Ordering support system and ordering support method

Abstract

To reduce mistakes regarding ordering while reducing workload.SOLUTION: An ordering support system includes: a design data acquisition unit that acquires design data for piping equipment to be constructed, the design data being generated by a construction contractor ordering components of the piping equipment from a dealer; a first extraction unit that extracts data related to specifications of the components that make up the piping equipment from properties included in the design data; and a list generation unit that generates an ordering list in accordance with the specifications of the components based on the extracted data.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

[Technical Field]

[0001] The present invention relates to an ordering support system and an ordering support method. [Background technology]

[0002] When a contractor installs piping equipment in a building such as a house, the contractor places an order by sending a list of the necessary piping materials, fittings, and other piping equipment components to a dealer by email or facsimile based on drawings such as blueprints and construction drawings. When the dealer receives an order from the contractor, the contractor checks the contents of the list and enters the product number, size, quantity, etc. of each ordered component into the dealer's own management system using various input devices such as a keyboard or mouse. This allows the management system to place an order for the components with each manufacturer according to the components. When ordering parts from each manufacturer, the dealer checks the manufacturer's inventory and then notifies the contractor of the delivery date for the parts via email, telephone, etc. The dealer also prepares an estimate based on the order details and sends it to the contractor. After the contractor and the dealer agree on the price and delivery date of the estimate, the ordered parts are delivered from each manufacturer to the dealer, and then delivered from the dealer to the contractor. Patent Document 1 discloses an electronic commerce system in which orders are placed and received electronically between purchasers and retailers via communication lines such as the Internet. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0003] [Patent Document 1] Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2018-005287 Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0004] However, because the dealer's staff manually inputs the information into the management system while looking at the list received from the contractor, there is a possibility of input errors when entering the product number, size, quantity, etc. As a result, the dealer receives parts from the manufacturer that are different from the parts ordered by the contractor. Also, the delivery date and estimate may differ from the details ordered by the contractor. Furthermore, the dealer's staff is burdened with the manual input of the order details into the management system.

[0005] The present invention has been made in consideration of the above circumstances, and its purpose is to provide an ordering support system and ordering support method that can reduce ordering errors while reducing work load. [Means for solving the problem]

[0006] In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, one aspect of the present invention is an ordering support system having a design data acquisition unit that acquires design data for the piping equipment to be constructed, which is generated by a contractor ordering piping equipment components from a retailer; a first extraction unit that extracts data regarding the specifications of the components that make up the piping equipment from properties included in the design data; and a list generation unit that generates an order list according to the specifications of the components based on the extracted data.

[0007] Another aspect of the present invention is an ordering support method executed by a computer, which includes acquiring design data for the piping equipment to be constructed, which is generated by a contractor who orders piping equipment components from a retailer, extracting data regarding the specifications of the components that make up the piping equipment from properties included in the design data, and generating an order list according to the specifications of the components based on the extracted data. [Effects of the Invention]

[0008] As described above, according to the present invention, it is possible to reduce errors in ordering and reduce the workload. [Brief explanation of the drawings]

[0009] [Figure 1] 1 is a schematic block diagram showing the configuration of an order support system S according to an embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 2] 2 is a schematic functional block diagram showing the functional configuration of the order support server 50. FIG. [Figure 3] FIG. 10 is a diagram showing an example of catalog data stored in a catalog data storage unit 5021. [Figure 4] FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating an example of order management data stored in accordance with a common format. [Figure 5] FIG. 10 is a diagram showing an example of an order list. [Figure 6] FIG. 1 is a data flow diagram of an ordering support system. [Figure 7] FIG. 2 is a diagram showing the flow of data processing in the ordering support system. [Figure 8] FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a data flow of the ordering support system. [Figure 9] FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a data flow of the ordering support system. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0010] An order support system according to an embodiment of the present invention will now be described with reference to the drawings. Fig. 1 is a schematic block diagram showing the configuration of an order support system S according to an embodiment of the present invention. The order support system S includes a contractor terminal 10, a dealer terminal 20, a processing base terminal 30, a manufacturer terminal 40, an order support server 50, and a network N. The contractor terminal 10, the dealer terminal 20, the processing base terminal 30, and the manufacturer terminal 40 may each be any one of a smartphone, a tablet, a computer, or the like. In this embodiment, the case will be described where the order support system S includes one each of the contractor terminal 10, dealer terminal 20, processing base terminal 30, and manufacturer terminal 40, but two or more may be included. For example, if there are multiple contractors, a different contractor terminal 10 may be used for each contractor. If there are multiple dealers, a different dealer terminal 20 may be used for each dealer. If there are multiple processing bases, a different processing base terminal 30 may be used for each processing base. If there are multiple manufacturers, a different manufacturer terminal 40 may be used for each manufacturer.

[0011] The contractor terminal 10 is used by a contractor. The contractor installs piping equipment using components. Piping equipment components include pipes, joints, etc. The contractor uses the contractor terminal 10 to order piping equipment components by sending order data to the dealer terminal 20. The contractor terminal 10 may have a function to generate design data. The function to generate design data may be, for example, either CAD (Computer Aided Design) or BIM (Building Information Modeling). If the contractor terminal 10 does not have the function to generate design data, it may have a function to acquire design data from an external device.

[0012] The dealer terminal 20 is used by a dealer that sells components used to install piping equipment. When the dealer receives an order for components from a contractor by receiving order data via the dealer terminal 20, the dealer places an order for the ordered components with a manufacturer or processing store, and the manufacturer or processing store delivers the components to the contractor directly or via the dealer.

