Delivery plan management system

Abstract

To provide a technique for determining whether or not a delivery plan should be modified.SOLUTION: A delivery plan management system is provided, comprising a delivery plan acquisition unit for acquiring a delivery plan including scheduled time of arrival set for each delivery point; a delivery history acquisition unit for acquiring a delivery history including actual time of arrival of a vehicle at a delivery point when delivery is made by the vehicle according to the delivery plan; and a modification need notification unit configured to make a notification as to whether the delivery plan needs to be modified according to how easy it is for the vehicle to stand by at the delivery point when the actual time of arrival at the delivery point is earlier than the scheduled time of arrival.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to a delivery plan management system.

Background Art

[0002] Conventionally, a technique for evaluating whether a delivery plan can be implemented as planned is known. For example, Patent Document 1 discloses a technique for obtaining an evaluation of a delivery plan based on a scheduled arrival time set for each delivery location and an actual time when delivery is performed based on the delivery plan by a vehicle.

Prior Art Documents

Patent Documents

[0003]

Patent Document 1

Summary of the Invention

Problems to be Solved by the Invention

[0004] However, conventionally, it has been difficult to determine whether a delivery plan needs to be corrected. That is, even if there is a difference between the plan and the actual result, there may be a plan with a high need for correction and a plan with a low need for correction. The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and an object thereof is to provide a technique for specifying whether a delivery plan should be corrected.

Means for Solving the Problems

[0005] To achieve the above object, a delivery plan management system includes a delivery plan acquisition unit that acquires a delivery plan including a scheduled arrival time set for each delivery location, a delivery history acquisition unit that acquires a delivery history including an actual arrival time at which the vehicle arrives at the delivery location when the delivery based on the delivery plan is performed by the vehicle, and a modification necessity notification unit that notifies whether modification of the delivery plan is necessary based on the ease of waiting of the vehicle at the delivery location when the actual arrival time at the delivery location is earlier than the scheduled arrival time.

[0006] In the delivery plan management system, when the actual arrival time at the delivery location is earlier than the scheduled arrival time, the delivery plan is regarded as a candidate for modification. However, it is configured to notify whether modification of the delivery plan is necessary based on the ease of waiting of the vehicle at the delivery location. That is, if the vehicle can easily wait at the delivery location, the necessity of modifying the delivery plan is low. On the other hand, if it is difficult for the vehicle to wait at the delivery location, it is preferable to modify the delivery plan earlier. Therefore, by configuring to notify whether modification of the delivery plan is necessary based on the ease of waiting of the vehicle, the necessity of modifying the delivery plan according to the ease of waiting is notified, and it becomes possible to specify whether the delivery plan should be modified.

Brief Description of the Drawings

[0007]

Figure 1

Figure 2

Figure 3

Figure 4

Embodiments for Carrying Out the Invention

[0008] Here, embodiments of the present invention will be described in the following order. (1) System configuration: (1-1) Configuration of the management terminal: (1-2) Configuration of Delivery Plan Management System: (2) Delivery Plan Management Process: (3) Other Embodiments:

[0009] (1) System Configuration: FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the configuration of a delivery plan management system 100 according to the present invention. In the present embodiment, a delivery plan is formulated by a user of the management terminal 10, and the formulated delivery plan is transmitted to a delivery person who drives the vehicle 50. In the present embodiment, the delivery plan includes delivery locations to which the delivery person should deliver the delivered items, the order of visiting the delivery locations, and the scheduled arrival times at each delivery location. Of course, other information, for example, information indicating the delivered items for each delivery location, etc. may be included in the delivery plan.

[0010] In the present embodiment, the scheduled arrival time is the time scheduled to arrive at each delivery location, and the delivery of the delivered items is performed after the scheduled arrival time. And when the vehicle arrives at the delivery location at a time earlier than the scheduled arrival time, depending on the circumstances of the delivery location, such as overlapping with a busy time, it may not be possible to deliver immediately. For this reason, when it is not possible to deliver at a time earlier than the scheduled arrival time, it is necessary for the vehicle to wait at or near the delivery location and perform the delivery after the scheduled arrival time.

