Program, information processing method, and system

Abstract

To provide a program, an information processing method, and a system that support visualization of omission information in a supply chain.SOLUTION: In a management system 1, a program of a server device 100 causes the server device to: register supply chain information including the structure of a supply chain related to provision of a product and formed of nodes corresponding to items forming the product or sites of the items; record the nodes in association with information on the items and information on the sites when there are the information on the items and the information on the sites; and provide an omission attribute to provider devices 200a, 200b in which at least one of the information on the items and the information on the sites is not recorded.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

[Technical Field]

[0001] The present invention relates to a program, an information processing method, and a system. [Background technology]

[0002] Conventionally, there is known a technology for managing a supply chain composed of one or more nodes corresponding to suppliers of parts and materials for a product in order to manage a series of processes from procurement to delivery of the product. For example, Patent Document 1 discloses a system for generating a supply chain model for producing a product using multiple resources located at multiple bases of business partners, etc., which process parts or materials, transport them within the bases, or transport them to other bases. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0003] [Patent Document 1] International Publication No. 2019 / 139086 Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0004] In this way, by combining information such as item purchasing routes and bills of materials (BOM), it is possible to manage information on the entire supply chain, from material procurement for a product through production and sales. However, when configuring a supply chain for items, bases, or both depending on the purpose, there may be cases where some information is missing, such as when information on an item is known at a certain node but information on the base is unknown, or vice versa.

[0005] One aspect of the disclosed technology aims to provide a program, an information processing method, and a system that support the visualization of missing information in a supply chain. [Means for solving the problem]

[0006] A program in one aspect of the disclosed technology causes a computer to perform the following operations: registering supply chain information including the structure of a supply chain related to the provision of a product, the supply chain information being composed of nodes corresponding to items that make up the product or the bases of the items; if the node contains information about the item and information about the base, associating and recording the information about the item and information about the base; and assigning a missing attribute to a node in which at least one of the information about the item and the information about the base is not recorded.

[0007] An information processing method in one aspect of the disclosed technology includes a computer registering supply chain information including a supply chain structure related to the provision of a product, the supply chain information being composed of nodes corresponding to items that make up the product or bases for the items; if the node contains information about the item and information about the base, associating and recording the information about the item and the information about the base; and assigning a missing attribute to a node in which at least one of the information about the item and the information about the base is not recorded.

[0008] A system in one aspect of the disclosed technology is a supply chain management system that registers supply chain information including the structure of a supply chain related to the provision of a product, the supply chain information being composed of nodes corresponding to items that make up the product or the bases for those items, and if the node contains information about the item and information about the base, records the information about the item and information about the base in association with each other, and assigns a missing attribute to a node in which at least one of the information about the item and the information about the base is not recorded. [Effects of the Invention]

[0009] According to one aspect of the disclosed technology, it is possible to provide a program, an information processing method, and a system that support the visualization of missing information in a supply chain. [Brief explanation of the drawings]

[0010] [Figure 1] FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating an example of a system configuration of a management system according to an embodiment. [Figure 2A] FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of an item's supply chain. [Figure 2B] FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of the base's supply chain. [Figure 2C] FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of a supply chain in which items and bases are associated with each other. [Figure 2D] FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating an example of node information. [Figure 3] FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating an example of a functional configuration of a server device according to the present embodiment. [Figure 4] FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating an example of the operation of the server device according to the embodiment. [Figure 5] FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating an example of a hardware configuration of a server device according to the present embodiment. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0011] Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. However, the embodiments described below are merely examples, and are not intended to exclude various modifications or applications of techniques not explicitly described below. In other words, the present invention can be implemented with various modifications within the scope of its spirit. Furthermore, in the following description of the drawings, identical or similar parts are denoted by identical or similar reference numerals. The drawings are schematic and do not necessarily correspond to actual dimensions, ratios, etc. Parts in the drawings may have different dimensional relationships or ratios.

