Consumables management device and computer program

Abstract

To suppress the occurrence of a down time due to the fact that consumables do not arrive in time and a decrease in the use efficiency of consumables due to the fact that consumables arrive too early, as compared with the case where a change of delivery period is not taken into account.SOLUTION: A consumables management device 10 periodically acquires remaining quantity information that pertains to a remaining quantity before a consumable is replaced and a replacement history of the consumable from a device in which the consumable is included, acquires information regarding a delivery period and a delivery time corresponding to the replacement history from dispatching of the consumable to arrival at the installed place of the device, predicts from the predicted replacement time a replacement time of the consumable that is included in the device, using the remaining quantity information, and determines from the predicted replacement time that a time before the delivery period corresponding to the delivery time is a time at which to dispatch to the installation place of the consumable.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

[Technical Field]

[0001] The present invention relates to a consumables management device and a computer program. [Background technology]

[0002] Patent document 1 discloses a consumables supply system that sends an email to order consumables, taking into account the shortest number of days until the remaining amount of consumables in the device goes from Near Empty to Near End, and the number of days it will take to deliver the consumables.

[0003] Patent Document 2 discloses a remote management system that calculates the number of days for delivery from location information of a consumables delivery base and an equipment installation location, arranges for the delivery of consumables, and determines a threshold for the remaining amount of consumables. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0004] [Patent Document 1] Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2002-318678 [Patent Document 2] Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2017-119561 Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0005] If the delivery period from when a consumable is shipped until it is delivered varies depending on the time of year, the arrival of new consumables may not be in time for the replacement of the consumables, or conversely, the arrival of new consumables may be too early and the consumables may be replaced before they are completely used up, resulting in a decrease in the utilization efficiency of the consumables.

[0006] The present invention aims to provide a consumables management device and computer program that can reduce downtime caused by consumables not arriving in time and reduced utilization efficiency of consumables caused by consumables arriving too early, compared to when fluctuations in delivery periods are not taken into account. [Means for solving the problem]

[0007] A consumables management device according to a first aspect of the present invention includes a processor that periodically acquires remaining quantity information regarding the remaining quantity of a consumable until replacement and the replacement history of the consumable from the device in which the consumable is installed, acquires information regarding the delivery period and delivery time from the time the consumable is shipped until it arrives at the installation location of the device, corresponding to the replacement history, predicts the replacement time of the consumable installed in the device using the remaining quantity information, and determines, from the predicted replacement time, a point before the delivery period corresponding to the delivery time as the time to ship the consumable to the installation location.

[0008] A consumables management device according to a second aspect of the present invention is the consumables management device according to the first aspect, wherein the processor acquires the information on the delivery period and delivery time from delivery data of the consumables.

[0009] A third aspect of the consumables management device of the present invention is a consumables management device of the second aspect, wherein if there is no history of replacement of the consumables in the device, the processor obtains information on the delivery period and delivery time corresponding to the consumables replacement history of other devices installed in the same area as the installation location from the delivery data of the consumables.

[0010] A consumables management device according to a fourth aspect of the present invention is a consumables management device according to the first aspect, wherein the processor refers to the replacement history and considers the time when the consumables are replaced to be the time when the consumables arrive.

[0011] A consumables management device according to a fifth aspect of the present invention is a consumables management device according to the fourth aspect, wherein if there is no history of replacement of the consumables at the device, the processor refers to the history of replacement of consumables at other devices installed in the same area, and considers the time when the consumables were replaced at the other devices to be the time when the consumables arrived.

[0012] A sixth aspect of the present invention is a consumables management device according to any one of the first to fifth aspects, wherein the processor acquires information on the number of people who can use the device, and predicts when to replace the consumables in the device using the remaining amount information as well as fluctuations in the number of people.

[0013] A consumables management device according to a seventh aspect of the present invention is the consumables management device according to the sixth aspect, wherein the processor acquires the information on the number of people at the timing when the remaining amount information is acquired.

[0014] A consumables management device according to an eighth aspect of the present invention is a consumables management device according to any one of the first to seventh aspects, wherein the processor acquires information on the delivery period and delivery time when the degree of usage of the consumables exceeds a predetermined threshold.

[0015] A consumables management device according to a ninth aspect of the present invention is the consumables management device according to any one of the first to eighth aspects, wherein the consumables are consumables used in an image forming apparatus.