[0013] The processing base terminal 30 is used at a processing base where various processes are performed on piping components. The processing base is, for example, a processing factory. Components provided by a manufacturer (hereinafter sometimes referred to as manufacturer components) can sometimes be used as is in piping equipment, but there are also cases where the manufacturer components need to be processed depending on the site where the piping equipment is to be installed. For example, the length of a straight pipe provided by a manufacturer is predetermined based on the model number, etc., so it may be cut to the required length based on the installation drawings for the piping equipment. In addition to cutting, the processing may also include connecting a pipe to a fitting to create a processed piping.

[0014] The manufacturer terminal 40 is used by a manufacturer that produces components for piping equipment. The manufacturer produces various components used to install piping equipment and delivers them to a dealer, a construction site, a construction company, a processing base, or the like in response to an order from the dealer.

[0015] The ordering support server 50 has various functions for ordering various components used to install piping equipment, receiving orders, creating and sending estimates, managing progress, and the like. The order support server 50 may be a physical server or a cloud server provided by a cloud computing service.

[0016] The network N may be any one of the Internet, a LAN (Local Area Network), a public line network, etc., or a combination of these. The network N may be wired or wireless, or may be a combination of wired and wireless.

[0017] FIG. 2 is a schematic functional block diagram showing the functional configuration of the order support server 50. As shown in FIG. The ordering support server 50 has a communication unit 501, a memory unit 502, a design data acquisition unit 503, a first extraction unit 504, a list generation unit 505, an order list transmission unit 506, a second extraction unit 507, a processed component list transmission unit 508, a processing estimate acquisition unit 509, an estimate generation unit 510, an estimate transmission unit 511, and a control unit 512. The communication unit 501 communicates with the contractor terminal 10, the dealer terminal 20, the processing base terminal 30, and the manufacturer terminal 40 via the network N, thereby transmitting and receiving various data.

[0018] The storage unit 502 stores various types of data. The memory unit 502 is configured by a storage medium, such as a hard disk drive (HDD), flash memory, electrically erasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM), random access read / write memory (RAM), read-only memory (ROM), or any combination of these storage media. The storage unit 502 can be, for example, a nonvolatile memory.

[0019] The storage unit 502 includes, for example, a catalog data storage unit 5021 and an order management data storage unit 5022. 3 is a diagram showing an example of catalog data stored in catalog data storage unit 5021. Catalog data storage unit 5021 stores catalog data for manufacturer parts, in which specifications of parts are represented for each part number. The part number is the product number of the component, and is a number that allows the component to be distinguished according to its specifications. The specifications include the component's part number, dimensions, size, shape, material, price, etc. If the component is a straight pipe, the dimension indicates the length of the pipe, the size indicates the diameter, and the shape includes straight pipe, straight pipe with socket, etc. If the component is a fitting, the dimension indicates the length of the fitting, the size indicates the diameter, and the shape includes socket, tee, elbow, bend, etc. Such catalog data is, for example, catalog data based on the contents published in a catalog about components provided by the manufacturer of manufacturer terminal 40. The catalog data may be received from manufacturer terminal 40 and stored in catalog data storage unit 5021.

[0020] FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an example of order management data stored in accordance with the common format. The common format includes items for which data can be stored, such as property information 410, delivery date information 420, ordered parts management list 430, and estimated cost 440. By using such a common format, order details can be shared based on the same format among the contractor terminal 10, the dealer terminal 20, and the processing base terminal 30, which simplifies management and enables quick information sharing among contractors, dealers, and processors. Furthermore, by using a common format, even if multiple contractors place orders, the dealer can quickly understand the order details because the order form format does not differ for each contractor. Furthermore, data written in such a common format may be viewable from either the contractor terminal 10 or the dealer terminal 20.

[0021] The order management data is data in which data corresponding to these items is stored, and is data that allows the status of ordering and placing of parts ordered from the contractor terminal 10 to be grasped. The property information 410 includes orderer information and delivery destination information. The orderer information includes the property name, which is the name of the property to be constructed, the name of the client company and the person in charge of the request, the request date, the order date, the completion date, etc. The request date is the date on which the order data is registered in the ordering support server 50. The order date is the date on which the estimate content and estimated amount are confirmed by the contractor (the person in charge of the client company) and the order is officially accepted. The completion date is the date on which the delivery of the ordered parts is completed.

[0022] Delivery destination information includes the consignee, telephone number, address, remarks, etc. The consignee is the person in charge of receiving the delivery at the delivery destination. The telephone number is a telephone number where the consignee can be contacted. The address is the address of the delivery location (for example, the construction site). The remarks is a field where various text data can be entered as needed.

[0023] Delivery date information 420 indicates the date by which the ordered parts can be delivered.

[0024] The ordered parts management list 430 is a list showing parts ordered by a contractor (orderer). The ordered parts management list 430 includes the processing company name, shortest delivery time, system name, system number, material abbreviation, size, length (actual length), connection fitting, GUID (piping part identifier), desired delivery time, changed desired delivery time, scheduled delivery date, receiving number, progress, amount, and total for each material. Of these items, for the processing company, shortest delivery time, system name, system number, material abbreviation, size, length (actual length), GUID, desired delivery time, and total for each material, by setting corresponding keywords in advance, data corresponding to the keywords is extracted from the design data obtained from the contractor terminal 10, and written for each component into the corresponding item in this ordered components management list 430. When there is a change in the desired delivery date, the changed desired delivery date can be written from the contractor terminal 10 or the dealer terminal 20. The scheduled delivery date may be written from the dealer terminal 20, or the delivery date may be read from the delivery date information 420 and written as the scheduled delivery date. The delivery number may be written from the dealer terminal 20. The progress may be recorded as a status by the control unit 512 of the order support server 50. The price for each processed component in the order list may be read from the processing estimate data and written in the column for that component in the common format. Also, the price for each manufacturer component in the order list may be read from the manufacturer estimate data and written in the column for that component in the common format. Here, some of the data in the ordered parts management list 430 is written in a common format based on an order list generated based on design data acquired from the contractor terminal 10.

