Project Planning Support System

Abstract

To provide a technique that reduces possibility that a plan in operation will be changed to a latest plan, in a state where the degree of increased efficiency is small.SOLUTION: A plan creation support system includes: an in-operation plan acquisition unit that acquires information about an in-operation plan, which is a delivery plan in operation; a plan creation unit that acquires a latest plan, which is a delivery plan including a latest vehicle number, which is the number of delivery vehicles used when delivery is performed by a latest delivery condition based on the latest delivery condition, and order according to which the delivery vehicles visit a plurality of delivery destinations; and a prohibition unit that prohibits change from the in-operation plan to the latest plan if the latest vehicle number is the same as an in-operation vehicle number, which is the number of delivery vehicles used in the in-operation plan.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to a planning support system.

Background Art

[0002] Conventionally, an algorithm for specifying the delivery order and the like when delivering goods to a plurality of delivery destinations based on delivery conditions such as the location of the delivery destination and the upper limit number of delivery vehicles available for delivery is known. For example, Patent Document 1 discloses a technique for determining the insertion position where a delivery destination should be inserted so as to shorten the total cost when a delivery destination is added, and formulating an overall delivery plan.

Prior Art Documents

Patent Documents

[0003]

Patent Document 1

Summary of the Invention

Problems to be Solved by the Invention

[0004] In the conventional technology, it was not known whether the delivery plan in operation should be changed. That is, when the delivery conditions change after the start of operation of the delivery plan, the latest delivery plan optimized according to the latest delivery conditions may be different from the delivery plan in operation. However, since changing the delivery plan often requires laborious work, the merit of changing the delivery plan is small when the merit of improving the efficiency of the delivery plan is small. The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and an object thereof is to provide a technique for reducing the possibility that the plan in operation is changed to the latest plan in a state where the degree of efficiency improvement is small.

Means for Solving the Problems

[0005] To achieve the above object, the delivery plan support system includes an in-operation plan acquisition unit that acquires information on an in-operation plan, which is a delivery plan during operation, and a planning unit that acquires a latest plan, which is a delivery plan including the latest number of delivery vehicles used when performing delivery according to the latest delivery conditions and the order in which the delivery vehicles visit a plurality of delivery destinations, based on the latest delivery conditions. When the latest number of vehicles is the same as the number of delivery vehicles used in the in-operation plan, the system is provided with a prohibition unit that prohibits changes from the in-operation plan to the latest plan.

[0006] For entities such as companies that operate delivery plans using multiple delivery vehicles, optimizing the delivery plan is a very important issue as it directly leads to cost reduction. However, generally, formulating a delivery plan often requires time-consuming work. Therefore, even if the delivery plan is tentatively reconstructed without knowing whether optimization is possible, the work will be wasted if optimization cannot be achieved. Although the delivery plan can be optimized by various factors, if the number of delivery vehicles used does not change even when changing from the in-operation plan to the latest plan, the degree of optimization will not be significant. Therefore, if the number of delivery vehicles does not change, a configuration that prohibits changes from the in-operation plan to the latest plan can reduce the possibility of the in-operation plan being changed to the latest plan in a state where the degree of optimization is small.

Brief Description of the Drawings

[0007]

Figure 1

Figure 2

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Figure 6

Embodiments for Carrying Out the Invention

[0008] Here, embodiments of the present invention will be described in the following order. (1) Configuration of the delivery plan support system: (2) Delivery plan support process: (3) Other embodiments:

[0009] (1) Configuration of the delivery plan support system: FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the configuration of a delivery plan support system 10 according to an embodiment. In the present embodiment, the delivery plan support system 10 is realized by a server operated from an administrator terminal 100. The administrator terminal 100 can be realized by, for example, a general-purpose computer or a mobile terminal, and includes a display (not shown), an operation input unit, and the like. An administrator who manages the operation of delivery vehicles belonging to one or more bases can cause the delivery plan support system 10 to create a delivery plan by operating the operation input unit of the administrator terminal 100. In addition, the administrator can operate the administrator terminal 100 to change the created delivery plan to the latest plan or modify a part of the delivery plan in operation. That is, the administrator can change or modify the delivery plan automatically created in the delivery plan support system 10 from various viewpoints, such as making it more suitable for practical requirements.

[0010] In the present embodiment, the delivery plan is a plan for one or more delivery vehicles departing from one or more bases to visit a plurality of delivery destinations in a determined order and perform a loading and unloading operation of delivering goods at each delivery destination. In the present embodiment, the delivery plan is created by defining, for each delivery vehicle, the order of arrival at a plurality of delivery destinations, the route to each delivery destination, the working time which is the time for performing the loading and unloading operation at each delivery destination, the scheduled arrival time at each delivery destination, the vehicle type of the delivery vehicle, and the driver of the delivery vehicle. In the delivery plan, since the order of arrival at the delivery destination and the like are associated with each delivery vehicle, the delivery vehicle associated with the delivery destination is used in the delivery plan. Therefore, in the delivery plan, the number of delivery vehicles is also substantially defined.

[0011] To create such a delivery plan, the delivery plan creation support system 10 collects various types of information and obtains delivery conditions for creating a delivery plan. In this embodiment, the various types of information are collected from an external device. In this embodiment, as the external device, in addition to the above-described administrator terminal 100, there are a traffic information management server 200, a route search server 300, and a store server 400. The traffic information management server 200 is a server that manages traffic information indicating the degree of congestion for each road section, statistically calculates the degree of congestion for any road section, and records it on a recording medium (not shown). The traffic information management server 200 receives a transmission request for traffic information along with the designation of a road section, and returns the traffic information in the designated road section to the transmission requester. Of course, the traffic information may be defined in a more subdivided manner. For example, it may be defined for each time zone, and the traffic information for each time zone may be used.

[0012] The route search server 300 is a server that searches for a route between any two points based on map information. That is, the route search server 300 includes a recording medium (not shown) that stores map information. The map information includes, for example, node data, shape interpolation point data, link data, data indicating the positions of features such as roads and their surroundings, and the like. Information indicating the cost for each road section indicated by the link data is associated with the link data. Features can be the departure and destination points of a route. In this embodiment, the data indicating the features includes the attributes of the features (such as the type of facility). In this embodiment, these features can be delivery destinations.

[0013] The route search server 300 receives a route search request along with the specification of the departure point and the destination, and searches for a route from the departure point to the destination by a route search algorithm based on map information. When a route is searched, information indicating the route (for example, a permutation of links and nodes) and the cost of the route are returned to the route search requester. Note that the cost of the route may be the cost used for route search or a different cost. In the present embodiment, the cost of the route returned to the route search requester is the cost used for creating a delivery plan, and the smaller the load for each route, the smaller the value. Therefore, the cost may be determined by various indicators, and in the present embodiment, the load is defined by the required time when moving along the route. The cost that changes according to the required time may be expressed by various methods. For example, it is assumed that the cost for each road section according to the required time for each road section specified from the average travel time is totaled for the route from the departure point to the destination, and the total cost is the cost of the route. In the present embodiment, the total is the cost of the route, and for the purpose of correction described later, the cost for each road section is also returned to the route search requester. Note that the cost of the route is not limited to this configuration, and may be a cost that becomes smaller as the distance from the departure point to the destination is smaller, a cost obtained by correcting these costs, or the like.

