Inventory management device, inventory management method, and inventory management program

Abstract

To prevent over-ordering of commodities.SOLUTION: An acquisition unit acquires a current purchase plan amount of commodities for a current calculation target period and a previous carryover adjustment amount of a difference between a purchase plan amount and an actual amount for a previous calculation target period. A calculation unit subtracts an ordered amount for the current calculation target period and a current planned order amount from an added amount of the current purchase plan amount and the previous carryover adjustment amount, and calculates a balance amount for the current calculation target period. In addition, the calculation unit subtracts the actual amount for the current calculation target period from a value obtained by adding the previous carryover adjustment amount to the current purchase plan amount, and calculates a next purchase quota increase / decrease amount that can be carried over to the next calculation target period. A warning processing unit performs predetermined warning processing when a balance amount indicating that there is no remaining money is calculated. A display control unit displays, on a display unit, the next purchase quota increase / decrease amount calculated by the calculation unit and the next carryover adjustment amount which is the same amount as the next purchase quota increase / decrease amount and can be carried over to the next calculation target period.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 6

Description

[Technical field]

[0001] The present invention relates to an inventory management device, an inventory management method, and an inventory management program. [Background technology]

[0002] Today's inventory management is often carried out by recognizing the current number of products in stock and predicting the number of products to be sold next month before placing purchase orders. If there is a lot of unsold inventory, products may expire and cause losses. Also, if the inventory runs out, sales opportunities for the products will be lost. For this reason, inventory management is important.

[0003] As prior art related to inventory management, Patent Document 1 (JP 2002-024350 A) discloses a retail store management system that manages store information, and with product ordering at its core, handles sales planning, inventory management, manufacturing and processing, employee attendance schedules, management of working hours, budget management, etc. on a store-by-store and department-by-department basis, making it possible to grasp the profit and loss situation on a single item-by-item basis in real time.

[0004] This retail store management system comprises means for predicting sales figures for each product from a forecast of the number of customers based on causal information such as the day of the week and weather, means for managing orders for tomorrow based on tomorrow's sales forecast and the current day's inventory forecast, means for managing the current day's inventory, means for determining the production quantity for each product based on tomorrow's sales forecast and the expected carried-over inventory at the time of closing on that day, and means for profit management.

[0005] Then, the system extracts from the database the actual number of customers that match the causal information specified by the conditions, such as the day of the week and weather, and uses this past number of customers as a forecast value to carry out tasks such as product ordering, sales planning, display facing, manufacturing / processing, and inventory management, while also allocating the labor of employees efficiently, immediately grasping product gross profits, and timely grasping inventory levels.

[0006] Here, in companies and the like that are involved in retail and wholesale of goods (products), in order to prevent loss of sales opportunities due to inventory shortages, each person in charge may be allowed to freely place orders for goods. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0007] [Patent Document 1] JP 2002-024350 A Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0008] However, if each person is allowed to freely order products, there is a problem that excessive orders may occur, for example, when multiple people place duplicate purchase orders for the same product, resulting in excess inventory of the product.

[0009] The present invention has been made in consideration of the above-mentioned problems, and aims to provide an inventory management device, an inventory management method, and an inventory management program that can prevent excessive ordering and perform appropriate inventory management. [Means for solving the problem]

[0010] In order to solve the above-mentioned problems and achieve the object, an inventory management device according to the present invention includes an acquisition unit that acquires a current purchase plan amount, which is the purchase plan amount for goods corresponding to a current calculation period, and acquires a previous carryover adjustment amount, which is the difference between the purchase plan amount and the actual amount in the previous calculation period, and calculates a balance amount available for purchasing goods in the current calculation period by subtracting an ordered amount, which is the amount used to purchase goods in the current calculation period, and a planned order amount, which is the amount planned to be used by ordering goods this time, from the value obtained by adding the current purchase plan amount to the previous carryover adjustment amount, and The actual amount, which is the amount ordered and used to purchase the goods during the current calculation period, stored in the memory unit, isThe system has a calculation unit that calculates the next purchase quota increase / decrease amount, which is the amount that can be carried over to the next calculation period, by subtraction processing, a warning processing unit that performs a predetermined warning processing when a balance amount indicating that there is no remaining amount is calculated, and a display control unit that displays on a display unit the next purchase quota increase / decrease amount calculated by the calculation unit and the next carryover adjustment amount, which is the same amount as the next purchase quota increase / decrease amount and can be carried over to the next calculation period.

