Article management system, article management method, reading device, and information processing device

Abstract

To transfer an article between entities more efficiently.SOLUTION: There is provided an article management system for managing article data representing an entity that an article belongs to among a plurality of entities, and the article management system includes a first wireless device installed at a first position, a second wireless device moving together with the article, at least one reader which reads identification information that a wireless device stores, and a management part which manages the article data, wherein the management part updates the article data to indicate that the article belongs to a first entity related to the first position when a first reader reads identification information on the first wireless device and identification information on the second wireless device in a state in which the article data indicates that the article belongs to a second entity related to the second position different from the first position.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 9

Description

[Technical field]

[0001] The present disclosure relates to an article management system, an article management method, a reading device, and an information processing device. [Background technology]

[0002] RFID (Radio Frequency IDentification) is a technology that enables information embedded in small devices, also called tags, to be read by an external reader through short-range wireless communication. For example, by attaching an RFID tag with embedded unique identification information to an item, it becomes possible to efficiently grasp the location of the item in inventory and distribution management, and it also becomes easy to visualize the information of the items under management. Among them, passive RFID tags that transmit information using the energy of electromagnetic waves emitted from a reader are inexpensive to manufacture because they do not require batteries, and can operate semi-permanently, so they are being used not only in inventory and distribution management but also in various other situations.

[0003] Patent Document 1 discloses an example of a system that utilizes RFID tags for managing goods. The system in Patent Document 1 includes an RFID tag attached to products sold in a store and a rewriting device installed at the exit of the store. When a purchaser of the product passes through the exit, this rewriting device reads identification information and price information from the RFID tag of the product, and also reads credit information from the purchaser's credit card, and performs payment and rewrites the ownership of the product. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0004] [Patent Document 1] JP 2018-156277 A Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0005] In the case of a sale of goods as envisaged in Patent Document 1, the ownership of the goods is transferred by an explicit procedure of settlement. However, in general cases where goods are transferred between multiple entities, there is not necessarily an explicit procedure that triggers the transfer, or even if some procedure such as inspection exists, there is a need to make it more efficient.

[0006] In view of the above, the present invention aims to realize a mechanism that enables efficient transfer of goods between entities. [Means for solving the problem]

[0007] According to one aspect, there is provided an item management system for managing item data indicating an entity among a plurality of entities to which an item belongs, the system including a first wireless device installed at a first location, a second wireless device moving with the item, at least one reading device for reading identification information stored in the wireless devices, and a management unit for managing the item data, the management unit updating the item data to indicate that the item belongs to a first entity associated with the first location when the first reading device reads the identification information of the first wireless device and the identification information of the second wireless device in a state in which the item data indicates that the item belongs to a second entity associated with a second location different from the first location. Corresponding methods, reading devices, and information processing devices are also provided.

[0008] According to another aspect, there is provided an item management system for managing item data indicating an entity to which an item belongs among a plurality of entities, the system including a first wireless device installed at a first location, a second wireless device moving with the item, at least one reading device for reading identification information stored in the wireless device, and a management unit for managing the item data, the management unit updating the item data to indicate that the item belongs to the second entity when a second reading device associated with a second entity reads the identification information of the first wireless device and the identification information of the second wireless device in a state in which the item data indicates that the item belongs to a first entity related to the first location, the management unit updating the item data to indicate that the item belongs to the second entity, the second reading device being associated with the second entity including at least one of the following: data relating the second reading device to the second entity exists, or the second reading device has read the identification information of a user device associated with the second entity. Corresponding methods, reading devices, and information processing devices are also provided. Effect of the Invention

[0009] According to the present invention, it becomes possible to efficiently transfer goods between entities. [Brief description of the drawings]

[0010] [Figure 1] FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram showing an example of the configuration of an item management system according to a first embodiment. [Diagram 2] 1 is a block diagram showing an example of the configuration of a tag reader according to a first embodiment. [Diagram 3] FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing an example of the configuration of a management server according to the first embodiment. [Figure 4] 4A to 4C are explanatory diagrams showing examples of the configurations of an item table, a location table, a leader table, and a user table. [Diagram 5] FIG. 13 is an explanatory diagram for explaining an example of the configuration of a reading result table in relation to an inventory operation. [Figure 6]11A and 11B are explanatory diagrams for explaining examples of the configuration of a delivery reservation screen and a delivery reservation table. [Figure 7] FIG. 11 is an explanatory diagram for explaining tag reading during delivery work in the first example of the first embodiment. [Figure 8] FIG. 11 is an explanatory diagram for explaining updating of a delivery status in the first example of the first embodiment. [Figure 9] FIG. 11 is an explanatory diagram for explaining tag reading during delivery work in a second example of the first embodiment. [Figure 10] FIG. 11 is an explanatory diagram for explaining updating of a delivery status in a second example of the first embodiment. [Figure 11] 11A and 11B are explanatory diagrams for explaining examples of configurations of a collection reservation screen and a collection reservation table. [Figure 12] FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram for explaining tag reading during a collection operation in the first embodiment. [Figure 13] FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram for explaining updating of a collection status in the first embodiment. [Figure 14] FIG. 11 is an explanatory diagram showing an example of a screen that provides item-related information to a user. [Figure 15] FIG. 1 is a first sequence diagram showing an example of a schematic flow of processing within the system. [Figure 16] FIG. 2 is a second sequence diagram showing an example of a schematic flow of processing within the system. [Figure 17] FIG. 13 is a third sequence diagram showing an example of a schematic flow of processing within the system. [Figure 18] 11 is a flowchart showing an example of the flow of a delivery status update process according to a first example of the first embodiment. [Figure 19] 13 is a flowchart showing an example of the flow of a delivery status update process according to a second example of the first embodiment. [Figure 20] 10 is a flowchart showing an example of the flow of a collection status update process according to the first embodiment. [Figure 21] FIG. 11 is a schematic diagram showing an example of the configuration of an item management system according to a second embodiment. [Figure 22]FIG. 11 is a block diagram showing an example of the configuration of a management server according to the second embodiment. [Figure 23] FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram showing an example of the configuration of a user tag table. [Figure 24] FIG. 13 is an explanatory diagram for explaining determination of an entity based on reading a user tag. [Diagram 25] FIG. 11 is an explanatory diagram for explaining tag reading during delivery work in the second embodiment. [Figure 26] FIG. 11 is an explanatory diagram for explaining updating of a delivery status in the second embodiment. [Figure 27] FIG. 11 is an explanatory diagram for explaining tag reading during a collection operation in the second embodiment. [Figure 28] FIG. 11 is an explanatory diagram for explaining updating of a collection status in the second embodiment. [Figure 29] 10 is a flowchart showing an example of the flow of a delivery status update process according to the second embodiment. [Diagram 30] 13 is a flowchart showing an example of the flow of a collection status update process according to the second embodiment. [Diagram 31] FIG. 13 is a block diagram showing an example of the configuration of a tag reader according to a modified example. [Diagram 32] FIG. 13 is a block diagram showing an example of a configuration of a management server according to a modified example. [Diagram 33] FIG. 13 is an explanatory diagram for explaining a change in a belonging entity of an article in one modified example. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0011] Hereinafter, the embodiments will be described in detail with reference to the attached drawings. Note that the following embodiments do not limit the invention according to the claims. Although the embodiments describe a number of features, not all of these features are essential to the invention, and the features may be combined in any manner. Furthermore, in the attached drawings, the same reference numbers are used for the same or similar configurations, and duplicated descriptions are omitted.

[0012] <1. First embodiment> <1-1. System Overview> FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram showing an example of the configuration of an item management system 1 according to the first embodiment. The item management system 1 is a system that manages, in a database, item data indicating an entity to which an item belongs in a situation where an item may be transferred between multiple entities. The transfer of an item may be, for example, any action involving the transfer of ownership, use rights, information viewing authority, or management responsibility of an item. Examples of transfers may include sales, assignments, rentals, and returns, whether for a fee or free of charge. An entity may be any entity to which an item may belong, such as an individual, an organization, a company, a department within a company, or a geographical area. Examples of entities to which an item belongs may include an owner of the item, a user of the item, a manager of the item, a storage location of the item, and a location of the item.

[0013] The goods may be inanimate objects (e.g., machines, equipment, tools, materials, consumer goods, vehicles, or robots) or living objects (e.g., animals or plants). As just a few examples, the goods management system 1 may be applied in various situations, such as the transfer of construction machinery between a construction company and a machinery rental business, the transfer of office equipment between a company and a leasing business, the delivery of cargo from a transport company to a user, or the transfer of livestock between livestock breeders.

[0014] The item management system 1 includes position tags 40a, 40b, 40c installed at different positions, item tags 50a, 50b, 50c attached to items, at least two tag readers 100a, 100b, a management server 200, and user terminals 300a, 300b. In the following description, when it is not necessary to distinguish between the tag readers 100a and 100b, the alphabet at the end of the reference numerals will be omitted and these will be collectively referred to as the tag reader 100. The same applies to the position tags 40a, 40b, 40c (position tags 40), the item tags 50a, 50b, 50c (item tags 50), and the user terminals 300a, 300b (user terminals 300), as well as other components.

[0015] The tag reader 100, the management server 200, and the user terminal 300 are connected to a network 5. The network 5 may be a wired network, a wireless network, or any combination thereof. Examples of the network 5 may include the Internet, an intranet, and a cloud network.

[0016] The location tag 40 is a wireless device that is installed at each location where a user may store an item in the item management system 1. FIG. 1 shows three locations 10a, 10b, and 10c where a user may store an item. For example, the location 10a is a warehouse under the jurisdiction of an entity E1 (e.g., Company A), the location 10b is a work site under the jurisdiction of an entity E2 (e.g., Company B), and the location 10c is a garage under the jurisdiction of the entity E1. The location tag 40a is installed at a predetermined location in the warehouse 10a and has unique tag identification information 41a embedded in the tag. The location tag 40b is installed at a predetermined location in the work site 10b and has unique tag identification information 41b embedded in the tag. The location tag 40c is installed at a predetermined location in the garage 10c and has unique tag identification information 41c embedded in the tag. The installation location of each location tag 40 may be fixed or may be changeable within each location. When the location itself moves (for example, when the work site moves), the location tag may also be relocated along with the location move.

[0017] The item tag 50 is a wireless device attached to each of the items managed in the item management system 1. Three items 30a, 30b, and 30c are shown in FIG. 1. The item 30a is in the warehouse 10a of the entity E1 and is attached with an item tag 50a. The item tag 50a has unique tag identification information 51a embedded in the tag. The item 30b is also in the warehouse 10a of the entity E1 and is attached with an item tag 50b. The item tag 50b has unique tag identification information 51b embedded in the tag. The item 30c is in the work site 10b of the entity E2 and is attached with an item tag 50c. The item tag 50c has unique tag identification information 51c embedded in the tag. Each item 30 moves by being carried by a user, or moves (for example, runs, walks, flies, or navigates) according to a user's operation or autonomously. As each item 30 moves, the item tag 50 attached to that item 30 moves with that item 30 .

[0018] In this embodiment, each of the tags such as the position tag 40 and the item tag 50 is a passive RFID tag (passive tag). The passive tag has a built-in small IC (Integrated Circuit) chip, memory, and antenna, and stores identification information and other information for identifying the tag in the memory. In this specification, the identification information is also simply called ID, and the identification information for identifying the tag is also called tag ID. Note that the tag ID may be considered as information for identifying the object to which the tag is attached. The IC chip of the passive tag operates using the energy of electromagnetic waves emitted from the tag reader, modulates the information stored in the memory into an information signal, and transmits (returns) the information signal from the antenna.

[0019] In another embodiment, each tag may be an active RFID tag. When each tag actively (for example, periodically) transmits information to the surroundings using power from a built-in battery, the tag may be called a beacon tag. In yet another embodiment, each tag may be a wireless device that responds to a signal from a reader and returns information, for example, by the NFC (Near Field Communication) method or the Bluetooth (registered trademark) method. Each tag may be called by any name, such as an IC tag, an IC card, or a responder.

[0020] The tag reader 100 is a reading device that reads information from an RFID tag. The tag reader 100 executes reading periodically or in response to some trigger such as a user operation, and transmits the tag reading result to the management server 200. The tag reader 100 may be capable of communicating directly with the management server 200, or may be capable of communicating indirectly with the management server 200 via some relay device. FIG. 1 shows a tag reader 100a used by a user 20a, and a tag reader 100b used by a user 20b. An example of a specific configuration of the tag reader 100 will be further described later.

[0021] The management server 200 is an information processing device that manages item data indicating which of two or more entities each item 30 belongs to. The management server 200 may be implemented as an application server, a database server, or a cloud server using, for example, a high-performance general-purpose computer. The management server 200 receives tag reading results from each tag reader 100, and updates the item data to reflect the latest management status of each item 30 based on the received tag reading results. The management server 200 also has an information providing function that provides item-related information to a user. The item-related information is typically provided to a user on the screen of a user terminal 300. An example of a specific configuration of the management server 200 will be further described later.

