Server device, information processing method, and program

Abstract

To generate information on a supply chain.SOLUTION: A server device is configured to: issue, to an upstream company, a key indicating writing authority for a dedicated storage area dedicated to a downstream company, in accordance with a request from an account of the downstream company, between the companies in adjacent two layers in a supply chain; receiving a designation of the downstream company from an account of the upstream company, the downstream company being allowed to access first product information on an upstream product of the upstream company; use the key issued from the designated downstream company, in accordance with the permission to access, to write the first product information into the dedicated storage area of the downstream company; receive, from the account of the downstream company, an association request including selection of first product information to be associated with second product information on a downstream product of the downstream company, out of the first product information written to the dedicated storage area; and generate association information indicating a designated relationship of association in accordance with the association request.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

[Technical Field]

[0001] This invention relates to a server device, an information processing method, and a program. [Background technology]

[0002] Systems for sharing information among multiple companies that make up a supply chain are known. In this regard, for example, Patent Document 1 discloses a system for sharing product information among adjacent suppliers. [Prior art documents] [Patent Documents]

[0003] [Patent Document 1] Japanese Patent Publication No. 2004-171146 [Overview of the project] [Problems that the invention aims to solve]

[0004] This disclosure is intended to collect information related to the supply chain. [Means for solving the problem]

[0005] One embodiment of the present disclosure is: A server device having a storage device that stores product information for each company included in the supply chain, and a control unit, wherein in the supply chain, upstream companies and downstream companies are defined between two adjacent layers of companies, the storage device is provided with a dedicated storage area corresponding to each company, the product information of each company is stored in the corresponding dedicated storage area, and the control unit issues to the upstream company a key indicating write permission to the downstream company's dedicated storage area in response to a request from the downstream company's account, and from the upstream company's account, the upstream company's upstream product The system is configured to: receive designation of a downstream company that is permitted to access primary product information relating to a product; write the primary product information to the designated downstream company's dedicated storage area using the key issued by the designated downstream company in response to the permission for access; receive a linking request from the downstream company's account, which includes the selection of primary product information written to its own dedicated storage area to be linked to secondary product information relating to the downstream company's downstream products; and generate linking information indicating the linking relationship specified by the linking request in response to the received linking request. This is a server device.

[0006] One embodiment of the present disclosure is: An information processing method performed by a server device having a storage device that stores product information for each company included in a supply chain, and a control unit, wherein in the supply chain, upstream companies and downstream companies are defined between two adjacent layers of companies, the storage device is provided with a dedicated storage area corresponding to each company, the product information of each company is stored in the corresponding dedicated storage area, and the information processing method, between the two adjacent layers of companies, issues to the upstream company a key indicating write permission to the downstream company's dedicated storage area in response to a request from the downstream company's account, receives from the upstream company's account a designation of the downstream company that it will be allowed to access the first product information relating to the upstream company's upstream products, and in response to the permission of access, uses the key issued by the designated downstream company to write the first product information to the designated downstream company's dedicated storage area, and receives from the downstream company's account its own The information processing method includes receiving a linking request that includes selecting first product information to be linked to second product information relating to downstream products of a downstream company from among the first product information written in the dedicated storage area, and generating linking information indicating the linking relationship specified by the linking request in response to the received linking request.

[0007] One embodiment of the present disclosure is: A program for causing an information processing device of a target company, which can communicate with a server device, to execute an information processing method, wherein the server device is equipped with a storage device that stores product information for each company included in the supply chain, upstream companies and downstream companies are defined between two adjacent layers of companies in the supply chain, the storage device is provided with a dedicated storage area corresponding to each company, and the information processing method is a program that includes issuing a first key indicating write rights to the target company's dedicated storage area to the target company's upstream company, or sending a request to the server device to the target company's upstream company to issue the first key, receiving a designation of a downstream company of the target company that will be granted access to the target company's first product information, and, in response to receiving the designation, using a second key issued by the designated downstream company to write the first product information to the designated downstream company's dedicated storage area, or causing the server device to write the first product information to the designated downstream company's dedicated storage area.

[0008] Other embodiments include a program for causing a computer to execute the above method, or a computer-readable storage medium that non-temporarily stores the program. [Effects of the Invention]

[0009] According to this disclosure, information regarding the supply chain can be collected. [Brief explanation of the drawing]

[0010] [Figure 1] A diagram illustrating the supply chain according to the first embodiment. [Figure 2] A diagram illustrating the relationships between products supplied through a supply chain. [Figure 3] A diagram illustrating the overview of the processing that takes place between enterprise terminals and server devices. [Figure 4]Hardware configuration diagram of the server device according to the first embodiment. [Figure 5] Hardware configuration diagram of the enterprise terminal according to the first embodiment. [Figure 6] Software configuration diagram of the server device according to the first embodiment. [Figure 7] Software configuration diagram of the enterprise terminal according to the first embodiment. [Figure 8] An example of product information generated by the product information generation unit. [Figure 9A] An example of the screen output by the authority setting unit. [Figure 9B] An example of the permission information generated by the authority setting unit based on the input information. [Figure 10] An example of the user interface including the list of products that are candidates for the linked destination. [Figure 11] Diagram showing the flow of the process executed by the server device. [Figure 12] Diagram explaining a plurality of linked product information. [Figure 13A] Diagram explaining the product tree and the amount of carbon dioxide emitted in each process. [Figure 13B] Diagram explaining the method of inheriting the integration result. [Figure 14] An example of the screen outputting the product tree as an image. [Figure 15] An example of the product tree when products without access authority are not disclosed. [Figure 16] Sequence diagram explaining the processes performed by the server device and the enterprise terminal in the second to third phases. [Figure 17] Sequence diagram explaining the processes performed by the server device and the enterprise terminal in the fourth phase. [Figure 18] Flowchart of the key issuance process in the second embodiment.

