Service providing apparatus, service providing system, and computer-readable recording medium

Abstract

A service providing device according to the present disclosure includes: a request accepting unit that accepts request information at least including machine-specific information that uniquely identifies an industrial machine and requested service information that specifies a service desired to be used in the industrial machine; a determination unit that determines a recommended service recommended to be used in conjunction with the service desired to be used, on the basis of service combination information defining a combination of services that become suitable by being used in conjunction with each other among available services, service trial information related to a service provided by the industrial machine as trial, and the request information; and a service information providing unit that notifies information for providing trial of the recommended service determined by the determination unit under a predetermined trial condition.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to a service providing apparatus, a service providing system, and a computer-readable recording medium.

Background Art

[0002] Services (functions of machines) provided and realized by industrial machines and their service providing apparatuses are diverse. Generally, a user purchases a necessary service. The purchased service is set to be valid at the time of shipment or after shipment of the industrial machine. Thereafter, it becomes possible to use the service permanently (for example, see Patent Document 1).

Prior Art Documents

Patent Documents

[0003]

Patent Document 1

Summary of the Invention

Problems to be Solved by the Invention

[0004] Among the functions of a machine, there are cases where sufficient effects can be achieved only by that function. In such cases, a user can consider introducing that function from the beginning. On the other hand, there are also functions that can be expected to be more user-friendly, improve the quality of processing, and shorten the cycle time in processing by combining and using them with other functions. The effects of such combinations of functions can be grasped only when used in combination. However, if the user is not aware of this, they will not consider introducing these functions simultaneously. Also, even if they know, it is difficult to decide whether to incur the introduction cost at a timing where it is not known whether sufficient merits can be enjoyed in the user's usage, and there is a reality that it cannot be easily tried.

[0005] Although it is conceivable to provide introduction support by a mechanical function service provider, it is not easy to grasp the situation of machine users, and it is difficult to effectively promote the sales of function services. The sales staff of the machine manufacturer needs to visit the users of the machine to grasp the processing content, the usage status of the machine, the demands, etc. This incurs costs for the machine manufacturer. Therefore, a technical mechanism for proposing effective services according to the usage status and demands of the machine by the user is desired.

Means for Solving the Problems

[0006] When adding a service (function) to a machine, the service providing device according to the present invention promotes the effective use and trial of services that the machine user has not been able to use by making them available for a predetermined period and recommending trials, and enables the promotion of the sales of the services provided by the service provider (manufacturer and seller of industrial machines / control devices), thereby solving the above problems.

[0007] And one aspect of the present disclosure is a service providing device for an industrial machine for providing a trial of services that the industrial machine can provide, including a request receiving unit that receives request information including at least machine specific information that uniquely identifies the industrial machine and request service information that designates a service that the industrial machine wants to use, service combination information that defines a combination of services that are suitable for combined use among the services that can be provided, service information related to the service that the industrial machine provides for trial, and based on the request information, a determination unit that determines recommended services that are recommended to be used in combination with the service that the user wants to use, and a service information providing unit that notifies information for providing the recommended services determined by the determination unit under predetermined trial conditions. and corresponding to the machine-specific information service information, and based on the request information, to determine whether the requested service information included in the request information is available, and read out the service combination information corresponding to the requested service information a service providing device including a determination unit that determines recommended services that are recommended to be used in combination with the service that the user wants to use, and a service information providing unit that notifies information for providing the recommended services determined by the determination unit under predetermined trial conditions.

[0008] Another aspect of the present disclosure is an industrial machine service provision system for providing a trial offer of services that can be provided by an industrial machine. The service provision device manages at least one industrial machine that implements the service, and the industrial machine outputs the request information to the service provision device. Based on the result of the determination by the determination unit of the service provision device This is a service provision system that provides a trial offer of the service based on the result of the determination by the determination unit.

[0009] Another aspect of the present disclosure is a computer-readable recording medium recording a program for operating a computer as an industrial machine service provision device for providing a trial offer of services that can be provided by an industrial machine. The computer-readable recording medium includes a request reception unit that receives request information including at least machine-specific information that uniquely identifies the industrial machine and request service information that designates a service that the industrial machine wants to use, service combination information that defines a combination of services that are suitable when used in combination among the services that can be provided, and service information related to the service that the industrial machine provides on a trial basis. Based on the and corresponding to the machine-specific information service information and the request information, to determine whether the requested service information included in the request information is available, and read out the service combination information corresponding to the requested service information a determination unit that determines a recommended service that is recommended to be used in combination with the service that the user wants to use, and a service information provision unit that notifies information for providing a trial offer of the recommended service determined by the determination unit under predetermined trial conditions. This is a computer-readable recording medium recording a program for operating as such.

