Management device, electronic commerce system, management method, and management program

Abstract

To reduce management cost of an electronic commerce system.SOLUTION: A communication control part controls a communication part so as to mediate transmission and reception of various data with a terminal device of each transaction destination for performing electronic commerce through a network. A user management authority setting part sets a user management authority for performing user's new registration by adding an expiration date information showing an expiration date having a normal user authority together with prescribed user information in a transaction destination. A display screen generation part generates a user generation screen to be transmitted to the terminal device of the transaction destination that requests the user's new registration. A discrimination part discriminates whether the transaction destination that has requested the user's new registration is the transaction destination with the user management authority set. A storage control part makes a storage part set in each transaction destination and storing user information and expiration date information of each user store the user information and the expiration date information of a newly registered user when a discrimination result being the transaction destination with the user management authority set is acquired.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 19

Description

[Technical Field]

[0001] The present invention relates to a management device, an electronic commerce system, a management method, and a management program. [Background technology]

[0002] Nowadays, a Web EDI (Electronic Data Interchange) system is known in which an electronic commerce system is built on a server device on the Web (World Wide Web), and each trading partner conducts electronic commerce by sending and receiving data via a web browser on a terminal device.

[0003] As background technology relating to such a WebEDI system, Patent Document 1 (Japanese Patent Laid-Open Publication No. 2003-091658) discloses an electronic commerce system aimed at efficiently realizing transactions between buyers and sellers.

[0004] This electronic commerce system allows one trading entity to establish a trading venue as the owner, and allows multiple trading entities to participate in the trading venue in accordance with the owner's requests. In this trading venue, the establishment of a group for trading specific products or a group consisting of specific trading entities is accepted, and an environment is created in which transactions in line with the established group objectives are conducted only among members of the group.

[0005] This allows trading entities to freely establish markets such as sales markets, purchase markets, trading company markets, and general markets as they wish, and also allows them to flexibly set up groups for specific products. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0006] [Patent Document 1] Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2003-091658 Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0007] In a WebEDI system, the server on the Web that mediates transactions conducted via the terminal devices of each trading partner must manage not only each trading partner but also each user belonging to each trading partner, which creates the problem of high management costs for the operating company that operates the e-commerce system built on the server device.

[0008] The present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned problems, and aims to provide a management device, an electronic commerce system, a management method, and a management program that enable a reduction in the management costs of an electronic commerce system. [Means for solving the problem]

[0009] In order to solve the above-mentioned problems and achieve the object, the management device of the present invention has a communication control unit that controls the communication unit to mediate the transmission and reception of various data between terminal devices of each trading partner that conducts electronic commerce via a network; a user management authority setting unit that sets user management authority for the trading partners to register or edit specified user information including expiration date information that indicates the expiration date of legitimate user authority; a display screen generation unit that generates a user registration screen for registering or editing user information, which is sent via the communication control unit to the terminal device of the trading partner that requested the registration or editing of user information, when registration or editing of user information is requested via one of the trading partner's terminal devices; a discrimination unit that determines whether the trading partner that registered or edited the user information is a trading partner for which user management authority has been set; and a storage control unit that stores the user information including the expiration date information of the registered or edited user in a memory unit that stores user information including expiration date information of each user, which is set for each trading partner, when the discrimination unit obtains a discrimination result indicating that the trading partner that requested the registration or editing of user information is a trading partner for which user management authority has been set.

[0010] Furthermore, in order to solve the above-mentioned problems and achieve the object, an electronic commerce system according to the present invention comprises a first communication device having a first storage unit and communicating with a terminal device of each trading partner performing electronic commerce via a network, and communicating with a terminal device of a user of an operating company that operates the system performing electronic commerce via the network; a second communication device having a second storage unit and communicating with a terminal device of a user of the operating company via the network; and a linking device that synchronizes data stored in the first storage unit and data stored in the second storage unit at a predetermined timing, wherein the first communication device has a communication control unit that controls the communication unit so as to mediate transmission and reception of various data between the terminal devices of each trading partner performing electronic commerce via the network; and predetermined user information including expiration date information indicating an expiration date for a user having legitimate user authority. a display screen generation unit that generates a user registration screen for registering or editing user information, which is sent via a communication control unit to the terminal device of the trading partner that requested the registration or editing of user information when the registration or editing of user information is requested via a terminal device of one of the trading partners; a determination unit that determines whether the trading partner that requested the registration or editing of user information is a trading partner for which user management authority has been set; and a storage control unit that stores the user information including the expiration date information of the registered or edited user in a first storage unit that stores user information including expiration date information of each user, which is set for each trading partner.

[0011] In addition, in order to solve the above-mentioned problems and achieve the object, the management method of the present invention includes a communication control step in which a communication control unit controls a communication unit to mediate the transmission and reception of various data between terminal devices of each trading partner that conducts electronic commerce via a network; a user management authority setting step in which a user management authority setting unit sets user management authority for the trading partners to register or edit specified user information including expiration date information that indicates the expiration date of legitimate user authority; a display screen generation step in which a display screen generation unit generates a user registration screen for new user registration that is sent via the communication control unit to the terminal device of the trading partner that requested the new user registration when new user registration is requested via one of the trading partner's terminal devices; a determination step in which a discrimination unit determines whether the trading partner that requested the new user registration is a trading partner for which user management authority has been set; and a storage control step in which, when the determination step indicates that the trading partner that requested the registration or editing of user information is a trading partner for which user management authority has been set, the memory control unit stores the user information including the registered or edited user's expiration date information in a memory unit that stores user information including the expiration date information of each user that has been set for each trading partner.