Modes for Carrying Out the Invention

[0011] In recent years, there has been a demand to track the amount of greenhouse gases emitted during the manufacturing of products such as automobiles and batteries, in other words, to track the carbon footprint.

[0012] Now, consider a case where a product is supplied through a supply chain involving multiple companies. In one example, at least some companies in the supply chain (intermediate suppliers) may receive parts from one or more upstream companies, use those parts to produce their own products, and deliver the produced products to companies in the next stage (downstream companies). The upstream company may directly produce its own products and deliver the produced products to companies in the next stage. Some companies in the supply chain may deliver products received from other companies directly to other companies (i.e., participate in distribution). Multiple companies repeat this process until the final product is obtained at the final stage.

[0013] In the context of obtaining automotive products, the supply chain may consist of an OEM manufacturer and multiple suppliers. The OEM manufacturer may be the company that assembles the final product (the downstream company), while the suppliers may be companies that supply parts, materials, assemblies, etc., for producing that product. The companies included in the supply chain may be determined on a product-by-product basis.

[0014] In the following explanation, the parts and components produced by each of the multiple suppliers will be referred to as "products," and the final product will be referred to as the "final product." For example, the final product may be supplied to the consumer. Furthermore, suppliers and OEM manufacturers included in the supply chain will be simply referred to as "companies." In addition, each of the multiple layers in the supply chain will be referred to as a "tier."

[0015] In such a system, for example, in order to calculate the total amount of greenhouse gases emitted in the manufacture of the final product, it is necessary to clarify the supply relationships of products among multiple companies. This is because if the relationships between the multiple products that make up the final product are not clear, it is difficult to correctly calculate the total amount of greenhouse gases emitted in multiple processes. To solve this problem, for example, it is necessary to generate a tree that shows the supply relationships between the multiple products that make up the final product (hereinafter referred to as a product tree).

[0016] Companies other than the furthest downstream companies can be required to provide information indicating the supply relationships of products among multiple companies. However, since information such as a company's trading partners, detailed information about its products, and material suppliers is highly confidential, it is undesirable to disclose this information to all unrelated companies. In other words, existing systems have the problem of being unable to track carbon footprints while maintaining confidentiality. This problem does not only occur when collecting carbon footprint information. For example, this problem can occur in any situation in which any information related to a product is collected, such as other traceability-related information (e.g., raw material recycling rates, due diligence information, etc.) or other product-related information (e.g., components, identification information, etc.). The server device of this disclosure solves this problem.

[0017] A server device relating to one aspect of this disclosure is: A server device having a storage device that stores product information for each company included in the supply chain, and a control unit, wherein in the supply chain, upstream companies and downstream companies are defined between two adjacent layers of companies, and the storage device is provided with a dedicated storage area corresponding to each company, and the product information of each company is stored in the corresponding dedicated storage area. The control unit is configured to store the data in a memory area and, in response to a request from the downstream company's account, issue a key to the upstream company indicating write access to the downstream company's dedicated memory area between two adjacent hierarchical companies; receive a designation from the upstream company's account of a downstream company that is permitted to access the first product information relating to the upstream company's upstream products; write the first product information to the designated downstream company's dedicated memory area using the key issued by the designated downstream company in response to the permission for access; receive a linking request from the downstream company's account that includes the selection of first product information to be linked to the second product information relating to the downstream company's downstream products from among the first product information written to its own dedicated memory area; and generate linking information indicating the linking relationship specified by the linking request in response to the received linking request.

[0018] In a supply chain, companies located upstream deliver products to companies located downstream. The company at the very bottom of the supply chain is the one that assembles the final product (OEM manufacturer). Here, focusing on a specific level within the supply chain, we define companies located upstream as upstream companies and companies located downstream as downstream companies. Furthermore, we refer to the products of upstream companies as upstream products and the products of downstream companies as downstream products. Upstream products can be said to be products that constitute (are included in) downstream products. Here, information regarding upstream products is referred to as first-order product information, and information regarding downstream products is referred to as second-order product information.

[0019] The server device relating to this disclosure stores product information for each company and performs a process of linking product information together (i.e., a process of relating downstream products to upstream products) based on linking requests obtained from each company's account. A linking request is a request to link product information together (i.e., upstream product information and downstream product information). The control unit generates linking information in response to the linking request and stores it in the storage device. The linking information is information that shows the linking relationship between downstream product information and upstream product information. By repeating this process, the server device can construct a product tree corresponding to the final product.

[0020] Linking component information can be done by downstream companies producing downstream products specifying the upstream product to which that downstream product should be linked. In cases with a large number of suppliers, one approach is to have them select the upstream product from a list. However, listing information on all companies and all products included in the supply chain is undesirable from an information protection standpoint.

[0021] Therefore, the server equipment related to this disclosure requires the upstream company to pre-designate which downstream companies will be permitted to access its own product information (first product information), and only the product information for which access has been permitted will be made available to the downstream companies. The downstream companies will then select (or specify) the product information to link to their own products from among the product information for which access has been permitted by the upstream company.

[0022] When access permission is granted, the control unit copies the primary product information stored in the upstream company's dedicated storage area (i.e., storage area accessible only to the upstream company) to the storage area accessible only to the downstream company. To achieve this, the control unit pre-issues a key to the upstream company indicating write access to the downstream company's dedicated storage area in response to a request from the downstream company. When requested by the upstream company, the control unit uses this key to write the primary product information to that storage area. The product information copied to the downstream company's dedicated storage area becomes accessible from the downstream company's account. Through this process, the upstream company can grant access rights to specific product information to the downstream company.