[0011] Furthermore, in order to solve the above-mentioned problems and achieve the object, the inventory management method of the present invention includes an acquisition step in which an acquisition unit acquires a current purchase plan amount, which is the purchase plan amount of goods corresponding to a current calculation period, and acquires a previous carryover adjustment amount, which is the difference between the purchase plan amount and the actual amount in the previous calculation period; and a calculation unit calculates a remaining amount available for purchasing goods in the current calculation period by subtracting an ordered amount, which is the amount used to purchase goods in the current calculation period, and a planned order amount, which is the amount planned to be used by ordering the goods this time, from the value obtained by adding the current purchase plan amount to the previous carryover adjustment amount, and The actual amount, which is the amount ordered and used to purchase the goods during the current calculation period, stored in the memory unit, is The method includes a calculation step of calculating the next purchase quota increase / decrease amount, which is the amount that can be carried over to the next calculation period, by subtraction processing; a warning processing step of performing a predetermined warning process when a balance amount indicating that there is no remaining amount is calculated by a warning processing step; and a display control step of displaying on the display unit the next purchase quota increase / decrease amount calculated in the calculation step and the next carryover adjustment amount, which is the same amount as the next purchase quota increase / decrease amount and can be carried over to the next calculation period.

[0012] In addition, in order to solve the above-mentioned problems and achieve the object, an inventory management program according to the present invention includes an acquisition unit that acquires a current purchase plan amount, which is the purchase plan amount for goods corresponding to a current calculation period, and acquires a previous carryover adjustment amount, which is the difference between the purchase plan amount and the actual amount in the previous calculation period, and calculates a balance amount available for purchasing goods in the current calculation period by subtracting an ordered amount, which is the amount used to purchase goods in the current calculation period, and a planned order amount, which is the amount planned to be used by ordering the goods this time, from the value obtained by adding the current purchase plan amount to the previous carryover adjustment amount, and The actual amount, which is the amount ordered and used to purchase the goods during the current calculation period, stored in the memory unit, is The system functions as a calculation unit that calculates the next purchase quota increase / decrease amount, which is the amount that can be carried over to the next calculation period, by performing a subtraction process, a warning processing unit that performs a predetermined warning process when a balance amount indicating that there is no remaining amount is calculated, and a display control unit that displays on a display unit the next purchase quota increase / decrease amount calculated by the calculation unit and the next carryover adjustment amount, which is the same amount as the next purchase quota increase / decrease amount and can be carried over to the next calculation period. Effect of the Invention

[0013] The present invention makes it possible to prevent over-ordering and perform proper inventory management. [Brief description of the drawings]

[0014] [Figure 1] FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a hardware configuration of an inventory management device according to an embodiment. [Diagram 2] FIG. 2 is a diagram for explaining the setting unit of the purchase quota. [Diagram 3] FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing the flow of a product ordering operation in the inventory management device according to the embodiment. [Figure 4] FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing the flow of a purchasing plan amount changing operation in the inventory management device according to the embodiment. [Diagram 5] FIG. 5 is a diagram for explaining the operation of setting a purchase quota in the product-type purchase quota setting master. [Figure 6] FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing a main operation flow in the product ordering operation of the inventory management device according to the embodiment. [Figure 7] FIG. 7 is a schematic diagram for explaining how to calculate the purchase quota. [Figure 8] FIG. 8 is a diagram for explaining the monthly determination process of the inventory management device according to the embodiment. [Figure 9] FIG. 9 is a diagram illustrating a warning operation for an order that results in a balance of 0 yen or less in the inventory management device according to the embodiment. [Figure 10] FIG. 10 is a diagram showing an example of the order input screen and the warning screen. [Figure 11] FIG. 11 is a diagram showing an example of the order approval checklist. [Figure 12] FIG. 12 is a diagram showing an example of a comparison table of planned and actual sales and purchases. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0015] An inventory management device according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail below with reference to the drawings, although the present invention is not limited to such an embodiment.

[0016] (Hardware configuration) Fig. 1 is a block diagram showing a hardware configuration of an inventory management device 1 according to an embodiment. The inventory management device 1 shown in Fig. 1 includes a storage unit 2, a control unit 3, a communication interface unit 4, and an input / output interface unit 5. An input device 6 and an output device 7 are connected to the input / output interface unit 5. The output device 7 may be a display unit such as a monitor device (including a home television). The input device 6 may be a keyboard device, a mouse device, a microphone device, or a monitor device that cooperates with a mouse device to realize a pointing device function.

[0017] The communication interface unit 4 is connected to an approver terminal device 9 of the approver who obtains approval when the order amount exceeds the purchase limit via a network 8, which may be a wide area network such as the Internet or a private network such as a LAN (Local Area Network).

[0018] The storage unit 2 may be, for example, a storage device such as a ROM (Read Only Memory), a RAM (Random Access Memory), a HDD (Hard Disk Drive), or an SSD (Solid State Drive). The storage unit 2 is provided with a product-specific purchase quota setting master 11, which is a storage area. The storage unit 2 also stores an inventory management program for implementing the inventory management operation by the inventory management device 1.

[0019] As an example, the inventory management device 1 of this embodiment performs inventory management on a monthly basis. In other words, "January" is an example of a calculation target period. The memory unit 2 stores actual data indicating the ordered amount for each month that has reached the end of the month, and ordered data indicating the ordered amount for the current month that has not yet reached the end of the month. The memory unit 2 also stores order approval check data that is transmitted to the approver terminal device 9 of the approver in order to obtain approval required for ordering goods when the order amount exceeds the purchase limit. The memory unit 2 also stores sales / purchase forecast actual comparison data, which is data of a sales / purchase forecast actual comparison table that compares monthly sales / purchase forecast actuals.