[0012] In addition, in order to solve the above-mentioned problems and achieve the object, the management program of the present invention causes a computer to function as a communication control unit that controls a communication unit to mediate the transmission and reception of various data between terminal devices of each trading partner that conducts electronic commerce via a network; a user management authority setting unit that sets user management authority for the trading partners to register or update specified user information including expiration date information that indicates the expiration date for which the user has legitimate user authority; a display screen generation unit that generates a user registration screen for registering or editing user information, which is sent via the communication control unit to the terminal device of the trading partner that requested the registration or editing of user information, when registration or editing of user information is requested via one of the trading partner's terminal devices; a discrimination unit that determines whether the trading partner that requested the registration or editing of user information is a trading partner for which user management authority has been set; and, when the discrimination unit obtains a discrimination result indicating that the trading partner that requested the registration or editing of user information is a trading partner for which user management authority has been set, a storage control unit that stores the user information including the registered or edited user's expiration date information in a memory unit that stores user information set for each trading partner, including each user's expiration date information. [Effects of the Invention]

[0013] The present invention can reduce the management costs of an electronic commerce system. [Brief explanation of the drawings]

[0014] [Figure 1] FIG. 1 is a system configuration diagram of an electronic commerce system (EDI system) in which a management device according to an embodiment mediates electronic commerce. [Figure 2] FIG. 2 is a system configuration diagram of an operating company equipped with a management device. [Figure 3] FIG. 3 is a block diagram illustrating a hardware configuration of a management apparatus according to an embodiment. [Figure 4] FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating an example of the WebEDI customer classification master. [Figure 5] FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating an example of the WebEDI supplier master data. [Figure 6] FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating an example of the WebEDI user group master. [Figure 7] FIG. 7 is a diagram illustrating an example of the WebEDI user master. [Figure 8] FIG. 8 is a diagram for explaining a screen displayed to each manager or person in charge of a user group. [Figure 9] FIG. 9 is a diagram showing an example of the supplier master maintenance screen. [Figure 10] FIG. 10 is a diagram showing an example of the operating company user master maintenance screen. [Figure 11] FIG. 11 is a diagram showing an example of the operating company supplier user master maintenance screen. [Figure 12] Figure 12 shows an example of a supplier user master maintenance screen for business partners that is displayed when launched by a customer manager user, and an example of a supplier user master maintenance screen for business partners that is displayed when launched by a supplier manager user. [Figure 13] FIG. 13 is a flowchart showing the flow of the registration operation when the operating company administrator newly registers an operating company user. [Figure 14] FIG. 14 shows an example of a login screen and data referenced in the WebEDI user master. [Figure 15] FIG. 15 shows data referenced in the WebEDI user group master, an example of an operating company user master maintenance screen, and a record to be added and registered in the WebEDI user master. [Figure 16] FIG. 16 is a flowchart showing the flow of the registration operation when the operating company administrator newly registers a supplier person in charge user. [Figure 17] FIG. 17 shows an example of selection and input on the operating company supplier user master maintenance screen when a new user is registered. [Figure 18]FIG. 18 is a diagram showing data referenced in the WebEDI business partner master, data referenced in the WebEDI user master, and records added to and registered in the WebEDI user master. [Figure 19] FIG. 19 is a flowchart showing the flow of the registration operation when a client manager newly registers a user of his or her own company. [Figure 20] FIG. 20 shows an example of a login screen and data referenced in the WebEDI user master. [Figure 21] FIG. 21 is a diagram showing an example of data referenced in the WebEDI supplier master, data referenced in the WebEDI user group master, and a supplier user master maintenance screen for suppliers. [Figure 22] FIG. 22 is a diagram showing data referenced in the WebEDI supplier master and data referenced in the WebEDI user master. [Figure 23] Figure 23 shows an example of an error message displayed on the business partner user master maintenance screen for the operating company or the business partner user master maintenance screen when an attempt is made to register a user who exceeds the maximum number of users that can be registered, and a figure showing the record that is added to the WebEDI user master. [Figure 24] FIG. 24 is a flowchart showing the flow of a bulk invalidation operation in which the operating company administrator invalidates the transaction status for a business partner, thereby invalidating the authority of all users of that business partner to use the EDI system. [Figure 25] Figure 25 shows a diagram showing a trading partner whose transaction status has been invalidated by the operating company administrator, and the user ID expiration date of each user of the trading partner whose transaction has been invalidated, updated to expired. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0015] Hereinafter, embodiments to which the present invention is applied will be described. Note that these embodiments are merely examples of the present invention, and the present invention is not limited to these embodiments.

[0016] [System Configuration] FIG. 1 is a diagram showing the system configuration of an electronic commerce system (EDI system, EDI: Electronic Data Interchange) in which a management device 1 according to an embodiment mediates and manages electronic commerce. As shown in FIG. 1, the EDI system is configured to include a management system of an operating company including the management device 1 according to an embodiment, a customer terminal device 100 of a customer who conducts commerce, and a supplier terminal device 200 of a supplier. As illustrated in FIG. 1, the management system of the operating company mediates, using the management device 1 according to an embodiment, inventory confirmation and order input from the customer terminal device 100, and ordering and order acceptance from the supplier terminal device 200. Note that customers and suppliers are examples of trading partners.

[0017] (Operating company system configuration) Fig. 2 is a configuration diagram of the management system of the operating company. As shown in Fig. 2, the management system of the operating company includes a front environment (an example of a first communication device) configured by the management device 1 of the embodiment, a backyard environment (an example of a second communication device) configured by a terminal device 80 for management of the operating company, and a linking tool 90 which is a terminal device that links the front environment and the backyard environment.

[0018] The front environment is connected to the terminal devices of users of the operating company as well as the terminal devices of users of customers and suppliers via a wide area network such as the Internet 8. This front environment is an environment that users of business partners (customers and suppliers) and users of the operating company can log in to and use.

[0019] The front environment is made public on the Internet and can be accessed and used by users of the operating company and users who have business relationships with the operating company. Specifically, the storage unit 2 of the management device 1 of the embodiment included in the operating company's front environment stores user information on users of the operating company, users of recipients (customers) of goods or services, etc., and users of suppliers (suppliers) of goods or services, etc. The storage unit 2 also temporarily stores business data resulting from commercial transactions between customers and suppliers. Users of the operating company and users who have business relationships with the operating company can access the management device 1 and use the user data (such as names and email addresses) in the storage unit 2 and the temporarily stored business data (= commercial transaction data).

[0020] If the number of business partners is small, the front environment can be made public by restricting the connection sources. This allows the front environment to be made public with higher security.

[0021] The backyard environment is an environment in which connections to external companies such as business partners are not permitted, and is configured with terminal devices 80 that can only be logged in and used by authorized users of the operating company. For this reason, it is preferable that the terminal devices 80 in this backyard environment be connected to the terminal devices of authorized users of the operating company via a network 9 such as a private network that is not connected to a wide area network such as the Internet, or a dedicated line.

[0022] Authorized users of the operating company can access a memory unit (commercial transaction data management database) 82 in which business data (commercial transaction data) for data management is stored via a communication interface unit 81 of a terminal device 80 in this backyard environment.

[0023] The collaboration tool 90 periodically or irregularly accesses the storage unit 2 in the front environment and the storage unit 82 in the backyard environment, and synchronizes the business data for temporary storage stored in the storage unit 2 in the front environment with the business data for data management stored in the storage unit 82 in the backyard environment. In other words, the collaboration tool 90 periodically or irregularly collaborates the business data for temporary storage in the storage unit 2 and the business data for data management in the storage unit 82 so that they are the same data.