[0025] FIG. 5 is a diagram showing an example of an order list. The order list includes the processing company name, which indicates the name of the processing company, the shortest delivery time, the system name, the system number, the abbreviation of the material, the size, the length (actual length), the connection joint, the GUID, and the desired delivery time.

[0026] The design data acquisition unit 503 acquires design data for the piping equipment to be constructed, which is generated by a contractor ordering piping equipment components. The design data may be represented by an isometric drawing (sometimes called an isometric drawing) showing only the piping route, or by a pipe division drawing showing the piping route and contents, and these can be represented by BIM data. In this embodiment, the design data may be either a construction drawing or a design drawing of the piping equipment to be constructed, but the case where a construction drawing is represented using BIM data will be described. BIM data is design data that can include property data representing the shape and spatial layout of buildings and piping equipment, as well as the quantity, dimensions, product number (model number), and characteristics of the components and parts used in the piping equipment. The design data acquisition unit 503 can acquire the design data representing the construction drawing of the piping equipment to be ordered by receiving the design data via the communication unit 501 in response to the design data being sent from the contractor terminal 10 along with the order request.

[0027] The design data acquired by the design data acquisition unit 503 may be in any data format as long as it is data related to the design data, and for example, when CSV (comma separated values) data generated from BIM data is transmitted from the contractor terminal 10, this CSV data may be acquired as the design data. In other words, the design data acquisition unit 503 may acquire data based on the design data in any data format, such as BIM data or CSV data.

[0028] The first extraction unit 504 extracts data related to the specifications of components that constitute the piping equipment from the properties included in the design data acquired by the design data acquisition unit 503. The first extraction unit 504 refers to the properties of the BIM data included in the design data, and based on keywords related to the components, extracts keywords and data related to the keywords from character strings described in the properties. These keywords are set in advance according to character strings related to components that may be the subject of an order. When BIM data is acquired by the design data acquisition unit 503, the first extraction unit 504 converts this BIM data into CSV data, and refers to the converted CSV data to extract keywords and data related to the keywords. When the design data acquisition unit 503 acquires CSV data converted from BIM data, the first extraction unit 504 extracts keywords and data related to the keywords from this CSV data. Here, the keyword may be any information necessary for ordering a part, such as the shape of the part. Specifically, the keyword may be a straight pipe, an elbow, a tee, etc. Data related to the keyword may be a value representing the dimension or size of the part.

[0029] The list generation unit 505 generates an order list according to the dimensions and shape of the components based on the data extracted by the first extraction unit 504. The dimensions may include at least one of the length and diameter of the components, or may include both. In addition to the dimensions and shape, the order list may also include the product number, the number to be ordered, and the desired delivery date. The list generation unit 505 generates an order list by assigning data representing the order contents based on the dimensions and shape according to the properties to items corresponding to keywords obtained from the properties, using a common format that includes items that can identify the type of parts to be ordered and that can be used commonly between contractors and retailers.

[0030] The estimated amount 440 is the estimated amount to be charged for the order contents based on the order list. If the order data includes both manufacturer parts and processed parts, the estimated amount 440 is the amount including both the manufacturer parts and processed parts.

[0031] The order list transmitting unit 506 transmits to the manufacturer terminal 40 a manufacturer order list for ordering parts that exist in the catalog data from the order list. Here, the control unit 512, which will be described later, determines whether there are any components in the catalog data that match the product number, shape, length, size, etc. of the components included in the order list by referring to the catalog data storage unit 5021, and generates a manufacturer's product order list that describes the matching components. The order list transmission unit 506 transmits the manufacturer's product order list generated in this way to the manufacturer's terminal. As a result, it is possible to allocate orders to the manufacturer's terminal 40 for components that can be installed as piping equipment without processing the manufacturer's components.

[0032] The second extraction unit 507 refers to the catalog data and extracts components that are different from the catalog data from among the components included in the order list, and can extract the extracted components as components that require processing. The second extraction unit 507 refers to the catalog data storage unit 5021, extracts from the order list components that differ in product number, shape, length, size, etc. from the components included in the order list, and generates a processed components list that describes the extracted components. The second extraction unit 507 may extract the remaining parts from the order list that are not included in the manufacturer's product order list generated by the order list transmission unit 506 as parts that require processing. This allows parts that need to be processed to be extracted from the order list and distributed so that an order is placed with the processing base terminal 30.

[0033] The processed member list transmitting unit 508 transmits a processed member list, which is a list of the members extracted by the second extracting unit 507, to the processing base terminal 30.

[0034] The processing estimate acquisition unit 509 acquires processing estimate data generated by a processing company based on the processing component list by receiving it from the processing base terminal 30.

[0035] The estimate generation unit 510 generates total estimate data for the order based on the acquired processing estimate data and the prices of the parts that correspond to the catalog data included in the order list. Here, parts that can be provided by the manufacturer are ordered from the manufacturer, but parts that require processing are ordered from the processor (processing base). Therefore, by generating an estimate that includes the respective prices for the parts to be ordered from the manufacturer and the parts to be ordered from the processor, an estimate that corresponds to the order contents from the contractor can be generated.

[0036] The estimate sending unit 511 sends the generated total estimate data to the contractor terminal 10 of the contractor who placed the order. Here, an estimate for the contractor can be generated and sent to the contractor terminal 10 by adding up the processing estimate data and the prices of the components corresponding to the catalog data.

[0037] The control unit 512 controls each unit of the order support server 50 .

