Information processing device, information processing method, and program

Abstract

To facilitate improvement of products for which product information is kept secret.SOLUTION: The information processing device is configured to: identify a second product that is a product encompassed by the first product; identify, subject to prescribed conditions, a third product from among the second product to be improved; accept or reject a request for improvement from the third product company in response to determining that disclosure of information about the third product to the first product company is authorized; in response to determining that the disclosure of information regarding the third product to the company of the first product is not authorized, identify the fourth product for which the disclosure of information to the company of the first product is authorized by traversing the tree structure from the third product to the root node side; and accept or reject a request for improvement to the company of the fourth product.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 22

Description

[Technical Field]

[0001] The present disclosure relates to an information processing device, an information processing method, and a program. [Background technology]

[0002] A system has been proposed that allows vendor companies and customer companies to share information about traded products (for example, Patent Document 1). This system allows adjacent companies in a supply chain to share information through a common platform. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0003] [Patent Document 1] Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2004-171146 Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0004] The purpose of the present disclosure is to promote the improvement of products whose product information is kept confidential. [Means for solving the problem]

[0005] One aspect of the present disclosure is Identifying one or more second products that are included in the first product by referencing information indicating links between products in a tree structure with the first product as the root node; referring to traceability-related information of each of the one or more second products, and identifying a third product to be improved from among the one or more second products in accordance with predetermined conditions; referencing information about the disclosure settings of the third product to determine whether the company of the first product is authorized to disclose information about the third product; receiving, in response to determining that the company of the first product is authorized to disclose information about the third product, whether or not to request the company of the third product to make improvements; In response to determining that the company of the first product is not authorized to disclose information about the third product, Identifying, from among the one or more second products, a fourth product for which the company of the first product has permission to disclose information by tracing the tree structure from the third product back to the root node; Accepting whether to implement a request to the company to improve the fourth product; a control unit configured to perform It is an information processing device.

[0006] One aspect of the present disclosure is The computer Identifying one or more second products that are included in the first product by referencing information indicating links between products in a tree structure with the first product as the root node; referring to traceability-related information of each of the one or more second products, and identifying a third product to be improved from among the one or more second products in accordance with predetermined conditions; referencing information about the disclosure settings of the third product to determine whether the company of the first product is authorized to disclose information about the third product; It is determined that the company of the first product is authorized to disclose information about the third product. In response to the determination, accepting whether or not to implement a request for improvement to the company of the third product; In response to determining that the company of the first product is not authorized to disclose information about the third product, Identifying, from among the one or more second products, a fourth product for which the company of the first product has permission to disclose information by tracing the tree structure from the third product back to the root node; Accepting whether to implement a request to the company to improve the fourth product; This is an information processing method for performing the above.

[0007] One aspect of the present disclosure is On the computer, Identifying one or more second products that are included in the first product by referencing information indicating links between products in a tree structure with the first product as the root node; referring to traceability-related information of each of the one or more second products, and identifying a third product to be improved from among the one or more second products in accordance with predetermined conditions; referencing information about the disclosure settings of the third product to determine whether the company of the first product is authorized to disclose information about the third product; receiving, in response to determining that the company of the first product is authorized to disclose information about the third product, whether or not to request the company of the third product to make improvements; In response to determining that the company of the first product is not authorized to disclose information about the third product, Identifying, from among the one or more second products, a fourth product for which the company of the first product has permission to disclose information by tracing the tree structure from the third product back to the root node; Accepting whether to implement a request to the company to improve the fourth product; This is a program for executing the above.

[0008] Another aspect of the present disclosure is a storage medium that non-temporarily stores the above-described program. [Effects of the Invention]

[0009] According to the present disclosure, it is possible to promote improvement of products whose product information is kept confidential. [Brief explanation of the drawings]

[0010] [Figure 1] FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating an example of a supply chain according to a first embodiment. [Figure 2] FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating an example of the relationship between products supplied through a supply chain. [Figure 3] FIG. 2 is a diagram showing an outline of processing performed between a company terminal and a server device. [Figure 4] FIG. 2 is a hardware configuration diagram of a server device according to the first embodiment. [Figure 5] FIG. 2 is a hardware configuration diagram of a company terminal according to the first embodiment. [Figure 6] FIG. 2 is a software configuration diagram of a server device according to the first embodiment. [Figure 7] FIG. 2 is a software configuration diagram of a company terminal according to the first embodiment. [Figure 8] 10 is an example of product information generated by a product information generation unit. [Figure 9] 10 is an example of a screen output by an authority setting unit. [Figure 10] 10 is an example of permission information generated by an authority setting unit based on input information. [Figure 11] 10 is an example of a user interface including a list of potential products to link to. [Figure 12] FIG. 10 is a diagram showing an example of a flow of processing executed by a server device. [Figure 13] A diagram explaining the product tree and the amount of carbon dioxide emitted in each process. [Figure 14] An example of a screen that displays the product tree as an image. [Figure 15] An example of a product tree when products without access rights are not disclosed. [Figure 16] FIG. 10 is a sequence diagram illustrating the processing performed by the server device and the company terminal in the first to third phases. [Figure 17] FIG. 10 is a sequence diagram illustrating the processing performed by the server device and the company terminal in the fourth phase. [Figure 18] FIG. 10 is a diagram showing an example of a product tree. [Figure 19]Diagram showing the product tree corresponding to the company for product X. [Figure 20] A diagram showing the product tree corresponding to the company for Tire1's product A1. [Figure 21] A diagram showing the product tree corresponding to the company for Tire2 product A12. [Figure 22] 10 is a flowchart showing an example of a flow of a process performed in a server device to accept transmission of an improvement request. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0011] Carbon Footprint of Products (CFP) is a system in which greenhouse gas emissions emitted throughout a product's entire life cycle, from raw material procurement to disposal and recycling, are converted into CO2 and displayed on the product. To achieve CFP, it is important to have traceability, which records each supplier involved in the product's life cycle, from raw material procurement to disposal and recycling, and keeps the history traceable.

[0012] Ensuring traceability of information such as CFP requires collecting that information not only between adjacent companies but across the entire supply chain. However, with conventional systems, while companies that share business relationships in the supply chain can share information, it is difficult for companies that do not share information to share information. In particular, when trying to improve traceability values, it is difficult to identify products that have a critical impact and efficiently encourage companies that produce those products to make improvements. This problem is not limited to collecting carbon footprints. For example, it can arise in any situation where any information about a product is collected, such as other traceability-related information (e.g., raw material recycling rates, due diligence information, etc.) or other product information (e.g., components, identification information, etc.).

[0013] Therefore, an information processing device according to one aspect of the present disclosure includes a control unit configured to: identify one or more second products that are included in a first product by referring to information indicating the linkage between products in a tree structure with a first product as the root node; identify a third product that is the target of improvement from among the one or more second products by referring to traceability-related information for each of the one or more second products and according to specified conditions; refer to information regarding the disclosure settings of the third product and determine whether the company of the first product is authorized to disclose information about the third product; and, in response to determining that the company of the first product is authorized to disclose information about the third product, accept a request for improvement from the company of the third product; and, in response to determining that the company of the first product is not authorized to disclose information about the third product, trace back the tree structure from the third product to the root node to identify a fourth product from among the one or more second products for which the company of the first product is authorized to disclose information about the third product, and accept a request for improvement from the company of the fourth product.

[0014] In one aspect of the present disclosure, the control unit is configured to be able to refer to information indicating the link between products. The information indicating the link between products is, for example, information that can identify adjacent products in a supply chain. When multiple products are required to manufacture one product, the link between products can be represented in a tree structure. Then, for example, By tracing the information to the leaf nodes, it is possible to extract all of the products that each product contains.

[0015] The first product is a product that corresponds to the root node of the tree structure. The first product may also be a final product. In this case, the first product corresponds to the root node of the entire tree structure. The first product may also be a product that is included in the final product. In this case, the first product corresponds to the root node of the partial tree structure.

[0016] Furthermore, a second product is a product contained within a first product and located closer to the leaf nodes of the tree structure than the first product. The first product and second product may be, for example, materials, individual parts, assembly parts, or finished products. Between two adjacent companies in a supply chain, an upstream company and a downstream company can be defined. The product of an upstream company is also referred to as an upstream product, and the product of a downstream company is also referred to as a downstream product. When a tree structure with a first product as the root node represents a supply chain with three or more levels, the product of the most downstream company is an example of the first product, and the products of other companies are examples of second products. Note that an upstream product may include one or more downstream products. Furthermore, an upstream product may be the same as a downstream product. In this case, an upstream company may be a company that does not make any changes to the product, such as transporting the product. In other words, a supply chain may include companies that do not make any changes to such products.

