supply chain network in which a plurality of nodes corresponding to a plurality of companies, each node having an attribute related to the company including the industrial classification of the company, are connected by a plurality of links indicating a transaction relationship associating the product-supplying company and the product-receiving company. Further, this information processing system includes a vector representation calculation unit that calculates a plurality of vector representations, each indicating a feature amount of a plurality of nodes, corresponding to each of the plurality of nodes, by applying a graph embedding method to the supply chain network. And as an application example of this information processing system, when the degree of association between the vector representation of a node indicating a semiconductor manufacturing company and the vector representation of a node indicating a manufacturing equipment manufacturer is equal to or greater than a given threshold value, the information processing system can determine that the link connecting the node indicating the semiconductor manufacturing company and the node indicating the manufacturing equipment manufacturer is an essential link related to the business. On the other hand, when the degree of association between the vector representation of a node indicating a semiconductor manufacturing company and the vector representation of a node indicating a food-related company is less than a given threshold value, it is described that the information processing system can determine that the link connecting the node indicating the semiconductor manufacturing company and the node indicating the food-related company is a non-essential link not related to the business.

Prior Art Documents

Patent Documents

[0004]

Patent Document 1

Summary of the Invention

Problems to be Solved by the Invention

[0005] In the prior art, a supply chain network is represented in a form where nodes indicating enterprises and links associating the ordering enterprises and receiving enterprises of products are connected. At this time, the degree of relevance is calculated based on attributes such as the industrial classification of enterprises, and the essential links related to the business are identified. However, for example, in the manufacturing industry, when producing a product using items with different medium classifications among the industrial classifications, such cases are not uncommon. For example, the parts of a personal computer are related to multiple medium classifications such as plastic, rubber, steel, non-ferrous metals, and semiconductors. An enterprise producing these parts belongs to the manufacturing industry in the large classification, but when focusing on the degree of relevance in the large classification, it may not be possible to sufficiently narrow down the parts related to the production of personal computers and the enterprises handling them. That is, for example, even when creating a supply chain network for a personal computer, enterprises other than those handling the parts of this personal computer may be included in the supply chain network. An object of the present invention is to provide a supply chain network creation device, a supply chain network creation method, and a program that can extract even more upstream enterprises when creating a supply chain network for a target item and are less likely to include enterprises not related to this item.

Means for Solving the Problems

[0006] To solve the above problems, the present invention provides a supply chain network creation device including a parts list creation unit that creates a parts list based on a transaction history having information on ordering enterprises, receiving enterprises, and items traded between the ordering enterprises and the receiving enterprises, and a supply chain network creation unit that creates a supply chain network representing the transaction relationship between the ordering enterprises and the receiving enterprises based on the parts list. In this case, when creating a supply chain network for a target item, it is possible to provide a supply chain network creation device that can extract even more upstream enterprises and is less likely to include enterprises not related to this item.

[0007] Here, for example, the component composition table creation unit creates a component composition table for items commonly procured by the ordering company from the receiving company based on the transaction history. In this case, the companies related to the target items can be narrowed down. Also, for example, based on an item classification table that defines items in two or more classification hierarchies, an item categorization unit further estimates the hierarchy and classification for each hierarchy in the item classification table for the items traded according to the transaction history, and the component composition table creation unit creates a component composition table based on the items classified by the classification estimated by the item categorization unit. In this case, even if the item names are different among companies, they can be identified as the same. Furthermore, for example, the item categorization unit obtains the similarity between the product name in the first hierarchy, which is the most detailed hierarchy in the item classification table, and the item to be traded, and classifies the item to be traded into the product name in the second hierarchy, which is the hierarchy one level above the first hierarchy, that contains the most similar product names in the first hierarchy. In this case, categorization can be performed more accurately. Moreover, for example, when there are no items similar to the first hierarchy, the item categorization unit sequentially raises the hierarchy to classify the item to be traded. In this case, it becomes easier to obtain the categorization result. And, for example, the supply chain network creation unit creates supply chain network information representing the relationship between the ordering company, the receiving company, and the items handled by the receiving company based on the transaction history, and creates a supply chain network based on the supply chain network information. In this case, a rough supply chain network can be created. Also, for example, the supply chain network creation unit further adds transaction relationship information including the selling company and the purchasing company to create the supply chain network information. In this case, it is possible to prevent the situation where companies that are originally included in the supply chain network are not included. Furthermore, for example, the supply chain network creation unit creates a supply chain network by deleting companies that are not in the component composition table. In this case, companies that have no relation to the target items can be excluded, and the companies related to the target items can be narrowed down. Furthermore, for example, when considering the hierarchical relationship between the ordering company and the receiving company, the supply chain network creation unit creates a supply chain network by deleting companies not included in the parts list for each hierarchy. In this case, it is possible to reduce the resources used to create the supply chain network. Also, for example, the supply chain network creation unit creates display information representing a supply chain network with the ordering company as the parent node, the receiving company as the child node, and the transaction relationship as the arc. In this case, a supply chain network that is visually easy to understand can be displayed. Furthermore, for example, the supply chain network creation unit creates display information by changing the display method of at least one of the arc and the node according to at least one of the certainty of the transaction relationship and the freshness at the time of creating the transaction history. In this case, the reliability of the supply chain network can be visually grasped. Furthermore, for example, the parts list creation unit creates a string for inquiring about the members used in the production of the item, and creates a parts list using a generative AI or a search engine based on the string. In this case, the parts list can be created more easily.