Advantages of the Invention

[0010] According to one aspect of the present disclosure, when there is a service that is more suitable for processing when used in combination with the requested service, the machine user can easily know it and can try it, which promotes the effective use of the service.

Brief Description of the Drawings

[0011]

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Mode for Carrying Out the Invention

[0012] Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a schematic hardware configuration diagram showing the main part of a service providing apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention. The service providing apparatus 2 of the present invention is connected via a network 5 such as the Internet to industrial machines 4 such as machine tools and robots arranged in a factory. And, by the service providing apparatus 2 managing the industrial machines 4, a service providing system 1 is configured. The service providing apparatus 2 can be mounted on a computer such as a server. The industrial machine 4 according to the present embodiment has software related to available services pre-installed therein. And it is assumed that the function can be used by receiving information related to a predetermined usage permission from the service providing apparatus 2.

[0013] The CPU 11 included in the service providing apparatus 2 of the present invention is a processor that controls the entire service providing apparatus 2. The CPU 11 reads out the system program stored in the ROM 12 via the bus 22, and controls the entire service providing apparatus 2 according to the system program. In the RAM 13, temporary calculation data, display data, various data input from the outside, and the like are temporarily stored.

[0014] The non-volatile memory 14 is composed of, for example, a memory backed up by a battery (not shown) or an SSD (Solid State Drive), and retains the storage state even when the power of the service providing apparatus 2 is turned off. In the non-volatile memory 14, data read from the external device 72 via the interface 15, a processing program, data and programs input via the input device 71, various data transmitted from the industrial machine 4, and the like are stored. The data and processing programs stored in the non-volatile memory 14 may be expanded in the RAM 13 during execution / use. Also, various system programs such as a known analysis program are pre-written in the ROM 12.

[0015] The interface 15 is an interface for connecting the CPU 11 of the service providing apparatus 2 and an external device 72 such as a USB device. From the external device 72 side, for example, a program related to the function of the service providing apparatus 2, various data related to service provision, and the like can be read. Also, programs and various data edited in the service providing apparatus 2 can be stored in external storage means via the external device 72.

[0016] To the display device 70, data read onto the memory, data obtained as a result of executing a processing program, a system program, and the like are output and displayed via the interface 18. Also, the input device 71 composed of a keyboard, a pointing device, and the like passes commands, data, and the like based on operations by an operator to the CPU 11 via the interface 19.

[0017] The interface 20 is an interface for connecting the CPU 11 of the service providing device 2 and the network 5. The network 5 may be a WAN (Wide Area Network) composed of a dedicated line or the like, or may be a wide area network such as the Internet. Connected to the network 5 are industrial machines 4 such as machine tools and robots installed in factories, fog computers (not shown), cloud servers, and the like. Each of these devices exchanges data with the service providing device 2 via the network 5.

[0018] FIG. 2 schematically shows, as a block diagram, the functions provided in the service providing device 2 according to the first embodiment of the present invention. Each function provided in the service providing device 2 according to the present embodiment is realized by the CPU 11 provided in the service providing device 2 shown in FIG. 1 executing a system program and controlling the operations of the respective parts of the service providing device 2.

[0019] The service providing device 2 of the present embodiment includes a request receiving unit 100, a determination unit 110, a service information providing unit 120, a charging processing unit 130, and a communication unit 180. Further, in the RAM 13 to the non-volatile memory 14 of the service providing device 2, there are provided a service information storage unit 150 which is an area for storing service information that is information related to the service provision status in each industrial machine 4, and a service combination information storage unit 160 which is an area for storing service combination information that is information related to the combination of services that can be provided to the industrial machine 4.

[0020] The request receiving unit 100 receives request information related to the services used by the industrial machine 4. The request information includes at least machine-specific information that can uniquely identify the industrial machine 4 managed by the service providing device 2, and requested service information that can uniquely identify the requested service. The request receiving unit 100 outputs the received request information to the determination unit 110.

[0021] The machine-specific information may have any structure as long as it can at least uniquely identify the industrial machine 4 being managed. For example, it may include information for uniquely identifying a machine tool builder (e.g., Machine Tool Builder number, etc.), information for uniquely identifying a user using the industrial machine 4 (e.g., machine user number, etc.), information for uniquely identifying the industrial machine 4 owned by the user (e.g., serial number, etc.), and the like.