[0016] A computer program according to a tenth aspect of the present invention causes a computer to periodically acquire remaining amount information regarding the amount remaining until replacement of a consumable and the replacement history of the consumable from a device in which the consumable is installed, acquire information on the delivery period and delivery time from the time the consumable is shipped until it arrives at the installation location of the device corresponding to the replacement history, predict the replacement time of the consumable installed in the device using the remaining amount information, and determine, from the predicted replacement time, a point before the delivery period corresponding to the delivery time as the time to ship the consumable to the installation location. [Effects of the Invention]

[0017] According to the consumables management device of the first aspect of the present invention, by instructing the shipment of consumables taking into account the delivery period of consumables according to the season, it is possible to prevent downtime caused by consumables not arriving in time and reduced utilization efficiency of consumables caused by consumables arriving too early.

[0018] According to the consumables management device of the second aspect of the present invention, it is possible to instruct the delivery of consumables using accurate information on the delivery period and delivery time.

[0019] According to the consumables management device of the third aspect of the present invention, it is possible to instruct delivery of consumables using information on the delivery period and delivery time of consumables in the same area.

[0020] According to the consumables management device of the fourth aspect of the present invention, it is possible to instruct the delivery of consumables using information on the delivery period obtained using the replacement history of the consumables.

[0021] According to the consumables management device of the fifth aspect of the present invention, it is possible to instruct the delivery of consumables using information on delivery periods found using the replacement history of consumables in devices in the same area.

[0022] According to the consumables management device of the sixth aspect of the present invention, it is possible to issue an instruction for delivery of consumables using replacement timing predicted in consideration of fluctuations in the number of users of the device.

[0023] According to the consumables management device of the seventh aspect of the present invention, it is possible to obtain the relationship between the amount of use of the device and the number of people who can use the device.

[0024] According to the consumables management device of the eighth aspect of the present invention, if the degree of use of the consumables does not exceed a predetermined threshold, it is possible not to acquire information about the delivery period and delivery time.

[0025] According to the consumables management device of the ninth aspect of the present invention, it is possible to prevent downtime caused by consumables used in an image forming device not arriving in time and a decrease in the utilization efficiency of consumables caused by consumables used in an image forming device arriving too early.

[0026] According to the computer program of the tenth aspect of the present invention, by instructing the shipment of consumables taking into account the delivery period of the consumables according to the season, it is possible to prevent downtime caused by the consumables not arriving in time and a decrease in the utilization efficiency of the consumables caused by the consumables arriving too early. [Brief explanation of the drawings]

[0027] [Figure 1] 1 is a diagram showing a schematic configuration of a consumables management system including a consumables management server according to an embodiment; [Figure 2] FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing the hardware configuration of a consumables management server. [Figure 3] FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating an example of a functional configuration of a consumables management server. [Figure 4] FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating an example of information stored in a consumables status database. [Figure 5] FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating an example of information stored in a consumables status database. [Figure 6] FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating an example of information stored in a delivery record database. [Figure 7] 10 is a flowchart showing the flow of a consumables management process performed by a consumables management server. [Figure 8] 10 is a flowchart showing the flow of a consumables management process performed by a consumables management server. [Figure 9] 1 is a diagram showing a schematic configuration of a consumables management system including a consumables management server according to an embodiment; [Figure 10] 10 is a flowchart showing the flow of a consumables management process performed by a consumables management server. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0028] An example of an embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. The same reference numerals are used throughout the drawings to designate identical or equivalent components and parts. The dimensional proportions of the drawings are exaggerated for illustrative purposes and may differ from the actual proportions.

[0029] FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a schematic configuration of a consumables management system including a consumables management server according to this embodiment.

[0030] The consumables management server 10 is an example of a consumables management device of the present invention. It is a server that checks the remaining amount of consumables in the device 20 in which the consumables are used and instructs a delivery company to deliver the consumables when the remaining amount becomes low. The device 20 is, for example, a multifunction peripheral (MFP) equipped with at least a printing function. If the device 20 is a multifunction peripheral, the consumables used in the device 20 may be, for example, toner, whose amount decreases with each use, or a drum, which needs to be replaced after a certain number of uses. The consumables management server 10 pre-registers the devices 20 under a delivery service contract as consumables to be managed. The consumables management server 10 and the devices 20 are connected via a network 30, such as the Internet or a dedicated line. While three devices 20 are shown in FIG. 1 , the number of devices 20 is not limited to this example.