[0014] The store server 400 is a server that manages information regarding the store as the delivery destination. In the present embodiment, the store server 400 records the amount of luggage for each delivery destination and the position of the delivery destination in a recording medium (not shown). That is, the orderer of the store as the delivery destination can specify the delivery date and time and order luggage via various terminals. Information indicating the ordered luggage is collected by the store server 400. The store server 400 associates the information indicating the ordered luggage with the delivery date and time and the identification information of the delivery destination, and records it in a recording medium (not shown).

[0015] In addition, the store server 400 records the delivery destination locations. These locations are updated as the delivery destinations are added or removed. That is, when the number of delivery destinations increases due to new store openings or the like, the locations of the newly added delivery destinations are added. When the number of delivery destinations decreases due to reasons such as the store closing its business, the locations of the decreased delivery destinations are deleted. The store server 400 receives a request to send delivery destination information together with the specified delivery date and time, and returns to the requester the delivery destination information indicating the quantity of goods for each delivery destination and the location of each delivery destination at the specified delivery date and time. Therefore, when the latest delivery date and time is specified, the latest delivery destination information is returned to the delivery plan support system 10.

[0016] Furthermore, the administrator terminal 100 is equipped with a recording medium (not shown), and the delivery history by each delivery vehicle is recorded on the recording medium. The history includes the working time required for the loading and unloading operations at each delivery destination. The history of the working time is sequentially updated after the execution of the delivery plan starts, and the latest value (which may be the statistics for the latest predetermined number of times) is recorded. Therefore, for example, at a delivery destination on the upper floor of a building, if the access to the delivery destination becomes easier (a new elevator is installed, a new parking lot is installed and the distance from the parking position to the delivery destination is shortened, etc.) and the working time is shortened, the working time is maintained in a state where the shortening is reflected. The administrator terminal 100 can receive a request to send working time information, and when it receives the request, it returns to the requester the working time information indicating the latest working time for each delivery destination.

[0017] As described above, the delivery plan creation support system 10 according to this embodiment can collect various types of information from the administrator terminal 100, the traffic information management server 200, the route search server 300, and the store server 400, and create a delivery plan using these information as delivery conditions. Further, after the delivery plan is created and operation is started, it may be possible to improve the efficiency of the delivery plan due to changes in delivery conditions such as opening and closing of stores. However, the parameters that can be delivery conditions are diverse, and generally, the delivery conditions change gradually. And when creating a delivery plan, it is often necessary to make various changes, such as making the delivery plan created by the delivery plan creation support system 10 more compliant with practical requirements. Therefore, a great deal of effort is required to change the delivery plan.

[0018] Also, when the merit of improving the delivery plan is small, the merit of changing the delivery plan is small. For this reason, when the value of recreating the delivery plan is unclear, it is difficult to start recreating the delivery plan. As a result, once the delivery plan is created, it was often the case that the existing plan was continuously executed without reviewing the plan. Therefore, in this embodiment, the delivery plan creation support system 10 provides support for improving the delivery plan by clarifying a state where it is highly likely that the delivery plan can be made more efficient.

[0019] To provide such support, the delivery plan creation support system 10 includes a control unit 20 including a CPU, a RAM, a ROM, etc., a recording medium 30, and a communication unit 40. The control unit 20 can execute programs recorded on the recording medium 30 and the like. In this embodiment, one of the programs includes a delivery support program 21. When the delivery support program 21 is executed, the control unit 20 functions as an in-operation plan acquisition unit 21a, a plan creation unit 21b, a prohibition unit 21c, and a proposal unit 21d.

[0020] The communication unit 40 is equipped with a circuit for exchanging information with the administrator terminal 100, the traffic information management server 200, the route search server 300, and the store server 400. The control unit 20 can communicate with the administrator terminal 100, the traffic information management server 200, the route search server 300, and the store server 400 via the communication unit 40.

[0021] Also, the recording medium 30 stores delivery condition information 30a, operation plan information 30b, and latest plan information 30c. The delivery condition information 30a is an input parameter input to a VRP (Vehicle Routing Problem) engine that creates a delivery plan. That is, the control unit 20 functions as a plan creation unit 21b, solves a delivery plan problem (Vehicle Routing Problem) based on the delivery condition information 30a, and outputs a delivery plan. The process for solving the delivery plan problem is realized by a VRP engine using a known algorithm.

[0022] When creating a delivery plan, the control unit 20 collects the delivery condition information 30a from the administrator terminal 100, the traffic information management server 200, the route search server 300, and the store server 400 via the communication unit 40. In this embodiment, the delivery conditions included in the delivery condition information 30a include information regarding the location of the delivery destination, the working hours for each delivery destination, the time required for movement between delivery destinations, the loading capacity and upper limit number for each delivery vehicle, the departure time of the delivery vehicle from the base, and other information.

[0023] FIG. 2 is a diagram showing an example of the delivery conditions included in the delivery condition information 30a according to this embodiment. As shown in FIG. 2, the delivery condition information 30a includes the location of the delivery destination, the amount of goods, the working hours, the cost table, the upper limit number N1 of the delivery vehicle, and the loading capacity L1 of the delivery vehicle. As shown in FIG. 2, the location of the delivery destination is S A (Xa, Ya), etc., and is information in which the identification information of the delivery destination (S A ) and the location ((Xa, Ya)) are associated.

[0024] The amount of goods is L in FIG. 2 AIt is expressed as etc., and is the quantity of the goods to be delivered to each delivery destination, ordered from each delivery destination. The quantity of the goods may be defined by various methods. In this embodiment, it is assumed that the quantity of the goods is expressed by the number of boxes (pallets) containing the goods. Of course, it may be expressed by other methods such as the number of goods or the weight. The control unit 20 communicates with the store server 400 via the communication unit 40 by the function of the plan creation unit 21b, and acquires information indicating the latest position of the delivery destination and the latest quantity of the goods.

[0025] The working time is defined by the length of time, as shown as 5 minutes etc. in FIG. 2. The work only needs to correspond to the length of time from arrival at each delivery destination to redeparture. It may be the length of time from arrival at the parking lot to redeparture, or may be from the start to the end of unloading etc. It can be defined by various methods. Anyway, since the working time is the working time at each delivery destination, it is defined in association with each delivery destination. In this embodiment, the time when each delivery vehicle departs from the base is also defined in advance. In FIG. 2, an example is shown where each delivery vehicle is scheduled to depart at the common time of 4:45. However, the departure time may be determined for each delivery vehicle, or a plurality of departure times may be defined within a day. The control unit 20 communicates with the administrator terminal 100 via the communication unit 40 by the function of the plan creation unit 21b, and acquires information indicating the working time for each delivery destination and the time when the delivery vehicle departs from the base.

[0026] The cost table is information corresponding to the required time for moving between delivery destinations. In this embodiment, for all combinations obtained by selecting any two points from among a plurality of delivery destinations and the base of the delivery vehicle, the cost corresponding to the required time for moving between the points is defined and included in the delivery condition information 30a. The control unit 20 specifies all combinations of two points that can be selected from among all the delivery destinations and the base by the function of the plan creation unit 21b. Then, the control unit 20 transmits a route search request for moving from one of the points of each combination to the other and from the other to the one to the route search server 300 via the communication unit 40.

