Delivery management system

Abstract

To provide a delivery management system which, when a delivery operator asked by a cargo owner to deliver a cargo asks other delivery operator for delivery of the cargo, allows the client delivery operator to easily acquire delivery information of the cargo.SOLUTION: A delivery management system 10 according to the present invention has information processing terminals 2A to 4A held by a delivery operator A, a storage unit 33A for storing information relating to a cargo transmitted from the information processing terminals 2A to 4A through a communication network N, information processing terminals 2B to 4B held by a delivery operator B, a storage unit 33B for storing information relating to a cargo transmitted from the information processing terminals 2B to 4B through the communication network N, and an operation unit 32 for controlling the storage units 33A, 33B. The operation unit 32 makes the storage unit 33A and the storage unit 33B share the information stored in the storage unit 33A or 33B and relating to the cargo satisfying a predetermined sharing condition.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 12

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to a delivery management system used when delivering a package from a shipper to a recipient.

Background Art

[0002] There has conventionally been known a delivery management system configured as described in Patent Document 1, in which the collection date and time of a package, the passing date and time of a distribution center, etc. are transmitted from the information processing terminals of each base to a server, and the shipper or recipient can access the server from their own information processing terminal to obtain the delivery information of the package.

Prior Art Documents

Patent Documents

[0003]

Patent Document 1

Summary of the Invention

Problems to be Solved by the Invention

[0004] Among the delivery persons who deliver packages, there are transportation companies having a logistics network throughout Japan, and there are also transportation companies that do not have such a large logistics network and can only deliver packages in a local area. In recent years, there has also been an increasing number of cases where an individual, rather than a company, receives a request to deliver a package.

[0005] Here, in the case of a delivery person who does not have a logistics network throughout Japan, a delivery request for a package outside the delivery service area generally cannot be accepted. However, for example, if a former customer designates an area outside the delivery service area as a new delivery destination, the customer will request another delivery person to deliver the package if the delivery request cannot be accepted. In that case, the customer has to request two delivery persons to deliver the package, which is troublesome. Also, in order to save this trouble, there is a possibility of requesting another delivery person who can deliver packages to both areas to deliver the package, which means that the customer will be lost to another delivery person for the delivery person who originally received the delivery request for the package.

[0006] In contrast, a method can be considered in which the delivery destination accepts a delivery request for a package outside the delivery service area and requests another delivery person who can deliver the package to the said delivery destination to deliver the accepted package. However, Patent Document 1 does not mention a method for the requester to obtain the delivery information of the package when requesting another delivery person to deliver the package. If the requester cannot easily obtain the delivery information of the package, not only can the requester himself / herself not grasp the delivery status of the package, but also the requester cannot provide the delivery information of the package to the shipper or the recipient.

[0007] Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide a delivery management system that enables a delivery person who has been requested by a shipper to deliver a package to easily obtain the delivery information of the package when requesting another delivery person to deliver the package.

Means for Solving the Problem

[0008] A typical configuration of a delivery management system according to the present invention for solving the above problems is a delivery management system for managing the delivery of goods, which includes a first information processing terminal possessed by a first carrier that receives a request from a shipper and delivers the goods, a first storage means for storing information about the goods transmitted from the first information processing terminal via a communication network, a second information processing terminal possessed by a second carrier different from the first carrier that delivers the goods, and a second storage means for storing information about the goods transmitted from the second information processing terminal via the communication network, wherein the second storage means is configured to be able to transmit and receive information with the first storage means, and a control means for controlling the first storage means and the second storage means, wherein the control means can transmit, via the communication network, information about the goods including the delivery information of the goods stored in the first storage means in response to a request from the first information processing terminal, and can transmit, via the communication network, information about the goods including the delivery information of the goods stored in the second storage means in response to a request from the second information processing terminal, and the control means is characterized in that it causes the first storage means and the second storage means to share information about the goods that satisfies a predetermined sharing condition and is stored in the first storage means or the second storage means.

[0009] According to the present invention, in a delivery management system, when a carrier requested by a shipper to deliver goods requests another carrier to deliver the goods, the requester can easily obtain the delivery information of the goods.

Brief Description of the Drawings

[0010]

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Embodiments for Carrying Out the Invention

[0011] Hereinafter, the delivery management system 10 according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described. FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram schematically showing the delivery management system 10 and the flow of delivery until the goods are delivered from the shipper to the recipient of the goods.