[0031] The consumables management server 10 predicts when the consumables of the device 20 will need to be replaced, and instructs the delivery server 45 to deliver the consumables to the location where the device 20 is located so that the consumables can be replaced with new ones when the replacement time arrives. When instructing the delivery server 45 to deliver the consumables, the consumables management server 10 specifies the location where the device 20 is located and a shipping date according to the delivery time. If the consumables management server 10 can refer to the delivery record database 40 described below, it refers to the information recorded in the delivery record database 40 and specifies the location where the device 20 is located and a shipping date according to the delivery time. If the consumables management server 10 cannot refer to the delivery record database 40 described below, it refers to past records of consumable replacement in the device 20 and specifies the location where the device 20 is located and a shipping date according to the delivery time.

[0032] For example, suppose that the date on which the remaining amount of consumables in device 20 will run out is predicted to be X day, and the number of days required to deliver the consumables to the region at that time, i.e., the number of days from shipment to arrival, is two days. Consumables management server 10 instructs delivery server 45 to ship the consumables two days before X day, i.e., on (X-2). For example, suppose that the date on which the consumables in device 20 will run out is predicted to be Y day, and the number of days required to deliver the consumables to the region at that time is three days, then consumables management server 10 instructs delivery server 45 to ship the consumables on (Y-3). Note that consumables management server 10 may instruct delivery server 45 to ship the consumables so that they arrive with some margin, such as the day before or the day before that, rather than on the predicted day on which the consumables in device 20 will run out. Furthermore, if there are days off, national holidays, consecutive holidays, etc. between the shipment and arrival of the consumables, the consumables management server 10 may take these into consideration when instructing the delivery server 45 to make the delivery.

[0033] The delivery record database 40 is a database managed by a logistics company. The delivery record database 40 stores information about items delivered by the logistics company, and in detail, stores information such as the slip number, shipping date, and arrival date. Specific examples of the information stored in the delivery record database 40 will be described later.

[0034] The delivery server 45 is a server managed by a logistics company. The delivery server 45 executes processes related to the delivery of goods. When the delivery server 45 receives a delivery instruction for a consumable from the consumables management server 10, a delivery person carries out the consumable from the warehouse based on the delivery instruction, and ships the consumable to the specified shipping destination on the specified shipping date. The consumables management server 10, the delivery record database 40, and the delivery server 45 are connected via a network 50 such as the Internet.

[0035] FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing the hardware configuration of the consumables management server 10. As shown in FIG.

[0036] 2, the consumables management server 10 includes a CPU (Central Processing Unit) 11, a ROM (Read Only Memory) 12, a RAM (Random Access Memory) 13, a storage 14, an input unit 15, a display unit 16, and a communication interface (I / F) 17. Each component is connected to each other via a bus 19 so as to be able to communicate with each other.

[0037] CPU 11 is a central processing unit that executes various programs and controls each component. That is, CPU 11 reads programs from ROM 12 or storage 14 and executes the programs using RAM 13 as a work area. CPU 11 controls the above components and performs various arithmetic processing in accordance with the programs recorded in ROM 12 or storage 14. In this embodiment, ROM 12 or storage 14 stores a computer program that manages consumables used in device 20.

[0038] The ROM 12 stores various programs and various data. The RAM 13 temporarily stores programs or data as a working area. The storage 14 is configured with a storage device such as an HDD (Hard Disk Drive), SSD (Solid State Drive), or flash memory, and stores various programs including the operating system and various data.

[0039] The input unit 15 includes a pointing device such as a mouse and a keyboard, and is used to perform various inputs.

[0040] The display unit 16 is, for example, a liquid crystal display, and displays various information. The display unit 16 may also function as the input unit 15 by adopting a touch panel system.

[0041] The communication interface 17 is an interface for communicating with other devices such as the device 20, the delivery record database 40, and the delivery server 45, and uses standards such as Ethernet (registered trademark), FDDI, and Wi-Fi (registered trademark).