[0017] The control unit is also configured to be able to reference traceability-related information about the second product. The traceability-related information may include information about the amount of greenhouse gases emitted in connection with the second product. This amount of greenhouse gases may include, for example, the amount of greenhouse gases emitted during the production of the second product and the amount of greenhouse gases emitted during the transportation of the second product. The control unit then references the traceability-related information about the second product and identifies a third product to be improved in accordance with a predetermined condition. This improvement may involve, for example, reducing the amount of greenhouse gases emitted in the manufacturing process of the third product. For example, the predetermined condition may be set so that the amount of greenhouse gases is equal to or less than a threshold, and a product whose amount of greenhouse gases exceeds the threshold may be identified as the third product. Alternatively, the improvement may involve requesting input of information about the third product. For example, a product for which information has not been input to the extent that traceability can be ensured may be targeted for improvement. Alternatively, the improvement may involve changing inventory data (secondary data) included in the traceability-related information to actual measured values ​​(primary data). Inventory data is a reference value used when actual measured values ​​are not available. Other examples of improvements include increasing recycling rates and complying with due diligence (raising due diligence scores).

[0018] The control unit is also configured to be able to reference information regarding the disclosure settings of the third product. The information regarding the disclosure settings may be information regarding the scope of disclosure specified by the company of the third product, or information regarding the scope of disclosure regulated by laws and regulations, etc. For example, it is conceivable to set information regarding the third product so that it can be disclosed only to companies that directly deliver the third product. In this case, if there is another product between the first product and the third product in the tree structure, information regarding the third product will not be disclosed to the company of the first product. Therefore, the company of the first product cannot know the company of the third product and therefore cannot directly request improvements from the company of the third product.

[0019] If the company of the first product has given permission to disclose information about the third product, the control unit accepts the request as to whether or not to make an improvement request to the company of the third product. In other words, the company of the first product can know the company of the third product, and can directly request an improvement from the company of the third product. If the control unit accepts the request, the control unit A request for improvement may be sent to the terminal of the company that produces the product.

[0020] On the other hand, if the company of the first product is not permitted to disclose information about the third product, the control unit searches for a company that will request improvements on behalf of the company of the first product. At this time, the control unit identifies a fourth product for which the company of the first product is permitted to disclose information by tracing the tree structure from the third product back to the root node. The fourth product is a product that is closer to a leaf node than the first product and closer to the root node than the third product in the tree structure. The company of the first product can know the company of the fourth product and therefore can send an improvement request to the company of the fourth product. The improvement request here refers to a request to the company of the fourth product to request the company of the third product to make improvements. The control unit accepts a decision on whether to execute the improvement request to the company of the fourth product. If the request is accepted, the control unit may send the improvement request to a terminal of the company of the fourth product. As described above, one aspect of the present disclosure can identify products that need improvement for traceability-related information and efficiently encourage the company of the identified product to make improvements.

[0021] Depending on the disclosure settings of the third product, it may be possible that the company of the fourth product cannot directly send an improvement request to the company of the third product. In such a case, by replacing the first product with the fourth product and repeating the same process, it is possible to arrive at a company that can directly send a request to the company of the third product.

[0022] Furthermore, the fourth product may be identified by identifying a product for which the company of the first product has permission to disclose information and which is closest to the third product in the tree structure as the fourth product. The closest product is a product that has the fewest intervening products when tracing back from the third product in the tree structure. By identifying the product closest to the third product as the fourth product, the third product can be reached more quickly.

[0023] The control unit may further be configured to, in response to receiving the request to execute the improvement to the company of the fourth product, send a request to improve the third product to the terminal of the company of the fourth product. By sending a request to improve the third product to the company of the fourth product, the company of the fourth product assumes responsibility for improving the third product. This motivates the company of the fourth product to make efforts to improve the third product. Even if the company of the fourth product does not have direct access to information about the third product, it can also send a request to improve the third product to another company located further up the tree structure toward the third product.

[0024] The traceability-related information may also include information on at least one of greenhouse gas emissions, recycling rates, and due diligence information. The traceability-related information is information required to ensure traceability. For example, the traceability-related information may be information that can be used to calculate greenhouse gas emissions, raw material recycling rates, due diligence scores, and the like. By including this information, traceability in the supply chain can be ensured.

[0025] The predetermined condition may be that the greenhouse gas emissions exceed a threshold. In this case, it is possible to request improvements from companies whose products have greenhouse gas emissions exceeding the threshold, thereby reducing greenhouse gas emissions. The predetermined condition may be that the recycling rate is lower than a threshold. In this case, it is possible to request improvements from companies whose products have recycling rates lower than the threshold, thereby increasing the recycling rate.

[0026] The first product may be a product related to a battery. The first product may be a product used in manufacturing a battery. The first product may also be a final product, a battery. This ensures traceability of the battery. In one example, the battery may be used in an electric vehicle.

[0027] The system may further include a storage unit that stores information about the products of each company that makes up the supply chain, including information indicating the linkage between the products, traceability-related information about the products, and information about the disclosure settings of the products. Based on this information, a product tree structure can be generated, thereby ensuring traceability.

[0028] Hereinafter, embodiments of the present disclosure will be described with reference to the drawings. The configurations of the following embodiments are examples, and the present disclosure is not limited to the configurations of the embodiments. Furthermore, the following embodiments can be combined as much as possible.

[0029] First Embodiment The system according to this embodiment is a system that provides information about products supplied through a supply chain that includes multiple companies. The information about products is typically information about traceability.

[0030] First, the structure of the supply chain will be described. In one example, at least some of the companies (intermediate suppliers) included in the supply chain may receive parts from one or more upstream companies, produce their own products using the received parts, and deliver the produced products to companies in the next process (downstream companies). The most upstream company may directly produce its own products and deliver the produced products to companies in the next process. Some companies in the supply chain may deliver products received from other companies directly to other companies (i.e., be involved in distribution). Multiple companies repeat this process, and the final product is obtained in the final process.

[0031] FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating an example of a supply chain according to this embodiment. The example in FIG. 1 assumes a situation in which automobile-related products are obtained. Specifically, the supply chain shown in FIG. 1 is composed of an OEM company and multiple supplier companies. The OEM company is a company that assembles final products, and the multiple supplier companies (Companies A to C) are companies that supply parts, materials, assemblies, etc. for manufacturing final products. Each of the multiple supplier companies produces multiple products and delivers those products to a company one level below. The multiple companies repeat this process, and in the final process, the final product is assembled.

[0032] In this embodiment, the side that delivers products in a certain hierarchy is referred to as the upstream side, and the side that purchases the products and produces new products is referred to as the downstream side. In this specification, a company located on the upstream side is referred to as an upstream company, and a company located on the downstream side is referred to as a downstream company. Furthermore, products produced by upstream companies are referred to as upstream products, and products produced by downstream companies are referred to as downstream products. Downstream products include upstream products.

[0033] In this embodiment, the layers in the supply chain are called Tiers. Tier 0 is the lowest layer (corresponding to OEM companies) that assembles the final product. As you move through Tier 1, 2, and 3, you move upstream. For example, Company B, which is in Tier 2, is a downstream company in relation to Tier 3, but an upstream company in relation to Tier 1. In this way, upstream and downstream companies The definition may vary from one level to another.

[0034] Figure 2 is a diagram illustrating an example of the relationships between products supplied by a supply chain. Here, the supply relationships between multiple products that make up final product X are represented by a tree diagram. In this example, final product X is produced by assembling products A1, B1, C1, D1, etc. Product A1 is produced by assembling products A11, A12, A13, etc. In this way, the relationships between the multiple products that make up the final product can be represented by a tree diagram in which each product is a node. Hereinafter, a tree diagram relating to a specific final product will be referred to as a product tree. In one example, final product X is a battery installed in an electric vehicle (BEV: Battery Electric Vehicle). In another example, final product X is a vehicle, an assembly line for an automobile, etc. The product may be related to automobiles such as automobiles.

[0035] In a supply chain, the hierarchical depth of all upstream companies does not necessarily match. In the example of Figure 2, the companies producing products A111, A121, A122, A123, B1, C1, and D1 are the most upstream companies, but among these companies, the companies producing products B1, C1, and D1 are Tier 1, and the companies producing products A111, A121, A122, and A123 are Tier 3. In this case, the hierarchical depth of the entire supply chain may be counted based on the deepest upstream company. In other words, the hierarchical depth of the supply chain may be defined as the number of hierarchical layers from the most downstream company to the deepest upstream company. In the example of Figure 2, the hierarchical depth of the supply chain may be calculated as "4." Therefore, if the hierarchical depth of the supply chain is specified as 3 or more, the deepest upstream company may be counted as 3 hierarchical layers (Tier 2 in Figure 2). If this is the case, some of the most upstream companies may be in the second tier (Tier 1 in Figure 2) (naturally However, all top-tier companies may have a hierarchical depth of three or more.

[0036] The server device 1 according to this embodiment collects information about the products produced by each company (hereinafter referred to as product information) and information for linking the product information from terminals (company terminals 2) corresponding to each company, and generates such a product tree based on this information. The product information also includes information about traceability (such as information about greenhouse gas emissions, hereinafter referred to as "traceability-related information"), and tracing the product tree makes it possible to track carbon footprints, etc. Note that the traceability-related information may include any information that can be used to ensure traceability.