[0024] By separating the front and back-end environments in this way, even if one of the environments goes down, business can continue in the other environment. Furthermore, each environment can be constructed with specifications according to the expected number of users of each environment, such as by constructing the front-end environment with high-spec terminal devices since it will be used by a large number of people, and by constructing the back-end environment with low-spec terminal devices since it only needs to be accessible by a limited number of users. This allows resources to be optimized.

[0025] Furthermore, for example, since personal information of users of each business partner is registered in the memory unit 2 (database) of the front environment, the data can be operated in accordance with the nature of the data stored in the database of each environment (memory unit 2 or memory unit 82), such as by applying special encryption processing before registration.

[0026] Furthermore, by permitting only specific communications (the above-mentioned data synchronization) using the collaboration tool 90, an infrastructure boundary can be established between the front environment and the backyard environment, separating them and enhancing security.

[0027] (Hardware configuration of management device) Next, Fig. 3 shows the hardware configuration of the management device 1 of the operating company. As described above, this management device 1 is connected to the customer terminal device 100 and the supplier terminal device 200 via a wide area network such as the Internet 8. Such management device 1 includes a storage unit 2, a control unit 3, and a communication interface unit 4. The communication interface unit 4 is connected to the customer terminal device 100 and the supplier terminal device 200 via the network 8. The communication interface unit 4 is also connected to a terminal device 80 in a backyard environment via the network 8 and a collaboration tool 90.

[0028] The storage unit 2 may be, for example, a read-only memory (ROM), a random access memory (RAM), a hard disk drive (HDD), or a solid state drive (SSD). The storage unit 2 stores a WebEDI customer classification master 11, a WebEDI customer master 12, a WebEDI user group master 13, and a WebEDI user master 14. The storage unit 2 also stores the above-mentioned user data and business data for temporary storage (transaction data) in addition to a management program for managing transactions.

[0029] Fig. 4 is a diagram showing an example of the WebEDI customer classification master 11. As shown in Fig. 4, the WebEDI customer classification master 11 stores "customer" and "supplier" as customer classifications.

[0030] Figure 5 is a diagram showing an example of the WebEDI customer master data 12. As shown in Figure 5, the WebEDI customer master data 12 stores, for each customer classification and customer company, the upper limit of the number of users that can be registered, and status information indicating whether the customer company can use the EDI system. In the example of Figure 5, for customer company A, the upper limit of the number of users that can be registered is "3," and the status information indicating whether the EDI system can be used is set to "enabled."

[0031] 5 shows an example in which the supplier company X has a maximum number of users that can be registered of "8 people" and the status information indicating whether or not the company can use the EDI system is set to "invalid." As will be described later, the management device 1 of the embodiment updates the user ID expiration date of each user of the company whose status information is set to "invalid" to the expiration date. As a result, by setting the status information for the company to "invalid," it is possible to collectively restrict the use of the EDI system by all users of that company.

[0032] 6 is a diagram showing an example of the WebEDI user group master 13. The master stores business partner classifications, user groups, operating company management availability information, and business partner management availability information.

[0033] Of these, the user groups indicate each user in charge of the business (jobs) of the operating company, clients, and suppliers. That is, the user group of "operating company administrator" indicates a group made up of each user who performs management tasks at the operating company. Also, the user group of "client representative" indicates a group made up of each user who is in charge at a client.

[0034] The user group "Supplier Estimator" indicates a group made up of users who are in charge of quotation work at the supplier. The user group "Supplier Worker" indicates a group made up of users who are in charge of actual work at the supplier.

[0035] The operating company management permission information is information that indicates the user groups for which the operating company is allowed to manage user registration. In the example of Fig. 6, the operating company is allowed to manage user registration (user registration authority) for all user groups, including the operating company itself, its customers, and its suppliers.

[0036] Furthermore, in the management device 1 of the embodiment, the authority to register users can be delegated (set) to desired user groups of customers and suppliers. Information indicating whether or not the authority to register users has been delegated is the business partner management availability information. The example in FIG. 6 shows an example in which the operating company delegates (sets) the authority to register users to the user groups of "customer manager" and "customer representative" of the customer via the management device 1. In other words, the user with the registration authority in this case is the customer manager, and this indicates that user registration is possible only for the user groups of "customer manager" and "customer representative."

[0037] The example in Figure 6 shows that the operating company has delegated (set) the authority to register users for the supplier's "Supplier Worker" user group to the supplier's supplier manager. In other words, the user with registration authority in this case is the supplier manager, and this supplier manager can only register users for the "Supplier Worker" user group.

[0038] In this example, the explanation will be given assuming that the authority to register users is set for each user group of business partners, but the authority to register users may be set for each business partner.

[0039] Fig. 7 is a diagram showing an example of the WebEDI user master 14 in which the above-mentioned user data is registered. As shown in Fig. 7, the WebEDI user master 14 stores the user identification information (user ID), user name, and user ID expiration date of each user belonging to the user group of the operating company and each business partner. The user ID expiration date is information indicating the date on which the EDI system can be used.

[0040] The example in Figure 7 shows that the user ID expiration dates for the user "Operating Company Administrator UK1" with the user ID "UK01" and the user "Operating Company Administrator UK2" with the user ID "UK02" who belong to the user group of "Operating Company Administrator" of the operating company are both "March 31, 2030." The example in Figure 7 also shows that the user ID expiration dates for the user "Company A Person AT1" with the user ID "AT01" and the user "Company A Person AT3" with the user ID "AT03" who belong to the user group of "Customer Representative" of Company A are both "March 31, 2030," but the user ID expiration date for the user "Company A Person AT2" with the user ID "AT02" expires on "January 1, 2010."

[0041] Similarly, the example in Figure 7 shows that the user ID expiration dates for the users "Company X Administrator XK1" and "Company X Estimator XMT1" of Company X are both set to expire on March 1, 2022.

[0042] Next, Fig. 8 is a diagram showing a list of various screens provided by the management device 1 to users of the user group of the operating company and each business partner. As shown in Fig. 8, a "Business Partner Master Maintenance Screen," a "Business Partner User Master Maintenance Screen," and a "Business Partner User Master Maintenance Screen for Operating Company" are provided by the management device 1 to each user of the user group of the "Operating Company Administrator." In addition, an "Operating Company Business Screen" is provided by the management device 1 to each user of the user group of the "Operating Company Personnel."