[0020] (Functional configuration of inventory management device) Next, the control unit 3 executes the inventory management program stored in the memory unit 2, thereby functioning as an acquisition unit 21, a calculation unit 22, a warning processing unit 23, a display control unit 24, a change processing unit 25, and a communication processing unit .

[0021] The acquiring unit 21 acquires a current purchase plan amount, which is a purchase plan amount for the commodity corresponding to the current month, and also acquires a previous carryover adjustment amount, which is the difference between the purchase plan amount and the actual amount for the previous month.

[0022] The calculation unit 22 calculates the remaining amount available for purchasing goods in the current month by adding the previous carryover adjustment amount to the current purchasing plan amount and subtracting the ordered amount, which is the amount used for purchasing goods in the current month, and the planned order amount, which is the amount planned to be used by ordering the goods this time.

[0023] In addition, the calculation unit 22 calculates the next purchase quota increase / decrease amount, which is the amount that can be carried over to the next month, by subtracting the actual amount for the current month from the value obtained by adding the previous carryover adjustment amount to the current purchase plan amount.

[0024] The warning processing unit 23 performs a predetermined warning process when a calculated balance amount indicating that there is no remaining balance is found. As an example, a predetermined error message is displayed on the warning screen. Upon seeing this error message, the business operator generates an order approval checklist to obtain approval of the order from the approver. The communication processing unit 26 is an example of a notification processing unit, and transmits the generated order approval checklist to the approver terminal device 9.

[0025] The display control unit 24 displays the next purchase quota increase / decrease amount calculated by the calculation unit 22 and the next carryover adjustment amount, which is the same amount as the next purchase quota increase / decrease amount and can be carried over to the next month, via the output device 7, which is an example of a display unit. The purchase quota increase / decrease amount is an amount that represents the previous month's forecast / actual results. By displaying this purchase quota increase / decrease amount, purchase amounts that show abnormal increases / decrease can be immediately detected and the causes can be analyzed.

[0026] The change processing unit 25 changes the next carry-over adjustment amount in response to an operation by the business operator. This makes it possible to flexibly adjust the carry-over amount in response to the inventory situation and the like, and to control orders.

[0027] (Setting unit of purchase quota) FIG. 2 is a diagram for explaining the unit of setting purchase quotas. In the example of FIG. 2, let us say that the company has made a sales plan of 100 million yen per year, with a cost of sales of 60 million yen per year. The company has a merchandise department and a sales department. The merchandise department also has a merchandise 1 section and a merchandise 2 section. The sales department has a department store 1 section and a department store 1 section. The cost of sales of 60 million yen per year is set for the merchandise department. Of the annual cost of sales of 60 million yen, the merchandise department sets a cost of sales of 40 million yen per year for merchandise 1 section, and sets the remaining cost of sales of 20 million yen per year for merchandise 2 section.

[0028] Product Division 1 and Product Division 2 set purchase quotas for each product category within the scope of the 60 million yen cost of sales (purchase plan). The example in Figure 2 is an example in which Product Division 1 has set a purchase quota for May for product category A of 2 million yen, and a purchase quota for May for product category B of 2.5 million yen. Also, the example in Figure 2 is an example in which Product Division 2 has set a purchase quota for May for product category C of 1.8 million yen, and a purchase quota for May for product category D of 1.5 million yen.

[0029] If purchasing quotas were to be managed on a product-by-product basis, the granularity of the management would be too fine, making operational settings and management difficult. However, the inventory management device 1 of the embodiment manages inventory by setting purchasing quotas for each product category. This makes it possible to easily and accurately manage inventory at an appropriate granularity.

[0030] (Ordering action) Next, the ordering operation of a product in the inventory management device 1 of the embodiment will be described with reference to the flowchart in Fig. 3. The processing in steps S1 to S4 in the flowchart in Fig. 3 shows the processing up to the time when the determined purchase plan amount is approved by the approver. Moreover, steps S5 to S9 in the flowchart in Fig. 3 show the processing up to the time when the product is ordered based on the approved purchase plan amount.

[0031] First, when a sales plan amount is determined, such as 100 million yen as exemplified in FIG. 2 (step S1), a purchase plan amount for each product category is considered (step S2). Then, in step S3, the communication processing unit 26 transmits the considered purchase plan amount for each product category to the approver terminal device 9. The approver transmits the approval result of the purchase plan amount for each product category received via the approver terminal device 9 to the inventory management device 1. In step S4, based on the approval result received from the approver terminal device 9, the business operator determines whether or not to approve (step S4). Then, if approval is not obtained (step S4: No), the purchase plan amount is reconsidered.