[0037] As shown in FIG. 1, an information processing system according to an example of this embodiment includes a server device 1 and multiple company terminals 2. The company terminals 2 are terminals corresponding to each of the multiple companies that make up the supply chain. The system may include multiple company terminals 2. The server device 1 collects information for generating a product tree from each of the multiple company terminals 2, and generates the product tree based on this information. Furthermore, the server device 1 can execute traceability-related processes (typically, processes for calculating carbon dioxide emissions, etc.) based on the generated product tree. The server device 1 can also transmit the results of the processes to the company terminals 2.

[0038] Next, an overview of the process by which the server device 1 generates a product tree will be described with reference to Fig. 3. Fig. 3 is a diagram showing an overview of the process performed between the company terminal 2 and the server device 1. In the example of Fig. 3, it is assumed that there are a downstream company A and an upstream company B at an arbitrary level. It is assumed that company B produces product B and delivers it to company A, and company A produces product A using product B. That is, in the example of Fig. 3, product B is a child node of product A on the product tree.

[0039] To generate a product tree, a company terminal 2 corresponding to each company transmits information about the products that the company produces to the server device 1. In this example, the company terminal 2 corresponding to company A transmits product information about product A (referred to as product information A) to the server device 1. Similarly, the company terminal 2 corresponding to company B transmits product information about product B (referred to as product information B) to the server device 1. The product information of each company is stored in the server device 1.

[0040] The operation for linking the product information stored in the server device 1 is performed by the company terminal 2. In one example, a person in charge of a downstream company logs in to the server device 1 from the company terminal 2 using the account of the downstream company and selects an upstream product to be linked to the downstream product, which is the company's product. In this way, the linking of the product information is performed from the downstream product to the upstream product. The server device 1 links the product information based on the selection.

[0041] However, if all products in the supply chain and information about those products are presented as options when selecting a product to link to, the confidentiality of information about the companies that make up the supply chain and the products they produce will be compromised.Furthermore, it may not be appropriate to disclose the entire product tree to a single supplier.

[0042] Therefore, the server device 1 according to this embodiment grants the downstream company access rights to the product information of the upstream product in advance in response to a request from the upstream company. The server device 1 allows the downstream company to access the product information within the scope of the granted rights.

[0043] In the example of FIG. 3, company terminal 2 corresponding to company B, an upstream company, transmits a request (information) to server device 1 instructing to "grant company A access authority to product information B." When server device 1 receives a linking request from company terminal 2 corresponding to company A, it provides company A with only a list of product information for which access authority has been granted, and allows company A to select it as the linking destination. Furthermore, when company terminal 2 corresponding to company A requests to view the product tree, server device 1 provides company terminal 2 with a product tree in which all information other than that for which company A has been granted access authority is concealed. This makes it possible to conceal information about unrelated companies and products.

[0044] [Hardware configuration] Next, the hardware configuration of each device constituting the system will be described with reference to Fig. 4. Fig. 4 is a diagram schematically illustrating an example of the hardware configuration of the server device 1 according to this embodiment. The server device 1 is configured as a computer having a control unit 11, a storage unit 12, a communication module 13, and an input / output device 14.

[0045] The server device 1 can be configured as a computer having a processor (CPU, GPU, etc.), a main memory device (RAM, ROM, etc.), and an auxiliary memory device (EPROM, hard disk drive, removable media, etc.). The auxiliary memory device stores an operating system (OS), various programs, various tables, etc., and by executing the programs stored therein, various functions (software modules) that meet predetermined purposes, as described below, can be realized. However, some or all of the modules may be realized as hardware modules using hardware circuits such as ASICs and FPGAs.

[0046] The control unit 11 is a computing unit that executes predetermined programs to realize various functions of the server device 1. The control unit 11 can be realized by, for example, a hardware processor such as a CPU. The control unit 11 may also be configured to include RAM, ROM (Read Only Memory), cache memory, etc.

[0047] The storage unit 12 is a means for storing information and is configured with storage media such as RAM, a magnetic disk, and a flash memory. The storage unit 12 stores programs executed by the control unit 11, data used by the programs, and the like. The storage unit 12 also has a database built therein, which stores product information collected from multiple company terminals 2 and account information related to the companies. Details will be described later.

[0048] The communication module 13 is a communication interface for connecting the server device 1 to a network. The communication module 13 may be configured to include, for example, a network interface board, a wireless communication interface for wireless communication, etc. The server device 1 can perform data communication with other computers (for example, other server devices 1 or each company terminal 2) via the communication module 13.

[0049] The input / output device 14 is a means for receiving input operations performed by an operator and presenting information to the operator. Specifically, the input / output device 14 includes devices for input such as a mouse and a keyboard, and devices for output such as a display and a speaker. The input / output device may be integrally configured with, for example, a touch panel display.

[0050] The specific hardware configuration of the server device 1 may include omissions, substitutions, and additions of components as appropriate depending on the embodiment. For example, the control unit 11 may include multiple hardware processors. The hardware processor may be configured with a microprocessor, FPGA, GPU, etc. The input / output device 14 may be omitted, or an input / output device other than the exemplified ones (for example, an optical drive, etc.) may be added. The server device 1 may also be configured with multiple computers. In this case, the hardware configurations of the computers may or may not be the same.

[0051] 5 is a diagram schematically illustrating an example of the hardware configuration of the company terminal 2 according to this embodiment. The company terminal 2 is configured as a computer having a control unit 21, a storage unit 22, a communication module 23, and an input / output device 24.

[0052] The company terminal 2 can be configured as a computer having a processor (CPU, GPU, etc.), a main memory device (RAM, ROM, etc.), and an auxiliary memory device (EPROM, hard disk drive, removable media, etc.), similar to the server device 1. However, some or all of the functions (software modules) may be realized as hardware modules using hardware circuits such as ASIC, FPGA, etc.

[0053] The control unit 21 is a computing unit that executes a predetermined program to realize various functions (software modules) of the company terminal 2. The control unit 21 can be realized by a hardware processor such as a CPU. The control unit 21 may also be configured to include RAM, ROM (Read Only Memory), cache memory, etc.

[0054] The storage unit 22 is a means for storing information, and is configured with storage media such as RAM, a magnetic disk, a flash memory, etc. The storage unit 22 stores programs executed by the control unit 21, data used by the programs, etc.

[0055] The communication module 23 is a communication interface for connecting the company terminal 2 to a network. The communication module 23 may be configured to include, for example, a network interface board, a wireless communication interface for wireless communication, etc. The company terminal 2 can perform data communication with other computers (for example, the server device 1) via the communication module 23.

[0056] The input / output device 24 is a means for receiving input operations performed by an operator and presenting information to the operator. Specifically, the input / output device 24 includes devices for input such as a mouse and a keyboard, and devices for output such as a display and a speaker. The input / output device may be integrally configured with, for example, a touch panel display.

[0057] As with the server device 1, the specific hardware configuration of the company terminal 2 may be such that components are omitted, replaced, or added as appropriate depending on the embodiment.

[0058] [Software configuration] Next, the software configuration of each device constituting the system will be described with reference to FIG. 6. FIG. 6 is a diagram schematically illustrating an example of the software configuration of the server device 1 according to this embodiment. In this embodiment, the control unit 11 is configured to have five software modules: an information collection unit 111, an authority setting unit 112, an association unit 113, an information provision unit 114, and a management unit 115. Each software module may be realized by the control unit 11 (CPU) executing a program stored in the storage unit 12. Note that the information processing performed by the information collection unit 111, the authority setting unit 112, the association unit 113, the information provision unit 114, and the management unit 115 below is synonymous with the information processing performed by the control unit 11.

[0059] The information collecting unit 111 is configured to receive product information transmitted from the company terminal 2 and execute a process of storing the product information in the storage unit 12. The authority setting unit 112 is configured to receive information for setting access authority to the product information (hereinafter, permission information) from the company terminal 2. Furthermore, the authority setting unit 112 is configured to execute a process of setting access authority to the product information stored in the storage unit 12 based on the received information.

[0060] The linking unit 113 is configured to interact with the company terminal 2 and acquire information for linking product information from the company terminal 2. Furthermore, the linking unit 113 is configured to execute a process of writing information representing a linking relationship for the product information stored in the storage unit 12 based on the acquired information. The linking unit 113 is also configured to receive a request to assign terminal information and, in response to the request, execute a process of assigning terminal information to the product information stored in the storage unit 12. A product tree is formed by reflecting the linking and terminal assignment. In other words, the formation of the product tree is performed by storing the linking information and terminal information in the storage unit 12. The linking unit 113 is configured to generate a product tree according to the results of the linking and terminal assignment.

[0061] The information providing unit 114 is configured to perform information processing related to the product tree and output the results of the information processing. The information processing related to the product tree may include processing for performing calculations related to traceability for the product tree. Outputting the results of the information processing may include processing for providing information related to the generated product tree to the company terminal 2. In one example, the information providing unit 114 is configured to generate information related to the product tree and output the generated information related to the product tree.

[0062] The management unit 115 identifies the product to be improved in response to a request from the company terminal 2. The management unit 115 also notifies the company of the product to be improved, as will be described later.