[0043] In addition, the management device 1 provides a "Customer User Master Maintenance Screen for Customers" to users in the "Customer Manager" user group, and a "Customer Business Screen" to users in the "Customer Person in Charge" user group.

[0044] Furthermore, the management device 1 provides a "Supplier User Master Maintenance Screen for Suppliers" to users in the user group of "Supplier Manager", a "Supplier Quotation Work Screen" to users in the user group of "Supplier Actual Worker", and a "Supplier Actual Work Screen" to users in the user group of "Supplier Manager".

[0045] More specifically, Figure 9 shows an example of the "Customer Master Maintenance Screen" provided to each user in the "Operating Company Administrator" user group. The "Customer Master Maintenance Screen" shown in Figure 9 is a screen for registering suppliers who use the EDI system. The operating company uses this "Customer Master Maintenance Screen" to register supplier classifications, supplier names, maximum number of users, and statuses.

[0046] As the business partner classification, "Supplier" or "Customer" is selected and registered. As the business partner name, for example, a business partner name such as "Company X" is registered. As the user limit, the upper limit of the number of users who are allowed to use the EDI system is registered. As the status, status information indicating whether or not the EDI system is allowed to be used (enabled or disabled) is registered. In the example of Figure 9, the status information for Company X is set to "disabled," and Company X is therefore not allowed to use the EDI system.

[0047] Fig. 10 is a diagram showing an example of the "operating company user master maintenance screen" provided to each user in the user group of the "operating company administrator." As shown in Fig. 10, the "operating company user master maintenance screen" is a screen on which "operating company users" are classified into user groups and user information is registered. Users on the operating company side register their user group (operating company administrator or operating company staff), user ID, user name, initial password, and user ID expiration date via this "operating company user master maintenance screen."

[0048] FIG. 11 is a diagram showing an example of the "Operating Company Business Partner User Master Maintenance Screen" provided to each user in the "Operating Company Administrator" user group. As shown in FIG. 11, the "Operating Company Business Partner User Master Maintenance Screen" is a screen on which "business partner users on the operating company side" are classified into user groups and user information is registered. The operating company user registers business partner classification, business partner name, user group, user ID, user name, initial password, and user ID expiration date via this "Operating Company Business Partner User Master Maintenance Screen." For business partner classification, supplier or customer is selected. For business partner name, a business partner name such as "Company X" or "Company Y" is selected. For user group, the above-mentioned user groups such as "Supplier Person" or "Customer Manager" are selected.

[0049] Figure 12 shows an example of the "Customer User Master Maintenance Screen for Suppliers" provided to each user in the user group of the "Customer Manager" or "Supplier Manager." Of these, Figure 12(a) is an example of the "Customer User Master Maintenance Screen for Suppliers" provided to the "Customer Manager," and Figure 12(b) is an example of the "Customer User Master Maintenance Screen for Suppliers" provided to the "Supplier Manager."

[0050] As shown in Figure 12(a), the "Customer Administrator" selects the user group to which his / her company's users will belong via the "Customer User Master Maintenance Screen for Customers," and registers the user ID, user name, initial password, and user ID expiration date.

[0051] Similarly, the "Supplier Manager" selects the user group to which his company's users will belong via the "Supplier User Master Maintenance Screen for Suppliers" as shown in Figure 12(b), and registers the user ID, user name, initial password, and user ID expiration date. Note that in the example of Figure 12(b), the user group selected is "Supplier Workers."

[0052] (Functional configuration of management device) Next, the control unit 3 of the management device 1 shown in Figure 3 functions as a communication control unit 21, a user management authority setting unit 22, a data generation unit 23, a discrimination unit 24, a memory control unit 25, a display screen generation unit 26, and a status setting unit 27 by executing the management program stored in the memory unit 2.

[0053] The communication control unit 21 controls the communication interface unit 4, which is an example of a communication unit, to mediate the transmission and reception of various commercial transaction data between the terminal devices 100, 200 of each trading partner conducting electronic commerce via the network 8. The user management authority setting unit 22 sets user management authority for the trading partner to register or edit specified user information including expiration date information indicating the expiration date of legitimate user authority. "Editing" is a concept that includes actions such as changing and deleting data content, such as correcting and deleting user information.

[0054] When a request for new user registration or editing (including deletion) is made via the business partner's terminal device 100, 200, the display screen generation unit 26 generates a user registration screen (business partner user master maintenance screen for business partners shown in Figures 12(a) and 12(b)) for new user registration, etc., which is sent via the communication interface unit 4 to the business partner's terminal device that requested the new user registration, etc.

[0055] The determination unit 24 determines whether the business partner that has requested new user registration, etc. is a business partner for which user management authority has been set. When the determination unit 24 gives a determination result indicating that the business partner that has requested new user registration, etc. is a business partner for which user management authority has been set, the storage control unit 25 stores the user information, including the user ID expiration date information of the user who has been newly registered, in the WebEDI user master 14 of the storage unit 2, which stores user information, including expiration date information (user ID expiration date information) for each user, set for each business partner.

[0056] The user management authority setting unit 22 sets user management authority for each user group made up of managers or personnel of each business partner. The user management authority setting unit 22 also sets an upper limit on the number of users that can be registered for each business partner.

[0057] The status setting unit 27 also sets a status indicating whether a transaction with each business partner is valid or invalid. The storage control unit 25 adds status information indicating the status set by the status setting unit 27 for each business partner together with the user information and user ID expiration date information of the user of each business partner, and stores the added information in the WebEDI business partner master 12 in the storage unit 2.

[0058] Furthermore, when the status setting unit 27 sets the status of "invalid" for a supplier, the storage control unit 25 updates the status information of the supplier whose transaction has been invalidated, stored in the WebEDI supplier master 12, to status information of "invalid." At the same time, the storage control unit 25 updates the user ID expiration date information of the user of the supplier whose transaction has been invalidated, stored in the WebEDI user master 14, to the expiration date.

[0059] The data generating unit 23 generates user data including the user group, user ID, initial password, user ID expiration date, etc., input via the various screens described with reference to FIGS.

[0060] (Operating company registers new users) Next, the operation of registering a new user for the operating company in the management device 1 of such an operating company will be explained using the flowchart of FIG. 13. Note that the following explanation will be given taking "registration" of a new user as an example, but the same operation will be performed when "editing" such as correcting or deleting user information. Therefore, please refer to the explanation below for the operation when editing such as correcting or deleting user information. Each process in the flowchart of FIG. 13 is executed by the control unit 3 of the management device 1 based on the management program stored in the memory unit 2. That is, a user who wishes to register a new user for the operating company makes a login request to the management device 1 via the administrator terminal device. This starts the flowchart of FIG. 13, and the processing is executed in order from step S1.

