Delivery management server and delivery management method

Abstract

To search a consignment destination without disclosing personal information or the like of a delivery destination of a package.SOLUTION: A management server that manages information on joint delivery in which a plurality of delivery companies deliver a package to be delivered in collaboration, and includes: a first acquisition unit configured to acquire invoice identification information of an invoice attached to a package to be delivered from a device of a first delivery company that is a consignment source coordinating the package; a second acquisition unit configured to acquire an area corresponding to an address of a destination of the package corresponding to the invoice identification information acquired by the first acquisition unit; an extraction unit configured to extract a candidate of a delivery company capable of delivery based on the area acquired by the second acquisition unit; and a transmission unit configured to transmit inquiry information for inquiring whether or not the package is acceptable to a device of the delivery company that is the extracted candidate together with information indicating the area.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

[Technical Field]

[0001] The present invention relates to a delivery management server and a delivery management method. [Background technology]

[0002] One delivery company manages one package from collection to delivery. The delivery company uses its own management system to manage the delivery status of each package from collection to delivery completion as delivery information. In order to manage each package individually, a waybill is attached to each package and an individual identification number assigned to the waybill is used (see, for example, Patent Document 1). Meanwhile, in recent years, the use of joint delivery has been increasing due to various reasons, such as a shortage of drivers, improving delivery efficiency, and reducing the number of vehicles required for delivery. In joint delivery, multiple delivery companies work together to deliver collected packages. When carrying out joint delivery, each delivery company needs to share delivery information for the package. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0003] [Patent Document 1] Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2001-315916 Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0004] However, when carrying out joint delivery, it is conceivable that one of multiple delivery companies will approach other delivery companies about entrusting delivery to them in order to find a delivery company that can accept the request, but when searching for a delivery company that can accept the request, the first delivery company must disclose information about the type of package that the company wishes to entrust to them. Here, at the stage where the entrustment has not been confirmed, it is desirable to search for a consignee without disclosing personal information, etc., of the package's delivery destination.

[0005] The present invention has been made in consideration of the above circumstances, and its purpose is to provide a delivery management server and a delivery management method that can search for a consignee without disclosing personal information, etc., of the recipient of the package. [Means for solving the problem]

[0006] In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, one aspect of the present invention is a management server that manages information regarding joint deliveries in which multiple delivery companies work together to deliver a package to be delivered, and the delivery management server has: a first acquisition unit that acquires waybill identification information of the waybill attached to the package to be delivered from a device of a first delivery company that is the consignor that is coordinating the delivery of the package; a second acquisition unit that acquires an area corresponding to the address of the destination of the package that corresponds to the waybill identification information acquired by the first acquisition unit; an extraction unit that extracts candidate delivery companies that can deliver the package based on the area acquired by the second acquisition unit; and a transmission unit that transmits inquiry information to the device of the extracted candidate delivery company inquiring about whether or not the package can be accepted, along with information indicating the area.

[0007] Another aspect of the present invention is a delivery management method executed by a computer that is a delivery management server that manages information regarding joint deliveries in which multiple delivery companies work together to deliver packages to be delivered, and includes acquiring waybill identification information read by a first delivery company from a waybill attached to the package to be delivered, acquiring status information regarding the delivery status of the package and the waybill identification information from a device of one of the delivery companies delivering the package, and storing the acquired status information in a memory unit in association with the acquired waybill identification information. [Effects of the Invention]

[0008] As explained above, according to this invention, the area corresponding to the address of the destination of the package is acquired based on the waybill identification information of the package to be jointly delivered, delivery companies that can deliver based on the acquired area are extracted, and the extracted delivery companies are inquired about their acceptance. This makes it possible to find a consignee without disclosing the personal information of the recipient of the package even before the consignment is confirmed. [Brief explanation of the drawings]

[0009] [Figure 1] 1 is a schematic block diagram showing the configuration of a delivery system S according to an embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 2] FIG. 10 is a diagram showing an example of the appearance of a shipping label. [Figure 3] FIG. 2 is a schematic functional block diagram showing the functions of the delivery management server 30. [Figure 4] FIG. 3 is a diagram showing an example of package data stored in a storage unit 302. [Figure 5] FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating an example of acceptable information. [Figure 6] FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating the operation of the delivery system S in the first embodiment. [Figure 7] FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating the operation of the delivery system S in the second embodiment. [Figure 8] FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating the operation of the delivery system S. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0010] A delivery system S according to one embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a schematic block diagram showing the configuration of a delivery system S according to one embodiment of the present invention. The delivery system S includes user terminals 10 (10a, 10b), POS terminals 20 (20a, 20b), a delivery management server 30, an invoice printing server 40, an invoice printing device 41, a deliverer terminal 50 (50a, 50b), a mobile printer 55 (55a, 55b), a delivery company server 60 (60a, 60b), and a network NW.

[0011] The user terminal 10 (10a, 10b) is a terminal device used by a user. The user may be either a consumer (hereinafter sometimes referred to as a general consumer) or an employee of a company or organization. When used by a general consumer, the user terminal 10 is used at the general consumer's home or on the go. When used by an employee of a company or organization, the user terminal 10 is mainly used in facilities managed by the company or organization. For example, the user terminal 10a is used by a user who has requested delivery, and the user terminal 10b is used by a user at the destination of the package (for example, a recipient). The user terminal 10 may be, for example, any of a smartphone, a tablet, a mobile phone, a PC (Personal Computer), etc. If the user terminal 10 has a camera, it can read a machine-readable code. The machine-readable code represents invoice identification information that individually identifies an invoice, and may be any of a one-dimensional barcode, a two-dimensional barcode, etc. The machine-readable code is attached to the invoice. The user terminal 10 also has a display function for displaying various data on a display screen, an input function for inputting various data, etc. The display screen may be a liquid crystal display panel provided on the deliverer terminal 50. Data is input via an input device such as a touch panel, keyboard, or mouse based on operational input from the user. The input data may be, for example, destination information or delivery requester information. Furthermore, if the user terminal 10 is not equipped with a camera or if a camera is not used, the input data may be waybill identification information. The user terminal 10 is communicably connected to the delivery management server 30 via the network NW.

[0012] The POS terminals 20 (POS terminal 20a, POS terminal 20b) are communicably connected to the delivery management server 30 via the network NW. The POS terminal 20 optically reads the machine-readable code attached to the shipping invoice using a scanner, and also performs a settlement process for the payment of the delivery fee from the user who has requested delivery. The POS terminal 20 is installed at a base. A base is a base that manages packages for delivery in response to a request from a user who has made a delivery request. Bases include collection bases that collect packages, relay bases that relay collected packages before delivering them to the destination user, and the like. Of these, the POS terminal 20 is installed at a collection base. A collection base may be, for example, a base that accepts packages from a user who has made a delivery request, such as a delivery company office, a convenience store, a drugstore, or a privately owned shop. In this example, the POS terminal 20a is installed at a collection base of a first delivery company, and the POS terminal 20b is installed at another base (for example, at least one of a convenience store, a drugstore, a privately owned shop, and a collection base of a second delivery company).

[0013] The delivery management server 30 is communicably connected to the user terminal 10a, the user terminal 10b, the POS terminal 20, the waybill printing server 40, the deliverer terminal 50a, and the deliverer terminal 50b via the network NW. The delivery management server 30 manages joint deliveries in which multiple delivery companies work together to deliver packages to be delivered. The delivery management server 30 executes various processes related to delivery.

[0014] The invoice printing server 40 is communicably connected to the delivery management server 30 via the network NW, and is also communicably connected to the invoice printing device 41. The invoice printing server 40 receives number range data representing the number range used for invoices from the delivery management server 30 or the delivery company server 60, and causes the invoice printing device 41 to print an invoice based on the number range data. The invoice printer 41 is communicatively connected to the invoice print server 40. The invoice printer 41 prints invoices by printing on a print medium based on the number band data output from the invoice print server 40. The print medium used for invoices has one printable surface and the other main surface with an adhesive layer and release paper attached. The printed invoices are delivered to the delivery company's base to which the number band used for the invoice identification information is assigned. Here, the invoice print server 40 and the invoice printer 41 are installed in a location separate from the delivery company's base, although multiple invoice printers 41 may be installed. When multiple invoice printers 41 are installed, they may be installed at the delivery company's base, connected to the delivery company server 60 to which the base belongs, and print invoices in response to instructions from the connected delivery company server 60. The user who made the delivery request or the collection staff at the collection point can attach the printed waybill to the package by peeling off the release paper and attaching the adhesive side to the package. Such a waybill can be used as a shipping label.

[0015] The deliverer terminals 50 (50a, 50b) are communicably connected to the delivery management server 30 via the network NW. The deliverer terminals 50 are also communicably connected to a mobile printer 55. The deliverer terminal 50 is used by a person in charge of parcel delivery. For example, it is carried by a collection driver, a delivery driver, etc. The deliverer terminal 50 has a camera and a function to read machine-readable codes attached to waybills, a display function to display various data on a display screen, etc. The display screen may be a liquid crystal display panel provided on the deliverer terminal 50. The deliverer terminal 50 may be, for example, a smartphone, a tablet, a mobile phone, a PC, or the like. The deliverer terminal 50 can output the print data to the mobile printer 55, causing the mobile printer 55 to print the print data. The print data may be, for example, destination information or part of the destination information.

[0016] The deliverer terminal 50a is used, for example, by a person in charge of collection, and the deliverer terminal 50b is used by a person in charge of delivery. When a joint delivery is performed, at least one of the multiple deliverer terminals 50 is used by a first delivery company, and at least one of the other deliverer terminals 50 is used by a second delivery company. Also, when there are three or more delivery companies performing a joint delivery, individual deliverer terminals 50 are used for each of the other delivery companies, such as the third delivery company, the fourth delivery company, etc.

[0017] The mobile printers 55 (55a, 55b) are printing devices that are communicably connected to the deliverer terminal 50 and print print data sent from the deliverer terminal 50 onto a print medium. The mobile printer 55 may be a device configured as a separate housing from the deliverer terminal 50, but the mobile printer 55 may also be provided integrally with the deliverer terminal 50.

[0018] The delivery company server 60a is used by the first delivery company. The delivery company server 60a may be a server of a management system that has already been introduced to manage packages that the first delivery company undertakes to deliver. The delivery company server 60b is used by a second delivery company that is a delivery company different from the first delivery company. The delivery company server 60b may be a server of a management system that has already been introduced to manage packages that the second delivery company is contracted to deliver. Here, the case where there are two delivery company servers will be described, but if there are three or more delivery companies, a delivery company server 60 may be provided for each delivery company. In addition, if the delivery company does not have its own management system, a new delivery company server may be introduced to communicate with the delivery management server 30.

[0019] The network NW is a communication network including at least a part of, for example, the Internet, a WAN (Wide Area Network), a LAN (Local Area Network), a provider device, a wireless base station, a dedicated line, etc. The network NW may be wired or wireless, or may be a combination of wired and wireless.

[0020] The above-mentioned delivery management server 30 and delivery company server 60 may be physical servers or cloud servers provided by a cloud computing service.

[0021] FIG. 2 is a diagram showing an example of the appearance of the shipping label. One of the main surfaces of the invoice is a printing surface on which various data can be printed, and the other main surface has an adhesive layer formed by applying an adhesive. A two-dimensional barcode La, invoice identification information Lb, one-dimensional barcode Lc, and one-dimensional barcode Ld are printed on the invoice, with a portion of the invoice set aside as a reserve area Le. The two-dimensional barcode La is a two-dimensional barcode that represents the invoice identification information. In addition, in the case of corporate use, corporate information may be written following the invoice identification information. In this case, the two-dimensional barcode may include the invoice identification information and the corporate information. The invoice identification information Lb represents the invoice identification information using a character string and is the same as the invoice identification information represented by the two-dimensional barcode La. The one-dimensional barcode Lc and one-dimensional barcode Ld can be used for various management purposes. The reserved area Le is an area where necessary information can be written by hand or labels, slips, etc. can be attached as needed when delivering a package. The package may be delivered without anything written in this reserved area Le, or without a label or slip attached.

