Delivery date response support method and delivery date response support system

Abstract

This tool assists in generating delivery date responses to order change requests. [Solution] The computer system maintains supply chain planning information including at least one of production plans, sales plans, delivery plans, and procurement plans. It receives an order change request that includes a change in delivery date. It generates new supply chain planning information by running a supply chain simulation with the changed delivery date as a constraint. It generates negotiation proposal information for the trading partner to confirm whether they can accommodate the new supply chain planning information. It sends the negotiation proposal information to the trading partner. It generates further new supply chain planning information by running a supply chain simulation with the trading partner's response to the negotiation proposal information as a new constraint. Based on the generated supply chain planning information, it generates and outputs a response to the order change request that includes the changed delivery date.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to a technology for assisting in answering the delivery date for an order from a buyer in a supply chain.

Background Art

[0002] Among the enterprises constituting the supply chain, when an enterprise corresponding to a supplier receives a request for order change including a change in the delivery date from a buyer, it not only checks its own production plan but also checks whether it is possible to take actions necessary for the delivery date change against trading partner enterprises such as upstream suppliers, personnel dispatch companies, and transportation companies, and then answers the delivery date to the buyer.

[0003] For example, International Publication No. 2024 / 079843 (Patent Document 1) describes that "in order to solve the problem of increasing the possibility of reaching an agreement based on the proposed agreement candidate in negotiation, the negotiation device includes an addition-of-reason-for-offering unit that adds a reason for offering to the proposed agreement candidate for offering to the first negotiating party in the first negotiation conducted with the first negotiating party, and an agreement-candidate-offering unit that offers the proposed agreement candidate with the added reason for offering to the first negotiating party."

Prior Art Documents

Patent Documents

[0004]

Patent Document 1

Summary of the Invention

Problems to be Solved by the Invention

[0005] When a supplier enterprise is requested, for example, by a buyer enterprise to expedite the delivery date, it generates a sales plan, production plan, delivery plan, procurement plan, etc. for responding to the request. If it determines that these plans are feasible, it answers to comply with the expedited delivery date. If they are not feasible, it further reviews the plans and answers a feasible delivery date.

[0006] In determining whether each plan is feasible, it may be necessary to confirm with trading partners. For example, to realize a procurement plan, it is necessary to confirm with upstream suppliers (Tier 2 suppliers) whether they can procure the required parts ahead of schedule. To realize a delivery plan, it is necessary to confirm with delivery companies whether they can make the necessary deliveries. And to realize a production plan, it is necessary to confirm with staffing agencies whether they can dispatch the necessary workers.

[0007] In that case, if the client company does not accept the initial plan, it is expected that the plan will be repeatedly revised and reviewed until it becomes acceptable. To reduce the burden of time and effort involved in such repeated reviews, it is possible to generate a plan that is more easily accepted by the client company. However, in that case, even if it was actually possible to meet the requested deadline, the company may respond that it is not possible, resulting in penalty fees or decreased satisfaction for the buyer company.

[0008] Furthermore, if responses cannot be obtained from client companies, it becomes impossible to provide delivery dates to buyer companies, resulting in lost demand opportunities. [Means for solving the problem]

[0009] To solve at least one of the above problems, the present invention provides a method for supporting delivery date responses that can be performed by a computer system having a processor and a memory device, wherein the memory device holds supply chain planning information including at least one of a product production plan, a sales plan for the product, a delivery plan for the product and a procurement plan for parts to produce the product in the supply chain, and the delivery date response support method is characterized by including: a first step in which the processor receives an order change request including a change in delivery date; a second step in which the processor generates new supply chain planning information by running a supply chain simulation with the changed delivery date as a constraint and generates negotiation proposal information for a trading partner to confirm whether it is possible to respond to the new supply chain planning information; a third step in which the processor transmits the negotiation proposal information to the trading partner; a fourth step in which the processor further generates new supply chain planning information by running a supply chain simulation with the trading partner's response to the negotiation proposal information as a new constraint; and a fifth step in which the processor generates and outputs a response to the order change request including the changed delivery date based on the generated supply chain planning information. [Effects of the Invention]

[0010] According to one aspect of the present invention, the process of reviewing the supply chain plan and negotiating with trading partners to implement changes to order details is automated, thereby supporting the generation of delivery date responses that result in high customer satisfaction.

[0011] Other issues, configurations, and effects not mentioned above will be clarified by the following description of the embodiments. [Brief explanation of the drawing]

[0012] [Figure 1] This block diagram shows an example of the functional configuration of the delivery date response support system in this embodiment. [Figure 2] This block diagram shows an example of a hardware configuration for realizing the delivery date response support system of this embodiment. [Figure 3] This is an explanatory diagram illustrating the overview of the functions of the delivery date response support system in this embodiment. [Figure 4] This flowchart shows an example of the process performed by the delivery date response support system in this embodiment. [Figure 5A] This is an explanatory diagram showing an example of the master information held by the delivery date response support system in this embodiment. [Figure 5B] This is an explanatory diagram showing an example of a production personnel-capacity master included in the master information held by the delivery date response support system of this embodiment. [Figure 5C] This is an explanatory diagram showing an example of an item master included in the master information held by the delivery date response support system of this embodiment. [Figure 5D] This is an explanatory diagram showing an example of a location master included in the master information held by the delivery date response support system of this embodiment. [Figure 6A] This is an explanatory diagram showing an example of supply chain planning information held by the delivery date response support system of this embodiment. [Figure 6B] This is an explanatory diagram showing an example of a sales plan included in the supply chain planning information held by the delivery date response support system of this embodiment. [Figure 6C] This diagram illustrates an example of a production plan included in the supply chain planning information held by the delivery date response support system of this embodiment. [Figure 6D] This is an explanatory diagram showing an example of a delivery plan included in the supply chain planning information held by the delivery date response support system of this embodiment. [Figure 6E] This diagram illustrates an example of a procurement plan included in the supply chain planning information held by the delivery date response support system of this embodiment. [Figure 7A] This is an explanatory diagram showing an example of negotiation proposal information held by the delivery date response support system of this embodiment. [Figure 7B] This diagram illustrates an example of personnel negotiation information included in the negotiation proposal information held by the delivery date response support system of this embodiment. [Figure 7C]It is an explanatory diagram showing an example of delivery negotiation information included in negotiation case information held by the delivery date response support system of this embodiment. [Figure 7D] It is an explanatory diagram showing an example of due date negotiation information included in negotiation case information held by the due date response support system of this embodiment. [Figure 8A] It is an explanatory diagram showing an example of customer company response information held by the due date response support system of this embodiment. [Figure 8B] It is an explanatory diagram showing an example of personnel dispatch response information included in customer company response information held by the due date response support system of this embodiment. [Figure 8C] It is an explanatory diagram showing an example of transportation capacity response information included in customer company response information held by the due date response support system of this embodiment. [Figure 8D] It is an explanatory diagram showing an example of due date response information included in customer company response information held by the due date response support system of this embodiment. [Figure 9] It is an explanatory diagram showing an example of due date response information for buyers held by the due date response support system of this embodiment. [Figure 10] It is an explanatory diagram showing an example of a user interface provided by the due date response support system of this embodiment.

Embodiments for Carrying Out the Invention

[0013] Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings, but the scope of the present invention is not limited to the embodiments.

[0014] FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an example of the functional configuration of the due date response support system 100 of this embodiment.

[0015] The due date response support system 100 includes a storage unit 110, a customer company negotiation unit 130, a due date response estimation unit 140, an arithmetic unit 150, and a communication unit 160.

[0016] The storage unit 110 contains master information 111, supply chain planning information 112, negotiation proposal information 113, supplier company response information 114, and buyer delivery date response information 115. The contents of each of these pieces of information will be described later. The storage unit 110 is composed of a storage device such as a hard disk drive or a flash memory device.