[0027] As a result, the route search server 300 performs route search for all combinations of two locations, with one of each combination as the departure point and the other as the destination, and vice versa. When the route search is performed, information indicating the searched route and information indicating the cost of each route are returned from the route search server 300. The control unit 20 acquires this information via the communication unit 40 and records it on the recording medium 30 as part of the delivery condition information 30a.

[0028] In FIG. 2, the identification information of the base of the delivery vehicle is shown as S0, and the identification information of the delivery destination is shown as S A , S B , etc. Also, the arrows in the cost table indicate the traveling direction at each location. Therefore, for example, S0→S A indicates the route from the base S0 to the delivery destination S A . In the example shown in FIG. 2, the cost C 0A is associated with this route. As shown in FIG. 2, for all bases and delivery destinations, the cost corresponding to the required time for the round trip between two locations is associated in the cost table. These costs are the total cost of the route (the sum of the costs for each road section).

[0029] Note that in this embodiment, the costs registered in the cost table are corrected based on traffic information. That is, the cost of the route associated with the route transmitted from the route search server 300 is specified based on the average travel time and distance for each road section, but the required time during movement can vary depending on the degree of traffic congestion. Therefore, the control unit 20 specifies the road sections included in the routes between each location registered in the cost table by the function of the plan creation unit 21b. Then, the control unit 20 transmits a request for transmitting traffic congestion information together with the road sections included in the route via the communication unit 40 by the function of the plan creation unit 21b.

[0030] As a result, the traffic information management server 200 returns information indicating the traffic congestion level of the requested road section. The control unit 20 acquires the traffic congestion level and corrects the cost of the route based on the traffic congestion level. That is, the more severe the traffic congestion, the longer the required time to travel through the road section. Therefore, the control unit 20 increases or decreases the cost for each road section of each route according to the traffic congestion level. For example, when the traffic congestion level is expressed in three levels such as free, congested, and severely congested, the cost of the route for the free road section is not corrected, the cost of the route for the congested road section is multiplied by C1 (>1), and the cost of the route for the severely congested road section is multiplied by C2 (>C1). The cost table shown in FIG. 2 is the sum of the costs for each road section after such correction.

[0031] The upper limits N1 and N2 of the delivery vehicles are the maximum number of delivery vehicles that can depart from the base in one delivery plan. Also, the upper limits are defined for each loading capacity of the delivery vehicles. The loading capacity of the delivery vehicles varies for each vehicle type, and the maximum number is defined for each loading capacity (vehicle type). Since the maximum number is the number of delivery vehicles that can depart from the base in one delivery plan, the number of delivery vehicles used may be less than the upper limits N1 and N2. The loading capacities L1 and L2 of the delivery vehicles are the maximum amounts of goods that can be loaded on each delivery vehicle. Here too, the loading capacity can be defined by various methods such as the number of boxes (weights) for loading the goods. In this embodiment, there may be two or more bases for the delivery vehicles. Also, the loading capacity for each delivery vehicle may vary for each delivery vehicle. Of course, the loading capacity of the delivery vehicles for each base may be of multiple types (multiple vehicle types), or there may be one type of delivery vehicle available at the base.

[0032] The control unit 20 creates a delivery plan for performing delivery under the delivery conditions indicated by the delivery condition information 30a by the function of the plan creation unit 21b. At this time, by minimizing a predetermined objective function, a delivery plan for efficiently performing delivery is specified. In the present embodiment, the objective function is set so as to minimize predetermined elements such as the number of delivery vehicles used for delivery, the total loading capacity which is the cumulative loading capacity of all delivery vehicles, the time required for delivery (the working hours of the delivery workers), and the total running distance of the delivery vehicles. As a result, it is configured to output a relatively efficient delivery plan among a plurality of possible delivery plans. Note that some of these elements may have importance, and in the present embodiment, minimizing the number of delivery vehicles is regarded as the most important element. An algorithm for creating such a delivery plan is known as described above.

[0033] In the present embodiment, the control unit 20 creates a delivery plan based on the delivery condition information 30a indicating the delivery conditions at the start of operation before the start of operation of the delivery plan. That is, the control unit 20 generates information indicating the order in which each of the delivery vehicles arrives at a plurality of delivery destinations, the route to each delivery destination, and the working time which is the time for loading and unloading at each delivery destination, and records it on the recording medium 30 as the in-operation plan information 30b.

[0034] In this embodiment, the departure time from the base is predetermined. Also, the time required to travel the route to each delivery destination can be specified, for example, by the product of the average travel time for each road section and the distance of the road section. Therefore, the scheduled arrival time at the first delivery destination can be specified by adding the time required from the base to the first delivery destination to the departure time. Thereafter, for the arrival time at a certain location, the scheduled arrival time at the next location can be specified by adding the working time at that location and the time required from that location to the next location. The control unit 20 acquires the scheduled arrival time at each delivery destination and adds it to the in-operation plan information 30b. Also, since the delivery vehicles used in the in-operation plan are determined together with the loading capacity, the in-operation plan information includes the number of delivery vehicles and the vehicle types. Further, in this embodiment, the driver of each delivery vehicle is determined. The driver may be determined by various methods, may be designated by an administrator operating the administrator terminal 100, or may be automatically determined by the control unit 20 based on the shift schedule of employees or the like. In this embodiment, these number of vehicles, vehicle types, and drivers are also included in the in-operation plan information 30b. Also, the delivery conditions at the time when the in-operation plan information 30b is created are recorded in association with the in-operation plan information 30b.

[0035] When the in-operation plan information 30b is created, the operation of the delivery according to the in-operation plan is started. When the implementation of the delivery plan according to the in-operation plan is started, the delivery condition information 30a may change over time. For example, the delivery condition information 30a may change due to an increase or decrease in delivery destinations, the construction, renovation, or abolition of roads, or the enhancement of facilities at the delivery destinations.

[0036] These changes are generally gradual, and there are few cases where it is clear that the efficiency of the delivery plan can be improved by one change. Therefore, it is difficult for an administrator or the like to specify the timing for re-creating the delivery plan in response to changes in the delivery condition information 30a. Therefore, the plan creation support system 10 has a function of specifying a state in which there is a high possibility of improving the efficiency compared to the existing in-operation plan by re-creating the delivery plan and proposing it to the administrator.

[0037] In order to make such a proposal, the control unit 20 causes the control unit 20 to execute a function of acquiring information regarding the in-operation plan, which is the in-operation delivery plan, by the function of the in-operation plan acquisition unit 21a. Thus, in the present embodiment, in a state where the in-operation plan has already been created by the function of the plan creation unit 21b, the control unit 20 acquires the in-operation plan information 30b from the recording medium 30.