[0022] FIG. 3 is a schematic functional block diagram showing the functions of the delivery management server 30. The delivery management server 30 has a communication unit 301, a memory unit 302, a first acquisition unit 303, a second acquisition unit 304, a third acquisition unit 305, a first processing unit 306, an extraction unit 307, a transmission unit 308, an identification information management unit 309, and a control unit 310. The communication unit 301 communicates with various external devices via the network NW. The storage unit 302 stores various data such as package data. The memory unit 302 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 302 may be, for example, a nonvolatile memory.

[0023] The storage unit 302 stores, for example, package data and acceptance information.

[0024] The first acquisition unit 303 includes an invoice identification information acquisition unit 3031 and an acceptance information acquisition unit 3032 . The waybill identification information acquisition unit 3031 acquires the waybill identification information. For example, the waybill identification information acquisition unit 3031 acquires the waybill identification information obtained by reading the waybill identification information of the waybill attached to the package to be delivered by the first delivery company. The waybill identification information acquisition unit 3031 may also acquire the waybill identification information of the waybill attached to the package to be delivered from a device of the first delivery company that is the consignor (or the cooperating source) coordinating the package. The acceptance information acquisition unit 3032 acquires acceptance information indicating that the package can be accepted from a device of the receiving delivery company that can accept the collected package (for example, delivery company server 60).

[0025] The second acquisition unit 304 has a delivery status acquisition unit 3041, a consignment destination information acquisition unit 3042, and an area acquisition unit 3043. For example, the second acquisition unit 304 acquires, from a user terminal, destination information that can identify a destination based on a user's operation input. The delivery status acquisition unit 3041 receives status information relating to the delivery status of the package and waybill identification information from a device of any of the delivery companies that delivers the package (for example, the delivery company server 60). In addition, the delivery status acquisition unit 3041 may acquire delivery information, which allows the delivery of a package to be understood as being handed over from a first delivery company to a second delivery company, together with waybill identification information from the delivery company's delivery company server 60. Furthermore, the delivery status acquisition unit 3041 may acquire delivery information from the delivery company server 60a of the first delivery company or the delivery company server 60b of the second delivery company. Furthermore, the delivery status acquisition unit 3041 may acquire delivery completion information indicating that delivery of the package has been completed from the delivery company server 60a of the first delivery company or the delivery company server 60b of the second delivery company.

[0026] The consignment desired destination information acquisition unit 3042 acquires destination information indicating the destination of the package corresponding to the waybill identification information of the package desired to be consigned, which is acquired by the first acquisition unit 303 (e.g., waybill identification information acquisition unit 3031). The area acquisition unit 3043 acquires the area corresponding to the address of the destination of the package, which corresponds to the waybill identification information acquired by the first acquisition unit 303.

[0027] The third acquisition unit 305 acquires, from the device of the first delivery company, outsourced delivery company information indicating the delivery company selected by the first delivery company from among the candidates to be outsourced.

[0028] The first processing unit 306 executes various processes. For example, the first processing unit 306 stores the status information acquired by the second acquisition unit 304 (e.g., delivery status acquisition unit 3041) in the memory unit 302 in association with the waybill identification information acquired by the first acquisition unit 303 (e.g., waybill identification information acquisition unit 3031). The status information may be any information that allows the delivery status to be understood. For example, the first processing unit 306 may store the delivery information acquired by the second acquisition unit 304 (e.g., the delivery status acquisition unit 3041) in the storage unit 302 in association with the waybill identification information acquired by the first acquisition unit 303 (e.g., the waybill identification information acquisition unit 3031). Also, for example, the first processing unit 306 may store the delivery completion information acquired by the second acquisition unit 304 (e.g., the delivery status acquisition unit 3041) in the memory unit 302 in association with the waybill identification information acquired by the first acquisition unit 303 (e.g., the waybill identification information acquisition unit 3031). The first processing unit 306 may also store the entrusted delivery company information and the waybill identification information in the storage unit 302 in association with each other.

[0029] The extraction unit 307 executes various processes. For example, the extraction unit 307 extracts candidates for delivery companies that can deliver based on the destination information acquired by the second acquisition unit 304. The extraction unit 307 may also extract candidates for delivery companies that can be consignees of delivery, based on the acceptance information. The extraction unit 307 may also extract candidates for delivery companies that can deliver based on the area information acquired by the second acquisition unit 304.

[0030] The transmitting unit 308 transmits various data. For example, in response to an inquiry from the delivery company server 60 of one of a plurality of delivery companies, the transmission unit 308 transmits the status information stored in the storage unit 302 to the device of the delivery company that made the inquiry. Furthermore, the transmitting unit 308 may transmit the extracted candidate delivery companies that are capable of delivery to the device of the first delivery company. The transmitting unit 308 may also transmit acceptance information to the device of the extracted candidate delivery company. The acceptance information includes delivery company identification information, and may also include at least one of delivery area information, package type, package quantity, and delivery time zone. The transmitting unit 308 may also transmit inquiry information to the delivery company server 60 of the extracted candidate delivery company to inquire whether the delivery company will accept the package, together with information indicating the area. The sending unit 308 may also send the inquiry together with at least one of the quantity of packages, the type of packages, and the delivery time slot of the packages.

[0031] The identification information management unit 309 manages waybill identification information that is common and unique among multiple delivery companies. For example, the identification information management unit 309 may generate waybill identification information that is common and unique among multiple delivery companies and assign it to each delivery company so that it can be used. Alternatively, instead of generating waybill identification information, the identification information management unit 309 may assign to each delivery company a generation rule that results in waybill identification information that is common and unique among multiple delivery companies.

[0032] The control unit 310 controls each unit of the delivery management server 30. The control unit 310 also writes and reads each piece of data stored in the storage unit 302 according to the delivery status.

[0033] This delivery management server 30 is managed by a third-party management company that is different from each of the multiple delivery companies. Also, the delivery management server 30 may be managed by any one of the multiple delivery companies or jointly by several of the multiple delivery companies.

[0034] FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an example of package data stored in the storage unit 302. As shown in FIG. The package data includes waybill identification information and delivery information, which includes delivery requester information, destination information, package information, and status information. The invoice identification information is information that individually identifies an invoice. The delivery requester information is information relating to the delivery requester, and includes, for example, the address, name, telephone number, etc. of the user who has requested delivery. The destination information is information relating to the destination, and includes, for example, the address, name, and telephone number of the destination user. The package information is information relating to the package, and includes, for example, the size of the package, whether it is refrigerated or frozen, delivery charges, and the like. Status information indicates the delivery status of a package, and includes, for example, an acceptance flag, a delivery flag, a delivery completion flag, an absence flag, and handover information. The acceptance flag indicates whether the package has been accepted by the collection officer. For example, an acceptance flag of "0" indicates that the package has not been accepted, and an acceptance flag of "1" indicates that the package has been accepted. The delivery information is data indicating which delivery company will be responsible for which task in delivering a package. For example, the delivery information includes information that allows for understanding which delivery company will be responsible for which section of the delivery section from collection to delivery to the destination address when performing joint delivery. The delivery information may be generated when it is decided that a package to be delivered will be handed over from a first delivery company to a second delivery company, but it may also be generated when the package to be delivered is handed over from the first delivery company to the second delivery company.

[0035] The delivery flag is information that indicates whether the package is currently being delivered. For example, a delivery flag of "0" indicates that the package has not yet been delivered (before the package is accepted, after delivery has been completed, etc.), and a delivery flag of "1" indicates that the package is currently being delivered (between acceptance and delivery to the destination user). The delivery completion flag is information indicating whether the package has been received by the destination user. For example, a delivery completion flag of "0" indicates that the delivery has not been completed (for example, the state between the time the package is left at the collection point and the time delivery to the destination user is completed), and a delivery completion flag of "1" indicates that the delivery of the package to the destination user has been completed. The absence flag is information that indicates whether the delivery driver visited the destination address but the user was not present and so the delivery driver has returned the package. For example, an absence flag of "0" indicates that the delivery driver has not yet visited the destination address, and an absence flag of "1" indicates that the delivery driver visited the destination address but the user was not present and so the delivery driver has returned the package. The one-dimensional barcode is data individually assigned to the waybill L, and represents the one-dimensional barcode Lc attached to the waybill L. In this case, when the one-dimensional barcode Lc is read by the POS terminal 20, the control unit 310 of the delivery management server 30 can identify the one-dimensional barcode stored in the storage unit 302 that corresponds to the one-dimensional barcode Lc acquired from the POS terminal 20, and identify the waybill identification information that corresponds to the identified one-dimensional barcode.

[0036] FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating an example of the acceptability information. The acceptance information is information about delivery companies that can accept and deliver packages from other delivery companies. The acceptance information includes, for example, items such as delivery company identification information, delivery area, package type, package quantity, and delivery time period. The delivery company identification information is identification information that is individually assigned to each delivery company. The delivery company can be identified based on the delivery company identification information. The delivery area indicates an area in which packages can be received from other delivery companies and delivered. The package type indicates the type of package, such as general, refrigerated delivery, precision equipment, express delivery, and the load capacity of the truck being transported. General refers to the type of package, such as clothing and daily necessities, that is delivered according to the normal delivery method. Refrigerated delivery indicates packages that need to be delivered in a refrigerated or frozen state. Precision equipment indicates that PCs, printers, etc. are being delivered. Express delivery indicates packages that need to be delivered by a set time the next morning. The quantity of parcels indicates the quantity of parcels that can be delivered by receiving parcels from other delivery companies. The delivery time period indicates the time period designated for delivery when receiving and delivering packages from other delivery companies. Such acceptability information may be updated as appropriate based on the daily acceptability of the delivery target.

[0037] For example, in the acceptance information shown in Figure 5, the delivery company identification information "AA01" is associated with the delivery area information "Area 0307", the package type "General", the package quantity "50", and the delivery time period "All time periods", indicating that the delivery company assigned the delivery company identification information "AA01" can accept up to "50" "General" packages in the area "Area 0307" at "All time periods".

[0038] The above-mentioned communication unit 301, first acquisition unit 303, second acquisition unit 304, third acquisition unit 305, first processing unit 306, extraction unit 307, transmission unit 308, identification information management unit 309, and control unit 310 may be configured, for example, by a processing unit such as a CPU (Central Processing Unit) or a dedicated electronic circuit.

[0039] Next, the operation of the above-mentioned delivery system S will be described. First Embodiment In the first embodiment, the delivery management server 30 assigns individual waybill identification information to each delivery company, and each delivery company delivers the parcels that it collects by itself. Figure 6 is a diagram illustrating the operation of the delivery system S.

[0040] The identification information management unit 309 of the delivery management server 30 assigns an available waybill number range (Step S400 in FIG. 6). Here, the identification information management unit 309 assigns a different waybill number range to each delivery company. The waybill use number range is data representing waybill identification information that can be used as waybill identification information to be attached to a waybill. For example, the waybill identification information can be represented by a character string, and if the character string is represented by a number, the waybill use number range represents a range of usable numbers. For example, the waybill use number range may specify a range of numbers (sequential numbers), such as N1 to N2 for the first delivery company and N3 to N4 for the second delivery company, or may specify usable character strings individually (not necessarily sequential numbers). Furthermore, the waybill identification information may be a string of multiple numbers, a string of letters or symbols, or a string combining at least two of numbers, letters, and symbols. Here, the identification information management unit 309 may assign to each delivery company a generation rule that will result in waybill identification information that is common and unique among multiple delivery companies. The generation rule may, for example, include the delivery company identification information of the delivery company generating the waybill identification information as part of the waybill identification information, and the remaining character strings may be concatenated with individual character strings prepared by the generating delivery company, or may further include a character string corresponding to the generation date. Once such a generation rule is assigned, the delivery company server 60 of each delivery company can generate the waybill identification information in accordance with the generation rule.