[0012] As shown in FIG. 1, the delivery management system 10 includes an information processing terminal 1 used by the shipper who requests the delivery of the goods at the time of requesting the delivery of the goods, etc., an information processing terminal 2 used by the operator of the recipient center of the deliverer, information processing terminals 3 and 4 used by the operators of the delivery centers of the deliverers, information processing terminals 5 and 6 used by the recipient of the goods for confirming the delivery information, etc., and a server 30 connected to the information processing terminals 1 to 6 via a communication network N.

[0013] The shipper is an individual, corporation, voluntary organization, etc. that requests the delivery of goods to a carrier. In addition to those who request the delivery of their own goods, the shipper also includes those who are requested to deliver goods and then subcontract the delivery of those goods in some form. The recipient is an individual, corporation, voluntary organization, etc. that receives the goods.

[0014] The carrier is a person who conducts the delivery of goods and includes individuals as well as mainly transportation companies. The carrier has a reception center that collects goods from the shipper and sorts the goods according to the destination area, and a delivery center that receives the goods sorted at the reception center and delivers the goods to the recipients in the area under its jurisdiction as the delivery destination.

[0015] The reception center collects the goods, determines the delivery center that will be the destination based on the sorting code, and sorts the goods for each delivery center. The sorting code is a code assigned to each piece of goods according to the recipient's address. The details of the sorting code will be described later. The goods sorted at the reception center are transported from the reception center to each delivery center by vehicle or the like. The delivery center stores the goods transported from the reception center and delivers the goods to the recipient's address by vehicle or the like.

[0016] In FIG. 1, one reception center and two delivery centers are illustrated as examples, but these numbers are arbitrary and are set by each carrier according to the size of the delivery area of the goods and the like. Also, one or more relay centers for relaying the goods may be interposed between the reception center and the delivery center. Further, when the delivery area of the carrier is narrow, the relay center and the delivery center may be omitted and the workers at the reception center may perform both the collection of the goods and the delivery of the goods to the recipient.

[0017] The communication network N is the Internet in this embodiment. The information processing terminals 1 to 6 and the server 30 are connected to the communication network N via a public wireless network or an in-house network (LAN), and are configured to be able to transmit and receive various information to and from each other via the communication network N.

[0018] In this embodiment, the server 30 is a cloud server. FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing the configuration of the server 30. As shown in FIG. 2, the server 30 includes a communication unit 31 that transmits and receives data to and from the information processing terminals 1 to 6 via a communication network N, a working unit 32 such as a CPU, and a storage unit 33 such as a memory that stores information. The working unit 32 performs operations such as controlling each part constituting the server 30, reading and writing information stored in the storage unit 33, and transmitting the information stored in the storage unit 33 to the information processing terminals 1 to 6 via the communication unit 31. These communication unit 31, working unit 32, and storage unit 33 are configured to be able to transmit and receive information to and from each other through a system bus 34.

[0019] In the storage unit 33 of the server 30, various types of information necessary for the delivery of the package are stored as information regarding the package. This information includes shipper information such as the name or title of the shipper, postal code, address, telephone number, and email address, and recipient information such as the name or title of the recipient, contact information, postal code, address, JIS code corresponding to the address, and the desired delivery date and time of the package. Further, it includes center information such as the address, contact information, and names of the workers of the receiving center and the delivery center, a sorting code list in which the postal code and the sorting code are associated, and a JIS code list in which the postal code and the JIS code are associated. Further, it includes delivery information indicating the delivery status of the package, such as the collection date and time of the package, the passing date and time of the receiving center, the passing date and time of the delivery center, the delivery completion date and time, the package being taken out, and the package being stored at the delivery center. These information are associated with the invoice number assigned to each package.

[0020] Figure 3 is an explanatory diagram of the sorting code. As shown in Figure 3, the sorting code is a six-digit number code determined according to the postal code corresponding to the recipient's address. Specifically, the upper two digits of the sorting code are associated with the distribution center that jurisdiction the delivery of parcels in the area corresponding to the postal code, and the lower two digits are associated with the delivery route when the distribution center delivers the parcel to the recipient's address. Note that the middle two digits are not associated with any information and are uniformly assigned "00". For example, when the postal code corresponding to the recipient's address is "120-0222", the sorting code is "200013". The parcel is transported from the reception center to the distribution center corresponding to "20", and the worker at the distribution center delivers the parcel to the recipient's address through the delivery route corresponding to "13".