[0063] In this embodiment, the storage unit 12 is configured to include multiple logical storage areas. Different access permissions can be set for each of the multiple storage areas, such as an area to which access permission is granted to company A, an area to which access permission is granted to company B, and an area to which access permission is granted to both companies A and B. The permission setting unit 112 sets the access permission by storing the product information received from the company terminal 2 in an appropriate storage area. A specific processing method will be described later.

[0064] Furthermore, account information is stored in the storage unit 12. In this embodiment, an operator of each company logs in to the server device 1 using the account of the corresponding company via the company terminal 2, thereby allowing interaction between the server device 1 and the company terminal 2. The account information is information relating to the account corresponding to each company constituting the supply chain. Note that logging in using an account is an example of accessing the server device 1 as a corresponding company. However, the method of accessing the server device 1 is not limited to this example, and may be selected appropriately depending on the embodiment.

[0065] 7 is a diagram schematically illustrating the software configuration of the company terminal 2 according to this embodiment. In this embodiment, the control unit 21 is configured to have five software modules: a product information generation unit 211, an authority setting unit 212, an association request unit 213, an information acquisition unit 214, and an improvement unit 215. Each software module may be realized by the control unit 21 (CPU) executing a program stored in the storage unit 22. Note that the information processing performed by the product information generation unit 211, the authority setting unit 212, the association request unit 213, the information acquisition unit 214, and the improvement unit 215 below is synonymous with the information processing performed by the control unit 21.

[0066] The product information generation unit 211 is configured to generate information (product information) about the products of the company corresponding to the company terminal 2. FIG. 8 is an example of product information generated by the product information generation unit 211. The product information may be input via an operator of the device. In this embodiment, the product information is configured to have fields for company ID, company name, product ID, and product name. The company ID and company name are the identifier and name of the company that produces the target product (i.e., the company that uses the company terminal 2). The product ID and product name are the identifier and name of the target product.

[0067] Furthermore, the product information is configured to include linking-related information. The linking-related information is information for identifying upstream products that are linked to the target product. In this embodiment, the linking-related information includes fields for "upstream product information" and "termination flag."

[0068] The upstream product information field is configured to store information for identifying product information corresponding to an upstream product linked to the target product (i.e., a product that is necessary to produce the target product and is included in the target product). The upstream product information field is used when the server device 1 links products together. Basically, at the stage when the product information is generated, the target product is not linked to an upstream product, so the upstream product information field does not need to store a value indicating the upstream product.

[0069] The terminal flag field is configured to store a flag indicating whether the target product is a leaf node, i.e., the node located at the most upstream (end) in the product tree. In this embodiment, since multiple company terminals 2 transmit product information, this flag is used to determine whether a product in the product tree is linked to another product upstream or whether no further linking will occur (whether the target product is located at the most upstream). In other words, the terminal flag field is used when the server device 1 determines the linking between products. Basically, at the stage when product information is generated, the linking relationship of the target product is not determined, so the terminal flag field may store "0 (not currently the terminal)." Finally, to generate the product tree, the product information of each company stored in the server device 1 is set to either "linked to an upstream product" or "terminal flag set to '1'."

[0070] Furthermore, the product information is configured to include traceability-related information. In one example, the traceability-related information may include information on the amount of material (e.g., upstream product) used per production volume of the product, information on the recycling rate of a predetermined raw material, the amount of greenhouse gases emitted in producing the product (CFP value), due diligence information, or a combination thereof. The predetermined raw material may be, for example, lithium, nickel, cobalt, lead, graphite, etc. The recycling rate may be expressed directly, or may be expressed as a ratio of the total amount used and the amount of recycled material. These values ​​may be expressed indirectly, such as a combination of amounts of greenhouse gases used. These values ​​correspond to the process of producing the target product. For example, in the example of Figure 3, the traceability-related information included in product information A stores the amount of greenhouse gases emitted in the production activities of product A. The traceability-related information included in product information A does not include information about the process up to the production of an upstream product (for example, the amount of greenhouse gases emitted up to the production of upstream product B).

[0071] The traceability-related information may be selected appropriately depending on the embodiment. In one example, greenhouse gas emissions (carbon footprint) may include Scope 1, Scope 2, and Scope 3 emissions. Scope 1 may refer to a company's own direct greenhouse gas emissions. Scope 2 may refer to indirect emissions associated with the use of electricity, heat, and steam supplied by other companies. Scope 3 may refer to indirect emissions other than Scope 1 and Scope 3. In another example, the due diligence information may include, for products containing target raw materials (e.g., cobalt, natural graphite, lithium, nickel, etc.), the amount of raw material contained in the product and technical documentation demonstrating that smelters and other entities fulfill their responsible mineral sourcing obligations. In another example, the due diligence information may include a score (which may be referred to as a due diligence score) indicating the degree to which due diligence is fulfilled, such as the degree to which the above obligations are fulfilled.

[0072] The product information generating unit 211 is configured to obtain such information via the operator of the company terminal 2 and transmit it to the server device 1 at any timing.

[0073] The authority setting unit 212 is configured to designate downstream companies that are permitted to access product information transmitted from the company terminal 2 to the server device 1. FIG. 9 is an example of a screen output by the authority setting unit 212. As shown in the figure, the authority setting unit 212 is configured to accept designation of downstream companies that are permitted to access any of the company's products. FIG. 10 is an example of permission information generated by the authority setting unit 212 based on input information. The authority setting unit 212 is configured to transmit the permission information to the server device 1 at any timing. Note that access permissions may be set for each product information unit, or may be set for each item included in the product information ("permitted item" in the figure). This makes it possible to handle partial disclosure, for example, by disclosing the existence of a product but not disclosing specific information regarding the materials used, the amount used, etc.

[0074] 9 may be a list of companies that have done business with the company in the past. For this reason, the server device 1 may store data on past transactions (transaction data) for each company and generate a list of companies based on the transaction data. The transaction data may include, for example, an identifier of the target product, an identifier of the company that produced the product, the transaction date, etc.

[0075] The linking request unit 213 is configured to request the server device 1 to link the company's product information transmitted to the server device 1 with an upstream product. In one example, the linking request unit 213 first transmits the company's company ID and product ID to the server device 1, and requests linking of the product information corresponding to the product ID. In response, the server device 1 generates a user interface including a list of product information to which the target company is permitted to access (i.e., candidates for linking destinations), and provides the generated user interface to the company terminal 2. FIG. 11 is an example of a user interface including a list of products to which the target company is permitted to access.

[0076] The list of products shown in Fig. 11 may be a list of products that have been traded with the company in the past. The server device 1 may further perform the following based on the stored transaction data: , the list may be generated.

[0077] Next, the linking request unit 213 is configured to have the operator select an upstream product to be linked from the list. Furthermore, the linking request unit 213 is configured to transmit a pair of an identifier of the product (downstream product) that is the linking source and an identifier of the upstream product that is the linking destination to the server device 1. In response to this, the server device 1 can link the product information together.

[0078] If there are no upstream products linked to the target product, this can be clearly indicated by checking the checkbox indicated by the dotted line in Figure 11. In this case, the product information will not be linked to each other.

[0079] The information acquisition unit 214 is configured to request the server device 1 to provide a product tree, and to output the information transmitted from the server device 1. The improvement unit 215 is configured to generate, transmit, and receive information relating to the improvement of the product information.

[0080] [Process details for forming product tree] Next, a description will be given of specific contents of the processing performed by the server device 1 and the company terminal 2. Fig. 12 is a diagram showing an example of the flow of processing performed by the server device 1 based on a request from the company terminal 2. The processing performed by the server device 1 can be roughly divided into the following four phases. (1) A first phase in which product information transmitted from the company terminal 2 is received and the received product information is stored. (2) A second phase in which permission information transmitted from the company terminal 2 is received and access rights to product information are set according to the received permission information. (3) The third phase involves linking product information by interacting with company terminal 2. (4) The fourth phase provides information about the product tree based on the results of the linking.

[0081] In the example of Figure 12, Company A is the downstream company and Company B is the upstream company. The product produced by Company A is Product A, and the product produced by Company B is Product B. Product information corresponding to Product A is Product Information A, and product information corresponding to Product B is Product Information B.

[0082] In the first phase, the information collection unit 111 of the server device 1 acquires product information from the product information generation unit 211 of the company terminal 2. In the example of FIG. 12, the server device 1 acquires product information A from the company terminal 2 corresponding to company A, and acquires product information B from the company terminal 2 corresponding to company B. The information collection unit 111 saves the product information A in a storage area to which only company A has access authority (hereinafter, storage area A). The information collection unit 111 also saves the product information B in a storage area to which only company B has access authority (hereinafter, storage area B). In this way, the information collection unit 111 saves product information transmitted from any company in a dedicated storage area to which only that company has access authority.

[0083] In the second phase, the authority setting unit 112 of the server device 1 receives permission information from the authority setting unit 212 of the company terminal 2 and sets access permissions for the product information in accordance with the received permission information. As shown in Fig. 10, the permission information associates a product with a company that is permitted to access the product information of the product.

