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 travel time between delivery points after a delivery point where the actual time of arrival is later 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 arrival time when delivery based on the delivery plan is performed 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 it is necessary to correct a delivery plan. That is, even if there is a difference between the plan and the actual result, there may be a plan that requires a high degree of correction and a plan that requires a low degree of 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 vehicle performs delivery based on the delivery plan, and a correction necessity notification unit that notifies whether correction of the delivery plan is necessary based on a travel time between the delivery locations after the delivery location where the actual arrival time is later than the scheduled arrival time.

[0006] In a delivery plan management system, when the actual arrival time at a delivery location is later than the scheduled arrival time, the delivery plan is considered a candidate for modification. When there are delivery locations where deliveries are made after the said delivery location, there can be a delivery plan in which the delay in arrival at the said delivery location has a significant impact on the deliveries to subsequent delivery locations, and a delivery plan in which the impact is small. That is, if there is no margin in the travel time between subsequent delivery locations, if a delivery is delayed at one location, there is a high possibility that delays will occur sequentially at subsequent delivery locations, and the delivery plan should be corrected at an early stage. On the other hand, if there is a margin in the travel time between subsequent delivery locations, the possibility that a delay in delivery at one location will chain to subsequent delivery locations is low, and the priority for correcting the delivery plan is relatively low. Therefore, by adopting a configuration that notifies whether a delivery plan needs to be corrected based on the travel time between delivery locations after the delivery location where the actual arrival time is later than the scheduled arrival time, the necessity of correcting a delivery plan with a high priority for correction is notified, and it becomes possible to determine whether the delivery plan should be corrected.

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 the 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 where the delivery person should deliver the delivery 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 delivery 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 items are delivered after the scheduled arrival time. And if the vehicle arrives at the delivery location at a time later than the scheduled arrival time, it is regarded that the requirements of the delivery destination have not been met. Therefore, a delivery plan with such a delay becomes a candidate for correction.

[0011] Since delivery delays can occur at multiple delivery locations of multiple delivery plans, the delivery plan including the delivery location where the delay has occurred becomes a candidate for correction. However, if it is notified that all delivery plans with delays need to be corrected, including those with little impact from the delays, it is difficult to know which delivery plans have a large impact from the delays, and the correction of delivery plans with a large impact from the delays may be postponed.

[0012] Therefore, in the present embodiment, it is considered that the necessity of correcting the delivery plan is higher as the travel time between delivery locations after the delivery location where the actual arrival time is later than the scheduled arrival time is shorter. Specifically, when there is a delivery location where delivery is performed after the delivery location where the actual arrival time is later than the scheduled arrival time, there may be a delivery plan in which the delay in arrival at one delivery location greatly affects the delivery to the subsequent delivery location and a delivery plan in which the impact is small.

[0013] That is, if there is no margin in the travel time between subsequent delivery locations, if the delivery is delayed at one location, there is a high possibility of a chain of delays occurring at subsequent delivery locations. Also, if there is no margin in the travel time, it places a psychological burden on the delivery person. Therefore, if there is no margin in the travel time between subsequent delivery locations, the delivery plan should be corrected early. On the other hand, if there is a margin in the travel time between subsequent delivery locations, the likelihood of a delay at one location cascading to subsequent delivery locations is low, and there is a possibility of offsetting a delay at one location during travel. Therefore, if there is a margin in the travel time between subsequent delivery locations, the priority for correcting the delivery plan is relatively low. Thus, in the present embodiment, it is configured such that the shorter the travel time between delivery locations after a delivery location where the actual arrival time is later than the scheduled arrival time, the higher the priority for correcting the delivery plan.

[0014] (1-1) Configuration of the management terminal: The management terminal 10 according to the present embodiment is a terminal for formulating a delivery plan and is a terminal that is notified when a correction of the delivery plan is necessary if correction is required. The management terminal 10 includes a control unit 11 having a CPU, RAM, ROM, etc., a recording medium (not shown), a communication unit 12, and a user I / F unit 13.

[0015] 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. Specifically, it 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.

[0016] 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 modifying a delivery plan using the above-described interface, and for notifying whether a modification of the delivery plan is necessary. By executing the program, the control unit 11 assists in creating and modifying the delivery plan and notifies whether a modification of the delivery plan is necessary.

[0017] (1-2) Configuration of the delivery plan management system: The delivery plan management system 100 includes a control unit 200 including 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 the present embodiment, a delivery plan management program 210 can be executed as this program.