[0021] The information processing terminals 1, 5, and 6 are personal computers, smartphones, etc. owned by the shipper or recipient. The information processing terminals 2 to 4 are installed in each reception center, distribution center or relay center, or carried by the workers of these centers. For example, they are personal computers, smartphones, or handy terminals. In Figure 1, one information processing terminal 2 to 4 is shown for each reception center and distribution center. However, in reality, it is common for multiple information processing terminals 2 to 4 to be provided in each center, such as personal computers installed in these centers, smartphones and handy terminals carried by the workers. The information processing terminals 2 to 4 can be one or multiple.

[0022] FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing the configuration of the information processing terminal 2. As shown in FIG. 4, the information processing terminal 2 includes a data input unit 20 for inputting data, a storage unit 21 such as a memory for storing various data and processing programs, a control unit 22 such as a CPU for controlling the information processing terminal 2 according to the processing programs stored in the storage unit 21, a monitor 23 for displaying data, and a communication unit 24 for transmitting and receiving data to and from a server 30 etc. via a communication network N. These storage unit 21, control unit 22, monitor 23, and communication unit 24 are configured to be able to transmit and receive information to and from each other through a system bus 25. The data input unit 20 is a keyboard, a mouse, etc. when the information processing terminal 2 is a personal computer. Also, when the information processing terminal 2 is a smartphone, since the monitor 23 is generally composed of a touch panel display, the monitor 23 also serves as the data input unit 20. The configurations of the other information processing terminals 3 and 4 owned by the deliverer are the same as that of the information processing terminal 2. Also, the information processing terminals 1, 5, and 6 used by the shipper and the recipient are also configured the same as the information processing terminals 2 to 4.

[0023] Also, among the information processing terminals 2 to 4 provided at the reception center and the delivery center, application programs used for the delivery management of packages are downloaded to the information processing terminals 2 to 4 such as smartphones carried by the workers. FIG. 5 is a diagram showing the display screen at the time of starting the application program. As shown in FIG. 5, when the application program is started, a collection button 91, a pick-up button 92, a delivery completion button 93, and a return button 94 are displayed. The usage methods of these buttons will be described later.

[0024] Next, the basic operation of the delivery management system 10 when delivering goods will be described. When the shipper requests the delivery of goods, first, the information processing terminal 1 of the shipper accesses a delivery request website (Figure 6) opened by the server 30 on the Internet. Input forms 95a to 95c for entering various types of information are displayed on the website. The shipper enters information about the shipper such as the corporate name and address in the input form 95a, enters information about the recipient such as the corporate name and address of the recipient in the input form 95b, and enters information such as the name of the goods in the input form 95c. Then, the shipper presses the "Next" button 95d. As a result, the information entered in the input forms 95a to 95c is transmitted to the server 30.

[0025] When the server 30 receives the above information, it issues a consignment note number, a sorting code, and a JIS code for the goods, and stores them in the storage unit 33 in association with the numbers and codes issued and the information received from the information processing terminal 1. Note that the consignment note number for the goods is a 12-digit number issued so as not to duplicate for each piece of goods, and the upper three digits thereof are numbers individually assigned to the deliverer. Also, the sorting code and the JIS code are issued by the working unit 32 of the server 30 referring to the sorting code list and the JIS code list stored in the storage unit 33 according to the postal code information of the recipient received from the information processing terminal 1.

[0026] Next, the server 30 transmits the consignment note with the consignment note number and the information received from the information processing terminal 1 displayed thereon to the shipper's information processing terminal 1 as image data. As shown in Figure 7, in addition to the consignment note number and information such as the names of the shipper and the recipient received from the information processing terminal 1, a one-dimensional code 71 and a two-dimensional code 72 in which the consignment note number is encoded are displayed on the consignment note. The shipper prints the consignment note with a printer and attaches it to the goods.

[0027] Also, when the server 30 receives a delivery request for a package from the requester, it transmits the information of the requested package to the information processing terminal 2 of the reception center and notifies the reception center of the fact. Specifically, the server 30 causes a collection request to be displayed on the monitor 23 of the smartphone serving as the information processing terminal 2 carried by the worker at the reception center, and also causes the number of collection requests for which collection has not been completed yet to be displayed as a badge 91a in the upper right of the collection button 91. Further, when the collection button 91 is selected, the server 30 causes the information of the received package to be added to an uncollected list (not shown) displayed on the monitor 23. Note that it may be configured such that the worker at the reception center who receives the notification can be set according to the name, address, etc. of the shipper.