[0012] 1. System Configuration With reference to FIG. 1, an example of the system configuration of a supply chain management system (hereinafter simply referred to as the "management system") according to this embodiment will be described. The management system 1 is a system for visualizing the supply chain of a provider that provides a product and supporting management by the provider. The management system 1, for example, registers information about the provider's supply chain (hereinafter also referred to as "supply chain information") and graphically outputs the registered supply chain information so that the provider can easily understand it intuitively. As shown in FIG. 1, the management system 1 may include a server device 100, a first provider device 200a of a first provider, and a second provider device 200b of a second provider. The first provider device 200a and the second provider device 200b are collectively referred to as the "provider device 200." Furthermore, a number of provider devices 200 corresponding to the number of providers are installed in the management system 1. The server device 100 and the provider devices 200 may be communicably connected to each other via a network NW.

[0013] The first provider is a party that provides a first product. The second provider is a party that provides a second product. In this embodiment, an example is described in which the first provider and the second provider are different businesses, but the first provider and the second provider are not limited to this. For example, the first provider and the second provider may be the same business.

[0014] Possible users of the management system 1 include, for example, providers that provide products, including a first provider and a second provider, suppliers in the provider's supply chain, and system administrators and operators of the management system. Hereinafter, information processing devices used by users (including the provider device 200) are also referred to as "user devices." The user devices may be connected to the server device 100 via a network NW so that they can communicate with each other.

[0015] The second product is, for example, a product (e.g., parts or materials of the first product) of an nth-tier supplier (n: a natural number equal to or greater than 2) for manufacturing the first product. The second product is, for example, a product for which its own supply chain information is registered in the management system 1, separate from the first supply chain information of the first product.

[0016] The network NW is configured by a wireless network or a wired network. Examples of the network NW include a mobile phone network or a PHS (Personal Handy-phone System) network, a wireless LAN (a local area network, including communication conforming to IEEE802.11 (so-called WI / Fi (registered trademark))), 3G (3rd Generation), LTE (Long Term Evolution), 4G (4th Generation), 5G (5th Generation), WiMax (registered trademark), infrared communication, visible light communication, Bluetooth (registered trademark), a wired LAN, a telephone line, a power line communication network, a network conforming to IEEE1394, etc.

[0017] 1-1. Server equipment The server device 100 is an information processing device for providing supply chain management services by the management system 1. The server device 100 executes a predetermined program (hereinafter also referred to as a "server program") to realize a server function of managing and visualizing the supply chain information of providers.

[0018] As a front-end server, the server device 100 may provide a user interface for using the supply chain management service via the website of the management system 1 or an application program dedicated to the management system 1. The server device 100 may have a web server function, for example, that generates web pages for the website and distributes them to each provider device 200. Each provider device 200 outputs various information related to the management system 1, including the supply chain, via a web browser.

[0019] 1-2. Provider device The provider device 200 is an information processing device used by the provider, and is, for example, a terminal device such as a smartphone, a tablet terminal, or a laptop. The provider device 200 executes a predetermined program (hereinafter also referred to as a "user program") to accept requests from the provider, receive information (hereinafter also referred to as "output information") transmitted from the server device 100, and output the information to the provider by screen display or audio. The user program may be, for example, an application dedicated to the management system 1, or may be a general-purpose web browser application. In this embodiment, an example will be described in which the user program is a web browser application. In this case, the output information includes, for example, a web page or the like.

[0020] The server device 100 may be connected to an external system 300, such as a third-party system, via a network NW so that they can communicate with each other. The external system 300 may be a system that provides the management system 1 with information indicating that an abnormality has occurred due to an incident such as a natural disaster or an accident (hereinafter also referred to as "anomaly information"). The natural disaster may be, for example, an earthquake, heavy rain, a typhoon, a power outage, or landslide. The accident may be, for example, a traffic accident, a railway accident, an aviation accident, a fire, an explosion, an electrical accident, or a nuclear accident. The external system 300 may be provided with multiple systems for each incident to be provided with information. For example, a meteorological external system and an accident external system may be separate systems.

[0021] 2. Overview An example of an overview of the management system 1 will be described with reference to FIGS. 2A to 2D.

[0022] In this embodiment, the supply chain information is information including the structure of the supply chain, and includes one or more pieces of node information, which will be described later, and the node information of each node may be associated with the node information of one or more child nodes.