[0018] In addition, delivery plan information 300a and delivery history information 300b are recorded in 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, an order of delivery locations, and a scheduled arrival time to reach the delivery location.

[0019] FIG. 2 is a diagram showing an example of the delivery plan information 300a according to the present embodiment. As shown in FIG. 2, a delivery plan ID is assigned to each delivery plan, and each delivery plan is distinguishable. In each delivery plan, the delivery points to be delivered by the vehicle are indicated by names, and the delivery order of each delivery point is determined. In FIG. 2, the names of the delivery points are arranged from top to bottom in the order of delivery. For example, the delivery point with the name "Point 1" is the first delivery point in the delivery plan with the ID "N001", and the delivery point with the name "Point 2" is the second delivery point. Note that the delivery point may be specified by the position (coordinates) of the delivery point instead of the name. Each delivery point is associated with an expected arrival time when the vehicle should arrive at each delivery point. For example, in the delivery plan with the ID "N001", it is planned that the vehicle should arrive at Point 1 at 9:00 and at Point 2 at 9:30.

[0020] The delivery history information 300b is information including the actual arrival time when the vehicle arrives at the delivery point when the delivery based on the delivery plan is performed by the vehicle. That is, the delivery history information 300b is a history of the actual arrival time when the vehicle arrives at each delivery point when the delivery person performs the delivery aiming to execute the operation indicated by the delivery plan as planned.

[0021] The actual arrival time is transmitted from the vehicle 50 after arriving at the delivery point, and the transmitted information is added to the delivery history information 300b at any time. 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 actual arrival time for each delivery point is associated with the delivery plan ID and recorded.

[0022] FIG. 3 is a diagram showing an example of the delivery history information 300b according to the present embodiment. As shown in FIG. 3, a delivery plan ID is assigned to the delivery history, and the actual arrival time is associated with each of the delivery points to be delivered in each delivery plan. For example, in the example shown in FIG. 3, in the delivery plan with the ID "N001", it is shown that the vehicle arrived at Point 1 at 9:00 and at Point 4 at 10:40.

[0023] In this embodiment, the delivery person who drives each vehicle performs delivery according to the delivery plan assigned to each vehicle. At this time, the delivery person needs to arrive at the delivery location without delay from the scheduled arrival time and deliver the delivery items to the person in charge at the delivery location. Therefore, when a delivery delay occurs where the actual arrival time is later than the scheduled arrival time, it is preferable to take some measures. However, since delivery delays can occur at multiple delivery locations for multiple delivery plans, if it is notified that all the delivery plans with delays need to be corrected, including those with less impact from the delay, there may be an excessive number of delivery plans that need to be corrected. As a result, it becomes difficult to identify which delivery plans are significantly affected by the delay, and the correction of delivery plans with a large impact from the delay may be postponed.

[0024] Therefore, in this embodiment, a configuration is adopted in which it is determined whether a delivery plan needs to be corrected based on the travel time between delivery locations and then notified.

[0025] The delivery plan management program 210 includes a delivery plan acquisition unit 210a, a delivery history acquisition unit 210b, and a correction necessity notification unit 210c in order to perform such notifications. 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 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 controls the control unit 200 to execute a function of acquiring a delivery history including the actual arrival time when the vehicle arrives at the delivery location when delivery is performed based on the delivery plan by the vehicle. That is, when the delivery person driving each vehicle 50 sequentially executes the tasks of the delivery plan assigned to themselves, 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 record of the vehicle arriving at each delivery location 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 travel time between delivery locations after the delivery location where the arrival actual time is later 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 location is later than the scheduled arrival time. Whether the arrival actual time is later than the scheduled arrival time may be determined based on a predetermined threshold value. For example, when the arrival actual time - the scheduled arrival time is equal to or greater than the threshold value, it may be determined that the arrival actual time is later than the scheduled arrival time.

[0029] And when there is a delivery location where the arrival actual time is later than the scheduled arrival time, the control unit 200 makes the delivery plan including that delivery location the object of judgment of whether modification is necessary. For example, in the examples shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, in the delivery plan with the delivery plan ID N001, the arrival actual time at location 4 is 10:40, which is later than the scheduled arrival time of 10:30. Also, in the delivery plan with the delivery plan ID N005, the arrival actual time at location 54 is 10:10, which is later than the scheduled arrival time of 10:00. Therefore, in these examples, N001, which is the delivery plan including location 4, and N005, which is the delivery plan including location 54, become the objects of judgment of whether modification is necessary.