[0023] The server device described in this disclosure allows for the clarification of supply relationships between multiple companies for multiple products. Furthermore, with the server device described in this disclosure, product information of upstream companies is written to the upstream company's own dedicated storage area and the dedicated storage area of ​​a designated company (typically a designated downstream company), and not to the dedicated storage areas of other companies. This ensures the confidentiality of product information by granting access to the company's product information only to the company itself and the designated company. Moreover, the product information of upstream companies is shared between the upstream company and the designated company by writing it to the designated company's dedicated storage area using the designated company's key. This eliminates the need to provide a shared storage area between the upstream company and the designated company for sharing product information. As a result, storage area management becomes easier. Note that this disclosure does not exclude the provision of a shared storage area. In other forms, a shared storage area may be provided between two or more companies for any purpose.

[0024] Furthermore, the product information stored in the server device may include traceability-related information. Traceability-related information may typically be numerical information such as greenhouse gas emissions, raw material recycling rates, and due diligence scores, and the traceability-related information (numerical information) collected from each company may be integrated by any calculation process. However, traceability-related information is not limited to this form. In another example, traceability-related information may include document information such as technical documents related to due diligence. In this case, integrating traceability-related information may include collecting document information.

[0025] Accordingly, the control unit may be configured to further perform the following: acquire traceability-related information contained in the product information of one or more included products that are identified from the linking information related to the target product and that are included in the target product; integrate the traceability-related information acquired for the one or more included products and the target product; and output the result of the integration.

[0026] The control unit acquires traceability-related information for any target product (typically a final product, but may be other products) and its constituent products, and integrates the acquired traceability-related information. Constituent products are one or more products included in the target product that are produced upstream of the target product. If the target product is a Tier 0 product, the constituent products are Tier 1, Tier 2, etc., products of Tier 1 or higher. Inclusion relationships also exist within the constituent products included in the target product, such as a Tier 2 product to a Tier 1 product. This may also be the case. By integrating traceability-related information, it becomes possible to track information such as greenhouse gas emissions at any level in the supply chain.

[0027] The integration of traceability-related information may also be performed by repeatedly (A) transferring the traceability-related information of upstream products to downstream products between two adjacent hierarchical levels of companies, from the upstream product belonging to the product tree as a leaf node to the target product, in the product tree to which the target product belongs as a root node, and (B) integrating the traceability-related information of the transferred upstream product and the traceability-related information derived from the downstream product, and obtaining the integration result as the traceability-related information of the downstream product. The control unit may also store the integration result in a dedicated storage area for the downstream company. By repeating this, the control unit continuously executes the process of integrating the traceability-related information of upstream products and the traceability-related information derived from downstream products from upstream to downstream in the supply chain. This makes it possible to integrate traceability-related information according to the product tree and obtain the integration result of traceability-related information concerning the target product (i.e., derive information of the target product concerning the target traceability items).

[0028] The following describes specific embodiments of this disclosure with reference to the drawings. The specific configurations such as hardware configuration, module configuration, and functional configuration described in each embodiment are not intended to limit the technical scope of the disclosure to those unless otherwise specified.

[0029] (First embodiment) The information processing system according to this embodiment is configured to provide information about products supplied by a supply chain that includes multiple companies. Product information typically refers to traceability information. The companies belonging to the supply chain may be determined as appropriate according to the attributes of the products, etc.

[0030] First, let's explain the structure of the supply chain. Figure 1 is a diagram illustrating an example of a supply chain according to this embodiment. In the example in Figure 1, we assume a scenario in which products related to automobiles are obtained. The supply chain shown in Figure 1 consists of an OEM company and multiple supplier companies. In the example in Figure 1, we assume a supply chain that manufactures automobiles themselves, batteries, and other automobile-related products. The OEM company assembles the final product. Multiple supplier companies (Companies A to C) supply parts, materials, assemblies, etc., for manufacturing the final product. Each of the multiple supplier companies produces one or more products and delivers them to a company located one level lower in the hierarchy. Multiple companies repeat this process, and the final product is obtained at the final stage (i.e., the OEM company).

[0031] In this embodiment, at each level of the supply chain, the side that supplies products is referred to as the upstream side, and the side that procures those products and produces new products is referred to as the downstream side. In this specification, companies located on the upstream side are referred to as upstream companies, and companies located on the downstream side are referred to as downstream companies. 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. In this embodiment, the levels included in the supply chain are referred to as Tiers. Tier 0 is the company that assembles the final product (corresponding to the OEM company). ) This is the lowest level, and as you progress through Tier 1, 2, and 3, you move towards the upstream side. Depending on the level you are interested in In some cases, a downstream company can become an upstream company. For example, company B, which is located in Tier 2, is a downstream company in relation to Tier 3, but an upstream company in relation to Tier 1. In this way, The definitions of upstream and downstream companies can vary depending on the hierarchical level.

[0032] Figure 2 illustrates the relationships between products supplied by a supply chain. Here, the supply relationships of multiple products that make up the final product X are represented by a tree diagram. In this example, the final product X is produced by assembling products A1, B1, C1, D1… Product A1 is produced by assembling products A11, A12, A13… In this way, the relationships between multiple products that make up the final product can be represented by a tree diagram in which each product is a node. Hereafter, a tree diagram relating to a specific final product will be referred to as a product tree. In one example, the final product X is an electric vehicle (BEV: Battery Electric Vehicle) equipped with… This refers to the battery that will be installed. In another example, the final product X may be an automobile, an automobile assembly, or other automobile-related product.