[0041] The identification information management unit 309 may allocate usable waybill number ranges according to a generation rule, or the identification information management unit 309 may generate waybill identification information and allocate it to each delivery company. If the identification information management unit 309 does not generate waybill identification information (e.g., assigns a number) but instead assigns a generation rule to each delivery company, there is no need to generate and store waybill identification information in the delivery management server 30. Therefore, there is no need to store the generated waybill identification information as a record even if it is not yet at the stage where it is actually used in delivery. In this case, the delivery management server 30 receives and stores the waybill identification information from the delivery company server 60 or the like when it is generated by the delivery company and collection or delivery is performed. Therefore, when a processing request using waybill identification information occurs, the delivery management server 30 only needs to perform processing such as a search on waybill identification information for which delivery has actually occurred, thereby avoiding the need to search for waybill identification information that is not actually used in delivery.

[0042] The waybill identification information is generated by the identification information management unit 309, printed on the waybill by the waybill printer 41, attached to the package, and may be made usable again after fulfilling certain conditions, such as the completion of delivery or the passage of a certain period of time. The identification information management unit 309 assigns such usable numbers as waybill use number ranges. The delivery management server 30 transmits data of the number range allocated to the first delivery company to the delivery company server 60a of the first delivery company (step S200 in Figure 6), and transmits data of the number range allocated to the second delivery company to the delivery company server 60b of the second delivery company (step S300 in Figure 6).

[0043] When the delivery company server 60a of the first delivery company receives the data of the use number range from the delivery management server 30, it stores the data of the use number range in the storage device of its own management system (FIG. 6, step S201). Also, when the delivery company server 60b of the second delivery company receives the data of the use number range from the delivery management server 30, it stores the data of the use number range in the storage device of its own management system (FIG. 6, step S301). Here, the operations of the delivery company server 60b of the second delivery company from step S301 onwards are the same as the operations of the delivery company server 60a of the first delivery company from step S202 onwards, so a description thereof will be omitted.

[0044] The delivery company server 60a of the first delivery company causes a printer to print an invoice in accordance with the data of the number range indicated by the received invoice use number range data (step S202 in FIG. 6). This printer may be a printer connected to the delivery company server 60a and used by the first delivery company. Alternatively, the invoice may be printed by the invoice printer 41 and handed over to the delivery company after printing. For example, the printing device generates a two-dimensional barcode representing the invoice identification information included in the invoice use number band and prints one two-dimensional barcode on each different invoice. Here, the two-dimensional barcode representing the invoice identification information may be printed on the invoice, or the character string representing the invoice identification information itself may be printed on the invoice. Also, both the two-dimensional barcode and the character string representing the invoice identification information may be printed. In this embodiment, the invoice identification information is printed as a two-dimensional barcode, but it may also be a one-dimensional barcode.

[0045] The printing device prints one invoice identification information on one invoice in accordance with instructions from the invoice printing server 40. Here, if the invoice use number band contains multiple invoice identification information, each invoice identification information is printed on a different invoice.

[0046] Once the waybill is printed, the printed waybill is sent to and placed at the base where the package is delivered. If the delivery company prints the waybill, the printed waybill may be placed at the base, or if the waybill is printed by waybill printer 41, the waybill may be handed over to the delivery company and then placed at the base by the delivery company, or it may be placed directly at the base without being handed over to the delivery company. The base where the waybill is placed is, for example, a base that accepts packages based on a request from a user who has made a delivery request, such as a convenience store. The waybill placed at the convenience store is distributed to the user who has made the delivery request.

[0047] When a user who has requested delivery wishes to have a package delivered, the user can register in advance with the delivery management server 30 by operating the user terminal 10a. By registering as a user, the address, name, telephone number, etc. of the user who has requested delivery can be specified as the address, name, telephone number, etc. of the user who has requested delivery without having to directly input the address, name, telephone number, etc. of the user who has requested delivery from the user terminal 10a, etc., each time delivery is made. When a delivery requesting user registers, the user uses the user terminal 10a to access a web page for user registration made public by the delivery management server 30 and inputs various necessary information on the user registration screen. The necessary information includes, for example, the address, name, and telephone number of the delivery requesting user. The user terminal 10a performs user registration processing based on the operation input from the user. The user terminal 10a transmits the various data input by the user to the delivery management server 30 and also transmits a user registration request.

[0048] The delivery management server 30 assigns user identification information that individually identifies the user based on a user registration request transmitted from the user terminal 10a, and stores the user identification information in association with various data transmitted from the user terminal 10a in the storage unit 302. In this manner, user processing in the delivery management server 30 is executed.

[0049] Furthermore, when a user who has requested delivery wishes to have a package delivered, the user brings the package to a base (which may be a base such as a convenience store) where the first delivery company collects the package, and receives a waybill at the base. When the user requesting delivery receives the shipping label, the user uses the camera of the user terminal 10a to photograph and read the shipping label identification information printed on the shipping label, and inputs the recipient's address, name, telephone number, etc. as shipping destination information using the input device of the user terminal 10a. The shipping label identification information and the recipient's address are then transmitted to the delivery company server 60a of the first delivery company (step S100 in FIG. 6). The two-dimensional barcode may include a URL for accessing the delivery company server 60a, and the user terminal 10a may access the delivery company server 60a based on this URL. This completes the registration procedure for various information related to the shipping label identification information. If the user requesting delivery has previously registered as a user, they can log in to the delivery service's web service or application program and set the user-registered data as the shipping requester information without manually entering the address, name, telephone number, etc. of the shipping requester. If the user requesting delivery has not previously registered as a user, they may input their own address, name, telephone number, etc. as shipping requester information from the user terminal 10a. In this case, the delivery management server 30 may assign a guest account to a user who has not yet been registered, and manage the user who has requested delivery using the guest account for a certain period of time.

[0050] Here, the user terminal 10a may read the waybill identification information with a camera, transmit the waybill identification information to the delivery company server 60a, and then have the user input the delivery destination information, which is then transmitted to the delivery company server 60a. Alternatively, the user terminal 10a may read the waybill identification information on the waybill with a camera, and then transmit the delivery destination information to the delivery company server 60a. Furthermore, user terminal 10a may read the waybill identification information with a camera, temporarily store the read waybill identification information in a storage area within user terminal 10a, and after the user inputs destination information, transmit the waybill identification information together with the destination information to delivery company server 60a. Furthermore, user terminal 10a may read the waybill identification information with a camera, temporarily store the input destination information in a storage area within user terminal 10a, and after the user inputs destination information, transmit the waybill identification information together with the destination information to delivery company server 60a. Furthermore, the waybill identification information can be extracted from the two-dimensional barcode by reading it with the user terminal 10a, but if the waybill identification information is printed on the waybill as a character string rather than a two-dimensional barcode, the character string can be extracted by photographing the character string with the camera of the user terminal 10a and performing OCR (Optical Character Reader) processing on the photographed image. Also, if a character string representing the waybill identification information is printed on the waybill, the user who has requested delivery can register it by manually entering the character string directly into the user terminal 10a.

[0051] The user who has requested delivery sends the waybill identification information and delivery destination information to the delivery company server 60a, and then attaches the waybill with the waybill identification information attached to the package to be delivered and hands it over to a person in charge at the base. Here, when the package is shipped, the waybill identification information, delivery destination information, etc. are sent from the user terminal 10a to the delivery company server 60a, but they may also be sent to the delivery management server 30. Then, the delivery management server 30 may send the waybill identification information, delivery destination information, etc. to the delivery company server 60, so that information about the package can be shared. When handing over the package, the user requesting delivery may or may not handwrite the address, name, and telephone number of the user requesting delivery, and the address, name, and telephone number of the user at the destination, in the spare area Le of the waybill, as necessary. Here, since the destination information and the information of the user requesting delivery are already registered in the waybill identification information, it is not necessary to write or print information about the destination and the user requesting delivery as character strings directly on the waybill.

[0052] The delivery company server 60a also uses the address included in the delivery requester information and the address included in the destination information as provisional data, calculates a delivery route based on this provisional data, and stores the delivery route in association with the waybill identification information. The delivery company server 60a may also transmit a provisional delivery schedule corresponding to the delivery route based on the provisional data to the user terminal 10a, and display it on the user terminal 10a.

[0053] When the package is handed over by the user who requested delivery, a person in charge at the base (for example, the base of the first delivery company or a convenience store) reads the shipping label identification information printed on the shipping label attached to the package using the scanner of the POS terminal 20, and stores the package in a storage location.

[0054] Meanwhile, the delivery company server 60a receives the waybill identification information, delivery requester information, and delivery destination information from the user terminal 10a (step S203 in Figure 6), and upon acquiring the waybill identification information from the POS terminal 20a, stores this information in a storage device within the delivery company server 60a and transmits the waybill identification information, the delivery requester information, and delivery information including data indicating at which base of the first delivery company the package was collected to the delivery management server 30 (step S204 in Figure 6). When the delivery management server 30 receives the waybill identification information and delivery information from the delivery company server 60a (step S401 in FIG. 6), it stores the received waybill identification information and delivery information in the storage unit 302 (step S402 in FIG. 6). As a result, the delivery management server 30 registers that the package to be delivered has been stored (handed over) at the collection point of the first delivery company. In response to the registration of the storage of the package to be delivered, the delivery management server 30 may transmit a receipt notification to the user terminal 10a, including information on which package was received, the date and time of receipt, etc.

[0055] Furthermore, the delivery company server 60a determines a delivery route corresponding to the waybill identification information based on the waybill identification information received from the POS terminal 20. Once the delivery route is determined, the delivery company server 60a transmits vehicle dispatch, loading, and collection instructions to the center. For example, the delivery company server 60a transmits a collection instruction to the deliverer terminal 50 responsible for collecting the package at the collection point. Upon receiving this instruction, the deliverer terminal 50 displays the instruction on its display screen. For example, if the package is accepted at a convenience store, the convenience store where the package was collected is displayed on the screen. This allows the driver in charge of collection to recognize that the package will be collected. Furthermore, if the package is accepted at the collection point of the first delivery company, the delivery person of the first delivery company can understand the acceptance status of the collection based on the information displayed on the display screen of the deliverer terminal 50. The delivery company server 60a may also extract destination information for packages that fall within the delivery area of ​​the delivery person based on the delivery route and transmit the destination list to the delivery person's terminal 50. This allows the delivery person's terminal 50 to determine the destinations based on the destination list. By transmitting the destination list to the delivery person's terminal 50, the delivery person can determine which package to deliver. The delivery company server 60a may also transmit the delivery destination list to the delivery person's terminal 50, including delivery requester information and waybill identification information. This allows the delivery person's terminal 50 to obtain various information about the package without having to read the waybill identification information attached to the waybill and query the delivery management server 30. For example, even if the delivery management server 30 and the delivery person's terminal 50 cannot communicate with each other, various information about the package can be obtained based on the delivery destination list on the delivery person's terminal 50. Here, the waybill identification information is printed on the waybill as text, separate from the two-dimensional barcode, so that the correspondence between the package and the data included in the delivery destination list can be determined based on the waybill identification information.

[0056] The delivery company server 60a or the delivery management server 30 may also send a notification to the user terminal 10b of the destination user indicating that the package has been collected. This notification may be sent using SMS (Short Message Service) to the telephone number included in the destination information. This message may also include the delivery route and the scheduled delivery date based on the collection date and time. The user terminal 10b receives this notification and displays a message indicating that the package has been shipped and the expected delivery date on the display screen.

[0057] Among the delivery companies, the driver in charge of collection carries the deliverer terminal 50a and visits each base to collect the packages. In this case, the driver also visits the base where the package is stored and picks up the package stored at the base. The driver in charge of collection who receives the package reads the waybill identification information attached to the package using the deliverer terminal 50a and presses the "collection button" to indicate that the package has been collected. When the deliverer terminal 50a reads the waybill identification information and the collection button is pressed, it transmits the waybill identification information and data indicating that the package has been "collected" to the delivery company server 60a.