[0030] Furthermore, the control unit 200 refers to the delivery plan information 300a and identifies the delivery locations included in the delivery plan that is the object of judgment of whether modification is necessary and whose delivery order is after the delivery location where the arrival actual time is later than the scheduled arrival time. For example, in the examples shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, the control unit 200 identifies locations 5 to 7 after location 4 for the delivery plan N001, and identifies locations 55 to 57 after location 54 for the delivery plan N005.

[0031] Furthermore, the control unit 200 specifies the travel time for the vehicle to move between delivery points after the delivery point where the actual arrival time is later than the scheduled arrival time. In the present embodiment, the travel time is specified based on the delivery plan information 300a. For example, if it is a delivery plan with a delivery plan ID of N001, the travel time after point 4 can be calculated for points 4 to 7 as the scheduled arrival time of point (N + 1) - the scheduled arrival time of point N (N is an integer from 4 to 6). In the example shown in FIG. 2, all travel times are 30 minutes. If it is a delivery plan with a delivery plan ID of N005, the travel time after point 54 can be calculated for points 54 to 57 in the same manner. In the example shown in FIG. 2, all travel times are 20 minutes. When the travel time between delivery points is different, the travel time may be specified by a statistical value such as the average value.

[0032] Then, the control unit 200 specifies whether the delivery plan needs to be corrected based on the travel time. In the present embodiment, a configuration is adopted in which the shorter the travel time, the higher the priority of correcting the delivery plan. That is, when the travel time when moving between delivery points after the delivery point where the actual arrival time is later than the scheduled arrival time is short, the impact of the delay is greater than when it is long.

[0033] For example, in the example shown in FIG. 2, the travel time of the delivery plan with a delivery plan ID of N005 is 20 minutes, and the travel time of the delivery plan with a delivery plan ID of N001 is 30 minutes. Therefore, the delivery plan with a delivery plan ID of N005 is more likely to be affected by the delay than the delivery plan with a delivery plan ID of N001. Taking the case where a 10-minute delay occurs at points 4 and 54 as shown in FIG. 3 as an example, in the case of the delivery plan with a delivery plan ID of N001, since the travel time from point 4 to point 5 is 30 minutes, it is sufficient to move to point 5 in the remaining 20 minutes. On the other hand, in the case of the delivery plan with a delivery plan ID of N005, since the travel time from point 4 to point 5 is 20 minutes, it becomes necessary to move to point 5 in the remaining 10 minutes. In the case of the delivery plan with a delivery plan ID of N001, also when moving to points 5 to 7, there is a travel time of 30 minutes. Therefore, even if a delay remains after point 5 after point 4, it is easier to eliminate the delay compared to the delivery plan with a delivery plan ID of N005.

[0034] In this embodiment, a priority is associated with each delivery plan to be judged whether it needs to be corrected. The priority is information for determining whether the delivery plan should be corrected, and is defined by, for example, a numerical value or the like. In this embodiment, it is considered that the delivery plan with a priority equal to or higher than the reference needs to be corrected and is notified. In this embodiment, the priority is adjusted by adding an integer value to the initial value (for example, 0). Therefore, the control unit 200 adds a larger value to the priority as the travel time is shorter when moving between delivery points after the delivery point where the actual arrival time is later than the scheduled arrival time. The relationship between the travel time and the value to be added may be defined in advance. In the example shown in FIGS. 2 and 3 above, a larger value is added to the priority of the delivery plan with the delivery plan ID of N005 than the delivery plan with the delivery plan ID of N001. According to this configuration, it is possible to preferentially correct as the influence on the delivery points after the delivery point where the delay has occurred is greater.

[0035] Furthermore, in this embodiment, a configuration is adopted in which the priority of correcting the delivery plan is increased as the difference between the actual arrival time and the scheduled arrival time is greater. That is, when the actual arrival time is significantly delayed from the scheduled arrival time, it can be said that the quality of the delivery service is worse than when the delay is small. For example, in the example shown in FIG. 3, if the scheduled arrival time at point 54 is 10:20 and there is a 20-minute delay, it has a greater impact on the quality of the delivery service than the 10-minute delay at point 4. Therefore, the control unit 200 adds a higher value to the priority of correcting the delivery plan as the difference between the actual arrival time and the scheduled arrival time is greater. According to this configuration, it is possible to preferentially correct as the influence of the delay on the quality of the delivery service is greater.