[0038] In the above-described configuration, at least one of the functions of the ordering support server 50, namely, the design data acquisition unit 503, the first extraction unit 504, the list generation unit 505, the order list transmission unit 506, the second extraction unit 507, the processed parts list transmission unit 508, and the processing estimate acquisition unit 509, and the function of the control unit 512 to generate a manufacturer's product order list, may be provided in either the contractor terminal 10 or the dealer terminal 20, rather than in the ordering support server 50. The estimate generating unit 510 and the estimate transmitting unit 511 may be provided in the dealer terminal 20. The communication unit 501, the design data acquisition unit 503, the first extraction unit 504, the list generation unit 505, the order list transmission unit 506, the second extraction unit 507, the processed parts list transmission unit 508, the processing estimate acquisition unit 509, the estimate generation unit 510, the estimate transmission unit 511, and the control unit 512 may be configured by a processing unit such as a CPU (Central Processing Unit) or a dedicated electronic circuit.

[0039] <Case 1: When the contractor's terminal uses a common format> FIG. 6 is a data flow diagram of the ordering support system, and FIG. 7 is a diagram showing the flow of data processing in the ordering support system. The designer at the contractor terminal 10 creates a construction drawing of the piping equipment to be constructed using CAD or the like (step S101 in FIG. 6, step S201 in FIG. 7). For example, the designer designs the piping equipment using a BIM-compatible 3D CAD function installed in the contractor terminal 10, and saves the design data in the form of BIM data. When the designer has finished the design and wishes to order components, he or she inputs an order request instruction into the contractor terminal 10.

[0040] When an instruction for an order request is input, the contractor terminal 10 generates and outputs CSV data from the design data of the order target (step S102 in FIG. 6, step S202 in FIG. 7). Then, when the CSV data corresponding to the design data is output, the contractor terminal 10 writes the output CSV data into a common format (step S103 in FIG. 6, step S203 in FIG. 7). Here, the function of writing CSV data into the common format (list generation unit 505) may be provided in the order support server 50, or may be provided in the contractor terminal 10. When the contractor terminal 10 writes into the common format, the contractor terminal 10 may have the function of the first extraction unit 504.

[0041] When outputting CSV data from BIM data, the contractor terminal 10 extracts values ​​corresponding to keywords representing items to be output as CSV data from among the various data included in the BIM data, and writes the extracted values ​​to the corresponding items in the common format. The common format may be downloaded in advance from the order support server 50 to the contractor terminal 10 and used. For example, the contractor terminal 10 detects strings corresponding to keywords such as "diameter" and "size" from the CSV data and extracts the corresponding values. These corresponding values ​​are written according to certain rules, such as following the keywords "diameter" and "size," allowing the corresponding values ​​to be extracted based on these rules. The contractor terminal 10 then writes the extracted values ​​into the value entry fields of the items corresponding to the keywords "diameter" and "size" among the multiple items set in the common format. In this way, data extracted from BIM data can be written to the necessary items in the common format. In addition, by setting keywords corresponding to the data to be extracted from the BIM data, various data that do not match the keywords will not be extracted, preventing orders from being placed based on data that is not relevant to the order. In addition, if the BIM data contains information such as the part number of a component, this part number may also be extracted and written as the value of the "product number" field in the common format.

[0042] The contractor terminal 10 generates order list data by writing data related to components based on the design data into each item of the common format, and uploads the generated order list data to the ordering support server 50 (step S204 in FIG. 7).

[0043] When the order data is uploaded, the control unit 512 of the ordering support server 50 receives the uploaded order list data and stores it by writing it to the order management data storage unit 5022. The control unit 512 also rewrites the status of the order list to "Ordered." The control unit 512 of the ordering support server 50 then notifies the store terminal 20 that the order list data is available. In addition, when the order list data is stored, the order list transmission unit 506 of the ordering support server determines whether each component included in the order list data matches the components stored in the catalog data, generates a manufacturer's product order list that aggregates the components that are determined to match, and waits for transmission as transmittable data. Next, the second extraction unit 507 of the ordering support server 50 extracts components that are not listed in the catalog data from among the components included in the order list data, and generates a list of processed components that aggregates the extracted components.

[0044] The person in charge of the store terminal 20 checks this notification on the display screen of the store terminal 20 and then inputs an instruction to download the order data via the input device. Based on the download instruction, the store terminal 20 downloads the order data from the order support server 50 (step S205 in FIG. 7). This allows the store terminal 20 to acquire the order data written in the common format (step S121 in FIG. 6). In addition to the order list, the store terminal 20 also displays on the display screen a manufacturer's product order list and a processed material list corresponding to the order list. The person in charge of the dealer terminal 20 checks the parts to be ordered from the manufacturer and the parts to be requested to be processed at the processing base while referring to the order list, manufacturer product order list, and processed parts list, and if no correction is necessary, operates the "Request for quotation" button displayed on the display screen via the input device. When the processed material list sending unit 508 of the ordering support server 50 detects that the "quote request" button has been pressed, it sends the processed material list extracted by the second extracting unit 507 to the processing base terminal 30. Then, the control unit 512 of the ordering support server 50 rewrites the status to "quote request received."

[0045] The processing base terminal 30 receives the list of processed materials transmitted from the order support server 50 (step S131 in FIG. 6). When the processing staff at the processing base terminal 30 receives the processing component list at the processing base terminal 30, they generate processing estimate data that estimates the costs for processing based on the processing content indicated by the received processing component list (step S132 in FIG. 6). Then, the processing staff transmits the generated processing estimate data to the store terminal 20 via the order support server 50. Here, the order support server 50 stores the processing estimate data in the order management data storage unit 5022 in association with the order list, and then transmits it to the store terminal 20. Here, the ordering support server 50 refers to the catalog data stored in the catalog data storage unit 5021, reads out the price of each component included in the manufacturer's product order list, and generates manufacturer's component quotation data based on the manufacturer's product order list based on the price of each component. When sending the processing quotation data to the dealer terminal 20, the ordering support server 50 also sends the manufacturer's component quotation data. Then, the control unit 512 of the ordering support server 50 rewrites the information to "Processing estimate created."