[0011] However, there may be cases where the ease of waiting is low (waiting is difficult). For example, depending on the delivery location, there may be no waiting place (such as a parking lot attached to the delivery location) where the vehicle can wait before the scheduled arrival time. In these cases, if the vehicle arrives at the delivery location at a time earlier than the scheduled arrival time, it is preferable to modify the delivery plan to reduce the time cost due to waiting. Therefore, in the present embodiment, it is configured to be able to specify the necessity of modifying the delivery plan based on the information of the waiting place.

[0012] (1-1) Configuration of Management Terminal: The management terminal 10 according to this embodiment is a terminal for formulating a delivery plan, and is a terminal notified that a delivery plan needs to be corrected when correction is necessary. The management terminal 10 includes a control unit 11 having a CPU, a RAM, a ROM, etc., a recording medium (not shown), a communication unit 12, and a user I / F unit 13.

[0013] The communication unit 12 includes a circuit for communicating with other devices. The control unit 11 can communicate with the delivery plan management system 100 and the vehicle 50 via the communication unit 12. The user I / F unit 13 is an interface unit for providing various information to the user and inputting the user's instructions, and specifically includes an output unit such as a display and an input unit such as a keyboard and a mouse. The control unit 11 outputs a control signal to the display to output an interface for creating a delivery plan and an interface for outputting the necessity of correcting the delivery plan. Further, the control unit 11 acquires the user's instructions based on operations on the input unit.

[0014] The control unit 11 can execute a program (not shown) stored in a recording medium (not shown) or a ROM. This program includes a program for assisting in creating and correcting a delivery plan using the above-described interface and for notifying the necessity of correcting the delivery plan. By executing the program, the control unit 11 assists in creating and correcting a delivery plan and notifies the necessity of correcting the delivery plan.

[0015] (1-2) Configuration of the delivery plan management system: The delivery plan management system 100 includes a control unit 200 having a CPU, a RAM, a ROM, etc., a recording medium 300, and a communication unit 400. The communication unit 400 includes a circuit for exchanging information with the management terminal 10 and the vehicle 50. The control unit 200 can communicate with the management terminal 10 and the vehicle 50 via the communication unit 400. Also, the control unit 200 can execute a program stored in the recording medium 300 or the ROM by the control unit 200. In this embodiment, the delivery plan management program 210 can be executed as this program.

[0016] In addition, delivery plan information 300a, delivery history information 300b, and delivery location information 300c are recorded on the recording medium 300. The delivery plan information 300a is information indicating a delivery plan generated by the management terminal 10 and transmitted from the management terminal 10. The delivery plan information 300a is information indicating a delivery plan assigned to each of a plurality of vehicles, and each delivery plan includes a delivery location, the order of delivery locations, and a scheduled arrival time at which the vehicle should arrive at the delivery location.

[0017] FIG. 2A is a diagram showing an example of the delivery plan information 300a according to the present embodiment. As shown in FIG. 2A, a delivery plan ID is assigned to each delivery plan to distinguish each delivery plan. In each delivery plan, the delivery locations to be delivered by the vehicle are indicated by names, and the delivery order of each delivery location is determined. In FIG. 2A, the names of the delivery locations are arranged from top to bottom in the order of delivery. For example, the delivery location with the name "Location 1" is the first location to be delivered in the delivery plan with the ID "N001", and the delivery location with the name "Location 2" is the second location to be delivered. Note that the delivery location may be specified by the position (coordinates) of the delivery location instead of the name. A scheduled arrival time at which the vehicle should arrive at each delivery location is associated with each delivery location. For example, in the delivery plan with the ID "N001", it is planned that the vehicle should arrive at Location 1 at 9:00 and at Location 2 at 9:30.