[0022] In the example of Fig. 1, the management server 200 is a cloud server arranged in a cloud environment. Although a single management server 200 is shown in Fig. 1, the item management function of the management server 200, which will be described in detail later, may be provided by a single device, or may be provided by multiple physically separate devices working together. In addition, in this embodiment, an example will be described in which the management server 200 holds a database including item data, but a device separate from the management server 200 may hold part or all of the database. For example, some of the data may be held by a wireless device (e.g., a location tag or an item tag) or a tag reader.

[0023] The user terminal 300 is a terminal device used by a user of the article management system 1. The user terminal 300 may be, for example, a general-purpose terminal such as a PC (Personal Computer) or a smartphone, or may be a dedicated terminal specialized for the purpose of article management. The user terminal 300 typically includes an input device for accepting user input, a communication interface for communicating with other devices (for example, the management server 200), and a display device for displaying information. As an example, the user terminal 300 is used by a user to inquire about article-related information from the management server 200. As another example, the user terminal 300 is used by a user to input a reservation for an operation to transfer an article between entities. Examples of user interfaces provided to the user by the user terminal 300 in these situations will be further described later.

[0024] 1, tag reader 100 and user terminal 300 are depicted as separate devices, but an integrated device having the functions of both tag reader 100 and user terminal 300 may be provided. User terminal 300 may also have a relay function for relaying communication between tag reader 100 and management server 200.

[0025] <1-2. Example of tag reader configuration> Fig. 2 is a block diagram showing an example of the configuration of tag reader 100 according to the first embodiment. With reference to Fig. 2, tag reader 100 includes control unit 101, storage unit 102, communication unit 103, positioning unit 104, power source 105, and reading unit 106.

[0026] The control unit 101 is composed of a memory that stores a computer program, and one or more processors (e.g., a CPU (Central Processing Unit)) that execute the computer program. The control unit 101 controls the overall functions of the tag reader 100 described in this specification. For example, the control unit 101 causes the reading unit 106 to execute reading of an RFID tag within a tag reading range, and causes the read information and the read time to be temporarily stored in the memory unit 102 as read result data. The control unit 101 may cause the positioning unit 104 to position the current position, and add coordinates indicating the current position to the read result data. Then, the control unit 101 transmits the read result data stored in the memory unit 102 to the management server 200 via the communication unit 103 together with the reader identification information of the own device.

[0027] The storage unit 102 may include any type of storage medium, such as a semiconductor memory such as a Read Only Memory (ROM) or a Random Access Memory (RAM), an optical disk, or a magnetic disk. In this embodiment, the storage unit 102 stores the above-mentioned read result data, the result of positioning by the positioning unit 104, and the reader identification information of the tag reader 100.

[0028] The communication unit 103 is a communication interface for the tag reader 100 to communicate with the management server 200. For example, the communication unit 103 may be a WLAN interface for communicating with a WLAN (Wireless Local Area Network) access point, or a cellular communication interface for communicating with a cellular base station. The communication unit 103 may also be a connection interface (for example, a Bluetooth (registered trademark) interface or a USB (Universal Serial Bus) interface) for connecting to a relay device (for example, a mobile terminal carried by the user 20).

[0029] The positioning unit 104 is a positioning module for measuring or estimating the current position of the tag reader 100. The positioning unit 104 may measure the amount of relative movement from a reference position using, for example, a three-axis acceleration sensor, a gyro sensor, and a geomagnetic sensor, and calculate the position coordinates of the current position from the sum of the known coordinates of the reference position and the amount of relative movement. The reference position here may be, for example, the position of the position tag 40. The positioning unit 104 may also be a GPS module that measures the current geographical position of the tag reader 100 using a GPS (Global Positioning System). The positioning unit 104 may also be a positioning module that performs base station positioning or wireless LAN positioning to estimate the current position using known position coordinates of a connected base station or wireless LAN access point. The positioning unit 104 outputs two-dimensional or three-dimensional position coordinates indicating the current position of the tag reader 100 obtained as a result of positioning to the control unit 101.

[0030] Power supply 105 includes a battery and a DC-DC converter, and supplies power to control unit 101, memory unit 102, communication unit 103, positioning unit 104, and reading unit 106 of tag reader 100 for operating electronic circuits. The battery may be a primary battery or a rechargeable secondary battery. Although not shown, tag reader 100 may have a connection terminal for connecting tag reader 100 to an external power source for charging power supply 105.

[0031] The reading unit 106 is a reading module capable of reading identification information stored in each RFID tag from the position tags 40 installed at multiple positions in the item management system 1 and the item tags 50 moving together with the items 30. With reference to FIG. 2, the reading unit 106 includes an RF controller 110, a power amplifier 111, a filter 112, a first coupler 113, a second coupler 114, an antenna 115, a power detection unit 116, and a canceller 117. The RF controller 110 outputs a transmission signal (e.g., a signal modulated in the UHF band) from the TX terminal to the power amplifier 111 in accordance with the control of the control unit 101. The power amplifier 111 amplifies the transmission signal input from the RF controller 110 and outputs it to the filter 112. The filter 112 may be, for example, a low-pass filter, and is configured to remove unnecessary components from the transmission signal amplified by the power amplifier 111. frequency The first coupler 113 distributes the transmission signal that has passed through the filter 112 to the coupler 114 and the power detection unit 116. The second coupler 114 outputs the transmission signal input from the first coupler 113 to the antenna 115, and outputs the reception signal input from the antenna 115 to the RF controller 110. The antenna 115 transmits the transmission signal input from the coupler 114 into the air as an electromagnetic wave. The antenna 115 also receives a signal returned from an RFID tag present within the reading range of the tag reader 100 in response to the transmission signal, and outputs the reception signal to the coupler 114. The power detection unit 116 detects the power level of the signal input from the first coupler 113, and outputs a signal RF_DETECT indicating the detected power level to the control unit 101. The canceller 117 receives a signal CARRIER_CANCEL indicating the power level of the carrier wave from the control unit 101. Then, based on CARRIER_CANCEL, the canceller 117 cancels the carrier component of the signal received from the antenna 115 at the second coupler 114, thereby extracting a desired signal component of the received signal to be output to the RX terminal of the RF controller 110. The RF controller 110 demodulates the signal input from the RX terminal, acquires the tag ID and other information returned from the RFID tag, and outputs the acquired information to the control unit 101.

[0032] In this embodiment, the tag reading attempt by the reading unit 106 may be performed periodically (e.g., once per second) without requiring an explicit instruction from the user. The transmission of the read result data from the communication unit 103 to the management server 200 may also be performed periodically (e.g., once every few seconds) or each time a tag is read, without requiring an explicit instruction from the user. In order to omit the transmission of redundant data and reduce the communication load, the control unit 101 may exclude from the read result data to be transmitted a record that is the same as a record that has been transmitted within a recent predetermined period. Note that, in another embodiment, one or both of the tag reading attempt by the reading unit 106 and the transmission of the read result data to the management server 200 may be performed in response to a user input via some kind of user interface provided in the tag reader 100. When the communication unit 103 indirectly communicates with the management server 200 via a relay device, the transmission of the read result data to the management server 200 may be performed only while the connection between the communication unit 103 and the relay device is valid.

[0033] <1-3. Management server configuration example> <1-3-1. Basic configuration> 3 is a block diagram showing an example of the configuration of the management server 200 according to the first embodiment. Referring to FIG. 3, the management server 200 includes a communication unit 210, an item database (DB) 220, and an item management unit 230.

[0034] The communication unit 210 is a communication interface for the management server 200 to communicate with other devices. The communication unit 210 may be a wired communication interface or a wireless communication interface. In this embodiment, the communication unit 210 communicates with the tag reader 100 and the user terminal 300 in the article management system 1. The article DB 220 is made up of a group of tables for managing data indicating which entity each of the articles under the management of the system belongs to. In this embodiment, the article DB 220 includes an article table 310, a location table 320, a reader table 330, a user table 340, a read result table 350, a delivery reservation table 360, and a collection reservation table 370. The article management unit 230 is a collection of multiple software modules that provide an article management function for managing data in the article DB 220. Each software module can be operated by one or more processors (not shown) of the management server 200 executing a computer program stored in a memory (not shown). In this embodiment, the item management unit 230 includes a tag processing unit 231 , a location management unit 232 , a transfer processing unit 233 , and an information providing unit 234 .

[0035] <1-3-2. Example of master data> The item table 310, the location table 320, the leader table 330, and the user table 340 of the item DB 220 are a group of tables that serve as so-called master data that are registered in advance in the item DB 220. Figures 4(A) to (D) show examples of the configurations of these tables.

[0036] The item table 310 includes a tag ID 311, an item ID 312, a name 313, an organization 314, a storage location 315, and a coordinate 316. 6The system has three data items. The tag ID 311 is identification information that uniquely identifies the item tag 50 attached to each item under the management of the system. The value of the tag ID 311 is the same as the value of the tag ID stored inside the corresponding item tag 50. The item ID 312 is identification information that uniquely identifies each item. The name 313 indicates the name of each item. In the example of FIG. 4(A), the name of the item identified by the item ID "IT01" is "item A", the name of the item identified by the item ID "IT02" is "item B", and the name of the item identified by the item ID "IT03" is "item C". Here, "item A", "item B", and "item C" correspond to the items 30a, 30b, and 30c shown in FIG. 1, respectively. The organization 314 indicates the entity to which each item belongs. Here, each item belongs to an entity that has management responsibility for the item. In the example of FIG. 4(A), "Company A" is responsible for managing "item A" and "item B", and "Company B" is responsible for managing "item C". "Company A" and "Company B" here correspond to entities E1 and E2 described in relation to FIG. 1, respectively. The value of organization 314 may be changed by transfer processing unit 233 according to the transfer of the item, as will be described later. Storage location 315 indicates the location where each item is stored using a location ID that identifies the location. In the example of FIG. 4(A), "item A" and "item B" are stored in a location identified by location ID "PL01". "Item C" is stored in a location identified by location ID "PL02". Coordinates 316 indicate the latest location coordinates where each item is located. The values ​​of storage location 315 and coordinates 316 may be updated by location management unit 232 when the tag reader 100 detects the movement of the item, as will be described later.

[0037] The location table 320 has five data items, namely, a tag ID 321, a location ID 322, a name 323, an organization 324, and a coordinate 325. The tag ID 321 is identification information that uniquely identifies the location tag 40 installed in each location under the management of the system. The value of the tag ID 321 is the same as the value of the tag ID stored inside the corresponding location tag 40. The location ID 322 is identification information that uniquely identifies each location. The name 323 represents the name of each location. In the example of FIG. 4(B), the name of the location identified by the location ID "PL01" is "warehouse", the name of the location identified by the location ID "PL02" is "work site", and the name of the location identified by the location ID "PL03" is "garage". The "warehouse", "work site", and "garage" here correspond to the locations 10a, 10b, and 10c shown in FIG. 1, respectively. The organization 324 represents an entity that has management responsibility for each location. In the example of Fig. 4(B), "Company A" has management responsibility for the "warehouse" and "garage," and "Company B" has management responsibility for the "work site." Coordinates 325 indicate the position coordinates of the position tag 40 installed at each location.

[0038] The reader table 330 has three data items: a reader ID 331, a name 332, and an organization 333. The reader ID 331 is identification information that uniquely identifies each tag reader 100 used in the system. The name 332 indicates the name of each reader. In the example of FIG. 4(C), the name of the tag reader 100 identified by the reader ID "RD01" is "Reader A", and the name of the tag reader 100 identified by the reader ID "RD02" is "Reader B". "Reader A" and "Reader B" here correspond to the tag readers 100a and 100b shown in FIG. 1, respectively. The organization 333 indicates an entity that has management responsibility for each tag reader. In the example of FIG. 4(C), "Company A" has management responsibility for "Reader A", and "Company B" has management responsibility for "Reader B".

[0039] The user table 340 has three data items: user ID 341, name 342, and organization 343. The user ID 341 is identification information that uniquely identifies each user 20 who uses the article management system 1. The name 342 indicates the name of each user. In the example of FIG. 4(D), the name of the user identified by the user ID "A001" is "user A", and the name of the user identified by the user ID "B001" is "user B". "User A" and "user B" here correspond to the users 20a and 20b shown in FIG. 1, respectively. The organization 343 indicates the organization to which each user belongs. In the example of FIG. 4(D), "user A" belongs to "company A", and "user B" belongs to "company B".

[0040] <1-3-3. Understanding the storage status of items> Tag processing unit 231 of item management unit 230 adds the read result data received from each tag reader 100 via communication unit 210 to read result table 350. Here, an example of the configuration of read result data stored in read result table 350 will be described with reference to FIG. 5, taking inventory work, which is one type of work that generates read result data, as an example.