[0084] In the example of FIG. 12, it is assumed that the authority setting unit 112 has received permission information permitting access from a downstream company A to product information B of an upstream company. In this case, the authority setting unit 112 allows both companies A and B to access product information B stored in storage area B. The product information B is then copied to a storage area for which access rights have been granted (hereinafter referred to as storage area AB). This makes the product information B accessible to both company A and company B. If access rights have not been granted for a specific item included in the product information, that item is not subject to copying to storage area AB.

[0085] In the following description, a storage area to which only a specific company has been granted access rights will be referred to as a "dedicated storage area," and a storage area to which multiple companies have been granted access rights will be referred to as a "shared storage area."

[0086] The copying of the product information is executed by the server device 1 in response to receiving the permission information from the company terminal 2. That is, the company terminal 2 transmits the permission information to the server device 1, thereby causing the server device 1 to execute an operation of copying the product information identified by the permission information from the dedicated storage area of ​​the target company to a shared storage area accessible by downstream companies.

[0087] In the third phase, the linking unit 113 of the server device 1 receives the linking request from the linking request unit 213 of the company terminal 2, and links the product information together based on the received linking request.

[0088] First, the linking unit 113 receives a linking request from the company terminal 2. The linking request is sent from the company terminal 2 of a downstream company. In the example of FIG. 12, it is assumed that the company terminal 2 of company A has sent the linking request. The linking request includes the company ID and the product ID of the target product. The linking unit 113 acquires product information stored in a storage area accessible from the company, and generates a list of the acquired product information. In the example of FIG. 12, company A can access product information B stored in storage area AB. Therefore, product information B can be selected as the linking destination on the company terminal 2 of company A.

[0089] The linking request unit 213 of the company terminal 2 presents the list to the operator and allows the operator to select the products to be linked. In this example, products A and B are to be linked to each other. For example, the operator inputs information indicating that the upstream product of product A is product B via the input / output device 24. The linking request unit 213 transmits data (linking data) for linking the upstream product (product B) and the downstream product (product A) to the linking unit 113.

[0090] 8, the product information has a field (linking-related information) related to the product to be linked. Based on the above-mentioned linking data, the linking unit 113 stores information corresponding to product information B (i.e., the upstream product) in the linking-related information held by product information A. For example, the linking-related information stores an identifier of the upstream product, an identifier of the company that produces the upstream product, etc.

[0091] The linking-related information may store a pointer to the linked product information. The pointer indicates the address of the product information corresponding to the upstream product. The above-described process forms part of a tree structure in which the product information of the downstream product is the parent node and the product information of the upstream product is the child node.

[0092] At the end of the product tree, no further linking is performed. In this case, the linking request unit 213 sends data indicating that the product is at the end of the tree instead of sending linking data. When the linking unit 113 receives this data, it sets "1" in the end flag field of the corresponding product information. That is, in the third phase, "processing to set the upstream product to be linked" or "processing to set the end flag" is performed. Either of the following is executed.

[0093] In the fourth phase, the information provider 114 of the server device 1 generates information about a product tree based on the stored product information and outputs the information about the product tree. Generating information about the product tree can include processes such as generating various information about the products (e.g., information about traceability, an image showing the link relationships between products in a tree diagram, etc.) after links between nodes are formed by linking the product information together. In order to generate information about the product tree, it is necessary that all linking between product information has been completed and that the terminal flags of all leaf nodes have been set to "1." When these conditions are met, the information provider 114 can appropriately generate the information.

[0094] The product tree in this embodiment is a tree diagram that represents the supply relationships between product information in a supply chain, as described with reference to Fig. 2. The information providing unit 114 can generate an image representing the tree diagram based on the product information.

[0095] Furthermore, when generating information related to the product tree, the information providing unit 114 integrates the traceability-related information defined in each piece of product information and outputs the results.

[0096] Here, the integration of traceability-related information will be explained using FIG. 13. FIG. 13 is a diagram illustrating the multiple products that make up the final product X and the amount of carbon dioxide (CO2) emitted in each process of producing these multiple products. For example, in the process of producing product A12 in the figure, A12 [g] of carbon dioxide is emitted. The total amount of carbon dioxide emitted up to the production of a target product can be obtained by repeating the process of passing on the CO2 emissions associated with upstream products to downstream products between companies in each of the two adjacent layers, from the most upstream product (the leaf node) to the target product.

[0097] 13, if the target product is A12, the total amount of carbon dioxide emitted up to the time when product A12 is produced can be calculated by adding up the CO2 emissions corresponding to the included products (upstream products A121 to A123) and the CO2 emissions corresponding to product A12. That is, the integrated CO2 emissions for product A12 are as follows: I A12 =E A12 +E A121 ×U A121 +E A122 ×U A122 +E A123 ×U A123 [g] where E A121,E A122 ,E A123 are the CO2 emissions per unit amount when producing products A121, A122, and A123, respectively. A121 ,U A122 ,U A123 are the amounts of materials used in the production of product A12, respectively. These amounts are an example of the amount of material used per unit of product production, which is included in the traceability-related information. The CO2 emissions of the final product (the product of the most downstream company) can be obtained by sequentially performing the above calculations from the product of the most upstream company to the final product.

[0098] The same applies when the target product is product A1. When the target product is A1, the total amount of carbon dioxide emitted in the manufacturing activities up to the production of product A1 can be calculated by integrating the CO2 emissions corresponding to product A1 with the CO2 emissions corresponding to the included products, products A11, A12, A13, and A14.

[0099] The integrated value may be stored in the storage unit 12 in association with the product, or may be included as part of the product information. That is, the product information corresponding to the product A12 includes the amount of emissions E A12 and the integrated emissions, I A12 It is also possible to hold both of these.

[0100] The integrated traceability-related information is reused when integrating downstream products. By performing this process at each level, starting from the most upstream level, the traceability-related information (for example, cumulative CO2 emissions) is passed on downstream. Finally, by passing the traceability-related information on to the final product, it is possible to obtain traceability-related information (for example, total CO2 emissions) for the entire period leading up to the production of the final product.

[0101] In this way, when generating information related to the product tree, the information providing unit 114 may repeatedly execute a process of sequentially integrating the traceability-related information defined in each piece of product information from the most upstream to the most downstream. Note that, in the above example, carbon dioxide emissions are used as an example of the information to be integrated, but the traceability-related information to be integrated may also be the recycling rate for a specified raw material, due diligence information (e.g., due diligence scores), etc. Note that if the traceability-related information is numerical, the integration may be performed by numerical calculation, and if the traceability-related information is non-numerical information (e.g., technical documents related to due diligence), the integration may simply be information collection.

[0102] In another example, the product information may include information indicating the location of traceability-related information for the corresponding product (hereinafter referred to as "location information"; typically, an address, a pointer, etc.). In this case, the traceability-related information may not be included in the product information. Alternatively, the integration may involve collecting the location information included in the product information.

[0103] The information providing unit 114 may output the generated product tree in an image format, and may also simultaneously output traceability-related information corresponding to any product.

[0104] FIG. 14 is an example of a screen that displays a product tree as an image. The screen shown includes an image that displays, in a tree diagram, the supply relationships of multiple products that make up the final product. By selecting any product, it is possible to view the traceability-related information corresponding to that product, or the integrated results of the traceability-related information corresponding to the entire period leading up to the production of that product (for example, the total amount of carbon dioxide emissions from the most upstream). Such information can be output via the input / output device 14 of the server device 1 based on the operation of the operator of the server device 1.

[0105] Furthermore, the information providing unit 114 may provide the generated product tree to a company terminal 2 (information acquiring unit 214) in response to a request from the company terminal 2. Note that there are cases where it is not appropriate to disclose the entire product tree to a specific company. Therefore, when providing a product tree to a company terminal 2 corresponding to a certain company, the information providing unit 114 may perform processing to not disclose the range for which the company does not have access authority.

[0106] For example, in the example of FIG. 13, assume that the information providing unit 114 receives a product tree disclosure request from a company terminal 2 corresponding to a company that produces product A12. Here, assume that the company has been granted access authority only for products A121, A122, and A123. In other words, the company cannot access product information other than those three products and downstream product A1. In this case, the information providing unit 114 provides the company terminal 2 with a product tree in which information about products for which the company does not have access authority is not disclosed.

[0107] 15 shows an example of a product tree in which products for which the user does not have access rights are not disclosed. In this example, the product tree is displayed with detailed information (or even the existence itself) of the not-disclosed products concealed.

[0108] In addition, in cases where the existence of a product is publicly available, but access rights are not granted to only specific items in the corresponding product information, confidentiality processing is performed only for those specific items, as indicated by the dotted line in the figure. In the example shown, it is indicated that the amount of carbon dioxide emissions in producing product A121 is not disclosed.

[0109] On the other hand, even if there is a product (or item) in the tree for which you do not have access rights, the integration of traceability-related information described above is carried out without being affected by this. For example, in the illustrated example, the carbon dioxide emissions for product A121 are not disclosed, but this does not affect the process of calculating the total carbon dioxide emissions for product A12.

