Support devices, support programs, support methods

Abstract

This invention provides a support device, support program, and support method for optimizing the order quantity of materials. [Solution] In a support system in which a server terminal, a store terminal, and a store terminal are each connected via a network, the server device, which is a support device, includes an inventory information acquisition unit that acquires inventory information including information on the trend of inventory quantities of the target item, a demand quantity forecasting unit that predicts the demand quantity at a predetermined future point in time based on the inventory information, and an inventory standard quantity calculation unit that calculates the inventory standard quantity based on the inventory information and the demand quantity.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to a support device, a support program, and a support method.

Background Art

[0002] Technologies for supporting ordering of business materials and the like are publicly known.

Prior Art Literature

Patent Literature

[0003]

Patent Literature 1

Summary of the Invention

Problem to be Solved by the Invention

[0004] Patent Literature 1 discloses a food ordering support technology capable of efficiently ordering food materials having a plurality of parts. In this technology, the prediction of the serving quantity of dishes is calculated from user reservation information in order to calculate the required quantity of materials. However, in practice, each material has different characteristics such as different expiration dates, making it difficult to predict the required quantity for each material.

[0005] The present invention has been made in view of such a background, and an object of the present invention is to support optimization of the ordered quantity of materials.

Means for Solving the Problem

[0006] To solve the above problem, there is provided a support device that supports ordering, comprising: an inventory information acquisition unit that acquires inventory information including information on transitions of an inventory quantity of an object; a demand quantity prediction unit that predicts a demand quantity at a predetermined future time point based on at least the inventory information; and a reference inventory quantity calculation unit that calculates a reference inventory quantity based on at least the inventory information and the demand quantity.

[0007] Further issues and solutions disclosed in this application will be made clear in the section on embodiments of the invention and in the drawings. [Effects of the Invention]

[0008] According to the present invention, it is possible to support the optimization of the order quantity of materials. [Brief explanation of the drawing]

[0009] [Figure 1] This figure shows an example of the overall configuration of a support system according to one embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 2] This figure shows an example of the hardware configuration of the server device 1 according to the same embodiment. [Figure 3] This figure shows an example of the functional configuration of the server device 1 according to the same embodiment. [Figure 4] This figure shows an example of consumption history information stored in the inventory information storage unit 131 according to the same embodiment. [Figure 5] This figure shows an example of inventory trend information stored in the advertising rule information storage unit 132 according to the same embodiment. [Figure 6] This figure shows an example of the modified material information stored in the modified material information storage unit 133 according to the same embodiment. [Figure 7] This figure shows the calculated demand forecast value and reference value for the server device 1 according to the same embodiment. [Figure 8] This figure shows an example of processing by the server device 1 according to the same embodiment. [Figure 9] This table explains the consumption forecast values ​​used in the demand forecast according to the same embodiment. [Figure 10] This table illustrates the safety stock values ​​used in demand forecasting according to the same embodiment. [Figure 11] This table explains the adjustment values ​​used in the demand forecast according to the same embodiment. [Modes for carrying out the invention]

[0010] <Summary of the Invention> The content of the embodiments of the present invention will be listed and described. The present invention, for example, includes the following configurations. [Item 1] A support apparatus that supports ordering, comprising: an inventory information acquisition unit that acquires inventory information including information on a trend of an inventory quantity of an object; a demand quantity prediction unit that predicts a demand quantity at a predetermined future time point based at least on said inventory information; a reference inventory quantity calculation unit that calculates a reference inventory quantity based at least on said inventory information and said demand quantity; A support apparatus comprising the above. [Item 2] said demand quantity prediction unit calculates a predicted consumption value by adding a preset addition value to the maximum consumption quantity of said object in a predetermined measurement period, calculates a safety inventory value using an average error value of consumption quantities in said measurement period and a fluctuation range prediction value calculated using a safety coefficient and a standard deviation of errors between predicted and actual consumption quantities, and predicts said demand quantity by multiplying a sum of said predicted consumption value and said safety inventory value by a predetermined coefficient. The support apparatus according to Item 1. [Item 3] said demand quantity prediction unit raises a prediction level when a reference value for the current day is greater than a minimum value of reference values for a predetermined number of past days, lowers the prediction level when the reference value for the current day is smaller than the minimum value of reference values for the predetermined number of past days, and adjusts said predicted consumption value according to said prediction level. The support apparatus according to Item 1 or 2. [Item 4] further comprising an ordering unit that compares said reference inventory quantity with said current inventory quantity, and executes an ordering process when said inventory quantity falls below said reference inventory quantity. The support apparatus according to Item 1. [Item 5] said inventory information acquisition unit acquires order history information from a mobile order system or a POS system provided in a store terminal, estimates the number of consumed objects from said order history information, and acquires a current inventory quantity by subtracting the estimated consumption number from the inventory quantity before consumption. The support apparatus according to claim 1. [Item 6] A support program that supports ordering, wherein causing a processor to execute: an inventory information acquisition step of acquiring inventory information including information on a transition of an inventory quantity of an object; a demand quantity prediction step of predicting a demand quantity at a predetermined future point in time based at least on said inventory information; and an inventory reference quantity calculation step of calculating an inventory reference quantity based at least on said inventory information and said demand quantity; A support program that causes the above steps to be executed. [Claim 7] A support method that supports ordering, wherein a processor executes: an inventory information acquisition step of acquiring inventory information including information on a transition of an inventory quantity of an object; a demand quantity prediction step of predicting a demand quantity at a predetermined future point in time based at least on said inventory information; and an inventory reference quantity calculation step of calculating an inventory reference quantity based at least on said inventory information and said demand quantity; A support method that executes the above steps.