[0046] When the retailer terminal 20 receives the processing estimate data and the manufacturer parts estimate data (step S122 in FIG. 6), it displays the received processing estimate data and manufacturer parts estimate data on the screen. The person in charge of the retailer terminal 20 checks the manufacturer parts estimate data and the processing estimate data on the display screen of the retailer terminal 20, and if no corrections are necessary, presses the "Estimate Confirmed" button via the input device. When the "Estimate Confirmed" button is pressed, the retailer terminal 20 generates total estimate data including the processing estimate data and the manufacturer parts estimate data (step S206 in FIG. 7) and uploads it by sending it to the ordering support server 50 (step S207 in FIG. 7). As a result, the order management data storage unit 5022 of the ordering support server 50 registers the total estimate data in association with the order list. Here, the control unit 512 of the ordering support server 50 rewrites the status to "Total estimate created." Then, the estimate transmission unit 511 of the order support server 50 notifies the contractor terminal 10 that the total estimate data can be downloaded.

[0047] When the person in charge of the contractor terminal 10 is notified that the total estimate data is available for download, the person in charge inputs a download instruction into the contractor terminal 10. Based on the download instruction, the contractor terminal 10 receives the total estimate data by downloading it from the order support server 50 (step S104 in FIG. 6, step S208 in FIG. 7), and displays the total estimate data on the display screen. The person in charge of the contractor terminal 10 checks the contents of the displayed total estimate data, confirms the part numbers, dimensions, size, quantity, estimated cost, delivery date, etc. of the components included in the total estimate data, and inputs an instruction as to whether or not to officially place an order. Here, the person in charge of the contractor terminal 10 can modify the working drawings as necessary. For example, the person in charge of the contractor terminal 10 can change the piping route, piping arrangement, or pipe division position so that the number of components to be processed is reduced or the processing content does not delay the delivery date of the processed components.

[0048] When the drawings are revised, the contractor terminal 10 outputs CSV data from the revised design data and requests the creation of a new estimate. Here, depending on the revisions to the working drawings, an additional order for additional parts may be placed. The additional order may include at least one of the following: adding parts that are insufficient in the original order, canceling some of the parts already ordered, or replacing parts already ordered with other parts. Here, the control unit 512 of the ordering support server 50 changes the status to "Request for new estimate." If no additional orders are required and there are no problems with the contents of the estimate, the person in charge of the contractor terminal 10 presses a confirmation button on the input device of the contractor terminal 10 to confirm the order for the processed parts and manufacturer parts. Based on the operation input of pressing this confirmation button, the contractor terminal 10 transmits an instruction to confirm the order to the ordering support server 50 (step S105 in FIG. 6). This also confirms the delivery date for the processed parts.

[0049] When the control unit 512 of the ordering support server 50 receives the order confirmation instruction from the contractor terminal 10, it writes data indicating the order confirmation into the order management data storage unit 5022 and rewrites the status to "order confirmed." Then, the control unit 512 of the ordering support server 50 transmits to the dealer terminal 20 a notification that the order confirmation instruction has been received.

[0050] When the order list transmission unit 506 of the retailer terminal 20 receives an instruction to confirm the order from the ordering support server 50 (step S123 in Figure 6), it transmits to the manufacturer terminal 40 order data (data that has been waiting as transmittable data) for ordering the parts included in the order list that correspond to the manufacturer's product order list. The store terminal 20 also transmits the list of processed materials to the processing base terminal 30 and an instruction to confirm the order (step S209 in FIG. 7).

[0051] When the processing base terminal 30 receives the order confirmation instruction and the list of processed materials (step S133 in FIG. 6, step S210 in FIG. 7), it displays the confirmed order details on the display screen.

[0052] The person in charge at the processing base terminal 30 checks the list of processed parts on the display screen, and if there are no problems, creates the processed parts (step S134 in FIG. 6, step S212 in FIG. 7). If any inappropriate processing is included, the person in charge inputs from the input device of the processing base terminal 30 that corrections are necessary. As a result, the fact that corrections to the drawings are necessary is notified to the dealer terminal 20 and the contractor terminal 10 via the order support server 50, and this information is shared (step S211 in FIG. 7). This allows the drawings to be corrected as necessary. Here, if corrections to the drawings occur before the actual start of processing, the drawing data is corrected in the design data, and a new estimate is generated.

[0053] Here, the progress status may be shared so that the contractor terminal 10, the retailer terminal 20, and the processing base terminal 30 can check the progress when they receive a progress notification from the order support server 50. Alternatively, even if no notification is received, the contractor terminal 10, the retailer terminal 20, or the processing base terminal 30 can access the order support server 50 at any time to check the progress status (status). This status may be checked by referring to the order management data or the ordered parts management list 430 at any time from any of the contractor terminal 10, the retailer terminal 20, and the processing base terminal 30. When the order management data or the ordered parts management list 430 is referenced, a screen in which the order details are written in a common format may be displayed on the display screen of the referencing terminal, as shown in FIG. 4. Here, because a screen in accordance with the common format is displayed, the contractor terminal 10, the retailer terminal 20, and the processing base terminal 30 can all refer to a screen in accordance with the common format, allowing them to have a common understanding of the order status. In addition, the person in charge of the contractor terminal 10 can refer to and understand the delivery date from the contractor terminal 10, so he or she can quickly understand the delivery date without having to inquire to the person in charge of the dealer by phone or email and wait for a reply.