[0110] [Processing flow] Next, the flow of processing executed by the server device 1 and the company terminal 2 when registering the company's product information using the company terminal 2 will be described with reference to Fig. 16 and Fig. 17. Fig. 16 is a sequence diagram corresponding to the first to third phases described above.

[0111] In one example, the interaction between the server device 1 and the company terminal 2 is initiated when an operator of each company logs in to the server device 1 using the account of the corresponding company via the company terminal 2. In this example, it is assumed that the operator of each company logs in to the server device 1 using the account of their company.

[0112] First, in step S11, the product information generation unit 211 of the company terminal 2 acquires the company's product information via an operator and transmits the acquired product information to the server device 1. The transmitted product information is received by the server device 1 (information collection unit 111) and stored in the storage unit 12 (step S12). At this time, the information collection unit 111 saves the product information in a storage area to which access rights are granted only to companies that manufacture the corresponding products.

[0113] Next, in step S13, the authority setting unit 212 of the company terminal 2 accepts, via the operator, input of information (permission information) specifying downstream companies that are permitted to access the product information transmitted in step S11. In this step, a user interface screen such as that described with reference to FIG. 9 may be provided to allow the user to specify a combination of an arbitrary product and a downstream company that is permitted to access the product information. The input permission information is transmitted to the server device 1.

[0114] In step S14, the authority setting unit 112 of the server device 1 grants access authority to the target product information based on the received permission information. In this step, as described with reference to Fig. 12, the authority setting unit 112 copies the target product information to a storage area to which access authority has been granted to multiple companies, thereby granting access authority to any product information to any company. If there is no storage area to which appropriate access authority has been granted, a new storage area may be created and processing may be performed to grant access authority to appropriate companies.

[0115] Next, in step S15, the linking request unit 213 of the company terminal 2 transmits data (linking request) to the server device 1 requesting linking of the product information transmitted to the server device 1 with an upstream product. The linking request includes the company's company ID and the product ID of the target product.

[0116] In step S16, the server device 1 (association unit 113) generates a list of product information that is permitted to be accessed by the target company, and provides a user interface screen including the list to the company terminal 2. In this step, the server device 1 transmits to the company terminal 2 the information shown in FIG. A user interface screen such as that described with reference to 1 may be provided to allow the user to specify a combination of any product and an upstream product linked to that product.

[0117] In step S17, the linking request unit 213 of the company terminal 2 receives from the operator a designation of a combination of the target product and an upstream product linked to the target product. The linking request unit 213 generates data (linking data) indicating the association between the upstream product and the downstream product, and transmits the generated linking data to the server device 1.

[0118] In step S18, the linking unit 113 of the server device 1 updates the stored product information based on the linking data to reflect the linking details between the product information. Linking between the product information may be performed by storing information (identifier, pointer, etc.) about the upstream product in the linking-related information contained in the product information of the downstream product.

[0119] If there is no downstream company, steps S13 to S14 may be omitted. Similarly, if there is no upstream company (if there is no linking destination for the target product), instead of requesting linking between product information, the process of setting the termination flag described above may be executed. In this case, steps S15 to S18 described above are omitted.

[0120] 17 is a sequence diagram corresponding to the fourth phase described above. First, in step S21, the information acquisition unit 214 of the company terminal 2 requests the server device 1 to provide a product tree. The request includes, for example, an identifier of the target product. The target product may be a final product or another product (intermediate product).

[0121] The server device 1 (information provider 114) that receives the request generates information about the product tree by the above-mentioned process (step S22). At this time, the information provider 114 executes a process of integrating the traceability-related information defined in each piece of product information from the most upstream to the most downstream. The integration result may be reflected in each piece of product information.

[0122] Next, in step S23, the server device 1 executes a process of concealing information to which the access authority is not granted, based on the access authority held by the target company. For example, if the existence of product information of other companies has not been made public for a certain company, the server device 1 may execute a process of concealing the existence of the product information. Furthermore, if only a specific item included in the product information has not been made public, the server device 1 may execute a process of concealing the content of the item. Information on the product tree that has been concealed is provided to the company terminal 2 (information acquisition unit 214) and output (step S24).

[0123] [Details of the process to request product improvements from upstream companies] The management unit 115 of the server device 1 accepts the designation of a first product from the company terminal 2. This designation is made when identifying a product that needs improvement among the products included in the first product. For example, if the CO2 emissions exceed a threshold, if the recycling rate is lower than a threshold, if due diligence is not being observed, if the product information is missing, or if the product information includes inventory data, the product information may be subject to improvement.

[0124] The management unit 115 refers to the linking related information of the product information of the first product (hereinafter also referred to as first product information), traces each branch of the product tree, and identifies included products. A product included in the first product is referred to as a second product below. The product information of the second product is also referred to as second product information. The company of the second product is also referred to as a second company. The management unit 115 refers to each piece of second product information to identify a third product among the second products that is the target of improvement. The company of the third product is also referred to as a third company below. The product information of the third product is also referred to as third product information below.

[0125] Now, consider the case where the first company requests the third company to improve the third product. If the first company is not granted access rights to the third product information, the first company cannot directly identify the third company. Since the third company may conceal its participation in the platform, it is not desirable for the management unit 115 to disclose information about the third company to the first company.

[0126] FIG. 18 is a diagram showing an example of a product tree. The following explanation will be given assuming that product X of Tire 0 is the first product and product A121 of Tier 3 is the third product. The following explanation will also be given assuming that access authority is granted to each product information only to the company of the adjacent product. In this case, when the product tree is displayed on the company terminal 2 of Tire 0, the product tree shown in FIG. Figure 19 shows the product tree corresponding to the company of product X. The first company of Tier 0 is only granted access to the product information of the company of adjacent Tier 1, so all product information of Tier 2 and Tier 3 is not disclosed. Therefore, the product information of Tier 0 is not disclosed. Since the third company is kept confidential from the first company, the management department 115 Therefore, the first company will not disclose information about the third company, making it difficult for the first company to request improvements from the third company.

[0127] On the other hand, the first company of Tier 0 is granted access rights to product information of the company of product A1 of Tier 1 (hereinafter also referred to as the fourth company), which is a company downstream of the third company. Therefore, the management unit 115 can disclose information about the fourth company to the first company of Tier 0. The management unit 115 can send an improvement request to the fourth company of Tier 1 instead of the third company. This allows the first company of Tier 0 to request the fourth company of Tier 1 to send an improvement request to the upstream company. This request is made via the management unit 115. That is, the company terminal 2 of the first company (hereinafter also referred to as the first company terminal 2A) requests the server device 1 to send an improvement request to the fourth company. This request is accepted by the management unit 115. Then, the management unit 115 sends the improvement request to the company terminal 2 of the fourth company (hereinafter also referred to as the fourth company terminal 2D).

[0128] However, the fourth Tier 1 company that received the improvement request also had access rights to the third-party product. Figure 20 shows the product tree for the company that produces Tier 1 product A1. The company that produces Tier 1 product A1 is only authorized to access product information of the neighboring Tier 2 company, so all Tier 3 product information is not disclosed. The Department of Management 115 will not disclose information about third parties to the company that produces Tire 1's product A1. This makes it difficult for the fourth company to ask the third company to make improvements.

[0129] On the other hand, the company of Tier 1 product A1 is granted access authority to the product information of the company of Tier 2 product A12, which is a downstream company of the third company. Information about companies that produce Tier2 products A12 can be disclosed to companies that produce Tier2 products A1. Then, the management unit 115 allows the company of the Tier 1 product A1 to send an improvement request to the company of the Tier 2 product A12. You can ask the company of Tier2 product A12 to send you an improvement request. The request is made via the management unit 115. That is, the company terminal 2 of the company of the product A1 of Tier 1 , the server device 1 is requested to transmit an improvement request to the company of the product A12 of Tier2. This request is received by the management unit 115. Then, the management unit 115 An improvement request is sent to the company terminal 2 of the company of product A12. This can be said to reset the product of the fourth company as the first product, identify a new fourth company, and send an improvement request to this new fourth company.

[0130] FIG. 21 is a diagram showing a product tree corresponding to a company of product A12 in Tier 2. The company of product A12 in Tier 2 is given access rights to product information of a company in the adjacent Tier 3. Therefore, it is possible to access the product information of Tier3 product A121. The department 115 can disclose information about the company of the Tier 3 product A121 (i.e., the third company) to the company of the Tier 2 product A12. The improvement request can be sent to the company. The improvement request is sent via the management unit 115. That is, the company terminal 2 of the company of the product A12 of Tier 2 sends the request to the server device 1. to send an improvement request to the company of Tier3 product A121. The management unit 115 then receives the order from the company that produced the product A121 of Tier 3. The improvement request is sent to the company's corporate terminal 2.

[0131] In this way, by repeatedly setting the product of the fourth company as the first product and identifying a new fourth company, it is possible to reach the third company. In other words, by sending an improvement request to a company whose product is located upstream in the product tree and whose product information has been granted access rights, it is possible to send an improvement request for a confidential product.