[0032] Fig. 4 is a flow chart showing the flow of the operation of changing the purchase plan amount due to reconsideration. When reconsideration of the purchase plan amount is performed, in step S2, the purchase plan amount is revised, and in step S3, the communication processing unit 26 notifies the approver terminal device 9 again of the revised purchase plan amount. The approver transmits the approval result of the reconsideration of the purchase plan amount received via the approver terminal device 9 to the inventory management device 1. When the reconsideration of the purchase plan amount is approved (step S4: Yes), the purchase plan amount is set in the product-type purchase quota setting master 11 as shown in Fig. 5 (step S5).

[0033] As shown in FIG. 5, the type-specific purchase quota setting master 11 is set (stored) with the department, product type, accounting year and month, purchase plan amount, purchase quota increase / decrease amount, and carryover adjustment amount, etc. The purchase plan amount is the purchase amount according to the initial purchase plan as described above. The purchase quota increase / decrease amount is the difference between the previous month's purchase plan amount and the actual amount. The carryover adjustment amount is also the difference between the previous month's purchase plan amount and the actual amount. The purchase quota increase / decrease amount and the carryover adjustment amount are the same amount as default values, but the difference is that in the case of the inventory management device 1 of the embodiment, the carryover adjustment amount can be adjusted to a desired amount by the business operator.

[0034] The example of FIG. 5 shows the purchase plan amount from December 2021 to September 2022 set by Product 1 Division for Product Classification A. In the example of FIG. 5, the purchase plan amount for December 2021 and January 2022 is set to "500,000 yen", and the purchase plan amount for February 2022 is set to "700,000 yen". In addition, the example of FIG. 5 is an example in which the purchase plan amount for March 2022 to May 2022 is set to "900,000 yen", and the purchase plan amount for June 2022 is set to "500,000 yen". Furthermore, the example of FIG. 5 is an example in which the purchase plan amount for July 2022 to September 2022 is set to "200,000 yen".

[0035] Also, in FIG. 5, the purchase limit increase / decrease amount and carryover adjustment amount of "150,000 yen" for December 2021 are amounts equivalent to the remaining amount for November 2021. Similarly, the purchase limit increase / decrease amount and carryover adjustment amount of "200,000 yen" for January 2022 are amounts equivalent to the remaining amount for December 2021. Of these, the carryover adjustment amount for January 2022 has been adjusted from "200,000 yen to 100,000 yen", which shows an example in which the business operator adjusted the amount to be carried over to the next time from 200,000 yen to 100,000 yen. In this way, the inventory management device 1 of the embodiment allows the business operator to change the carryover adjustment amount depending on the current inventory quantity and sales forecast for next month. Details will be described later.

[0036] When the purchase plan amount is set in the product-type purchase quota setting master 11 in this way (step S5), the business operator inputs the desired product classification, product, and purchase quantity via an order input screen described below, and operates the register button to specify an order (order input: step S6). When an order is specified, the calculation unit 22 calculates the difference between the "purchase quota (balance amount) which is the sum of the purchase plan amount for the current month and the carryover adjustment amount from the previous month minus the amount already ordered within the current month" and the "purchase amount of the product specified for ordering."

[0037] If the calculated difference is less than 0 yen, it means that the purchase price of the product specified for ordering exceeds the balance amount for the current month (step S7: NG). For this reason, the warning processing unit 23 displays a warning screen including an error message via the display control unit 24. The business operator who sees this warning screen specifies the generation of an order approval checklist to obtain approval of the order from the approver. In response to this specification, the display control unit 24 generates an order approval checklist, and the communication processing unit 26 places the generated order approval checklist (see FIG. 11) on the order approval workflow. As a result, the order approval check data of the order approval checklist is transmitted to the approver terminal device 9, and the approver determines whether or not to approve (step S9).

[0038] If the approver terminal device 9 returns an approval result rejecting the order, the business operator reconsiders the order contents and order amount and inputs the order again (step S6). As a result, the product and amount specified for the order are judged again by the approver (steps S7 and S9).

[0039] On the other hand, if the difference calculated by calculation unit 22 is 0 yen or more, it means that the purchase price of the product specified for ordering is within the balance for the current month, and the order may be placed (step S7: OK). Also, if approval is obtained from the approver in step S9, it means that the order may be placed as is. For this reason, the business operator places an order for the desired product via communication processing unit 26, and inputs the expected arrival date of the product to be received via the expected arrival date input screen (step S8). This completes the proper ordering of the product.

[0040] (Main operations when ordering) Next, the main operations at the time of ordering in steps S6, S7, and S9 of the flowchart in Fig. 3 will be described. Fig. 6 is a flowchart showing the flow of the main operations at the time of ordering in the inventory management device 1 of the embodiment. The control unit 3 executes the processing of the flowchart in Fig. 6 based on the inventory management program stored in the memory unit 2.

[0041] First, in step S5 of the flowchart in Fig. 3, the purchase plan amount for each product category is set, and the flowchart in Fig. 6 starts, and processing is executed in sequence from step S11. In step S11, the acquisition unit 21 acquires the current purchase plan amount, which is the purchase plan amount set for the current month, and the previous carryover adjustment amount, which is the carryover adjustment amount from the previous month, from the product-type purchase quota setting master 11 illustrated in Fig. 5. Note that this previous carryover adjustment amount may be adjusted to a desired amount by the business operator, as described later.