[0038] In order to determine whether it is possible to improve efficiency by changing the in-operation plan to the latest plan, the control unit 20 compares the latest plan, which is the delivery plan created based on the latest delivery conditions, with the in-operation plan. For this comparison, in the present embodiment, the control unit 20 collects the latest delivery condition information 30a from the administrator terminal 100, the traffic information management server 200, the route search server 300, and the store server 400 at regular intervals, for example, every business day when delivery is executed, by the function of the plan creation unit 21b, and creates a delivery plan. When the delivery plan is created, the control unit 20 generates information including the order in which each delivery vehicle arrives at a plurality of delivery destinations, the route when traveling to each delivery destination, the working time, which is the time for loading and unloading at each delivery destination, the scheduled arrival time at the delivery destination, the number of delivery vehicles, etc., and records it on the recording medium 30 as the latest plan information 30c. Note that the latest delivery conditions at the time when the plan is created are also recorded in association with the latest plan information 30c. Hereinafter, the number of delivery vehicles in the latest plan is referred to as the latest vehicle number, and the number of delivery vehicles in the in-operation plan is referred to as the in-operation vehicle number.

[0039] The proposal unit 21d is a function of proposing various changes according to the latest delivery conditions. In the present embodiment, the proposal includes a proposal to change the in-operation plan to the latest plan and a proposal to modify the in-operation plan. The former change is a replacement of the plan itself, which discards the in-operation plan and makes various adjustments such as decisions of drivers based on the latest plan. The latest plan is a plan created based on the latest delivery conditions different from the delivery conditions when the in-operation plan was created. The latter modification is a modification to match some elements of the in-operation plan with the latest delivery conditions, for example, a modification of elements such as the delivery order. In this modification, the latest plan created based on the latest delivery conditions is not used.

[0040] Proposals for changes from the in-operation plan to the latest plan are implemented when it is estimated that, based on the latest delivery conditions, the number of delivery vehicles used when delivering according to the latest delivery conditions can be reduced compared to the number of delivery vehicles used when delivering according to the in-operation plan, resulting in efficiency improvement. On the other hand, if the degree of efficiency improvement is not significant even when changing the in-operation plan to the latest plan, no proposal to change the in-operation plan to the latest plan is made.

[0041] The prohibition of various changes and modifications to the in-operation plan is implemented by the prohibition unit 21c. To determine whether a prohibition should be imposed, the control unit 20 acquires the latest plan information 30c through the function of the prohibition unit 21c and compares it with the in-operation plan information 30b. Here, the comparison may be made so that it can be determined whether the delivery in the latest plan information 30c is more efficient than the delivery in the in-operation plan information 30b. Such a comparison can be implemented for various elements. In this embodiment, the control unit 20 estimates that efficiency improvement is possible when the number of the latest vehicles is reduced by one or more compared to the number of in-operation vehicles. Also, the control unit 20 regards the degree of efficiency improvement as not significant if the number of in-operation vehicles is the same as the number of the latest vehicles.

[0042] That is, the control unit 20 refers to the in-operation plan information 30b and acquires the number of delivery vehicles according to the in-operation plan as the number of in-operation vehicles. Also, the control unit 20 refers to the latest plan information 30c and acquires the number of delivery vehicles according to the latest plan as the number of the latest vehicles. Then, when the number of the latest vehicles is less than the number of in-operation vehicles, the control unit 20 estimates that the delivery plan can be made more efficient through the function of the prohibition unit 21c. In the case of this embodiment, when the number of in-operation vehicles is the same as the number of the latest vehicles and when the number of the latest vehicles is more than the number of in-operation vehicles, the control unit 20 estimates that it is unclear whether the delivery plan can be made more efficient.

[0043] When it is estimated that the delivery plan can be made more efficient, the control unit 20 does not prohibit the change from the operation plan to the latest plan by the function of the prohibition unit 21c. In this case, the control unit 20 proposes to the administrator to change the delivery plan by the function of the proposal unit 21d. That is, the control unit 20 outputs, via the communication unit 40, information for proposing to the administrator terminal 100 to recreate the delivery plan. As a result, on the administrator terminal 100, information prompting the recreation of the delivery plan is displayed on a user interface (not shown). According to the above configuration, the administrator can easily know that there is a high possibility that the delivery plan can be made more efficient by recreating the delivery plan. Therefore, the planning support system 10 can provide support for making the delivery plan more efficient.

[0044] Also, in this embodiment, when it is highly likely that the number of delivery vehicles can be reduced, an improvement in efficiency is proposed. If the number of delivery vehicles can be reduced, the cost required for delivery can be significantly reduced. Therefore, according to this embodiment, when the effect obtained by the improvement in efficiency is large, it is possible to propose to recreate the delivery plan.

[0045] When it is estimated that it is unknown whether the delivery plan can be made more efficient, the control unit 20 prohibits the change from the operation plan to the latest plan by the function of the prohibition unit 21c. Specifically, the prohibition unit 21c prohibits the change from the operation plan to the latest plan when the number of vehicles in operation is the same as the number of the latest vehicles and when the number of the latest vehicles is more than the number of vehicles in operation. The prohibition is to prevent the prohibited changes, corrections, etc. from being carried out. When implementing the prohibition, the prohibition unit 21c associates information indicating that the change, etc. is prohibited with the change, etc. that is the target of the prohibition. In this case, the proposal unit 21d refers to the information and does not propose the prohibited changes, corrections, etc. According to this configuration, it is possible to reduce the possibility that the operation plan is changed to the latest plan in a state where the degree of improvement in efficiency is small or no improvement in efficiency is achieved.

[0046] In this embodiment, when the operation plan during operation is not changed to the latest plan, that is, even when the operation plan itself is not discarded, there may be a case where the operation continues with a partially modified operation plan. For example, when it is necessary to partially modify the delivery order of the operation plan due to the abolition of a delivery destination or the like, the operation continues with the modified operation plan. In this embodiment, when such a modification is made, the control unit 20 modifies the operation plan during operation by the function of the plan creation unit 21b. Further, the control unit 20 proposes the modified operation plan during operation by the function of the proposal unit 21d. Furthermore, even in such a modification, the modification may be prohibited for some of the plurality of elements constituting the operation plan during operation.

[0047] In this embodiment, when the latest number of vehicles is the same as the number of vehicles in operation, the control unit 20 prohibits the modification of the scheduled arrival time in the operation plan by the function of the prohibition unit 21c. Also, in this embodiment, the control unit 20 does not prohibit the modification of the operation order during operation, which is the order in which the delivery vehicles visit a plurality of delivery destinations in the operation plan during operation. Further, the control unit 20 modifies the operation plan during operation by allowing the modification of the operation order without modifying the scheduled arrival time based on the latest delivery conditions by the function of the plan creation unit 21b. That is, the control unit 20 deletes the elements that have become unnecessary due to the latest delivery conditions from the operation plan during operation and adds the elements that have become necessary due to the latest delivery conditions to the operation plan during operation by the function of the plan creation unit 21b. Also, when the control unit 20 can satisfy the latest delivery conditions even by substituting replaceable elements in the elements of the operation plan during operation with more efficient elements, the control unit 20 substitutes the elements with more efficient elements. At this time, the operation order may be modified.