[0018] The delivery history information 300b is information including the actual arrival time at which the vehicle arrived at the delivery location when the vehicle performs a delivery based on the delivery plan. That is, the delivery history information 300b is a history of the actual arrival time, which is the time when the vehicle arrived at each delivery location when the delivery person performed the delivery aiming to execute the operations indicated by the delivery plan as planned.

[0019] When the arrival actual time is transmitted from the vehicle 50 after arrival at the delivery location, the transmitted information is added to the delivery history information 300b as needed. In the present embodiment, there are a plurality of delivery plans assigned to each of the plurality of vehicles 50. Therefore, in the delivery history information 300b, the arrival actual time for each delivery location is associated with the delivery plan ID and recorded.

[0020] FIG. 2B is a diagram showing an example of the delivery history information 300b according to the present embodiment. As shown in FIG. 2B, a delivery plan ID is assigned to the delivery history, and the arrival actual time is associated with each of the delivery locations to be delivered in each delivery plan. For example, in the example shown in FIG. 2B, in the delivery plan with ID N001, it is shown that the vehicle arrived at location 1 at 8:55 and at location 2 at 9:25.

[0021] The delivery location information 300c is information indicating a waiting place for waiting the vehicle when delivering to the delivery location. FIG. 3A is a diagram showing an example of the delivery location information 300c. At the delivery location, there may be a waiting place where it is possible to wait for the vehicle for delivery, such as a parking lot attached to the delivery location, a loading place, or a road where parking is permitted. When there is a waiting place at the delivery location, in the delivery location information 300c, information indicating that the waiting place is "yes" is associated with the delivery location. When there is no waiting place at the delivery location, in the delivery location information 300c, information indicating that the waiting place is "no" is associated with the delivery location.

[0022] In this embodiment, the delivery personnel driving each vehicle perform deliveries according to the delivery plan assigned to each vehicle. When performing a delivery according to the delivery plan, the delivery personnel need to arrive at the delivery location without delay at the scheduled arrival time and deliver the delivery items to the person in charge at the delivery location. On the other hand, although arriving at the delivery location earlier than the scheduled arrival time is not prohibited, depending on the delivery location, there may be a need not to arrive at the delivery location earlier than the scheduled arrival time. For example, the time period before the scheduled arrival time is busy, there will be an obstacle to the work at the delivery location if delivered before the scheduled arrival time, or there is no personnel to handle the delivery items until after the scheduled arrival time. In such cases, inconveniences may occur at the delivery location if delivered before the scheduled arrival time.

[0023] Therefore, in this embodiment, even if the delivery personnel arrive at the delivery location earlier than the scheduled arrival time, they do not perform the delivery and need to wait until the scheduled arrival time. And since the delivery is performed by vehicle, a place to park the vehicle is required for waiting. For this reason, if there is a waiting place at the delivery location, it is easy to keep the vehicle waiting, but it is difficult to keep the vehicle waiting if there is no waiting place.

[0024] When it is difficult to wait at the delivery location, it is preferable to modify the delivery plan itself. However, it is time-consuming to artificially find out the delivery plan and delivery location that need to be modified. Therefore, in this embodiment, in the operation process of the delivery plan, it is configured to notify the administrator of the delivery plan and delivery location that need to be modified.

[0025] The delivery plan management program 210 includes a delivery plan acquisition unit 210a, a delivery history acquisition unit 210b, and a modification necessity notification unit 210c in order to perform such notification. The delivery plan acquisition unit 210a is a program module that controls the control unit 200 to execute a function of acquiring a delivery plan including the scheduled arrival time set for each delivery location. That is, when the delivery plan information is transmitted from the management terminal 10, the control unit 200 acquires the delivery plan information via the communication unit 400 and records it on the recording medium 300 as the delivery plan information 300a.