[0017] The supplier negotiation unit 130 includes a constraint information setting unit 131, a negotiation proposal information generation unit 132, and a supplier inquiry / response reception unit 133. The delivery date response estimation unit 140 includes a planning error calculation unit 141 and a delivery date response output unit 142. The calculation unit 150 includes a supply chain simulator 151. The processing of each of these units will be described later.

[0018] The communication unit 160 is an interface device for communicating with external devices, which are terminal devices of each trading partner company, via the communication network 170. The communication unit 160 may use either wired communication or wireless communication.

[0019] Multiple terminal devices of trading partners are connected to the communication network 170. Each terminal device displays a trading partner representative screen 180. The trading partner representative screen 180 has a display unit 181 and an input unit 182. The contents of these will be described later.

[0020] Figure 2 is a block diagram showing an example of the hardware configuration for realizing the delivery date response support system 100 of this embodiment.

[0021] The delivery date response support system 100 of this embodiment, shown in Figure 1, can be implemented by a computer system. Figure 2 shows a computer system 200 as an example.

[0022] The computer system 200 includes a processor 201, memory (main memory) 202, auxiliary storage device 203, output device 204, input device 205, and communication interface (I / F) 206. These components are connected to each other by a bus. Memory 202 and auxiliary storage device 203 are storage devices that store programs and data used by the processor 201. The data in the storage unit 110 shown in Figure 1 is stored, for example, in the auxiliary storage device 203, and at least a portion of it may be stored in memory 202 as needed for processing.

[0023] Memory 202 is composed of, for example, semiconductor memory and is mainly used to hold the currently running program and data. For example, programs and data stored in auxiliary storage device 203 are loaded into memory 202 at startup or when needed. The processor 201 performs various processes according to the program stored in memory 202. By operating according to the program, the processor 201 realizes various functional units (for example, the customer negotiation unit 130, the delivery date response estimation unit 140, and the calculation unit 150 shown in Figure 1).

[0024] The auxiliary storage device 203 is composed of a large-capacity storage device such as a hard disk drive or a solid-state drive, and is used to retain programs and data for a long period of time. For example, the data in the storage unit 110 shown in Figure 1, the business partner negotiation unit 130, the delivery date response estimation unit 140, and the calculation unit 150 may be stored in the auxiliary storage device 123.

[0025] The processor 201 can consist of a single processing unit or multiple processing units, and may include one or more arithmetic units or multiple processing cores. The processor 201 can be implemented as one or more central processing units, microprocessors, microcomputers, microcontrollers, digital signal processors, state machines, logic circuits, graphics processing units, chip-on systems, and / or any device that manipulates signals based on control instructions.

[0026] The input device 205 is a hardware device for the user to input instructions and information. The output device 204 is a hardware device that presents various images for input and output, such as a display device or a printing device. The communication interface 206 is an interface for connecting to a network. For example, the functions of the communication unit 160 are realized when the processor 201 controls the communication interface 206 according to a program.

[0027] The computer system 200 may include two or more processors 201. Furthermore, the functions of the delivery date response support system 100 can be implemented in multiple computer systems 200. In this case, the multiple computer systems 200 communicate via a network. For example, some of the functions of the system in this embodiment may be implemented in one computer system 200, while other functions may be implemented in other computer systems 200.

[0028] For example, the computer system 200 may be a server device accessed by users of the delivery date response support system 100 (e.g., suppliers and their trading partners) via the communication network 170. In that case, the computer system 200 may be a so-called virtual server on the cloud. In that case, the computer system 200 shown in Figure 2 is implemented using computing resources on the cloud.

[0029] Figure 3 is an explanatory diagram showing an overview of the functions of the delivery date response support system 100 in this embodiment.

[0030] This embodiment describes the use of the delivery date response support system 100 in a supply chain including companies 301, 302, and 303. Here, company 302 is a supplier that produces products, and company 303 is a buyer that purchases those products. Company 301 is a Tier 2 supplier further upstream of company 302, producing and supplying components that are incorporated into the products produced by company 302. Hereafter, these companies will also be simply referred to as Tier 2 supplier 301, supplier 302, and buyer 303.

[0031] In Figure 3, one example is shown for Tier 2 supplier 301, one for supplier 302, and one for buyer 303, but in reality, there may be multiple of each. For example, supplier 302 may procure the same or different parts from multiple Tier 2 suppliers 301, or sell the same or different products to multiple buyers 303.

[0032] The terms "Tier 2 supplier," "supplier," and "buyer" used above are for convenience when focusing on the products produced by company 302, and may actually vary depending on the product being considered. For example, if we focus on the products produced by company 301 (i.e., the parts supplied to company 302), then company 301 is the supplier of those parts, company 302 is the buyer, and the company that supplies company 301 with parts or materials used in the manufacture of those parts (not shown) is the Tier 2 supplier. In the following embodiment, the process when supplier 302 uses the delivery date response support system 100 will be described, but in reality, each company constituting the supply chain can use the delivery date response support system 100 to perform similar processing.

[0033] In this embodiment, when buyer 303 requests supplier 302 to expedite the delivery of item A by two weeks compared to the initial sales plan, supplier 302 uses the delivery date response support system 100 to provide a delivery date response to buyer 303.

[0034] In order for supplier 302 to generate a response to a request from buyer 303, the sales, production, logistics, and procurement departments within supplier 302 each generate sales plans, production plans, delivery plans, and procurement plans, respectively, to fulfill the request from buyer 303.

[0035] At this time, for example, the sales department needs to check with the production department whether it is possible to accelerate the production of item A. The production department needs to check with the staffing agency 304 whether it is possible to add workers to accelerate the production of item A. The logistics department needs to check with the transporter 305 whether it is possible to transport item A by the delivery date specified by the buyer 303. The procurement department needs to check with the Tier 2 supplier 301 whether it is possible to procure the parts to be incorporated into item A in advance.

[0036] The delivery date response support system 100 in this embodiment automatically checks with trading partners such as the staffing agency 304, the transportation company 305, and the Tier 2 supplier 301. If a response regarding the feasibility of each check is received, the system generates a delivery date response for the buyer 303 based on these responses. If no response is received from any of the trading partners, the system may generate a plan that is estimated to be feasible based on previously generated plans. As a result, for example, the system may generate a response stating that a two-week advance is not possible, but a four-day advance is possible. The supplier 302 can then respond to the buyer 303 with a delivery date based on the generated response.

[0037] Figure 4 is a flowchart showing an example of the process performed by the delivery date response support system 100 in this embodiment.

[0038] Here, as an example, we will describe the process executed when supplier 302, as shown in Figure 3, receives an order change request, including a change in delivery date, from buyer 303. At the time the process shown in Figure 4 is executed, the storage unit 110 holds at least the master information 111 shown in Figures 5A to 5D and the supply chain plan information 112 that has been created at that time. For example, the process shown in Figure 4 is started when a representative of supplier 302 transmits information about the order change request from buyer 303 and a request for negotiation proposal generation to the delivery date response support system 100 via the communication network 170.

[0039] First, the communications unit 160 receives the order change request (step 401). In this example, supplier 302 receives an order change request from buyer 303 to expedite the delivery of item A by two weeks.

[0040] Next, the negotiation proposal information generation unit 132 generates negotiation proposal information 113 (step 402). Examples of the generated negotiation proposal will be described later (see Figures 7A to 7D).

[0041] Next, the business partner inquiry and response receiving unit 133 makes inquiries by sending negotiation proposal information 113 to each business partner via the communication unit 160 (step 403). If responses are received from all the business partners that have been inquired about (step S404: Yes), the negotiation proposal information generation unit 132 generates new negotiation proposal information 113 by adding the received responses as new constraints (step 405).