[0048] For example, when the delivery destination is abolished, the control unit 20 deletes the abolished delivery destination by the function of the plan creation unit 21b. As a result, the delivery order, the amount of the package, the working time, and the scheduled arrival time of the said delivery destination are deleted from the operation plan. Also, the routes of the locations before and after the deleted delivery destination are searched by the route search server 300 and associated as the route between these locations. Further, the operation order is corrected so that the next order of the delivery destination before the deleted delivery destination becomes the delivery destination after the deleted delivery destination. Of course, various elements may be corrected according to the said correction (the same applies hereinafter). When the above corrections are made, the operation plan information 30b is updated with the information indicating the corrected operation plan.

[0049] Also, for example, when a new delivery destination is added, the control unit 20 adds the new delivery destination to any order in the existing delivery order by the function of the plan creation unit 21b. In addition, if adding a new delivery destination between the delivery orders of the existing delivery destinations does not change the scheduled arrival time at the existing delivery destinations, a correction of adding a new delivery destination between the delivery orders of the existing delivery destinations can be made. When adding a new delivery destination between the delivery orders of the existing delivery destinations changes the scheduled arrival time at the existing delivery destinations, the delivery order of the new delivery destination is added to an order before the delivery destination of the first delivery order or an order after the delivery destination of the last delivery order. In any case, the new delivery destination is added to the existing delivery order, and the amount of the package, the working time, and the scheduled arrival time of the new delivery destination are added to the operation plan, thereby correcting the operation plan. As a result, the scheduled delivery time to the existing delivery destinations does not change. Also, the routes before and after the added delivery destination are searched by the route search server 300, and these routes are associated with the operation plan. When the above corrections are made, the operation plan information 30b is updated with the information indicating the corrected operation plan.

[0050] Furthermore, the control unit 20 proposes the revised ongoing plan to the administrator by the function of the proposal unit 21d. That is, the control unit 20 refers to the revised ongoing plan information 30b and outputs, via the communication unit 40, information for proposing the revised ongoing plan to the administrator terminal 100. As a result, on the administrator terminal 100, information indicating the revised ongoing plan is displayed on a user interface (not shown). The administrator can determine whether to finalize the revision of the ongoing plan based on the information.

[0051] According to the above configuration, even when the ongoing plan is revised due to the addition or deletion of a delivery destination or the like, the scheduled arrival time at which the delivery vehicle arrives at the delivery destination before the revision does not change. During the operation of the delivery plan, various matters are determined according to the delivery plan. For example, at the delivery destination, in order to display, transport, sell the delivered items, etc., ensuring of personnel is carried out according to the scheduled arrival time during operation. Therefore, if the scheduled arrival time is revised after the operation of the delivery plan has started, it may be necessary to revise various matters according to the revision of the scheduled arrival time. For this reason, if the delivery plan is frequently revised, a large burden will be imposed on the persons concerned with the delivery plan. However, if the revision of the scheduled arrival time is prohibited, even if the ongoing plan is revised, it is not necessary to revise the plan for ensuring personnel at each delivery destination. Therefore, the possibility of imposing a large burden on the persons concerned with the delivery plan can be reduced. Furthermore, except for the addition or deletion of a delivery destination, the ongoing order for the existing delivery destinations is maintained. Therefore, the possibility that a driver who is supposed to make deliveries in a specific delivery order during the operation process of the ongoing plan makes a mistake in the delivery order can be reduced.

[0052] Also, in this embodiment, when the number of the latest vehicles is the same as the number of in-operation vehicles, the control unit 20 does not prohibit the modification of the vehicle type in the in-operation plan by the function of the prohibition unit 21c. Further, the control unit 20 modifies the in-operation plan in a state where the modification of the vehicle type in the in-operation plan is allowed based on the latest delivery conditions by the function of the plan creation unit 21b. That is, the control unit 20 deletes the elements that have become unnecessary due to the latest delivery conditions from the in-operation plan and adds the elements that have become necessary due to the latest delivery conditions to the in-operation plan by the function of the plan creation unit 21b. Also, when it is possible to satisfy the latest delivery conditions even if the replaceable elements in the in-operation plan elements are replaced with more efficient elements by the function of the plan creation unit 21b, the control unit 20 replaces the elements with more efficient elements.

[0053] For example, when there is a change in the order quantity from the delivery destination or the addition or deletion of the delivery destination, the total amount of the goods to be delivered by a certain delivery vehicle may change. The control unit 20 specifies the total amount of the goods in the delivery vehicle in the in-operation plan based on the latest delivery conditions by the function of the plan creation unit 21b, and specifies the vehicle type of the delivery vehicle with the minimum loading capacity among the loading capacities that can load the total amount of the goods. When the specified vehicle type is different from the vehicle type of the delivery vehicle in the existing in-operation plan, the control unit 20 modifies the vehicle type and updates the in-operation plan information 30b.

[0054] Further, the control unit 20 proposes the modified in-operation plan to the administrator by the function of the proposal unit 21d. That is, the control unit 20 refers to the modified in-operation plan information 30b and outputs, via the communication unit 40, information for proposing the modified in-operation plan to the administrator terminal 100. As a result, on the administrator terminal 100, information indicating the modified in-operation plan is displayed on a user interface (not shown). The administrator can determine whether to confirm the modification of the in-operation plan based on the information.

[0055] According to the above configuration, when the operation plan is corrected according to the amount of luggage during operation, it is possible to increase the possibility that delivery is performed by a delivery vehicle of a vehicle type according to the amount of luggage. Therefore, it is possible to reduce the possibility that delivery is performed by a delivery vehicle having an excessively large size compared to the amount of luggage. For this reason, it is possible to increase the possibility that efficient delivery is performed.

[0056] In addition, when the operation plan is corrected as described above, correction of the driver in the operation plan may be prohibited. That is, when the control unit 20 corrects the operation plan based on the latest delivery conditions by the function of the plan creation unit 21b, the operation plan is corrected for other elements in a state where correction of the driver in the operation plan is prohibited. According to the above configuration, a driver accustomed to the existing operation plan continues to be the driver of the delivery vehicle. Therefore, when performing delivery according to the corrected operation plan, it is possible to reduce the possibility that the driver makes a mistake.

[0057] When making the above proposal, various information may be displayed together with the proposal. In the present embodiment, it is configured to also guide the reason why it is estimated that the delivery plan is streamlined. In the present embodiment, when the delivery load is reduced from the existing delivery conditions under the latest delivery conditions, it is estimated that the load is the reason that enables streamlining. Therefore, the control unit 20 compares the delivery conditions when creating the operation plan information 30b with the delivery conditions when creating the latest plan information 30c, and identifies the reduced load.

[0058] The loads to be compared may be various loads. For example, at least one of the position of the delivery destination, the working time for each delivery destination, and the required time for moving between delivery destinations may be the object of comparison. That is, when the position of the delivery destination (the number of delivery destinations) decreases, when the working time for each delivery destination decreases, or when the required time for moving between delivery destinations decreases, the delivery load decreases, and the possibility of completing delivery with a smaller number of delivery vehicles increases.

[0059] Therefore, the control unit 20 compares the delivery conditions when the operation plan information 30b is created with the delivery conditions when the latest plan information 30c is created, and identifies the reduced load. Then, the control unit 20 transmits information indicating the reduced load to the administrator terminal 100 via the communication unit 40. As a result, on the administrator terminal 100, the reduced load is displayed on a user interface (not shown). According to the above configuration, the administrator can recognize the reason why the delivery plan is presumed to be able to be made more efficient.