[0028] The worker at the reception center refers to the above uncollected list and goes to collect the package to the address of the requester. After collecting the package, the worker starts the application program of the information processing terminal 2 carried by himself / herself, selects the collection button 91, selects the corresponding package from the uncollected list, and activates the camera function. Then, the worker scans the one-dimensional code 71 or two-dimensional code 72 of the shipping document attached to the package using the camera function. Thereby, the shipping document number, the collection date and time, and the information of the driver who collected the package are transmitted from the information processing terminal 2 to the server 30. The server 30 stores the said information in the storage unit 33.

[0029] Next, the worker at the reception center refers to the upper two digits of the sorting code of the shipping document attached to the collected package, and sorts the packages for each delivery center that is in charge of delivering the packages in the area where the recipient's address belongs. The sorted packages are loaded onto a transport vehicle by the worker at the reception center and transported to the sorting destination delivery center.

[0030] Next, when the package arrives at the distribution center, the operator at the distribution center refers to the lower two digits of the sorting code on the waybill attached to the package and sorts the packages for each delivery route. The sorted packages are loaded onto the delivery vehicle by the operator at the distribution center. At this time, the operator starts the application program on the information processing terminals 3 and 4 carried by himself / herself, selects the take-out button 92 to activate the camera function, and scans the one-dimensional code 71 or two-dimensional code 72 on the waybill attached to the package with the camera function. The waybill number, take-out date and time, and information of the driver who takes out the package read thereby are transmitted from the information processing terminals 3 and 4 to the server 30. The server 30 stores the said information in the storage unit 33. Then, the said operator drives the vehicle to deliver the package to the recipient's address.

[0031] Next, when the operator at the distribution center delivers the package to the recipient, the operator starts the application program on the information processing terminals 3 and 4 carried by himself / herself, selects the delivery completion button 93 to activate the camera function. Then, the one-dimensional code 71 or two-dimensional code 72 on the waybill attached to the package is scanned with the camera function. The waybill number, delivery completion date and time, and information of the driver who delivered the package read thereby are transmitted from the information processing terminals 3 and 4 to the server 30. The server 30 stores the said information in the storage unit 33.

[0032] In addition, when the recipient is not at home and the package cannot be delivered, the operator at the distribution center takes the package back to the distribution center and stores the package until a re-delivery request comes. At that time, the operator starts the application program on the information processing terminals 3 and 4 carried by himself / herself, selects the return button 94 to activate the camera function, and scans the one-dimensional code 71 or two-dimensional code 72 on the waybill attached to the package with the camera function. The waybill number, return date and time, and information of the driver who delivered the package read thereby are transmitted from the information processing terminals 3 and 4 to the server 30. The server 30 stores the said information in the storage unit 33.

[0033] In this way, the shipper delivers the goods. Also, from the time the goods are collected until the delivery is completed, the workers at the receiving center and the delivery center send information such as the collection date and time, the pick-up date and time, and the delivery completion date and time of the goods to the server 30 via the information processing terminals 2 to 4. As a result, the delivery information of the goods stored in the storage unit 33 of the server 30 is updated at any time.

[0034] Here, when the shipper or the recipient wants to obtain the delivery information of the goods, they use their own information processing terminals 1, 5, and 6 to access the website shown in Fig. 8A opened by the server 30 on the Internet. As shown in Fig. 8A, the website is provided with an input field 150 for entering the invoice number and a display field 151 for displaying the delivery information. When the shipper or the recipient enters the invoice number in the input field 150 and selects the search icon 150a, a request for the invoice number information and the delivery information is sent to the server 30. Upon receiving this, the working unit 32 of the server 30 displays the delivery information of the goods associated with the invoice number among the information stored in the storage unit 33 in the display field 151 (Fig. 8B).

[0035] Specifically, in the column of the delivery status in the display field 151, the delivery status of the goods such as goods receipt (=completion of goods collection), in delivery, and delivery completed is displayed, and in the column of the date and time, the date and time when the goods reached the said status is displayed. Also, in the column of the center, the name of the receiving center or the delivery center to which the worker who brought the goods to the above delivery status belongs is displayed. These are updated as described above when the worker scans the one-dimensional code 71 or the two-dimensional code 72 of the invoice attached to the goods on the application program of the information processing terminals 2 to 4. For example, in the example shown in Fig. 8B, the worker belonging to the Nagoya Delivery Center uses the information processing terminals 3 and 4 carried by himself at 16:40 on November 24, 2023, selects the delivery completion button 93 shown in Fig. 5, and scans the one-dimensional code 71 or the two-dimensional code 72 of the invoice with the camera function, thereby updating the delivery completion information. In this way, the shipper or the recipient can obtain the delivery information of the goods.