[0041] The left side of FIG. 5 shows a state where a user carrying a tag reader 100a visits a location 10a under the management of an entity E1 for an inventory operation. When a position tag 40a comes within the reading range of the tag reader 100a, the tag reader 100a reads the tag ID "TG11" of the position tag 40a. When an item tag 50a of an item 30a comes within the reading range, the tag reader 100a reads the tag ID "TG01" of the item tag 50a. When an item tag 50b of an item 30b comes within the reading range, the tag reader 100a reads the tag ID "TG02" of the item tag 50b. When it is time to transmit the reading result data, the tag reader 100a transmits the reading result data (including three records in this case) indicating the result of tag reading to the management server 200. The tag processing unit 231 adds the three records of the read result data received via the communication unit 210 to the read result table 350.

[0042] 5, the read result table 350 has five data items: record number 351, read time 352, tag ID 353, reader ID 354, and coordinates 355. In the following description, a record with a record number of "N" will be referred to as record #N (N is an integer). Record #1 in the read result table 350 indicates that the tag reader 100a identified by the reader ID "RD01" read the position tag 40a identified by the tag ID "TG11", and that the position coordinates at that time were (Xa, Ya). Record #2 indicates that the tag reader 100a read the item tag 50a identified by the tag ID "TG01", and that the position coordinates at that time were (X1, Y1). Record #3 indicates that the tag reader 100a read the item tag 50b identified by the tag ID "TG02", and that the location coordinates at that time were coordinates (X2, Y2). In this embodiment, the tag IDs and other information read by each tag reader 100 are collected and stored by the management server 200 in this manner without any explicit instructions from the user. Therefore, the management server 200 can easily grasp which items are stored in which locations under its management, without imposing cumbersome tasks on the user.

[0043] The tag processing unit 231 adds the record of the read result data received from the tag reader 100 to the read result table 350, and then calls the position management unit 232. The position management unit 232 updates the value of the coordinates 316 of the corresponding item in the item table 310 with the latest position coordinates of the item tag 50 indicated by the record added to the read result table 350. In addition, the position management unit 232 determines the correspondence between the tag ID of the position tag 40 and the tag ID of the item tag 50 based on the temporal correlation between the records corresponding to the results of multiple reads received from the same reading device. For example, from the records #1 and #2 shown in FIG. 5, the position management unit 232 knows that the tag reader 100a read the tag ID "TG11" of the position tag 40a and the tag ID "TG01" of the item tag 50a during a predetermined period (for example, several seconds to several minutes). Therefore, the location management unit 232 recognizes that the item 30a is stored in the location 10a where the location tag 40a is installed, and updates the value of the storage location 315 of the item 30a (associated with the tag ID "TG01") in the item table 310 to the location ID "PL01". Similarly, the location management unit 232 recognizes from the records #1 and #3 shown in Fig. 5 that the item 30b is also stored in the location 10a, and updates the value of the storage location 315 of the item 30b in the item table 310 to the location ID "PL01". Of course, if the items 30 have not been moved, the value of the storage location 315 does not change, and updating the value in this case may be skipped.

[0044] In this way, the item management unit 230 reflects in the data in the item DB 220 the latest status regarding where each item 30 under the management of the system is currently stored and at what coordinates.

[0045] <1-3-4. Transfer of goods (change of the entity to which the goods belong)> While the process explained in the previous section is a process of simply tracking the movement of an item within the same entity, this section explains how to handle the transfer of ownership, usage rights, information viewing authority, or management responsibility of an item, that is, the transfer of an item between entities. Here, two types of work types, namely, delivery of an item and collection of an item, are mainly explained as work for transferring an item. Delivery of an item refers to the work of a person in charge of an entity from which the item is transferred moving (e.g., delivering) an item to a location related to the entity to which the item is transferred. Collection of an item refers to the work of a person in charge of an entity to which the item is transferred going to a location related to the entity to which the item is transferred and picking up the item. Note that the names of these work types are merely examples, and names other than "delivery" and "collection" may be used.

[0046] In this embodiment, the transfer processing unit 233 receives reservation information in advance indicating that an operation to transfer the item 30 will be performed for both delivery and collection. Then, the transfer processing unit 233 changes the entity to which the item 30 belongs in the item DB 220 based on the result of reading by at least one tag reader 100 and the received reservation information.

[0047] (1) Acceptance of delivery reservations The transfer processing unit 233 displays a delivery reservation screen that provides a user interface (UI) for accepting reservations for delivery work on the display device of the user terminal 300. The transfer processing unit 233 stores the delivery reservation information accepted via the delivery reservation screen in the delivery reservation table 360 ​​of the goods DB 220.

[0048] FIG. 6 is an explanatory diagram for explaining an example of the configuration of a delivery reservation screen and a delivery reservation table. Here, it is assumed that a user 20a using a user terminal 300a logs in to the system to perform a delivery reservation operation. On the left side of FIG. 6, an example of a delivery reservation screen 400 is shown, and a login user name "user A" is displayed at the top of the screen. The delivery reservation screen 400 includes a storage location selection field 401, a transfer destination selection field 402, a delivery location selection field 403, a date specification field 404, an item display area 411, and a destination display area 412. The storage location selection field 401 is a UI for allowing a user to select a storage location of the item 30 to be delivered from among locations related to the entity to which the login user belongs. The transfer destination selection field 402 is a UI for allowing a user to select an entity to which the item is to be transferred from among entities other than the entity to which the login user belongs. The delivery location selection field 403 is a UI for allowing the user to select a location to which the item 30 is to be delivered from among the locations related to the entity selected in the transfer destination selection field 402. The date specification field 404 is a UI for allowing the user to specify the date on which the delivery work will be performed (i.e., the scheduled delivery date). The item display area 411 displays icons representing items currently stored in the location selected in the storage location selection field 401 based on the item table 310. In the example of FIG. 6, as a result of selecting "warehouse" in the storage location selection field 401, two icons representing items 30a and 30b currently stored in the warehouse are displayed in the item display area 411. The display positions of the corresponding icons in the item display area 411 may be determined based on the coordinates of the items so as to virtually display the current positions of the items in the storage locations. The destination display area 412 is a display area that virtually displays the destination of the delivery work selected in the transfer destination selection field 402 and the delivery location selection field 403. 6, the "work site" of entity E2 (i.e., "Company B") is selected as the destination of the delivery work. For example, the user can drag and drop the icon of the item 30a displayed in the item display area 411 to the destination display area 412 to specify the item 30a as the target item to be delivered to the "work site."

[0049] The transfer processing unit 233 accepts such delivery reservation information via the delivery reservation screen 400. Referring to the right side of Fig. 6, the delivery reservation table 360 ​​has five data items, namely, a record number 361, a scheduled delivery date 362, an item ID 363, a destination 364, and a status 365. For example, record #2 of the delivery reservation table 360 ​​indicates that the item 30a identified by the item ID "IT01" is scheduled to be delivered to the location identified by the location ID "PL02" on the scheduled delivery date "YMD2". Since the delivery work is not completed at the time the delivery reservation is accepted, the transfer processing unit 233 sets the value of the status 365 of the record to "reserved".

[0050] 6 is merely one example of a UI for accepting a delivery reservation. The transfer processing unit 233 may accept a delivery reservation via a screen having any other configuration. The transfer processing unit 233 may also accept a delivery reservation via a voice UI, or may accept a delivery reservation by receiving a reservation data file that describes reservation information.

[0051] (2) Transfer of goods by delivery For convenience of explanation, it is assumed here that a target item (e.g., item 30a) belonging to a second entity (e.g., Company A) related to a second location is transferred to a first entity (e.g., Company B) related to a first location. In this specification, the modifiers "first" and "second" are used only for the purpose of distinguishing multiple objects from each other, and these modifiers do not imply any order relationship. Before the delivery work is performed, the item table 310 indicates that the target item belongs to the second entity. In this state, the transfer processing unit 233 updates the item table 310 to indicate that the target item belongs to the first entity, on the condition that at least the first reading device has read the tag ID of the position tag of the first location and the tag ID of the item tag of the target item. In an example of delivering the item 30a to the location 10b, the position tag of the first location corresponds to the position tag 40b, and the item tag of the target item corresponds to the item tag 50a. The above condition means that the result of a tag read indicates that the item of interest was properly delivered to a location associated with (eg, under the control of) the first entity.

[0052] As a first example, delivery to the proper location may be confirmed by the first reading device (e.g., tag reader 100b) associated with the first entity and the second reading device (e.g., tag reader 100a) associated with the second entity. As a second example, delivery to the proper location may be confirmed only by the first reading device (e.g., tag reader 100b) associated with the first entity that will receive the target item.

[0053] FIG. 7 is an explanatory diagram for explaining tag reading during delivery work in the first embodiment. In the example of FIG. 7, the item to be delivered is an item 30a that belongs to an entity E1 and has been stored at a location 10a. A user 20a who possesses a tag reader 100a delivers the item 30a to a location 10b on the scheduled delivery date. A user 20b who possesses a tag reader 100b receives the item 30a at the location 10b. While the user 20a is staying at the location 10b, the tag reader 100a reads the tag ID of the position tag 40b installed at the location 10b and the tag ID of the item tag 50a of the item 30a, and transmits the read result data to the management server 200. Meanwhile, the tag reader 100b also reads the tag ID of the position tag 40b and the tag ID of the item tag 50a, and transmits the read result data to the management server 200. The tag processing unit 231 of the management server 200 stores the read result data received via the communication unit 210 in a read result table 350 .

[0054] FIG. 8 is an explanatory diagram for explaining the update of the delivery status based on the result of tag reading described with reference to FIG. 7. The reading result table 350 in FIG. 8 has two records #4 and #5 indicating the result of tag reading by the tag reader 100a in the example of FIG. 7, and two records #6 and #7 indicating the result of tag reading by the tag reader 100b. The transfer processing unit 233, for example, refers to the delivery reservation table 360 ​​and recognizes that the item 30a identified by the item ID "IT01" is scheduled to be delivered to the location 10b identified by the destination "PL02" on the scheduled delivery date "YMD2". According to this delivery schedule, the item 30a will be transferred from the entity E1 (Company A) to which the item 30a currently belongs to to entity E2 (Company B). The transfer processing unit 233 learns from records #4 and #5 of the read result table 350 that the tag reader 100a associated with the entity E1 read the tag ID "TG21" of the position tag 40b of the location 10b and the tag ID "TG01" of the item tag 50a. The transfer processing unit 233 also learns from records #6 and #7 of the read result table 350 that the tag reader 100b associated with the entity E2 read the tag ID "TG21" of the position tag 40b and the tag ID "TG01" of the item tag 50a. Based on these read results, the transfer processing unit 233 determines that the scheduled delivery work has been performed, and updates the value of the status 365 of the corresponding reservation information record #2 in the delivery reservation table 360 ​​to "completed". The transfer processing unit 233 also updates the value of organization 314 in the record for item 30a in item table 310 to "Company B", which is the name of entity E2. The location management unit 232 updates the value of storage location 315 in the record for item 30a in item table 310 to location ID "PL02", and the value of coordinates 316 to the latest location coordinates (X4, Y4) of item 30a, in the same manner as in the process during inventory work.

[0055] According to the first embodiment, it is confirmed that the delivery operation has been properly performed based on the results of tag reading by both the tag reader under the control of the transfer source entity and the tag reader under the control of the transfer destination entity. Therefore, it is possible to properly change the entity to which the goods belong while reliably preventing any misunderstanding between the parties involved in the transfer.

[0056] FIG. 9 is an explanatory diagram for explaining tag reading during delivery work in the second embodiment. In the example of FIG. 9, the item to be delivered is an item 30a that belongs to an entity E1 and has been stored at a location 10a. A user 20a delivers the item 30a to a location 10b on the scheduled delivery date. A user 20b who possesses a tag reader 100b receives the item 30a at the location 10b. The tag reader 100b reads the tag ID of a position tag 40b installed at the location 10b and the tag ID of an item tag 50a of the item 30a received by the user 20b, and transmits the read result data to the management server 200. A tag processing unit 231 of the management server 200 stores the read result data received via the communication unit 210 in a read result table 350.

[0057] FIG. 10 is an explanatory diagram for explaining the update of the delivery status based on the result of tag reading described with reference to FIG. 9. The reading result table 350 in FIG. 10 has two records #6 and #7 indicating the result of tag reading by the tag reader 100b in the example of FIG. 9. The transfer processing unit 233, for example, refers to the delivery reservation table 360 ​​and recognizes that a delivery operation similar to the example of FIG. 8 is scheduled. The transfer processing unit 233 learns from the records #6 and #7 in the reading result table 350 that the tag reader 100b associated with the entity E2 has read the tag ID "TG21" of the position tag 40b and the tag ID "TG01" of the item tag 50a. Based on these reading results, the transfer processing unit 233 determines that the scheduled delivery operation has been performed, and updates the value of the status 365 of the corresponding reservation information record #2 in the delivery reservation table 360 ​​to "Complete". In addition, the transfer processing unit 233 updates the value of organization 314 to "Company B" in the record for item 30a in the item table 310. The location management unit 232 updates the value of storage location 315 to the location ID "PL02" and the value of coordinates 316 to the latest location coordinates (X4, Y4) of item 30a in the record for item 30a in the item table 310.