[0061] In step S1, the display screen generation unit 26 of the management device 1 generates a login screen exemplified in FIG. 14(a). The communication control unit 21 transmits this login screen to the administrator terminal device of the user of the operating company who has made the login request. The user of the operating company who has made the login request inputs a user ID and password into the login screen displayed on the display screen of the administrator terminal device. The input user ID and password are transmitted to the management device 1.

[0062] The determination unit 24 of the management device 1 refers to the user ID expiration date in the WebEDI user master 14 shown in Fig. 14(b) based on the user ID entered via the login screen (step S2). The determination unit 24 then determines whether the entered user ID has expired by determining whether today's date is past the date set as the user ID expiration date (step S3). If the determination unit 24 determines that the entered user ID has expired (step S3: Yes), the user does not have the authority to register, and the processing of the flowchart in Fig. 13 ends.

[0063] On the other hand, if it is determined that the entered user ID is within the expiration date (step S3: No), the discrimination unit 24 determines whether there is a request to launch the operating company user master maintenance screen (step S4). If a request to launch the operating company user master maintenance screen is detected (step S4: Yes), the discrimination unit 24 determines in step S5 based on the user ID by referring to the WebEDI user master 14 shown in Figure 14(c) whether the user is a user of the user group of the "operating company administrator" who has the authority to register a new user. If the user is not a user of the user group of the "operating company administrator" (step S5: No), the user does not have the authority to register a user, and the processing of the flowchart in Figure 13 ends.

[0064] If the user is in the user group of the "operating company administrator" (step S5: Yes), the process proceeds to step S6. In step S6, the determination unit 24 refers to the WebEDI user group master 13 as shown in Fig. 15(a) to identify a user group whose customer classification has not been set and which can be managed by the operating company.

[0065] In other words, a user group for which a customer classification has not been set is not a user group for either a customer or a supplier, but a user group for the operating company. For this reason, the discrimination unit 24 detects user groups of the operating company for which a customer classification has not been set. Then, by referring to the operating company management availability information in the WebEDI user group master 13, the discrimination unit 24 identifies user groups for which user registration is possible (user groups for which user management within the operating company is possible) among the user groups of the operating company for which a customer classification has not been set. The example in Figure 15(a) is an example in which new user registration is permitted for the user groups of "operating company administrator" and "operating company staff."

[0066] Next, in step S7, the display screen generation unit 26 generates an operating company user master maintenance screen exemplified in FIG. 15(b), and the communication control unit 21 transmits this operating company user master maintenance screen to the manager terminal device.

[0067] The user of the administrator terminal device selects either the "operating company administrator" or the "operating company staff" user group, which is a user group for which user registration is permitted, based on the operating company user master maintenance screen shown in Fig. 15(b). The user of the administrator terminal device also performs a registration operation by entering the user ID, user name, initial password, and user ID expiration date of the user to be newly registered on the operating company user master maintenance screen shown in Fig. 15(b).

[0068] As a result, the information on the user group, user ID, user name, initial password, and user ID expiration date entered via the operating company user master maintenance screen is sent from the administrator terminal device to the management device 1, and a registration request is made. When this registration request is received by the management device 1, the data generation unit 23 of the management device 1 determines that a registration operation has been performed (step S8: Yes), and generates detailed data (records) for the WebEDI user master 14, including the user group, user ID, user name, initial password, and user ID expiration date received from the administrator terminal device.

[0069] In step S9, the storage control unit 25 adds and stores the detailed data (records) generated by the data generation unit 23 in the WebEDI user master 14 as shown in Fig. 15(c). As a result, for example, a user with a user ID of "UT99" and a user name of "Operating Company Personnel UT99" is newly registered in the user group of "Operating Company Personnel" of the operating company, with the user ID expiration date set to "December 31, 2030."

[0070] (Registration of a new supplier user by a user of the operating company) Next, the operation of registering a new supplier user by a user of the operating company in the management device 1 of such an operating company will be described with reference to the flowchart of Fig. 16. Each process in the flowchart of Fig. 16 is executed by the control unit 3 of the management device 1 based on the management program stored in the memory unit 2.

[0071] That is, a user of the operating company who registers a new supplier user makes a login request to the management device 1 via the administrator terminal device. This starts the flowchart in Fig. 16, but the operations of steps S1 to S3 up to the point where it is determined whether the user expiration date has expired based on the user ID entered on the login screen are the same as the operations of steps S1 to S3 in the flowchart in Fig. 13. Therefore, for a detailed explanation of the operations of steps S1 to S3, please refer to the explanation of the operations of steps S1 to S3 in the flowchart in Fig. 13.

[0072] Next, if it is determined in step S3 that the user ID has not expired (step S3: No), the process proceeds to step S11 in the flowchart of Fig. 16. In step S11, the determination unit 24 determines whether or not there is a request from a user of the operating company to launch the operating company's business partner user master maintenance screen, as exemplified in Fig. 17(a).

[0073] When a request to launch the operating company customer user master maintenance screen is detected (step S11: Yes), the discrimination unit 24 refers to the WebEDI user master 14 based on the user ID in step S5, and determines whether the user is a user in the user group of the "operating company administrator" who has the authority to register new users. If the user is not a user in the user group of the "operating company administrator" (step S5: No), the user does not have the authority to register a user, and the processing of the flowchart in Figure 16 ends.

[0074] If the user is a user of the user group of the "operating company administrator" (step S5: Yes), the process proceeds to step S12. In step S12, the display screen generation unit 26 generates the operating company business partner user master maintenance screen exemplified in Fig. 17(a), and the communication control unit 21 transmits this operating company business partner user master maintenance screen to the administrator terminal device.

[0075] As shown in Figure 17(b), the user of the administrator terminal device selects a business partner classification such as "Supplier" based on the business partner user master maintenance screen for the operating company. Furthermore, as shown in Figure 17(c), the user of the administrator terminal device inputs a business partner name such as "Company Y" based on the business partner user master maintenance screen for the operating company. Furthermore, as shown in Figure 17(d), the user of the administrator terminal device inputs a user group, user ID, user name, initial password, and user ID expiration date based on the business partner user master maintenance screen for the operating company, and performs a registration operation.