[0060] (2) Planning support process: Next, the planning support process executed by the control unit 20 will be described. FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing the planning support process executed by the control unit 20. The planning support process starts to be executed in response to a predetermined trigger. The predetermined trigger can be various triggers. For example, the trigger occurs at regular intervals (such as every business day when delivery is executed).

[0061] When the planning support process starts, the control unit 20 acquires the latest delivery conditions by the function of the planning unit 21b (step S100). That is, the control unit 20 collects the latest delivery condition information 30a from the administrator terminal 100, the traffic information management server 200, the route search server 300, and the store server 400 via the communication unit 40.

[0062] Next, the control unit 20 creates the latest delivery plan by the function of the planning unit 21b (step S105). That is, the control unit 20 uses the latest delivery condition information 30a acquired in step S100 as input parameters and creates the latest delivery plan by obtaining the output by the VRP engine. The created delivery plan is recorded on the recording medium 30 as the latest plan information 30c.

[0063] Next, the control unit 20 acquires the operation plan by the function of the operation plan acquisition unit 21a (step S110). That is, the control unit 20 refers to the recording medium 30 and acquires the operation plan information 30b of the operation plan that has already been created and is being operated.

[0064] Next, the control unit 20 compares the number of delivery vehicles in the operation plan and the latest delivery plan by the function of the proposal unit 21d (step S115). That is, the control unit 20 identifies the number of delivery vehicles used in each plan, that is, the latest vehicle number and the in-operation vehicle number, based on the latest plan information 30c created in step S105 and the in-operation plan information 30b acquired in step S110. Then, the control unit 20 compares the number of delivery vehicles used in each plan.

[0065] Next, the control unit 20 determines whether the number of delivery vehicles has been reduced by the function of the proposal unit 21d (step S120). That is, when the latest vehicle number, which is the number of delivery vehicles used in the latest delivery plan, is less than the in-operation vehicle number, which is the number of delivery vehicles used in the in-operation plan, the control unit 20 determines that the number of delivery vehicles has been reduced.

[0066] If it is determined in step S120 that the number of delivery vehicles has been reduced, the control unit 20 proposes to recreate the delivery plan by the function of the proposal unit 21d (step S125). That is, the control unit 20 does not prohibit the change from the in-operation plan to the latest plan by the function of the prohibition unit 21c. Then, the control unit 20 outputs, by the function of the proposal unit 21d, information for proposing to recreate the delivery plan via the communication unit 40. Further, the control unit 20 compares the delivery conditions when creating the in-operation plan information 30b with the delivery conditions when creating the latest plan information 30c, identifies the reduced load, and transmits it to the administrator terminal 100 via the communication unit 40.

[0067] In step S120, when it is not determined that the number of delivery vehicles has been reduced, the control unit 20 prohibits the change from the operation plan to the latest plan by the function of the prohibition unit 21c (step S130). That is, when the latest vehicle number is the same as the number of vehicles in operation, or when the latest vehicle number is greater than the number of vehicles in operation, the control unit 20, by the function of the prohibition unit 21c, discards the operation plan and does not propose to change it to the latest plan. Note that when the latest vehicle number is greater than the number of vehicles in operation and it becomes difficult to execute the operation plan due to a shortage of delivery vehicles or the like, the change to the latest plan may not be prohibited, and a proposal to recreate the delivery plan may be made.

[0068] After step S130, the control unit 20 proposes to modify the delivery plan by the function of the proposal unit 21d (step S135). That is, the control unit 20 does not discard the operation plan, modifies some elements of the operation plan, and outputs information for proposing the modified operation plan via the communication unit 40. At this time, among each element, some modifications may be prohibited. In the present embodiment, modification of the scheduled arrival time at the delivery destination and modification of the driver of the delivery vehicle are prohibited. On the other hand, modification of the vehicle type of the delivery vehicle and modification of the delivery order are not prohibited.

[0069] FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an example of changes in delivery conditions. On the left side of FIG. 4, a part of the delivery conditions when the operation plan information 30b is created is illustrated, and on the right side, a part of the latest delivery conditions is illustrated. Further, in FIG. 4, as a result of creating the delivery plan according to each delivery condition, the delivery destinations and order assigned to the delivery vehicles are also shown. The order is described such that the delivery destination located above in the drawing is in the front order. For example, in the operation plan shown on the left side, it is assumed that the delivery plan is created such that the delivery vehicle 1 makes deliveries in this order for each of delivery destinations S A , S B , S C , S D , S E , S F .

[0070] Also, in FIG. 4, for each delivery destination, the amount of luggage at each delivery destination, the working time, and the scheduled arrival time at each delivery destination are shown in association with each other. In FIG. 4, an example of a state where the delivery conditions at the time of creating the operation plan information 30b have changed is illustrated. For example, when an "x" mark is made on the identification information of the delivery destination, it indicates that the store as the delivery destination is not in business and has ceased to be a delivery destination. That is, delivery destination S B ,S G ,S H is not a delivery destination under the latest delivery conditions.

[0071] Also, the increase or decrease in the amount of luggage is indicated by a black triangle. For example, a downward black triangle indicates that the amount of luggage has decreased, and an upward black triangle indicates that the amount of luggage has increased. For example, delivery destination S D 's amount of luggage was L D under the delivery conditions at the beginning of creating the operation plan, but under the latest delivery conditions, the amount of luggage has decreased to L d . The amount of luggage at delivery destination S J was L J under the delivery conditions at the beginning of creating the operation plan, but under the latest delivery conditions, the amount of luggage has increased to L j .

[0072] Furthermore, for delivery destinations where the working time has changed, the changed value is shown. For example, the working time of delivery destination S D was 20 minutes under the delivery conditions at the beginning of creating the operation plan, but under the latest delivery conditions, the working time has decreased to 10 minutes. The working time of delivery destination S J was 10 minutes under the delivery conditions at the beginning of creating the operation plan, but under the latest delivery conditions, the working time has decreased to 5 minutes. These changes under the latest delivery conditions are also indicated by a thick frame in the latest delivery conditions shown on the right side of FIG. 4.

[0073] Although not shown in Fig. 4, if the time required for movement between delivery destinations changes due to road construction or demolition, etc., the costs registered in the cost table will also change. In the example shown in Fig. 4, due to these changes in delivery conditions, a delivery destination that required two delivery vehicles 1 and 2 in the operation plan can now be served by a single delivery vehicle 1 in the latest plan. In the example shown in Fig. 4, although the driver of delivery vehicle 1 has not been changed, the vehicle type of delivery vehicle 1 has been changed to vehicle type 2. Also, since the latest plan is a delivery plan newly created under the latest delivery conditions, the scheduled arrival time has been optimized (changed from the operation plan) based on the latest delivery conditions.

[0074] Thus, when delivery conditions change, it may be possible to achieve efficiency by reducing the number of delivery vehicles. However, as shown in Fig. 4, the changes in delivery conditions in this embodiment are diverse. Although Fig. 4 is shown in a simplified manner for ease of understanding, in an actual delivery plan, the number of delivery destinations, the number of delivery vehicles, etc. are larger, and it is difficult for the administrator to determine whether efficiency can be achieved. Furthermore, since delivery conditions generally change little by little, it is difficult for the administrator to identify the timing at which the delivery plan should be recreated based on the changes in delivery conditions. Also, it is very time-consuming to regularly check for changes in delivery conditions.