[0042] Then, the negotiation proposal information generation unit 132 determines whether the negotiation proposal information 113 generated in step 405 has changed from the negotiation proposal information 113 generated previously (step 406). If there has been a change (step 406: Yes), the process returns to step 403, and the business partner inquiry / response reception unit 133 makes an inquiry by sending the negotiation proposal information 113 generated in step 405 to each business partner (step 403).

[0043] On the other hand, if the negotiation case information 113 generated in step 405 has not changed from the negotiation case information 113 generated previously (step 406: No), the supply chain simulator 151 executes a simulation using the responses obtained from each trading partner company as constraints to generate a delivery date response (step 407). At this time, the trading partner company negotiation section 130 may generate a delivery date response based on the supply chain plan information 112 generated during the repetition of the loop in steps 403 to 406, which has the highest demand fulfillment rate described later. The generated delivery date response is held as delivery date response information 115 for the buyer.

[0044] On the other hand, if no response is obtained from at least one of the trading partner companies in step 404 (step S404: No), the delivery date response estimation section 140 acquires the current information via the communication section 160 (step 408). For example, when a request for order change is received from the buyer 303, the latest supply chain plan information 112 (i.e., the plan being executed at that time) and the information changed by the order change request (e.g., information indicating an earlier delivery date) may be acquired.

[0045] Then, the plan error calculation section 141 compares the past supply chain plan information 112 with the current supply chain plan information 112 acquired in step 408, and acquires the information of the delivery date response that is most similar to the current supply chain plan information 112 from the past supply chain plan information 112 (step 409). The acquired delivery date response is held as delivery date response information 115 for the buyer.

[0046] Finally, the delivery date response output section 142 outputs the delivery date response generated in step S407 or the delivery date response acquired in step 409. When the process of FIG. 4 is executed based on the information from the supplier 302 as described above, the delivery date response is transmitted to the terminal device of the supplier 302 via the communication section 160.

[0047] Next, we will explain the information held by the delivery date response support system 100. Furthermore, we will explain the details of the process shown in Figure 4, referring to that information.

[0048] First, we will explain the master information 111 held by the delivery date response support system 100, referring to Figures 5A to 5D.

[0049] Figure 5A is an explanatory diagram showing an example of master information 111 held by the delivery date response support system 100 of this embodiment.

[0050] The master information 111 shown in Figure 5A includes master ID 501 and master name 502 as information indicating the content of master information 111. The example in Figure 5A shows that master information 111 includes at least production personnel-capacity master, item master, and location master. Examples of the details of these masters are shown in Figures 5B to 5D.

[0051] Figure 5B is an explanatory diagram showing an example of a production personnel-capacity master included in the master information 111 held by the delivery date response support system 100 of this embodiment.

[0052] The production personnel-capacity master 510 shown in Figure 5B contains information indicating the production capacity for each item and the production personnel required to achieve that capacity. For example, it includes the number of units produced per day 511, the item ID 512, and the required personnel 513. For example, the first record indicates that 10 personnel are required to produce 100 units of product with item ID P01 per day.

[0053] Figure 5C is an explanatory diagram showing an example of an item master included in the master information 111 held by the delivery date response support system 100 of this embodiment.

[0054] The item master 520 shown in Figure 5C contains information indicating the size and weight of each item, including, for example, item ID 521, volume 522, and weight 523. For example, the first record shows that the item ID is P01, the volume is 1.5 cubic meters, and the weight is 150 kilograms.

[0055] Figure 5D is an explanatory diagram showing an example of a location master included in the master information 111 held by the delivery date response support system 100 of this embodiment.

[0056] The location master 330 shown in Figure 5D contains information indicating the locations that make up the supply chain, and includes, for example, location ID 531 and location name 532. The example in Figure 5D shows that the supply chain is composed of locations such as factory A, warehouse A, buyer A, and supplier A, and that each is identified by an ID (identifier) ​​such as F01, W01, Buy1, and Sup1. For example, supplier A, factory A, and buyer A shown in Figure 5D may be Tier 2 supplier 301, supplier 302, and buyer 303 shown in Figure 3, respectively.

[0057] Next, referring to Figures 6A to 6E, we will explain the supply chain planning information 112 held by the delivery date response support system 100.

[0058] Figure 6A is an explanatory diagram showing an example of supply chain planning information 112 held by the delivery date response support system 100 of this embodiment.

[0059] The supply chain planning information 112 shown in Figure 4A includes a plan ID 601 and a plan name 602 as information indicating the content of the supply chain planning information 112. The example in Figure 6A shows that the supply chain planning information 112 includes at least a sales plan, production plan, distribution plan, and procurement plan. These are, for example, the sales plan, production plan, distribution plan, and procurement plan of supplier 302 shown in Figure 3. Examples of the details of these plans are shown in Figures 6B to 6E.

[0060] Figure 6B is an explanatory diagram showing an example of a sales plan included in the supply chain planning information 112 held by the delivery date response support system 100 of this embodiment.

[0061] The sales plan 610 shown in Figure 6B contains information about the plan to sell the manufactured products, and includes, for example, the number of units sold 611, item ID 612, buyer ID 613, sales date 614, and plan generation date 615. The example in Figure 6B shows that a plan was generated to sell 130 units of product with item ID P01 on June 1st, 95 units on June 2nd, and 200 units on June 3rd to a buyer with buyer ID Buy1 (for example, buyer A shown in Figure 5D, which may also be buyer 303 shown in Figure 3), and to sell 80 units of product with item ID P02 to the same buyer on June 1st, and that all of these plans were generated on May 25th.

[0062] Figure 6C is an explanatory diagram showing an example of a production plan included in the supply chain planning information 112 held by the delivery date response support system 100 of this embodiment.

[0063] The production plan 620 shown in Figure 6C contains information about the plan to produce a product, and includes, for example, the number of units to be produced 621, item ID 622, site ID 623, production date 624, and plan generation date 625. The example in Figure 6C shows that a plan was generated at a site with site ID F01 (for example, factory A shown in Figure 5D, which may also be supplier 302 shown in Figure 3) to produce 130 units of product with item ID P01 on June 1, 95 units on June 2, and 200 units on June 3, and to sell 80 units of product with item ID P02 at the same site on June 1, and that all of these plans were generated on May 25.

[0064] Figure 6D is an explanatory diagram showing an example of a delivery plan included in the supply chain planning information 112 held by the delivery date response support system 100 of this embodiment.

[0065] The delivery plan 630 shown in Figure 6D contains information about the plan for transporting the manufactured products, and includes, for example, the number of vehicles to be transported 631, item ID 632, From location ID 633, To location ID 634, dispatch date 635, receipt date 636, and plan generation date 637.

[0066] In the example in Figure 6D, the first to third records show a plan to deliver a product with item ID P01 from a location with location ID F01 (for example, factory A shown in Figure 5D) to a location with location ID W01 (for example, warehouse A shown in Figure 5D). According to this plan, 130 units of the product will be shipped from factory A on June 2nd, 95 units on June 3rd, and 200 units on June 4th, and each unit will be received at warehouse A two days later.

[0067] The fourth record shows a plan to deliver product with item ID P02 from location ID F01 to location ID W01. According to this plan, 80 units of the product will be shipped from factory A on June 2nd and received into warehouse A two days later.

[0068] Furthermore, the example in Figure 6D shows that all of these plans were generated on May 25th.

[0069] Figure 6E is an explanatory diagram showing an example of a procurement plan included in the supply chain planning information 112 held by the delivery date response support system 100 of this embodiment.