[0036] Also, when workers at the receiving center or delivery center, who are the delivery personnel, want to obtain the delivery information of the packages, they use their own information processing terminals 2 to 4 to access the website for delivery personnel shown in FIG. 9 opened by the server 30 on the Internet. Then, they input the search conditions for the packages in the search setting form 160 and select the search button 160a. As a result, among the package information stored in the storage unit 33 of the server 30, the information of the packages that match the search conditions is displayed in the search result display column 161 on the website. When the right delivery status confirmation button 161a in the search result display column 161 is selected, it transitions to the website shown in FIG. 8B for the selected package. Thereby, the delivery personnel can view the delivery information of the packages in the same way as the shipper or the recipient.

[0037] In addition, in this embodiment, the configuration in which the workers at the receiving center or delivery center transmit information from the information processing terminals 2 to 4 at the time of collecting the packages, taking out the packages from the delivery sensors, and completing the delivery, etc., to update the delivery information of the packages stored in the storage unit 33 of the server 30 has been described. However, the update timing of the delivery information of the packages is not limited to this. For example, a configuration in which the delivery information is updated at the timing when the worker at the receiving center takes out the packages, a configuration in which the delivery information is updated more frequently than the configuration of this embodiment, or a configuration in which the frequency of updating the delivery information is reduced compared to the configuration of this embodiment may also be used.

[0038] Next, the configuration and operation of the delivery management system 10 when multiple delivery personnel use the delivery management system 10 will be described.

[0039] FIG. 10 is a schematic diagram schematically showing the configuration of the delivery management system 10 when the delivery person A and the delivery person B different from the delivery person A use the delivery management system 10. In FIG. 10 and the following description, those with "A" appended to the end of the reference numeral indicate members used by the delivery person A, or the shipper who has requested the delivery person A to deliver the package and the recipient of the package. Those with "B" appended to the end of the reference numeral indicate members used by the delivery person B, or the shipper who has requested the delivery person B to deliver the package and the recipient of the package. For example, the information processing terminal 3A is installed at the delivery center of the delivery person A, or indicates the information processing terminal 3 carried by the operator of the delivery center. Here, the delivery person B (the second delivery person) different from the delivery person A (the first delivery person) does not mean another person belonging to the same organization as the delivery person A, but means a delivery person of an organization or individual such as another company.

[0040] As shown in FIG. 10, the delivery persons A and B each have a reception center and a delivery center and receive individual delivery requests from shippers. Therefore, the delivery person A has information processing terminals 2A to 4A, the shipper who requests the delivery person A to deliver the package has the information processing terminal 1A, and the recipient of the package has the information processing terminals 5A and 6A. Similarly, the delivery person B has information processing terminals 2B to 4B, the shipper who requests the delivery person B to deliver the package has the information processing terminal 1B, and the recipient of the package has the information processing terminals 6A and 6B.

[0041] In addition, the communication unit 31 and the working unit 32 (control means) in the servers 30 of the deliverer A and the deliverer B are shared, and the storage unit 33 is provided separately for the deliverer A and the deliverer B. That is, the storage unit 33A (first storage means) shown in FIG. 10 is used by the deliverer A, and access from the information processing terminals 2B to 4B of the deliverer B is restricted. Similarly, the storage unit 33B (second storage means) is used by the deliverer B, and access from the information processing terminals 2A to 4A of the deliverer A is restricted. The access restriction can be performed, for example, by requiring a login ID and a password to access the storage units 33A and 33B. However, the storage units 33A and 33B are configured to be able to transmit and receive information via the system bus 34. Note that a system administrator having the administrator authority of the delivery management system 10 can freely access both the storage units 33A and 30B via the communication network N from an information processing terminal (not shown) such as a personal computer or a smartphone to read and write information.

[0042] As shown in FIG. 11, it is also possible to configure such that the servers 30A and 30B of the deliverers A and B are connected via the communication network N without sharing the server 30 between the deliverers A and B, and information can be transmitted and received between the storage units 33A and 33B of both. In this case, the control means is composed of a working unit 32A (first control means) and a working unit 32B (second control means). Further, the communication network N connecting the servers 30A and 30B may use a wired cable.

[0043] Next, the operation of the delivery management system 10 when a delivery partner contract is concluded between the deliverers A and B will be described. The delivery partner contract referred to here is a contract in which one of two different deliverers A and B enables the other to request the delivery of the goods of a predetermined shipper to a predetermined delivery destination. Hereinafter, the operation of the delivery management system 10 will be described assuming that a contract has been concluded between the deliverers A and B in which the deliverer A enables the deliverer B to request the delivery of the goods of the company X whose consignee's address is in Hamamatsu City, Shizuoka Prefecture.