[0026] The delivery history acquisition unit 210b is a program module that causes the control unit 200 to execute a function of acquiring a delivery history including the arrival actual time when the vehicle arrives at the delivery point when the vehicle performs a delivery based on a delivery plan. That is, when the delivery person driving each vehicle 50 sequentially executes the tasks of the assigned delivery plan, delivery history information is transmitted from a navigation system (not shown) provided in the vehicle 50.

[0027] The control unit 200 acquires the delivery history information via the communication unit 400 and records it on the recording medium 300 as the delivery history information 300b. As a result, the delivery history including the arrival actual time, which is the actual arrival of the vehicle at each delivery point, is sequentially accumulated on the recording medium 300.

[0028] The modification necessity notification unit 210c is a program module that causes the control unit 200 to execute a function of notifying whether modification of the delivery plan is necessary based on the ease of vehicle waiting at the delivery point when the arrival actual time at the delivery point is earlier than the scheduled arrival time. The control unit 200 refers to the delivery plan information 300a and the delivery history information 300b and determines whether the arrival actual time at each delivery point is earlier than the scheduled arrival time. Whether the arrival actual time is earlier than the scheduled arrival time may be determined based on a predetermined threshold. For example, when the scheduled arrival time - the arrival actual time is equal to or greater than the threshold, it may be determined that the arrival actual time is earlier than the scheduled arrival time.

[0029] When there is a delivery point where the actual arrival time is earlier than the scheduled arrival time, the control unit 200 sets the delivery plan including that delivery point as a target for determining whether correction is necessary. Further, the control unit 200 refers to the delivery point information 300c for a delivery point included in the delivery plan that is the target for determining whether correction is necessary and where the actual arrival time is earlier than the scheduled arrival time. Then, when it is easy to wait for the vehicle at the delivery point, the control unit 200 determines that it is not necessary to correct the delivery plan. When it is not easy to wait for the vehicle, it is determined that correction of the delivery plan is necessary. When it is determined that correction of the delivery plan is necessary, the control unit 200 transmits the ID of the delivery plan including the delivery point to the management terminal 10 via the communication unit 400. The management terminal 10 acquires the ID of the delivery plan via the communication unit 12 and controls the output unit of the user I / F unit 13 to display the delivery plan with the ID as a delivery plan that needs to be corrected. According to this configuration, the user of the management terminal 10 can easily know the delivery plan to be corrected.

[0030] Also, even for a delivery plan including a delivery point where the actual arrival time is earlier than the scheduled arrival time, a delivery plan where waiting is easy and there is no major obstacle to waiting is not a target for correction. On the other hand, a delivery plan where waiting is difficult and an obstacle may occur during waiting is a target for correction. Therefore, the user of the management terminal 10 can know the delivery plan with a high priority for correction and can preferentially correct the delivery plan with a high priority for correction.

[0031] In this embodiment, the ease of vehicle waiting at the delivery location is specified based on the presence or absence of a waiting location at the delivery location. That is, the control unit 200 refers to the delivery location information 300c and determines that waiting is easy when a waiting location is associated with a delivery location where the actual arrival time is earlier than the scheduled arrival time. When a waiting location is not associated with a delivery location where the actual arrival time is earlier than the scheduled arrival time, the control unit 200 does not determine that waiting is easy. Then, when it is not determined that waiting is easy, that is, when there is no waiting location, the control unit 200 determines that it is necessary to modify the delivery plan and notifies the management terminal 10 of the delivery plan. According to this configuration, it is possible to preferentially modify a delivery plan in which there is no waiting location and waiting is not easy.

[0032] (2) Delivery plan management process: Next, the delivery plan management process executed by the control unit 200 will be described. FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a flowchart of the delivery plan management process. The delivery plan management process is executed at regular intervals (for example, every day, every few days, etc.). When the delivery plan management process is executed, the control unit 200 acquires a delivery plan by the function of the delivery plan acquisition unit 210a (step S100). When the management terminal 10 transmits a delivery plan, the control unit 200 receives the delivery plan via the communication unit 400 and stores it in the recording medium 300 as the delivery plan information 300a. In step S100, the control unit 200 refers to the recording medium 300 and acquires the delivery plan information 300a indicating the currently executing delivery plan.