[0023] FIG. 2A schematically illustrates an example of the structure of an item supply chain configured based on a bill of materials. As illustrated in FIG. 2A, the item supply chain may be, for example, a tree structure, in which nodes for each item required for a product (e.g., a final product or part) corresponding to a parent node at the root of the tree are hierarchically displayed along the supply chain. Specifically, the item supply chain has a hierarchical structure with a product node N1 at the apex, and node N1 may be associated with, for example, node N11 for item A, node N12 for item B, node N13 for item C, and node N14 for item D as child nodes of items required for the corresponding product.

[0024] The relationship between parent nodes and child nodes in a supply chain tree may be, for example, a 1 to n (n ≥ 1) relationship. Information about the supply chain of an item is called first supply chain information, and a node included in the supply chain of an item is also called a first node.

[0025] A "bill of materials" is a list of all the materials, parts, assemblies, and other necessary items needed to manufacture a product, and "items" are these items. A bill of materials is also called a BOM (Bill of Materials).

[0026] 2A, items A1 and A2 are listed as raw materials for item A, but the bill of materials may not specify the raw materials for the items required to manufacture the final product, in which case the provider may not be aware of the existence of raw material items A1 and A2. In other words, nodes N111 and N112 may not be registered in the supply chain information managed by the provider.

[0027] The supply chain information for an item does not have to be configured by a bill of materials, as long as it includes items necessary for manufacturing a product.

[0028] 2B schematically illustrates an example of a supply chain structure for each base for each item. As illustrated in FIG. 2B, the supply chain for each base may have, for example, a tree structure, in which the supply route for each item to a supplier, which is a parent node at the root of the tree, is shown hierarchically along the supply chain as a node for each base. Specifically, the supply chain for each base has a hierarchical structure with a supplier node N2 at the apex, and node N2 may be associated with, for example, a logistics base node N21 and a manufacturing base node N22 as child nodes.

[0029] A "base" refers to a physical location or facility with manufacturing and distribution functions, and may also be referred to as a manufacturing base, distribution base, etc. depending on the function. A manufacturing base may include a specific production process or production lane within a manufacturing base. A distribution base is a base through which parts are delivered from the manufacturer to the ordering party, and may refer to a logistics service provider that handles transportation and warehouse management, or a trading company that serves as a sales outlet.

[0030] Such supply chain information for a base may be configured based on contract information with suppliers that supply each item, for example, contract information in enterprise resource planning (ERP). Contract information in enterprise resource planning may include identification information that uniquely identifies the contract, information about the contracting parties, information about the contract content, and information about purchase orders and invoices for transactions based on the contract. Transaction information may also include identification information that uniquely identifies the transaction, identification information about the contract that is the basis for the transaction, information about the trading parties, information about the transaction content, and information about purchase orders and invoices for the transaction.

[0031] Information about the supply chain of a base is referred to as second supply chain information, and a node included in the supply chain of a base is also referred to as a second node.

[0032] In the example shown in Figure 2B, for example, case α is illustrated in which, based on the contract information, the provider has a contractual relationship with Company A1, which is the manufacturing base for item A, and item A is provided to the provider via Company A2, which is a logistics base; and case β is illustrated in which the provider has a contractual relationship with Company A3 (trading company), which is the sales outlet for item A, and item A is provided to the provider via Company A1, which is a logistics base, and Company A2, which is also a logistics base.

[0033] In case α, the contract information may not specify the logistics base, Company A2, in which case the provider may not be aware of the existence of logistics base Company A2. Also, in case α, an example is given in which manufacturing base Company A1 manufactures item A by purchasing raw material item A1 from manufacturing base Company A11 and raw material item A2 from manufacturing base Company A12, but the provider may not be aware that Company A1 purchases raw material items A1 and A2 from Companies A11 and A12.

[0034] In Case β, although the contract information states that item A will be delivered by trading company A3, it is possible that the upstream manufacturing base A1 and logistics base A2, which are located upstream of trading company A3, are not specified. In this case, the provider may not be aware of the existence of manufacturing base A1 and logistics base A2.

[0035] The supply chain information of a base does not have to be configured by Enterprise Resource Planning, as long as it includes the route by which each item is supplied.