[0070] The procurement plan 640 shown in Figure 6E contains information about the plan to procure the parts necessary to produce a product, and includes, for example, an item ID 641, a supplier ID 642, a procurement quantity 643, a goods receipt request date 644, and a plan generation date 645. The item ID 641 is the identification information of the part to be procured, while the supplier ID 642, procurement quantity 643, and goods receipt request date 644 indicate the identification information of the supplier from which the part is procured (for example, Tier 2 supplier 301 shown in Figure 3), the quantity of the part to be procured, and the date on which the procurement and goods receipt of the part is requested.

[0071] In the example in Figure 6E, the first and second records show a plan to procure parts with item ID A01 from a Tier 2 supplier with supplier ID Sup1, with 130 units to be received on June 2nd and 95 units on June 3rd. The third record shows a plan to procure parts with item ID A02 from a Tier 2 supplier with supplier ID Sup2, with 200 units to be received on June 4th. The fourth record shows a plan to procure parts with item ID A03 from a Tier 2 supplier with supplier ID Sup2, with 80 units to be received on June 2nd.

[0072] Furthermore, the example in Figure 6E shows that all of these plans were generated on May 25th.

[0073] The method for generating the supply chain planning information 112 is not limited, but for example, it can be generated by a supply chain simulator 151 performing a simulation. For example, the supply chain simulator 151 may perform a simulation based on constraints such as delivery dates, equipment, personnel, transportation, and parts procurement. This simulation only needs to output a sales plan, production plan, transportation plan, and procurement plan that satisfies the constraints, for example, by inputting sales constraints (e.g., when, which items, and how many to sell), production constraints (e.g., constraints on available equipment, personnel, etc.), transportation constraints (e.g., constraints on the weight and volume of transportable goods, etc.), and procurement constraints (e.g., which parts, by when, and how many can be procured from Tier 2 suppliers). As a specific means for this, known SCP (Supply Chain Planning) solutions can be used.

[0074] In this embodiment, after the supply chain plan information 112 is generated according to the initial constraints, if there is a request for an order change, such as bringing forward the delivery date, the process shown in Figure 4 is executed. As will be described later, in steps 402, 405, and 407, the supply chain simulator 151 generates a new plan to respond to the order change request and stores it as supply chain plan information 112. At this time, information regarding previously generated plans is not deleted, and the new plan is added to the supply chain plan information 112 along with its plan generation date.

[0075] Next, with reference to Figures 7A to 7D, we will explain the negotiation proposal information 113 held by the delivery date response support system 100.

[0076] Figure 7A is an explanatory diagram showing an example of negotiation proposal information 113 held by the delivery date response support system 100 of this embodiment.

[0077] Negotiation proposal information 113 is generated to confirm whether each trading partner company can respond to the generated supply chain plan information 112. The negotiation proposal information 113 shown in Figure 7A includes negotiation proposal information ID 701 and negotiation proposal information name 702 as information indicating the content of negotiation proposal information 113. The example in Figure 7A shows that negotiation proposal information 113 includes at least personnel negotiation information, delivery negotiation information, and delivery date negotiation information. Examples of the details of these plans are shown in Figures 7B to 7D.

[0078] Figure 7B is an explanatory diagram showing an example of personnel negotiation information included in the negotiation proposal information 113 held by the delivery date response support system 100 of this embodiment.

[0079] The personnel negotiation information 710 shown in Figure 7B is negotiation proposal information for negotiating with a temporary staffing agency that dispatches personnel to work in production among the client companies, regarding the feasibility of dispatching the required number of personnel for each product production day. For example, it includes the client company ID 711, production date 712, and personnel 713.

[0080] The example in Figure 7B shows a proposed negotiation with a staffing agency whose client company ID is C01, to determine if it is possible to dispatch 25 people on June 1st, 10 people on June 2nd, and 20 people on June 3rd to produce a product.

[0081] Figure 7C is an explanatory diagram showing an example of delivery negotiation information included in the negotiation proposal information 113 held by the delivery date response support system 100 of this embodiment.

[0082] The delivery negotiation information 720 shown in Figure 7C is negotiation proposal information for negotiating with a transporter from among the trading partners that delivers the manufactured products to the buyer, regarding the feasibility of delivering the desired quantity (weight and volume) of products on each day. For example, it includes trading partner ID 721, dispatch date 722, volume 723, and weight 724.

[0083] The example in Figure 7C shows a proposed negotiation with a carrier with customer ID C02 to determine if it is possible to deliver a product with a volume of 355 cubic meters and a weight of 35,500 kilograms on June 2nd, a product with a volume of 142.5 cubic meters and a weight of 14,250 kilograms on June 3rd, and a product with a volume of 300 cubic meters and a weight of 30,000 kilograms on June 4th.

[0084] Figure 7D is an explanatory diagram showing an example of delivery date negotiation information included in the negotiation proposal information 113 held by the delivery date response support system 100 of this embodiment.

[0085] The delivery date negotiation information 730 shown in Figure 7D is negotiation proposal information for negotiating with suppliers (Tier 2 suppliers) among trading partners that supply parts used in the production of products, regarding the feasibility of procuring the desired parts in the desired quantities on each day. For example, it includes item ID 731, supplier ID 732, procurement quantity 733, and receipt request date 734.

[0086] The example in Figure 7D shows a proposal generated based on procurement plan 640 shown in Figure 6E. Item ID 731, supplier ID 732, procurement quantity 733, and receipt request date 734 correspond to item ID 641, supplier ID 642, procurement quantity 643, and receipt request date 644, respectively. This example shows that procurement plan 640 shown in Figure 6E is a plan generated to respond to a buyer's request for a change in delivery date, and that this plan is presented as a negotiating proposal to the Tier 2 supplier.

[0087] The above negotiation proposal information 113 is generated, for example, in step 402 of Figure 4. Here, a detailed example of the generation of negotiation proposal information 113 in step 402 of Figure 4 will be described.

[0088] First, the supply chain simulator 151 performs a simulation based on the order change request and updates the supply chain plan information 112. At this time, the items, production quantities, and delivery dates specified in the order change request are set as constraints, and other constraints (e.g., production constraints, transportation constraints, delivery date responses from existing Tier 2 suppliers, etc.) are removed before the simulation is performed. Then, the negotiation proposal information generation unit 132 generates negotiation proposal information 113 based on the updated supply chain plan information 112. Here, we will explain an example of the generation of negotiation proposal information 113 performed by the negotiation proposal information generation unit 132 when the supply chain simulator 151 generates the production plan 620, delivery plan 630, and procurement plan 640 shown in Figures 6C to 6D.

[0089] First, referring to production plan 620 in Figure 6C, we see a plan to produce 130 units of product with item ID P01 (also simply referred to as item P01; the same applies to other items) on June 1st. Now, referring to production personnel-capacity master 510 in Figure 5B, we see that 10 personnel are needed to produce 100 units of item P01 per day, and 15 personnel are needed to produce 150 units. From this information, we can see that if 15 personnel are secured on June 1st, it will be possible to produce 130 units of item P01 on that day.

[0090] Using a similar method, it can be seen that it is sufficient to secure 10 people to produce 95 units of item P01 on June 2nd, 20 people to produce 200 units of item P01 on June 3rd, and 10 people to produce 80 units of item P02 on June 1st. Summing up the above personnel on a daily basis, the required personnel are 25 on June 1st, 10 on June 2nd, and 20 on June 3rd. The personnel negotiation information 710 shown in Figure 7B is an example of information to be presented to a trading partner company with company ID C01 (for example, a temporary staffing agency 304) in order to negotiate securing the above number of personnel.

[0091] Next, referring to delivery plan 630 in Figure 6D, there is a plan to ship 130 units of item P01 on June 2nd. Meanwhile, referring to item master 520 in Figure 5C, it is recorded that one unit of item P01 has a volume of 1.5 cubic meters and a weight of 150 kilograms. From this information, the volume of 130 units of item P01 is calculated to be 195 cubic meters and the weight 19,500 kilograms.