[0008] Also, the present invention is a supply chain network creation method in which a processor executes a program recorded in a memory to create a parts list based on a transaction history having information on an item traded between an ordering company, a receiving company, and the ordering company and the receiving company, and creates a supply chain network representing the transaction relationship between the ordering company and the receiving company based on the parts list. In this case, when creating a supply chain network for a target item, it is possible to extract even more upstream companies, and a supply chain network creation method in which companies not related to this item are less likely to be included can be provided.

[0009] Furthermore, the present invention is a program for causing a computer to realize a function of creating a parts list based on a transaction history having information on an ordering company, an ordered company, and items traded between the ordering company and the ordered company, and a function of creating a supply chain network representing the transaction relationship between the ordering company and the ordered company based on the parts list. In this case, when creating a supply chain network for a target item, it is possible to extract up to more upstream companies, and a function of making it difficult to include companies not related to this item can be realized by the computer.

Advantages of the Invention

[0010] According to the present invention, when creating a supply chain network for parts constituting a product, it is possible to extract up to more upstream companies, and it is possible to provide a supply chain network creation device, a supply chain network creation method, and a program in which companies not related to this product are less likely to be included.

Brief Description of the Drawings

[0011]

Figure 1

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Embodiments for Carrying Out the Invention

[0012] Hereinafter, with reference to the accompanying drawings, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail. Here, the present invention will be described by the first embodiment to the second embodiment. 〔First Embodiment〕 <Overall Description of Information Processing System 1> FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the overall configuration of the information processing system 1 according to this embodiment. The information processing system 1 includes a supply chain network creation device 100 for creating a supply chain and an external enterprise information management device 300 for managing information about enterprises, which are connected via a communication means 200.

[0013] The supply chain network creation device 100 includes an input unit 110, an arithmetic unit 120, a storage unit 130, a communication unit 140, an output unit 150, and a display unit 160.

[0014] The input unit 110 receives input from the user. The input unit 110 is, for example, an input device. Examples of the input device include a keyboard, a touch pad, a mouse, a trackball, etc.

[0015] The computing unit 120 performs a process of creating a supply chain network. The computing unit 120 is a processor such as a CPU (Central Processing Unit), for example. The computing unit 120 creates a supply chain network by executing programs such as an OS (basic software) and application software (application software). The computing unit 120 includes a supply chain network creation unit 121, a BOM (Bill Of Material) creation unit 122, and an item categorization unit 123. The BOM creation unit 122 is an example of a component composition table creation unit, and creates a BOM based on a transaction history 132 having information on the ordering company, the receiving company, and the items traded between the ordering company and the receiving company. A BOM (bill of materials) is a drawing or table that records information on the components and units that make up a product. At this time, the BOM creation unit 122 creates a BOM based on the items commonly procured by the ordering company from the receiving company based on the transaction history 132. The supply chain network creation unit 121 creates a supply chain network representing the transaction relationship between the ordering company and the receiving company based on the BOM. The item categorization unit 123 estimates the hierarchy and classification for each hierarchy in the product code information 134 for the items traded by the transaction history 132 based on the product code information 134. Details of these processing units will be described later.

[0016] The storage unit 130 stores programs and data that operate in the computing unit 120. The storage unit 130 is, for example, a ROM (Read Only Memory) in which a BIOS (Basic Input Output System) or the like is stored, or a RAM used as a main storage device. Further, the storage unit 130 is a storage such as an HDD (Hard Disk Drive) or an SSD (Solid State Drive), for example. The memory unit 130 stores enterprise information 131 which is information of enterprises, transaction history 132 which is information on the history of transactions between enterprises, transaction relationship information 133 which is information on the transaction relationships between enterprises, product code information 134 which is the classification code of products, BOM information 135 which is information on the BOM (Bill of Materials), SC (Supply Chain) network information 136 which is information on the supply chain, and enterprise item information 137 which is information on the items of products and parts handled by the enterprise. The detailed content of these information will be described later.

[0017] The communication unit 140 communicates with the outside. The communication unit 140 is, for example, a communication interface. The output unit 150 outputs the information on the supply chain network created by the arithmetic unit 120. The output unit 150 is, for example, a function of the processor. The display unit 160 displays the supply chain network created by the arithmetic unit 120. The display unit 160 is, for example, a display, specifically, a liquid crystal display or an organic EL (Electro Luminescent) display. Note that the input unit 110 and the display unit 160 may be a touch panel having both functions.