[0044] First, when a delivery partner contract is concluded, deliverers A and B will contact the system administrator by email or the like regarding the contract details. The system administrator who has received the contact will set the information regarding the goods of Company X, where the consignee's address is within Hamamatsu City, Shizuoka Prefecture, stored in the storage units 33A and 33B respectively, to be shared with each other. As a result, the working unit 32 of the server 30 will identify, among the goods information stored in the storage unit 33A, those with the name or title of the consignor being Company X and the consignee's address being within Hamamatsu City, Shizuoka Prefecture, and store all the information including the consignor information, consignee information, delivery information, sorting information, and invoice number regarding the identified goods in the storage unit 33B as well. Similarly, the working unit 32 will identify, among the goods information stored in the storage unit 33B, those with the name or title of the consignor being Company X and the consignee's address being within Hamamatsu City, Shizuoka Prefecture, and store all the information including the consignor information, consignee information, delivery information, sorting information, and invoice number regarding the identified goods in the storage unit 33A as well. In addition, when the information stored in the storage unit 33A or the storage unit 33B is updated, the working unit 32 will also store the updated information in the storage units 33A and 33B of each other. Note that sharing of some information may be restricted in consideration of security and business secrets.

[0045] In this embodiment, the working unit 32 of the server 30 identifies the goods information to be shared between the two storage units 33A and 33B. For the consignee's address, it is identified by JIS code or postal code, and for the consignor, it is identified by whether the text data of the name or title matches. That is, in this example, the working unit 32 of the server 30 will share, between the storage units 33A and 33B, the goods information for which the postal code and JIS code corresponding to the consignee's address are the JIS code and postal code corresponding to Hamamatsu City, Shizuoka Prefecture, and the name of the consignor matches Company X. However, the method for identifying the goods information to be shared between the two storage units 33A and 33B is not limited to this. As long as at least the regional information related to the area where the consignee receives the goods and the consignor information regarding the consignor such as the name and address of the consignor are used, the shared goods information may be identified by other methods.

[0046] FIG. 12 is a flowchart showing the flow of sharing of luggage information between the memory units 33A and 33B. As shown in FIG. 12, first, when a delivery partner contract is concluded between delivery persons A and B, the operation unit 32 of the server 30 stores the sharing conditions of the luggage information in the memory units 33A and 33B according to the sharing settings made by the system administrator in accordance with the contract details (S1). In this example, the operation unit 32 stores, as the sharing condition, in the memory units 33A and 33B the condition of "luggage information in which the postal code and JIS code corresponding to the recipient's address are the JIS code and postal code corresponding to Hamamatsu City, Shizuoka Prefecture, and the name of the shipper matches Company X".

[0047] Next, when a delivery request for luggage is made from the shipper to delivery person A through the information processing terminal 1, the operation unit 32 stores, as luggage information, the information received from the information processing terminal 1, the bill number, etc. in the memory unit 33A of delivery person A (S2). In this example, it is assumed that a delivery request for luggage with the recipient's address within Hamamatsu City, Shizuoka Prefecture was made from Company X, the shipper, to delivery person A through the information processing terminal 1. Thereafter, the operation unit 32 determines whether or not the luggage information stored in the memory unit 33A satisfies the sharing condition stored in the memory unit 33A in step S1 (S3).

[0048] Next, when the luggage information satisfies the sharing condition, the operation unit 32 shares the luggage information between the memory units 33A and 33B (S4). That is, the operation unit 32 also stores the luggage information stored in the memory unit 33A in step S2 in the memory unit 33B. In this example, since the information on the above-mentioned luggage requested from Company X to delivery person A satisfies the sharing condition, the operation unit 32 also stores the luggage information in the memory unit 33B.

[0049] Next, the working unit 32 refers to the storage units 33A and 33B to determine whether the information of the shared package has been updated (S5). If it is determined that the package information has been updated, the package information is shared again between the storage units 33A and 33B (S6). For example, regarding a package requested by deliverer A from deliverer B, where the shipper is Company X and the recipient's address is within Hamamatsu City, Shizuoka Prefecture, when a worker at the delivery center of deliverer B takes out the package and activates the camera function from the pick-up button 92 shown in FIG. 5 on the application program of the information processing terminal 3B and scans the two-dimensional code 72 of the waybill. In that case, the delivery information regarding the package stored in the storage unit 33B of the server 30 of deliverer B is updated. Then, the working unit 32 stores the package information in the updated storage unit 33B also in the storage unit 33A of deliverer A. As a result, the delivery information regarding the package is updated at any time not only in the storage unit 33B of deliverer B but also in the storage unit 33A of deliverer A. After that, the working unit 32 refers to the delivery information of the package stored in the storage units 33A and 33B to determine whether the delivery of the package is completed (S7). And the steps S5 to S7 are repeatedly executed until the delivery of the package is completed.