[0022] The requested service information may have any structure as long as it can at least uniquely identify the services (functions) available for the industrial machine 4 managed by the service providing device 2. For example, it may be the name of the requested function or an appropriately assigned service number. Examples of services available for the industrial machine 4 include, for example, services used for drive control of machine tools and robots, and other services related to these services. The requested service information may further include information indicating the form of service provision. Examples of the form of provision include the form of buyback, the form of subscription with a specified period, the form of subscription with a specified number of uses, and the like.

[0023] FIG. 3 is a diagram showing an example of request information. The first request information includes the machine ID: 01-0002-03 as machine-specific information, the service number: J713 and the form of provision: buyback as requested service information. The second request information includes the machine ID: 01-0002-03 as machine-specific information, the service number: S677 and the form of provision: 30-day extension as requested service information.

[0024] Based on the request information received by the request reception unit 100 from the industrial machine 4, the service information stored in the service information storage unit 150, and the service combination information stored in the service combination information storage unit 160, the determination unit 110 determines recommended services that can be additionally recommended for the request from the industrial machine 4.

[0025] When the request information of the industrial machine 4 is input from the request reception unit 100, the determination unit 110 reads out the service information corresponding to the machine-specific information included in the request information from the service information storage unit 150. Then, it determines whether the requested service can be provided. FIG. 4 shows an example of the service information stored in the service information storage unit 150. The service information is information for managing at least the information related to the provision of the service for each machine-specific information by associating them. The information related to the provision of the service included in the service information includes the provision status related to each service, information indicating the trial conditions, and information indicating the trial amount. In the example of FIG. 4, in the industrial machine 4 with the machine ID: 01-0002-03, the tool tip point control function with the service number: S677 is provided in the form of a subscription, and the 3D manual feed function with the service number: R696 is provided in the form of a buyout. Also, the 3D error correction function with the service number: S666, the 3D coordinate conversion function with the service number: J713, and the inclined plane detection function with the service number: R522 are in an unprovided state. In the trial conditions, information indicating the availability of the trial, the trial available period, the trial period, the number of available trials, etc. are set. In the example of FIG. 4, for the 3D error correction function, the tool tip point control function, and the 3D manual feed function, the trial is not available, the 3D coordinate conversion function is available for trial only for 30 days, and the trial conditions for the inclined plane detection function are set for 60 days. The trial amount is information for managing the remaining trial period and the remaining number of trials for the service during the trial. As service information, additional necessary information such as the trial start date may be managed. As illustrated in FIG. 4, the service information may include information related to the attributes of the industrial machine 4. The information related to the attributes of the industrial machine 4 includes, for example, the type of the industrial machine 4 (such as a machining center, a lathe, etc.), the performance of the industrial machine 4 (the number of control axes, the number of systems, the maximum spindle rotation speed, etc.), and the equipment installed in the industrial machine 4 (such as a tool turret head, a coolant-related device, a workpiece supply device, a chip automatic discharge device, etc.). In the example of FIG. 4, it is shown that the type of the industrial machine 4 with the machine ID: 01-0002-03 is a machining center, the performance is 1 system 5 axes (basic 3 axes XYZ + rotation axes BC), and it is equipped with a tool turret head as equipment.Based on such service information, the determination unit 110 determines that services in a state where they can be provided, such as functions not yet provided, functions currently being tried, and functions for which subscriptions are being provided, are available for provision.

[0026] Next, the determination unit 110 reads out the service combination information corresponding to the requested service information included in the request information from the service combination information storage unit 160. Then, it determines whether the requested service is available for use in the industrial machine 4. Also, it determines whether there is a service that can be used in combination with the requested service. FIG. 5 shows an example of the service combination information stored in the service combination information storage unit 160. As illustrated in FIG. 5, the service combination information includes the conditions of the industrial machine 4 for which the service is available and a list of services that can be provided in combination with each other. The conditions of the industrial machine 4 for which the service is available may include conditions such as the type of the industrial machine 4 for which the service is available, performance conditions, and equipment conditions. In the example of FIG. 5, the service included in the service combination information is conditional on being available for use in an industrial machine whose type is a machining center, whose control axes are 5 axes (basic 3 axes + 2 rotating axes) or more, and which is equipped with a tool turning head or a work rotating table. The list of services included in the service combination information is a list of a plurality of services that can be used more preferably, such as services that are more convenient to use when used in combination rather than individually, services that improve the quality of processing, and services that shorten the cycle time in processing. In the example of FIG. 5, the 3D manual feed function, the 3D coordinate conversion function, and the inclined plane indexing function are registered as services that can be used more preferably when used in combination. As illustrated in FIG. 5, the service combination information may include, as additional information, what can be done with each service. By referring to such service combination information, the determination unit 110 determines that the industrial machine 4 with the machine ID: 01 - 0002 - 03 satisfies the type conditions, performance conditions, and equipment conditions. Also, it determines that the requested 3D coordinate conversion function can be preferably used in combination with the 3D manual feed function and the inclined plane indexing function.