[0018] The communication means 200 is used for information communication between the supply chain network creation device 100 and the external enterprise information management device 300, and is, for example, the Internet, a LAN (Local Area Network), or a WAN (Wide Area Network). The communication line used for information communication may be wired or wireless, or a combination of these. Also, the supply chain network creation device 100 and the external enterprise information management device 300 may be connected via a relay device such as a gateway device or a router through a plurality of networks and communication lines. The external enterprise information management device 300 collects and stores enterprise information 131, transaction history 132, and transaction relationship information 133 from enterprises and the like. Then, in response to a request from the supply chain network creation device 100, it provides this information via the communication means 200.

[0019] <Overall description of supply chain network creation> Figure 2 is a flowchart showing the operation flow when the supply chain network creation unit 121 creates a supply chain network. The supply chain network creation process performed by the supply chain network creation unit 121 of the present embodiment operates when it detects a processing instruction from the input unit 110. The processing instruction includes the company name and item to be the target of supply chain network creation. When the supply chain network creation unit 121 receives the processing instruction, it reads information related to the processing instruction from the company information 131, transaction history 132, and transaction relationship information 133 stored in the storage unit 130 (S1001).

[0020] Figure 3 is a diagram showing an example of the company information 131. Figure 4 is a diagram showing an example of the transaction history 132. Figure 5 is a diagram showing an example of the transaction relationship information 133. As shown in Figure 3, the company information 131 has information on the company name, location, industry type, sales amount, and company code of each company.

[0021] As shown in Figure 4, the transaction history 132 has information on ID, branch number, supplier company name, buyer company name, item handled, required delivery date, quantity, delivery location, delivery date, and delivery quantity. The transaction history 132 is accumulated in business - to - business transactions such as e - commerce trading services. In the present embodiment, companies do not necessarily have to be separate capital. Even when different departments belong to the same company, each department can be regarded as a company and the present device and method can be used. Also, in addition to the example in Figure 3, the company information 131 may include information necessary for producing and distributing items, such as the location of the business office and the items produced.

[0022] As shown in FIG. 5, the transaction relationship information 133 registers the company name, business type, list of customer companies, list of supplier companies, and update date of each company. In this embodiment, it is assumed that the transaction relationship information 133 is provided by a company information service or the like. When the provider of the transaction history 132 is different from the provider of the transaction relationship information 133, even the same company may be defined by different character strings due to notation fluctuations. Also, in the transaction history 132, the supplier and the buyer may be managed by company codes instead of company names. In that case, the company name and the company code are associated in the company information 131 of FIG. 3, and it is possible to determine that they are the same company by cross-referencing the company codes.

[0023] Returning to FIG. 2, in S1002, the supply chain network creation unit 121 creates a supply chain network using the transaction history 132 and the transaction relationship information 133 read in S1001. S1002 includes processes from the transaction relationship extraction in S1003 to the resetting of the parent company and parent item in S1008. The supply chain network creation unit 121 performs these processes in order from the major company (also referred to as the parent company or target company) and item (also referred to as the parent item or target item) that are the targets for creating the supply chain network, tracing the supply chain upstream, and proceeding to the SC display / modification reception step in S1009. Specifically, initially, the major company (parent company, target company) and item (parent item, target item) that are the targets for creating the supply chain network are set as the parent company and parent item, and by performing the processes in S1003 to S1008, the items (referred to as child items) used in the production of the parent item and their handling companies (referred to as child companies) are identified. Thereafter, with the child companies and child items as the targets, the processes in S1003 to S1008 are further performed to identify the grandchild companies and grandchild items. Thus, in S1002, for the target item of the supply chain network creation, the process is repeated by tracing the supply chain upstream to the child items, grandchild items... until the child items of the target item cannot be identified. Hereinafter, the process of identifying the child company and child item from the parent company and parent item in each step of S1003 to S1008 will be described.

[0024] In S1003, the supply chain network creation unit 121 extracts the procurement companies of the parent company from among the companies that have transactions with the parent company. Specifically, the supply chain network creation unit 121 extracts the supplier, item, and delivery date of the records where the buyer is the parent company from the transaction history 132 shown in FIG. 4. Here, when there are multiple pieces of information for the same supplier and item, the one with the most recent delivery date is extracted. Next, the supply chain network creation unit 121 extracts the records with the company name of the parent company from the transaction relationship information 133 in FIG. 5 and obtains the procurement destination and the update date. Further, the supply chain network creation unit 121 extracts the company name and the update date of the records in which the parent company is included as the sales destination in the transaction relationship information 133 in FIG. 5. The supply chain network creation unit 121 further integrates these lists to create a list of the parent company's procurement companies and stores it in the SC network information 136 in the storage unit 130.