[0011] Figure 1 is a block configuration diagram showing a support system according to a first embodiment of the present invention. The support system includes, for example, a server device 1, a user terminal 3 managed by a store user, and a store terminal 4. For convenience of explanation, each terminal is described as being single or a specific number, but the number of each terminal is not limited.

[0012] The server device 1, the user terminal 3, and the store terminal 4 are each connected via a network 2. The network 2 is configured by the Internet, an intranet, a wireless LAN (Local Area Network), a WAN (Wide Area Network), or the like.

[0013] == Server Device 1 == The server device 1 may be, for example, a general-purpose computer such as a workstation or a personal computer, or may be logically realized by cloud computing.

[0014] ==User Terminal 3== User terminal 3 is a computer used by the user managing inventory. User terminal 3 can be, for example, a smartphone, tablet computer, personal computer, or PDA. The user can access server device 1 through applications or a web browser running on user terminal 3.

[0015] ==Store Terminal 4== Store terminal 4 is a computer installed in the store used for order management and accounting. Store terminal 4 is an information processing device such as a personal computer or tablet terminal, but may also be composed of a smartphone, mobile phone, PDA, etc. Users of store terminal 4 can access server device 1 and user terminal 3, for example, through applications or a web browser running on store terminal 4. Attached terminal 4 may have, for example, a mobile ordering system for taking orders or a POS system for recording and summarizing what was sold and in what quantities installed, but is not limited to these systems.

[0016] In this embodiment, the store is described as a restaurant, but it may be a store of any other type.

[0017] The items subject to inventory management in this embodiment may include, but are not limited to, food products such as ingredients, beverages, and seasonings, as well as consumables such as detergents, tableware, and tissues.

[0018] In this embodiment, the support system is described as comprising a server device 1, user terminals 3 and register terminals 4, with each user operating the server device 1 using their respective terminal. However, the server device 1 may be configured as a standalone system, and the server device 1 itself may have functions that allow each user to operate it directly.

[0019] Figure 2 shows an example of the hardware configuration of server device 1. Note that the illustrated configuration is just one example, and other configurations are also possible. Server device 1 includes a CPU 101, memory 102, storage device 103, communication interface 104, input device 105, and output device 106. The storage device 103 stores various data and programs, such as a hard disk drive, solid-state drive, or flash memory. The communication interface 104 is an interface for connecting to the communication network 2, such as an adapter for connecting to Ethernet®, a modem for connecting to a public telephone network, a wireless communication device for wireless communication, or a USB (Universal Serial Bus) connector or RS232C connector for serial communication. The input device 105 is for inputting data, such as a keyboard, mouse, touch panel, button, or microphone. The output device 106 is for outputting data, such as a display, printer, or speaker. Furthermore, each functional unit of the server device 1, described later, is realized by the CPU 101 reading a program stored in the storage device 103 into the memory 102 and executing it, while each storage unit of the server device 10 is realized as part of the storage area provided by the memory 102 and the storage device 103.

[0020] Figure 3 also shows the functional configuration of the server device 1. As shown in Figure 1, the server device 1 includes storage units: an inventory information storage unit 131, a calculation table storage unit 132, and an order information storage unit 133, as well as processing units: an inventory information acquisition unit 111, a demand quantity forecasting unit 112, a standard value calculation unit 113, a presentation unit 114, and an order unit 115.

[0021] The following describes each of the storage units: the inventory information storage unit 131, the calculation table storage unit 132, and the order information storage unit 133.

[0022] The inventory information storage unit 131 stores the inventory information acquired by the inventory information acquisition unit 111 in Figure 4. As shown in Figure 4, the inventory information includes, as an example, the name of the item, the item code, the product name, lot number, serial number, purchase price, supplier, order date, order quantity, delivery date, delivery quantity, quantity used, inventory quantity, inventory location, best before date / use-by date, etc., and information such as the item's condition.