[0042] When executing the above computer programs, the consumables management server 10 uses the above hardware resources to realize various functions. The functional configuration realized by the consumables management server 10 will be described below.

[0043] 3 is a block diagram showing an example of the functional configuration of the consumables management server 10. In FIG. 3, an example of the functional configuration of the device 20 is also shown in block diagram form.

[0044] As shown in Fig. 3, the consumables management server 10 has, as its functional components, a consumables status management unit 101, a consumables status database 102, a consumables shipping control unit 107, and an external management server access unit 108. Each functional component is realized by the CPU 11 reading and executing a computer program stored in the ROM 12 or storage 14. Also, as shown in Fig. 3, the device 20 has, as its functional components, a UI (user interface) display unit 201 and a consumables status management unit 202.

[0045] The consumables status management unit 101 communicates with the consumables status management unit 202 of the device 20 and manages the status of the consumables of the device 20. The consumables status management unit 101 acquires the status of the consumables of the device 20, such as the remaining amount, the number of times remaining until replacement, and the replacement history of the consumables. The consumables status management unit 101 stores the information acquired from the device 20 in the consumables status database 102. The device 20 may transmit the status of the consumables to the consumables management server 10 in response to an operation on a user interface displayed by the UI display unit 201, or may transmit the status of the consumables to the consumables management server 10 at a predetermined interval.

[0046] Furthermore, the consumables status management unit 101 predicts when to replace consumables in the device 20 using information acquired from the device 20. For example, if the remaining amount of a consumable is 30% as of December 1st and 20% as of December 8th, the consumables status management unit 101 predicts that the time to replace the consumables will be December 22nd. Of course, the consumables status management unit 101 may predict when to replace a consumable using information on the remaining amount for three or more days.

[0047] The consumable item status database 102 is a database that records information about the status of consumable items in the device 20. The information about the status of consumable items in the device 20 includes information about the remaining amount of consumable items acquired from the device 20 and information about shipping of the consumable items.

[0048] FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an example of information stored in the consumables status database 102. FIG. 4 shows an example of information related to the remaining amount of consumables stored in the consumables status database 102. The device ID column stores information for identifying the device 20. The acquisition date column stores the date on which the status of the consumables was acquired from the device 20. The remaining amount information column stores information on the remaining amount of the consumables from the device 20. If the consumables are replaced after a predetermined number of uses, such as drums, the remaining amount information column may store an unused state as 100% and a state where the number of replacements has been reached as 0%. The predicted exhaustion date column is the exhaustion date of the consumables for the device, as predicted by the consumables status management unit 101. If there are multiple consumables in the device 20, a row is created for each consumable.

[0049] FIG. 5 is a diagram showing an example of information stored in the consumables status database 102. FIG. 5 shows an example of information related to the remaining amount of consumables stored in the consumables status database 102. The device ID column stores information that identifies the device 20. The delivery instruction date column stores the date on which an instruction was given to deliver the consumables to the location where the device 20 is installed. The scheduled shipping date column stores the date on which the consumables are scheduled to be shipped to the location where the device 20 is installed. The slip number column stores information on the slip number of the slip attached when the consumables are shipped. The slip number information may be obtained from the delivery record database 40 or may be entered manually.

[0050] The consumables delivery control unit 107 controls delivery of consumables for the device 20. More specifically, the consumables delivery control unit 107 refers to the information recorded in the consumables status database 102 and the information recorded in the delivery record database 40, and controls to instruct the delivery server 45 to deliver the consumables at an appropriate time.

[0051] For example, suppose that the consumables status management unit 101 predicts that the consumables of device 20 will run out on day X, and as a result of referencing the delivery record database 40, it is determined that it will take two days to deliver the consumables to the area where device 20 is installed at that time. The consumables delivery control unit 107 instructs the delivery server 45 to ship the consumables on day (X-2). Note that the consumables delivery control unit 107 may instruct the delivery server 45 to ship the consumables so that the consumables do not arrive on the predicted day when the consumables of device 20 will run out, but rather arrive with some leeway, such as the day before or the day before that. Furthermore, if there is a holiday, national holiday, consecutive holidays, or the like between the shipment and arrival of the consumables, the consumables delivery control unit 107 may instruct the delivery server 45 to make the delivery taking this into consideration.