[0058] According to the second embodiment, it is confirmed that the delivery operation has been performed based on the result of tag reading by a tag reader under the management of the transfer destination entity, and the entity to which the item belongs is changed in the item DB 220. Therefore, the person in charge on the transfer source entity side does not necessarily have to operate his / her own tag reader at the time of delivery, and it is possible to avoid an inconvenience such as failure to update item data due to non-possession or malfunction of a tag reader (e.g. dead battery).

[0059] In any embodiment, the transfer processing unit 233 changes the entity to which the target item belongs based on at least the result of tag reading by the first reading device and the delivery reservation information indicating that the operation of moving the target item to the destination is to be performed. This means that when there is no valid delivery reservation information, the entity to which the target item belongs is not changed based only on the result of tag reading. Therefore, it is possible to prevent a situation in which the destination of the item is erroneously changed when the tag ID of an item to be delivered to another destination is unintentionally read by a tag reader at a stopover location on the way, or when a third party brings the item to an inappropriate location. The transfer processing unit 233 may issue an alarm to the user when the read result data indicates that the location tag of a location that is not under the management of the current destination entity of the item and is not specified as a destination in the reservation information and the item tag of the item have been read. This allows the user to quickly notice the erroneous delivery or unauthorized removal of the item. Note that such a comparison with the reservation information does not necessarily have to be performed. For example, in an environment where unintentional reading of tag IDs by tag readers does not cause problems, simple transfer management that omits checking against reservation information is also useful. This also applies to collection reservations, which will be described later.

[0060] (3) Accepting collection reservations The transfer processing unit 233 displays a collection reservation screen that provides a UI for accepting reservations for collection work on the display device of the user terminal 300. The transfer processing unit 233 stores the collection reservation information accepted via the collection reservation screen in the collection reservation table 370 of the item DB 220.

[0061] FIG. 11 is an explanatory diagram for explaining an example of the configuration of a collection reservation screen and a collection reservation table. Here, it is assumed that a user 20b using a user terminal 300b logs in to the system and performs a collection reservation operation. On the left side of FIG. 11, an example of a collection reservation screen 500 is shown, and a login user name "user B" is displayed at the top of the screen. The collection reservation screen 500 includes a storage location selection field 501, a collector selection field 502, a date designation field 504, an item display area 511, and a collector display area 512. The storage location selection field 501 is a UI for allowing a user to select a storage location of the item 30 to be collected from among locations related to the entity to which the login user belongs. The collector selection field 502 is a UI for allowing a user to select an entity to be a collector (i.e., a transfer destination) of the item from among entities other than the entity to which the login user belongs. The date designation field 504 is a UI for allowing a user to designate a date on which the collection operation will be performed (i.e., a scheduled collection date). In the item display area 511, an icon representing an item currently stored in the location selected in the storage location selection field 501 is displayed based on the item table 310. In the example of FIG. 11, as a result of selecting "work site" in the storage location selection field 501, two icons representing items currently stored in the work site are displayed in the item display area 511. The display position of the corresponding icon in the item display area 511 may be determined based on the coordinates of the item so as to virtually represent the current location of each item in the storage location. The collector display area 512 is a display area that virtually represents the collector selected in the collector selection field 502. In the example of FIG. 11, the entity E1 (i.e., "Company A") is selected as the collector. For example, the user can drag and drop the icon of the item 30a displayed in the item display area 511 to the collector display area 512 to specify the item 30a as the target item to be collected by the person in charge of the entity E1.

[0062] The transfer processing unit 233 accepts such collection reservation information via the collection reservation screen 500. Referring to the right side of Fig. 11, the collection reservation table 370 has five data items, namely, a record number 371, a scheduled collection date 372, an item ID 373, a collector 374, and a status 375. For example, record #2 of the collection reservation table 370 indicates that the scheduled collection date is "YMD4", and the item 30a identified by the item ID "IT01" is scheduled to be collected by the collector "Company A". Since the collection work is not completed at the time when the collection reservation is accepted, the transfer processing unit 233 sets the value of the status 375 of the record to "reserved".

[0063] 11 is merely one example of a UI for accepting a collection reservation. The transfer processing unit 233 may accept a collection reservation via a screen having any other configuration. The transfer processing unit 233 may also accept a collection reservation via a voice UI, or may accept a collection reservation by receiving a reservation data file that describes reservation information.

[0064] (4) Transfer of items due to collection For convenience of explanation, it is assumed here that a target item (e.g., item 30a) belonging to a first entity (e.g., Company B) related to a first location is transferred to a second entity (e.g., Company A) related to a second location by a collection operation. Before the collection operation is performed, the item table 310 indicates that the target item belongs to the first entity. In this state, the transfer processing unit 233 updates the item table 310 to indicate that the target item belongs to the second entity when the second reading device related to the second entity reads the tag ID of the location tag of the first location and the tag ID of the item tag of the target item. In this embodiment, the second reading device being related to the second entity means that data relating the second reading device to the second entity exists. For example, as described with reference to FIG. 4(C), the reader table 330 of the item DB 220 has a record that relates the tag reader 100a identified by the reader ID "RD01" to the administrator "Company A". Thus, tag reader 100a is associated with entity E1 named "Company A." In the example of a user 20a, a representative of Company A, collecting item 30a stored at location 10b, the second reading device corresponds to tag reader 100a, the location tag of the first location corresponds to location tag 40b, and the item tag of the target item corresponds to item tag 50a. The above conditions mean that the result of tag reading indicates that a legitimate representative of the collection company visited the appropriate location to collect the target item.

[0065] FIG. 12 is an explanatory diagram for explaining tag reading during collection work in this embodiment. In the example of FIG. 12, the item to be collected is an item 30a that belongs to an entity E2 and is stored at a location 10b. A user 20a who possesses a tag reader 100a visits the location 10b on the scheduled collection date and collects the item 30a. While the user 20a is staying at the location 10b, the tag reader 100a reads the tag ID of the position tag 40b installed at the location 10b and the tag ID of the item tag 50a of the item 30a, and transmits the read result data to the management server 200. The tag processing unit 231 of the management server 200 stores this read result data received via the communication unit 210 in a read result table 350.

[0066] After collecting the item 30a at the location 10b, the user 20a takes the item 30a back to the location 10a under the management of the entity E1, for example. The tag reader 100a reads the tag ID of the position tag 40a installed at the location 10a and the tag ID of the item tag 50a of the item 30a, and transmits the read result data to the management server 200. The tag processing unit 231 of the management server 200 stores the read result data received via the communication unit 210 in the read result table 350.

[0067] FIG. 13 is an explanatory diagram for explaining the update of the collection status based on the result of tag reading described with reference to FIG. 12. The reading result table 350 in FIG. 13 has two records #8 and #9 indicating the result of tag reading by the tag reader 100a at the location 10b in the example of FIG. 12. For example, the transfer processing unit 233 refers to the collection reservation table 370 and recognizes that the item 30a identified by the item ID "IT01" is scheduled to be collected by a person in charge of the entity E1, which is company A, on the scheduled collection date "YMD4". According to this collection schedule, the item 30a will be transferred from the entity E2 (company B), to which it currently belongs, to the entity E1 (company A). The transfer processing unit 233 learns from the records #8 and #9 in the reading result table 350 that the tag reader 100a associated with the entity E1 has read the tag ID "TG21" of the position tag 40b at the location 10b and the tag ID "TG01" of the item tag 50a. Based on the result of this reading, the transfer processing unit 233 determines that the scheduled collection work has been performed, and updates the value of the status 375 of the corresponding reservation information record #2 in the collection reservation table 370 to "Company A." The transfer processing unit 233 also updates the value of the organization 314 of the record of the item 30a in the item table 310 to "Company A," which is the name of the entity E1.

[0068] The reading result table 350 in Fig. 13 also has two records #10 and #11 that indicate the results of tag reading by the tag reader 100a after the user 20a brought the item 30a back to the location 10a in the example of Fig. 12. Based on these records #10 and #11 in the reading result table 350, the location management unit 232 updates the value of the storage location 315 in the record for the item 30a in the item table 310 to the location ID "PL01" and the value of the coordinates 316 to the latest location coordinates (X6, Y6) of the item 30a.

[0069] In such an embodiment, the entity to which the item belongs can be changed after confirming that the recovery operation was carried out properly based on the results of tag reading by a tag reader under the control of the destination entity.

[0070] In addition, the transfer processing unit 233 changes the entity to which the target item belongs based on the result of tag reading by the second reading device under the management of the collector and the collection reservation information indicating that the person in charge of the collector will pick up the target item from the current storage location. This means that the entity to which the target item belongs is not changed based only on the result of tag reading when there is no valid collection reservation information. Therefore, it is possible to prevent a situation in which the entity to which the target item belongs is changed accordingly when the item is mistakenly handed over to a third party who has the tag reader 100 but is not a legitimate collector. The transfer processing unit 233 may also issue an alert to a user associated with the current entity to which the target item belongs in this case as in the case of erroneous delivery.

[0071] (5) Determining correspondence based on temporal correlation In this embodiment, the transfer processing unit 233 may determine the correspondence between tag IDs read from two or more tags based on the time correlation between the results of multiple readings received from the same tag reader 100, similar to the position management unit 232. For example, from records #6 and #7 of the reading result table 350 shown in FIG. 10, the transfer processing unit 233 knows that the tag reader 100b read the tag ID "TG21" of the position tag 40b and the tag ID "TG01" of the item tag 50a during a predetermined period. As a result, the transfer processing unit 233 can determine that the tag reader 100b under the management of the transfer destination entity E2 has confirmed the proper delivery of the item 30a to the place 10b where the position tag 40b is installed. In this way, by determining the correspondence between records on the management server 200 side based on the time correlation, the tag reader 100 simply sends the results of tag reading from multiple tags to the management server 200 with a time stamp attached to each of them. Such a configuration suppresses the complexity of the implementation of tag reader 100, makes it easy to deploy a large number of tag readers 100 in the system at low cost, and enables expansion of the uses of the article management system 1. The temporal correlation between read result records may be determined based on any determination condition, such as, for example, the difference between read times being smaller than a threshold value, having read times belonging to the same time zone, or having reads occurring more than a predetermined number of times within a predetermined period.

[0072] <1-3-5. Providing product-related information> The information providing unit 234 provides information related to the items belonging to each entity to the user terminal 300 of the user associated with the entity based on the data held by the item DB 220. The item-related information provided to the user terminal 300 includes, for example, one or more of the item ID, name, storage location, location information, and work status such as delivery or collection of each item. When a user who is a member of a certain entity logs into the system, the logged-in user may be provided with only information related to the items belonging to the entity. Alternatively, information related to items that are scheduled to belong to the entity or items that have belonged to the entity in the past may also be provided to the logged-in user in a form in which such statuses can be distinguished. Access to information may be controlled on a device-by-device basis, rather than (or in addition to) on a user-by-user basis. That is, the information providing unit 234 may provide only information related to the items belonging to the entity associated with the access source user terminal 300 to the access source user terminal 300.

[0073] FIG. 14 shows an example of an information providing screen 800 that may be displayed on the display of a user terminal to provide item-related information to a user. Here, it is assumed that a user 20a using a user terminal 300a logs into the system and inquires about item-related information. A login user name "user A" is displayed at the top of the screen. The information providing screen 800 includes a map display area 811 and an item list display area 812. The map display area 811 is an area that visually displays, in map format, the location information of one or more items stored at a location selected by the user. In the example of FIG. 14, in the map display area 811, icons of "item A" and "item B" stored in the "warehouse" are displayed at positions based on the coordinate values ​​of the coordinates 316 of the item table 310. The item list display area 812 is an area that displays, in table format, item-related information of one or more items that the user is permitted to view. In the example of FIG. 14, the item IDs, names, storage locations, and statuses of "item A", "item B", and "item D" belonging to the entity E1 are displayed in the item list display area 812. On the other hand, for example, item-related information for "item C" belonging to entity E2 is not displayed on the screen. By making it possible for item management system 1, which efficiently manages the transfer of items on a database, to provide item-related information in an access-controlled form for each entity in this way, it is possible to achieve both convenience of item management for users and safety of information security.

[0074] 14 is merely an example of a screen that displays item-related information. The information providing unit 234 may provide the item-related information via a screen having any other configuration. The information providing unit 234 may output the item-related information via a voice UI, or may provide the item-related information to the user by transmitting a data file describing the item-related information to the user terminal 300.