[0054] When the processing is completed, the processed parts are delivered from the processing base to the dealer or contractor. The manufacturer also delivers parts according to the order content placed at the dealer terminal 20 to the contractor at the contractor terminal 10. Here, based on operational input from the person in charge, the dealer terminal 20 sends a notification to the ordering support server 50 that delivery has been completed. The ordering support server 50 then rewrites the status to "Delivered."

[0055] In this way, quotation data is generated in response to receiving order data from the contractor terminal 10, and after confirmation by the contractor, manufacturer parts and processed parts can be ordered and delivered. In addition, the order data is written in a common format, and orders can be accepted based on the order details written in this common format, so the dealer's staff does not need to manually input the order details into the terminal, reducing the burden of input operations and eliminating input errors.

[0056] <Case 2: When the contractor's terminal does not use a common format> In this case 2, before receiving an order from the contractor terminal 10, the dealer terminal 20 transmits the estimation master and delivery date data to the order support server 50 in advance and writes them in the storage unit 502. The estimation master is data that indicates the prices of materials that may be ordered. The integration master may include a manufacturer component estimate master and a processed component estimate master. The manufacturer's parts quotation master is data in which the price of the manufacturer's parts is associated with the part number of the manufacturer's parts. The cost estimation master may be data extracted from catalog data, for example. The processed material estimate master is data in which the price of the processed material, the product number of the manufacturer's material to be processed, and the processing content are associated with each other. The processed material estimate master may be created by the processing staff at the processing base terminal 30 and registered by being transmitted from the processing base terminal 30 to the dealer terminal 20 or the order support server 50.

[0057] For example, when a 4m straight pipe with a diameter of D1 is to be cut from a manufacturer's part number "AA11" to obtain a 3m straight pipe, the processing part estimate master registers data that correlates the price of the processed part "XX yen," the part number "AA11" of the manufacturer's part to be processed, and the processing content "cutting." "Cutting" is determined when the part number of the manufacturer's part and the part number of the part to be processed match, and when an order is placed for a length shorter than the dimension of the manufacturer's part, the ordering support server 50 can determine that the processing content is cutting. The delivery time data is data in which the part numbers of manufacturer's parts are associated with standard delivery times. The delivery time data may be data in which standard delivery times for each part number of parts are input by a dealer's staff member via the input device of the dealer terminal 20.

[0058] FIG. 8 is a diagram showing a data flow of the order support system, and FIG. 9 is a diagram showing a data flow of the order support system. In the above-mentioned case 1, we have explained the case where the contractor terminal 10 downloads the common format from the ordering support server 50, writes the order details into the common format, and sends it to the ordering support server 50. However, in case 2, instead of the contractor terminal 10 writing the order details into the common format, the contractor terminal 10 sends CSV data or BIM data to the ordering support server 50, and the ordering support server 50 generates an order list by writing it into the common format based on the CSV data, or it may generate CSV data from BIM data and write it into the common format based on this CSV data to generate an order list.

[0059] The dealer terminal 20 transmits the estimating master and delivery date data to the order support server 50 based on an operation input from the dealer's staff (step S321 in FIG. 8). Of the estimating masters transmitted here, the processed member estimate master may be data transmitted in advance from the processing base terminal 30 and stored in the dealer terminal 20. When the control unit 512 of the order support server 50 receives the integration master and delivery date data from the dealer terminal 20, it stores them in the storage unit 502 (step S311 in FIG. 8).

[0060] Based on input operations from the designer, the contractor terminal 10 creates construction drawings for the piping equipment to be constructed using CAD or BIM, etc. (step S301 in Figure 8, step S401 in Figure 9), and when an instruction for an order request is input, it generates CSV data from the created design data (step S302 in Figure 8, step S402 in Figure 7) and uploads it to the order support server 50 (step S403 in Figure 9). The design data acquisition unit 503 of the ordering support server 50 receives and acquires the design data represented by the CSV data. The first extraction unit 504 of the ordering support server 50 extracts keywords and data related to the keywords from the character strings described in the CSV data acquired by the design data acquisition unit 503. The control unit 512 of the ordering support server 50 stores the extracted data in the memory unit 502 and rewrites the status of the order list to "ordered." The control unit 512 of the ordering support server 50 then notifies the dealer terminal 20 that the order list data is available.

[0061] The list generation unit 505 writes values ​​extracted from the output CSV data into corresponding items in the common format. For example, the list generation unit 505 generates an order list by writing the product number, size, dimensions, etc. extracted from the CSV data by the first extraction unit 504 into corresponding items in the ordered parts management list 430 in the common format. Next, the estimate generation unit 510 refers to the estimating master in the storage unit 502 (step S404 in FIG. 9 ), reads out the prices of the components included in the estimating master among the components written in the common format, and writes the read-out prices for each component in the ordered component management list 430. Here, the estimate generation unit 510 can generate total estimate data for the contractor by generating estimates for the manufacturer components and the processed components by referring to the manufacturer component estimate master and the processed component estimate master. The control unit 512 stores the generated total estimate data by writing it into the ordered component management list 430. The estimate generation unit 510 also refers to the delivery date data, reads out the delivery date for each component, and writes the read-out delivery date in the delivery date column of the ordered component management list 430 for each component.

[0062] Next, the second extraction unit 507 of the ordering support server 50 extracts components that are not listed in the catalog data from among the components included in the order list data, and generates a list of processed components that aggregates the extracted components. When the total estimate data is generated, the estimate transmission unit 511 of the order support server 50 transmits the total estimate data and the list of processed materials to the contractor terminal 10 and also to the dealer terminal 20.