[0027] The determination unit 110 determines whether there is a service among the services that can be used in combination with the requested service and that is not provided to the industrial machine 4 with the machine-specific information included in the request information. Then, it determines that the service that is not provided is a recommended service. For example, in the industrial machine 4 with the machine ID: 01-0002-03 illustrated in FIG. 4, the three-dimensional manual feed function is already being used in a purchased state. On the other hand, the inclined plane determination function is not provided and is not currently in use. In such a case, the determination unit 110 determines that the inclined plane determination function is a recommended service.

[0028] Based on the determination result, the determination unit 110 updates the service information stored in the service information storage unit 150. For example, it updates the provision status of the service requested in the request information according to the provision form. Also, it updates the provision status of the recommended service to being in trial provision.

[0029] FIG. 6 is a diagram showing an example of the determination result by the determination unit 110. When the service information illustrated in FIG. 4 is stored in the service information storage unit 150 and the request reception unit 100 receives the first request illustrated in FIG. 3, the determination unit 110 reads the service information of the machine ID: 01-0002-03 from the service information storage unit 150 and refers to the information of the service number: J713. Since it can be seen that the service with the service number J713 is currently not provided, as illustrated in FIG. 6, it is determined to accept the purchase of the three-dimensional coordinate conversion function. Also, the determination unit 110 reads the service combination information including the service number: J713 as illustrated in FIG. 5 from the service combination information storage unit 160. Then, it is determined that the inclined plane determination function with the service number: R522 can be recommended. Also, from the service information and the service combination information, it is determined that the inclined plane determination function can be tried for 60 days and that there is additional information stating that "position commands can be given in the feature coordinate system fixed to the surface inclined with respect to the reference surface of the workpiece" for this function. Based on these determination results, as illustrated in FIG. 7, the service information of the machine ID: 01-0002-03 is updated.

[0030] The service information providing unit 120 provides the determination result by the determination unit 110 to the industrial machine 4. The provided determination result is treated as information regarding permission or prohibition of use of a predetermined service in the industrial machine 4. The determination result provided by the service information providing unit 120 includes at least information regarding the availability of the requested service and the provision conditions. The provision conditions may include, for example, information regarding the remaining usage period, the remaining number of uses, the trial expiration date, the remaining trial period, the remaining number of trial uses, and other usage restriction-related information. Further, it may include additional information on recommended services and the like.

[0031] The charging processing unit 130 performs charging processing according to the service to be provided based on the determination result by the determination unit 110. In the service information stored in the service information storage unit 150, information regarding charging according to the service provision form is preset for each service. The charging processing unit 130 performs charging processing according to the provision state of each service based on the information regarding charging. The charging processing unit 130 does not perform charging for a service whose provision form is in the trial provision state.

[0032] The communication unit 180 manages the exchange of information between the service providing device 2 and the industrial machine 4 via the network 5. When the communication unit 180 receives request information from the industrial machine 4, it outputs the received request information to the request reception unit 100. Further, when the determination result for the request information is output from the service information providing unit 120, it transmits the output determination result to the industrial machine 4. Furthermore, it transmits the result of the charging processing by the charging processing unit 130 to the industrial machine 4. These pieces of information may be transmitted to the industrial machine 4 and also to the user of the industrial machine 4 or the manufacturer of the industrial machine 4 using other communication means such as e-mail.

[0033] In the service providing device 2 according to the present embodiment having the above configuration, when there is a service more suitable for processing by being used in combination with the requested service, the machine user can easily know it and can try it, so that the effective use of the service is promoted.