[0075] <1-4. Processing flow> In this section, an example of the flow of processing within the item management system 1 in this embodiment will be described using sequence diagrams in Figures 15 to 17 and flowcharts in Figures 18 to 20. In the following description, processing steps will be abbreviated as S (step).

[0076] <1-4-1. Inventory> The upper part of FIG. 15 shows the flow of processing related to an inventory operation S110 performed by a user 20a of company A and a user 20b of company B at the locations 10a and 10b, respectively.

[0077] First, in S111, when user 20a carrying tag reader 100a visits location 10a, tag reader 100a reads tag IDs from item tags 50 of one or more items 30 stored at location 10a. Next, in S112, tag reader 100a reads tag IDs from position tags 40a installed at location 10a. When the time arrives for tag reader 100a to communicate with management server 200, tag reader 100a transmits read result data indicating the results of tag reading performed up to that point to management server 200 in S113.

[0078] In S113, the tag processing unit 231 of the management server 200 adds the read result data received from the tag reader 100a to the read result table 350, and calls the location management unit 232. In S114, the location management unit 232 updates the location coordinates (the value of the coordinates 316 in the item table 310) for one or more items 30 stored in the location 10a, based on the read result data added to the read result table 350. When the location management unit 232 detects an item 30 that has been newly moved from another location (e.g., location 10c) to the location 10a, it also updates the storage location of the item 30 (the value of the storage location 315 in the item table 310).

[0079] Meanwhile, in S115, when user 20b carrying tag reader 100b visits location 10b, tag reader 100b reads tag IDs from item tags 50 of one or more items 30 stored at location 10b. Next, in S116, tag reader 100b reads tag IDs from position tags 40b installed at location 10b. When the time arrives for tag reader 100b to communicate with management server 200, in S117, tag reader 100b transmits read result data indicating the results of tag reading performed up to that point to management server 200.

[0080] Similar to S114, in S118, the tag processing unit 231 and the location management unit 232 of the management server 200 update the location coordinates (and storage location, if necessary) of the detected item 30 based on the reading result data received from the tag reader 100b.

[0081] <1-4-2. Delivery reservation> The lower part of FIG. 15 shows the flow of processing related to a delivery reservation task S120 performed by a user 20a of company A using a user terminal 300a.

[0082] First, in S121, the user 20a who has logged in to the item management system 1 on the user terminal 300a opens the delivery reservation screen 400 and inputs delivery reservation information such as the item to be delivered, the transfer destination entity, the destination location, and the scheduled delivery date. In S122, the user terminal 300a transmits the input delivery reservation information to the management server 200.

[0083] In S123, the transfer processing unit 233 of the management server 200 registers the accepted delivery reservation by adding the delivery reservation information received from the user terminal 300a in S122 to the delivery reservation table 360. The transfer processing unit 233 sets the status of the newly registered delivery reservation (the value of status 365 in the delivery reservation table 360) to “reserved”.

[0084] <1-4-3.Delivery> The upper part of Figure 16 shows the process flow related to delivery work S130 in which user 20a of Company A delivers item 30a (item A), which is the item to be delivered, to location 10b (Company B's work site) and transfers item 30a to Company B.

[0085] First, in S131, when user 20a carrying tag reader 100a arrives at location 10b, tag reader 100a reads the tag ID from item tag 50a of item 30a that has moved to location 10b. Next, in S132, tag reader 100a reads the tag ID from position tag 40b installed at location 10b. When the timing for communication with management server 200 arrives, tag reader 100a transmits read result data indicating the results of tag reading performed up to that point to management server 200 in S133. Tag processing unit 231 of management server 200 adds the read result data received from tag reader 100a in S133 to read result table 350.

[0086] Furthermore, in S135, tag reader 100b carried by user 20b at location 10b reads the tag ID from item tag 50a of item 30a. Next, in S136, tag reader 100b reads the tag ID from position tag 40b installed at location 10b. When the timing for communication with management server 200 arrives, tag reader 100b transmits read result data indicating the results of tag reading performed up to that point to management server 200 in S137. Tag processing unit 231 of management server 200 adds the read result data received from tag reader 100b in S137 to read result table 350.

[0087] The transfer processing unit 233 of the management server 200, for example, periodically reads out delivery reservation information from the delivery reservation table 360 ​​and checks whether there is a delivery reservation whose status should be updated. When the time to check arrives, in S180, the transfer processing unit 233 executes a delivery status update process and updates the belonging entity of the item 30a (the value of organization 314 in the item table 310) based on the read result data received in S133 and S137. Here, the belonging entity of the item 30a is updated from entity E1 (company A) to entity E2 (company B). An example of a detailed flow of the delivery status update process in S180 will be further explained later.

[0088] <1-4-4. Information Inquiry> The lower part of FIG. 16 shows the flow of processing related to an information inquiry operation S140 performed by the user 20a of company A using the user terminal 300a.

[0089] First, in S141, the user 20a who has logged in to the article management system 1 at the user terminal 300a calls up the information provision screen 800. In S142, the user terminal 300a requests the management server 200 to provide article-related information that the user 20a is permitted to view. In S143, the information provision unit 234 of the management server 200 acquires article-related information of one or more articles 30 belonging to the entity E1 from the article DB 220, since the user 20a is associated with the entity E1 in the user table 340. Then, in S144, the information provision unit 234 transmits the acquired article-related information to the user terminal 300a. In S145, the user terminal 300a displays the article-related information received from the management server 200 on the information provision screen 800.

[0090] <1-4-5. Collection reservation> The upper part of FIG. 17 shows the flow of processing related to a collection reservation task S150 performed by a user 20b of company B using a user terminal 300b.

[0091] First, in S151, the user 20b who has logged in to the item management system 1 at the user terminal 300b calls up the collection reservation screen 500 and inputs collection reservation information such as the item to be collected, the transfer destination entity (collector), and the scheduled collection date. In S152, the user terminal 300b transmits the input collection reservation information to the management server 200.

[0092] In S153, the transfer processing unit 233 of the management server 200 registers the accepted collection reservation by adding the collection reservation information received from the user terminal 300b in S152 to the collection reservation table 370. The transfer processing unit 233 sets the status of the newly registered collection reservation (the value of the status 375 in the collection reservation table 370) to “reserved”.

[0093] <1-4-6. Recovery> The middle section of Figure 17 shows the process flow related to the collection operation S160 in which a user 20a of Company A visits a location 10b (Company B's work site) to pick up the target item 30a (item A), thereby transferring the item 30a from Company B to Company A.

[0094] First, in S161, when user 20a carrying tag reader 100a arrives at location 10b, tag reader 100a reads the tag ID from item tag 50a of item 30a stored at location 10b. Next, in S162, tag reader 100a reads the tag ID from position tag 40b installed at location 10b. When the timing for communication with management server 200 arrives, tag reader 100a transmits read result data indicating the results of tag reading performed up to that point to management server 200 in S163. Tag processing unit 231 of management server 200 adds the read result data received from tag reader 100a in S163 to read result table 350.

[0095] The transfer processing unit 233, for example, periodically reads collection reservation information from the collection reservation table 370 and checks whether there is a collection reservation whose status should be updated. When the time to check arrives, in S190, the transfer processing unit 233 executes collection status update processing and updates the belonging entity of the item 30a (the value of organization 314 in the item table 310) based on the read result data received in S163. Here, the belonging entity of the item 30a is updated from entity E2 (company B) to entity E1 (company A). An example of a detailed flow of the collection status update processing in S190 will be further described later.

[0096] The lower part of FIG. 17 shows the flow of processing related to an inventory management task S170 when the user 20a of company A brings back the collected item 30a (item A) to the warehouse.

[0097] First, in S171, tag reader 100a carried by user 20a reads the tag ID from item tag 50a of item 30a returned to location 10a. Next, in S172, tag reader 100a reads the tag ID from position tag 40a installed at location 10a. When the timing for communication with management server 200 arrives, tag reader 100a transmits read result data indicating the results of tag reading performed up to that point to management server 200 in S173.

[0098] The tag processing unit 231 of the management server 200 adds the reading result data received from the tag reader 100a in S173 to the reading result table 350, and calls the location management unit 232. In S174, the location management unit 232 updates the storage location and location coordinates of the item 30a (the values ​​of the storage location 315 and the coordinates 316 in the item table 310) based on the reading result data added to the reading result table 350.

[0099] <1-4-7. Delivery status update process (first example)> 18 is a flowchart showing an example of the flow of a delivery status update process according to Example 1 of Embodiment 1. As described above, in Example 1, it is confirmed that the delivery work has been performed appropriately based on the results of tag reading by both the tag readers under the management of the transfer source entity and the transfer destination entity.

[0100] First, in S181, the transfer processing unit 233 reads out one incomplete delivery reservation record from the delivery reservation table 360. The transfer processing unit 233 may read out only records whose scheduled delivery date is on or before the current date. Next, in S182, the transfer processing unit 233 identifies the target item for delivery, the transfer source entity, the destination, and the transfer destination entity from the read record and the master data of the item DB 220.

[0101] Next, in S183, the transfer processing unit 233 refers to the reading result table 350 to determine whether the tag reader 100 of the transfer source entity has read the tag ID of the item tag of the target item and the tag ID of the position tag installed at the destination location. In addition, in S184, the transfer processing unit 233 refers to the reading result table 350 to determine whether the tag reader 100 of the transfer destination entity has read the tag ID of the item tag of the target item and the tag ID of the position tag installed at the destination location.

[0102] If at least one of the judgment conditions of S183 and S184 is not satisfied (the judgment result is No), the subsequent processing steps of S185 to S187 are skipped. If both judgment conditions are satisfied (the judgment result is Yes), in S185, the transfer processing unit 233 changes the status of the delivery reservation record read in S181 to "Completed". Next, in S186, the transfer processing unit 233 changes the value of organization 314 of the record of the target item in the item table 310 to a value indicating the transfer destination entity.

[0103] Next, in S187, the location management unit 232 updates the values ​​of the storage location 315 and the coordinates 316 of the record of the target item in the item table 310 to the latest values.

[0104] Next, in S188, the transfer processing unit 233 determines whether or not the next incomplete delivery reservation record to be processed remains in the delivery reservation table 360. If the next delivery reservation record remains, the process returns to S181, and the above-mentioned S181 to S187 are repeated for the next delivery reservation record. If the next delivery reservation record does not remain, the delivery status update process in Fig. 18 ends, and the transfer processing unit 233 enters a standby state until the next processing timing.

[0105] <1-4-8. Delivery status update process (second example)> 19 is a flowchart showing an example of the flow of the delivery status update process according to the second example of the first embodiment. As described above, in the second example, it is confirmed that the delivery work has been performed appropriately based on the result of tag reading by the tag reader under the management of the transfer destination entity.

[0106] The difference from the flowchart in FIG. 18 is that the condition determination in S183 is omitted in the flowchart in FIG. 19. The transfer processing unit 233 reads one delivery reservation record from the delivery reservation table 360, identifies the target item and other required information, and then obtains the result of tag reading by the tag reader 100 of the transfer destination entity from the reading result table 350 in S184. Then, when it is determined that the tag reader 100 of the transfer destination entity has read the tag ID of the item tag of the target item and the tag ID of the position tag installed at the destination location, the transfer processing unit 233 changes the status of the delivery reservation record to "Complete" in S185. The contents of the processing steps in FIG. 19 that are assigned the same reference numerals as those in FIG. 18 may be the same as those described in relation to FIG. 18, and therefore their description will be omitted here.

[0107] <1-4-9. Collection status update process> 20 is a flowchart showing an example of the flow of a collection status update process according to the first embodiment. As described above, in this embodiment, at the time of collection, it is confirmed that the collection work has been performed appropriately based on the result of tag reading by a tag reader under the management of the transfer destination entity.

[0108] First, in S191, the transfer processing unit 233 reads out one incomplete collection reservation record from the collection reservation table 370. Note that the transfer processing unit 233 may only read out records whose scheduled collection date is on or before the current date. Next, in S192, the transfer processing unit 233 identifies the item to be collected, the current storage location (collection location) of the target item, and the transfer destination entity (collector) from the read record and the master data of the item DB 220.

[0109] Next, in S193, the transfer processing unit 233 refers to the reading result table 350 to determine whether the tag reader 100 of the transfer destination entity has read the tag ID of the item tag of the target item and the tag ID of the position tag installed at the current storage location.

[0110] If the judgment condition of S193 is not met (the judgment result is No), the subsequent processing steps of S195 to S196 are skipped. If the judgment condition is met (the judgment result is Yes), in S195, the transfer processing unit 233 changes the status of the collection reservation record read in S191 to "Completed". Next, in S196, the transfer processing unit 233 changes the value of organization 314 of the record of the target item in the item table 310 to a value indicating the transfer destination entity.

[0111] Next, in S198, the transfer processing unit 233 judges whether or not the next collection reservation record that is not yet completed and to be processed remains in the collection reservation table 370. If the next collection reservation record remains, the process returns to S191, and the above-mentioned S191 to S196 are repeated for the next collection reservation record. If the next collection reservation record does not remain, the collection status update process in Fig. 20 ends, and the transfer processing unit 233 enters a standby state until the next processing timing.