[0033] Next, the control unit 200 acquires the delivery history by the function of the delivery history acquisition unit 210b (step S105). When the vehicle 50 transmits the arrival actual time, the control unit 200 receives it via the communication unit 400 and adds it to the delivery history information 300b. In step S110, the control unit 200 refers to the recording medium 300 and acquires the latest delivery history information 300b. Note that the delivery history information 300b may be acquired as statistical values for a plurality of days. For example, when delivery histories including arrival actual times in cases of performing deliveries according to the same delivery plan are accumulated for a plurality of days, statistical values may be acquired based on, for example, the average of those arrival actual times and the like, and acquired as the delivery history.

[0034] Next, the control unit 200 selects a delivery plan to be determined by the function of the correction necessity notification unit 210c (step S110). Specifically, the delivery plan acquired in step S100 includes a plurality of plans to be executed by a plurality of vehicles. Therefore, the control unit 200 selects one delivery plan from these plurality of delivery plans that is not the target of the loop processing in steps S110 to S140.

[0035] Next, the control unit 200 selects a delivery point to be determined by the function of the correction necessity notification unit 210c (step S115). Specifically, the delivery plan to be determined selected in step S110 includes a plurality of delivery points. Therefore, the control unit 200 selects one delivery point from these plurality of delivery points that is not the target of the loop processing in steps S115 to S135.

[0036] Next, the control unit 200 determines whether the actual arrival time at the delivery point to be determined is earlier than the scheduled arrival time by the function of the correction necessity notification unit 210c (step S120). Specifically, the control unit 200 refers to the delivery history information 300b acquired in step S105 to specify the actual arrival time at the delivery point to be determined. Further, the control unit 200 refers to the delivery plan information 300a of the delivery plan selected in step S110 to specify the scheduled arrival time at the delivery point to be determined. Then, the control unit 200 determines whether the acquired actual arrival time is earlier than the acquired scheduled arrival time.

[0037] In step S120, if it is not determined that the actual arrival time at the delivery point to be determined is earlier than the scheduled arrival time, the control unit 200 skips steps S125 and S130. In step S120, if it is determined that the actual arrival time at the delivery point to be determined is earlier than the scheduled arrival time, the control unit 200 determines whether it is easy to wait at the delivery point to be determined by the function of the correction necessity notification unit 210c (step S125). Specifically, the control unit 200 refers to the delivery point information 300c recorded on the recording medium 300 to determine whether there is a waiting place at the delivery point to be determined. If there is a waiting place at the delivery point to be determined, the control unit 200 determines that it is easy to wait. If there is no waiting place at the delivery point to be determined, the control unit 200 determines that it is not easy to wait.

[0038] In step S125, if it is determined that it is easy to wait, the control unit 200 skips step S130. In step S125, if it is determined that it is not easy to wait, the control unit 200 sets the delivery plan to be determined as a correction target by the function of the correction necessity notification unit 210c (step S130).

[0039] When step S130 is executed, or when it is determined in step S125 that waiting is easy, or when it is not determined in step S120 that the arrival actual time at the delivery location to be determined is earlier than the arrival scheduled time, the control unit 200 determines whether all delivery locations have been determined (step S135). That is, the control unit 200 considers that all delivery locations have been determined when the processes of steps S115 to S135 have been performed for all the delivery locations included in the delivery plan to be determined selected in step S110.

[0040] In step S135, when it is not determined that all delivery locations have been determined, the control unit 200 repeats the processes after step S115. In step S135, when it is determined that all delivery locations have been determined, the control unit 200 determines whether all delivery plans have been determined (step S140). That is, the control unit 200 considers that all delivery plans have been determined when the processes of steps S110 to S140 have been performed for all of the delivery plans acquired in step S100.