[0076] As a result, the information entered via the operating company's supplier user master maintenance screen, including supplier classification, supplier, user group, user ID, user name, initial password, and user ID expiration date, is sent from the administrator terminal device to the management device 1, and a registration request is made. When this registration request is received by the management device 1, the determination unit 24 of the management device 1 determines that a registration operation has been performed (step S13: Yes). Then, in step S14, the determination unit 24 references the WebEDI supplier master 12 shown in FIG. 18(a) and detects the upper limit of the number of users for the entered supplier. In the example of FIG. 18(a), the upper limit of the number of users is set to "10 people."

[0077] The discrimination unit 24 also detects the current number of valid users of the business partner currently attempting to register a new user by referring to the WebEDI user master 14 shown in Figure 18(b). The example in Figure 18(b) shows that the business partner currently attempting to register a new user is Company Y, and that Company Y currently has three valid users.

[0078] In this example, the upper limit for the number of users at Company Y is "10," and the current number of valid users is "3." Therefore, even if a new user is registered, the upper limit for the number of users at Company Y will not be exceeded. Therefore, the determination unit 24 determines that the upper limit for the number of users will not be exceeded (step S14: No). As a result, the data generation unit 23 generates detailed data (records) for the WebEDI user master 14, including the customer classification, customer, user group, user ID, user name, initial password, and user ID expiration date received from the administrator terminal device.

[0079] As will be described later, if registering a new user would exceed the upper limit of the number of users set for the business partner (step S14: Yes), the display screen generation unit 26 generates an operating company business partner user master maintenance screen displaying an error message such as "Users cannot be added beyond the upper limit of users," as shown in FIG. 23(a). The communication control unit 21 then transmits the operating company business partner user master maintenance screen displaying this error message to the operator terminal device. This allows the user of the operator terminal device to recognize that no more new users can be registered, and they will delete unnecessary users or increase the upper limit of the number of users.

[0080] Next, in step S9, the storage control unit 25 adds and stores the detailed data (records) generated by the data generation unit 23 in the WebEDI user master 14 as shown in Fig. 18(c). As a result, for example, a user with a user ID of "YJT99" and a user name of "Y Company Actual Worker YJT99" is newly registered in the user group of "Supplier Actual Worker" of Y Company, with the user ID expiration date set to "December 31, 2030."

[0081] (Customer registration of new users) Next, the operation of the management device 1 when a supplier company, which is an example of a business partner, registers a new user for its company will be described using the flowchart in Fig. 19. Each process in the flowchart in Fig. 19 is executed by the control unit 3 of the management device 1 based on the management program stored in the storage unit 2. That is, a user of the supplier company registering a new user makes a login request to the management device 1 via the supplier terminal device 200. This starts the flowchart in Fig. 19, and the processes are executed in order from step S21.

[0082] In step S21, the display screen generation unit 26 of the management device 1 generates a login screen as shown in FIG. 20(a). The communication control unit 21 transmits this login screen to the supplier terminal device 200 of the user of the supplier company who made the login request. The user of the supplier company who made the login request inputs a user ID and password into the login screen displayed on the display screen of the supplier terminal device 200. The input user ID and password are transmitted to the management device 1.

[0083] The determination unit 24 of the management device 1 refers to the user ID expiration date in the WebEDI user master 14 shown in Fig. 20(b) based on the user ID entered via the login screen (step S22). The determination unit 24 then determines whether the user ID of the entered supplier company user has expired by determining whether today's date is past the date set as the user ID expiration date (step S23). If the determination unit 24 determines that the entered user ID has expired (step S23: Yes), the user of the supplier company does not have the authority to register as a user, and the processing of the flowchart in Fig. 19 ends immediately.

[0084] On the other hand, if it is determined that the entered user ID is within the expiration date (step S23: No), the discrimination unit 24 determines whether or not there is a request to launch the supplier user master maintenance screen for the supplier (step S24). If a request to launch the supplier user master maintenance screen for the supplier is detected (step S24: Yes), the discrimination unit 24 determines in step S25 based on the user ID by referring to the WebEDI user master 14 shown in FIG. 20(c) whether the user of the supplier company is a user of the "supplier manager" user group, which has the authority to register new users. If the user is not a user of the "supplier manager" user group (step S25: No), the user of the supplier company does not have the authority to register a user, and the processing of the flowchart in FIG. 19 ends.

[0085] If the user is in the "Supplier Manager" user group (Step S25: Yes), the process proceeds to Step S26. In Step S26, the discrimination unit 24 references the WebEDI customer master 12 shown in FIG. 21(a) and confirms that the status information for the supplier, Company Y, is "valid." The discrimination unit 24 also references the WebEDI user group master 13 shown in FIG. 21(b) to identify a user group whose customer classification is the same as that of the logged-in user, "Supplier," and who can manage the customer. In the example of FIG. 21(b), the discrimination unit 24 identifies the user group of "Supplier Worker" as a user group for which user registration is permitted.

[0086] Next, in step S27, the display screen generation unit 26 generates a supplier user master maintenance screen for the supplier, as illustrated in Figure 21 (c), and the communication control unit 21 transmits this supplier user master maintenance screen for the supplier to the supplier terminal device 200.

[0087] The supplier manager of the supplier terminal device 200 selects the user group of "supplier actual worker" who is permitted to register users based on the supplier user master maintenance screen for suppliers shown in Fig. 21(c). The supplier manager of the supplier terminal device 200 also performs the registration operation by entering the user ID, user name, initial password, and user ID expiration date of the user to be newly registered on the supplier user master maintenance screen for suppliers shown in Fig. 21(c).

[0088] As a result, the information on the user group, user ID, user name, initial password, and user ID expiration date entered via the supplier user master maintenance screen for the supplier is sent from the supplier terminal device 200 to the management device 1, and a registration request is made. When this registration request is received by the management device 1, the determination unit 24 of the management device 1 determines that a registration operation has been performed (step S28: Yes), and the process proceeds to step S29.

[0089] In step S29, the discrimination unit 24 refers to the WebEDI master 12 shown in Fig. 22(a) and detects the "user limit" of the company currently being registered as a user. In this example, the discrimination unit 24 detects that the user limit for Company Y, a supplier being registered as a new user, is "10 people," as shown in Fig. 22(a).

[0090] Furthermore, the discrimination unit 24 refers to the WebEDI user master shown in Fig. 22(b) and detects the current number of valid users for the supplier who is the target of new user registration. In the example of Fig. 22(b), the discrimination unit 24 detects that the current number of valid users for Company Y, the supplier who is the target of new user registration, is "3".