[0025] FIG. 6 is a diagram showing an example of the SC network information 136. As shown in FIG. 6, the SC network information 136 stores information on the parent company, subsidiary companies, sub-items, product codes of the sub-items, accuracy of the network, and freshness. For the parent company, each company and item in the procurement company list are registered as subsidiary companies and sub-items. Note that for the subsidiary companies created from the transaction relationship information 133 in FIG. 5, since the items being transacted cannot be specified, the information on the sub-items is considered to be none. The accuracy of the network will be described in the BOM creation process of S1006 described later. For the freshness of the network, the delivery date information in the transaction history 132 or the update date in the transaction relationship information 133 is stored. In this case, it can be said that the supply chain network creation unit 121 creates the SC network information 136 that represents the relationship between the ordering company (the parent company in FIG. 6), the receiving company (the subsidiary company in FIG. 6), and the items handled by the receiving company (the sub-items in FIG. 6) based on the transaction history 132. Also, it can be said that the supply chain network creation unit 121 creates the SC network information 136 by further adding the transaction relationship information 133 (see FIG. 5) including the sales destination company and the procurement company.

[0026] Returning to FIG. 2, in S1004, the supply chain network creation unit 121 refers to the enterprise item information 137 to determine the presence or absence of the BOM information 135. FIG. 7 is a diagram showing an example of the enterprise item information 137. As shown in FIG. 7, the enterprise item information 137 has a BOM ID registered that indicates the BOM information 135 used for each enterprise and item. Search for the enterprise name and item name in the enterprise item information 137 using the parent enterprise and parent item to be processed as keys, and obtain the BOM ID. At this time, if the BOM ID cannot be obtained, the supply chain network creation unit 121 determines that there is no BOM information 135 and proceeds to S1006. On the other hand, if the BOM ID can be obtained, the supply chain network creation unit 121 reads the BOM information 135 in S1005.

[0027] FIG. 8 is a diagram showing an example of the BOM information 135. As shown in FIG. 8, the BOM information 135 registers the parent-child relationship of items, and the parent product code, the small product code that is a component of the parent product code, the number of components per unit of the parent product, the accuracy, and the flag are registered. The uses of the accuracy and the flag will be described in the subsequent processing. In S1006, the BOM creation unit 122 executes the BOM creation process. The BOM creation process will be described in detail below.

[0028] <BOM Creation> FIG. 9 is a flowchart showing the operation flow when the BOM creation unit 122 creates a BOM. The supply chain network creation device 100 in the present embodiment starts the BOM creation process when it detects a processing instruction from the supply chain network creation unit 121. At this time, the supply chain network creation unit 121 accepts the enterprise and item to be created, and also accepts the BOM ID if there is BOM information 135.

[0029] In S10061, the BOM creation unit 122 reads the product code information 134 stored in the storage unit 130 and sets the initial value No. of the hierarchy of the product code information 134.

[0030] FIG. 10 is a diagram showing an example of the product code information 134. The product code information 134 is information classifying items. The product code information 134 is an example of an item classification table that defines items in a hierarchy of two or more classifications, and registers product codes, classification names, and hierarchy No. In this embodiment, an example using the internationally used product classification code: UNSPSC (United Nations Standard Products and Services Code) will be described as the product code information 134. In UNSPSC, the classification is hierarchically structured into major classification, medium classification, minor classification, and detailed classification in sequence of two digits each starting from the upper two digits of the product code. For example, the turtle washer has a product code of 31161801. In this case, the turtle washer is in the major classification of "Manufacturing parts and supplies" of 31, and is classified into "Hardware" of 3116 in the medium classification. Also, in the minor classification, it is classified into "Washers" of 311618, and in the detailed classification, it is classified into "Turtle Washers" of 31161802.

[0031] The BOM creation unit 122 refers to the product code and assigns a hierarchy No. to the classification name. For example, since the washer is defined up to the minor classification, the hierarchy No. is set to 3. Note that the product code information 134 may be a code system different from UNSPSC as long as it hierarchically classifies items.

[0032] Returning to the description of the process of S10061. The BOM creation unit 122 sets the maximum value of the hierarchy No. - 1 as the initial value n. In the example of FIG. 10, the hierarchy is four levels, the hierarchy No. is any one of 1 to 4, and the maximum value is 4. Therefore, the BOM creation unit 122 subtracts 1 from the maximum value 4 to set 3 as the initial value n (n = 3) and proceeds to the next process.

[0033] In S10062, item categorization processing is performed. Specifically, the target hierarchy No. and product name are passed to the item categorization unit 123, and the product code that is the category of the item is obtained from the return value from the item categorization unit 123. Hereinafter, the item categorization processing performed by the item categorization unit 123 will be described in detail.