[0041] In step S140, when it is not determined that all delivery plans have been determined, the control unit 200 repeats the processes after step S110. In step S140, when it is determined that all delivery plans have been determined, the control unit 200 notifies the delivery plan to be modified by the function of the modification necessity notification unit 210c (step S145). Specifically, in step S130, the control unit 200 transmits the ID of the delivery plan set as the modification target to the management terminal 10. The management terminal 10 acquires the ID of the delivery plan via the communication unit 12 and controls the output unit of the user I / F unit 13 to display the delivery plan with the ID as the delivery plan that needs to be modified. The user of the management terminal 10 modifies the notified delivery plan.

[0042] (3) Other embodiments: The above embodiments are examples for implementing the present invention, and various other embodiments can also be adopted. For example, the elements for determining whether it is easy to wait at the delivery location are not limited to the presence or absence of a waiting place, and may be determined by other elements.

[0043] Also, in the terminal notified that it is necessary to modify the delivery plan, the delivery plan may be automatically modified. For example, at a delivery location where the actual arrival time is earlier than the scheduled arrival time, after obtaining the consent of the delivery destination, the actual arrival time can be set as the new scheduled arrival time, and the subsequent scheduled arrival times can be advanced and made earlier, and other configurations can be adopted. Also, the plan may be modified to perform deliveries at other delivery locations before the delivery location where the actual arrival time is earlier than the scheduled arrival time. Furthermore, the delivery plan may be modified using a known algorithm or the like for solving the delivery plan problem.

[0044] Furthermore, the notification destination to which it is notified whether it is necessary to modify the delivery plan may be outside the delivery plan management system 100, or may be another program module or the like within the delivery plan management system 100. For example, in response to the notification, the delivery plan management system 100 may modify the delivery plan by a program module for modifying the delivery plan.

[0045] Each system constituting the above-described embodiment may be configured with fewer devices sharing functions. As such an example, there is an example in which at least one system shown in FIG. 1 is configured with the same device as one or more other systems. For example, the management terminal 10 and the delivery plan management system 100 may be configured as an integrated device, or some functions of the management terminal 10 may be realized by the delivery plan management system 100, or some functions of the delivery plan management system 100 may be realized by the management terminal 10.

[0046] Of course, the management terminal 10 may be provided in a vehicle or may be a portable terminal or the like. Furthermore, the system shown in FIG. 1 may be configured with a larger number of systems. For example, the delivery plan management system 100 may be configured as a cloud server.

[0047] Further, at least a part of each part (delivery plan acquisition unit 210a, delivery history acquisition unit 210b, modification necessity notification unit 210c) constituting the delivery plan management system 100 and each part constituting the management terminal 10 may be divided and exist in a plurality of devices. Furthermore, a configuration in which a part of the above-described embodiment is omitted, and a configuration in which processing is changed or omitted can also be assumed.

[0048] The delivery plan acquisition unit only needs to be able to acquire a delivery plan including the scheduled arrival time set for each delivery location. That is, in order to progress the delivery smoothly, it is preferable to manage the delivery for each delivery location by time. Therefore, in the delivery plan, a scheduled arrival time is set for each delivery location, and each deliverer acts so as to arrive at the scheduled arrival time at each delivery location. The scheduled arrival time only needs to be a guideline for actions when delivering the delivery items to each delivery location. Therefore, the scheduled arrival time may have the same meaning as the scheduled delivery time of the delivery items, or the scheduled delivery time may exist after the scheduled arrival time. In the latter case, the period between the scheduled arrival time and the scheduled delivery time is the period required for cargo handling. Also, the scheduled arrival time may be defined at a single point on the time axis, or may be defined by a time zone. The delivery plan acquisition unit only needs to acquire a delivery plan including at least the scheduled arrival time set for each delivery location. Of course, other information, for example, information such as the location of the delivery location, the delivery order, and the route to the delivery location may be included.