[0091] In step S29, the determination unit 24 determines whether the number of valid users will exceed the user upper limit if a new user is registered. If the new user registration would cause the number of valid users to exceed the user upper limit (step S29: Yes), the number of registered users will exceed the specified number. Therefore, the display screen generation unit 26 generates a supplier user master maintenance screen for the supplier, displaying an error message such as "Users cannot be added beyond the user upper limit," as shown in FIG. 23(a). The display screen generation unit 26 then transmits the screen to the supplier terminal device 200, terminating the processing of the flowchart in FIG. 19. In this case, the supplier representative in the supplier terminal device 200 recognizes that no more new users can be registered and requests the operating company to delete unnecessary users or to increase the user upper limit. Upon receiving such a request, the operating company increases the user upper limit in the WebEDI master 12. This allows the supplier representative to register new users.

[0092] On the other hand, if the number of valid users does not exceed the user upper limit (step S29: No), the data generation unit 23 of the management device 1 generates detail data (record) of the WebEDI user master 14 including the user group, user ID, user name, initial password, and user ID expiration date received from the supplier terminal device 200.

[0093] In step S30, the storage control unit 25 adds and stores the detailed data (records) generated by the data generation unit 23 in the WebEDI user master 14 as shown in Fig. 23(b). As a result, for example, a user with a user ID of "YJT99" and a user name of "Company Y actual worker YJT99" is newly registered in the user group of "Supplier actual worker" of Company Y, which is a supplier, with the user ID expiration date set to "December 31, 2030."

[0094] (Invalid behavior of business partner) Next, the operation of the operating company administrator changing the status of a business partner to "invalid" to collectively disable all users of that business partner will be described using the flowchart in Fig. 24. Each process in the flowchart in Fig. 24 is executed by the control unit 3 of the management device 1 based on the management program stored in the memory unit 2.

[0095] That is, a user who wants to change the status of a business partner to "invalid" makes a login request to the management device 1 via the administrator terminal device. This starts the flowchart in Fig. 24, but the operations of steps S1 to S3 up to the point where it is determined whether the user expiration date has expired based on the user ID entered on the login screen are the same as the operations of steps S1 to S3 in the flowchart in Fig. 13. Therefore, for a detailed explanation of the operations of steps S1 to S3, please refer to the explanation of the operations of steps S1 to S3 in the flowchart in Fig. 13.

[0096] Next, when it is determined that the user ID expiration date is within the expiration date (step S3: No), the process proceeds to step S11, where display screen generation unit 26 determines whether or not there is a request from the administrator terminal device to launch the supplier master maintenance screen illustrated in Fig. 9. Then, when a request to launch the supplier master maintenance screen is made from the administrator terminal device (step S11: Yes), determination unit 24 determines in step S5, based on the user ID at the time of the login request, whether the user currently requesting the launch of the supplier master maintenance screen is a user in the user group of the "operating company administrator."

[0097] If the user currently requesting the launch of the customer master maintenance screen is not a user in the "operating company administrator" user group (step S5: No), the user does not have the authority to change the customer status to "invalid," and the processing of the flowchart in Figure 24 ends.

[0098] On the other hand, if the user currently requesting the launch of the customer master maintenance screen is a user of the "operating company administrator" user group (step S5: Yes), the display screen generation unit 26 generates the customer master maintenance screen illustrated in FIG. 9, and the communication control unit 21 transmits this customer master maintenance screen to the administrator terminal device (step S12).

[0099] The "operating company administrator" user specifies a supplier classification, supplier name, and user limit based on the supplier master maintenance screen illustrated in FIG. 9, and sets the status to "invalid." In step S41 of the flowchart in FIG. 24, status setting unit 27 determines whether or not such an invalid operation has been performed. If status setting unit 27 detects an invalid operation (step S41: Yes), in step S42 it generates status information that sets the status of the supplier specified on the supplier master maintenance screen to "invalid" (= sets the supplier status to "invalid").

[0100] When the status information of "invalid" is generated, the storage control unit 25 updates the status information of, for example, Company X, which was a supplier, to "invalid" as shown in Figure 25(a). This restricts Company X's use of the EDI system.

[0101] At the same time, in step S43, the status setting unit 27 generates a user ID expiration date with the expiration date as the user ID expiration date for all users belonging to all user groups of the business partner X company whose status information has been set to "invalid." The storage control unit 25 inputs the generated user ID expiration date with the expiration date as the user ID expiration date for all users of all user groups of X company, as shown in FIG. 25(b).

[0102] This allows the user ID expiration dates of all users in all user groups of Company X whose status has been set to "invalid" to be updated to expired all at once, thereby restricting their use of the EDI system. Even if the operating company invalidates transactions with a trading partner, if each user belonging to the trading partner is not invalidated, users who should not be able to use the EDI system may continue to be able to use it, which is an inconvenience. However, the management device 1 of the embodiment prevents such inconvenience and restricts the use of the EDI system by each user of the trading partner who has been set to "invalid."

[0103] (Effects of the embodiment) The operating company that provides the EDI system via the management device 1 must manage the users belonging to the trading partners as well as the trading partners, which results in very high management costs for the operating company. Furthermore, when a trading partner wants to add, modify, or delete a user, the operating company must request this, which creates problems with the accuracy and real-time nature of user settings.

[0104] Furthermore, even if the operating company invalidates the status of a business partner, if each user belonging to that business partner is not invalidated, users who should not be able to use the EDI system will continue to be able to use it.Furthermore, if a setting error by the operating company occurs and a user is registered in association with a business partner different from the one that should have been registered, this user will be able to view business partner information of business partners to which they do not belong, which will be an inconvenience.

[0105] Here, since it is difficult for a single operating company to manage the system, the company considers delegating user management authority to each of its business partners. However, if user management authority is unconditionally delegated to a business partner, the delegated business partner will have no restrictions on user management authority, which can lead to the inconvenience of being able to manage users of other business partners as well. Furthermore, since the delegated business partner can register an unlimited number of users, over time the system will end up with many users who are not currently employed, which can lead to the inconvenience of increasing security risks. For this reason, it is necessary to delegate user management authority to business partners in a limited manner.

[0106] For this reason, the management device 1 of the embodiment assigns user management authority to business partners to register or edit user information including expiration date information indicating the expiration date of legitimate user authority. This allows user management authority to be delegated to each business partner, reducing the management costs of the e-commerce system managed by the operating company of the management device 1. Furthermore, since user management authority can be delegated to trusted business partners, management costs can be safely distributed. Furthermore, business partners who have been delegated user management authority can manage users themselves, allowing for accurate and real-time user management.