[0034] In this process, the item categorization unit 123 calculates the similarity by comparing the classification name with hierarchy No. n + 1 and the product name of the parent item, thereby identifying the category with hierarchy No. n to which the parent item belongs. Various methods have been proposed for calculating the similarity of texts such as classification names and product names, such as the Levenshtein distance and the Jaro-Winkler distance. In this embodiment, the method is not limited. For the sake of simplicity in this embodiment, the ratio of the string of the product name of the parent item included in the classification name is defined as the similarity and the process will be described. For example, when the product name of the parent item is "washer A", this three-character string is compared with the classification names belonging to the detailed classification of hierarchy No. 4. At this time, the similarity with "lock washer" in FIG. 10 is 0 / 3 = 0, and the similarity with "turtle washer" is 2 / 3. In this way, the similarity between the parent item and all classification names belonging to hierarchy No. n + 1 is calculated.

[0035] Next, the item categorization unit 123 takes the average value for each hierarchy No. n of the calculated similarities, and sets the product code with the largest average value as the category in the case where the hierarchy No. of the parent item is n. In the previous example of "washer A", if the product code with the largest average value is "washer" with product code 31161800, the category of "washer A" at hierarchy No. 3 is "washer" with product code 31161800. Here, the item categorization unit 123 obtains the similarity between the product name in the first hierarchy (in this case, hierarchy No. 4), which is the most detailed hierarchy in the product code information 134, and the item being traded, and it can also be said that the item being traded is classified into the product name of the second hierarchy (in this case, hierarchy No. 3), which is one level above the first hierarchy, that contains the most similar product names of the first hierarchy.

[0036] Return to the description of the BOM creation unit 122 in FIG. 9. In S10063, the BOM creation unit 122 extracts a group of suppliers that handle items of the same category as the category acquired in S10062 from the transaction history 132, and identifies the items that each supplier commonly procures as a buyer. Specifically, first, the BOM creation unit 122 performs item categorization on the character strings registered in the items of the transaction history 132, and determines the category of each item when the hierarchy No. is n. Next, the BOM creation unit 122 extracts suppliers from the transaction history 132 of the same category as the category of the parent item. Next, the BOM creation unit 122 refers to the buyer column of the transaction history 132, and extracts, for each supplier, the category of the items procured by the supplier from the transaction history 132 in which the supplier is registered as a buyer. Next, the BOM creation unit 122 regards the category commonly procured by each supplier as a sub-component of the parent item. Finally, if there is a BOM ID, compare the child product code and sub-components of the corresponding BOM information 135. If the sub-component is not in the BOM information 135, add it and register "add" in the flag. If there is no BOM ID, assign a new BOM ID and add all sub-components to the BOM information 135 with the flag "add".

[0037] In this case, it can also be said that the BOM creation unit 122 creates a parts list based on the items classified by the item categorization unit 123. To identify a sub-component, if the same item is used by each supplier, the sub-component can be identified by this item. However, in reality, the items may be called differently by each supplier. That is, the notations vary among suppliers. For example, even for the same washer, in one supplier, the item is "Washer A", while in another supplier, the item is "XX Washer". Even in such cases, the item categorization unit 123 categorizes the items and extracts the category, so that they can have the same name. In this case, whether it is "Washer A" or "XX Washer", the category is "washer", and they can be regarded as the same as sub-components. By doing so, sub-components can be easily identified, and a more accurate supply chain network can be created.

[0038] In S10064, the BOM creation unit 122 performs a determination process on whether one or more sub-components have been found in S10063. As a result, if one or more sub-components are found (Yes in S10063), the process proceeds to S10065, and the information of the sub-components is returned to the supply chain network creation unit 121 as a return value. If no sub-components are found (No in S10063), the process proceeds to S10066, and the hierarchy level to be processed for item categorization is incremented by one level with n := n - 1, and the process returns to the process of S10062.

[0039] The combination of the parent component and child components created by the BOM creation unit 122 is more specific in indicating the item when specified by a finer classification, that is, a classification with a larger hierarchy number. In the previous example of "Washer A", it is obvious that the finer classification of "washer" is more specific than the medium classification of "hardware". However, as described above, the product names registered in the transaction history 132 often vary in their notations depending on the company or the person in charge of ordering. If the category is specified by limiting it to a specific hierarchy, the similarity will be low and there is a possibility that the child component cannot be found. In the present embodiment, emphasis is placed on creating some answer even if the accuracy is somewhat low, and the process is to increase the hierarchy until the child component is found. The hierarchy at the time of creating the BOM is registered in the "accuracy" of the BOM information 135 and used in the SC display / modification reception process of S1009 described later. In this case, it can also be said that the item categorization unit 123 classifies the item to be transacted by sequentially increasing the hierarchy when there is no item similar to the first hierarchy (in this case, hierarchy number 4). Actually, the hierarchy is increased in the order of hierarchy number 3 and hierarchy number 2.