[0042] Furthermore, in step S12, the acquisition unit 21 acquires the previous ordered amount (= the current month's ordered amount), which is the amount that has been ordered in the previous order within the current month, based on the ordered data stored in the memory unit 2, and also acquires the current planned order amount, which is the purchase amount of the product entered into the order input screen by the business operator.

[0043] Next, in step S13, the calculation unit 22 calculates a purchase quota equivalent to the remaining balance amount at the present time for the current month. FIG. 7 is a schematic diagram for explaining how to calculate this purchase quota. FIG. 7 shows an example in which a purchase plan amount of 2.5 million yen has been set for product category B for May. The business operator is able to order products of product category B within the range of the "purchase quota," which is equivalent to the remaining amount obtained by subtracting the amount already ordered for May from this purchase plan amount. Specifically, the calculation unit 22 calculates the "purchase quota (balance amount)" based on the following formula:

[0044] Purchase quota = (Current purchase plan amount + Previous carryover adjustment amount) - Previous order amount - Current order amount)

[0045] For example, using the example of Figure 8, as illustrated in Figure 8(b), the purchase plan amount for January 2022 is 400,000 yen, and the carryover adjustment amount from December 2021 is 150,000 yen. Therefore, in January 2022, the initial value of the purchase quota is "400,000 yen + 150,000 yen = 550,000 yen." In contrast, if an order for 300,000 yen is placed in January 2022 as shown in Figure 8(a), and an order for 50,000 yen is placed in January 2022, the purchase quota increase / decrease amount and carryover adjustment amount for January 2022 will be "550,000 yen - 350,000 yen = 200,000 yen" as shown in Figure 8(b).

[0046] Here, it is assumed that the business operator adjusts the carryover adjustment amount of "200,000 yen" to "100,000 yen" as shown in FIG. 8(b). As a result, the initial value of the purchase quota for February 2022 becomes "700,000 yen + 100,000 yen = 800,000 yen". If an order for 600,000 yen has been placed in February 2022, the remaining purchase quota for February 2022 will be 200,000 yen as shown in FIG. 8(b) (800,000 yen - 600,000 yen = 200,000 yen). The amount of this remaining purchase quota is stored in the type-specific purchase quota setting master 11 by the calculation unit 22 as the purchase quota increase / decrease amount and the carryover adjustment amount as shown in FIG. 8(b). Each time an order is placed within the current month, the calculation unit 22 updates the purchase quota increase / decrease amount and the carryover adjustment amount in the type-specific purchase quota setting master 11 to the amount obtained by subtracting the order amount.

[0047] Next, in step S14, the calculation unit 22 determines whether the remaining amount for the current month, which is the amount of the purchase limit calculated by the above-mentioned calculation formula, is less than 0 yen. For example, FIG. 9(a) is ordered data showing the amount of orders already placed in February 2022. The example in FIG. 9(a) shows that "400,000 yen" has been ordered in February 2022. FIG. 9(b) also shows that a new order of 300,000 yen is planned for the 15th of February 2022.

[0048] In this case, the calculation unit 22 calculates "(current purchase plan amount + previous carryover adjustment amount) - previous ordered amount - current planned order amount" as shown in FIG. 9(b), thereby calculating "(700,000 yen + 200,000 yen) - 400,000 yen - 300,000 yen = 200,000 yen." The result of this calculation, 200,000 yen, is an amount greater than or equal to 0 yen. This means that even if the planned order is placed this time, 200,000 yen will remain in the purchase quota. For this reason, the business operator places an order for the product as is, and enters the expected arrival date as shown in step S8 of FIG. 3.

[0049] Furthermore, in step S18, the calculation unit 22 sets (updates) the remaining amount of the purchase quota calculated in this manner in the type-specific purchase quota setting master 11 as the purchase quota increase / decrease amount and the carryover adjustment amount. This type-specific purchase quota setting master 11 is displayed by a display specification operation by the business operator. Furthermore, the carryover adjustment amount in the type-specific purchase quota setting master 11 can be changed by the operation of the business operator. The process of changing this carryover adjustment amount will be described later as the process of steps S19 and S20.

[0050] On the other hand, in a state where "400,000 yen" has already been ordered in February 2022 as shown in FIG. 9(a), if an order for 600,000 yen is planned for the 15th of February 2022 as shown in FIG. 9(c), the calculation performed by the calculation unit 22 based on the above-mentioned calculation formula is "(700,000 yen + 200,000 yen) - 400,000 yen - 600,000 yen = -100,000 yen." The calculation result of "-100,000 yen" is an amount less than 0 yen. This means that the order planned this time is an order that exceeds the purchase limit. For this reason, the warning processing unit 23 performs a predetermined warning process, such as displaying an error message via a warning screen, in step S15.