[0033] Furthermore, the hierarchical depth of all upstream companies in a supply chain is not necessarily the same. In the example in Figure 2, companies for products A111, A121, A122, A123, B1, C1, and D1 are upstream companies, but among these companies, companies for products B1, C1, and D1 are Tier 1, and companies for 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. That is, the hierarchical depth of the supply chain may be defined as the number of layers from the downstream company to the deepest upstream company. In the example in Figure 2, the hierarchical depth of the supply chain may be calculated as "4". Therefore, the hierarchical depth of the supply chain If a depth of 3 or more is specified, the deepest upstream company will be at level 3 (Tier 2 in Figure 2). If the above conditions are met, some top-tier companies may be at the second tier (Tier 1 in Figure 2) (naturally). However, the depth of the hierarchy of all upstream companies may be 3 or more. In this embodiment, the supply chain may have 3 or more layers.

[0034] As shown in Figure 1, the information processing system according to this embodiment includes a server device 1 and a plurality of corporate terminals 2.

[0035] 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 a product tree based on these. In addition, the product information includes traceability information (for example, information on greenhouse gas emissions; hereinafter referred to as "traceability-related information"), and by following the product tree, information such as carbon footprint can be tracked.

[0036] Enterprise terminal 2 is a terminal corresponding to each of the multiple companies that make up the supply chain. The number of terminals corresponding to each company may be arbitrary. In addition, the terminals corresponding to the target company may include terminals of companies that perform operations related to that target company (for example, a proxy company).

[0037] Server device 1 collects information for generating a product tree from each of the multiple corporate terminals 2, and generates a product tree based on the collected information. Server device 1 may be configured to perform traceability-related processing (typically, processing to calculate carbon dioxide emissions, etc.) based on the generated product tree. Furthermore, server device 1 may be configured to transmit the results of the processing to any of the corporate terminals 2.

[0038] Next, we will explain the overview of the process by which server device 1 generates a product tree using Figure 3. Figure 3 is a diagram showing the overview of the process that takes place between multiple corporate terminals 2 and server device 1. In the example in Figure 3, it is assumed that there are downstream companies A and upstream companies B at any given hierarchy 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. In other words, in the example in Figure 3, product B becomes a child node of product A in the product tree.

[0039] To generate a product tree, each company's corresponding company terminal 2 transmits information about the products it produces to the server device 1. In this example, 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, 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 for each company is stored in the server device 1.

[0040] The operation to link product information stored in server device 1 is performed by corporate terminal 2. In one example, a representative from a downstream company logs into server device 1 from corporate terminal 2 using the downstream company's account and selects the upstream product to which the downstream product (their own company's product) will be linked. In this way, the linking of product information is performed from downstream products to upstream products. Server device 1 links the product information based on the selection.

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

[0042] Therefore, in accordance with this embodiment, the server device 1 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. Then, the server device 1 allows the downstream company to access the information within the scope of the granted rights.

[0043] In the example shown in Figure 3, enterprise terminal 2, which corresponds to the upstream company B, sends a request (information) to server device 1 instructing it to "grant company A access rights to product information B." When server device 1 receives a linking request from enterprise terminal 2, which corresponds to company A, it provides only a list of product information for which company A has access rights, allowing company A to select it as the linking destination. Furthermore, when enterprise terminal 2, which corresponds to company A, requests to refer to the product tree, server device 1 provides enterprise terminal 2 with a product tree in which information other than that for which company A has access rights is kept secret. This makes it possible to keep information about unrelated companies and products secret.

[0044] [Hardware configuration] Next, the hardware configuration of each device constituting the system will be described. Figure 4 is a schematic diagram showing an example of the hardware configuration of server device 1 according to this embodiment. 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] Server device 1 can be configured as a computer having a processor (CPU, GPU, etc.), main memory (RAM, ROM, etc.), and auxiliary storage (EPROM, hard disk drive, removable media, etc.). The auxiliary storage contains an operating system (OS), various programs, various tables, etc., and by executing the programs stored therein, various functions (software modules) that match a predetermined purpose, as described later, can be realized. However, some or all of the functions may be realized as hardware modules by hardware circuits such as ASICs and FPGAs.

[0046] The control unit 11 is a computing unit that realizes various functions of the server device 1 by executing a predetermined program. The control unit 11 can be realized by 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 memory unit 12 is a means of storing information and is composed of storage media such as RAM, magnetic disks, and flash memory. The memory unit 12 stores programs executed by the control unit 11, data used by those programs, and so on. A database is also built into the memory unit 12, and this database stores product information collected from multiple corporate terminals 2, as well as account information related to the companies. Further 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 communicate data with other computers (for example, each corporate terminal 2) via the communication module 13.

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

[0050] The specific hardware configuration of server device 1 can be appropriately omitted, replaced, and added depending on the embodiment. For example, the control unit 11 may include multiple hardware processors. The hardware processors may consist of microprocessors, FPGAs, GPUs, etc. The input / output device 14 may be omitted, or input / output devices other than those exemplified (e.g., optical drives) may be added. Also, server device 1 may consist of multiple computers. In this case, the hardware configurations of each computer may or may not be the same.

[0051] Figure 5 is a schematic diagram showing an example of the hardware configuration of the enterprise terminal 2 according to this embodiment. The enterprise 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 enterprise terminal 2 can be configured as a computer having a processor (CPU, GPU, etc.), main memory (RAM, ROM, etc.), and auxiliary memory (EPROM, hard disk drive, removable media, etc.), similar to the server device 1. However, some or all of the functions (software modules) may be implemented as hardware modules by hardware circuits such as ASICs and FPGAs.