[0040] Returning to the description of the supply chain network creation unit 121 in FIG. 2. In S1007, the supply chain network creation unit 121 performs a process of narrowing down the transaction relationship. As a process for narrowing down trading relationships, the supply chain network creation unit 121 searches the SC network information 136 indicating the trading relationships of the parent company created in S1003 for the records in which the sub-components output in S1006 are registered, and registers the "certainty" registered in the BOM information 135 in the "certainty" column. Next, it deletes the records of companies and items other than the sub-components output in S1006. By performing this deletion, only the records related to the parent item remain. That is, the supply chain network creation unit 121 creates a supply chain network based on the SC network information 136, but at this time, it deletes the companies not included in the BOM to create a supply chain network. In other words, the supply chain network creation unit 121 can create a rough supply chain network based on the SC network information 136, but it may also include items not related to the parent item. The supply chain network creation unit 121 uses the BOM to exclude items not related to the parent item and creates a supply chain network. Thereby, a highly accurate supply chain network can be created for the parent item. In this case,

[0041] In S1008, the supply chain network creation unit 121 performs parent company and parent item reconfiguration. The parent company and parent item reconfiguration is a process of selecting the company and item that will perform the processes of S1003 to S1008 next and reconfiguring them as the parent company and parent item. Next, the target for the parent company and parent item is either an item whose BOM hierarchy is the same as that of the company and item that was the parent company and parent item, or if the processing of the items in that hierarchy has been completed, the company and item one level below are selected. The loop of S1002 is executed until there is no target for the next parent company and parent item, and the process proceeds to the SC display and modification acceptance process of S1009. In this case, it can also be said that the supply chain network creation unit 121 creates a supply chain network by deleting companies not in the BOM for each hierarchy when considering the hierarchical relationship between the ordering company and the receiving company. When narrowing down the companies after estimating the company item network of all products from the parent company, the time and memory required to extract the companies hanging from the companies to be deleted are wasted. By processing each hierarchy, the time and memory required for this extraction process of this group of companies can be saved. In this case, it can also be said that the supply chain network creation unit 121 can reduce the resources used to create the supply chain network.

[0042] In S1009, the supply chain network creation unit 121 performs SC display and modification acceptance. The SC display and modification acceptance is a process of displaying the supply chain network created by the processes of S1002 to S1008 on the screen and accepting modification input from the user.

[0043] <Display of supply chain network> FIG. 11 shows an example of the display screen of the supply chain network. In the illustrated screen example, the companies and items targeted for supply chain network creation are displayed at the top. In FIG. 11, it shows that it is a supply chain network for company A and item item01. The supply chain network represents one node as a circle and one arc as an arrow connecting between nodes, with enterprises / products as nodes and trading relationships as arcs. The name of the enterprise or product corresponding to the node, or both, is displayed near the node.

[0044] The circle of the node and the arrow of the arc change the display expression according to the accuracy or freshness, or both, of the supply chain network. The freshness of the supply chain network is calculated from the period from the date stored in the freshness of the SC network information 136 shown in FIG. 6 until this process is executed. In the example of FIG. 11, as shown in the legend in the upper right, this freshness is classified into three levels: high, medium, and low. For example, if the period is within 90 days, it is classified as high; if it is from 91 days to 365 days, it is classified as medium; if it is 366 days or more, it is classified as low. Freshness can also be said to represent the reliability regarding whether there is a trading relationship. That is, the newer the date, the higher the freshness, and it can be considered that there is a high possibility of a trading relationship even at the current time.

[0045] Also, in the example of FIG. 11, as another example of the display change method, referring to the accuracy of the SC network information 136, it is classified and displayed in three levels: high, medium, and low, similar to the freshness. In FIG. 11, when it is determined that there is a trading relationship, a solid line is used; when it is estimated that there is a trading relationship and the accuracy is high, a dashed line is used; when it is low, a dotted line is used, and at the same time, the freshness is expressed by the thickness of the line. As described above, the "accuracy" in this embodiment when it is estimated that there is a trading relationship is the hierarchy No. of the item categorization. "Accuracy" can also be said to represent the reliability regarding whether there is a trading relationship. It can be classified that the higher the hierarchy No., the higher the accuracy, with 3 being high, 2 being medium, and 1 being low. For the means of changing the display of accuracy and freshness, in addition to the methods expressed by solid lines, dashed lines, and dotted lines and the thickness of the lines, methods expressed by differences in color, methods expressed by blinking the lines and differences in blinking intervals, etc. are assumed, but this is not limited to this.

[0046] In this case, it can also be said that the supply chain network creation unit 121 creates display information representing a supply chain network with the ordering company as the parent node, the ordered company as the child node, and the trading relationship as the arc. Further, it can also be said that the supply chain network creation unit 121 changes the display method of at least one of the arc and the node according to at least one of the certainty of the trading relationship and the freshness (in this case, the freshness) at the time of creating the transaction history 132, and creates the display information.