[0075] Therefore, in this embodiment, the plan creation support system 10 automatically creates a delivery plan based on the latest delivery conditions and compares it with the operation plan to determine whether there is a high possibility of achieving efficiency. With such a configuration, even if the administrator does not monitor changes in delivery conditions, the administrator can recognize that the delivery plan is likely to be in a state where efficiency can be achieved.

[0076] Fig. 5 shows an example when fewer changes occur compared to Fig. 4 for the same operation plan as Fig. 4. That is, after the operation of the operation plan shown on the left side of Fig. 5 starts, under the latest delivery conditions, delivery destination S B is no longer a delivery destination, but delivery destinations S G , S His still the destination. The changes in the amount of goods and the working hours are the same as the example shown in FIG. 4. On the right side of FIG. 5, an example of the latest plan created based on such the latest delivery conditions is shown. Specifically, in the delivery plan of delivery vehicle 1, the destination S B is deleted, and according to the change in the amount of goods, the scheduled arrival time is also optimized as a result.

[0077] However, in the latest plan shown on the right side of FIG. 5, the number of the latest vehicles is two, which is the same as the number of vehicles in operation. Therefore, in this case, the change from the in-operation plan to the latest plan is prohibited. On the other hand, the modification of the in-operation plan is not prohibited. FIG. 6 is a diagram showing an example of the in-operation plan after modification. On the left side of FIG. 6, the in-operation plan is shown in the same way as FIG. 5. On the right side of FIG. 6, the in-operation plan after modification is shown.

[0078] In this embodiment, the modification of the scheduled arrival time at the destination and the modification of the driver of the delivery vehicle are prohibited, while the modification of the vehicle type of the delivery vehicle and the modification of the delivery order are not prohibited. Therefore, with the deletion of the destination S B , the delivery order is changed from the order of S A ,S B ,S C ,S D ,S E ,S F to the order of S A ,S C ,S D ,S E ,S F to the order of S

[0079] Also, in this embodiment, although the above modifications are made, since the modification of the scheduled arrival time is prohibited, the scheduled arrival time is the same as the scheduled arrival time in the in-operation plan. Therefore, for the destinations S A ,S CAlthough there is some extra time during this period, the scheduled arrival time is not adjusted to avoid various adjustments at the delivery destination. Also, since the driver does not change, the driver can perform deliveries at familiar delivery destinations and along familiar routes in the in-operation plan.

[0080] (3) Other embodiments: The above embodiments are examples for implementing the present invention, and various other embodiments can also be adopted. For example, an example is that the delivery plan support system 10 constituting the above-described embodiment is composed of a plurality of systems. In this case, some functions of the delivery plan support system 10 may be realized by the administrator terminal 100 or the like, or may be realized by a cloud server. Furthermore, some of the various devices shown in FIG. 1 may be shared, or may be distributed among other devices. For example, the administrator terminal 100 and the route search server 300 may be integrally configured, the administrator terminal 100 and the store server 400 may be integrally configured, or the traffic information management server 200 and the route search server 300 may be integrally configured.

[0081] Furthermore, the administrator terminal 100 may be provided in a vehicle or the like, or may be a portable terminal or the like. Also, at least a part of each part (the in-operation plan acquisition unit 21a, the plan creation unit 21b, the in-operation plan acquisition unit 21a, the proposal unit 21d) constituting the delivery plan support system 10 may be divided and exist in a plurality of devices. Also, configurations in which some of the components of the above-described embodiments are omitted, or configurations in which the processing is changed or omitted can also be assumed.

[0082] The in-operation plan acquisition unit only needs to be able to acquire information regarding the in-operation plan, which is the delivery plan during operation. The information regarding the in-operation plan may be information indicating the in-operation plan itself, may be information indicating the delivery conditions referred to when creating the in-operation plan, or may be both. Note that the in-operation plan may be created in the plan support system and recorded on a recording medium as in the above-described embodiment, or may be created by a system external to the delivery plan support system, and the created in-operation plan may be recorded on the recording medium of the delivery plan support system.

[0083] The delivery plan is a plan for delivering goods to a plurality of delivery destinations by one or more delivery vehicles, and the number of delivery vehicles can be plural. In the delivery plan, any objective function may be minimized. However, since the number of delivery vehicles has a great impact on the operation cost, the number of delivery vehicles, such as an objective function for minimizing the number of delivery vehicles, is preferably a parameter that is more emphasized than other parameters when minimizing the objective function.

[0084] Also, the mode of the delivery plan may be various modes. Therefore, as in the above-described embodiment, for each of the delivery vehicles, it is not limited to the configuration in which the order of arrival at a plurality of delivery destinations, the route to each delivery destination, the working time at each delivery destination, the scheduled arrival time at each delivery destination, the vehicle type of the delivery vehicle, and the driver of the delivery vehicle are defined. The delivery plan may be defined in various other modes. For example, the goods for each delivery destination may be included in the delivery plan, or some of the above-described elements may not be included. The in-operation plan is a delivery plan that is actually being operated, and whether or not efficiency can be improved is determined from the information regarding the in-operation plan.

[0085] The plan generation unit only needs to be able to obtain the latest plan based on the latest delivery conditions. However, the plan generation unit may also be used to obtain a plan scheduled to start operation before the start of operation of the delivery plan.

[0086] The prohibition unit only needs to be able to control whether to prohibit the change from the in-operation plan to the latest plan based on the latest vehicle number and the number of in-operation vehicles. Also, considering other elements, whether to prohibit the change from the in-operation plan to the latest plan may also be controlled. Furthermore, the prohibition unit only needs to be able to prohibit at least the change from the in-operation plan to the latest plan. As in the above-described embodiment, the modification of some elements of the in-operation plan may be prohibited or may not be prohibited. Note that the mode of prohibiting changes and modifications may be various modes. For example, in a state where a certain change is prohibited, when an instruction to make the change is issued by the administrator, the prohibition may be realized in a mode such as not accepting the change.

[0087] If it is estimated that, based on the latest delivery conditions, the number of delivery vehicles used when making deliveries according to the latest delivery conditions can be reduced compared to the number of delivery vehicles used when making deliveries according to the operation plan in progress, the proposal department may be able to propose a change to the delivery plan. Of course, like in the above-described embodiment, the proposal department may or may not propose a modification to the operation plan itself.

[0088] Delivery conditions are the conditions necessary for creating a delivery plan and include various parameters for creating a delivery plan. That is, when the delivery conditions change, the delivery plan may change. The delivery conditions may be various parameters that can affect the delivery plan, and at least one of the location of the delivery destination, the loading capacity per delivery vehicle, the required time for moving between the delivery destinations, the working time per delivery destination, the upper limit number of delivery vehicles, and the departure time of the delivery vehicle from the base may not be included in the delivery conditions, or other information may be included in the delivery conditions. For example, the presence or absence of collection and the location of collection, the type of goods, the attributes of the operator (number of years of experience, etc.) may be included in the delivery conditions, and the delivery conditions may be created based on these delivery conditions.