[0063] The contractor terminal 10 receives the total estimate data and the list of processed materials from the order support server 50 (step S303 in FIG. 8, step S405 in FIG. 9), and displays the total estimate data and the list of processed materials on the display screen. The person in charge of the contractor terminal 10 checks the contents of the displayed total estimate data, confirms the part numbers, dimensions, sizes, quantities, estimated costs, delivery dates, etc. of the components in the processed components list, and inputs an instruction as to whether or not to officially place an order. Here, the person in charge of the contractor terminal 10 can revise the working drawings as necessary. If the drawings are revised, the contractor terminal 10 may generate CSV data from the revised design data and send it to the ordering support server 50 to request the creation of a new estimate. If there is no need to modify the working drawings and there is no problem with the delivery date and other details written in the estimate, the person in charge of the contractor terminal 10 presses a confirmation button to confirm the order from the input device of the contractor terminal 10. Based on the operation input of pressing this confirmation button, the contractor terminal 10 transmits an instruction to confirm the order to the ordering support server 50 (step S304 in FIG. 8). This also confirms the delivery date for the processed parts. When the control unit 512 of the order support server 50 is notified that the Confirm button has been pressed, it rewrites the status of the order management data to "Order Confirmed" and transmits the order list and total invoice data to the store terminal 20. This order list may be divided into a manufacturer parts list and a processed parts list.

[0064] Meanwhile, when the retailer terminal 20 receives the total estimate data and the order list transmitted from the ordering support server 50 (step S322 in FIG. 8), the person in charge at the retailer terminal 20 checks the total estimate data and the order list received from the ordering support server 50 and presses the "Confirmed" button on the input device. When the "Confirmed" button is pressed, the retailer terminal 20 transmits the processed parts list from the order list to the processing base terminal 30. Here, the ordering support server 50 may transmit the processed parts list to the processing base terminal 30 in response to detecting that the "Confirmed" button has been pressed on the retailer terminal 20. In addition, the person in charge of the dealer terminal 20 picks up from stock the parts that correspond to the manufacturer parts list in the order list and prepares for delivery. If the part to be picked up is not in stock, an order may be placed with the manufacturer terminal 40.

[0065] Then, when the order support server 50 detects that the "Confirmed" button has been pressed by the dealer terminal 20, it changes the status from "Order Confirmed" to "Order Accepted" and notifies the contractor terminal 10, dealer terminal 20, and processing base terminal 30 that the status is "Order Accepted." This allows the status to be shared (Step S407 in FIG. 9). This status sharing may be achieved by referencing the order management data or the ordered parts management list 430 at any time from any of the contractor terminal 10, the retailer terminal 20, and the processing base terminal 30. When the order management data or the ordered parts management list 430 is referenced, a screen in which the order details are written in a common format may be displayed on the display screen of the referencing terminal, as shown in FIG. 4. Here, because a screen in accordance with the common format is displayed, the contractor terminal 10, the retailer terminal 20, and the processing base terminal 30 can all refer to a screen in accordance with the common format, enabling them to share a common understanding of the order status (the product number, quantity, dimensions, size, delivery date, and price of the ordered parts). Furthermore, the person in charge of the contractor terminal 10 can refer to and understand the delivery date from the contractor terminal 10, so they can quickly understand the delivery date without having to inquire about it by phone, email, or the like and wait for a reply from the retailer terminal.

[0066] When the person in charge of the store terminal 20 receives the notification of "order accepted" via the store terminal 20, he or she can understand that the order has been confirmed for the order details.

[0067] When the processing base terminal 30 receives the processed component list from the dealer terminal 20 (step S331 in FIG. 8, step S406 in FIG. 9), it displays the received processed component list on the display screen. Furthermore, when the status is rewritten to "order received", the processing base terminal 30 displays "order received" on the display screen. The processing person at the processing base terminal 30 can confirm the processing content indicated by the received processed component list and the status "order received".

[0068] When the person in charge of the processing base terminal 30 confirms that the status is "order received," they process the manufacturer parts based on the processed parts list to create a processed pipe (step S332 in FIG. 8, step S408 in FIG. 9). Here, the person in charge of the processing base terminal 30 may input the processing status into the processing base terminal 30 when processing. As a result, the processing base terminal 30 transmits the input processing status to the ordering support server 50, and the ordering support server 50 makes it viewable by the dealer terminal 20 and the contractor terminal 10. As a result, the person in charge of the dealer terminal 20 can grasp the processing status through the dealer terminal 20, and the person in charge of the contractor terminal 10 can grasp the processing status through the contractor terminal 10, and the processing status can be shared among the three parties (step S409 in FIG. 9). When the processing is completed, the person in charge at the processing base terminal 30 issues an invoice according to the processing content (step S333 in FIG. 8), and transmits the created invoice data from the processing base terminal 30 to the dealer terminal 20. Furthermore, when the processing is completed, the person in charge at the processing base terminal 30 delivers the processed processed parts to the dealer.

[0069] When the store terminal 20 receives the invoice data from the processing base terminal 30, it transmits it to the order support server 50. When the order support server 50 receives the invoice data for the processed parts list received from the store terminal 20, it stores it in the order management data (step S323 in FIG. 8). Furthermore, when the processed parts are delivered from the processing base, the person in charge of the dealer terminal 20 delivers the processed parts and manufacturer parts according to the order data to the delivery destination (for example, the construction site) of the construction company that placed the order. When the delivery is complete, the dealer's person in charge inputs an operation indicating that the delivery is complete via the input device of the dealer terminal 20. Based on the operation input from the person in charge, the dealer terminal 20 transmits a notification that the delivery is complete to the ordering support server 50. Based on this notification of delivery completion, the ordering support server 50 rewrites the status to "Delivered".

[0070] Then, the order support server 50 generates total invoice data based on the invoice data for the processed material list received from the dealer terminal 20 and the estimate for the manufacturer's materials (step S410 in FIG. 9), and transmits it to the contractor terminal 10. When the contractor terminal 10 receives the total bill data (step S305 in FIG. 8, step S411 in FIG. 9), it executes payment processing based on the payment terms.