[0023] The calculation table storage unit 132 stores information from the table used for demand calculation. As shown in Figure 5, the calculation table includes information such as forecast values, safety stock levels, step unit rules, and order levels.

[0024] The order method information storage unit 133 stores the information necessary for the order unit 115 to place an order. The order method information may include the target product, supplier, ordering method, etc.

[0025] The following describes the processing units for the inventory information acquisition unit 111, the demand quantity forecasting unit 112, the standard value calculation unit 113, the presentation unit 114, and the order unit 115.

[0026] The inventory information acquisition unit 111 acquires inventory information regarding the inventory of items subject to inventory management, as an example. The inventory information acquisition unit 111, for example, presents an input form for inventory information to the user terminal 3 via the network 2, accepts user input, and acquires inventory information. The communication in this transmission and reception can be wired or wireless, and any communication protocol can be used as long as communication between the two parties is possible. The inventory information acquisition unit 111 may also acquire order history information from, for example, the mobile ordering system or POS system provided by the store terminal 4, estimate the number of items consumed from the number of orders, and obtain information on the current inventory quantity by subtracting the number consumed from the inventory quantity before consumption. The inventory information acquisition unit 111 stores the acquired inventory information in the inventory information storage unit 131.

[0027] The demand forecasting unit 112 predicts, for example, the demand for the quantity of an item subject to inventory management to be consumed from a predetermined point in time to a predetermined point in the future. The consumption quantity forecasting unit 112 predicts demand based on inventory information, for example. In this case, the demand forecasting unit 112 can predict the consumption quantity as the quantity of the item consumed during a predetermined period, the quantity of the item consumed during the same period in the past, the quantity of the item consumed during a predetermined period, or the average or median of the quantity of the item consumed during the same period in the past over multiple years.

[0028] The demand forecasting unit 112 may, for example, forecast demand using a demand forecasting formula. The demand forecasting formula may consist of, for example, a consumption forecast value, a safety stock value, and an adjustment value.

[0029] The consumption forecast value is calculated based on the relationship values, an example of which is shown in Figure 9. For the forecast period in which demand is predicted (the maximum consumption measurement period in Table 1, which may be any period such as one day or three days after a specified date), the forecast value is calculated by adding an additional value (LT addition) set for each item to the maximum consumption quantity of the item being forecasted during the same period in the past. Furthermore, as shown in Figure 9, the consumption forecast value may be set to a Level by linking the maximum consumption measurement period and the LT addition value, and the demand forecasting unit 112 can select which Level value to use for calculation.

[0030] The demand forecasting unit 112, for example, as shown in Figure 7, uses the reference value of the set level (the line connecting the dots with a thick solid line) as the reference value calculated at Level 3 (the consumption forecast value, and the same applies hereafter). If the reference value for a given date (the current day) is greater than the minimum value of the reference value for the past x days on the horizontal axis (for Level 3, "x = 3 days") or the reference value for the current day, the level is raised (to Level 4). If the reference value for a given date (the current day) is less than the minimum value of the reference value for the past X days (for Level 3, "x = 3 days") or the reference value for the current day, the level is lowered (to Level 2), and the consumption forecast value is calculated.

[0031] As shown in Figure 10, the safety stock value is the sum of the average error in consumption quantity during the maximum consumption measurement period and the predicted fluctuation value during the maximum consumption measurement period. The predicted fluctuation value is calculated by multiplying the safety factor by the standard deviation of the error between predicted and actual consumption during the prediction period × √Order LT (number of days: set for each ingredient) + consumption amount that becomes the safety quantity (x days) + consumption amount after delivery LT (number of days: set for each ingredient).

[0032] Furthermore, a safety margin may be established by multiplying the sum of the predicted consumption value and the safety stock value by a predetermined coefficient. The predetermined coefficient only needs to be a value greater than 1; the closer the value is to 1, the less waste will occur, but the more likely stockouts will occur if actual consumption exceeds the predicted consumption value. The predetermined coefficient may be arbitrarily selected by the user.

[0033] As shown in Figure 11, the adjustment value is a value that can be varied according to the user's judgment regarding how much inventory they want to hold. It is a value that adjusts the predicted quantity by raising or lowering the order level based on past reference values ​​and the reference value for the day, depending on the order level.

[0034] The reference value calculation unit 113 calculates a reference value, for example, which is the inventory quantity of the item in question and indicates the inventory quantity to be ordered if it falls below that quantity. The reference value calculation unit 113 calculates the reference value based on the demand forecast value calculated by the demand forecast unit 112.

[0035] As an example, the display unit 114 displays the reference value calculated by the reference value calculation unit 113 to the user terminal 3.

[0036] The order unit 115 processes an order for a target item when its inventory quantity reaches a certain threshold. For example, when the inventory quantity of rice reaches a certain threshold, the order unit 115 can process the order using information stored in the server device 1 regarding how to order rice (e.g., methods such as email, telephone, or fax, contact information such as email address and telephone number, items that need to be notified, etc.).