[0047] On the screen, there are arranged an add button Bt1 for calling the function of adding nodes and arcs to the supply chain network, a delete button Bt2 for calling the deletion function, and a save button Bt3 for calling the function of saving the displayed SC network information 136. The user can judge the correctness of the displayed SC network information 136 and make appropriate corrections using the functions of adding and deleting nodes and arcs. After the supply chain network is corrected, when the save function is called by the user, the process proceeds to the BOM information storage in S1010.

[0048] In S1010, the supply chain network creation unit 121 stores the BOM information. Storing the BOM information is a process of storing the SC network information 136 corrected by the user in S1009 as the BOM information 135 included in the storage unit 130 as the BOM information of the item targeted for supply chain network creation. At this time, considering the possibility that the BOM may differ depending on the company or product specifications even for the same item, an ID that does not overlap with the existing BOM is assigned and stored.

[0049] Next, a second embodiment will be described. [Second Embodiment] In the second embodiment, in the BOM creation unit 122 in the supply chain network creation apparatus 100, a BOM is created using a generation AI (Artificial Intelligence) or a search engine.

[0050] FIG. 12 is a flowchart showing a method of creating a BOM in the second embodiment. First, the BOM creation unit 122 creates one or more strings for querying the members used in the production of the item of interest. The patterns of the strings are: (1) product name, (2) a combination of words obtained by splitting the product name string using means such as morphological analysis with delimiter characters such as blanks, and (3) a combination of the industrial classification of the company and the product name. For each of these, a string containing "parts" is further combined to create at least one or more strings (S1201). For example, when creating a BOM with a product name of "Analysis Device A", if the delimiter character is ",", the strings for using a search engine are: string (1) "Analysis Device A, parts", (2) "Analysis Device, A, parts", (3) "Semiconductor manufacturing, Analysis Device A, parts". When using generative AI, the strings are: (1) "Please tell me the parts of Analysis Device A", (2) "Please tell me the parts of the analysis device", (3) "Please tell me the parts of Analysis Device A in the semiconductor manufacturing industry". Next, the BOM creation unit 122 inputs the created strings into the generative AI or the search engine via the communication unit 140 as necessary (S1202), extracts the product names that are parts from the output result strings, and returns them as sub-parts (S1203). In this case, it can also be said that the BOM creation unit 122 creates a string for querying the members used in the production of the item, and creates a BOM using the generative AI or the search engine based on the string. The process of the second embodiment can be called when the hierarchy No. becomes 0 in the process of S10066 in FIG. 9 and the result is used in S10065, in addition to being an alternative method to the BOM creation unit 122 of the first embodiment.

[0051] [Hardware Configuration] FIG. 13 is a diagram showing an example of the hardware configuration of the supply chain network creation device 100 in the present embodiment. In this embodiment, the supply chain network creation device 100 is an information processing device such as a personal computer (PC), a workstation, or a server device, but is not limited thereto, and may be an electronic information terminal such as a smartphone, a mobile phone terminal, or a PDA (Personal Digital Assistant). That is, the supply chain network creation device 100 has a configuration including an input device 201, an output device 202, an external storage device 203, an arithmetic device 204, a main storage device 205, a communication device 206, and a bus 207 that connects the respective devices to each other. The input device 201 is a device that receives inputs such as a keyboard, a mouse, a touch pen, or other pointing devices. The output device 202 is a device that performs display, such as a display. The external storage device 203 is a non-volatile storage device such as a hard disk device or a flash memory. The arithmetic device 204 is an arithmetic means such as a CPU. The main storage device 205 is a memory device such as a RAM (Random Access Memory). The communication device 206 is a wireless communication device that performs wireless communication via an antenna, or a wired communication device that performs wired communication via a network cable.

[0052] The storage unit 130 of the supply chain network creation device 100 is realized by the main storage device 205 or the external storage device 203 of the supply chain network creation device 100. Also, the input unit 110, the arithmetic unit 120, and the output unit 150 of the supply chain network creation device 100 are realized by a program that causes the arithmetic device 204 of the supply chain network creation device 100 to perform processing. This program is stored in the main memory device 205 or the external memory device 203, loaded onto the main memory device 205 during execution, and executed by the arithmetic unit 204. Further, the supply chain network creation device 100 may have a communication device 206 as necessary, and may transmit and receive information via the communication device 206.

[0053] According to the embodiment described in detail above, when creating a supply chain network for a target item, it is possible to extract up to more upstream companies, and it is possible to provide a supply chain network creation device 100 in which companies not related to this item are less likely to be included.