[0107] Furthermore, user management authority can be set for each manager or person in charge of a desired user group at each business partner. This allows user management authority to be entrusted to the manager or person in charge of the desired user group, enabling detailed distribution of management costs and further improving security.

[0108] In addition, the upper limit on the number of new users that can be registered can be set for each business partner. This prevents the inconvenience of, for example, a business partner registering an unlimited number of users, which could result in many inactive users being registered over the years and increase security risks.

[0109] Furthermore, the authority to use the EDI system is managed by assigning a status indicating whether it is "enabled" or "disabled" for each trading partner. When a trading partner's status is set to "disabled," the expiration date of the user ID of each user belonging to that trading partner is updated to "expired," and the authority to use the EDI system is disabled. In this way, by setting the trading partner's status to "disabled," the authority to use the EDI system for each user belonging to that trading partner can be disabled all at once, further reducing management costs. It also reduces security risks even if the operating company makes a user management error.

[0110] [Contribution to the United Nations-led Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)] This embodiment can contribute to improving business efficiency and promoting appropriate management decisions by companies, thereby contributing to the achievement of Goals 8 and 9 of the SDGs.

[0111] Furthermore, this embodiment can contribute to reducing waste and promoting paperless and electronic systems, thereby contributing to the achievement of SDGs Goals 12, 13, and 15.

[0112] Furthermore, this embodiment can contribute to strengthening control and governance, which can contribute to the achievement of Goal 16 of the SDGs.

[0113] [Other embodiments] The present invention may be implemented in various different embodiments other than those described above within the scope of the technical concept set forth in the claims.

[0114] For example, among the processes described in the embodiments, all or part of the processes described as being performed automatically can be performed manually, or all or part of the processes described as being performed manually can be performed automatically using known methods.

[0115] Furthermore, the processing procedures, control procedures, specific names, information including parameters such as registered data and search conditions for each process, screen examples, and database configurations shown in this specification and drawings can be changed as desired unless otherwise specified.

[0116] Furthermore, with regard to the management device 1, the components shown in the figure are conceptual functional components, and do not necessarily have to be physically configured as shown in the figure.

[0117] For example, all or any part of the processing functions of the management device 1, particularly the processing functions performed by the control unit 3, may be implemented by a CPU (Central Processing Unit) and a program interpreted and executed by the CPU, or may be implemented as hardware using wired logic. The program is recorded on a non-transitory computer-readable recording medium containing programmed instructions for causing the information processing device to execute the processes described in each embodiment, and is mechanically read by the management device 1 as needed. That is, a storage unit such as a ROM or HDD stores a computer program for working with the OS to issue instructions to the CPU and perform various processes. The computer program is executed by being loaded into RAM, and works with the CPU to constitute the control unit 3 or 43.

[0118] In addition, the management program of this management device 1 may be stored in another server device connected to the management device 1 via any network, and all or part of it may be downloaded as needed.

[0119] Furthermore, the management program for executing the processes described in each embodiment may be stored in a non-transitory computer-readable recording medium, or may be configured as a program product. Here, the term "recording medium" includes any "portable physical medium" such as a memory card, a Universal Serial Bus (USB) memory, a Secure Digital (SD) card, a flexible disk, a magneto-optical disk, a ROM, an Erasable Programmable Read Only Memory (EPROM), an Electrically Erasable and Programmable Read Only Memory (EEPROM (registered trademark)), a Compact Disk Read Only Memory (CD-ROM), a Magneto-Optical Disk (MO), a Digital Versatile Disk (DVD), and a Blu-ray (registered trademark) disc.

[0120] Furthermore, a "program" is a data processing method written in any language or description method, and does not matter whether it is in the form of source code or binary code. Note that a "program" is not necessarily limited to a single structure, but also includes a structure that is distributed as multiple modules or libraries, or a structure that achieves its function by cooperating with a separate program, such as an OS. Note that well-known structures and procedures can be used for the specific structure and reading procedure for reading a recording medium in the management device 1 shown in the embodiment, as well as the installation procedure after reading.

[0121] The memory unit 2 is a storage means such as a memory device such as RAM or ROM, a fixed disk device such as a hard disk, a flexible disk, or an optical disk, and stores various programs, tables, databases, and web page files used for various processes and providing websites.

[0122] The management device 1 may be configured as an information processing device such as a known personal computer or workstation, or may be configured as an information processing device connected to any peripheral device. The information processing device may be realized by installing software (including programs, data, etc.) that realizes the processing described in this embodiment.

[0123] Furthermore, the specific form of distribution and integration of the devices is not limited to that shown in the drawings, and all or part of them can be configured by functionally or physically distributing and integrating them in any unit according to various additions or functional additions. In other words, the above-described embodiments can be implemented in any combination, or embodiments can be implemented selectively. [Industrial Applicability]

[0124] The present invention can be applied to any type of business in which commercial transactions are conducted via a network. [Explanation of symbols]

[0125] 1. Management device of the operating company 2 Storage section 3. Control Unit 4. Communication interface section 5 Input / Output Interface Section 6 Input Devices 7 Output Devices 8 Network 9 Network 11 WebEDI Customer Classification Master 12 WebEDI Customer Master 13 WebEDI User Group Master 14 WebEDI User Master 21 Communication control unit 22 User Management Authority Settings 23 Data Generation Unit 24 Discrimination part 25 Memory control unit 26 Display screen generation section 27 Status setting section 80 Terminal devices that make up the backyard environment of the operating company 81 Communication interface section 82 Business data storage unit for data management 90 Collaboration tool that connects the operating company's front and back environments 100 Customer terminal 200 Supplier's terminal equipment

Claims

[Claim 1] a communication control unit that controls a communication unit so as to mediate the transmission and reception of various data between terminal devices of each trading partner that conducts electronic commerce via a network; a user management authority setting unit that sets user management authority for registering or editing predetermined user information including expiration date information indicating an expiration date for which the user has a legitimate user authority to the business partner; a display screen generation unit that generates a user registration screen for registering or editing user information when a request for registration or editing of user information is made via the terminal device of any of the business partners, the display screen being transmitted via the communication control unit to the terminal device of the business partner that has requested the registration or editing of user information; a determination unit that determines whether the business partner who has registered or edited the user information is a business partner for which the user management authority has been set; a storage control unit that stores user information including the expiration date information of the registered or edited user in a storage unit that stores user information including the expiration date information of each user set for each of the business partners when a determination result indicating that the business partner that has requested the registration or editing of user information is a business partner for which the user management authority has been set is obtained from the determination unit; and A management device having the above configuration.

Images