[0053] The control unit 21 is a computing unit that implements various functions (software modules) of the enterprise terminal 2 by executing a predetermined program. The control unit 11 can be implemented 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 memory unit 22 is a means for storing information and is composed of storage media such as RAM, magnetic disks, and flash memory. The memory unit 22 stores programs executed by the control unit 21, data used by those programs, and so on.

[0055] The communication module 23 is a communication interface for connecting the enterprise 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 enterprise terminal 2 can communicate data with other computers (for example, server device 1) via the communication module 23.

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

[0057] Furthermore, the specific hardware configuration of the enterprise terminal 2 can be modified as appropriate, depending on the embodiment, by omitting, substituting, or adding components, similar to the server device 1.

[0058] [Software Configuration] Next, the software configuration of each device constituting the system will be described. Figure 6 is a schematic diagram showing the software configuration of the server device 1 according to this embodiment. In this embodiment, the control unit 11 is configured to have four software modules: an information collection unit 111, an authorization setting unit 112, a linking unit 113, and an information provision unit 114. 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, authorization setting unit 112, linking unit 113, and information provision unit 114 described below is the information processing performed by the control unit 11. It is synonymous with [the above].

[0059] The information gathering unit 111 is configured to receive product information transmitted from the corporate terminal 2 and to store the product information in the storage unit 12. The authorization setting unit 112 is configured to receive information (hereinafter referred to as authorization information) from the corporate terminal 2 for setting access permissions to the product information. Furthermore, the authorization setting unit 112 is configured to perform a process to set access permissions to the product information stored in the storage unit 12 based on the received authorization information. A specific method for setting access permissions to specific product information for a designated company will be described later.

[0060] The linking unit 113 is configured to interact with the corporate terminal 2 to acquire information from the corporate terminal 2 for linking product information together. Furthermore, the linking unit 113 is configured to execute a process to write information representing the linking relationship to the product information stored in the storage unit 12 based on the acquired information.

[0061] The information provision unit 114 is configured to perform information processing related to the product tree and to output the results of the information processing. The information processing related to the product tree may include processing that performs traceability calculations on the product tree. Outputting the results of the information processing may include processing that provides the generated product tree information to the enterprise terminal 2. In one example, the information provision unit 114 is configured to generate information about the product tree and to output the generated information about the product tree.

[0062] In this embodiment, the storage unit 12 is configured to include multiple logical storage areas. Each of the multiple storage areas can be configured with different access permissions, such as an area where access is granted only to company A, an area where access is granted only to company B, and so on. The permission setting unit 112 sets access permissions by storing product information received from the company terminal 2 in the appropriate storage area. The specific processing method will be described later.

[0063] Furthermore, account information is stored in the memory unit 12. In this embodiment, interaction between the server device 1 and the corporate terminal 2 occurs when an operator from each company logs in to the server device 1 via the corporate terminal 2 using the account of the corresponding company. The account information is information about the account corresponding to each company that makes up the supply chain. Note that logging in using an account is one example of accessing the server device 1 as the corresponding company. However, the method of accessing the server device 1 is not limited to this example and may be appropriately selected depending on the embodiment.

[0064] Figure 7 is a schematic diagram showing the software configuration of the enterprise terminal 2 according to this embodiment. In this embodiment, the control unit 21 is configured with four software modules: a product information generation unit 211, an authorization setting unit 212, a linking request unit 213, and an information acquisition unit 214. Each software module may be implemented by the control unit 21 (CPU) executing a program stored in the storage unit 22. The information processing performed by the product information generation unit 211, authorization setting unit 212, linking request unit 213, and information acquisition unit 214 described below is synonymous with the information processing performed by the control unit 21.

[0065] The product information generation unit 211 is configured to generate information (product information) about the company's products corresponding to the company terminal 2. Figure 8 shows an example of product information generated by the product information generation unit 211. The product information may also be input via the device operator. In this embodiment, the product information is configured to have the following fields: company ID, company name, product ID, and product name. The company ID and company name are the company that produces the target product (i.e., the company terminal 2 is used by...) This is the identifier and name of the company using the product. The product ID and product name are the identifier and name of the product in question.

[0066] Furthermore, the product information is configured to include linking-related information. Linking-related information is information for identifying the upstream product to which the target product is linked. In this embodiment, the linking-related information includes the fields "upstream product information," "termination flag," and "linking completion flag."

[0067] The upstream product information field is configured to store information for identifying product information corresponding to upstream products linked to the target product (i.e., products necessary for producing the target product and 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 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 an upstream product.

[0068] The termination flag field is configured to store a flag indicating whether the target product is a leaf node, i.e., the node located at the very top (end) of the product tree. In this embodiment, since multiple corporate terminals 2 transmit product information, this flag is used to determine whether further products are linked upstream of a product in the product tree, or whether no further linking occurs (i.e., whether the target product is located at the top). In other words, the termination flag field is used when the server device 1 confirms the linking of products. Basically, at the stage when product information is generated, the linking relationships of the target products are not yet determined, so the termination flag field may store "0 (not currently the end)". Finally, in order to generate the product tree, the product information of each company stored in the server device 1 is set to one of the following states: "Linking with upstream products has been performed" and "The termination flag is set to "1".