[0092] Using a similar method, the volume of 95 units of item P01 to be shipped on June 3rd is calculated to be 142.5 cubic meters and the weight 14,250 kilograms; the volume of 200 units of item P01 to be shipped on June 4th is calculated to be 300 cubic meters and the weight 30,000 kilograms; and the volume of 80 units of item P02 to be shipped on June 2nd is calculated to be 160 cubic meters and the weight 16,000 kilograms.

[0093] Summing up the above results for each day, the volume of goods to be shipped out is 355 cubic meters and 35,500 kilograms on June 2nd, 142.5 cubic meters and 14,250 kilograms on June 3rd, and 300 cubic meters and 30,000 kilograms on June 4th. The delivery negotiation information 720 shown in Figure 7C is an example of information to be presented to a trading partner company (e.g., carrier 305) with company ID C02 for negotiations to deliver the above volume of goods.

[0094] Next, refer to the procurement plan 640 in Figure 6E. The item ID 641, supplier ID 642, procurement quantity 643, and receipt request date 644 from this procurement plan 640 are used directly as the item ID 741, supplier ID 742, procurement quantity 743, and receipt request date 744 in the delivery date negotiation information 730.

[0095] Next, with reference to Figures 8A to 8D, we will explain the customer company response information 114 held by the delivery date response support system 100.

[0096] Figure 8A is an explanatory diagram showing an example of customer company response information 114 held by the delivery date response support system 100 of this embodiment.

[0097] The supplier company response information 114 shown in Figure 8A includes a response information ID 801 and a response information name 802 as information indicating the content of the supplier company response information 114. The example in Figure 8A shows that the supplier company response information 114 includes at least personnel dispatch response information, transportation capacity response information, and delivery date response information. Examples of the details of these plans are shown in Figures 8B to 8D.

[0098] Figure 8B is an explanatory diagram showing an example of personnel dispatch response information included in the customer company response information 114 held by the delivery date response support system 100 of this embodiment.

[0099] The personnel dispatch response information 810 shown in Figure 8B is information indicating the response to the negotiation proposal presented to the staffing agency, and includes, for example, the client company ID 811, production date 812, and personnel 813. These correspond to the client company ID 711, production date 712, and personnel 713 of the personnel negotiation information 710 shown in Figure 7B, respectively. The example in Figure 8B shows that the negotiation proposal shown in Figure 7B was accepted by the staffing agency as is.

[0100] Figure 8C is an explanatory diagram showing an example of transportation capacity response information included in the customer company response information 114 held by the delivery date response support system 100 of this embodiment.

[0101] The transport capacity response information 820 shown in Figure 8C represents the response to the negotiation proposal presented to the transporter, and includes, for example, the trading partner ID 821, the dispatch date 822, the volume 823, and the weight 824. These correspond to the trading partner ID 721, the dispatch date 722, the volume 723, and the weight 724 in the delivery negotiation information 720 shown in Figure 7C, respectively. The example in Figure 8C shows that the negotiation proposal shown in Figure 7C was accepted by the transporter as is.

[0102] Figure 8D is an explanatory diagram showing an example of delivery date response information included in the customer company response information 114 held by the delivery date response support system 100 of this embodiment.

[0103] The delivery date response information 830 shown in Figure 8D is information indicating the response to the negotiation proposal presented to the Tier 2 supplier, and includes, for example, item ID 831, supplier ID 832, procurement quantity 833, and goods receipt request date 834. These correspond to item ID 731, supplier ID 732, procurement quantity 733, and goods receipt request date 734 of the delivery date negotiation information 730 shown in Figure 7D, respectively.

[0104] The example in Figure 8D shows that at least part of the negotiation proposal shown in Figure 7D was not accepted by the Tier 2 supplier. Specifically, the negotiation proposal in Figure 7D proposes procuring 130 units of part with item ID A01 by June 2nd, but in the example in Figure 8D, the supplier responded that they could only procure 100 units. The procurement of 95 units of part with item ID A01 by June 3rd was accepted as is. The negotiation proposal in Figure 7D proposes procuring 200 units of part with item ID A02 by June 4th, but in the example in Figure 8D, the supplier responded that they could only procure 180 units.

[0105] Here, we will describe a detailed example of the generation of negotiation proposal information 113 in step 405 of Figure 4. The supply chain simulator 151 adds the responses obtained from each trading partner as constraints and performs a simulation, updating the supply chain plan information 112. Then, the negotiation proposal information generation unit 132 generates negotiation proposal information 113 based on the updated supply chain plan information 112. These processes are the same as those performed in step 402, except that constraints are added.

[0106] In the examples in Figures 8B to 8D, the delivery date response information 830 shown in Figure 8D differs from the delivery date negotiation information 730 shown in Figure 7D. As a result of the addition of constraints that were not present in the previous step, the plan generated by the supply chain simulator 151 in step 405 is likely to differ from the one generated in step 402, and consequently, the negotiation proposal information 113 generated in step 405 is also likely to change from the one generated in step 402. If it is determined that there is a change in the generated negotiation proposal information 113 (step 406: Yes), the process returns to step 403, and the newly generated negotiation proposal information 113 is sent to each trading partner company.

[0107] In the example above, if a response identical to the proposed negotiation is received, that response will be added as a constraint. However, if relaxing that constraint would improve the demand sufficiency rate, a relaxed constraint may be added instead. This will be explained later, along with an explanation of the demand sufficiency rate.

[0108] If the above process is repeated and it is determined that there is no change in the negotiation proposal information (step 406: No), it is unlikely that any further repetition of the process will generate new supply chain plan information 112. Therefore, the process proceeds to step 407, where the delivery date response estimation unit 140 generates a delivery date response for the buyer 303 based on the results of the simulation by the supply chain simulator 151.

[0109] Figure 9 is an explanatory diagram showing an example of buyer-oriented delivery date response information 115 held by the delivery date response support system 100 of this embodiment.

[0110] The buyer delivery date response information 115 shown in Figure 9 includes Buyer ID 901, Item ID 902, Delivery Request Date 903, Response Delivery Date 904, Requested Quantity 905, Scheduled Delivery Quantity 906, and Response Generation Date 907.

[0111] The first record shown in Figure 9 indicates that a buyer with Buyer ID Buy1 (also simply referred to as Buyer Buy1; the same applies to other buyers) requested delivery of 100 units of item P01 on June 7, while the requested supplier (e.g., supplier 302) responded that they could deliver 80 units of item P01 on June 7.

[0112] Similarly, the second record shows that Buyer Buy1 requested delivery of 100 units of item P01 on June 7, while the requested supplier responded that they could deliver 20 units of item P01 on June 8.

[0113] Furthermore, the third record shows that Buyer Buy2 requested that 80 units of item P01 be delivered on June 9, and the supplier responded that they could deliver 80 units of item P01 on June 9.

[0114] Furthermore, the example in Figure 9 shows that the responses for the three records mentioned above were generated on June 1st.

[0115] In the example above, the response deadline 904 and the planned delivery quantity 906 are generated based on the latest supply chain planning information 112, which is generated based on the latest constraint information that the supply chain simulator 151 runs based on when it is determined in step 406 that there has been no change in the negotiation proposal information. For example, the response deadline 904 and the planned delivery quantity 906 are obtained from the sales date 614 and the number of units sold 611, respectively, which correspond to the combination of item P01 and buyer Buy1.

[0116] The delivery date response output unit 142 outputs the generated delivery date response information 115 for the buyer. For example, the delivery date response information 115 for the buyer is transmitted to the supplier 302's terminal device via the communication unit 160 and displayed on the terminal device's personnel screen 180. An example of the display screen will be described later (see Figure 10).