[0050] With such a system configuration, deliverer A can freely obtain the information of the package entrusted to deliverer B at any time. That is, deliverer A can set search conditions so that the package is searched on the search setting form 160 on the website shown in FIG. 9 using the information processing terminals 2A to 4A, and display the information of the package in the search result display column 161 on the website to view the delivery information and the like. Therefore, deliverer A can easily obtain the delivery status of the package entrusted to deliverer B.

[0051] In addition, the shipper who requested the delivery of the package or the recipient of the package can obtain the delivery information of the package as follows. That is, the shipper or the recipient uses their own information processing terminals 1, 5, and 6 to enter the bill of lading number in the input field 150 on the website of the carrier A shown in FIG. 8A and select the search icon 150a. As a result, the information of the bill of lading number and the request for the delivery information are transmitted to the server 30. Upon receiving this, the working unit 32 of the server 30 displays the delivery information of the package associated with the bill of lading number in the display field 151 as shown in FIG. 8B. In this way, the shipper or the recipient of the package can freely obtain the information of the package that has been requested for delivery from the shipper to the carrier A and then from the carrier A to the carrier B.

[0052] As described above, according to the delivery management system 10 of this embodiment, when a carrier requested to deliver a package by a shipper requests another carrier to deliver the package, the requester, the shipper, or the recipient can easily obtain the delivery information of the package. In particular, by setting the condition for sharing the package information that the address of the recipient of the package is information about the package within a predetermined area, the carrier can easily accept a delivery request for a package whose delivery destination is outside the delivery service area and request another carrier capable of delivering the accepted package to the delivery destination. That is, it becomes possible to easily carry out cooperation between carriers through the platform of the delivery management system 10. As a result, carriers without a large-scale logistics network can suppress the outflow of customers. In addition, since the shipper can request the delivery of packages to various delivery destinations to one carrier without requesting multiple carriers, the trouble of the shipper's delivery request can be saved.

[0053] In addition, if there are sorting codes in which the upper two digits associated with the distribution center overlap among the sorting codes set by deliverers A and B respectively, the sorting destinations of the collected goods may overlap, resulting in confusion. Therefore, it is desirable for deliverers A and B to adjust the sorting codes between them so that the upper two digits do not overlap, and to change the sorting code lists stored in the storage units 33A and 33B respectively. Also, for the consignment note numbers, since they are issued so as not to overlap for each piece of goods requested for delivery as described above, and the upper three digits thereof are numbers individually assigned to each deliverer, numbers that never overlap are always issued without adjustment between deliverers A and B.

[0054] Also, in this embodiment, as the condition for sharing the goods information between the storage units 33A and 33B of deliverers A and B, it is conditioned that the information regarding the shipper and the information regarding the area where the recipient receives the goods match. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and other sharing conditions may be used. That is, for example, a configuration may be adopted in which the goods information is shared between the storage units 33A and 33B of deliverers A and B with only the information regarding the area where the recipient receives the goods as the sharing condition without conditioning on the information regarding the shipper. Also, when it is considered more convenient to request deliverer B to deliver the entire shipment of a predetermined shipper who requests deliverer A to deliver the goods, rather than being limited to the delivery area, a configuration may be adopted in which the goods information is shared between the storage units 33A and 33B of deliverers A and B with only the information regarding the shipper as the sharing condition. Furthermore, the matching of other information may be used as the sharing condition for the goods. However, if the sharing condition is made too loose, the goods information stored in the storage unit 33B of deliverer B for which no delivery request from deliverer A has been made is likely to be disclosed to deliverer A, leading to the leakage of business secrets such as customer information. Therefore, it is preferable to set the sharing condition so that the delivery request can be smoothly made between deliverers A and B and the business secrets of both can be protected as much as possible.