[0132] [Processing flow] Next, the processing in the server device 1 will be described. Fig. 22 is a flowchart showing an example of the processing flow for accepting transmission of an improvement request performed in the server device 1. This routine is executed at predetermined time intervals in the server device 1. Note that the description will be given assuming that product information from which a product tree can be generated is already stored in the storage unit 12 of the server device 1.

[0133] In step S101, the management unit 115 determines whether or not it has received a designation of a first product from the first company terminal 2A. This designation is a designation of a product that is a root node. For example, an operator of the first company terminal 2A makes a predetermined input to the input / output device 24, causing the improvement unit 215 of the first company terminal 2A to send information about the first product to the server device 1. By receiving this information about the first product, the management unit 115 accepts the designation of the first product. Note that in this routine, the designation of the first product is received from the first company terminal 2A, but the designation of the first product may also be made by the management unit 115. For example, the management unit 115 may arbitrarily select the first product. If a positive determination is made in step S101, the process proceeds to step S102; if a negative determination is made, the routine is terminated.

[0134] In step S102, the management unit 115 extracts the first product information from the storage area. In step S103, the management unit 115 extracts the second product based on the linking related information included in the first product information. The management unit 115 sequentially follows the linking related information included in the second product information to extract all second products up to the leaf nodes of the product tree.

[0135] In step S104, the management unit 115 refers to the traceability-related information of all second products and identifies third products according to predetermined conditions. For example, the management unit 115 identifies a product as a third product if its CO2 emissions exceed a threshold. In step S105, the management unit 115 determines whether the first company has been granted access rights to the third product information. If the determination in step S105 is affirmative, the process proceeds to step S106; if the determination is negative, the process proceeds to step S109.

[0136] In step S106, the management unit 115 receives from the first company terminal 2A an inquiry as to whether or not to send an improvement request to the third company. The management unit 115 may, for example, send to the first company terminal 2A an inquiry as to whether or not to send an improvement request to the third company, and receive a response. In the first company terminal 2A, the improvement unit 215 causes the input / output device 24 to display a screen indicating that there is a product that requires improvement among the upstream products. When the operator of the first company terminal 2A makes a predetermined input to the input / output device 24, the improvement unit 215 determines whether or not to send an improvement request. The server device 1 generates a response indicating whether the request is successful or not and transmits the response to the server device 1.

[0137] In step S107, the management unit 115 determines whether or not it has accepted the transmission of an improvement request in step S106. If the determination in step S107 is affirmative, the process proceeds to step S108, and if the determination is negative, the routine is terminated. In step S108, the management unit 115 transmits an improvement request to the company terminal 2 of the third company (hereinafter referred to as the third company terminal 2C). This improvement request is a request to improve the third product so that it satisfies predetermined conditions.

[0138] Meanwhile, in step S109, the management unit 115 traces the product tree from the third product back to the root node and identifies the fourth product for which the first company has been granted access rights. At this time, the management unit 115 identifies the product closest to the third product as the fourth product among the products for which the first company has been granted access rights. In this way, by identifying the fourth product as the closest product, the third product can be reached more quickly.

[0139] In step S110, the management unit 115 receives a request from the first company terminal 2A as to whether or not to send an improvement request to the fourth company. The management unit 115 may, for example, send an inquiry to the first company terminal 2A as to whether or not to send an improvement request to the fourth company, and receive a response. In the first company terminal 2A, the improvement unit 215 causes the input / output device 24 to display a screen indicating that there is an upstream product that requires improvement. When the operator of the first company terminal 2A makes a predetermined input to the input / output device 24, the improvement unit 215 generates a response as to whether or not to send an improvement request, and sends it to the server device 1.

[0140] In step S111, the management unit 115 determines whether or not the transmission of an improvement request was accepted in step S110. If the determination in step S111 is affirmative, the process proceeds to step S112; if the determination is negative, the routine is terminated. In step S112, the management unit 115 transmits an improvement request to the fourth company terminal 2D. This improvement request requests the fourth company to notify the third company that the third product will be improved so that it satisfies predetermined conditions.

[0141] The operator of the fourth company terminal 2D, who has received the improvement request, makes a predetermined input to the input / output device 24, which causes the improvement unit 215 of the fourth company terminal 2D to send information about the fourth product to the server device 1. By receiving this information about the fourth product, the management unit 115 accepts the designation of the first product. In other words, it designates the fourth product as the first product. Having accepted this designation, the management unit 115 executes the processing from step S102 onwards. In this way, by sending an improvement request to the company of the upstream product, it is possible to ultimately send an improvement request to the third company terminal 2C.

[0142] As described above, in this embodiment, even a company that has not been granted access rights to product information can request improvements from a company whose product is located upstream in the product tree and requires improvement.

[0143] (Other embodiments) The above-described embodiment is merely an example, and the present disclosure may be modified as appropriate within the scope of the present disclosure. For example, the processes and means described in the present disclosure may be freely combined and implemented as long as no technical contradiction occurs.

[0144] Furthermore, in the description of the embodiment, the server device 1 stores the product information in a database, but the product information may be stored by means other than a database.

[0145] Furthermore, in the description of the embodiment, an example has been given in which the server device 1 completes the product tree by executing the first to fourth phases, but the role of the server device 1 may be distributed among multiple company terminals 2. For example, product information may be stored in a distributed database using a blockchain platform. In this case, a product information database may be configured by multiple company terminals 2. In this case, the processing of each of the above-mentioned phases may be executed using a smart contract. For example, the processing in the second phase may be triggered when a certain company account writes permission information to the database. Furthermore, the processing in the third phase may be triggered when a certain company account writes a linking request to the database.

[0146] In addition, in the description of the embodiment, the phase in which the server device 1 receives product information about upstream products and the phase in which the server device 1 receives permission information corresponding to the product information are described separately, but both may be received simultaneously. Similarly, in the description of the embodiment, the phase in which the server device 1 receives product information about downstream products and the phase in which the server device 1 receives a linking request corresponding to the product information are described separately, but both may be received simultaneously.

[0147] In addition, in the description of the embodiment, the platform is provided by the server device 1, but this is not limited to this. For example, the server device 1 may be a server independent of the platform, and may be a server that provides information obtained from the corporate terminal 2 to the platform.

[0148] In the above embodiment, access control for each company is achieved by providing a dedicated storage area and a shared storage area. However, the method for achieving access control is not limited to this example. Any method may be used for access control.

[0149] In the above embodiment (FIG. 1), the multiple companies included in the supply chain are described as companies that produce products. However, the companies included in the supply chain do not necessarily have to be companies that produce products. For example, companies that transport, import, store, wholesale, etc. of products may also be included in the companies that make up the supply chain. In one example, some of the multiple companies may be companies that do not perform manufacturing processes, such as trading companies, sales agents, or import agents, and may receive products from companies located one level higher (upstream companies) and deliver them to companies located one level lower (downstream companies).

[0150] In the above embodiment, the supply chain for automobile-related products is assumed, and the OEM manufacturer is described as the most downstream company, and companies that supply parts, materials, assemblies, etc. are described as suppliers. However, the companies that belong to the supply chain are not necessarily limited to this. Companies at each stage may be determined appropriately depending on the product, etc. Furthermore, the manufacturing activities performed by each company until the final product is obtained may be determined appropriately depending on the embodiment, and may include, for example, all activities that may be performed until the final product is obtained, such as excavation, processing, assembly, transportation, and storage.

[0151] Furthermore, in the above embodiment, the server device 1 is configured to execute the information processing of the first to fourth phases. However, the configuration of the server device 1 is not limited to this example. In another example, the information processing of at least one of the first to fourth phases may be omitted in the server device 1. The server device 1 may also be configured to execute any other information processing.

[0152] In the above embodiment, an example of calculating the CO2 emissions (CFP value) is shown. may be calculated by the following formula: Tier N-1 CFP value = Tier N-1 in-house measured CFP value + Σ k (CFP value of company k (Tier N) × usage amount at Tier N-1 u k ) Here, "CFP value of Tier N-1" indicates the result of combining the CFP value of the upstream company (company k (Tier N)) and the company's own CFP value. The company's measured CFP value indicates the CFP value included in the product information of each company. If Tier N is the most upstream company, "CFP value of Tier N" is the CFP value included in the product information of that company, otherwise "CFP value of Tier N" is the result of combining the CFP value of the further upstream company (Tier N+1) and the CFP value included in the product information of that company. By setting Tier N to the most upstream company (terminal company) and repeating the calculation up to N=1, the Tier 0 product The CFP value of the product (=final product) can be obtained.

[0153] In the above embodiment, the server device 1 may calculate the recycle rate and due diligence (score) together with or instead of calculating the CO2 emission amount (CFP value). The recycle rate may be calculated using the following formula. (Recycling rate of Tier N-1 products for target substances) = (Total amount used in Tier N-1) × (Recycling rate in Tier N-1) + Σ k (Total amount used at Company k (Tier N) × Recycling rate at Company k (Tier N) × Amount used at Tier N-1 u k)}÷{Total usage in Tier N-1 + Σ k ( Total usage at company k (Tier N) × Usage at Tier N-1 u k )}={Amount of recycled materials used in Tier N-1 +Σk (amount of recycled material used at company k (Tier N) × amount used at Tier N-1 u k )}÷{Total for Tier N-1 Total usage + Σk (total usage at company k (Tier N) × usage at Tier N-1 u k )}" The amount of recycled material used indicates the amount of recycled material used for the target substance. As with the CFP value, the recycling rate for the target substance in the final product can be calculated by sequentially calculating from the most upstream company (end company). Furthermore, the due diligence score (DD score) can also be integrated using the same calculation as the CFP value and recycling rate. In one example, the CFP value can be replaced with the DD score, and the calculation can be performed sequentially from the most upstream company (end company) to obtain the DD score (integrated result) for the final product.