[0049] The delivery history acquisition unit only needs to be able to acquire a delivery history including the actual arrival time when the vehicle arrives at the delivery location when the delivery based on the delivery plan is performed by the vehicle. In the delivery plan, since the scheduled arrival time is set for each delivery location, the deliverer acts with the goal of arriving at each delivery location in time for the scheduled arrival time. When the delivery work is performed, in order to find out what the actual situation was with respect to the scheduled arrival time, the actual situation is included in the delivery history as the actual arrival time. Of course, the delivery history may include other information, for example, the route traveled by the vehicle, the state of driving in the vehicle (speed, acceleration, etc.), and information on the road traveled (presence or absence of traffic congestion, road width, number of lanes, etc.).

[0050] When the actual arrival time at the delivery location is earlier than the scheduled arrival time, the modification required notification department may notify whether a delivery plan modification is required based on the ease of vehicle waiting at the delivery location. When the actual arrival time at the delivery location is earlier than the scheduled arrival time, it can be said from the vehicle movement record that there is a time margin in the delivery plan and room for a more efficient plan. However, even if there is a time margin, there may be cases where it is better not to easily modify the delivery plan due to restrictions on the waiting location at the delivery location.

[0051] That is, even if the vehicle arrives at the delivery location early, if waiting by the vehicle is easy, the urgency to modify the delivery plan is less compared to when waiting is difficult. Therefore, if the ease of vehicle waiting at the delivery location is specified, it is possible to determine and notify whether a delivery plan modification is required. Specifically, a configuration can be adopted in which the easier the waiting is, the lower the need for modification, and the more difficult the waiting is, the higher the need for modification. The ease can be defined by various methods, and in addition to the presence or absence of a waiting location as described above, the ease can be defined by various elements. For example, when parking on the roads around the delivery location is likely to interfere with traffic (traffic volume is more than the standard, near the facility entrance, etc.), the width of the roads around the delivery location is smaller than the standard, or there are more complaints from surrounding residents than the standard, a configuration can be adopted in which waiting is considered difficult.

[0052] An element for determining whether waiting at the delivery location is easy is whether the parking lot is paid. That is, when there is no free parking lot around the delivery location and waiting at a paid parking lot is required when waiting at the delivery location, waiting is possible at the paid parking lot, but a fee will be incurred. When such a waiting that incurs a fee is required, it can be considered that the waiting is not easy but difficult.

[0053] FIG. 3B shows an example of the delivery location information 300c when the presence or absence of a paid parking lot is a determining factor. In the delivery location information 300c shown in FIG. 3B, information indicating whether the parking lot that exists near the delivery location and where vehicles can be parked is free or paid is associated. When there is a free parking lot near the delivery location, in the delivery location information 300c, information indicating "free" is associated with the delivery location. When there is a paid parking lot near the delivery location but it is impossible to wait for free, in the delivery location information 300c, information indicating "paid" is associated with the delivery location.

[0054] In this example, the ease of waiting for a vehicle at the delivery location is specified based on the necessity of waiting at a paid parking lot around the delivery location. That is, the control unit 200 refers to the delivery location information 300c and determines that waiting is easy when a free parking lot is associated with a delivery location where the actual arrival time is earlier than the scheduled arrival time. The control unit 200 refers to the delivery location information 300c and does not determine that waiting is easy when a paid parking lot is associated with a delivery location where the actual arrival time is earlier than the scheduled arrival time. And when it is not determined that waiting is easy, that is, when it is necessary to use a paid parking lot when waiting, the control unit 200 determines that it is necessary to modify the delivery plan and notifies the management terminal 10 of the delivery plan.

[0055] In this configuration, step S125 of the delivery plan management process shown in FIG. 4 described above is changed. That is, in step S125, the control unit 200 refers to the delivery location information 300c and determines whether a paid parking lot is associated with the delivery location to be determined. When a paid parking lot is associated with the delivery location to be determined, the control unit 200 determines that waiting is not easy. According to the above configuration, it becomes possible to preferentially modify a delivery plan that incurs costs for waiting.