[0117] The delivery date response estimation unit 140 may calculate an index indicating the degree to which the buyer's request has been satisfied, based on the delivery date response information 115 for the buyer. In this embodiment, as an example of such an index, the demand fulfillment rate is calculated using the following procedure.

[0118] For the first record, a request for delivery of 100 units on June 7th was met with a response that 80 units would be delivered on June 7th. Therefore, the demand fulfillment rate is calculated as 80 ÷ 100 × 100 = 80 [%].

[0119] For the second record, a request for delivery of 100 units on June 7th was met with a response of 20 units to be delivered on June 8th. This means that not a single unit could be delivered on the requested date of June 7th, so the demand fulfillment rate is calculated to be 0%.

[0120] For the third record, the response was that they could deliver as requested, so the demand fulfillment rate is calculated as 100%.

[0121] Furthermore, the delivery date response estimation unit 140 may calculate the overall demand fulfillment rate of the buyer-directed delivery date response information 115. For example, 60%, which is the average of the above 80%, 0%, and 100%, may be used as the overall demand fulfillment rate of the buyer-directed delivery date response information 115.

[0122] Furthermore, the Negotiation Department 130 for Business Partners may create new negotiation proposals based on the demand fulfillment rate. An example is explained below.

[0123] In step 405 of Figure 4, the supply chain simulator 151 may refer to the supplier company response information 114 and perform a simulation with relaxed constraints for items for which the same response as the negotiation proposal information 113 (i.e., a response that satisfies all requirements) was obtained. The demand satisfaction rate of the resulting supply chain plan information 112 is calculated, and if the demand satisfaction rate is improved compared to the one calculated previously, the negotiation proposal information generation unit 132 generates negotiation proposal information 113 corresponding to the relaxed constraints.

[0124] In the examples in Figures 7B-7D and 8B-8D, the delivery date response information 830 differs from the delivery date negotiation information 730, and this is added as a new constraint. On the other hand, the personnel dispatch response information 810 and the transport capacity response information 820 are identical to the personnel negotiation information 710 and the delivery negotiation information 720, respectively. In this case, instead of adding the personnel dispatch response information 810 and the transport capacity response information 820 as constraints as they are, a further relaxed value is added as a constraint.

[0125] For example, constraints may be added that increase the value of personnel 813 corresponding to each production day 812, and constraints that increase the volume 823 and weight 824 corresponding to each shipment day 822. In this case, a predetermined relaxation amount may be set, for example, by increasing or decreasing the original value by 10%.

[0126] In the example above, if procurement capacity is the bottleneck in the supply chain, relaxing other capacity requirements is unlikely to improve demand fulfillment. In such cases, the transportation capacity and personnel presented in the original negotiation proposal may be excessive relative to actual production volume, and by repeating the loop of steps 403-406, a supply chain plan that matches the bottleneck capacity can be generated.

[0127] On the other hand, if procurement capacity is not the bottleneck, the demand-fulfillment rate may improve by relaxing other capacity requirements. Furthermore, the fact that the personnel dispatch response information 810 and the transportation capacity response information 820 in the above example are the same as those presented in the negotiating proposal indicates that there is actually still room for improvement in personnel supply capacity and transportation capacity, and that it may be possible to meet even higher demands. Therefore, by relaxing the constraints, it may be possible to create a supply chain plan that improves the demand-fulfillment rate and is also acceptable to the trading partner.

[0128] Next, we will explain what to do if no response is received from at least one of the trading partners in step 404 (step 404: No).

[0129] In step 408, the delivery date response estimation unit 140 obtains current information. Here, current information refers to, for example, the latest sales plan 610, production plan 620, delivery plan 630, and procurement plan 640 generated in the preceding step 402. The recency of the plans can be determined from the plan generation dates 615, 625, 637, and 645.

[0130] In step 409, the planning error calculation unit 141 of the delivery date response estimation unit 140 obtains information from past information contained in the supply chain planning information 112 (i.e., information older than the current information obtained in step 408) that is most similar to the current information obtained in step 408. The specific method is not limited, but one example is as follows.

[0131] For example, if we focus on production plan 620, and the latest plan is one with a plan generation date of May 25th (plan generation date 625), then the current information obtained would be a plan to produce 130 units of item P01 at site F01 on June 1st, 95 units on June 2nd, and 200 units on May 25th.

[0132] The planning error calculation unit 141 then retrieves plans where the plan generation date 625 is on or before May 25, the item ID 622 is P01, and the base ID is F01, and where the production date 624 and production quantity 621 are similar. In this case, the production date 624 may be converted to the number of days elapsed from the plan generation date 625. In that case, in the example in Figure 6C, June 1st would be 7 days later, June 2nd would be 8 days later, and June 3rd would be 9 days later.

[0133] For example, if past information is obtained such that the plan generation date 625 is before May 25th, item ID 622 is P01, site ID is F01, and the production quantity 621 7 days after plan generation date 625 is 100 units, 8 days after is 110 units, and 11 days after is 190 units, the plan error calculation unit 141 calculates the error between this past information and the current information.

[0134] Specifically, for example, one could calculate the sum of the squared errors in the number of units produced for each elapsed day. In the example above, the squared error after 7 days is (130-100)^2=900, the squared error after 8 days is (95-110)^2=225, the squared error after 9 days is (200-0)^2=40000, the squared error after 10 days is (0-0)^2=0, and the squared error after 11 days is (0-190)^2=36100, and their sum is 77225.

[0135] The planning error calculation unit 141 calculates errors for other past information in the same manner and identifies the past information with the smallest error as the most similar past information. Furthermore, the delivery date response estimation unit 140 obtains the delivery date response corresponding to the most similar past information from the buyer-directed delivery date response information 115.

[0136] Here, the correspondence between past information and delivery date responses is identified, for example, based on the relationship between the plan generation date 625 and the response generation date 907. Specifically, for example, a delivery date response recorded as the response generation date 907 with the same date as the plan generation date 625 of the past information may be obtained as the delivery date response corresponding to that past information. Delivery date responses obtained in this way are presumed to be highly feasible because they have a track record of being answered under past circumstances similar to the current situation.

[0137] The delivery date response output unit 142 outputs the acquired delivery date response. For example, the acquired delivery date response is transmitted to the supplier 302's terminal device via the communication unit 160 and displayed on the terminal device's personnel screen 180. An example of the display screen will be described later (see Figure 10).

[0138] Figure 10 is an explanatory diagram showing an example of the user interface provided by the delivery date response support system 100 in this embodiment.

[0139] The screen 1000 shown in Figure 10 is an example of information displayed on the screen 180 of a person in charge at a company (for example, supplier 302 in Figure 3) using the delivery date response support system 100, based on information output by the delivery date response support system 100 via the communication unit 160. In the example in Figure 10, screen 1000 includes a current status display unit 1010, a negotiation proposal display unit 1020, and a delivery date response display unit 1030 for buyers.

[0140] First, let's explain the current status display unit 1010. The current status display unit 1010 displays the current supply chain plan and delivery date responses based on received order change requests. Specifically, the current status display unit 1010 includes received delivery date change requests 1011, display buttons 1012, a delivery date change request graph 1013, delivery date change request details 1014, current (As-Is) delivery date responses 1015, and the current demand fulfillment rate 1016.

[0141] When supplier 302 receives an order change request from buyer 303 that includes a change in delivery date, the identification information of buyer 303 and the items in question is displayed in the received delivery date change request 1011. When a representative from supplier 302 selects one of the displayed items and operates the display button 1012, the sales plan volume reflecting the delivery date change corresponding to that item is displayed as the delivery date change request graph 1013.

[0142] In the example in Figure 10, the daily sales plan volume is displayed in a graph, with the increase due to the delivery date change highlighted in shaded areas. Additionally, the delivery date change request details 1014 displays detailed numerical values ​​for the data shown in the delivery date change request graph 1013.