[0154] In the above embodiment, the traceability of each company (Tier N-1) other than the most upstream company is Instead of storing the relevant information in a shared memory area between each company and its downstream companies, the integrated results of each company (CFP value of Tier N-1, recycling rate of Tier N-1 products for target substances) may be stored in a shared memory area between each company and its downstream companies (Tier N-2). It is possible to obtain traceability-related information (integrated results) for the final product without disclosing the traceability-related information of the manufacturer itself.

[0155] Furthermore, in the above embodiment, it is assumed that each company places an order with one company for a certain material. However, in the above embodiment, the order format of each company does not need to be limited to this example. At least some of the companies belonging to the supply chain may place orders with multiple upstream companies for the same product and selectively use the obtained upstream products in their own products. For example, in the example of FIG. 12 above, Tier 1 product A1 may selectively use Tier 2 product A11_1, product A11_2, or product A11_3. In this case, the server device 1 determines the pattern to be used. In the above example, the server device 1 stores the Tier 1 product A1. Regarding this, pattern 1 is "Tier 2 product A11_1, ...", pattern 2 is "Product A11_2, ..." and pattern 3 "Product A11_3, ...". Therefore, the server device 1 may execute the calculation (integration) of the traceability-related information for each pattern. In this case, for example, the server device 1 may output the calculation results for each pattern. In another example, the server device 1 may calculate statistics such as the maximum value, minimum value, average value, variance, standard deviation, and median of the calculation results from the calculation results, and output the calculated statistics.

[0156] In the above embodiment, the traceability-related information (especially the CFP value) may be composed of primary data or secondary data (inventory data). The primary data are actual measurements, and the secondary data are reference values ​​used when actual measurements are not available. In this case, the calculation (integration) of the traceability-related information may include calculating the primary data ratio of the traceability-related information obtained for the final product. The primary data ratio may be calculated by a simple ratio calculation, or may be calculated by weighting the CFP value in the above CFP value calculation formula by substituting the primary data ratio of each company and performing the calculation sequentially from the most upstream company.

[0157] Furthermore, a process described as being performed by one device may be shared and executed by multiple devices. Alternatively, a process described as being performed by different devices may be executed by a single device. In a computer system, the hardware configuration (server configuration) by which each function is realized can be flexibly changed.

[0158] The present disclosure can also be realized by providing a computer program implementing the functions described in the above embodiments to a computer, and having one or more processors in the computer read and execute the program. Such a computer program may be provided to the computer via a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium connectable to the computer's system bus or via a network. Non-transitory computer-readable storage media include, for example, any type of disk, such as a magnetic disk (e.g., a floppy disk, a hard disk drive (HDD), etc.), an optical disk (e.g., a CD-ROM, a DVD disk, a Blu-ray disk), a read-only memory (ROM), a random access memory (RAM), an EPROM, an EEPROM, a magnetic card, a flash memory, an optical card, or any type of medium suitable for storing electronic instructions. [Explanation of symbols]

[0159] 1. Server device 2. Corporate terminals 11 Control section 12 Storage section 13 Communication Module 14 Input / Output Devices 111 Information Gathering Department 112 Permission setting section 113 Attachment 114 Information Provision Department 115 Management Department

Claims

1. An information processing device comprising a storage unit and a control unit, The storage unit stores information about products of each company constituting a supply chain, the information including information indicating links between the products, traceability-related information about the products, and information about disclosure settings of the products; The control unit Identifying one or more second products that are included in the first product by referencing information that indicates the linkage between the products in a tree structure with the first product as the root node in the stored information that indicates the linkage between the products; In the stored traceability-related information of the products, refer to the traceability-related information of each of the one or more second products, and identify a third product to be improved from among the one or more second products in accordance with predetermined conditions; In the stored information about the disclosure settings of the products, refer to information about the disclosure settings of the third product, and determine whether the company of the first product is authorized to disclose information about the third product; receiving, in response to determining that the company of the first product is authorized to disclose information about the third product, whether or not to request the company of the third product to make improvements; In response to determining that the company of the first product is not authorized to disclose information about the third product, Identifying, from among the one or more second products, a fourth product for which the company of the first product has permission to disclose information by tracing the tree structure from the third product back to the root node; Accepting whether to implement a request to the company to improve the fourth product; To execute Information processing device.

2. Identifying the fourth product is configured by identifying as the fourth product a product for which the company of the first product has permission to disclose information about the product and which is closest to the third product in the tree structure. The information processing device according to claim 1 .

3. The control unit In response to receiving the request to execute the improvement request to the company of the fourth product, the method is further configured to send a request to improve the third product to a terminal of the company of the fourth product. The information processing device according to claim 1 .

4. The traceability-related information includes information regarding at least one of greenhouse gas emissions, recycling rates, and due diligence information. The information processing device according to claim 1 .

5. the predetermined condition is that the greenhouse gas emissions exceed a threshold value; The information processing device according to claim 4 .

6. The predetermined condition is that the recycling rate is lower than a threshold value. The information processing device according to claim 4 .

7. The first product is a battery-related product. The information processing device according to claim 1 .

8. The computer storing information relating to products of each company constituting a supply chain, the information including information indicating links between the products, traceability-related information of the products, and information relating to disclosure settings of the products; Identifying one or more second products that are included in the first product by referencing information that indicates the linkage between the products in a tree structure with the first product as the root node in the stored information that indicates the linkage between the products; In the stored traceability-related information of the products, refer to the traceability-related information of each of the one or more second products, and identify a third product to be improved from among the one or more second products in accordance with predetermined conditions; In the stored information about the disclosure settings of the products, refer to information about the disclosure settings of the third product, and determine whether the company of the first product is authorized to disclose information about the third product; receiving, in response to determining that the company of the first product is authorized to disclose information about the third product, whether or not to request the company of the third product to make improvements; In response to determining that the company of the first product is not authorized to disclose information about the third product, Identifying, from among the one or more second products, a fourth product for which the company of the first product has permission to disclose information by tracing the tree structure from the third product back to the root node; Accepting whether to implement a request to the company to improve the fourth product; To execute Information processing methods.

9. Identifying the fourth product is configured by identifying as the fourth product a product for which the company of the first product has permission to disclose information about the product and which is closest to the third product in the tree structure. The information processing method according to claim 8.

10. The computer In response to receiving the request to execute the improvement request to the company of the fourth product, the method is further configured to send a request to improve the third product to a terminal of the company of the fourth product. The information processing method according to claim 8.

11. The traceability-related information includes information regarding at least one of greenhouse gas emissions, recycling rates, and due diligence information. The information processing method according to claim 8.

12. the predetermined condition is that the greenhouse gas emissions exceed a threshold value; The information processing method according to claim 11.

13. The predetermined condition is that the recycling rate is lower than a threshold value. The information processing method according to claim 11.

14. The first product is a battery-related product. The information processing method according to claim 8.

15. On the computer, storing information relating to products of each company constituting a supply chain, the information including information indicating links between the products, traceability-related information of the products, and information relating to disclosure settings of the products; Identifying one or more second products that are included in the first product by referencing information that indicates the linkage between the products in a tree structure with the first product as the root node in the stored information that indicates the linkage between the products; In the stored traceability-related information of the products, refer to the traceability-related information of each of the one or more second products, and identify a third product to be improved from among the one or more second products in accordance with predetermined conditions; In the stored information about the disclosure settings of the products, refer to information about the disclosure settings of the third product, and determine whether the company of the first product is authorized to disclose information about the third product; receiving, in response to determining that the company of the first product is authorized to disclose information about the third product, whether or not to request the company of the third product to make improvements; In response to determining that the company of the first product is not authorized to disclose information about the third product, Identifying, from among the one or more second products, a fourth product for which the company of the first product has permission to disclose information by tracing the tree structure from the third product back to the root node; Accepting whether to implement a request to the company to improve the fourth product; A program to execute.

16. Identifying the fourth product is configured by identifying as the fourth product a product for which the company of the first product has permission to disclose information about the product and which is closest to the third product in the tree structure. The program according to claim 15.

17. The computer, In response to receiving the request to improve the fourth product company, The system is further configured to send a request for improvement of the third product to the terminal of the company of the fourth product. The program according to claim 15.

18. The traceability-related information includes information regarding at least one of greenhouse gas emissions, recycling rates, and due diligence information. The program according to claim 15.

19. the predetermined condition is that the greenhouse gas emissions exceed a threshold value; 19. The program of claim 18.

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