[0055] In addition, in the present embodiment, in steps S3 to S6 shown in FIG. 12, when the luggage information stored in the storage unit 33A or the storage unit 33B by the working unit 32 satisfies the sharing condition, or when the luggage information satisfying the sharing condition is updated, the luggage information is shared between the storage units 33A and 33B. However, the present invention is not limited to this. That is, in steps S3 to S6 shown in FIG. 12, when the luggage information stored in the storage unit 33A by the working unit 32 satisfies the sharing condition, or when the luggage information satisfying the sharing condition is updated, in response to requests from the information processing terminals 2B to 4B of the carrier B, the luggage information stored in the storage unit 33A may be transmitted to the information processing terminals 2B to 4B. Similarly, in steps S3 to S6 shown in FIG. 12, when the luggage information stored in the storage unit 33B by the working unit 32 satisfies the sharing condition, or when the luggage information satisfying the sharing condition is updated, in response to requests from the information processing terminals 2A to 4A of the carrier A, the luggage information stored in the storage unit 33B may be transmitted to the information processing terminals 2A to 4A. Even with such a configuration, the same effects as described above can be obtained.

[0056] In addition, in the present embodiment, an example in which a delivery partner contract is concluded between the carriers A and B and luggage information is shared between the carriers A and B in the delivery management system 10 has been described. However, the present invention is not limited to this. That is, a carrier C different from the carriers A and B may conclude a delivery partner contract with the carrier A or the carrier B and share luggage information in the delivery management system 10. As the number of carriers concluding the delivery partner contract increases in this way, the deliverable area of the luggage when the shipper entrusts the luggage to one carrier expands, so that the delivery management system 10 can be effectively utilized.

Explanation of Reference Numerals

[0057] 10... Delivery management system, 32... Working unit (control means), 32A... Working unit (first control means), 32B... Working unit (second control means), 33A... Storage unit (first storage means), 33B... Storage unit (second storage means), A... Carrier (first carrier), B... Carrier (second carrier)

Claims

Claim 1 A delivery management system for managing the delivery of goods, comprising: a first information processing terminal possessed by a first delivery person who receives a request from a shipper and delivers the goods; a first storage means for storing information on the goods transmitted from the first information processing terminal via a communication network; a second information processing terminal possessed by a second delivery person different from the first delivery person who delivers the goods; a second storage means for storing information on the goods transmitted from the second information processing terminal via the communication network, the second storage means being configured to be able to transmit and receive information to and from the first storage means; a control means for controlling the first storage means and the second storage means, the control means being capable of transmitting, via the communication network, information on the goods including the delivery information of the goods stored in the first storage means in response to a request from the first information processing terminal to the first information processing terminal, and being capable of transmitting, via the communication network, information on the goods including the delivery information of the goods stored in the second storage means in response to a request from the second information processing terminal to the second information processing terminal; and the control means is characterized in that information on the goods stored in the first storage means or the second storage means and satisfying a predetermined sharing condition is shared between the first storage means and the second storage means. A delivery management system. Claim 2 The delivery management system according to claim 1, wherein the information on the goods satisfying the predetermined sharing condition is information on the goods whose recipient's address is within a predetermined area. Claim 3 The delivery management system according to claim 2, wherein the control means determines whether the recipient's address of the goods is within a predetermined area based on at least one of a JIS code or a postal code. Claim 4 The delivery management system according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the information on the goods satisfying the predetermined sharing condition is information on the goods whose shipper's name or company name is a predetermined name or company name. Claim 5 The delivery management system according to claim 4, wherein the control means determines whether the shipper's name or company name matches a predetermined name or company name based on text data. Claim 6 The control means includes a first control means capable of transmitting information on the goods stored in the first storage means to the first information processing terminal via the communication network in response to a request from the first information processing terminal, and the first control means and the communication network are configured to be able to transmit and receive information, and a second control means capable of transmitting information on the goods stored in the second storage means to the second information processing terminal via the communication network in response to a request from the second information processing terminal. The delivery management system according to claim 1 is characterized by including the above.

7. A delivery management system for managing the delivery of goods, A first information processing terminal owned by a first delivery person who receives a request from a shipper and delivers the goods, First storage means for storing information on the goods transmitted from the first information processing terminal via a communication network, A second information processing terminal owned by a second delivery person different from the first delivery person who delivers the goods, Second storage means for storing information on the goods transmitted from the second information processing terminal via the communication network, Control means for controlling the first storage means and the second storage means, the control means being capable of transmitting information on the goods including the delivery information of the goods stored in the first storage means to the first information processing terminal via the communication network in response to a request from the first information processing terminal, and the control means being capable of transmitting information on the goods including the delivery information of the goods stored in the second storage means to the second information processing terminal via the communication network in response to a request from the second information processing terminal, including The control means is characterized in that the delivery management system transmits information on the goods stored in the second storage means and satisfying a predetermined sharing condition to the first information processing terminal in response to a request from the first information processing terminal.

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