[0069] The linking completion flag field is configured to store a flag indicating whether or not the linking of the target product with an upstream product has been completed. In this embodiment, a product in the product tree may be linked to multiple upstream products. For example, product C may be produced using products A and B as parts. If the target product is located in an intermediate node rather than a leaf node, it is difficult to determine whether the linking is complete or whether another product will be linked based solely on the presence or absence of a product to which it is linked. If this cannot be determined, the product tree cannot be finalized. The linking completion flag is used to identify this. In other words, the linking completion flag is status information indicating whether or not all linking is complete. The linking completion flag field is used when the server device 1 finalizes the linking of products. Basically, at the stage when product information is generated, the linking relationships of the target product are not yet finalized, so the linking completion field may store "0 (there is a possibility of further linking)".

[0070] For product information located at leaf nodes, the termination flag can be used to determine whether the product information is finalized. For product information located at intermediate nodes, the linking completion flag can be used to determine whether the product information is finalized. The flag stored in the termination flag field (termination flag) is an example of "termination information".

[0071] Furthermore, the product information is configured to include traceability-related information. For example, the traceability-related information may include the amount of material (e.g., upstream product) used per unit of product production, information on the recycling rate of a given raw material, greenhouse gas emissions generated during the production of the product, due diligence-related information, or a combination thereof. The given raw material may be, for example, lithium, nickel, cobalt, lead, graphite, etc. The recycling rate may be expressed directly or indirectly, such as a combination of total usage and recycled material usage. These values ​​correspond to the processes involved in producing the product in question. For example, in the example shown in Figure 3, the traceability-related information included in product information A stores the amount of greenhouse gases emitted during the production of product A. The traceability-related information included in product information A does not include information about the processes leading up to the production of the upstream product (for example, the amount of greenhouse gases emitted before upstream product B is produced).

[0072] Furthermore, traceability-related information may be appropriately selected 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 be direct greenhouse gas emissions by the company itself. Scope 2 may be indirect emissions resulting from the use of electricity, heat, and steam supplied by other companies. Scope 3 may be indirect emissions other than Scope 1 and Scope 3. In another example, due diligence-related information may include technical documentation showing the amount of raw materials contained in the product and whether the company is fulfilling its obligations for responsible mineral sourcing, such as that of smelters, for products containing the target raw materials (e.g., cobalt, natural graphite, lithium, nickel, etc.). In yet another example, due diligence-related information may include a score indicating the degree to which the above obligations are being fulfilled.

[0073] The product information generation unit 211 is configured to acquire such information via the operator of the corporate terminal 2 and transmit it to the server device 1 at any time.

[0074] The authorization setting unit 212 is configured to specify which downstream companies are permitted to access product information sent from the corporate terminal 2 to the server device 1. Figure 9A is an example of a screen output by the authorization setting unit 212. As shown, the authorization setting unit 212 is configured to accept the specification of which downstream companies are permitted to access any of its own products. Except for the furthest downstream and furthest upstream companies, each company using the corporate terminal 2 can be either a downstream or upstream company. The authorization setting unit 212 operates when a company using the corporate terminal 2 is working in the position of an upstream company.

[0075] Figure 9B shows an example of permission information generated by the permission setting unit 212 based on the input information. The permission setting unit 212 is configured to send the permission information to the server device 1 at any time. Access permissions may be set on a per-product information basis, or on an item basis included in the product information (referred to as "permitted items" in the figure). This makes it possible to implement partial disclosure, such as disclosing the existence of a product but not disclosing specific information such as the materials used or the amount used.

[0076] The list of companies displayed on the screen in Figure 9A can be a list of companies with which the company has had past transactions. 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 this transaction data. The transaction data may include, for example, the identifier of the target product, the identifier of the company that produced the product, and the transaction date.

[0077] The linking request unit 213 is configured to request the server device 1 to link the company's product information, which it has sent to the server device 1, with upstream products. The linking request unit 213 operates when a company using the corporate terminal 2 is working as a downstream company. In one example, first, the linking request unit 213 sends its company ID and product ID to the server device 1 and requests the server device 1 to link the product information corresponding to the product ID. In response, the server device 1 generates a user interface that includes a list of product information that the target company is allowed to access (i.e., candidate linking destinations), and the generated... The user interface is provided to the enterprise terminal 2. Figure 10 is an example of a user interface that includes a list of products that the target company is permitted to access.

[0078] The product list shown in Figure 10 can be a list of products with which the company has a history of transactions. Server device 1 may generate this list based on the stored transaction data.

[0079] Next, the linking request unit 213 is configured to allow the operator to select the upstream product to be linked from the list. Furthermore, the linking request unit 213 is configured to send the identifier of the product to be linked (downstream product) and the identifier of the upstream product to be linked as a pair to the server device 1. The server device 1 can then link the product information accordingly.

[0080] If there is no upstream product associated with the target product, this can be explicitly indicated by checking the checkbox indicated by reference numeral 1001 in Figure 10. In this case, no linking of product information is performed, and the server device 1 sets the termination flag of the corresponding product information to "1". If an upstream product associated with the target product already exists, that is, if the node corresponding to the target product is not a leaf node, this check operation is prohibited.

[0081] Furthermore, if no further linking is to be performed on the target product, this can be explicitly indicated by checking the checkbox indicated by reference numeral 1002 in Figure 10. In this case, the server device 1 will set the linking completion flag for the corresponding product information to "1". Note that if the termination flag is set to "1", the corresponding product information is considered the end and will be excluded from the linking process. In this case, the handling of the linking completion flag is optional. For example, if the termination flag is set to "1", the linking completion flag may also be set to "1". In another example, if the termination flag is set to "1", the linking completion flag may remain at "0" and be ignored.

[0082] Thus, the linking request unit 213 is configured to issue either (1) a linking request to link the target product with an upstream product, or (2) a request to assign a termination flag indicating that the target product is at the end of the supply chain. When declaring the completion of linking, the linking request may include a request to assign a linking completion flag indicating that no further linking will occur for the target product. This allows the server device 1 to determine the state of the product tree.