[0052] Figure 6 is a diagram showing an example of information stored in the delivery record database 40. Information is stored in the delivery record database 40 by processing by the delivery server 45. The slip number column stores slip number information. The information stored in the slip number column corresponds to the slip number column of the database shown in Figure 5. The business office code column stores business office code information that identifies the business office of the logistics company responsible for delivering the package with the slip number in question. The business office column stores information about the business office of the logistics company responsible for delivering the package with the slip number in question. The shipping date column stores the shipping date of the package with the slip number in question. The arrival date column stores the arrival date of the package with the slip number in question.

[0053] The external management server access unit 108 accesses an externally managed device such as a server. In this embodiment, the external management server access unit 108 accesses the delivery record database 40 and the delivery server 45.

[0054] Next, the operation of the consumables management server 10 will be described.

[0055] 7 is a flowchart showing the flow of the consumables management process by the consumables management server 10. The CPU 11 reads a computer program from the ROM 12 or storage 14, loads it into the RAM 13, and executes it to perform the consumables management process.

[0056] In step S101, the CPU 11 acquires information on the remaining amount of consumables and information on the replacement history of the consumables from each of the devices 20. The CPU 11 stores the acquired information in the consumables status database .

[0057] After receiving the notification of the remaining amount of consumables and the replacement history of the consumables, the CPU 11 determines in step S102 whether the remaining amount of the consumables in the device 20 is equal to or less than a predetermined threshold. The predetermined threshold is an arbitrary value, and may be, for example, 50% or 100%. If the remaining amount of the consumables in the device 20 is not equal to or less than the predetermined threshold (step S102; No), the CPU 11 ends the series of processes. On the other hand, if the remaining amount of the consumables in the device 20 is equal to or less than the predetermined threshold (step S102; Yes), the CPU 11 then obtains the previous replacement record of the device 20 from the consumables status database 102 in step S103.

[0058] If there is no record of a consumable replacement in the device 20, the CPU 11 searches for consumable replacement records for devices 20 installed in the same region and searches for the replacement record of a device that has recently had a consumable replaced. If there are no devices 20 in the same region that have had a consumable replaced, the CPU 11 performs exceptional processing and immediately delivers the consumable, making that record the first record to be referenced in the next determination process. In this embodiment, the same region refers to a predetermined range within which there is likely to be almost no difference in the number of days required for delivery from a delivery center. Taking into account not only physical distance but also the development status of the transportation network, such as crossing borders requiring customs procedures and the need to bypass mountain ranges, regions where the number of days required for delivery is likely to be approximately the same are grouped in advance. Therefore, even within the same municipality, regions are not necessarily the same region, and it is possible for the same region to be included in different municipalities.

[0059] After acquiring the previous replacement record for device 20, CPU 11 then acquires the previous delivery record of the consumables for device 20 from delivery record database 40 in step S104. Since the results of past delivery records do not change each time they are referenced, CPU 11 may cache the delivery record database 40 once it has referenced it. Furthermore, CPU 11 may reference delivery record database 40 when delivery occurs and cache it, rather than referencing delivery record database 40 within this flow.

[0060] After obtaining the previous delivery record of the consumables for device 20 from delivery record database 40, CPU 11 then predicts the time to replace the consumables in step S105 based on the rate at which the consumables are used up in device 20. For example, if the remaining amount of the consumables is 30% as of December 1st and 20% as of December 8th, CPU 11 predicts that the time to replace the consumables will be December 22nd. Note that CPU 11 may also predict that the replacement time will be the day when the consumables run out if the rate at which the consumables are used up during the period when consumption in device 20 is the most intense is maintained in the future.

[0061] After predicting the replacement time of the consumable, the CPU 11 determines the date obtained by subtracting the number of days required for delivery from the predicted replacement time as the shipping date of the consumable in step S106. The CPU 11 determines the shipping date of the consumable so that the new consumable arrives on the day when the consumable needs to be replaced, or the day before the day when the consumable needs to be replaced.

[0062] After determining the delivery date of the consumables, in step S107, CPU 11 transmits a delivery instruction for the consumables to delivery server 45. The delivery instruction for the consumables includes information on the consumables to be delivered, the delivery date of the consumables, and the delivery destination of the consumables.