[0036] In addition, in the present embodiment, the priority is adjusted based on each of the travel time between delivery locations and the difference between the actual arrival time and the scheduled arrival time. However, the priority may also be adjusted based on the combined value of both. For example, a configuration may be adopted in which the higher the value of (the difference between the actual arrival time and the scheduled arrival time) / (the travel time between delivery locations), the higher the priority. Even with this configuration, it is possible to preferentially correct the greater the impact on delivery locations after the delivery location where a delay has occurred. Also, the greater the impact of the delay on the quality of the delivery service, the more likely it is to be preferentially corrected.

[0037] When the priority of each delivery plan is specified, the control unit 200 refers to the priority of each delivery plan and determines that it is necessary to modify the delivery plan whose priority is equal to or higher than the reference. When it is determined that it is necessary to modify the delivery plan, the control unit 200 transmits the ID of the delivery plan including the delivery location 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 modified. According to this configuration, the user of the management terminal 10 can easily know the delivery plan that should be preferentially modified.

[0038] (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 accumulates it in the recording medium 300 as 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.

[0039] 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 where deliveries are made 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.

[0040] Next, the control unit 200 selects a delivery plan to be determined by the function of the modification 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.

[0041] Next, the control unit 200 selects a delivery point to be determined by the function of the modification 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.

[0042] Next, the control unit 200 determines whether the actual arrival time at the delivery point to be determined is later 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 later than the acquired scheduled arrival time.

[0043] In step S120, if it is not determined that the actual arrival time at the delivery point to be determined is later 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 later than the scheduled arrival time, the control unit 200 determines whether the impact of the delay on the delivery plan is significant by the function of the correction necessity notification unit 210c (step S125).

[0044] In the present embodiment, the impact of the delay on the delivery plan is specified based on each of the travel time between delivery points and the difference between the actual arrival time and the scheduled arrival time. Therefore, the control unit 200 refers to the delivery plan information 300a by the function of the correction necessity notification unit 210c, and specifies the delivery points where delivery is performed in the delivery order after the delivery point to be determined among the delivery points included in the delivery plan to be determined. Then, the control unit 200 specifies the travel time between the delivery points after the delivery point to be determined. When the travel time is less than the threshold value, the control unit 200 determines that the impact of the delay on the delivery plan is significant. Further, the control unit 200 subtracts the scheduled arrival time from the actual arrival time for the delivery delay to be determined by the function of the correction necessity notification unit 210c, and when the obtained value is greater than the threshold value, the control unit 200 determines that the impact of the delay on the delivery plan is significant.

[0045] In step S125, if it is determined that the impact of the delay on the delivery plan is not significant, the control unit 200 skips step S130. In step S125, if it is determined that the impact of the delay on the delivery plan is significant, the control unit 200 increases the priority of modifying the delivery plan under judgment (step S130). Specifically, the control unit 200 adds a larger value to the priority of modifying the delivery plan as the travel time between delivery points after the delivery point under judgment is shorter. Also, the control unit 200 adds a larger value to the priority of modifying the delivery plan as the difference between the actual arrival time and the scheduled arrival time at the delivery point under judgment is larger.

[0046] When step S130 is executed, or in step S125, if it is determined that the impact of the delay on the delivery plan is not significant, or in step S120, if it is not determined that the actual arrival time at the delivery point under judgment is later than the scheduled arrival time, the control unit 200 determines whether all delivery points have been judged (step S135). That is, the control unit 200 considers that all delivery points have been judged when the processes of steps S115 to S135 have been performed for all delivery points included in the delivery plan under judgment selected in step S110.

[0047] In step S135, if it is determined that not all delivery points have been judged, the control unit 200 repeats the processes after step S115. In step S135, if it is determined that all delivery points have been judged, the control unit 200 determines whether all delivery plans have been judged (step S140). That is, the control unit 200 considers that all delivery plans have been judged when the processes of steps S110 to S140 have been performed for all of the delivery plans obtained in step S100.

[0048] In step S140, if it is not determined that all delivery plans have been determined, the control unit 200 repeats the processes after step S110. In step S140, if it is determined that all delivery plans have been determined, the control unit 200 notifies delivery plans with a priority equal to or higher than the standard by the function of the modification necessity notification unit 210c (step S145). Specifically, the control unit 200 identifies the priorities associated with each delivery plan and compares them with a predetermined standard. Then, the control unit 200 identifies the IDs of the delivery plans with a priority equal to or higher than the standard and transmits them to the management terminal 10. The management terminal 10 acquires the IDs of the delivery plans via the communication unit 12 and controls the output unit of the user I / F unit 13 to display the delivery plans with the IDs as delivery plans that need to be modified. The user of the management terminal 10 modifies the notified delivery plans.