[0036] Furthermore, FIG. 2C shows an example of supply chain information in which information about items and information about the locations for those items are associated with each node. As shown in FIG. 2C, a supply chain that combines items and locations may have, for example, a tree structure, in which nodes for each item required for a product (e.g., a final product or part) corresponding to a parent node at the root of the tree are shown hierarchically along the supply chain, along with the manufacturing and distribution routes for each item. Specifically, the supply chain information shown in FIG. 2C has a hierarchical structure with product node N3 at the apex. Node N3 may be associated with item node N31 as a child node of an item required for the product, and nodes N311, N3111, and N31111 indicating manufacturing and distribution locations may be associated with each item node N31.

[0037] Also, at this time, when information about an item and information about the item's base are associated and recorded, nodes for which at least one of the information is unknown are indicated by a shaded area. For example, if the logistics base that distributes item A from company A1 to the provider is unknown based on the contract information with company A1, which is the manufacturing base of item A, the logistics base may be displayed as unknown. Also, if raw material items A1 and A2 for item A are unknown, those raw material items may be displayed as unknown. Furthermore, if the manufacturing base of item A and the manufacturing base are unknown based on the contract information with trading company A3, the manufacturing base may be displayed as unknown.

[0038] In this way, when recording information about an item and information about the item's base in association with each node, if either the item or the item's base is unknown and the item cannot be recorded in association with the base, a missing attribute, as described below, may be assigned.

[0039] 2D shows an example of the information that constitutes each node (hereinafter also referred to as "node information"). Each node may record a node ID that uniquely identifies the node, an item ID that uniquely identifies the item to which the node relates, the item name, a contract ID that uniquely identifies contract information with the supplier of that item, the name of the supplier with which the contract is made (for example, a trading company, materials manufacturer, raw material manufacturer, or type of base of the contracting party for sales, etc.), information about the raw materials of that item, missing attributes, etc.

[0040] Here, the "missing attribute" is attribute information that is assigned when, as described above, either the item or the item's base is unknown and the item and its base cannot be recorded in association with each other, and may indicate whether the item or the base is unknown.

[0041] For example, the supply chain of items constructed based on a bill of materials (BOM) as shown in Figure 2A, and the supply chain of locations constructed based on Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) contract information as shown in Figure 2B, both show the raw materials and distribution routes of a supplier's products. However, when these are integrated as shown in Figure 2C, there is a possibility that nodes will appear where either the item or the location of that item is unknown. By assigning missing attributes to such nodes and visualizing them, integrated management of the supply chain can be supported. Visualizing missing information allows, for example, a product manager to notify relevant parties to register missing items or locations.

[0042] 3. Functional Configuration The functional configuration of the server device 100 according to this embodiment will be described with reference to Fig. 3. As shown in Fig. 3, the server device 100 may include a control unit 110, a communication unit 120, and a storage unit 130.

[0043] The control unit 110 may include an acquisition unit 111 , a registration unit 112 , an association unit 113 , an attribute assignment unit 114 , and an output unit 115 .

[0044] 3-1. Acquisition section The acquiring unit 111 acquires various requests and / or various information from the provider device 200, the external system 300, and / or the storage unit 130, etc. The acquiring unit 111 may acquire, for example, answer information indicating an answer to question information from a user device that is a destination of question information transmitted from the transmitting unit 121.

[0045] The acquisition unit 111 may acquire supply chain information related to the provision of products from a user device such as the provider device 200. The acquired supply chain information may be supply chain information of an item, supply chain information of a base, or both. For example, the acquisition unit 111 may receive and acquire supply chain information input by a user to a web page (screen) of a website output to the user device. The acquisition unit 111 may also acquire, from the user device, an instruction to integrate supply chain information of an item with supply chain information of a base, or an instruction to create or display a tree based on enterprise resource planning.

[0046] 3-2. Registration section The registration unit 112 registers, in the storage unit 130, etc., supply chain information including the structure of a supply chain related to the provision of a product, which is configured by items constituting the product or nodes corresponding to the bases of the items. The registration unit 112 may acquire and register information related to the supply chain from the provider device 200 and / or the external system 300, or may acquire information related to bills of materials or information related to contract information in enterprise resource planning from the provider device 200 and / or the external system 300, and acquire and register information related to the supply chain based on the information.

[0047] 3-3.Association section When a node contains information about an item and information about a base, the associating unit 113 associates the information about the item with the information about the base and records them. For example, when information about item A and information about base A for item A are registered in the supply chain information, the associating unit 113 associates item A with base A. This association makes it possible to manage items and bases in an integrated manner even when separate supply chains exist for items and bases, and also makes it possible to output a supply chain in which items and bases are combined or integrated.