[0056] Furthermore, when there are a plurality of elements for specifying the ease of waiting by the vehicle, one element may be preferentially considered over the other. For example, assume that the ease of waiting of the vehicle at the delivery point is specified based on the presence or absence of a waiting place at the delivery point and the necessity of waiting at a paid parking lot near the delivery point.

[0057] In this case, when information on the presence or absence of a waiting place is associated with a delivery point where the actual arrival time is earlier than the scheduled arrival time, the correction required notification unit determines whether a correction to the delivery plan is necessary based on the presence or absence of the waiting place, regardless of the necessity of waiting at a paid parking lot. When information on the presence or absence of a waiting place is not associated with a delivery point where the actual arrival time is earlier than the scheduled arrival time, the correction required notification unit may be configured to determine whether a correction to the delivery plan is necessary based on the necessity of waiting at a paid parking lot. According to this configuration, when a plurality of elements are mixed and associated with one delivery point, the ease of waiting can be clearly defined.

[0058] Furthermore, the present invention can also be realized as a program or a method. Also, the system, program, and method as described above may be realized as a single device in some cases, or may be realized using components shared with each part provided in the vehicle, and include various aspects. For example, it is possible to provide a method and a program realized by the system as described above. Also, it can be appropriately changed, such as part being software and part being hardware. Furthermore, the invention is also established as a recording medium for a program that controls the device. Of course, the recording medium for the software may be a magnetic recording medium, a semiconductor memory, or any recording medium developed in the future, and can be considered in exactly the same way.

Description of Reference Numerals

[0059] 10... Management terminal, 11... Control unit, 12... Communication unit, 13... User I / F unit, 50... Vehicle, 100... Delivery plan management system, 200... Control unit, 210... Delivery plan management program, 210a... Delivery plan acquisition unit, 210b... Delivery history acquisition unit, 210c... Modification necessity notification unit, 300... Recording medium, 300a... Delivery plan information, 300b... Delivery history information, 300c... Delivery location information, 400... Communication unit

Claims

1. A delivery plan acquisition unit that acquires a delivery plan including a scheduled arrival time set for each delivery location; A delivery history acquisition unit that acquires a delivery history including the actual arrival time at which the vehicle arrived at the delivery location when the delivery based on the delivery plan is performed by the vehicle; A modification necessity notification unit that notifies whether modification of the delivery plan is necessary based on the ease of waiting of the vehicle at the delivery location when the actual arrival time at the delivery location is earlier than the scheduled arrival time; A delivery plan management system comprising the above.

2. The ease of waiting of the vehicle at the delivery location is specified based on the presence or absence of a waiting place at the delivery location, The modification necessity notification unit notifies that modification of the delivery plan is necessary when the waiting place does not exist. The delivery plan management system according to Claim 1.

3. The ease of waiting of the vehicle at the delivery location is specified based on the necessity of waiting at a paid parking lot near the delivery location, The modification necessity notification unit notifies that modification of the delivery plan is necessary when waiting at the paid parking lot is necessary. The delivery plan management system according to Claim 1.

4. The ease of waiting of the vehicle at the delivery location is specified based on the presence or absence of a waiting place at the delivery location and the necessity of waiting at a paid parking lot near the delivery location, The modification necessity notification unit, For the delivery location where the actual arrival time is earlier than the scheduled arrival time, when information on whether the waiting place exists is associated, regardless of the necessity of waiting at the paid parking lot, based on the presence or absence of the waiting place, determines whether modification of the delivery plan is necessary; For the delivery location where the actual arrival time is earlier than the scheduled arrival time, when information on whether the waiting place exists is not associated, based on the necessity of waiting at the paid parking lot, determines whether modification of the delivery plan is necessary. The delivery plan management system according to Claim 1.

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