[0051] To explain more specifically again, FIG. 10(a) is an example of an order input screen on which a business operator inputs an order. Based on such an order input screen, the business operator selects a supplier such as "S00001 (manufacturer A)" and a purchasing department such as "B00001 (product 1 department)", and inputs an order date such as February 15, 2022, and a planned purchase date such as February 21, 2022. Then, the business operator inputs the product classification, product name, purchase quantity, and purchase price as detailed information of the product to be ordered. As a result, the calculation unit 22 calculates the purchase amount based on the purchase quantity and purchase price of the product, and inputs it in the input field for the purchase amount. In the case of the example of FIG. 10(a), the 400,000 yen and 200,000 yen of product classification A are the amounts to be checked to see if they exceed the purchase limit.

[0052] Fig. 10(b) is a diagram showing an example of a warning screen displayed by the warning processing unit 23 via the display control unit 24 when an order that exceeds the purchase quota is planned. As shown in Fig. 10(b), when an order that exceeds the purchase quota is specified, the warning processing unit 23 generates a warning screen including an error message such as "Purchase quota has been exceeded. Do you want to continue registration? (If you register, your supervisor's approval is required.)" and displays this via the display control unit 24. When the business operator wants to obtain the approval of his / her supervisor (approver), he / she operates the "YES" button displayed on the warning screen of Fig. 10(b).

[0053] When the "YES" button is operated, the warning processing unit 23 generates an order approval checklist as shown in Fig. 11. As shown in Fig. 11, the warning processing unit 23 generates an order approval checklist to include the planned purchase amount, carryover adjustment amount, available purchase quota, ordered amount, current order amount (planned current order amount), order amount, and the remaining available purchase quota amount which is the calculation result of the above-mentioned calculation formula. The warning processing unit 23 also generates an order approval checklist to include, as "reference" for the approver, the target purchase quota amount, carryover adjustment amount, and available purchase quota "Plan (available purchase quota)" for the current month and the two months before and after the current month, as well as the ordered amount, current order amount, order amount "Actual (order amount)" and the available purchase quota amount "Plan".

[0054] Such an order approval checklist is put into the order approval workflow and transmitted to the approver terminal device 9 by the communication processing unit 26. As a result, the approver determines whether or not to approve (step S16).

[0055] If the approver terminal device 9 returns an approval result rejecting the order (step S17: No), the business operator reconsiders the order contents and order amount, and inputs the order again (FIG. 3: step S6). As a result, the product and amount specified for the order are judged again by the approver (FIG. 3: steps S7 and S9).

[0056] On the other hand, if the approver gives an approval result approving the order (step S17: Yes), the business operator places an order for the product as is, and inputs the arrival schedule as shown in step S8 of Fig. 3. The calculation unit 22 also calculates the remaining amount of the purchase quota, and in step S18 sets (updates) this in the type-specific purchase quota setting master 11 as the purchase quota increase / decrease amount and the carryover adjustment amount.

[0057] Next, the carryover adjustment amount in the item-specific purchase quota setting master 11 can be changed by the operation of the business operator. That is, when the business operator increases or decreases the carryover amount to be carried over to the next month, he operates the input device 6 to change the carryover adjustment amount. When this change operation is performed, the change processing unit 25 changes (updates) the carryover adjustment amount, for example, from 200,000 yen to 100,000 yen in accordance with the change operation by the business operator, as described using FIG. 5 (step S20). The changed carryover adjustment amount, etc. is displayed by the display operation of the business operator.

[0058] In this way, by making it possible to change the carryover adjustment amount, the carryover amount can be adjusted flexibly according to circumstances. For example, if the carryover amount from last month was 200,000 yen, which is a large amount, but it is not expected that much purchase will be required this month, the carryover amount can be adjusted to reduce it to 100,000 yen.

[0059] Finally, the inventory management device 1 according to the embodiment can also generate and display a sales / purchase forecast / actual comparison table as shown in Fig. 12. When the business operator specifies the generation of this sales / purchase forecast / actual comparison table, the display control unit 24 generates the sales / purchase forecast / actual comparison table for comparing the sales and purchase forecasts and actual purchases for the past three months, for example.

[0060] The example in Fig. 12 is an example in which "Product Category A" is selected as the product category by the business operator, and "Product 1 Division" is selected as the department. When this selection is made, the display control unit 24 generates a sales and purchases forecast / actual comparison table for a total of three months, December 2021, January 2022, and February 2022, as shown in Fig. 12. This sales and purchases forecast / actual comparison table includes the sales plan amount, actual sales amount, planned / actual sales amount, available purchase quota amount, initial planned purchase amount, purchase quota increase / decrease amount, carryover adjustment change amount, actual purchase amount, and planned / actual purchase amount for each month.

[0061] Operation operators and approvers can use such a comparison table of planned and actual sales and purchases to perform more accurate inventory management and make management decisions.

[0062] (Effects of the embodiment) As is clear from the above description, the inventory management device 1 of the embodiment issues a warning against an order that exceeds the purchase limit, and allows the order to be placed only after approval from an approver. This prevents excessive ordering, allows proper inventory management, and improves cash flow. In addition, since the occurrence of surplus inventory can be prevented, inventory management costs can be reduced.