[0048] For example, when an instruction to integrate first supply chain information composed of first nodes corresponding to items constituting a product with second supply chain information composed of second nodes corresponding to bases for the items is acquired, the associating unit 113 may record the first node corresponding to the predetermined item and the second node corresponding to the predetermined base for the predetermined item, in association with each other, if a predetermined base corresponding to the predetermined item is registered. As a specific example, when item A included in the first node of the first supply chain information is registered as item A of base A of the second node of the second supply chain information, the associating unit 113 can determine that item A corresponds to base A, and associate item A of the first node with base A of the second node.

[0049] Furthermore, when a display instruction or an instruction to integrate information about bases is acquired for first supply chain information configured by first nodes corresponding to items that constitute a product as supply chain information, the associating unit 113 may associate and record information about the predetermined base with the first node, if a predetermined base corresponding to a predetermined item included in the first node is registered. As a specific example, based on item A included in the first node of the first supply chain information and contract information regarding the purchase of item A, the associating unit 113 can determine that item A corresponds to base A included in the contract information, and associates item A with the predetermined base A corresponding to the predetermined item included in the first node.

[0050] Furthermore, when a display instruction or an instruction to integrate information about an item is acquired for second supply chain information configured by second nodes corresponding to bases for the item as supply chain information, the associating unit 113 may associate and record information about the predetermined item with the second node if a predetermined item corresponding to a predetermined base included in the second node is registered. As a specific example, based on base A included in the second node of the second supply chain information and contract information related to base A, the associating unit 113 can determine that base A corresponds to traded item A in the contract information, and associates the predetermined item A corresponding to the predetermined base included in the second node.

[0051] 3-4.Attribute assignment section The attribute assigning unit 114 assigns a missing attribute to a node for which at least one of information about an item and information about a base is not recorded. The missing attribute is not particularly limited, but may be, for example, a flag that is assigned when at least one of an item and its base is missing, or information indicating a missing attribute. This makes it possible to clarify missing parts in the supply chain information and appropriately dig into the elements necessary for visualization of the supply chain.

[0052] For example, in a supply chain, a specific item is manufactured at a manufacturing facility and then delivered to a supplier via a distribution facility. However, contract information managed by enterprise resource planning (ERP) or similar tools does not necessarily reveal this specific route, and may only contain information indicating that the item is supplied to the supplier by a supplier, such as a trading company. In other words, the manufacturing and distribution facilities may not be identified from the contract information. In such cases, generating a supply chain data structure based on the contract information may not identify the manufacturing and distribution facilities. However, by matching the supply chain information based on the contract information to the supply chain data structure for an item, it becomes possible to identify nodes that are missing at least one of the information about the item and the information about the facility, as described above. This not only clarifies the information that needs to be visualized, but also makes it possible to visualize which information can be visualized to address specific risks, such as regional risks due to natural disasters or supply risks due to parts shortages.

[0053] 3-5. Output section The output unit 115 causes the user device to output various types of information via a display, a speaker, or the like. The output unit 115, for example, generates output information and transmits the generated output information to the provider device 200. The provider device 200 receives the output information and outputs various types of information to a display or a speaker based on the received output information. The output unit 115 may, for example, cause the user device to output each of the screens shown in the examples of Figs. 2A to 2C.

[0054] The output unit 115, for example, outputs the supply chain information to the provider device 200. At this time, as shown in FIG. 2C , the display may be controlled by differentiating the display mode of a node to which a missing attribute is assigned from that of a node to which a missing attribute is not assigned. Furthermore, for a node to which a missing attribute is assigned, the display mode of the node may be different depending on the type of missing information. For example, the display mode of the node may be different depending on whether item information or base information is missing.

[0055] Furthermore, the tree structure as shown in Figure 2C is one representation format for expressing node connections and nodal points, and is not limited to this. The output unit 115 may output other types of tree representations, base supply chain information from the perspective of bases, item supply chain information from the perspective of items, company supply chain information from the perspective of companies, etc., in response to user requests.