[0058] When the delivery company server 60a receives data indicating that the package has been collected and the waybill identification information from the deliverer terminal 50a, it references the storage unit within the delivery company server 60a and checks whether the data matches the waybill identification information transmitted from the POS terminal 20 and registered. If the verification results in a match, the delivery company server 60a updates the status information corresponding to the waybill identification information stored in the storage unit (step S205 in Figure 6). Here, the status is updated to indicate that the package has been accepted. The delivery company server 60a also transmits data indicating that the package has been collected and the waybill identification information to the delivery management server 30. When the delivery management server 30 receives data indicating collection and the waybill identification information from the deliverer terminal 50a, it refers to the storage unit 302 and checks whether the data matches the waybill identification information transmitted from the POS terminal 20 and registered. If the delivery management server 30 finds a match, it rewrites the status information corresponding to the waybill identification information to "Collected" and rewrites the acceptance flag (acceptance information) included in the status information from "0" to "1." By rewriting the acceptance flag to "1," it is possible to know from the status information that the parcel deposited at the collection center has been handed over to the delivery company. Here, when a parcel is delivered using a handwritten delivery slip, it is possible to know that the use of the delivery slip has begun if the address, name, and telephone number of the recipient, the address, name, telephone number, and parcel item name of the delivery requester are written by hand or the like. However, since the waybill in the above-described embodiment is used with a two-dimensional barcode or the like printed, the recipient information and delivery requester information are not necessarily written on the waybill. Therefore, it is difficult to determine from the face of the waybill alone whether the use of the waybill has begun, for example, whether it has been accepted by the delivery company. However, by reading the waybill identification information on the waybill using the user terminal 10 or the deliverer terminal 50, accessing the delivery management server 30 and referring to the acceptance flag, it is possible to determine whether the use of the waybill has begun and whether the package has been accepted by the delivery company.

[0059] Here, the driver in charge of collection can input an operation to the deliverer terminal 50a to print a portion of the destination information. When the delivery label of the package for which the portion of the destination information is to be printed is read and an operation to print a portion of the delivery label information is input, the deliverer terminal 50a causes the mobile printer 55a connected to the deliverer terminal 50a to print the read portion of the delivery label information. The mobile printer 55a prints the portion of the destination information on a print medium based on the instruction from the deliverer terminal 50a. The part of the destination information may be information including at least a part of the address, name, and telephone number of the destination. In addition, the deliverer terminal 50a may cause the mobile printer 55a to print a character string representing the part of the destination information, or may generate a two-dimensional barcode corresponding to the part of the destination information and cause the mobile printer 55a to print the generated two-dimensional barcode.

[0060] The print medium may be a label that can be attached as a sticker. If part of the destination information is printed on such a label, the driver in charge of collection may attach the label with the part of the destination information printed on it to the spare area Le of the shipping label. If a character string representing part of the destination information is printed on a label and attached to the shipping label, the delivery company or the user at the destination can see the address, name, and telephone number of the user who requested delivery, and the address, name, and telephone number of the user at the destination by looking at the shipping label. Also, if part of the destination information is a two-dimensional barcode representing the name of the user who requested delivery and part of the address of the destination (for example, an address in a smaller division than a city, ward, town, or village) printed on a label and attached to the shipping label, the two-dimensional barcode on the label can be read by the deliverer terminal 50 or the user terminal 10b of the destination and interpreted, thereby extracting part of the address and the name from the two-dimensional barcode offline without having to send an online inquiry to the delivery management server 30. This allows the delivery person to grasp the destination and continue delivery operations even if, for example, an environment occurs in which the deliverer terminal 50 cannot communicate with the delivery management server 30 when reading the two-dimensional barcode on the label (out of range of the network NW, communication error, etc.). Here, the entire address may be included in the two-dimensional barcode, but it does not necessarily have to include the entire address as long as it is an address within the delivery area. For example, the prefecture element may be omitted. Although the case where some of the destination information is printed on the label has been described, it is not necessarily required that the information is printed.

[0061] Furthermore, the driver in charge of collection can read the waybill identification information attached to the waybill using the deliverer terminal 50a, query the delivery company server 60a or the delivery management server 30 for the destination information stored in association with that waybill identification information, and have the results displayed on the display screen of the deliverer terminal 50a. This allows the driver to check the address, name, telephone number, and other information about the destination on the display screen, even if they have not printed out part of the destination information using the mobile printer 55a. The driver in charge of collection loads the packages into the vehicle and delivers them from the base such as a convenience store to a relay point.

[0062] Furthermore, when the package is transported from the collection point to the second point, which is the next point on the delivery route, and the waybill identification information is read at the second point, the delivery company server 60a rewrites the status information to indicate that the package has arrived at the second point and transmits it to the delivery management server 30. Here, the same process is performed each time the package is transported to the next point on the delivery route, so that information that allows the delivery status of the package to be understood is written as status information in the storage device of the delivery company server 60a and transmitted to the delivery management server 30.

[0063] At the relay point, the driver in charge of relaying can confirm the destination of each package by reading the waybill identification information on the waybill attached to the package to be relayed using his / her own deliverer terminal 50 (FIG. 5; step S155). The driver in charge of relaying sorts the packages according to the destination address and delivers them to the delivery point. Delivery points are bases set up in each region, and from the delivery points, delivery drivers deliver packages to their respective destinations.

[0064] The user at the destination can check the scheduled delivery date on the user terminal 10b and, if necessary, change the scheduled delivery date by inputting an operation to change the scheduled delivery date. When the user terminal 10b receives an operation to change the scheduled delivery date, it transmits the changed scheduled delivery date to the delivery company server 60a based on the operation content. When the delivery company server 60a receives a request to change the scheduled delivery date, it registers the change to the scheduled delivery date by writing it to its storage unit, transmits it to the delivery management server 30, and notifies the delivery person terminal 50b of the change to the scheduled delivery date. The delivery person then delivers the package based on the changed scheduled delivery date. The status information stored in the delivery management server 30 is also updated with information about the scheduled delivery date.

[0065] At the delivery base, the delivery driver receives the parcel to be delivered. Then, using the deliverer terminal 50b owned by the delivery driver, the driver reads the waybill identification information on the waybill of the parcel to be delivered. After reading the waybill identification information attached to the waybill, the deliverer terminal 50b transmits the waybill identification information to the delivery company server 60a, receives the destination information transmitted from the delivery company server 60a, and displays it on the display screen (FIG. 5; step S170). This allows the delivery driver to visually check the destination information displayed on the display screen and confirm the address, name, telephone number, etc. of the recipient on the deliverer terminal 50a. Here, the deliverer terminal 50b may transmit the waybill identification information attached to the waybill to the delivery management server 30, receive the destination information transmitted from the delivery management server 30, and display it on the display screen. The deliverer terminal 50b is configured to inquire about destination information from the delivery company server 60a or the delivery management server 30, so even if communication with either the delivery company server 60a or the delivery management server 30 is not possible, the destination information can be obtained by inquiring about the other. If the address, name, etc. of the recipient are written in the spare area Le of the waybill, the recipient may be confirmed based on the information written in this spare area Le, rather than using the deliverer terminal 50. The delivery driver confirms the address, name, etc. of the recipient and goes to the delivery destination to deliver the package to the delivery destination. The delivery driver visits the address of the destination user and hands over the package to the destination user (Step S500 in FIG. 6). At that time, the delivery driver reads the waybill identification information on the waybill attached to the package to be handed over using the deliverer terminal 50b and inputs an instruction to "complete delivery." Based on this instruction, the deliverer terminal 50 sends the waybill identification information and information indicating "complete delivery" to the delivery company server 60a (Step S206 in FIG. 6).

[0066] When the delivery company server 60a receives the waybill identification information and the instruction "Delivery Completed" from the deliverer terminal 50b, it rewrites the status information stored in the memory unit of the delivery company server 60a that corresponds to the received waybill identification information to "Delivery Completed." Then, the delivery company server 60a transmits the waybill identification information and the status information indicating "Delivery Completed" to the delivery management server 30 (Step S208 in FIG. 6).

[0067] When the delivery management server 30 receives the waybill identification information and status information indicating "delivery completed" from the delivery company server 60a (step S403 in Figure 6), it writes "delivery completed" to the status information corresponding to the waybill identification information stored in the memory unit 302 (step S404 in Figure 6). Furthermore, when certain conditions are met, such as the passage of a predetermined period (for example, several months), the delivery management server 30 performs processing such as registering the waybill identification information that has transitioned to the "delivery completed" status into a waybill use number range. This makes it possible to reuse waybill identification information for which delivery management has been completed, even if there is a limited number of character strings that can be used as waybill identification information.

[0068] The delivery management server 30 calculates the CO2 emissions for the invoice identification information that has been rewritten to "delivery completed" based on the delivery route, etc., and stores the calculated CO2 emissions in association with the invoice identification information.

[0069] On the other hand, when the user at the destination receives the package (step S500 in FIG. 6), the user reads the waybill identification information printed on the waybill attached to the package using his / her own user terminal 10b. The user terminal 10b transmits the read waybill identification information and an inquiry request to the delivery company server 60a. When the delivery company server 60a receives the waybill identification information and the inquiry request from the user terminal 10b, it reads out the delivery destination information and delivery requester information corresponding to the waybill identification information from the storage device and transmits them to the user terminal 10b that made the inquiry. Here, the user terminal 10b may transmit the read out waybill identification information and the inquiry request to the delivery management server 30, and the delivery management server 30 may read out the delivery destination information and delivery requester information corresponding to the waybill identification information from the storage unit 302 and transmit them to the user terminal 10b that made the inquiry via the transmission unit 308.

[0070] When the user terminal 10b receives the delivery destination information and delivery requester information from the delivery company server 60a or the delivery management server 30, it displays the delivery destination information and the delivery requester information on the display screen. This allows the user (recipient) at the delivery destination to confirm the sender's address, name, telephone number, etc., as well as the recipient's address, name, telephone number, etc. The user at the delivery destination can confirm the delivery requester and the delivery destination. The user at the delivery destination can also confirm whether the package is addressed to them before opening it, etc. Here, if the user at the delivery destination is satisfied with the delivery requester and the delivery destination, they may touch the "Receipt Completed" button on the display screen of the user terminal 10b. The user terminal 10b transmits the waybill identification information and data indicating "Receipt Completed" to the delivery company server 60a. As a result, the delivery company server 60a rewrites the status information corresponding to the waybill identification information sent from the user terminal 10b to "Delivery completed" and sends the waybill identification information and a notification of delivery completion to the delivery management server 30. If the destination user is required to press the "Receive" button, the first delivery company does not need to input "Delivery Completed" into the deliverer terminal 50 when delivery is completed. In addition, if there is a copy of the delivery slip for the destination used by the first delivery company, the user at the destination may stamp the slip to indicate that the package has been received, and the driver may then take this copy of the delivery slip back to the first delivery company's base (office, etc.), confirm that it has been stamped, and then have the operator input "delivery completed" on the first delivery company's terminal device installed at the base.

[0071] When the status information in the storage unit 302 is updated to "Received," the delivery management server 30 sends a "Delivery Completed" notification to the user terminal 10a that made the delivery request. This notification may be sent by email to the email address of the user terminal 10a, or by SMS. When the delivery completion notification arrives at the user terminal 10a, the user who made the delivery request can know that the delivery of the package has been completed.

[0072] Here, in the case where the destination user is required to press the "Receive" button, if the destination user does not perform the "Receive" operation (such as when the package is delivered without meeting the recipient, such as when the recipient user does not have the user terminal 10b at hand, or when it is difficult for the destination user to perform the "Receive" operation), the delivery driver may read the waybill identification information printed on the waybill attached to the package using his / her own deliverer terminal 50b on behalf of the destination user, and input the instruction to "complete delivery" from the deliverer terminal 50b.