[0054] <Explanation of the supply chain network creation method> In this way, the processing performed by the supply chain network creation device 100 is realized by the cooperation of software and hardware resources. Therefore, the processing performed by the supply chain network creation device 100 described above is such that a processor such as the arithmetic unit 204 executes a program recorded in a memory such as the main memory device 205, and based on a transaction history 132 having information on the ordering company, the ordered company, and the item traded between the ordering company and the ordered company, creates a BOM, and based on the BOM, creates a supply chain network representing the transaction relationship between the ordering company and the ordered company, and can be regarded as a supply chain network creation method. Also, the program operating in the supply chain network creation device 100 can be regarded as a program for causing a computer to realize a function of creating a BOM based on a transaction history 132 having information on the ordering company, the ordered company, and the item traded between the ordering company and the ordered company, and a function of creating a supply chain network representing the transaction relationship between the ordering company and the ordered company based on the BOM.

[0055] Note that the program for realizing this embodiment can of course be provided by means of communication, and can also be provided by being stored in a recording medium such as a CD-ROM.

[0056] As described above, although the present embodiment has been explained, the technical scope of the present invention is not limited to the scope described in the above embodiment. It is obvious from the description of the claims that those obtained by making various changes or improvements to the above embodiment are also included in the technical scope of the present invention.

Description of Reference Numerals

[0057] 1... Information processing system, 100... Supply chain network creation device, 110... Input unit, 120... Arithmetic unit, 121... Supply chain network creation unit, 122... BOM creation unit, 123... Item categorization unit, 130... Storage unit, 131... Company information, 132... Transaction history, 133... Transaction relationship information, 134... Product code information, 135... BOM information, 136... SC network information, 137... Company item information, 140... Communication unit, 150... Output unit, 160... Display unit

Claims

1. A component composition table creation unit that creates a component composition table based on an order-placing company, an order-receiving company, and a transaction history having information on items traded between the order-placing company and the order-receiving company; A supply chain network creation unit that creates a supply chain network representing the transaction relationship between the order-placing company and the order-receiving company based on the component composition table; A supply chain network creation device comprising the above.

2. The supply chain network creation device according to claim 1, wherein the component composition table creation unit creates the component composition table for items commonly procured by the order-placing company from the order-receiving company based on the transaction history.

3. Further comprising an item categorization unit that estimates the hierarchy and classification for each hierarchy in the item classification table for items traded according to the transaction history based on an item classification table that defines items in two or more classification hierarchies; The supply chain network creation device according to claim 2, wherein the component composition table creation unit creates the component composition table based on the items according to the classification estimated by the item categorization unit.

4. The item categorization unit obtains the similarity between the product name of the first hierarchy, which is the most detailed hierarchy in the item classification table, and the item to be traded, and classifies the item to be traded into the product name of the second hierarchy, which is the hierarchy above the first hierarchy and includes the most similar product names of the first hierarchy. The supply chain network creation device according to claim 3.

5. The supply chain network creation device according to claim 4, wherein when there are no items similar to the first hierarchy, the item categorization unit sequentially raises the hierarchy to classify the item to be traded.

6. The supply chain network creation unit creates supply chain network information representing the relationship between the order-placing company, the order-receiving company, and the items handled by the order-receiving company based on the transaction history, and creates the supply chain network based on the supply chain network information. The supply chain network creation device according to claim 1.

7. The supply chain network creation device according to claim 6, wherein the supply chain network creation unit further adds transaction relationship information including the sales destination company and the purchase destination company to create the supply chain network information.

8. The supply chain network creation unit is the supply chain network creation device according to claim 1, which creates the supply chain network by deleting companies not included in the parts composition table.

9. The supply chain network creation unit is the supply chain network creation device according to claim 8, which creates the supply chain network by deleting companies not included in the parts composition table for each hierarchy when considering the hierarchical relationship between the ordering company and the receiving company.

10. The supply chain network creation unit is the supply chain network creation device according to claim 1, which creates display information representing the supply chain network, with the ordering company as the parent node, the receiving company as the child node, and the transaction relationship as the arc.

11. The supply chain network creation unit is the supply chain network creation device according to claim 10, which creates the display information by changing the display method of at least one of the arc and the node according to at least one of the certainty of the transaction relationship and the freshness when creating the transaction history.

12. The parts composition table creation unit is the supply chain network creation device according to claim 1, which creates a string for inquiring about the members used in the production of the item, and creates the parts composition table based on the string using a generation AI or a search engine.

13. By a processor executing a program recorded in a memory, a parts composition table is created based on an order history having information on an ordering company, a receiving company, and an item traded between the ordering company and the receiving company, and a supply chain network representing the transaction relationship between the ordering company and the receiving company is created based on the parts composition table. Supply chain network creation method.

14. On a computer, a function of creating a parts composition table based on an order history having information on an ordering company, a receiving company, and an item traded between the ordering company and the receiving company, and a function of creating a supply chain network representing the transaction relationship between the ordering company and the receiving company based on the parts composition table, A program for realizing.

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