[0056] In addition, by adding tags or other information to the nodes of supply chain information from each perspective, the supply chain information can be highlighted using the specified tags. This makes it possible to express the importance of information in the supply chain information, allowing you to create a tree with more flexible perspectives depending on your purpose.

[0057] 3-6. Communications Department The communication unit 120 transmits and receives various information and / or various requests to and from the provider device 200 and / or the external system 300, etc. via the network NW. The communication unit 120 includes, for example, a transmission unit 121 and a reception unit 122. The reception unit 122 acquires information related to the supply chain from the provider device 200 and / or the external system 300, and the transmission unit 121 may transmit information related to the supply chain, with missing attributes and the like, to the provider device 200 in response to a request.

[0058] 3-7.Storage section The storage unit 130 stores various types of information such as supply chain information and / or output information. The storage unit 130 may store various types of information using a database management system (DBMS) or a file system. When using a DBMS, for example, a table may be provided for each piece of information, and the tables may be associated with each other to manage each piece of information.

[0059] 4. Example of operation An example of the operation of the server device 100 according to this embodiment will be described with reference to Fig. 4. Fig. 4 is a flow chart showing the flow of processing by the server device 100.

[0060] As shown in FIG. 4, the registration unit 112 of the server device 100 receives a registration request for product supply chain information from the provider via the provider device 200, and registers the supply chain information in the memory unit 130 based on this registration request (step S1).

[0061] If a node has information about an item and information about a base, the associating unit 113 of the server device 100 associates and records the information about the item and the information about the base (step S2). The attribute assigning unit 114 of the server device 100 assigns a missing attribute to a node in which at least one of the information about the item and the information about the base is not recorded (step S3).

[0062] 5. Hardware Configuration 5, an example of a hardware configuration in which the above-described server device 100 and user device are realized by a computer 800 will be described. Note that the functions of each device can also be realized by dividing them into multiple devices.

[0063] As shown in FIG. 5, the computer 800 includes a processor 801, a memory 803, a storage device 805, an input I / F unit 807, a data I / F unit 809, a communication I / F unit 811, and a display device 813.

[0064] The processor 801 controls various processes in the computer 800 by executing a program (for example, a server program or a user program) stored in the memory 803. For example, the various functional units provided in the control unit 110 of the server device 100 and the control unit of the user device can be realized by the processor 801 executing a program temporarily stored in the memory 803.

[0065] The memory 803 is a storage medium such as a RAM (Random Access Memory), etc. The memory 803 temporarily stores the program code of the program executed by the processor 801 and data required when the program is executed.

[0066] The storage device 805 is a non-volatile storage medium such as a hard disk drive (HDD) or flash memory. The storage device 805 stores an operating system and various programs for implementing the above-mentioned configurations. In addition, the storage device 805 can also store tables that register various types of supply chain information and a DB that manages these tables. These programs and data are loaded into the memory 803 as needed and can be referenced by the processor 801.

[0067] The input I / F unit 807 is a device for receiving input from a user. Specific examples of the input I / F unit 807 include a keyboard, a mouse, a touch panel, various sensors, and a wearable device. The input I / F unit 807 may be connected to the computer 800 via an interface such as a USB (Universal Serial Bus).

[0068] The data I / F unit 809 is a device for inputting data from outside the computer 800. A specific example of the data I / F unit 809 is a drive device for reading data stored in various storage media. The data I / F unit 809 may be provided outside the computer 800. In this case, the data I / F unit 809 is connected to the computer 800 via an interface such as a USB.

[0069] The communication I / F unit 811 is a device for performing data communication via the Internet N, either wired or wirelessly, with devices external to the computer 800. The communication I / F unit 811 may be provided outside the computer 800. In this case, the communication I / F unit 811 is connected to the computer 800 via an interface such as a USB.

[0070] The display device 813 is a device for displaying various types of information. Specific examples of the display device 813 include a liquid crystal display, an organic EL (Electro-Luminescence) display, and a display of a wearable device. The display device 813 may be provided outside the computer 800. In this case, the display device 813 is connected to the computer 800 via, for example, a display cable. Furthermore, when a touch panel is adopted as the input I / F unit 807, the display device 813 can be configured as an integral part of the input I / F unit 807.