[0143] The current delivery date response 1015 shows the content of the delivery date response when the delivery date change is accommodated without changing the current plan, and the demand sufficiency rate in that case is displayed as the current demand sufficiency rate 1016. The current delivery date response 1015 includes the same items as the buyer delivery date response information 115 shown in Figure 9, but its values ​​are based on the current plan (i.e., before the processing in Figure 4 is performed). If the current plan is not changed, it is usually not possible to accommodate the changed delivery date, and a delivery delay will occur. In the example in Figure 10, the current demand sufficiency rate 1016 is 72%.

[0144] Next, the negotiation proposal display unit 1020 will be described. The negotiation proposal display unit 1020 displays the negotiation proposal generated by the delivery date response support system 100. Specifically, the negotiation proposal display unit 1020 includes a negotiation proposal generation button 1021, an inquiry execution button 1022, and negotiation proposal information 1023.

[0145] For example, when the person in charge of Supplier 302 selects at least any delivery date change in the current status display section 1010 and then operates the negotiation plan generation button 1021, the delivery date response support system 100 executes step 402 in FIG. 4. The terminal device of Supplier 302 acquires the generated negotiation plan information 113 from the delivery date response support system 100 and displays it as negotiation plan information 1023. In the example of FIG. 10, delivery date negotiation information 730 is displayed as negotiation plan information 1023, but delivery negotiation information 720 and personnel negotiation information 710 can also be displayed according to the requests from the person in charge.

[0146] When the person in charge checks the displayed negotiation plan and operates the inquiry execution button 1022, the delivery date response support system 100 executes the processing after step 40 in FIG. 4. The terminal device of Supplier 302 acquires the delivery date response generated in step 407 or the delivery date response acquired in step 409 from the delivery date response support system 100 and displays it on the buyer-oriented delivery date response display section 1030.

[0147] The buyer-oriented delivery date response display section 1030 includes the buyer-oriented delivery date response 1031 after the inquiry, the demand fulfillment rate 1032 after the inquiry, the buyer-oriented delivery date response confirmation button 1033, and the cancel button 1034.

[0148] In the buyer-oriented delivery date response 1031 after the inquiry, the delivery date response acquired by the terminal device of Supplier 302 from the delivery date response support system 100 is displayed. In the example of FIG. 10, the buyer-oriented delivery date response information 115 shown in FIG. 9 is displayed. Further, the demand fulfillment rate based on this delivery date response is displayed as the demand fulfillment rate 1032 after the inquiry. In the example of FIG. 10, although it does not reach 100%, 80% which is improved from the current demand fulfillment rate 1016 is displayed as the demand fulfillment rate 1032.

[0149] The person in charge reviews these details, and if they determine there are no problems, they operate the Buyer Delivery Date Confirmation button 1033. In this case, the Supplier 302 terminal sends the delivery date response based on the Buyer Delivery Date Information 115 to Buyer 303. On the other hand, if the person in charge operates the Cancel button 1034, the delivery date response based on the Buyer Delivery Date Information 115 is not sent. In this case, for example, the person in charge may set different conditions and instruct the generation of a new negotiation proposal, or they may manually modify the contents of the supply chain plan or delivery date response.

[0150] The system of the embodiment of the present invention may be configured as follows, for example.

[0151] (1) A computer system (e.g., computer system 200 that implements a delivery date response support system 100) having a processor (e.g., processor 201) and a storage device (e.g., memory 202 and auxiliary storage device 203) executes a delivery date response support method, wherein the storage device holds supply chain planning information (e.g., supply chain planning information 112) which includes at least one of a production plan for a product in the supply chain (e.g., production plan 620), a sales plan for the product (e.g., sales plan 610), a delivery plan for the product (e.g., delivery plan 630), and a procurement plan for parts to produce the product (e.g., procurement plan 640), and the delivery date response support method comprises a first step (e.g., step 401) in which the processor receives an order change request including a delivery date change, and the processor simulating the supply chain with the changed delivery date due to the order change request as a constraint. The process includes: a second step (e.g., step 402) in which new supply chain plan information is generated by executing a simulation and negotiation proposal information (e.g., negotiation proposal information 113) is generated for a trading partner to confirm whether the new supply chain plan information can be accommodated; a third step (e.g., step 403) in which the processor transmits the negotiation proposal information to the trading partner; a fourth step (e.g., step 405) in which the processor further generates new supply chain plan information by executing a supply chain simulation with the trading partner's response to the negotiation proposal information as a new constraint; and a fifth step (e.g., step 407) in which the processor generates and outputs a response to the order change request (e.g., buyer delivery date response information 115) including the revised delivery date, based on the generated supply chain plan information.

[0152] This automates the process from reviewing supply chain plans in response to order change requests to negotiating with suppliers to implement those changes, thereby supporting the generation of delivery date responses that satisfy customers.

[0153] (2) The method for supporting delivery date responses described in (1) above, wherein the negotiation proposal information to the trading partner company includes, as information for confirming whether or not it is possible to respond to the supply chain plan information, at least one of the following: information for confirming whether or not it is possible to secure personnel corresponding to the production plan included in the supply chain plan information (e.g., personnel negotiation information 710); information for confirming whether or not it is possible to deliver corresponding to the delivery plan included in the supply chain plan information (e.g., delivery negotiation information 720); and information for confirming whether or not it is possible to supply the parts corresponding to the procurement plan included in the supply chain plan information (e.g., delivery date negotiation information 730).

[0154] This automates negotiations with suppliers to address the revised supply chain plan.

[0155] (3) A delivery date response support method as described in (2) above, wherein in the fourth step, the processor generates new negotiation proposal information for the trading partner to confirm whether it is possible to respond to the new supply chain plan information, and the processor executes the third step again by transmitting the new negotiation proposal information generated in the fourth step to the trading partner, and the third and fourth steps are repeatedly executed until predetermined conditions are met, and the fifth step is executed when the predetermined conditions are met (for example, step 406: No).

[0156] This helps generate delivery date responses that result in high customer satisfaction.

[0157] (4) A delivery date response support method as described in (3) above, wherein in the fourth step, the processor calculates the demand sufficiency rate of the new supply chain plan information, and in the fifth step, the processor generates and outputs a response to the order change request, including a response to the changed delivery date, based on the supply chain plan information with the highest demand sufficiency rate among the generated supply chain plan information.

[0158] This helps generate delivery date responses that result in high customer satisfaction.

[0159] (5) A delivery date response support method as described in (4) above, wherein in the fourth step, the processor generates new supply chain plan information by relaxing the constraints and running the simulation for the trading partner company that has responded that it is possible to respond to the supply chain plan information in response to the negotiation proposal information, and generates new negotiation proposal information to confirm whether it is possible to respond to the new supply chain plan information if the demand fulfillment rate of the new supply chain plan information improves compared to before the constraints were relaxed.

[0160] This helps generate delivery date responses that result in high customer satisfaction.

[0161] (6) The delivery date response support method described in (3) above, wherein the processor determines that the predetermined conditions have been met if the new negotiation proposal information generated in the fourth step has not changed from the negotiation proposal information generated previously.

[0162] This helps generate delivery date responses that result in high customer satisfaction.

[0163] (7) A delivery date response support method as described in (1) above, wherein the supply chain plan information includes supply chain plan information generated in the past, the storage device further includes response information to the order change request generated in the past (e.g., delivery date response information 115 for buyers), and the delivery date response support method further includes a sixth step (e.g., step 408) in which the processor obtains supply chain plan information similar to the new supply chain plan information from the supply chain plan information generated in the past, when no response is obtained from the trading company to the negotiation proposal information transmitted in the third step (e.g., step 404: No), and a seventh step (e.g., step 409) in which the processor obtains and outputs response information corresponding to the supply chain plan information obtained in the sixth step from the response information to the order change request generated in the past.