[0063] In addition, if purchasing quotas were to be managed on a product-by-product basis, the granularity of the management would be too fine, making operational settings and management difficult. However, the inventory management device 1 of the embodiment manages inventory by setting purchasing quotas for each product category, making it possible to easily and accurately manage inventory at an appropriate granularity.

[0064] In addition, the inventory management device 1 of the embodiment generates and displays the purchase quota increase / decrease amount together with the carryover adjustment amount. The purchase quota increase / decrease amount is an amount that represents the previous month's forecast / actual amount. By displaying this purchase quota increase / decrease amount, purchase amounts that show abnormal increases / decrease can be immediately detected, and the causes can be analyzed.

[0065] In addition to the purchase quota increase / decrease amount, the inventory management device 1 of the embodiment also displays a carryover adjustment amount, which is the same as the purchase quota increase / decrease amount as an initial value and can be modified to a desired value by the business operator. This allows the carryover amount to be adjusted flexibly to control ordering, for example, if the carryover amount from last month is 200,000 yen, which is a little high, but it is expected that not much purchase will be required this month, the carryover amount can be adjusted to decrease to 100,000 yen.

[0066] [Contribution to the United Nations-led Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)] This embodiment can contribute to improving business efficiency and promoting appropriate management decisions by companies, and can therefore contribute to Goals 8 and 9 of the SDGs.

[0067] Furthermore, this embodiment can contribute to reducing waste and promoting paperless and electronic systems, thereby contributing to the achievement of Goals 12, 13, and 15 of the SDGs.

[0068] Furthermore, this embodiment can contribute to strengthening control and governance, making it possible to contribute to Goal 16 of the SDGs.

[0069] [Other embodiments] The present invention may be embodied in various different embodiments other than those described above within the scope of the technical concept set forth in the claims.

[0070] For example, among the processes described in the embodiments, all or part of the processes described as being performed automatically can be performed manually, or all or part of the processes described as being performed manually can be performed automatically using known methods.

[0071] In addition, the processing procedures, control procedures, specific names, information including parameters such as registered data and search conditions for each process, screen examples, and database configurations shown in this specification and drawings may be changed as desired unless otherwise specified.

[0072] Furthermore, with regard to the inventory management device 1, the components shown in the figures are merely conceptual functional components, and the device does not necessarily have to be physically configured as shown in the figures.

[0073] For example, the processing functions of the inventory management device 1, particularly the control unit 3 and each processing function performed by the control unit 3, may be realized in whole or in part by a CPU (Central Processing Unit) and a program interpreted and executed by the CPU, or may be realized as hardware using wired logic. The program is recorded in a non-transient computer-readable recording medium containing programmed instructions for causing the information processing device to execute the processing described in this embodiment, and is mechanically read by the inventory management device 1 as necessary. That is, a computer program for giving instructions to the CPU in cooperation with the OS and performing various processing is recorded in a storage unit such as a ROM or HDD. This computer program is executed by being loaded into a RAM, and constitutes the control unit 3 in cooperation with the CPU.

[0074] In addition, the inventory management program of this inventory management device 1 may be stored in another server device connected to the inventory management device 1 via any network, and it is also possible to download all or part of it as needed.

[0075] In addition, the inventory management program for executing the process described in this embodiment may be stored in a non-transient computer-readable recording medium, or may be configured as a program product. Here, the term "recording medium" includes any "portable physical medium" such as a memory card, a Universal Serial Bus (USB) memory, a Secure Digital (SD) card, a flexible disk, a magneto-optical disk, a ROM, an Erasable Programmable Read Only Memory (EPROM), an Electrically Erasable and Programmable Read Only Memory (EEPROM (registered trademark)), a Compact Disk Read Only Memory (CD-ROM), a Magneto-Optical Disk (MO), a Digital Versatile Disk (DVD), and a Blu-ray (registered trademark) Disc.

[0076] Moreover, a "program" is a data processing method written in any language or description method, and may be in any form, such as source code or binary code. Note that a "program" is not necessarily limited to a single configuration, but also includes a distributed configuration as multiple modules or libraries, and a program that works with a separate program, such as an OS, to achieve its function. Note that well-known configurations and procedures can be used for the specific configuration and reading procedure for reading a recording medium in the inventory management device 1 shown in the embodiment, as well as the installation procedure after reading.

[0077] The memory unit 2 is a storage means such as a memory device such as RAM or ROM, a fixed disk device such as a hard disk, a flexible disk, or an optical disk, and stores various programs, tables, databases, and web page files used for various processes and providing websites.

[0078] The inventory management device 1 may be configured as an information processing device such as a known personal computer device or a workstation, or may be configured as an information processing device connected to any peripheral device. The information processing device may be realized by implementing software (including programs or data, etc.) that realizes the processing described in this embodiment.