[0037] Using Figure 8, a typical processing flow of the server device 1 of this embodiment will be explained. The inventory information acquisition unit 111 acquires inventory information (1001). The demand quantity forecasting unit 112 forecasts the demand quantity (1002). The standard value calculation unit 113 calculates the standard value (1003). The presentation unit 114 presents the standard value information to the user terminal 3 (1004). The order unit 115 executes order processing based on the inventory information and standard value information (1005).

[0038] While preferred embodiments of the present disclosure have been described in detail above with reference to the attached drawings, the technical scope of the present disclosure is not limited to such examples. It is clear to any person with ordinary skill in the art of the present disclosure that various modifications or alterations may be conceived within the scope of the technical idea set forth in the claims, and these will naturally also fall within the technical scope of the present disclosure.

[0039] The apparatus described herein may be implemented as a single device, or it may be implemented by multiple devices (e.g., cloud servers) that are partially or entirely connected by a network. For example, the CPU and storage device of the management server 20 may be implemented by different servers that are connected to each other by a network.

[0040] The series of processes performed by the apparatus described herein may be implemented using software, hardware, or a combination of software and hardware. Computer programs for implementing each function of the management server 20 according to this embodiment can be created and implemented on a PC or the like. Furthermore, a computer-readable recording medium containing such a computer program can also be provided. Examples of recording media include magnetic disks, optical disks, magneto-optical disks, and flash memory. Alternatively, the computer program may be distributed without using a recording medium, for example, via a network.

[0041] Furthermore, the processes described herein do not necessarily have to be performed in the order described. Some processing steps may be performed in parallel. Additional processing steps may be employed, and some processing steps may be omitted.

[0042] Furthermore, the effects described herein are merely descriptive or illustrative and not limiting. In other words, the technology relating to this disclosure may produce other effects that will be apparent to those skilled in the art from the description herein, in addition to or in lieu of the effects described herein. [Explanation of Symbols]

[0043] 1 Server device 2 Network 3. User terminals 101 CPU 102 memory 103 Storage device 104 Communication Interface 105 Input device 106 Output device 111 Inventory Information Acquisition Department 112 Demand Quantity Forecasting Department 113 Reference Value Calculation Section 114 Presentation section 115 Order Department 131 Inventory Information Storage Unit 132 Calculation Table Storage Unit 133 Order Method Memory Unit

Claims

1. A support device for ordering, An inventory information acquisition unit acquires inventory information including information on the trend of inventory quantities of the target item, A demand quantity forecasting unit that predicts the demand quantity at a predetermined future point in time based on the inventory information, At least an inventory standard quantity calculation unit that calculates the inventory standard quantity based on the inventory information and the demand quantity, A support device equipped with the following features.

2. The demand quantity forecasting unit calculates a consumption forecast value by adding a predetermined sum to the maximum consumption quantity of the target item during a predetermined measurement period, calculates a safety stock value using the average error of the consumption quantity during the measurement period and a fluctuation forecast value calculated using a safety factor and the standard deviation of the error between the predicted and actual consumption quantities, and forecasts the demand quantity by multiplying the sum of the consumption forecast value and the safety stock value by a predetermined coefficient. The support device according to claim 1.

3. The demand quantity forecasting unit raises the forecast level when the current day's baseline value is greater than the minimum baseline value over a predetermined number of past days, and lowers the forecast level when the current day's baseline value is less than the minimum baseline value over a predetermined number of past days, and adjusts the consumption forecast value according to the forecast level. The support device according to claim 1.

4. The system further includes an ordering unit that compares the aforementioned inventory standard quantity with the current inventory quantity and executes an order processing if the inventory quantity falls below the aforementioned inventory standard quantity. The support device according to claim 1.

5. The inventory information acquisition unit acquires order history information from the mobile ordering system or POS system installed in the store terminal, estimates the number of items consumed from the order history information, and obtains the current inventory quantity by subtracting the estimated number of consumed items from the inventory quantity before consumption. The support device according to claim 1.

6. This is a support program to assist with ordering, In the processor, An inventory information acquisition step that acquires inventory information including information on the trend of the inventory quantity of the target item, A demand quantity forecasting step that predicts the demand quantity at a predetermined future point in time based on the inventory information, At least one step of calculating the inventory standard quantity is to calculate the inventory standard quantity based on the inventory information and the demand quantity, A support program to enable execution.

7. A support method for placing orders, The processor, An inventory information acquisition step that acquires inventory information including information on the trend of the inventory quantity of the target item, A demand quantity forecasting step that predicts the demand quantity at a predetermined future point in time based on the inventory information, At least one step of calculating the inventory standard quantity is to calculate the inventory standard quantity based on the inventory information and the demand quantity, A method to support the execution of this task.

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