[0164] This allows us to prevent the loss of demand opportunities by providing a more feasible delivery date, even if we cannot obtain a response from our clients.

[0165] (8) A delivery date response support method as described in (7) above, wherein the supply chain planning information includes information indicating the item, quantity, production base, production date, and generation date of the supply chain planning information for the product to be produced, and the response information to a previously generated order change request includes information indicating the generation date of the response information, wherein in the sixth step, the processor obtains supply chain planning information that is similar in terms of the item, quantity, production base, and number of days from the generation date of the supply chain planning information to the production date for the product to be produced, and in the seventh step, the processor obtains the response information having a generation date corresponding to the generation date of the supply chain planning information obtained in the sixth step.

[0166] This allows us to obtain a delivery date response that is highly likely to be achievable.

[0167] It should be noted that the present invention is not limited to the embodiments described above, and various modifications are included. For example, the embodiments described above are explained in detail for a better understanding of the present invention, and are not necessarily limited to those having all the configurations described. Furthermore, it is possible to replace parts of the configuration of one embodiment with the configuration of another embodiment, and it is possible to add configurations from other embodiments to the configuration of one embodiment. In addition, it is possible to add, delete, or replace parts of the configuration of each embodiment with other configurations.

[0168] Furthermore, each of the above configurations, functions, processing units, processing means, etc., may be implemented in hardware, in whole or in part, for example, by designing them as integrated circuits. Alternatively, each of the above configurations, functions, etc., may be implemented in software by having the processor interpret and execute programs that realize each function. Information such as programs, tables, files, etc., that realize each function can be stored in storage devices such as memory, hard disk drives, SSDs (Solid State Drives), or computer-readable non-temporary data storage media such as IC cards, SD cards, DVDs, etc.

[0169] Furthermore, the control lines and information lines shown are those deemed necessary for explanatory purposes, and do not necessarily represent all control lines and information lines in the actual product. In practice, it can be assumed that almost all components are interconnected. [Explanation of Symbols]

[0170] 100 Delivery Date Response Support System 110 Storage section 111 Master Information 112 Supply Chain Planning Information 113 Negotiation Proposal Information 114 Information from business partners 115 Delivery date response information for buyers 130 Business Partner Negotiation Department 131 Constraint information setting section 132 Negotiation Proposal Information Generation Department 133 Inquiry and Response Department for Business Partners 140 Delivery Date Estimation Department 141 Calculation error calculation section 142 Delivery date response output section 150 Arithmetic section 151 Supply Chain Simulator 170 Communication Networks 180 Screens for each client company's contact person 181 Display section 182 Input section

Claims

1. A method for supporting delivery date responses, which is performed by a computer system having a processor and a memory device, The storage device holds supply chain planning information, which includes at least one of the following: a production plan for a product in the supply chain, a sales plan for the product, a delivery plan for the product, and a procurement plan for parts to produce the product. The aforementioned method for supporting delivery date responses is: The first step involves the processor receiving an order change request, including a change in delivery date. The second step involves the processor generating new supply chain plan information by performing a supply chain simulation with the revised delivery date resulting from the order change request as a constraint, and generating negotiation proposal information for the trading partner to confirm whether it is possible to respond to the new supply chain plan information. The third step involves the processor transmitting the negotiation proposal information to the trading partner company, A fourth step involves the processor generating new supply chain planning information by performing a supply chain simulation, adding the response from the trading partner company to the negotiation proposal information as a new constraint. A delivery date response support method characterized by comprising a fifth step in which the processor generates and outputs a response to the order change request, including the revised delivery date, based on the generated supply chain plan information.

2. A method for supporting delivery date responses according to claim 1, A method for supporting delivery date responses, characterized in that the negotiation proposal information to the trading partner company includes, as information for confirming whether it is possible to respond to the supply chain plan information, at least one of the following: information for confirming whether it is possible to secure personnel corresponding to the production plan included in the supply chain plan information; information for confirming whether it is possible to deliver corresponding to the delivery plan included in the supply chain plan information; and information for confirming whether it is possible to supply the parts corresponding to the procurement plan included in the supply chain plan information.

3. A method for supporting delivery date responses according to claim 2, In the fourth step, the processor generates new negotiation proposal information for the trading partner to confirm whether it is possible to respond to the new supply chain plan information. The aforementioned processor, The third step is executed again by sending the new negotiation proposal information generated in the fourth step to the trading partner company. The third and fourth steps are repeated until the specified conditions are met. A method for supporting delivery date responses, characterized in that the fifth step is performed when the predetermined conditions are met.

4. A method for supporting delivery date responses according to claim 3, In the fourth step, the processor calculates the demand sufficiency rate of the new supply chain plan information, A delivery date response support method characterized in that, in the fifth step, the processor generates and outputs a response to the order change request, including a response to the revised delivery date, based on the supply chain plan information that maximizes the demand fulfillment rate among the generated supply chain plan information.

5. A method for supporting delivery date responses according to claim 4, In the fourth step, the processor generates new supply chain plan information by relaxing the constraints and running the simulation for the trading partner company that responded that it is possible to respond to the supply chain plan information in response to the negotiation proposal information, and generates new negotiation proposal information to confirm whether it is possible to respond to the new supply chain plan information if the demand fulfillment rate of the new supply chain plan information improves compared to before the constraints were relaxed.

6. A method for supporting delivery date responses according to claim 3, The delivery date response support method is characterized in that the processor determines that the predetermined conditions have been met if the new negotiation proposal information generated in the fourth step has not changed from the negotiation proposal information generated previously.

7. A method for supporting delivery date responses according to claim 1, The aforementioned supply chain planning information includes supply chain planning information generated in the past, The storage device further includes response information to the order change requests that were generated in the past. The aforementioned method for supporting delivery date responses is: If no response is received from the trading partner company to the negotiation proposal information transmitted in the third step, the processor obtains supply chain plan information similar to the new supply chain plan information from the previously generated supply chain plan information in a sixth step. A delivery date response support method further comprising a seventh step in which the processor obtains and outputs response information corresponding to the supply chain planning information obtained in the sixth step from the response information to the order change requests that were generated in the past.

8. A method for supporting delivery date responses according to claim 7, The supply chain planning information includes information indicating the product to be produced, the quantity to be produced, the production site, the production date, and the date the supply chain planning information was generated. The response information to the previously generated order change request includes information indicating the generation date of the response information. In the sixth step, the processor acquires supply chain planning information that is similar in terms of the product item, production quantity, production location, and the number of days from the generation date of the supply chain planning information to the production date of the product to be produced. A delivery date response support method characterized in that, in the seventh step, the processor obtains the response information having a generation date corresponding to the generation date of the supply chain plan information obtained in the sixth step.

9. A delivery date response support system having a processor and a memory device, The storage device holds supply chain planning information, which includes at least one of the following: a production plan for a product in the supply chain, a sales plan for the product, a delivery plan for the product, and a procurement plan for parts to produce the product. The aforementioned processor, We received an order change request, including a change in delivery date. By running a supply chain simulation with the revised delivery date resulting from the aforementioned order change request as a constraint, new supply chain planning information is generated, and negotiation proposal information for the trading partner company is generated to confirm the feasibility of responding to the new supply chain planning information. The aforementioned negotiation proposal information is sent to the aforementioned business partner company. By adding the responses from the aforementioned trading partners to the negotiation proposal information as a new constraint and running a supply chain simulation, new supply chain planning information is generated. A delivery date response support system characterized by generating and outputting a response to an order change request, including the revised delivery date, based on the generated supply chain planning information.

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