[0073] Furthermore, the user terminal 10a that has requested delivery receives the notification of "delivery completed" sent from the delivery management server 30 and displays it on the display screen. Furthermore, for example, when a delivery completion notification is sent by email, the body of the email may include a URL for a web page that can display the date and time when delivery of the package was completed, and when the user touches the URL, a web page regarding the completion of delivery may be displayed on the display screen of the user terminal 10a. This allows the user who requested delivery to know the details regarding the completion of delivery. Furthermore, when the delivery management server 30 receives access from the user terminal 10a to the URL described in the delivery completion notification email, it transmits data for displaying a web page regarding the delivery completion to the user terminal 10a and causes the user terminal 10a to display it. Furthermore, the delivery management server 30 may store data indicating that the delivery completion notification has been received and confirmed by the user terminal 10a as status information corresponding to the waybill identification information.

[0074] According to the first embodiment described above, the delivery management server 30 assigns the waybill number range to each of the multiple delivery companies individually, so even if there are multiple delivery companies, the waybill identification information can be used as a unique number among the multiple delivery companies. This allows packages to be managed individually even if the multiple delivery companies share the same waybill.

[0075] Furthermore, according to the first embodiment, the delivery management server 30 assigns usable waybill identification information to each delivery company, so a third party other than each delivery company (for example, a company that performs management operations) can manage the waybill identification information that can be shared among the delivery companies. This eliminates the need for the delivery companies to prepare waybill identification information while directly coordinating with each other delivery company so as not to overlap with the waybill identification information used by other delivery companies, and the delivery companies can simply prepare the waybill identification information in response to instructions from the delivery management server 30. This makes it possible to easily prepare waybill identification information that can be shared among the delivery companies. Furthermore, since delivery information can be managed in association with waybill identification information that can be used in common by each delivery company, the delivery status of a package can be easily shared with other delivery companies. Therefore, even in the case of joint delivery, one waybill can be used in common by multiple delivery companies, so there is no need for the delivery company performing the joint delivery to affix its own waybill to the package when it arrives at the section for which it is responsible.

[0076] Note that each delivery company may have been using an existing in-house parcel management system that they have been using since before the joint delivery was implemented, and may wish to continue using this parcel management system. For example, there are parcels that require joint delivery and parcels that can be collected and delivered in-house without joint delivery. Furthermore, there are cases where delivery companies wish to use parcel control numbers issued by their own parcel management systems. In such cases, a number management table that associates parcel control numbers with waybill identification information may be stored in the storage device of their own parcel management system. When managing parcels in-house, the parcel control numbers may be used. When sharing delivery information with the other party in the joint delivery, the management number table may be referenced, the waybill identification information corresponding to the parcel control number may be read, and the delivery information may be transmitted to the delivery management server 30 in association with the read waybill identification information. Furthermore, when waybill identification information and delivery information are received from the delivery management server 30, the parcel control number corresponding to the received waybill identification information may be read from the management number table, and the delivery information may be stored in the storage device of their own parcel management system in association with the read parcel control number. This allows delivery companies to use the parcel management system they have already introduced in-house, and by linking with the delivery management server 30 for joint deliveries, they can also manage parcels to be delivered jointly.

[0077] Furthermore, in the first embodiment, the case where the delivery management server 30 assigns waybill identification information to the first and second delivery companies has been described, but it may be configured to assign it to three or more delivery companies. Furthermore, in the first embodiment, if there is no need to share delivery information of a package being delivered by a first delivery company with other delivery companies, the status information does not need to be sent from the delivery company server 60 to the delivery management server 30 even if the status information of the package is updated.

[0078] Second Embodiment Next, a second embodiment of the above-mentioned delivery system S will be described. In the second embodiment, the functions of the delivery system S are generally similar to those in the first embodiment, so the description thereof will be omitted and different functions and operations will be mainly described. In the second embodiment, the delivery management server 30 assigns individual waybill identification information to each delivery company, and a first delivery company among multiple delivery companies cooperates with another delivery company, a second delivery company, to jointly deliver a package it has collected. The first and second delivery companies may or may not have a consignment contract under which the second delivery company will accept and deliver the package collected by the first delivery company. When consigning between the first and second delivery companies, the delivery area to be consigned may be specified, or the consignment may be specified depending on the type of package, such as consigning refrigerated delivery to the second delivery company. In addition, the second delivery company is pre-defined as the delivery company with which the first delivery company will perform joint delivery, and the first delivery company can determine whether to perform joint delivery or to deliver the package itself. In addition, there may be multiple second delivery companies, and the packages collected by the first delivery company may be delivered in turn by multiple second delivery companies, with the last second delivery company delivering the package to the destination user. In this way, even when joint delivery is performed regardless of whether or not there is a consignment contract, in order to manage the packages, it is necessary to know which delivery company is in charge of delivery after the packages are collected. Therefore, it is desirable to be able to easily know which delivery company is handing over the package to which other delivery company. FIG. 7 is a diagram illustrating the operation of the delivery system S.

[0079] The delivery management server 30 assigns a waybill number range that can be used by the first delivery company (FIG. 7; step S420), and transmits data of the number range to the delivery company server 60a of the first delivery company. When the delivery company server 60a of the first delivery company receives the data of the waybill use number range from the delivery management server 30 (step S220 in FIG. 7), it stores the data of the use number range in the storage device of its own management system (step S221 in FIG. 7). The delivery company server 60a of the first delivery company causes a printing device to print a waybill based on the received data of the waybill use number range (step S222 in FIG. 7). The printed waybill is placed at the collection point.

[0080] The user requesting delivery brings the package to the base, receives the waybill, and inputs the recipient's address, name, telephone number, etc. as destination information into the user terminal 10a. The user terminal 10a transmits the waybill identification information, the recipient's address, and the delivery requester information to the delivery company server 60a of the first delivery company (FIG. 7, step S120). The package is then handed over from the user requesting delivery to a person in charge at the collection base, and the waybill identification information is taken by the POS terminal 20.

[0081] The delivery company server 60a receives the waybill identification information, delivery requester information, and delivery destination information from the user terminal 10a, and upon acquiring the waybill identification information from the POS terminal 20a, stores this information in a memory unit (step S223 in Figure 7), and transmits delivery information including the waybill identification information, delivery requester information, delivery destination information, and data indicating at which of the first delivery company's bases the package was collected to the delivery management server 30 (step S224 in Figure 7).

[0082] The first acquisition unit 303 of the delivery management server 30 acquires the waybill identification information, delivery requester information, delivery information, and delivery destination information by receiving them from the delivery company server 60a (Step S421 in FIG. 7). The control unit 310 of the delivery management server 30 stores the waybill identification information, delivery requester information, delivery destination information, and delivery information acquired by the first acquisition unit 303 in the memory unit 302 (Step S422 in FIG. 7).

[0083] Next, when joint delivery is performed by entrusting delivery of the collected package to a second delivery company, the delivery company server 60a transmits delivery information indicating that the package will be handed over from the first delivery company (the company) to the second delivery company (the contractor), including delivery company identification information that can identify the second delivery company, and invoice identification information to the delivery management server 30 (Step S225 in FIG. 7). The delivery company server 60a may include requested section data indicating the section for which delivery is requested to the second delivery company. The delivery section to be requested may be predetermined by a consignment contract or the like between the first and second delivery companies. The delivery company server 60a writes the delivery information and invoice identification information to the storage device of its management system.

[0084] Here, when it has been determined that a package to be consigned will be handed over from a first delivery company to a second delivery company, delivery information may be transmitted from the delivery company server 60a of the first delivery company to the delivery management server 30 before the package is actually handed over to the second delivery company. This allows the delivery management server 30 to manage which delivery company the package will be consigned to before the package is physically handed over from the first delivery company to the second delivery company. For example, when the package is handed over from the first delivery company to the second delivery company, status information indicating that the package has been handed over is updated, and the status information in the delivery management server 30 can be updated at that time. However, when it has been determined that the package will be handed over from the first delivery company to the second delivery company, delivery information may be transmitted from the delivery company server 60a of the first delivery company to the delivery management server 30 and registered in the delivery management server 30, even before the package is actually handed over to the second delivery company. The delivery information may be sent from the delivery company server 60a of the first delivery company to the delivery management server 30 after the package has actually been delivered from the first delivery company to the second delivery company.

[0085] The second acquisition unit 304 of the delivery management server 30 acquires the delivery information and the waybill identification information transmitted from the delivery company server 60a by receiving them from the delivery company server 60a (Step S423 in FIG. 7). The first processing unit 306 of the delivery management server 30 stores the delivery information acquired by the second acquisition unit 304 in the storage unit 302 in association with the waybill identification information acquired by the first acquisition unit (Step S424 in FIG. 7). By acquiring the delivery information, the delivery management server 30 can determine when a package is being handed over from a first delivery company to a second delivery company, and even in the case of joint delivery, it can determine which delivery company is responsible for the delivery of the package and the delivery section, making it possible to clarify who is responsible for the delivery of the package. Since the delivery information associated with the waybill identification information indicates the second delivery company, the control unit 310 of the delivery management server 30 sends the waybill identification information and delivery information to the delivery company server 60b of the second delivery company.

[0086] When the delivery company server 60b of the second delivery company receives the waybill identification information and delivery information sent from the delivery management server 30 (FIG. 7, step S320), it writes and stores the information in the storage device of the delivery company server 60b (FIG. 7, step S321). The delivery company server 60b transmits the waybill identification information and delivery information received from the delivery management server 30 to the deliverer terminal 50b carried by the driver of the second delivery company. Here, the delivery company server 60b can grasp information about the package to be accepted in response to receiving the waybill identification information and delivery information from the delivery management server 30, but the delivery company server 60b may be notified of information about the package to be accepted in response to receiving the waybill identification information and delivery information from the delivery company server 60a rather than from the delivery management server 30. In this case, the delivery company server 60a of the first delivery company may execute the process of step S225 and transmit the waybill identification information and delivery information about the package to be entrusted to the delivery company server 60b.

[0087] When the deliverer terminal 50b receives the waybill identification information and delivery information, it displays the waybill identification information and delivery information on the display screen. The driver carrying the deliverer terminal 50b checks the displayed content and goes to the storage location of the first delivery company to pick up the package with the received waybill identification information attached. When the driver carrying the deliverer terminal 50b receives the package at the base of the first delivery company, the driver inputs an operation to the deliverer terminal 50b indicating that the package has been received. The deliverer terminal 50b then transmits information indicating that the package has been received and the waybill identification information to the delivery management server 30, the delivery company server 60a, and the delivery company server 60b. This allows the delivery company server 60a of the first delivery company and the delivery management server 30 to know that the package has been handed over to the second delivery company. The delivery company server 60b of the second delivery company also registers the package so that it can be recognized that the package has been accepted. The deliverer terminal 50b may transmit the information indicating that the package has been received and the waybill identification information to the delivery management server 30, and the delivery management server 30 may then transmit the information indicating that the package has been received and the waybill identification information to the delivery company server 60a and the delivery company server 60b.

[0088] The driver of the second delivery company delivers the package to a delivery base near the destination user's home. In this case, the driver of the second delivery company may deliver the package alone, or multiple drivers of multiple second delivery companies may work together to deliver the package in sequence. After the package arrives at a delivery center near the destination user's home, the driver delivering the package to the destination removes the package from the delivery center and inputs the waybill identification information and information indicating "removed" from the delivery center by operating the deliverer terminal 50b. This registers in the delivery company server 60b that the package has been removed from the center to be delivered to the destination user's home (FIG. 7, step S322). In response to this registration, the delivery company server 60b may transmit the waybill identification information and information indicating "removed" to the delivery management server 30 and the delivery company server 60a. Alternatively, the delivery company server 60b may transmit the waybill identification information and information indicating "removed" to the delivery management server 30, and the delivery management server 30 may transmit the waybill identification information and information indicating "removed" to the delivery company server 60a.