[0112] <1-5.Summary> According to a first embodiment, an item management system for managing a change of ownership (i.e., transfer) of an item between entities incorporates a first wireless device installed at a first location, a second wireless device moving with the item, and a reader for reading identification information from the wireless device. The first location is at a location associated with the first entity, and the second location is at a location associated with the second entity. A management unit of the item management system detects when the item belonging to the second entity is delivered to the first location, and detects whether the reader associated with the first entity is connected to the first location. Identification information of the first wireless device (e.g., the tag ID of a location tag), and Identification information of the second wireless device (e.g., the tag ID of the item tag) When the above-mentioned item is read, the item's belonging entity in the item data is updated from the second entity to the first entity.

[0113] In addition, the management unit of the item management system detects when the item belonging to the first entity is transferred to the second entity by collection at the first location, and detects whether the reading device associated with the second entity is Identification information of the first wireless device (e.g., the tag ID of a location tag), and Identification information of the second wireless device (e.g., the tag ID of the item tag) When the reading device reads the first entity, the attributed entity of the item in the item data is updated from the first entity to the second entity. Here, the reading device associated with the second entity is a reading device associated with the second entity by data in the database.

[0114] With this configuration, each user involved in the task of transferring an item simply needs to carry a reading device, and the item's belonging entity in the item data can be updated appropriately and efficiently based on the results of reading information from the wireless device.

[0115] <2. Second embodiment> In the first embodiment described above, a separate tag reader 100 is prepared for at least each entity, and a reader ID is assigned to the tag reading result, so that it is possible to determine which entity a user belonging to has been involved in a task based on the tag reading result. In the second embodiment described in this section, it is assumed that which entity a user belonging to has been involved in a task is determined based on the tag reading result from a user tag carried by the user, rather than on the reader ID that identifies the tag reader 100. This makes it easy to share the tag reader 100 between users and entities.

[0116] <2-1. System Overview> 21 is a schematic diagram showing an example of the configuration of an item management system 2 according to the second embodiment. The difference from the item management system 1 is that in the item management system 2, each user 20 carries a user tag 60 in which unique identification information (tag ID) 61 is embedded, and a tag reader 100 reads the tag ID 61 from the user tag 60 as well. For example, user 20a carries a user tag 60a that stores a tag ID 61a. User 20b carries a user tag 60b that stores a tag ID 61b. Furthermore, the item management system 2 includes a management server 1200 instead of the management server 200 according to the first embodiment.

[0117] The user tag 60 is a wireless device carried by the user 20 in the article management system 2. If the user 20 is an employee of a corporate entity, the user tag 60 may be incorporated into an employee badge.

[0118] In this embodiment, the user tag 60 is a passive RFID tag, like the position tag 40 and the item tag 50. In another embodiment, the position tag 40 and the item tag 50 may be RFID tags, while the user tag 60 may be a wireless device (IC card) that complies with the NFC (Near Field Communication) system. In this case, the tag reader 100 supports both the RFID system and the NFC system. Generally speaking, each of the position tag 40, the item tag 50, and the user tag 60 may be any type of wireless device that can return internal identification information in response to a signal from the reader.

[0119] The management server 1200 is a server device that manages item data indicating to which of two or more entities each item 30 belongs, similar to the management server 200 according to the first embodiment.

[0120] <2-2. Management Server Configuration Example> <2-2-1. Basic configuration> 22 is a block diagram showing an example of the configuration of a management server 1200 according to the second embodiment. Referring to FIG. 22, the management server 1200 includes a communication unit 210, an item DB 1220, and an item management unit 1230.

[0121] Like the item DB 220 according to the first embodiment, the item DB 1220 is made up of a group of tables for managing data indicating which entity each item under the management of the system belongs to. In this embodiment, the item DB 1220 includes an item table 310, a location table 320, a user table 340, a user tag table 1345, a reading result table 1350, a delivery reservation table 360, and a collection reservation table 370. The item DB 1220 does not need to include the reader table 330.

[0122] FIG. 23 shows an example of the configuration of a user tag table 1345 according to this embodiment. The user tag table 1345 has three data items: a tag ID 1346, a name 1347, and an organization 1348. The tag ID 1346 is identification information that uniquely identifies each user tag 60. The value of the tag ID 1346 is the same as the value of the tag ID stored inside the corresponding user tag 60. The name 1347 represents the name of each user tag 60. The organization 1348 represents an entity (e.g., a company to which the user 20 who carries the user tag 60 belongs) that has management responsibility for each user tag 60. In the example of FIG. 23, "Company A" has management responsibility for the user tag 60 identified by the tag ID "TG91" (e.g., user tag 60a), and "Company B" has management responsibility for the user tag 60 identified by the tag ID "TG92" (e.g., user tag 60b).

[0123] The item management unit 1230 is a collection of multiple software modules that provide an item management function for managing data in the item DB 1220, similar to the item management unit 230 according to the first embodiment. In this embodiment, the item management unit 1230 includes a tag processing unit 1231, a position management unit 232, a transfer processing unit 1233, and an information providing unit 234.

[0124] The left side of FIG. 24 shows a state where, in this embodiment, a user 20a carrying a tag reader 100a visits a place 10a under the management of an entity E1 for an inventory operation. When a user tag 60a enters the reading range of the tag reader 100a, the tag reader 100a reads the tag ID "TG91" of the user tag 60a. When a position tag 40a enters the reading range of the tag reader 100a, the tag reader 100a reads the tag ID "TG11" of the position tag 40a. When an item tag 50a of an item 30a enters the reading range of the tag reader 100a, the tag reader 100a reads the tag ID "TG01" of the item tag 50a. When the timing for transmitting the reading result data arrives, the tag reader 100a transmits the reading result data indicating the result of tag reading (here, including three records) to the management server 1200. The tag processor 1231 adds the three records of the read result data received via the communication unit 210 to the read result table 1350.

[0125] As shown on the right side of FIG. 24, in this embodiment, the reading result table 1350 has six data items, namely, a record number 351, a reading time 352, a tag ID 353, a reader ID 354, a coordinate 355, and an organization 1356. In this embodiment, the reader ID 354 may be omitted in the reading result table 1350. When the reading result data is added to the reading result table 1350, the value of the organization 1356 may be null. For example, the tag processing unit 1231 determines that in the reading result data, the reading time of the record #1 for the user tag 60a has only a slight time difference from the reading times of the records #2 and #3 for the position tag 40a and the item tag 50a. Therefore, the tag processing unit 1231 updates the value of the organization 1356 of the reading result record for the position tag 40a and the item tag 50a to a value indicating an entity associated with the user tag 60a in the user tag table 1345. In the example of Figure 24, based on the temporal correlation between the reading result records, the organization name "Company A" associated with the tag ID "TG91" in the user tag table 1345 is added to the organization 1356 column of reading result records #2 and #3.

[0126] In addition, when multiple users 20 are active in the same place 10, read result records of user tags 60 of multiple different users 20 may be generated for a read result record (herein referred to as a target record) of one item tag 50 (or location tag 40). In this case, the tag processing unit 1231 may determine an entity to be added to the organization 1356 column of the target record, for example, based on the read result record of the user tag 60 that is most frequently detected within a certain period (e.g., several seconds to several tens of seconds) including the read time of the target record.

[0127] In this way, by adopting a configuration in which the relevance between the tag reading result and the entity is determined based on the result of reading from the user tag 60 (using temporal correlation), the need to associate the reader ID with the entity in advance is eliminated. Therefore, for example, in the scene shown on the left of Fig. 24, it is not essential for the user 20a to use the tag reader 100a, and it is possible to perform inventory work using any tag reader 100. This reduces the burden of managing the tag readers 100 on the item management system 2.

[0128] <2-2-2. Transfer of goods (change of the entity to which the goods belong)> In this embodiment as well, the transfer processing unit 1233 accepts reservation information in advance indicating that an operation to transfer the item 30 will be performed for both delivery and collection. Then, the transfer processing unit 1233 changes the entity to which the item 30 belongs in the item DB 1220 based on the result of reading by at least one tag reader 100 and the accepted reservation information. Acceptance of a delivery reservation and an acceptance of a collection reservation may be performed in the same manner as the method described in the first embodiment using Figs. 6 and 11.

[0129] (1) Transfer of goods by delivery For ease of explanation, it is also assumed here that a target item (e.g., item 30a) belonging to a second entity (e.g., Company A) associated with a second location is transferred to a first entity (e.g., Company B) associated with a first location. Before the delivery operation is performed, the item table 310 indicates that the target item belongs to the second entity. In this state, the transfer processing unit 1233 updates the item table 310 to indicate that the target item belongs to the first entity, on condition that the first reading device has read at least the following three tag IDs: a) the tag ID of the user tag associated with the first entity; b) The tag ID of the location tag at the first location c) The tag ID of the item tag of the target item In the example of user 20a delivering item 30a to location 10b and handing it over to user 20b, a) the user tag associated with the first entity corresponds to user tag 60b of user 20b, b) the location tag of the first location corresponds to location tag 40b, and c) the item tag of the target item corresponds to item tag 50a of item 30a. The above conditions mean that the result of the tag read indicates that the target item has been properly handed over to the user at the first entity at the location associated with the first entity.

[0130] The above conditions for changing the belonging entity of the target item may additionally include that the first reading device reads the next tag ID. d) The tag ID of the user tag associated with the second entity. In the above example where user 20a delivers item 30a to location 10b and hands it over to user 20b, d) the user tag associated with the second entity corresponds to user tag 60a of user 20a. This extended condition means that the result of the tag read indicates that the target item has been delivered to the user of the first entity at a location associated with the first entity, and that it has been confirmed in the presence of both users of the first and second entities.

[0131] FIG. 25 is an explanatory diagram for explaining tag reading during delivery work in this embodiment. In the example of FIG. 25, the item to be delivered is an item 30a that belongs to an entity E1 and has been stored at a location 10a. The user 20a delivers the item 30a to a location 10b on the scheduled delivery date. The user 20b receives the item 30a at the location 10b. For example, the tag reader 100b reads the tag ID of the user tag 60b of the user 20b, the tag ID of the position tag 40b, and the tag ID of the item tag 50a, and transmits the read result data to the management server 1200. The tag processing unit 1231 of the management server 1200 stores these read result data in the read result table 1350, and adds a value indicating the entity E2 associated with the user tag 60b to the organization 1356 column of the stored record.

[0132] FIG. 26 is an explanatory diagram for explaining the update of the delivery status based on the result of tag reading described with reference to FIG. 25. The reading result table 1350 in FIG. 26 has three records #4, #5, and #6 indicating the result of tag reading by the tag reader 100b in the example of FIG. 25. The transfer processing unit 1233, for example, refers to the delivery reservation table 360 ​​and recognizes that the item 30a identified by the item ID "IT01" is scheduled to be delivered to the location 10b identified by the destination "PL02" on the scheduled delivery date "YMD2". According to this delivery schedule, the item 30a will be transferred from the entity E1 (Company A), to which the item 30a currently belongs, to the entity E2 (Company B). The transfer processing unit 1233 learns from records #5 and #6 in the read result table 1350 that the tag reader 100b, which read the tag ID of the user tag 60b, also read the tag ID of the position tag 40b in the location 10b and the tag ID of the item tag 50a of the item 30a. Based on these read results, the transfer processing unit 1233 determines that the scheduled delivery work has been performed, and updates the value of the status 365 of the corresponding reservation information record #2 in the delivery reservation table 360 ​​to "Company B". The transfer processing unit 1233 also updates the value of the organization 314 in the record of the item 30a in the item table 310 to "Company B". The location management unit 232 updates the values ​​of the storage location 315 and coordinates 316 in the record of the item 30a in the item table 310 to the latest values.

[0133] 25 and 26 show an example in which the tag reader 100b reads the tag IDs from the RFID tags 60b, 40b, and 50a, but the tag reader 100a may read the tag IDs from the same three RFID tags. The transfer processing unit 1233 may also change the entity to which the item 30a belongs on the condition that the tag ID of the user tag 60a of the user 20a has also been read (the extended condition described above). In this case, since it is confirmed from the result of tag reading that the delivery work was performed in the presence of users of both the transfer source entity and the transfer destination entity, it is possible to change the entity to which the target item belongs while reliably preventing any misunderstanding between the parties involved in the transfer.

[0134] As in the first embodiment, the transfer processing unit 1233 changes the entity to which the target item belongs, based not only on the result of tag reading but also on delivery reservation information indicating that the target item will be moved to the destination. Therefore, in this embodiment as well, it is possible to prevent a situation in which the destination of an item is erroneously changed when the tag ID of an item during delivery is unintentionally read at a location other than the destination, or when a third party brings the item to an inappropriate location.