[0089] The latest delivery conditions may be the delivery conditions at the stage of examining whether the delivery plan can be made more efficient. For example, for each timing (daily, weekly, etc.) for determining whether efficiency can be achieved, the latest information is collected and a configuration where the latest delivery conditions are used can be adopted.

[0090] Whether or not efficiency is achieved such that the number of delivery vehicles used when making deliveries according to the latest delivery conditions is less than the number of delivery vehicles used when making deliveries according to the operation plan in progress may be estimated without relying on a comparison between the delivery plans. For example, it may be a configuration where it is estimated that efficiency is possible when the delivery load included in the latest delivery conditions is reduced compared to the existing delivery conditions.

[0091] Such a configuration is realized, for example, in the configuration shown in FIG. 1 by comparing the latest delivery conditions with the existing delivery conditions before creating a delivery plan according to the latest delivery conditions. More specifically, in response to a predetermined trigger, the control unit 20 compares the delivery conditions by the function of the in-operation plan acquisition unit 21a. That is, the in-operation plan information 30b includes the existing delivery conditions used when creating the in-operation plan, and the control unit 20 acquires the existing delivery conditions. Further, the control unit 20 acquires the latest delivery conditions via the communication unit 40.

[0092] The control unit 20 extracts and compares the efficiency determination elements based on the latest delivery conditions and the predetermined delivery conditions. Further, when the load as the determination element in the latest delivery conditions is less than the load as the determination element in the existing delivery conditions, the control unit 20 estimates that efficiency improvement is possible. The load serving as the determination element only needs to be determined in advance. For example, at least one of the position of the delivery destination, the working time for each delivery destination, the required time for moving between delivery destinations, and the loading capacity for each delivery vehicle can be an example of the determination element. The amount of change in the load for which efficiency improvement is estimated only needs to be determined in advance.

[0093] That is, the control unit 20 extracts the determination elements from the latest delivery conditions and the existing delivery conditions, specifies the amount of reduction in the load in the latest delivery conditions, and estimates that efficiency improvement is possible when the reduction amount exceeds the threshold. When it is estimated that efficiency improvement is possible, the control unit 20 proposes a change to the delivery plan by the function of the proposal unit 21d. According to this configuration, it is possible to notify the administrator of a situation where there is a high possibility that the delivery plan can be made more efficient without creating a delivery plan.

[0094] Efficiency is an indicator that is considered higher as the resources used to execute the delivery plan are fewer. Therefore, under the latest delivery conditions, if at least the number of delivery vehicles decreases compared to the plan in operation, the resources in the form of the delivery vehicles used are reduced, resulting in increased efficiency. Resources are not limited to delivery vehicles; fuel, delivery personnel, time, etc. can be resources. That is, when the working hours of delivery personnel, the travel time of delivery vehicles, the travel distance of delivery vehicles, the number of delivery personnel, etc. are relatively small, it is more efficient than when they are large.

[0095] For this reason, the determination of whether efficiency can be improved may be made based on the number of delivery vehicles, or in addition to or instead of the number of delivery vehicles, it may also be made for other loads. For example, it may be presumed that efficiency can be improved when the number of delivery vehicles decreases and other loads also decrease by a certain amount. Furthermore, the threshold for determining that efficiency can be improved can be various values. For example, it may be presumed that efficiency can be improved when the reduction in the number of delivery vehicles is equal to or greater than the threshold, or it may be presumed that efficiency can be improved when the reduction in other loads is equal to or greater than the threshold.

[0096] The mode of proposing changes to the delivery plan can be various modes. Therefore, in addition to the mode of guiding the administrator that there is a possibility of increased efficiency as in the above-described embodiment, there can be various modes. For example, it may be a mode of guiding at least a part of the content of the delivery plan created based on the latest delivery conditions to the administrator.

[0097] Furthermore, the present invention is also applicable as a program or a method. Also, the above-described system, program, and method may be realized as a single device, or may be realized by using components shared with each part provided in a vehicle, and include various aspects. For example, it is possible to provide a method or a program realized by the above-described system. Also, it can be appropriately changed, such as part being software and part being hardware. Furthermore, the invention is also established as a recording medium for a program that controls the device. Of course, the recording medium for the software may be a magnetic recording medium, a semiconductor memory, or any recording medium developed in the future, and the same can be considered in exactly the same way.

Explanation of Signs

[0098] 1…Delivery vehicle, 10…Planning support system, 20…Control unit, 21…Delivery support program, 21a…Planning section, 21b…In-operation plan acquisition section, 21c…Proposal section, 30…Recording medium, 30a…Delivery condition information, 30b…In-operation plan information, 30c…Latest plan information, 40…Communication section, 100…Administrator terminal, 200…Traffic information management server, 300…Route search server, 400…Store server

Claims

1. An in-operation plan acquisition unit that acquires information on an in-operation plan, which is a delivery plan during operation; A plan creation unit that acquires a latest plan, which is a delivery plan including the latest number of vehicles used when performing delivery according to the latest delivery conditions and the order in which the delivery vehicles visit a plurality of delivery destinations, based on the latest delivery conditions; When the latest number of vehicles is the same as or greater than the number of delivery vehicles used in the in-operation plan, propose a partial modification of the in-operation plan; A proposal unit that, when the latest number of vehicles is less than the number of vehicles in the in-operation plan, proposes a change of the in-operation plan to the latest plan; A plan creation support system comprising the above.

2. The in-operation plan includes An arrival scheduled time, which is the scheduled time for a delivery vehicle to arrive at each of a plurality of delivery destinations, and When the latest number of vehicles is the same as or greater than the number of vehicles in the in-operation plan, The plan creation unit Modifies the in-operation plan without modifying the arrival scheduled time based on the latest delivery conditions, and The proposal unit Proposes the modified plan. The plan creation support system according to Claim 1.

3. The in-operation plan includes The vehicle types of the delivery vehicles used in the in-operation plan, and When the latest number of vehicles is the same as or greater than the number of vehicles in the in-operation plan, The plan creation unit Modifies the in-operation plan so that delivery is performed using the vehicle types according to the latest delivery conditions based on the latest delivery conditions, and The proposal unit Proposes the modified plan. The plan creation support system according to Claim 1 or Claim 2.

4. The operation plan in progress includes an in-operation order which is the order in which delivery vehicles visit a plurality of delivery destinations in the operation plan in progress, when the latest number of vehicles is the same as or greater than the number of vehicles in operation, the plan creation unit modifies the operation plan in progress so that when a delivery destination is deleted under the latest delivery conditions, the delivery destination is deleted from the in-operation order, and when a delivery destination is added, a new delivery destination is added to the in-operation order. The proposal unit proposes the modified plan. The plan creation support system according to claim 1 or claim 2.

5. The operation plan in progress includes drivers who drive delivery vehicles in the operation plan in progress, when the latest number of vehicles is the same as or greater than the number of vehicles in operation, the plan creation unit modifies the operation plan in progress based on the latest delivery conditions without modifying the drivers, the proposal unit proposes the modified plan. The plan creation support system according to claim 1 or claim 2.

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