[0089] When the driver arrives at the delivery destination based on the destination information corresponding to the waybill identification information, he hands the package over to the user at the destination (Step S520 in FIG. 7). Once the package is handed over, an input regarding "delivery complete" is made. The input regarding "delivery complete" may be made by the driver inputting the waybill identification information and information indicating "delivery complete" into the deliverer terminal 50, which then sends the waybill identification information and information indicating "delivery complete" from the deliverer terminal 50 to the delivery company server 60b, or the user at the destination may press a "receipt complete" button on their own user terminal 10b, which then sends the waybill identification information and information indicating "receipt complete" from the user terminal 10b to the delivery company server 60b (Step S521 in FIG. 7). In addition, if there is a copy of the delivery slip for the destination used by the second delivery company, the user at the destination can be asked to stamp the slip to indicate that the package has been received, and the driver can then take this copy of the delivery slip back to the second delivery company's base (office, etc.), confirm that it has been stamped, and then have the operator input "delivery completed" on the second delivery company's terminal device installed at the base.

[0090] When the delivery company server 60b of the second delivery company receives the information corresponding to "Delivery Completed" and the waybill identification information from the deliverer terminal 50b or the user terminal 10b (Step S423 in FIG. 7), it writes "Delivery Completed" to the storage device of the delivery company server 60b (Step S324 in FIG. 7). Then, the delivery company server 60b performs status information linking processing by sending the waybill identification information and delivery completion information indicating "Delivery Completed" to the delivery management server 30 (Step S325 in FIG. 7).

[0091] The delivery status acquisition unit 3041 of the delivery management server 30 acquires the waybill identification information and delivery completion information indicating "delivery completed" by receiving it from the delivery company server 60b (Step S425 in FIG. 7). Then, the first processing unit 306 of the delivery management server 30 associates the waybill identification information with the information indicating "delivery completed" based on the information acquired by the delivery status acquisition unit 3041, and stores the information by writing it into the storage unit 302 (Step S426 in FIG. 7). Here, the information indicating "delivery completed" is notified to the delivery management server 30 from the delivery company server 60b of the second delivery company, which is the outsourcee. However, the information indicating "delivery completed" and the waybill identification information may be transmitted from the delivery company server 60b of the second delivery company to the delivery company server 60a of the first delivery company, and the information indicating "delivery completed" and the waybill identification information may be transmitted from the delivery company server 60a to the delivery management server 30. For example, if a first delivery company outsources delivery of a package to a second delivery company but the first delivery company, which is the outsourcee, is managing the package, the information indicating "delivery completed" may be transmitted from the delivery company server 60a to the delivery management server 30. Furthermore, for example, if a malfunction occurs in the delivery company server 60b of the second delivery company and the information indicating "delivery completed" cannot be transmitted to the delivery management server 30, the second delivery company may notify the first delivery company of the completion of delivery, and then the information indicating "delivery completed" and the waybill identification information may be transmitted from the delivery company server 60a of the first delivery company on its behalf.

[0092] Furthermore, if the first and second delivery companies can share information about the management status of the package by directly communicating with each other or by accessing the delivery company server 60a from the delivery company server 60b and transmitting information indicating "delivery completed," then it is not necessary for the delivery management server 30 to notify the delivery company server 60 of the first or second delivery company of the "delivery completed" information. Therefore, it is possible to omit (or not have to send) the information indicating "delivery completed" and the waybill identification information from the delivery company server 60b of the second delivery company to the delivery management server 30.

[0093] Furthermore, if the delivery company server 60b of the second delivery company transmits information indicating "delivery completion" and waybill identification information to the delivery management server 30, the second delivery company does not need to contact the first delivery company directly. Therefore, as long as the delivery company server 60b of the second delivery company is equipped with a function for communicating with the delivery management server 30, it does not need to have a function for communicating with the delivery company server 60a to report delivery completion, etc., to the first delivery company. Furthermore, in this case, as long as the delivery company server 60a of the first delivery company is equipped with a function for communicating with the delivery management server 30, it does not need to have a function for communicating with the delivery company server 60b. As a result, even if each delivery company has multiple delivery companies that it cooperates with to perform outsourced or joint deliveries, it does not need to set up a system for communicating with each delivery company's delivery company server 60 individually, for each of the cooperating delivery companies, thereby preventing an increase in management burden.

[0094] When the information indicating "delivery completed" is written, the delivery management server 30 performs status information linking processing by sending the waybill identification information and the information indicating "delivery completed" to the delivery company server 60a (step S427 in Figure 7). When the delivery company server 60a receives the waybill identification information and the information indicating "delivery completed" from the delivery management server 30 (FIG. 7, step S226), it stores the information indicating "delivery completed" in association with the waybill identification information in the storage device of the delivery company server 60a (FIG. 7, step S227). This allows the first delivery company to know that delivery of the package entrusted to the second delivery company has been completed.

[0095] In the second embodiment, waybill identification information and delivery information may be sent or received directly between the delivery company server 60a of the first delivery company and the delivery company server 60b of the second delivery company, without going through the delivery management server 30. For example, even if step S427 is not executed, the delivery company server 60b may send the waybill identification information and information indicating "delivery completed" to the delivery company server 60a.

[0096] Furthermore, in the second embodiment described above, the case where the first delivery company has a contract with the second delivery company has been described. However, the first delivery company may also have a contract with a delivery company other than the second delivery company. That is, the first delivery company may have contracts with multiple delivery companies and individually entrust the delivery of packages to each of the multiple delivery companies. Furthermore, the first delivery company may entrust a single package to be delivered by multiple delivery companies in sequence. In this case, as the package is handed over to the next delivery company, information regarding the delivery of the package, such as which delivery company will hand it over to which delivery company, may be transmitted from the delivery company server 60 to the delivery management server 30. This allows packages to be managed even when they are delivered via multiple contractors.

[0097] According to the second embodiment described above, the delivery company server 60 of the delivery company that entrusted the delivery notifies the delivery management server 30 that the package collected at the company has been entrusted to the entrusted delivery company (for example, step S224 in FIG. 7), so that which delivery company is transferring the package to which other delivery company can be stored in the management server, and the delivery status of the package can be easily grasped. Also, for one package, it is possible to grasp which delivery company is assigned to which divided section of the section from the collection point to the destination, so it is also possible to grasp which delivery company is responsible for the delivery, and it is possible to smoothly manage the package.

[0098] Third Embodiment Next, a third embodiment of the delivery system S described above will be described. In the third embodiment, the functions of the delivery system S are generally similar to those in the first embodiment, so the description thereof will be omitted and different functions and operations will be mainly described. In addition, in the third embodiment, we will explain the case of joint delivery in which the delivery management server 30 assigns individual waybill identification information to each delivery company, and a first delivery company among multiple delivery companies collects a package and has it delivered by at least one of multiple other delivery companies. Here, when performing joint delivery, the first delivery company may or may not have a contract for joint delivery with other delivery companies. Furthermore, the first delivery company may hand over the package collected by the first delivery company to one of the multiple delivery companies, and the delivery company that receives the handover may deliver the package to the destination user. Alternatively, the first delivery company may collect the package and have multiple delivery companies work together to deliver the package in order, with the last delivery company delivering the package to the destination user. In the third embodiment, a case where joint delivery is performed in which the first delivery company delivers the package via one of the other delivery companies will be described.

[0099] Here, when a first delivery company performs joint delivery with multiple other delivery companies, it needs to know which delivery company is in charge of delivery in order to manage the package after the package is collected. Therefore, it is desirable to be able to easily know which delivery company is handing the package over to which delivery company. Furthermore, when the first delivery company receives a large number of packages from a delivery requester and is likely to exceed its delivery limit, it may want to easily find a delivery company that can accept the package (a delivery company that will help) and cooperate with them. In this third embodiment, a case will be described in which a delivery company that will perform joint delivery can be easily found and cooperated with as needed.

[0100] FIG. 8 is a diagram illustrating the operation of the delivery system S. In Fig. 8, step S140 is the same as step S100 in Fig. 6, and steps S240 to S244 are the same as steps S400 to S404 in Fig. 6. Also, in Fig. 8, steps S340 to S341 are the same as steps S300 to S301 in Fig. 6, and steps S440 to S442 are the same as steps S400 to S402 in Fig. 6. Therefore, a description of these same steps will be omitted.

[0101] The second delivery company inputs the acceptance information to the delivery company server 60b using a management terminal or the like. Here, the second delivery company inputs via an input device the type, quantity, delivery area, and delivery time period of packages that it can accept from other delivery companies, depending on its own delivery status on the day (or delivery status over a certain period of time (e.g., one week)). The management terminal of the second delivery company sends the input acceptance information to the delivery management server 30 (FIG. 8, step S341a).

[0102] The acceptance information acquisition unit 3032 of the delivery management server 30 acquires the acceptance information transmitted from the delivery company server 60b by receiving it via the communication unit 301 (FIG. 8, step S440a). The control unit 310 stores the acquired acceptance information in the memory unit 302 (FIG. 8, step S440b). The acceptance information stored in the memory unit 302 can be used as a list of acceptable delivery companies.

[0103] Here, we have explained the case where the acceptance information is obtained from the delivery company server 60b of the second delivery company and stored, but the acceptance information can also be registered for delivery companies other than the second delivery company (for example, the third delivery company, the fourth delivery company, etc.) by inputting the acceptance information from a management terminal, etc., which can be sent from the delivery company server 60 to the delivery management server 30. In this way, among multiple delivery companies, delivery companies that can accept packages can register, as needed, how many packages they can accept from other delivery companies, taking into account their own delivery congestion. This allows them to accept and deliver packages within their capacity if they have room in their delivery capacity, making it possible to utilize delivery resources. Furthermore, delivery companies that wish to entrust delivery can have potential recipients extracted by the delivery management server 30, eliminating the need for the company to search for recipients themselves, thereby saving them the trouble of doing so.

[0104] When the first delivery company wishes to request delivery of a package from another delivery company, the first delivery company specifies the waybill identification information of the package to be requested on the operation screen of the delivery person terminal 50a and presses the "Delivery commission request" button. When the "Delivery Entrustment Request" button is pressed, the deliverer terminal 50a sends information indicating "Delivery Entrustment Request" and waybill identification information to the delivery company server 60a. The delivery company server 60a sends the information indicating "Delivery Entrustment Request" and waybill identification information to the delivery management server 30 (FIG. 8, step S245).

[0105] The waybill identification information acquisition unit 3031 of the delivery management server 30 acquires the information indicating the "delivery consignment request" and the waybill identification information by receiving them via the communication unit 301 from the delivery company server 60a of the first delivery company that is the consignor of the package (step S443 in FIG. 8). The consignment desired destination information acquisition unit 3042 of the delivery management server 30 acquires the destination information indicating the destination of the package that corresponds to the waybill identification information acquired by the waybill identification information acquisition unit 3031 by reading it from the storage unit 302. The extraction unit 307 of the delivery management server 30 extracts candidate delivery companies that can deliver the package based on the destination information acquired by the entrusted delivery destination information acquisition unit 3042 by searching the list of acceptable information stored in the memory unit 302 (step S444 in Figure 8). Here, the extraction unit 307 may extract acceptable delivery companies based on at least one of various extraction conditions, such as the following conditions (1) to (5).

[0106] (Extraction condition 1: Extraction using delivery area information) The extraction unit 307 identifies the delivery area to which the delivery destination address indicated by the destination information belongs, and extracts delivery companies that can deliver by searching for delivery company identification information that includes the identified delivery area in the deliverable area information. Here, multiple delivery companies that can deliver may be extracted, and in this case, multiple candidates for delivery companies that can deliver can be obtained.

[0107] (Extraction condition 2: Extraction by luggage type) The extraction unit 307 extracts delivery companies that can deliver the package by searching for delivery companies that have the package type specified for the package registered as a package type in the acceptable information. Even if the delivery area of ​​the target package is not registered as deliverable area information, it may still be acceptable depending on the delivery situation on that day, so it may be extracted as a candidate even if it does not correspond to the deliverable area information.

[0108] (Extraction condition 3: Extraction using delivery time slots) The extraction unit 307 extracts delivery companies that can deliver the specified delivery time slot by searching for delivery companies that are registered as package types in the acceptable delivery information. Even if the delivery area of ​​the target package is not registered as available delivery area information, it may still be acceptable depending on the delivery situation on that day, so it may be possible to extract the package as a candidate even if it does not correspond to the available delivery area information.