[0034] As a variant of the service providing apparatus 2 according to the present embodiment, the service providing apparatus 2 may output a warning to the user of the industrial machine 4 according to the usage status of the service being tried. For example, for a service with a defined trial period, the remaining trial amount, which is the remaining available trial period, is managed. Then, when there is a service for which the trial amount has reached 0 days, the service information providing unit 120 may transmit a warning message indicating that the remaining trial period has reached 0 days to the user of the industrial machine 4. FIG. 8 shows an example of a warning message transmitted to the user when the remaining trial period has reached 0 days. By viewing this message, the user can know that the trial period of the inclined plane extraction function has expired and can make a decision to purchase (buyout, subscription, etc.) the service for continued use. When the user selects to purchase, the request information for the corresponding service is transmitted to the service providing apparatus 2.

[0035] FIG. 9 schematically shows, as a block diagram, the functions provided in the service providing apparatus 2 according to the second embodiment of the present invention. Each function provided in the service providing apparatus 2 according to the present embodiment is realized by the CPU 11 provided in the service providing apparatus 2 shown in FIG. 1 executing a system program and controlling the operations of the respective parts of the service providing apparatus 2.

[0036] The service providing apparatus 2 of the present embodiment further includes a usage status acquisition unit 140 in addition to the request reception unit 100, the determination unit 110, the service information providing unit 120, the charging processing unit 130, and the communication unit 180. Further, in the RAM 13 to the non-volatile memory 14 of the service providing apparatus 2, there are provided a service information storage unit 150, which is an area for storing service information that is information related to the service provision status in each industrial machine 4, and a service combination information storage unit 160, which is an area for storing service combination information that is information related to combinations of services that can be provided to the industrial machine 4.

[0037] The request reception unit 100, the service information providing unit 120, the charging processing unit 130, and the communication unit 180 according to the present embodiment are the same as the respective functions according to the first embodiment. The usage situation acquisition unit 140 according to the present embodiment acquires information indicating the usage situation of the industrial machine 4 to be managed. The usage situation of the industrial machine 4 acquired by the usage situation acquisition unit 140 may be, for example, the number of usage times or the usage frequency for each service. Further, the usage situation of the industrial machine 4 acquired by the usage situation acquisition unit 140 may be the command content of the processing program used for the drive control of the industrial machine 4. The usage situation acquisition unit 140 may acquire information indicating the usage situation of the industrial machine 4 at a predetermined cycle. The usage situation acquisition unit 140 outputs the information indicating the usage situation of the acquired industrial machine 4 to the determination unit 110 at a predetermined timing (such as every day or every week) determined in advance.

[0038] The determination unit 110 according to the present embodiment analyzes the information indicating the usage status of the industrial machine input from the usage status acquisition unit 140, and determines the service to be recommended to the user. FIG. 10 shows an example of service combination information stored in the service combination information storage unit 160 according to the present embodiment. In the service combination information according to the present embodiment, information indicating the usage conditions for recommending a trial of each service is set in association with each service. For example, the usage condition for recommending a trial of the three-dimensional manual feed function with service number: S696 is shown to be one month or more after starting to use the three-dimensional coordinate conversion function with service number: J713. The determination unit 110 refers to the usage status of the industrial machine 4 input from the usage status acquisition unit 140, and when there is an industrial machine 4 that has used the three-dimensional coordinate conversion function for one month or more, determines that the three-dimensional manual feed function is a recommended service for that industrial machine 4. The flow of providing a trial of the determined recommended service is the same as that of the service providing apparatus 2 according to the first embodiment. Further, for example, the usage condition for recommending a trial of the inclined surface determination function with service number R522 is shown to be five or more times per one processing of the inclined surface processing frequency. The determination unit 110 refers to the types of commands included in the programs executed on each industrial machine 4 and the results of known machining simulations, and when the number of times of machining a surface inclined with respect to the linear axis is five or more times per one processing, determines that the inclined surface determination function is a recommended service for that industrial machine 4. The flow of providing a trial of the determined recommended service is the same as that of the service providing apparatus 2 according to the first embodiment.

[0039] In the service providing apparatus 2 according to the present embodiment having the above configuration, when there is a service that can be effectively utilized according to the usage status of the industrial machine 4, the machine user can easily know it and can try it, so that the effective use of the service is promoted.

[0040] As described above, the embodiments of the present invention have been described, but the present invention is not limited to only the examples of the above-described embodiments, and can be implemented in various forms by making appropriate changes. For example, in the service provision system 1 in the above-described embodiment, the service information storage unit 150 and the service combination information storage unit 160 are incorporated in the service provision device 2. However, as illustrated in FIG. 11, the service information storage unit 150 and the service combination information storage unit 160 may be provided on a computer different from the service provision device 2.