[0079] Furthermore, the specific form of distribution and integration of the devices is not limited to those shown in the drawings, and all or part of them can be functionally or physically distributed and integrated in any unit according to various additions or function additions. In other words, the above-mentioned embodiments can be implemented in any combination, or the embodiments can be implemented selectively. [Industrial Applicability]

[0080] The present invention is suitable for application to inventory management in retail merchandise businesses. [Explanation of symbols]

[0081] 1. Inventory management device 2 Storage section 3. Control Unit 4. Communication Interface Section 5 Input / Output Interface Section 6 Input Devices 7 Output Devices 8 Network 9 Approver terminal device 11 Product type purchase quota setting master 21 Acquisition Department 22 Calculation section 23 Warning Processing Section 24 Display control section 25 Change Processing Section 26 Communication processing unit

Claims

1. an acquisition unit that acquires a current purchase plan amount, which is a purchase plan amount for the commodity corresponding to the current calculation period, and acquires a previous carryover adjustment amount, which is the difference between the purchase plan amount and the actual amount in the previous calculation period; a calculation unit that calculates a remaining amount available for purchasing goods in the current calculation period by subtracting an ordered amount, which is the amount used for purchasing goods in the current calculation period, and a planned order amount, which is the amount planned to be used by ordering the goods this time, from the value obtained by adding the current purchasing plan amount to the previous carried-over adjustment amount, and calculates a next purchasing quota increase / decrease amount, which is the amount that can be carried over to the next calculation period, by subtracting an actual amount, which is the ordered amount used for purchasing goods in the current calculation period and which is stored in the memory unit, from the value obtained by adding the current purchasing plan amount to the previous carried-over adjustment amount; a warning processing unit that performs a predetermined warning process when the calculated remaining amount indicates that there is no remaining amount; A display control unit that displays on a display unit the next purchase quota increase / decrease amount calculated by the calculation unit and a next carryover adjustment amount that is the same amount as the next purchase quota increase / decrease amount and is an amount that can be carried over to the next calculation period; An inventory management device having the following:

2. Further comprising a change processing unit for changing the next carryover adjustment amount in response to an operation by an operator; 2. The inventory management device according to claim 1,

3. The warning processing unit displays a predetermined alert via the display control unit as the warning processing, Further comprising a notification processing unit that notifies an approver of the occurrence of the alert; 2. The inventory management device according to claim 1,

4. The warning processing unit displays a predetermined alert via the display control unit as the warning processing, Further comprising a notification processing unit that notifies an approver of the occurrence of the alert; 3. The inventory management device according to claim 2, wherein:

5. The acquisition unit acquires the purchase plan amount for each product classification of the product; 5. The inventory management device according to claim 1, wherein:

6. an acquisition step in which an acquisition unit acquires a current purchase plan amount, which is a purchase plan amount of a commodity corresponding to a current calculation period, and acquires a previous carryover adjustment amount, which is a difference between the purchase plan amount and the actual amount in the previous calculation period; a calculation step in which the calculation unit calculates the remaining amount available for purchasing goods in the current calculation period by subtracting the ordered amount, which is the amount used to purchase goods in the current calculation period, and the planned order amount, which is the amount planned to be used by ordering the goods this time, from the value obtained by adding the current purchase plan amount to the previous carryover adjustment amount, and calculates the next purchase quota increase / decrease amount, which is the amount that can be carried over to the next calculation period, by subtracting the actual amount, which is the ordered amount used to purchase goods in the current calculation period and which is stored in the memory unit, from the value obtained by adding the current purchase plan amount to the previous carryover adjustment amount; a warning processing step in which a warning processing unit performs a predetermined warning process when the calculated remaining amount indicates that there is no remaining amount; A display control step in which a display control unit displays on a display unit the next purchase quota increase / decrease amount calculated in the calculation step and a next carryover adjustment amount, which is the same amount as the next purchase quota increase / decrease amount and is an amount that can be carried over to the next calculation period; An inventory control method having the following features.

7. Computer, an acquisition unit that acquires a current purchase plan amount, which is a purchase plan amount for the commodity corresponding to the current calculation period, and acquires a previous carryover adjustment amount, which is the difference between the purchase plan amount and the actual amount in the previous calculation period; a calculation unit that calculates a remaining amount available for purchasing goods in the current calculation period by subtracting an ordered amount, which is the amount used for purchasing goods in the current calculation period, and a planned order amount, which is the amount planned to be used by ordering the goods this time, from the value obtained by adding the current purchasing plan amount to the previous carried-over adjustment amount, and calculates a next purchasing quota increase / decrease amount, which is the amount that can be carried over to the next calculation period, by subtracting an actual amount, which is the ordered amount used for purchasing goods in the current calculation period and which is stored in the memory unit, from the value obtained by adding the current purchasing plan amount to the previous carried-over adjustment amount; a warning processing unit that performs a predetermined warning process when the calculated remaining amount indicates that there is no remaining amount; functioning as a display control unit that displays on a display unit the next purchase quota increase / decrease amount calculated by the calculation unit and the next carryover adjustment amount, which is the same amount as the next purchase quota increase / decrease amount and is an amount that can be carried over to the next calculation period; An inventory management program that features:

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