[0109] (Extraction condition 4: Extraction using delivery schedule) The delivery schedule of each delivery company for that day is referenced, and delivery companies with delivery routes for that day that are similar to the entrusted route from the base where the entrusted package is delivered to the delivery destination address are extracted. Here, when a delivery route for a delivery company is determined for that day, the delivery company server 60 sends it to the delivery management server 30, which stores the delivery route for that day for each delivery company and compares it with the delivery route to determine whether the routes are similar. Regarding whether an entrusted route is similar to a delivery route, it may be extracted if the entrusted route overlaps with part of the delivery route, if there is an entrusted route within the delivery area to which the delivery route belongs, or if there is an entrusted route in an adjacent delivery area.

[0110] (Extraction condition 5: Extract delivery companies other than the consignor) The extraction unit 307 extracts delivery companies other than the consignor, and extracts the extracted delivery companies as candidates for the consignee delivery company.

[0111] Here, the number of candidates extracted as delivery companies needs to be at least one, but multiple candidates may be extracted. The transmitting unit 308 of the delivery management server 30 transmits the extracted candidate delivery companies and the waybill identification information of the package desired to be consigned to the delivery company server 60a of the first delivery company.

[0112] When the delivery company server 60a receives the candidate delivery companies and the waybill identification information from the delivery management server 30 (Step S246 in FIG. 8), it displays the candidate delivery companies on the display screen. The person in charge of the first delivery company inputs an instruction via the input device to specify the delivery company to be entrusted from among the delivery companies displayed on the screen. When the instruction to specify the delivery company is input by the operator, the delivery company server 60a determines that the delivery company to be entrusted has been selected, and stores delivery company identification information that identifies the selected delivery company in association with the waybill identification information in the storage device of the delivery company server 60a (Step S247 in FIG. 8). The delivery company server 60a then transmits to the delivery management server 30 the entrusted delivery company information indicating the selected delivery company identification information and the waybill identification information. Here, the delivery management server 30 extracts candidates in response to a request for consignment from the first delivery company, which is the consignor, and notifies the candidates to the delivery company server 60a of the first delivery company. Therefore, a consignor delivery company can be searched for based on instructions from the first delivery company. In addition, the consignor delivery company can easily find candidate consignee delivery companies. In this way, consignor delivery companies and consignee delivery companies can be easily matched for packages eligible for distribution.

[0113] The third acquisition unit 305 of the delivery management server 30 acquires the entrusted delivery company information representing the delivery company selected from the candidates by the first delivery company by receiving it from the delivery company server 60a of the first delivery company via the communication unit 301 (step S445 in Figure 8). The first processing unit 306 of the delivery management server 30 associates the consignee delivery company information with the waybill identification information and stores it as status information in the storage unit 302 (step S446 in FIG. 8). This makes it possible to know that the package to which the waybill identification information is assigned has been consigned to a consignee, and also to identify which delivery company the package has been consigned to. For example, when the delivery management server 30 receives a status inquiry along with the waybill identification information from the delivery company server 60a, delivery company server 60b, etc., it can read out the status information corresponding to the waybill identification information from the storage unit 302 and send it to the source of the inquiry. This makes it easy to understand the delivery status of the package.

[0114] Furthermore, here, when it is confirmed that a package will be consigned to the second delivery company, the first processing unit 306 of the delivery management server 30 may subtract the number of packages confirmed to be accepted from the package quantity in the acceptance capacity information of the second delivery company. For example, when the package quantity of the second delivery company is "50," if, for example, one package is consigned to the second delivery company by another delivery company, the delivery management server 30 updates the package quantity to "49" by subtracting the number of consigned packages, "1," from the package quantity of the second delivery company, "50." This makes it possible to accept packages from other delivery companies until the package quantity becomes "0." Furthermore, the delivery management server 30 may inquire about the latest package quantity available to the delivery company server 60b in real time depending on the timing of the search. Furthermore, a delivery company that has registered acceptance information, such as the second delivery company, may write new values ​​for the quantity of parcels from the delivery company server 60 according to the delivery status of the company's parcels, even after registering acceptance information. This allows delivery companies that can accept parcels to accept delivery within the range that can be handled according to the current delivery load situation of the delivery companies that can accept delivery.

[0115] The transmitting unit 308 of the delivery management server 30 transmits the waybill identification information and delivery information (shipping destination information, delivery requester information, base where the package is currently stored, package type, etc.) to the delivery company server 60b of the delivery company corresponding to the delivery company identification information of the delivery company designated as the consignee (e.g., the second delivery company). As a result, the delivery management server 30 notifies the delivery company server 60 (e.g., delivery company server 60b) of the delivery company selected by the first delivery company that it has been selected as the consignee delivery company, as well as the delivery information.

[0116] When the delivery company server 60b receives the waybill identification information and delivery information from the delivery management server 30 (step S342 in FIG. 8), it stores the waybill identification information and delivery information in association with each other in the storage device (step S343 in FIG. 8). This allows the delivery company that accepts the package to know the delivery status, address, name, etc. of the recipient, even if the package was not collected by the delivery company. Here, the delivery company server 60b may transmit the receipt of the package together with the waybill identification information to the delivery company server 60a of the first delivery company. Also, the delivery management server 30 may transmit the receipt of the package by the second delivery company together with the waybill identification information to the delivery company server 60a of the first delivery company.

[0117] Furthermore, the delivery company server 60b transmits the waybill identification information and delivery information to the delivery terminal 50b of the second delivery company in response to receiving the waybill identification information and delivery information from the delivery management server 30. The driver of the delivery terminal 50b refers to this notification, identifies the package to be delivered, travels to the base where the package is currently being stored, and picks up the package from the first delivery company.

[0118] When the driver carrying the deliverer terminal 50b receives the package, he or she inputs an operation indicating that the package has been received from the deliverer terminal 50b. The deliverer terminal 50b then sends information indicating that the package has been received and the waybill identification information to the delivery company server 60b. The delivery company server 60b then updates the database by writing information indicating that the driver of the deliverer terminal 50b has received the package in relation to the waybill identification information as status information in the storage device (Step S344 in Figure 8). Here, the deliverer terminal 50b or the delivery company server 60b may send information indicating that the package has been received and the waybill identification information to at least one of the delivery management server 30 and the delivery company server 60a of the first delivery company. This allows the first delivery company or the delivery management server 30 to know that the package has been handed over to the second delivery company.

[0119] When the driver of the second delivery company heads out to deliver the package he or she has accepted, he or she inputs the waybill identification information and information indicating "taken out" into the deliverer terminal 50b. This registers in the delivery company server 60b that the package has been taken out from the base for delivery to the destination user's home. In response to this registration, the delivery company server 60b may transmit the waybill identification information and information indicating "taken out" to at least one of the delivery management server 30 and the delivery company server 60a. This allows the delivery status to be shared.

[0120] When the driver arrives at the delivery destination based on the destination information corresponding to the waybill identification information, he hands the package over to the user at the destination (Step S540 in FIG. 8). Once the package is handed over, an input regarding "delivery complete" is made. The input regarding "delivery complete" may be made by the driver inputting the waybill identification information and information indicating "delivery complete" into the deliverer terminal 50, which then sends the waybill identification information and information indicating "delivery complete" from the deliverer terminal 50 to the delivery company server 60b. Alternatively, the user at the destination may press a "receipt complete" button on their own user terminal 10b, which then sends the waybill identification information and information indicating "receipt complete" from the user terminal 10b to the delivery company server 60b (Step S541 in FIG. 8). In addition, if there is a copy of the delivery slip for the destination used by the second delivery company, the user at the destination can be asked to stamp the slip to indicate that the package has been received, and the driver can then take this copy of the delivery slip back to the second delivery company's base (office, etc.), confirm that it has been stamped, and then have the operator input "delivery completed" on the second delivery company's terminal device installed at the base.

[0121] When the delivery company server 60b of the second delivery company receives the information corresponding to "Delivery Completed" and the waybill identification information from the deliverer terminal 50b or the user terminal 10b (Step S345 in FIG. 8), it writes "Delivery Completed" to the storage device of the delivery company server 60b (Step S346 in FIG. 8). Then, the delivery company server 60b performs status information linking processing by sending the waybill identification information and information indicating "Delivery Completed" to the delivery management server 30 (Step S347 in FIG. 8).

[0122] When the delivery management server 30 receives the waybill identification information and information indicating "delivery completed" from the delivery company server 60b (step S447 in Figure 8), it associates the waybill identification information with the information indicating "delivery completed" and stores them by writing them into the memory unit 302 (step S448 in Figure 8).

[0123] When the information indicating "delivery completed" is written, the delivery management server 30 performs status information linking processing by sending the waybill identification information and the information indicating "delivery completed" to the delivery company server 60a (step S449 in Figure 8). When the delivery company server 60a receives the waybill identification information and the information indicating "delivery completed" from the delivery management server 30 (FIG. 8, step S248), it stores the information indicating "delivery completed" in association with the waybill identification information in the storage device of the delivery company server 60a (FIG. 8, step S249). This allows the first delivery company to know that delivery of the package entrusted to the second delivery company has been completed. Furthermore, by writing the information that delivery of the package entrusted to the second delivery company has been completed in the storage device of the delivery company server 60 of the first delivery company, the first delivery company can remove the package from the list of undelivered packages.

[0124] In the third embodiment, when a first delivery company entrusts delivery of a package to a second delivery company, the delivery status of the package may be transmitted or received directly between the delivery company server 60a of the first delivery company and the delivery company server 60b of the second delivery company, without going through the delivery management server 30. For example, even if step S248 is not executed, the delivery company server 60b may transmit the delivery company server 60a with the waybill identification information and information indicating "delivery completed."

[0125] According to the third embodiment described above, even if a first delivery company collects or stores a large number of packages and is unable to deliver them, the delivery management server 30 can easily find a delivery company that can accept the packages by using the acceptance information, and the first delivery company can hand over the packages to that delivery company for delivery. This reduces the burden on the first delivery company of finding a delivery company that can accept the packages, and the packages can be delivered through joint delivery. For example, during busy periods when package deliveries tend to be concentrated (such as the year-end and New Year holidays or moving season), a delivery company that has collected a large number of packages can search for a delivery company that can accept the packages and entrust the joint delivery, thereby distributing the concentrated delivery load to other delivery companies. Furthermore, a delivery company that has capacity to accept packages can make an offer to conduct joint delivery (send acceptance information) even for packages that it has not collected itself, thereby letting the delivery management server 30 or the outsourcing delivery company know that it can accept the packages, and gaining an opportunity to accept the delivery work. Furthermore, according to the third embodiment, even if there is no contract regarding consignment between delivery companies, it is possible to use the delivery management platform provided by the delivery management server 30 to find a delivery company to perform joint delivery with. This allows the accepting delivery company to accept delivery work from other delivery companies regardless of whether there is a contract or not, and to actively accept packages.

[0126] First Modification of Third Embodiment In the third embodiment described above, in response to information indicating a "delivery consignment request" being sent from the first delivery company to the delivery management server 30, the delivery management server 30 references the acceptance information, extracts acceptable delivery companies, and notifies the first delivery company. Here, in a first modified example of the third embodiment, instead of or in addition to the function of extracting acceptable delivery companies based on the first delivery company's delivery consignment request, a function may be provided that allows the desired delivery company to easily inform potential consigning delivery companies that they are available.

[0127] For example, in step S440b of FIG. 8, the acceptable information is stored in the storage unit 302 as a list of acceptable delivery companies. In addition, a delivery company that may entrust a package as an entruster transmits the consignment conditions for consigning the package from the delivery company server to the delivery management server 30. The consignment conditions may be conditions that are registered by predicting the conditions under which the package may be consigned on the day, for example, regarding at least one of the target delivery area, type of package to be delivered, quantity of package, delivery time zone, etc., or, if the consignment is already desired, the consignment conditions may be determined according to the current situation.