[0135] (2) Transfer of items due to collection For ease of explanation, it is assumed here that a target item (e.g., item 30a) belonging to a first entity (e.g., Company B) associated with a first location is transferred to a second entity (e.g., Company A) associated with a second location by a collection operation. Before the collection operation is performed, the item table 310 indicates that the target item belongs to the first entity. In this state, the transfer processing unit 1233 changes the destination entity of the target item to the second entity on the condition that a second reading device associated with the second entity has read the tag ID of the location tag of the first location and the tag ID of the item tag of the target item. In this embodiment, the second reading device being associated with the second entity means that the second reading device has read the tag ID of the user tag associated with the second entity. In an example where user 20a, a person in charge of company A, collects item 30a stored at location 10b, tag reader 100a or 100b that reads the tag ID of user tag 60a of user 20a corresponds to the second reading device. The position tag of the first location corresponds to position tag 40b, and the item tag of the target item corresponds to item tag 50a. The above condition means that the result of tag reading indicates that a person in charge of a legitimate collector visited the appropriate location to collect the target item.

[0136] FIG. 27 is an explanatory diagram for explaining tag reading during collection work in this embodiment. In the example of FIG. 27, the item to be collected is an item 30a that belongs to an entity E2 and is stored at a location 10b. The user 20a visits the location 10b on the scheduled collection date and collects the item 30a. For example, the tag reader 100b reads the tag ID of the user tag 60a, the tag ID of the position tag 40b, and the tag ID of the item tag 50a while the user 20a is staying at the location 10b, and transmits the read result data to the management server 1200. The tag processing unit 1231 of the management server 1200 stores this read result data in the read result table 1350, and adds a value indicating the entity E1 associated with the user tag 60a to the organization 1356 column of the stored record.

[0137] FIG. 28 is an explanatory diagram for explaining the update of the collection status based on the result of tag reading described with reference to FIG. 27. The reading result table 1350 in FIG. 28 has three records #7, #8, and #9 indicating the result of tag reading by the tag reader 100b at the location 10b in the example of FIG. 27. For example, the transfer processing unit 1233 refers to the collection reservation table 370 and recognizes that the item 30a identified by the item ID "IT01" is scheduled to be collected by a person in charge of the entity E1, which is company A, on the scheduled collection date "YMD4". According to this collection schedule, the item 30a will be transferred from the entity E2 (company B), which is the current destination, to the entity E1 (company A). The transfer processing unit 1233 learns from the records #8 and #9 in the reading result table 1350 that the tag reader 100b that read the tag ID of the user tag 60a reads the tag ID of the position tag 40b and the tag ID of the item tag 50a. Based on the result of this reading, the transfer processing unit 1233 determines that the scheduled collection work has been performed, and updates the value of the status 375 of the corresponding reservation information record #2 in the collection reservation table 370 to "Company A." The transfer processing unit 1233 also updates the value of the organization 314 of the record of the item 30a in the item table 310 to "Company A," which is the name of the entity E1.

[0138] In such an embodiment, the entity to which the item belongs can be changed after verifying from the tag reading that the recovery operation was properly performed by the user associated with the destination entity.

[0139] As in the first embodiment, the transfer processing unit 1233 changes the entity to which the target item belongs, based not only on the result of tag reading but also on collection reservation information indicating that a person in charge of the collector will pick up the target item from the current storage location. Therefore, when the item is mistakenly handed over to an unauthorized third party who carries the user tag 60, it is possible to prevent the entity to which the item belongs from being changed accordingly.

[0140] In addition, the transfer processing unit 1233 in this embodiment may also determine the correspondence between tag IDs read from two or more tags based on the temporal correlation between multiple reading results received from the same tag reader 100 in both the delivery and collection cases.

[0141] <2-3. Processing flow> In this section, an example of the flow of processing within the item management system 2 in this embodiment will be described with reference to the flowcharts in FIGS.

[0142] <2-3-1. Delivery status update process> FIG. 29 is a flowchart showing an example of the flow of a delivery status update process according to the second embodiment.

[0143] First, in S281, the transfer processing unit 1233 reads out one incomplete delivery reservation record from the delivery reservation table 360. The transfer processing unit 1233 may read out only records whose scheduled delivery date is on or before the current date. Next, in S282, the transfer processing unit 1233 identifies the target item for delivery, the transfer source entity, the destination, and the transfer destination entity from the read record and the master data of the item DB 1220.

[0144] Next, in S283, the transfer processing unit 1233 refers to the read result table 1350 to determine whether any tag reader 100 has read the tag ID of the user tag associated with the transfer destination entity. For example, if the read result table 1350 contains a record in which the value of the organization 1356 indicates the transfer destination entity, it is determined that the tag ID of the user tag associated with the transfer destination entity has been read, and the process proceeds to S284. If no such record exists, the process proceeds to S288.

[0145] In S284, the transfer processing unit 1233 further determines whether the same tag reader 100 (the tag reader 100 that read the tag ID of the user tag associated with the transfer destination entity) has read the tag ID of the item tag of the target item and the tag ID of the destination location tag. If it is determined that the tag reader 100 has read the tag ID of the item tag of the target item and the tag ID of the destination location tag, the process proceeds to S285. If those tag IDs have not been read, the process proceeds to S288.

[0146] In S285, the transfer processing unit 1233 changes the status of the delivery reservation record read in S281 to “Completed.” Next, in S286, the transfer processing unit 1233 changes the value of the organization 314 of the record of the target item in the item table 310 to a value indicating the transfer destination entity.

[0147] Next, in S287, the location management unit 232 updates the values ​​of the storage location 315 and the coordinates 316 of the record of the target item in the item table 310 to the latest values.

[0148] Next, in S288, the transfer processing unit 1233 determines whether or not there remains an incomplete next delivery reservation record to be processed in the delivery reservation table 360. If there remains a next delivery reservation record, the process returns to S281, and the above-mentioned S281 to S287 are repeated for the next delivery reservation record. If there does not remain a next delivery reservation record, the delivery status update process in Fig. 29 ends, and the transfer processing unit 1233 enters a standby state until the next processing timing.

[0149] <2-3-2. Collection status update process> FIG. 30 is a flowchart showing an example of the flow of the collection status update process according to the second embodiment.

[0150] First, in S291, the transfer processing unit 1233 reads out one incomplete collection reservation record from the collection reservation table 370. Note that the transfer processing unit 1233 may only read out records whose scheduled collection date is on or before the current date. Next, in S292, the transfer processing unit 1233 identifies the item to be collected, the current storage location (collection location) of the item, and the transfer destination entity (collector) from the read record and the master data of the item DB 1220.

[0151] Next, in S293, the transfer processing unit 1233 refers to the read result table 1350 to determine whether any tag reader 100 has read the tag ID of the user tag associated with the transfer destination entity. For example, if the read result table 1350 contains a record whose value of organization 1356 indicates the transfer destination entity, it is determined that the tag ID of the user tag associated with the transfer destination entity has been read, and the process proceeds to S294. If no such record exists, the process proceeds to S298.

[0152] In S294, the transfer processing unit 1233 further determines whether the same tag reader 100 (the tag reader 100 that read the tag ID of the user tag associated with the transfer destination entity) has read the tag ID of the item tag of the target item and the tag ID of the location tag of the storage location. If it is determined that the tag reader 100 has read the tag ID of the item tag of the target item and the tag ID of the location tag of the storage location, the process proceeds to S295. If those tag IDs have not been read, the process proceeds to S298.

[0153] In S295, the transfer processing unit 1233 changes the status of the collection reservation record read in S291 to “Completed.” Next, in S296, the transfer processing unit 1233 changes the value of the organization 314 of the record of the target item in the item table 310 to a value indicating the transfer destination entity.

[0154] Next, in S298, the transfer processing unit 1233 judges whether or not the next collection reservation record that is not yet completed and to be processed remains in the collection reservation table 370. If the next collection reservation record remains, the process returns to S291, and the above-mentioned S291 to S296 are repeated for the next collection reservation record. If the next collection reservation record does not remain, the collection status update process in Fig. 30 ends, and the transfer processing unit 1233 enters a standby state until the next processing timing.

[0155] <2-4.Summary> According to a second embodiment, an item management system for managing a change of ownership (i.e., transfer) of an item between entities incorporates a first wireless device installed at a first location, a second wireless device moving with the item, and a reader for reading identification information from the wireless device. The first location is at a location associated with the first entity, and the second location is at a location associated with the second entity. A management unit of the item management system detects when the item belonging to the second entity is delivered to the first location, and the reader reads identification information from the wireless device. An identification of a user device associated with the first entity (e.g., a tag ID of a user tag); Identification information of the first wireless device (e.g., the tag ID of a location tag), and Identification information of the second wireless device (e.g., the tag ID of the item tag) When the above-mentioned item is read, the item's belonging entity in the item data is updated from the second entity to the first entity.

[0156] In addition, the management unit of the item management system detects that when the item belonging to the first entity is transferred to the second entity by collection at the first location, the reading device An identity of a user device associated with the second entity (e.g., a tag ID of a user tag); Identification information of the first wireless device (e.g., the tag ID of a location tag), and Identification information of the second wireless device (e.g., the tag ID of the item tag) When the above-mentioned item is read, the item data is updated so that the item belongs to the first entity instead of the second entity.

[0157] According to this configuration, since it is determined which entity a user belonging to participated in the work is based on the result of tag reading from the user device, any reader (e.g., a reader not intended for a specific entity) can be used for tag reading. This reduces the burden of managing readers and makes item management more efficient.

[0158] <3. Modifications> The features of the first embodiment and the features of the second embodiment described above may be combined in any manner. Also, the following modified examples may be combined with the above features.

[0159] <3-1. Tag reading range control> In one modified example, each tag reader 100 may be configured to shorten the read range in response to a user operation. As an example, the normal (unshortened) read range may be within a radius of several meters (e.g., 5 m) centered on antenna 115 of tag reader 100, and the shortened read range may be within a radius of 1 meter or less (e.g., 1 meter) centered on antenna 115. Then, management server 200 may change the entity to which the item belongs in item DB 220 based on read result data indicating the result of reading acquired by tag reader 100 with the read range shortened in response to a user operation.

[0160] 31 is a block diagram showing an example of the configuration of tag reader 100 according to this modification. With reference to FIG 31, tag reader 100 includes control unit 151, storage unit 102, communication unit 103, positioning unit 104, power source 105, reading unit 156, operation detection unit 171, and notification unit 172.

[0161] Control unit 151 includes a memory that stores computer programs and one or more processors that execute the computer programs. Control unit 151 controls the overall functions of tag reader 100, similar to control unit 101 according to the above-described embodiment.

[0162] The reading unit 156 is a reading module capable of reading identification information stored in each of the RFID tags present in the system. The difference from the reading unit 106 shown in FIG. 2 is that the reading unit 156 includes an RF controller 160. The RF controller 160 outputs a transmission signal having a variably set power from the power amplifier 111 to the filter 112 according to the control of the control unit 151. The RF controller 160 demodulates a signal input from the RX terminal, acquires the tag ID and other information returned from the RFID tag, and outputs the acquired information to the control unit 151.

[0163] The operation detection unit 171 detects, for example, the operation state (pressed / not pressed) of a button (not shown) arranged on the housing of the tag reader 100, and outputs a detection signal indicating the detected operation state to the control unit 151.

[0164] When the detection signal from operation detection unit 171 indicates that a button is not pressed, control unit 151 sets the power of the transmission signal sent from reading unit 156 to a normal value, thereby setting the reading range of tag reader 100 to the normal range. On the other hand, when the detection signal from operation detection unit 171 indicates that a button is pressed, control unit 151 sets the power of the transmission signal sent from reading unit 156 to a smaller value, thereby setting the reading range of tag reader 100 to a shortened range.

[0165] When the control unit 151 stores the result of tag reading by the reading unit 156 in the storage unit 102 or transmits it to the management server 200, it adds a flag to the reading result data indicating the button operation state at the time of reading. This flag has the role of identifying whether each reading result record indicates a reading result at a normal reading range or a reading result at a shortened reading range.

[0166] The notification unit 172 is a device for notifying the user of the status of tag reading performed by the tag reader 100. The notification unit 172 may include, for example, an LED (Light-Emitting Diode) that emits light according to the control of the control unit 151. In this case, the control unit 151 may cause the notification unit 172 to emit light in different light emission patterns (for example, light emission color, number of flashes, flashing cycle, etc.) for a period during which tag reading is attempted in a normal reading range and a period during which tag reading is attempted in a shortened reading range. Furthermore, the control unit 151 may cause the notification unit 172 to emit light in a unique light emission pattern when a reception signal from an RFID tag is detected. The notification unit 172 may include other notification devices such as a speaker or a vibrator instead of (or in addition to) an LED.