[0083] 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.

[0084] [Processing details] Next, we will explain the specific details of the processing performed by server device 1 and enterprise terminal 2. Figure 11 is a diagram showing an example of the processing flow executed by server device 1 based on a request from enterprise terminal 2. The processing performed by server device 1 can be broadly divided into the following four phases. (1) The first phase involves receiving product information transmitted from the enterprise terminal 2 and storing the received product information. (2) The second phase involves receiving permission information transmitted from the corporate terminal 2 and setting access rights to product information according to the received permission information. (3) The third phase involves linking product information by interacting with the enterprise terminal 2. (4) A fourth phase in which information about the product tree is provided based on the results of the linking.

[0085] In the example in Figure 11, company A is a downstream company and company B is an upstream company. The product produced by company A is called product A, and the product produced by company B is called product B. The product information corresponding to product A is called product information A, and the product information corresponding to product B is called product information B.

[0086] 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 corporate terminal 2. In the example in Figure 11, the server device 1 acquires product information A from corporate terminal 2 corresponding to company A and product information B from corporate terminal 2 corresponding to company B. The information collection unit 111 stores product information A in a storage area (hereinafter referred to as storage area A) to which access rights are granted only to company A. The information collection unit 111 also stores product information B in a storage area (hereinafter referred to as storage area B) to which access rights are granted only to company B. In this way, the information collection unit 111 stores product information transmitted from any company in a dedicated storage area to which access rights are granted only to that company. In the following explanation, a storage area to which access rights are granted only to a specific company will be referred to as a "dedicated storage area."

[0087] In the second phase, the authorization setting unit 112 of the server device 1 interacts with multiple corporate terminals 2 and sets access permissions to product information based on the results. The second phase may be triggered by a request sent from the company to which access permissions are to be granted (downstream company). This request requests the upstream company to grant access permissions to the product information of the upstream product. This request will henceforth be referred to as a "public request".

[0088] The authorization setting unit 112 first receives a disclosure request from the corporate terminal 2 used by the downstream company (2-1 in the figure). In one example, the disclosure request may include information that identifies both the downstream company (i.e., the company that sent the disclosure request) and the upstream company (the company that is requesting the granting of access rights).

[0089] Next, the authorization setting unit 112 requests the upstream company's corporate terminal 2, specified by the disclosure request, to input authorization information. The upstream company's corporate terminal 2 (authorization setting unit 212) receives the authorization information from the operator and transmits the acquired authorization information to the server device 1 (2-2 in the figure). As shown in Figure 9B, the authorization information is configured to associate a product with a company that is permitted to access the product information of that product (i.e., the authorization information includes information to identify the specified product and the company that is permitted to access it).

[0090] Next, the authorization setting unit 112 issues a key to access the storage area corresponding to the company that sent the disclosure request. In this example, the authorization setting unit 112 issues a key to the account of company B, the upstream company, to access storage area A, which is assigned to company A, the downstream company (2-3 in the figure). Then, using the key issued to the account of company B, the authorization setting unit 112 copies product information B, which is owned by company B and stored in storage area B, to storage area A (2-4 in the figure).

[0091] In the example shown in Figure 11, it is assumed that the authorization setting unit 112 has received authorization information granting access to the upstream company's product information B from the downstream company, company A. In this case, the authorization setting unit 112 uses the key issued in (2-3) above to copy the product information B stored in storage area B to storage area A to which only company A has been granted access rights. As a result, product information B becomes accessible to company A. In this embodiment, access rights to product information B are granted to company A through this process. Note that if access rights are not set for a specific item included in the product information, access rights will be granted to that item. If present, it will be excluded from being copied to memory area A.

[0092] Thus, the copying of product information is performed by the server device 1 in response to receiving authorization information from the upstream company's enterprise terminal 2.

[0093] In the third phase, the linking unit 113 of the server device 1 receives a linking request from the linking request unit 213 of the corporate terminal 2, and links the product information based on the received linking request.

[0094] First, the linking unit 113 receives a linking request from the corporate terminal 2. The linking request is sent from the corporate terminal 2 of a downstream company. In the example in Figure 11, it is assumed that the corporate terminal 2 of company A sent the linking request. The linking request includes the company ID and the product ID of the target product. The linking unit 113 retrieves the product information stored in the memory area accessible from that company and generates a list of the retrieved product information. In the example in Figure 11, company A can access product information B (information about other companies' products) stored in memory area A. Therefore, product information B becomes selectable as the linking destination on the corporate terminal 2 of company A.

[0095] The linking request unit 213 of the enterprise terminal 2 presents a list to the operator and allows the operator to select the products to be linked (3-1 in the figure). In this example, products A and B are the products to be linked to each other. For example, the operator inputs information indicating that product B is the upstream product for product A via the input / output device 24. The linking request unit 213 sends data (linking data) to the linking unit 113 to associate the upstream product (product B) and the downstream product (product A) with each other (3-2 in the figure).

[0096] As illustrated in Figure 8, product information includes fields related to the product to which it will be linked (linking-related information). The linking unit 113 performs the linking of product information by storing information corresponding to product information B (i.e., upstream product) in the linking-related information of product information A, based on the aforementioned linking data (3-3 in the figure). For example, the linking-related information stores information indicating the linking relationship, such as the identifier of the upstream product and the identifier of the company that produces the upstream product.