[0128] The extraction unit 307 extracts the acceptability information corresponding to the entrustment conditions. The transmission unit 308 of the delivery management server 30 transmits the extracted acceptability information to the delivery company server 60 that transmitted the entrustment conditions. Here, the extraction unit 307 extracts delivery companies whose acceptable information corresponds to the consignment conditions based on the consignment conditions and acceptability information of one delivery company that has transmitted the consignment conditions, and the transmission unit 308 transmits a list of acceptable delivery companies that includes the extracted delivery companies to the delivery company server 60 of the one delivery company that has been extracted this time. The delivery management server 30 performs this process for each delivery company that has transmitted the consignment conditions. For example, if an item included in the acceptability information corresponds to at least one of the items included in the entrustment conditions, the extraction unit 307 may extract the information as acceptable information corresponding to the entrustment conditions. More specifically, if the delivery area included in the entrustment conditions and the area indicated by the deliverable area information included in the acceptability information match or are adjacent to each other, the extraction unit 307 may extract the information as acceptable information corresponding to the entrustment conditions. In addition, the extraction unit 307 may perform the extraction process of the list of acceptable delivery companies at regular intervals, or may perform the process in response to obtaining the consignment conditions or acceptable information from the delivery company, or may perform the process in response to a request from a delivery company that may be the source of the consignment. Furthermore, in this first modified example, the extraction unit 307 performs the extraction process when it receives the consignment conditions. However, the transmission unit 308 may transmit a list of acceptable delivery companies, including the acceptance information, to the delivery company server 60 of a delivery company that may potentially be entrusted with delivery so that the list can be viewed when there is a request to view the acceptance information, even if the consignment conditions have not been received. The delivery company that may potentially be entrusted with delivery may then specify extraction conditions from the list of acceptable delivery companies and narrow down the list to delivery companies that meet those conditions. This allows the delivery company that may potentially be entrusted with delivery to easily understand, at the time of confirmation, what consignment conditions are likely to be accepted for joint delivery by inputting various conditions again. When a delivery company that may be entrusted with delivery selects a delivery company to be entrusted with delivery from the list of acceptable delivery companies, information indicating which delivery company has been selected is sent from the delivery company server 60 to the delivery management server 30. The processing thereafter is the same as that from step S247 onwards.

[0129] According to the first modification of the third embodiment, a delivery company that can accept a package can register its acceptance information in the delivery management server 30, and based on this acceptance information, potential delivery companies can easily know that they are available to accept the package. Therefore, a delivery company with a surplus in delivery load can easily let potential delivery companies that could potentially be the consignor know that they are available to accept the package. Since potential delivery companies can understand what acceptance conditions are offered by acceptable delivery companies before consigning, if there are any available delivery companies, they can select and consign the package from among the available delivery companies based on their own delivery load situation. This makes it easy to match consignor delivery companies with consignee delivery companies.

[0130] Second Modification of Third Embodiment As a second modification of the third embodiment described above, a case will be described in which a consigning delivery company has a package that it wishes to consign and inquires about the acceptance of the package from the delivery company server 60 of a delivery company that may be able to accept the package. In this second modification, a delivery company storing a large number of packages may wish to search for a delivery company that can accept the package in order to carry out joint delivery, and hand over the package to that delivery company. When consigning a package, the delivery company consigning the package must disclose information about the type of package that it wishes to consign to the delivery company that can accept it. However, at a stage where the consignment has not been confirmed, it is desirable to search for a consignee without disclosing personal information about the package's delivery destination (or personal information about the delivery requester).

[0131] Therefore, in the second variant of the third embodiment, a delivery company that wishes to entrust a package sends the waybill identification information and information indicating a "delivery entrustment request" from the delivery company server 60 to the delivery management server 30. The first acquisition unit 303 of the delivery management server 30 acquires the waybill identification information of the waybill attached to the package to be delivered, along with information indicating the delivery consignment request, from a device of the first delivery company that is the consignor of the package (e.g., the delivery company server 60a of the first delivery company). Then, the second acquisition unit 304 acquires the area corresponding to the address of the package destination, which corresponds to the waybill identification information acquired by the first acquisition unit 303. For example, the second acquisition unit 304 reads the destination information corresponding to the waybill identification information by referring to the storage unit 302, and identifies the area information to which the address represented by the read destination information belongs. Here, area correspondence data stored for each area for addresses belonging to an area may be stored in advance in the storage unit 302, and the second acquisition unit 304 may identify the area information to which the delivery destination address belongs by referring to the area correspondence data.

[0132] When the area information is specified, the extraction unit 307 extracts candidate delivery companies that can deliver the package based on the area information acquired by the second acquisition unit 304. Here, the extraction unit 307 extracts acceptable information in which the delivery area information of the acceptable information includes the area information acquired by the second acquisition unit 304. Here, the extraction unit 307 can extract the delivery company indicated by the delivery company identification information included in the extracted acceptable information as a candidate delivery company that can accept the package. The transmitting unit 308 transmits inquiry information inquiring about whether or not the package can be accepted, together with information indicating the area, to the device (e.g., the delivery company server 60) of the candidate delivery company extracted by the extracting unit 307. Here, the transmitting unit 308 transmits information indicating the area to which the address of the delivery destination belongs, but does not transmit the address of the delivery destination itself. Furthermore, when transmitting the inquiry information, the transmission unit 308 may transmit at least one of the quantity of packages, package type, and delivery time zone together with information indicating the area. This allows potential delivery companies to check not only the information indicating the area but also the conditions, making it easier to determine whether or not to accept the package. When a delivery company that may be entrusted with delivery selects a delivery company to be entrusted with delivery from the list of acceptable delivery companies, information indicating which delivery company has been selected is sent from the delivery company server 60 to the delivery management server 30. The processing thereafter is the same as that from step S247 onwards.

[0133] According to another variation of the third embodiment described above, when a package to be entrusted has been identified but the entrustee has not yet been determined, the address of the delivery destination itself is not communicated to a potentially accepting delivery company, but rather information about the area to which the delivery destination address belongs. This allows the delivery company to search for an entrustee without disclosing information about the destination user, and allows an accepting delivery company to decide whether to accept the package. Furthermore, as long as a potentially accepting delivery company knows the area to which the package is to be delivered, it can determine whether delivery is possible even if it does not know the details of the delivery destination address, making it easier to decide whether to accept the package even without disclosing personal information.

[0134] According to the second and third embodiments described above, when carrying out joint delivery, delivery information that can be used to manage the delivery status of packages is managed by the delivery management server 30, which is managed by a third party separate from the delivery companies that carry out the joint delivery, so that the delivery status can be managed from a neutral standpoint with respect to each delivery company. This allows each delivery company to manage the delivery status regardless of the delivery consignment relationship.

[0135] Furthermore, when multiple delivery companies attempt to share delivery information, the delivery company servers owned by each delivery company must be connected to each other so that they can communicate with each other. For example, if there are first to fourth delivery companies, and each delivery company has its own management system, when sharing delivery information, the first delivery company must install a dedicated system for each of the second, third, and fourth delivery companies to connect their management systems. In this case, the management systems installed by each delivery company are different from one another. Therefore, in addition to its own management system, the first delivery company must prepare a dedicated system for connecting to the delivery company server of the second delivery company, a dedicated system for connecting to the delivery company server of the third delivery company, and a dedicated system for connecting to the delivery company server of the fourth delivery company, which increases the burden of managing the management systems. In this way, even when delivery information is shared between multiple delivery companies, the delivery management server 30 is connected to the delivery company server 60 of each delivery company. Therefore, as long as each delivery company can communicate with the delivery management server 30, even if it is necessary to share delivery information with a large number of delivery companies, they can connect to the delivery management server 30 and share the delivery information. This eliminates the need to introduce a large number of new systems, and reduces the burden of system management.

[0136] If communication with the delivery management server 30 can be achieved in this way, there is no need to connect to a large number of delivery company servers 60, and therefore a delivery platform using the delivery management server 30 can be provided.As a result, as long as each delivery company can communicate with the delivery management server 30, there is no need for each delivery company to install a system for communicating directly with other delivery companies, thereby lowering the barriers to entry into joint delivery and making it easier for delivery companies to enter the market. Furthermore, because delivery information can be consolidated in the delivery management server 30, even if a user who sends or receives a package does not know which delivery company is in charge of delivery, they can check the delivery status by inquiring about the delivery status to the delivery management server 30, and it is also possible to narrow down the place where they need to check. In this case, even if a delivery company does not have a system or structure in place to receive and respond to inquiries about the delivery status of a package, they can have the delivery management server 30 respond to inquiries about the package, which reduces the burden of preparing to respond to inquiries about the package when carrying out joint deliveries.

[0137] According to the first to third embodiments (including the first and second modified examples) described above, even if a delivery company has its own management system that it has already built, it can cooperate with many delivery companies by linking its own management system with the management server. Also, even if a delivery company does not have its own management system, if it can at least link with the management server, it can share package-related information with many delivery companies, making it easier to enter the joint delivery business. In addition, as more delivery companies enter the joint delivery business, the number of delivery companies that can work together will increase, making it easier to share delivery responsibilities and making delivery more efficient. Furthermore, even if joint delivery is carried out, consumers can smoothly check the delivery status without having to decide which delivery company to contact or select which delivery company to contact, as they can simply inquire at the management server.

[0138] The delivery management server 30 and the delivery company server 60 in the above-described embodiment may be implemented by a computer. In this case, a program for implementing these functions may be recorded on a computer-readable recording medium, and the program may be loaded into a computer system and executed. Note that the term "computer system" as used herein includes hardware such as an operating system and peripheral devices. Furthermore, 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 computer systems. Furthermore, 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 via networks such as the Internet or telephone lines, or devices that store programs for a fixed period of time, such as volatile memory within the computer system serving as the server or client. The program may also be designed to implement some of the above-described functions, or may be capable of implementing the above-described functions in combination with programs already stored in the computer system, or may be implemented using a programmable logic device such as an FPGA (Field Programmable Gate Array).

[0139] Although an embodiment of the present invention has been described above in detail 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]

[0140] 10, 10a, 10b User terminal 20, 20a, 20b POS terminal 30 Delivery management server 40 Waybill Print Server 41 Invoice Printer 50, 50a, 50b Delivery terminal 55, 55a, 55b Mobile Printer 60, 60a, 60b Delivery company server 301 Communications Department 302 Storage section 303 First acquisition part 304 Second Acquisition Department 305 Third Acquisition Department 306 First Processing Section 307 Extraction part 308 Transmitter 309 Identification Information Management Department 310 Control Unit 3031 STATUS IDENTIFICATION INFORMATION ACQUISITION UNIT 3032 Possibility information acquisition section 3041 Delivery Status Acquisition Unit 3042 Destination information acquisition unit 3043 Area Acquisition Department La 2D barcode Lb Waybill Identification Information Lc one-dimensional barcode Ld one-dimensional barcode Le Reserve Area NW Network S Delivery System

Claims

1. A management server that manages information regarding joint deliveries in which multiple delivery companies work together to deliver packages, a first acquisition unit that acquires invoice identification information of an invoice attached to the package to be delivered from a device of a first delivery company that is a consignor that cooperates with the package; a second acquisition unit that acquires an area corresponding to the address of the destination of the package, which corresponds to the waybill identification information acquired by the first acquisition unit; an extraction unit that extracts candidates for delivery companies that can deliver based on the area acquired by the second acquisition unit; a transmitting unit that transmits inquiry information to the extracted candidate delivery company's device inquiring whether the delivery company can accept the package, together with information indicating the area; A delivery management server having:

2. The transmission unit further The inquiry is transmitted together with at least one of the quantity of the parcels, the type of the parcels, and the delivery time slot of the parcels. The delivery management server according to claim 1 .

3. A delivery management method executed by a computer that is a delivery management server that manages information regarding joint deliveries in which multiple delivery companies work together to deliver packages, The first delivery company reads the invoice identification information attached to the package to be delivered and acquires the invoice identification information. Obtaining status information regarding the delivery status of the package and the waybill identification information from a device of any of the delivery companies that deliver the package; The acquired status information is stored in a storage unit in association with the acquired invoice identification information. A delivery management method including:

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