[0167] Fig. 32 is a block diagram showing an example of the configuration of the management server 200 according to this modification. Referring to Fig. 32, the management server 200 includes a communication unit 210, an article DB 270, and an article management unit 280. The article DB 270 has a reading result table 390 instead of the reading result table 350 of the article DB 220 shown in Fig. 3. The article management unit 280 has a transfer processing unit 283 instead of the transfer processing unit 233 of the article management unit 230 shown in Fig. 3.

[0168] In this modification, the transfer processing unit 283 changes the entity to which the article belongs in the article DB 270, based on the reading result data acquired in a state in which the reading range is shortened in response to a user operation. Other functions of the transfer processing unit 283 may be similar to the functions of the transfer processing unit 233 according to the first embodiment or the transfer processing unit 1233 according to the second embodiment.

[0169] FIG. 33 is an explanatory diagram for explaining a change in the entity to which an item belongs in this modified example. Here, as an example, it is assumed that the delivery work described with reference to FIG. 7 is performed. The item to be delivered is the item 30a belonging to the entity E1, and the user 20a delivers the item 30a to the location 10b, and the user 20b receives the item 30a at the location 10b. The tag reader 100a carried by the user 20a reads the tag ID of the position tag 40b. Also, while the user 20a is pressing the button of the tag reader 100a, the tag reader 100a reads the tag ID of the item tag 50a of the item 30a. However, even while the button is not pressed, the tag reader 100a reads the tag ID of the item tag 50a of the item 30a.

[0170] The upper part of Fig. 33 shows a read result table 390 of the management server 200 in which records #1, #2, and #3 indicating such tag read results are stored. The read result table 390 has an additional data item called range shortening 391 in addition to the five data items of the read result table 350 shown in Fig. 5. The value of range shortening 391 of record #1 indicates "No", which indicates that the read range of the tag reader 100a was not shortened when reading the tag ID "TG01" of the item tag 50a indicated by the record. The value of range shortening 391 of record #2 indicates "No", which indicates that the read range of the tag reader 100a was not shortened when reading the tag ID "TG21" of the position tag 40a indicated by the record. The value of range shortening 391 in record #3 indicates "Yes", which indicates that the reading range of tag reader 100a was shortened when reading tag ID "TG01" of item tag 50a indicated by that record.

[0171] Similarly, tag reader 100b carried by user 20b also reads the tag ID of position tag 40b. Furthermore, while user 20b is pressing a button on tag reader 100b, tag reader 100b reads the tag ID of item tag 50a of item 30a. However, even while the button is not pressed, tag reader 100b reads the tag ID of item tag 50a of item 30a. Records #4, #5, and #6 indicating such tag reading results are also stored in reading result table 390 in FIG.

[0172] The transfer processing unit 283, for example, refers to the delivery reservation table 360 ​​and recognizes that the item 30a is scheduled to be transferred from entity E1 to E2 by delivery to the location 10b on the scheduled delivery date "YMD2". The transfer processing unit 283 ignores records #1 and #6 in the read result table 390 indicating the read result from the item tag 50a at the normal read range, and determines that the scheduled delivery work has been performed based on the contents of records #2 to #5. Then, the transfer processing unit 283 updates the value of the status 365 of the corresponding reservation information record #2 in the delivery reservation table 360 ​​to "Company B". The transfer processing unit 283 also updates the value of the organization 314 in the record of the item 30a in the item table 310 to "Company B", which is the name of the entity E2.

[0173] According to such a modified example, in a situation where many items are stored in one location, it is possible to narrow down the items to be transferred based on an explicit operation by the user, and then efficiently update the entity to which the target items belong. In the above example, shortening the read range when reading the position tag 40 (range shortening 391 indicating "Yes") is not a requirement for determining whether to transfer. The reason is that since only one position tag 40 is usually installed in one location, the position tag 40 is not necessarily located in close proximity to the user when the user performs delivery or collection operations. However, in other examples, shortening the read range when reading the position tag 40 (pressing a button) may also be a requirement for determining whether to transfer.

[0174] When updating data other than a change in the entity to which an item belongs (for example, updating location information by the location management unit 232), the item management unit 280 may use all read result records regardless of whether the read range has been shortened. This makes it possible to achieve both the ease of management in which the item-related information under management is kept up to date simply by the user carrying the tag reader 100 and the data preservation measure in which the transfer of an item between entities is triggered by an explicit operation.

[0175] <3-2. Other modifications> When it is determined that the operation for transferring the item has been performed in accordance with the conditions described above, the management server 200 or 1200 may request approval of the transfer from the user, and change the entity to which the item belongs after approval is obtained. Approval for the transfer may be requested and given via a user interface of any device operated by a user, such as the tag reader 100 or the user terminal 300. Approval for the transfer may be requested from one or both of the user of the transfer source entity and the user of the transfer destination entity.

[0176] In the above-described embodiment, the item-related information stored in the database may be utilized for various purposes other than providing information to the user. For example, the management server 200 or 1200 may provide the item-related information to other systems such as an accounting system, a form system, or a system for planning the procurement of items.

[0177] <4. Other embodiments> The above-mentioned embodiment can also be realized in the form of a process in which a program for realizing one or more functions is supplied to a system or device via a network or a storage medium, and one or more processors in a computer of the system or device read and execute the program. It can also be realized by a circuit (e.g., ASIC) that realizes one or more functions.

[0178] The invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments, and various modifications and variations are possible without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention. Accordingly, the following claims are appended to apprise the public of the scope of the invention. [Explanation of symbols]

[0179] 1, 2: item management system, 10: location, 20: user, 30: item, 40: location tag (first wireless device), 50: item tag (second wireless device), 60: user tag (user device), 100: tag reader (reading device), 200, 1200: management server (information processing device), 220, 270, 1220: item database, 230, 280, 1230: item management unit, 300: user terminal

Claims

1. An item management system for managing item data indicating an entity to which an item belongs among a plurality of entities, comprising: a first wireless device located at a first location; a second wireless device that travels with the article; at least one reader for reading identification information stored by the wireless device; A management unit for managing the item data; Including, The management unit, in a state where the item data indicates that the item belongs to a second entity associated with a second location different from the first location, a second reader associated with the second entity reads the identity of the first wireless device and the identity of the second wireless device; and if a first reader associated with a first entity associated with the first location reads an identification of the first wireless device and an identification of the second wireless device, updating the item data to indicate that the item belongs to the first entity; Inventory management system.

2. An item management system for managing item data indicating an entity to which an item belongs among a plurality of entities, comprising: a first wireless device located at a first location; a second wireless device that travels with the article; at least one reader for reading identification information stored by the wireless device; A management unit for managing the item data; Including, the management unit updates the item data to indicate that the item belongs to a first entity associated with a second location different from the first location when a first reading device that reads identification information of a first user device associated with a first entity associated with the first location reads identification information of the first wireless device and identification information of the second wireless device in a state where the item data indicates that the item belongs to a second entity associated with the first location different from the first location; Inventory management system.

3. Each reading device is configured to reduce the reading range in response to a user operation; the management unit changes an entity to which the item belongs in the item data based on a result of the reading acquired in a state in which the reading range is shortened in response to the user operation; 3. An article management system according to claim 1 or 2.

4. The management unit receiving reservation information indicating that an operation is to be performed to transfer the item between the entities; changing an entity to which the item belongs in the item data based on at least a result of the reading by the first reading device and the received reservation information; The article management system according to any one of claims 1 to 3.

5. The item management system of claim 4, wherein the management unit updates the item data to indicate that the item belongs to the first entity based on at least the result of reading by the first reading device and the reservation information indicating that work will be performed to move the item to the first location.

6. Each reader transmits a result of reading the identification information read from the wireless device and the reading time to the management unit; the management unit determines a correspondence between the identification information read from two or more wireless devices based on a time correlation between the results of multiple reads received from the same reader; The article management system according to any one of claims 1 to 5.

7. The item management system according to any one of claims 1 to 6, wherein each of the first entity and the second entity is one of an item owner, an item user, an item manager, an item storage location, and an item location.

8. The item management system according to any one of claims 1 to 7, wherein the management unit provides information related to items belonging to each entity to a user terminal of a user associated with the entity based on the item data.

9. The article management system according to claim 8 , wherein the information provided to the user terminal includes location information of each article.

10. the wireless device is a radio frequency identification (RFID) tag, The reader emits electromagnetic waves within a reading range and uses the energy of the electromagnetic waves to read the identification information returned from the RFID tag. The article management system according to any one of claims 1 to 9.

11. The article management system includes: A server device that is arranged in a cloud environment and includes the management unit; Including, Each reading device includes a communication unit that transmits the result of the reading to the server device directly or indirectly via another device. The article management system according to any one of claims 1 to 10.

12. An item management system for managing item data indicating an entity to which an item belongs among a plurality of entities, comprising: a first wireless device located at a first location; a second wireless device that travels with the article; at least one reader for reading identification information stored by the wireless device; A management unit for managing the item data; Including, the management unit updates the item data to indicate that the item belongs to the second entity when a second reader associated with a second entity reads identification information of the first wireless device and identification information of the second wireless device in a state in which the item data indicates that the item belongs to a first entity related to the first location; The second reader being associated with the second entity, the presence of data relating the second reader to the second entity; or the second reader reading an identity of a user device associated with the second entity; At least one of Inventory management system.

13. Each reading device is configured to reduce the reading range in response to a user operation; the management unit changes an entity to which the item belongs in the item data based on a result of the reading acquired in a state in which the reading range is shortened in response to the user operation; The article management system according to claim 12.

14. The management unit receiving reservation information indicating that an operation is to be performed to transfer the item between the entities; changing an entity to which the item belongs in the item data based on at least a result of the reading by the second reading device and the received reservation information; 14. An article management system according to claim 12 or 13.

15. The item management system of claim 14, wherein the management unit updates the item data to indicate that the item belongs to the second entity based on at least the result of reading by the second reading device and the reservation information indicating that an operation will be performed in which the item will be picked up from the first location by a user associated with the second entity.

16. Each reader transmits a result of reading the identification information read from the wireless device and the reading time to the management unit; the management unit determines a correspondence between the identification information read from two or more wireless devices based on a time correlation between the results of multiple reads received from the same reader; The article management system according to any one of claims 12 to 15.

17. The item management system according to any one of claims 12 to 16, wherein each of the first entity and the second entity is one of an item owner, an item user, an item manager, an item storage location, and an item location.

18. The item management system according to any one of claims 12 to 17, wherein the management unit provides information related to items belonging to each entity to a user terminal of a user associated with the entity based on the item data.

19. The article management system according to claim 18 , wherein the information provided to the user terminal includes location information of each article.

20. the wireless device is a radio frequency identification (RFID) tag, The reader emits electromagnetic waves within a reading range and uses the energy of the electromagnetic waves to read the identification information returned from the RFID tag. The article management system according to any one of claims 12 to 19.

21. The article management system includes: A server device that is arranged in a cloud environment and includes the management unit; Including, Each reading device includes a communication unit that transmits the result of the reading to the server device directly or indirectly via another device. The article management system according to any one of claims 12 to 20.

22. 1. An item management method for managing item data indicating an entity to which an item belongs among a plurality of entities, comprising: In a state where the item data indicates that the item belongs to a first entity associated with a first location, a second reader associated with a second entity reading identification information from a first wireless device located at the first location; the second reader reading identification information from a second wireless device traveling with the article; The second reader transmits read result data indicating that the second reader has read the identification information of the first wireless device and the identification information of the second wireless device to a management unit that manages the item data; updating the item data by the management unit to indicate that the item belongs to the second entity based on the reading result data received from the second reading device; Including, The second reader being associated with the second entity, the presence of data relating the second reader to the second entity; or the second reader reading an identity of a user device associated with the second entity; At least one of How to manage goods.

23. a reader capable of reading identification information stored in each of a first wireless device installed at a first position among the plurality of positions and a second wireless device moving together with the article; a communication unit that communicates with an information processing device that manages item data indicating an entity to which an item belongs among a plurality of entities; A reading device comprising: The reading device is the presence of data relating the reader to a second entity; or said reading device reading an identity of a user device associated with said second entity; associated with the second entity by at least one of When the reader reads the identification information of the first wireless device and the identification information of the second wireless device, the communication unit transmits a result of the reading by the reader to the information processing device, and causes the information processing device to change an entity to which the item belongs in the item data from a first entity related to the first location to the second entity. Reading device.

24. An information processing device that manages item data indicating an entity to which an item belongs among a plurality of entities, a communication unit that communicates with at least one reader capable of reading identification information stored in a first wireless device installed at a first position among the plurality of positions and a second wireless device that moves together with the article; a management unit that updates the item data to indicate that the item belongs to the second entity when the communication unit receives read result data indicating that a second reading device associated with a second entity has read identification information of the first wireless device and identification information of the second wireless device while the item data indicates that the item belongs to a first entity related to the first location; Equipped with The second reader being associated with the second entity, the presence of data relating the second reader to the second entity; or the second reader reading an identity of a user device associated with the second entity; At least one of Information processing device.

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