[0049] (3) Other embodiments: The above embodiments are examples for implementing the present invention, and various other embodiments can also be adopted. For example, when there is no margin in the travel time between delivery points before the delivery point where a delay has occurred, a configuration may be adopted in which it is considered necessary to modify the delivery plan including the delivery points before the delivery point where a delay has occurred.

[0050] Also, in the terminal notified that the delivery plan needs to be modified, the delivery plan may be automatically modified. For example, at the delivery point where the actual arrival time is later than the scheduled arrival time, after obtaining the consent of the delivery destination, the actual arrival time is set as the new scheduled arrival time, and the subsequent scheduled arrival times are moved down and delayed. Also, at least one of the delivery points after the delivery point where the actual arrival time is later than the scheduled arrival time may be deleted from the delivery plan and incorporated into the delivery plans of other vehicles for modification. Furthermore, the delivery plan may be modified using a known algorithm for solving the delivery planning problem.

[0051] Furthermore, the notification destination to which it is notified whether it is necessary to correct 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 correct the delivery plan by a program module for correcting the delivery plan.

[0052] 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, 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.

[0053] 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 with a cloud server.

[0054] Also, at least a part of each part (delivery plan acquisition unit 210a, delivery history acquisition unit 210b, correction 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, configurations in which a part of the configuration of the above-described embodiment is omitted, and configurations in which processing is changed or omitted can also be assumed.

[0055] 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 make the delivery proceed smoothly, it is preferable to manage the delivery for each delivery location by time. Therefore, in the delivery plan, the 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 serve as a guiding principle for actions when delivering the delivered items to each delivery location. Therefore, the scheduled arrival time may have the same meaning as the scheduled delivery time of the delivered 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 by a 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 also be included.

[0056] 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 carried out 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 carried out, 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 also include other information, for example, the route traveled by the vehicle, the state of driving on the vehicle (speed, acceleration, etc.), and information about the road traveled (presence or absence of traffic jams, road width, number of lanes, etc.).

[0057] The correction required notification unit only needs to be able to notify whether correction of the delivery plan is necessary based on the travel time between delivery points after the delivery point where the actual arrival time is later than the scheduled arrival time. When the actual arrival time at a delivery point is later than the scheduled arrival time, since the request from the delivery point has not been responded to, it becomes a candidate for correction. However, if it is notified that correction is necessary for all delivery plans with delays, including those with little impact from the delay, it is difficult to know which delivery plans have a large impact from the delay, and the correction of delivery plans with a large impact from the delay may be postponed.

[0058] Therefore, if the travel time between delivery points after the delivery point where the actual arrival time is later than the scheduled arrival time is specified, it is possible to determine and notify whether correction of the delivery plan is necessary according to the magnitude of the impact of the delay. Specifically, it is possible to adopt a configuration such that the shorter the travel time between delivery points after the delivery point where the actual arrival time is later than the scheduled arrival time, the higher the necessity for correction, and the longer the travel time, the lower the necessity for correction.

[0059] Furthermore, the present invention can also be realized as a program or a method. Also, the above system, program, and method may be realized as a single device in some cases, or may be realized by using components shared with each part provided in a vehicle, and include various aspects. For example, it is possible to provide a method and a program realized by the above system. 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 the same can be considered.

Explanation of Reference Signs

[0060] 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… Notification unit for necessity of correction, 300… Recording medium, 300a… Delivery plan information, 300b… Delivery history information, 400… Communication unit

Claims

1. a delivery plan acquisition unit that acquires a delivery plan including an estimated arrival time set for each delivery point; a delivery history acquisition unit that acquires a delivery history including an actual arrival time of the vehicle at the delivery point when the delivery is made by the vehicle based on the delivery plan; a correction necessity notifying unit that notifies whether the delivery plan needs to be corrected based on a travel time between the delivery points after the delivery point where the actual arrival time is later than the scheduled arrival time; A delivery plan management system comprising:

2. The correction necessity notification unit The shorter the travel time, the higher the priority of the delivery plan correction. The delivery plan management system according to claim 1 .

3. The correction necessity notification unit The greater the difference between the actual arrival time and the scheduled arrival time, the higher the priority of the delivery plan correction. The delivery plan management system according to claim 1 .

4. The correction necessity notification unit notifying that the delivery plan having the priority equal to or higher than a standard needs to be modified; The delivery plan management system according to claim 2 or 3.

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