[0041] Further, the service provision system 1 in the above-described embodiment is configured such that the service provision device 2 and the industrial machine are connected via a network. However, the service provision device 2 may be configured on a control device that controls the industrial machine 4. In such a configuration, when using a service in the industrial machine 4, request information is output to the functional group corresponding to the service provision device 2 configured on the control device. Then, as a response to the request information, the determination result of the determination unit 110 is output. By configuring the service provision device 2 on the control device, it becomes possible to use the functions of the present invention even in the industrial machine 4 that is disconnected from the network.

Explanation of Signs

[0042] 1 Service provision system 2 Service provision device 4 Industrial machine 11 CPU 12 ROM 13 RAM 14 Non-volatile memory 15, 18, 19, 20 Interface 22 Bus 70 Display device 71 Input device 72 External device 100 Request reception unit 110 Determination unit 120 Service information provision unit 130 Billing processing unit 140 Usage status acquisition unit 150 Service information storage unit 160 Service combination information storage unit 180 Communication Department

Claims

1. A service providing device for an industrial machine for providing a trial of services that can be provided by the industrial machine, comprising: a request receiving unit that receives request information including at least machine-specific information that uniquely identifies the industrial machine and request service information that specifies a service to be used by the industrial machine; service combination information that defines combinations of services that are suitable for combined use among the services that can be provided, service information related to the service to be provided on a trial basis by the industrial machine and corresponding to the machine-specific information, and based on the service combination information, the service information, and the request information, determines whether the request service information included in the request information can be provided, reads out the service combination information corresponding to the request service information, and determines recommended services that are recommended to be used in combination with the service to be used; a service information providing unit that notifies information for providing the recommended services determined by the determination unit on a trial basis under predetermined trial conditions; A service providing device comprising the above.

2. The service combination information is defined for each attribute including at least one of the type, performance, or equipment of the industrial machine, where the combinations of services that can be used in combination are defined; The determination unit determines the recommended services based on the attributes of the industrial machine identified by the machine-specific information received as request information. The service providing device according to Claim 1.

3. The service information includes trial conditions for services that can be used in the industrial machine. The service providing device according to Claim 1 or 2.

4. The trial conditions include at least one of information indicating whether the service can be tried, the trial period, the trial expiration date, or the number of trial attempts. The service providing device according to Claim 3.

5. When the service being tried is outside the trial conditions, the service information providing unit stops the trial provision of the service and notifies information prompting the continued use of the service. The service providing device according to any one of Claims 1 to 4.

6. The services that can be tried by the industrial machine are at least one of the functions implemented by the control device driving and controlling a machine tool or the functions implemented by the robot controller driving and controlling a robot. The service providing device according to any one of Claims 1 to 5.

7. Further comprising a usage status acquisition unit that acquires the usage status of the industrial machine. The determination unit determines a recommended service recommended in the usage situation based on the usage situation of the industrial machine acquired by the usage situation acquisition unit. The service providing apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 6.

8. An industrial machine service providing system for trial-providing services that can be provided by an industrial machine, The service providing apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 7 manages at least one industrial machine that implements the service. The industrial machine, Outputs the request information to the service providing apparatus, Based on the result of the determination by the determination unit of the service providing apparatus with respect to the request information, the service is provided on a trial basis. Service providing system.

9. The service providing apparatus and the industrial machine are connected via a network, The industrial machine communicates with the service providing apparatus via the network. The service providing system according to claim 8.

10. The service providing apparatus is configured on a control device that controls the industrial machine. The service providing system according to claim 8.

11. A computer-readable recording medium recording a program for operating a computer as a service providing apparatus for an industrial machine for trial-providing services that can be provided by the industrial machine, A request reception unit that receives request information including at least machine-specific information that uniquely identifies the industrial machine and request service information that designates a service to be used by the industrial machine, Based on service combination information that defines a combination of services that are suitable for combined use among the services that can be provided, service information corresponding to the machine-specific information, and the request information, it is determined whether the request service information included in the request information can be provided, the service combination information corresponding to the request service information is read out, and a determination unit that determines a recommended service that is recommended to be used in combination with the service to be used, A service information providing unit that notifies information for providing the recommended service determined by the determination unit on a trial basis under predetermined trial conditions, A computer-readable recording medium recording a program for operating as such.

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