[0063] Figure 8 is a flowchart showing the flow of the consumables management process by the consumables management server 10. The consumables management process is performed by the CPU 11 reading a computer program from the ROM 12 or storage 14, expanding it into the RAM 13, and executing it. Figure 8 shows a flowchart for the case where the consumables management server 10 cannot refer to the delivery record database 40.

[0064] 7, detailed description thereof will be omitted. After acquiring the previous replacement record of device 20, CPU 11 then searches for the record with the shortest number of days from the shipping date of the consumable to the replacement date from the consumable replacement records of devices 20 in the same region as device 20 in step S114, and sets that number of days as the number of days required for delivery. Considering that there may be users who immediately replace a consumable as soon as a replacement consumable is delivered, even if the replacement date has not yet arrived, the date on which the earliest replacement occurred is set as the arrival date of the consumable.

[0065] Steps S115 to S117 are the same as steps S105 to S107 in FIG. 7, and therefore detailed description thereof will be omitted.

[0066] In this way, even if the consumables management server 10 cannot refer to the delivery record database 40, it can refer to the past consumables replacement history and instruct the shipping of consumables taking into account the delivery period of the consumables according to the time of year.

[0067] Suppose the current remaining amount of a consumable item is 30%, and the remaining amount one week ago was 40%. If we do not take into account the increase or decrease in the number of people, the consumable item will need to be replaced three weeks from now. However, if the remaining amount two weeks ago was 45%, the rate at which consumable items are consumed is not constant, so it is difficult to predict when to replace the consumable item based on the change in the remaining amount alone.

[0068] Therefore, when predicting the replacement time of a consumable item in device 20, consumables management server 10 may acquire information on the number of people who can use device 20 and use the fluctuation in the number of people who can use device 20 in addition to the remaining amount information of the consumable item. By using the fluctuation in the number of people who can use device 20, consumables management server 10 can predict the replacement time of the consumable item with higher accuracy than when predicting the replacement time of the consumable item based only on the change in the remaining amount.

[0069] Fig. 9 is a diagram showing the schematic configuration of a consumables management system including a consumables management server according to this embodiment. The consumables management system shown in Fig. 9 is the consumables management system shown in Fig. 1 to which a human operating status management server 25 has been added.

[0070] The human operation status management server 25 is a server that manages the human operation status at the location where the device 20 is installed, such as a company or a school. If the device 20 is installed in a company, the human operation status management server 25 manages the number of people attending the company as the human operation status. If the device 20 is installed in a school, the human operation status management server 25 manages the number of people attending the school as the human operation status. The human operation status management server 25 manages information on the number of people daily as the human operation status. The human operation status management server 25 may also manage information on human operation status predicted for the future, such as the number of people attending work or school in the future.

[0071] Fig. 10 is a flowchart showing the flow of the consumables management process by the consumables management server 10. The consumables management process is performed by the CPU 11 reading a computer program from the ROM 12 or storage 14, expanding it into the RAM 13, and executing it. Fig. 10 shows a flowchart for predicting the replacement time of a consumables using fluctuations in the number of people who can use the device 20.

[0072] 7, detailed description of steps S121 to S124 will be omitted. After obtaining the previous delivery record of the consumables for device 20 from delivery record database 40, CPU 11 then obtains the number of people who can use device 20 from human operation status management server 25 in step S125.

[0073] After obtaining the number of people who can use the device 20 from the human operation status management server 25, the CPU 11 then predicts the replacement time for the consumables in step S126 by multiplying the rate at which the consumables of the device 20 are depleted by the increase or decrease in the number of target users as a correction value. For example, the CPU 11 may consider the past notification record of the device 20 as the usage amount based on the number of people available at that time and use an approximation curve to identify the depletion trend of consumables per number of people. If the future number of people who can be used is available from the human operation status management server 25, the CPU 11 calculates the replacement time for the consumables if that number is present. If the future number of people cannot be obtained, the CPU 11 calculates the replacement time for the consumables based on the average number of people in the past record. If preventing the consumables from running out is important, the CPU 11 may calculate the replacement time for the consumables by assuming that the maximum number of people who can use the device 20 will be present in the future.

[0074] Steps S127 and S128 are the same as steps S106 and S107 in FIG. 7, and therefore detailed description thereof will be omitted.