[0071] In the example of Case 2 described above, the contractor terminal 10 only needs to transmit the design data to the ordering support server 50, and therefore does not need to have a function for writing order details into a common format. Furthermore, even when design data is transmitted from the contractor terminal 10, the person in charge at the dealer terminal 20 can receive data based on the common format because the ordering support server 50 writes the data into the common format, and can prepare manufacturer parts and place orders for processed parts. Therefore, the person in charge at the dealer terminal 20 can accept orders based on the order details written in this common format, and does not need to manually input the order details into the terminal, thereby reducing the burden of operational input and eliminating input errors.

[0072] In the above-described embodiments, Cases 1 and 2 describe the case where the design data is represented by BIM data in the construction drawings. However, the design data may be represented by an isometric drawing. When the design data is represented by an isometric drawing, pipe division is required based on the isometric drawing to identify the necessary components. Pipe division is the allocation of components based on the dimensions of manufacturer's components to the designed piping dimensions (length). For example, if the isometric drawing shows that a certain size (diameter) of pipe is 10 m and the manufacturer's component of this size is 4 m, it is assigned that two 4 m manufacturer's components and a 2 m component (processed component) obtained by cutting the 4 m manufacturer's components are required, as well as two fittings. Such pipe division may be performed by a person in charge of the contractor's terminal 10 and written into the design data, or it may be performed by the ordering support server 50. In this case, the person in charge (operator) of the contractor's terminal 10 can design the piping route by inputting operations from an input device based on the isometric drawing, inserting fittings according to the dimensions of the manufacturer's components. This allows the operator to design how the pipes will be split. Based on the design data obtained by splitting the pipes in this way, information about the components can be written in a common format. Furthermore, after splitting the pipes, the person in charge of the contractor's terminal 10 can modify the state of the pipe split based on the delivery date and price when referring to the estimate. This allows the operator to split the pipes even if the design data is an isometric drawing, and write the necessary components in a common format based on the design data obtained by splitting the pipes.

[0073] The functions of the ordering support server 50 in the above-described embodiment may be implemented by a computer. In this case, a program for implementing the functions may be recorded on a computer-readable recording medium, and the program may be loaded into a computer system and executed. The term "computer system" as used herein includes hardware such as an operating system (OS) and peripheral devices. The term "computer-readable recording medium" refers to portable media such as flexible disks, optical magnetic disks, ROMs, and CD-ROMs, as well as storage devices such as hard disks built into a computer system. The term "computer-readable recording medium" may also include devices that dynamically store programs for a short period of time, such as communication lines used when transmitting programs over a network such as the Internet or a telephone line, or devices that store programs for a fixed period of time, such as volatile memory within a computer system serving as a server or client. The program may be a program that implements only a portion of the functions described above, or may be a program that can be implemented in combination with a program already stored in the computer system, or may be implemented using a programmable logic device such as an FPGA (Field Programmable Gate Array).

[0074] Although an embodiment of the present invention has been described in detail above with reference to the drawings, the specific configuration is not limited to this embodiment, and includes designs within the scope of the gist of the present invention. [Explanation of symbols]

[0075] 10 Contractor terminal 20 Dealer terminal 30 Processing base terminal 40 Manufacturer terminals 50 Order support server 410 Property Information 420 Delivery Information 430 Order Parts Management List 440 Estimated Amount 501 Communications Department 502 Storage section 503 Design Data Acquisition Department 504 1st extraction part 505 List Generation Unit 506 Order List Transmission Unit 507 Second extraction part 508 Processing material list transmission unit 509 Processing Quotation Acquisition Department 510 Quotation Generation Unit 511 Quotation Sending Department 512 control section 5021 Catalog Data Storage Unit 5022 Order management data storage unit N Network S Order Support System

Claims

1. a design data acquisition unit that acquires design data of the piping equipment to be constructed, the design data being generated by a construction company that orders components of the piping equipment from a dealer; a first extraction unit that extracts data related to specifications of components that constitute the piping equipment from properties included in the design data; a list generation unit that generates an order list according to the specifications of the components based on the extracted data; An ordering support system with the above.

2. a catalog data storage unit that stores catalog data indicating specifications of components available from the component manufacturers for each product number; a second extraction unit that refers to the catalog data and extracts components that are included in the order list and are different from the catalog data; a processed member list sending unit that sends a processed member list, which is a list of members extracted by the second extracting unit, to a terminal device of the processor; The ordering support system according to claim 1 , further comprising:

3. a processing estimate acquisition unit that acquires processing estimate data generated by the processing company based on the processing material list from a terminal device of the processing company; an estimate generating unit that generates total estimate data for the order based on the acquired processing estimate data and the prices of the components corresponding to the catalog data included in the order list; an estimate sending unit that sends the generated total estimate data to the terminal device of the contractor; The ordering support system according to claim 2, further comprising:

4. The list generation unit A common format including an item that can identify the type of component to be ordered and that is commonly used between the contractor and the retailer, The order list is generated by assigning data representing order details based on dimensions and shapes according to the properties to the items corresponding to keywords obtained from the properties. The ordering support system according to any one of claims 1 to 3.

5. an order list sending unit that sends a manufacturer's product order list for ordering components that exist in the catalog data from the order list to the manufacturer's order management system; The ordering support system according to claim 2, further comprising:

6. An ordering support method executed by a computer, comprising: Acquire design data for the piping equipment to be constructed, which is generated by a contractor who orders piping equipment components from a dealer; extracting data relating to specifications of components constituting the piping equipment from properties included in the design data; An order list is generated based on the extracted data in accordance with the specifications of the components. An ordering support method including:

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