[0071] The components of the server device described in the above embodiment are assumed to be implemented in cooperation with other hardware by the processor 801 executing a program stored in the storage device 805. In other words, these components can be considered as software or firmware, or as corresponding hardware, and in both of these concepts, they can also be described as "functions," "means," "parts," "processing circuits," "units," or "modules," and can be interpreted as such.

[0072] The above-described embodiments are merely examples for explaining the present invention, and are not intended to limit the present invention to these embodiments. Furthermore, the present invention can be modified in various ways without departing from the spirit of the invention. Furthermore, those skilled in the art can adopt embodiments in which the above-described elements are replaced with equivalents, and such embodiments are also within the scope of the present invention.

[0073] [Variations] Although the present invention has been described based on the above embodiment, the following cases are also included in the present invention.

[0074] [Variation 1] At least some of the components included in the server device 100 according to the above embodiment may be included in a user device and / or a device of another system such as the external system 300.

[0075] [Variation 2] In the above embodiment, an example was shown in which the storage unit that stores the supply chain information is the storage unit of the server device 100, but the present invention is not limited to this. For example, at least a part of these storage units may be provided in devices of the linked system or other systems.

[0076] [Variation 3] The storage unit 130 may store node information such as that shown in FIG. 2D for each node, and the control unit 110 may form a tree structure each time according to the purpose (integration, item, or base, etc.) acquired by the acquisition unit 111. For example, when the acquisition unit 111 acquires a request to display an integrated tree, the control unit 110 forms a tree structure by linking each node from the root node to the leaf nodes based on the contract information of the ERP, or the information on items and raw materials included in the node information, and / or the base type, etc. After the tree structure is formed by the control unit 110, the output unit 115 outputs the tree structure so that it is displayed, and at this time, missing information is visualized and displayed. This makes it possible to display a tree structure such as that shown in FIG. 2C.

[0077] The above-described embodiment and modifications enable flexible visualization of supply chain information according to the purpose and clarify missing information, thereby enabling appropriate digging into the elements required for visualization of the supply chain. [Explanation of symbols]

[0078] 1...management system, 100...server device, 110...control unit, 111...acquisition unit, 112...registration unit, 113...association unit, 114...attribute assignment unit, 115...output unit, 120...communication unit, 130...storage unit, 200...provider device, 300...external system, 800...computer, 801...processor, 803...memory, 805...storage device, 807...input I / F unit, 809...data I / F unit, 811...communication I / F unit, 813...display device.

Claims

1. On the computer, Registering supply chain information including a supply chain structure related to the provision of a product, the supply chain information being configured by nodes corresponding to items constituting the product or bases of the items; If the node has information about the item and information about the base, recording the information about the item and the information about the base in association with each other; assigning a missing attribute to the node in which at least one of the information about the item and the information about the base is not recorded; A program that executes.

2. The recording comprises: When first supply chain information composed of first nodes corresponding to items constituting the product and second supply chain information composed of second nodes corresponding to bases for the items are integrated, if a predetermined base corresponding to a predetermined item is registered, the first node corresponding to the predetermined item and the second node corresponding to the predetermined base are recorded in association with each other. The program according to claim 1.

3. When the supply chain information is first supply chain information configured by first nodes corresponding to items that constitute the product, The recording includes, if a predetermined base station corresponding to a predetermined item included in the first node is registered, recording information about the predetermined base station in association with the first node. The program according to claim 1.

4. When the supply chain information is second supply chain information configured by second nodes corresponding to bases of the item, The recording includes, if a predetermined item corresponding to a predetermined base included in the second node is registered, recording information about the predetermined item in association with the second node. The program according to claim 1.

5. The computer Registering supply chain information including a supply chain structure related to the provision of a product, the supply chain information being configured by nodes corresponding to items constituting the product or bases of the items; If the node has information about the item and information about the base, recording the information about the item and the information about the base in association with each other; assigning a missing attribute to the node in which at least one of the information about the item and the information about the base is not recorded; An information processing method that performs the above.

6. registering supply chain information including a supply chain structure related to the provision of a product, the supply chain information being composed of nodes corresponding to items constituting the product or bases for the items; If the node has information about the item and information about the base, the information about the item and the information about the base are recorded in association with each other; assigning a missing attribute to the node in which at least one of the information about the item and the information about the base is not recorded; Supply chain management system.

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