[0075] In this way, by using the human operation status, the consumables management server 10 can predict the replacement time of the consumables with higher accuracy than when the replacement time of the consumables is predicted based only on the transition of the remaining amount.

[0076] As described above, according to the embodiment of the present invention, there is provided a consumables management server 10 that, when issuing an instruction to ship consumables for device 20, takes into consideration the delivery period of the consumables according to the period and instructs the shipping of consumables so that new consumables arrive at the time when the consumables are due to be replaced. The consumables management server 10 according to the embodiment of the present invention can prevent downtime caused by consumables not arriving in time and a decrease in the utilization efficiency of consumables caused by consumables arriving too early.

[0077] In the above embodiments, the consumables management process executed by the CPU after reading the software (program) may be executed by various processors other than the CPU. Examples of such processors include programmable logic devices (PLDs) such as field-programmable gate arrays (FPGAs), whose circuit configuration can be changed after fabrication, and application-specific integrated circuits (ASICs), which are dedicated electrical circuits that are processors with circuit configurations specifically designed to execute specific processes. The consumables management process may be executed by one of these processors, or by a combination of two or more processors of the same or different types (e.g., multiple FPGAs, or a combination of a CPU and an FPGA). The hardware structure of these processors is, more specifically, an electrical circuit that combines circuit elements such as semiconductor devices.

[0078] In addition, in each of the above embodiments, the consumables management processing program is described as being pre-stored (installed) in ROM or storage, but this is not limiting. The program may be provided in a form recorded on a non-transitory recording medium such as a CD-ROM (Compact Disk Read Only Memory), a DVD-ROM (Digital Versatile Disk Read Only Memory), or a USB (Universal Serial Bus) memory. The program may also be downloaded from an external device via a network. [Explanation of symbols]

[0079] 10 Consumables Management Server 20 equipment 25 Human resource management server 30, 50 networks 40 Delivery Record Database 45 Delivery Server

Claims

1. a processor; The processor: periodically acquiring remaining amount information regarding the remaining amount until replacement of the consumable item and the replacement history of the consumable item from the device in which the consumable item is installed; information on a delivery period and delivery time from the dispatch of the consumables to the arrival at the installation location of the device, which corresponds to the replacement history, is obtained from the delivery data of the consumables, and if there is no replacement history of the consumables for the device, information on the delivery period and delivery time corresponding to the replacement history of consumables for other devices installed in the same area as the installation location is obtained from the delivery data of the consumables; predicting the replacement time of the consumables provided in the device using the remaining amount information; The consumables management device determines, based on the predicted replacement time, a time before the delivery period corresponding to the delivery time as the time to ship the consumables to the installation location.

2. The consumables management device according to claim 1 , wherein the processor refers to the replacement history and regards the time when the consumables are replaced as the time when the consumables arrive.

3. The consumables management device of claim 2, wherein if there is no history of replacement of the consumables at the device, the processor refers to the history of replacement of consumables at other devices installed in the same area and considers the time when the consumables were replaced at the other devices to be the time when the consumables arrived.

4. A consumables management device described in any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the processor obtains information on the number of people who can use the device and predicts when to replace the consumables in the device using the remaining amount information as well as changes in the number of people.

5. The consumables management device according to claim 4 , wherein the processor acquires the information on the number of people at the same time as acquiring the remaining amount information.

6. 6. The consumables management device according to claim 1, wherein the processor acquires the information on the delivery period and delivery time when the degree of use of the consumables exceeds a predetermined threshold.

7. 7. The consumables management device according to claim 1, wherein the consumables are consumables used in an image forming apparatus.

8. On the computer, periodically acquiring remaining amount information regarding the remaining amount until replacement of the consumable item and the replacement history of the consumable item from the device in which the consumable item is installed; information on a delivery period and delivery time from the dispatch of the consumables to the arrival at the installation location of the device, which corresponds to the replacement history, is obtained from the delivery data of the consumables, and if there is no replacement history of the consumables for the device, information on the delivery period and delivery time corresponding to the replacement history of consumables for other devices installed in the same area as the installation location is obtained from the delivery data of the consumables; predicting the replacement time of the consumables provided in the device using the remaining amount information; determining, based on the predicted replacement time, a time before the delivery period corresponding to the delivery time as the time to ship the consumable to the installation location; A computer program that executes a process.

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