[0097] The format of the linking information can be changed as needed. In another example, the linking information may store link information such as a pointer to the product information to which it is linked. Figure 12 illustrates an example of linking multiple product information using pointers. The arrows in the figure represent pointers. Pointers indicate the location where information such as the address of the product information corresponding to the upstream product is stored.

[0098] Through the process described above, a part of a tree structure is formed in which the product information of downstream products is placed as the parent node and the product information of upstream products is placed as the child nodes.

[0099] Furthermore, no further linking is performed at the end of the product tree. In this case, instead of sending linking data, the linking request unit 213 sends data indicating that the product is at the end of the tree. In the example in Figure 10, checking the checkbox indicated by reference numeral 1001 sends data indicating that the product is at the end of the tree. Upon receiving this data, the linking unit 113 sets the end flag field of the corresponding product information to "1" (i.e., the end flag is set).

[0100] Furthermore, if it is clear that no further linking is required for the target product, the linking request unit 213 includes this information in the linking data and sends data to explicitly indicate this fact. In example 10, checking the checkbox indicated by reference numeral 1002 sends data indicating that no further linking will occur for that product. Upon receiving this data, the linking unit 113 sets the linking completion flag field in the corresponding product information to "1". Note that if the termination flag is set, both flags may be set to "1".

[0101] In other words, in the third phase, the linking request unit 213 is (A) "Request to specify the upstream product to which the linking is to be performed (including requests to set the linking completion flag)" (B) "Request to set the termination flag" The server may be configured to issue one of the following to server device 1. The product tree of the final product is completed when linking or assigning a termination flag is completed for all companies belonging to the supply chain. The process of forming this product tree may be arbitrary. In one example, each company may perform the above third phase in a disorderly manner (referred to as the shotgun method). This method eliminates the need to manage the execution of the third phase, thus reducing the processing load on server device 1. In another example, the above third phase may be performed sequentially from the upstream company (referred to as the bucket brigade method). In this case, the server device may allow linking or setting of the termination flag at Tier N after linking at Tier N-1 is completed. This method makes it easy to manage the completion of the product tree.

[0102] In the fourth phase, the information provision unit 114 of the server device 1 generates information about the product tree based on the stored product information and outputs the information about the product tree. Generating information about the product tree refers to the process of generating various information about the product (for example, traceability information, an image representing the link relationships between products using a tree diagram, etc.) after links between nodes have been formed by linking the product information together. This process of generating information about the product tree is an example of information processing about the product tree. In order to generate information about the product tree, all linking of the product information must be completed, and the termination flag of all leaf nodes must be set to "1". The information provision unit 114 can appropriately generate the information when these conditions are met.

[0103] The product tree in this embodiment, as described with reference to Figure 2, represents the supply relationships between product information in the supply chain using a tree diagram. The information provision unit 114 can generate an image representing the tree diagram based on the product information.

[0104] Furthermore, when generating information about the product tree, the information provision unit 114 integrates the traceability-related information defined for each product and outputs the result.

[0105] Here, we will explain the integration of traceability-related information using Figure 13A. Figure 13A 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 products. For example, in the process of producing product A12 in the figure, E A12 [g] of carbon dioxide is emitted. Furthermore, the product is It is assumed that it is composed of three upstream products A121 to A123. Thus, the upstream products included in a certain product are also referred to as "included products". Here, the total amount of carbon dioxide emitted until a certain target product is produced can be obtained by repeating the process of passing on the CO2 emissions associated with the upstream products to the downstream products while referring to the product information between two adjacent hierarchical enterprises from the most upstream product, which is the leaf node, to the target product.

[0106] In the example of Fig. 13A, when the target product is A12, the total amount of carbon dioxide emitted until 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 A11 are as follows. I A12 =E A12 +E A121 ×U A121 +E A122 ×U A122 +E A123 ×U A123 [g] Here, E A121 ,E A122 ,E A123 are, respectively, the CO2 emissions per unit amount when producing products A121, A122, and A123. Also, U A121 ,U A122 ,U A123 are, respectively, the usage amounts of products A121, A122, and A123 used in the production of product A12. This usage amount is an example of the material usage amount per production amount of the product included in the above traceability-related information. The CO2 emissions of the final product (the product of the most downstream enterprise) can be obtained by sequentially executing the above calculations from the product of the most upstream enterprise to the final product.

[0107] The same applies if the target product is product A1. If the target product is A1, the total amount of carbon dioxide emitted during the manufacturing activities leading 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, A11, A12, A13, and A14.

[0108] The integrated value may be stored separately in the storage unit 12 from the product information, or it may be included as part of the product information. That is, the product information corresponding to product A12 is E, which is the emission amount in the process alone. A12 And the combined emissions are I A12 It is also possible to retain both.

[0109] The traceability information after integration is reused when integrating downstream products. By performing this process at each level, starting from the upstream end, traceability information (e.g., cumulative CO2 emissions) is sequentially passed down downstream. Ultimately, by passing the traceability information all the way to the final product, it is possible to obtain traceability information (e.g., total CO2 emissions) corresponding to the entire period until the final product is produced.

[0110] In this embodiment, each company can only access its own dedicated storage area and does not have the authority to access the dedicated storage areas of other companies. Therefore, the integration process of traceability-related information is performed in each company's dedicated storage area. That is, the server device 1 refers to the information in each company's dedicated storage area and integrates the traceability-related information inherited (written) from each company's upstream company with each company's own traceability-related information. At this time, the information provision unit 114 may be configured to pass on the obtained integration result (traceability-related information of each company's products obtained through integration) to each company's downstream company (i.e., write it to the downstream company's dedicated storage area).

[0111] Figure 13B illustrates an example of data flow when the integration results up to the company are copied to the dedicated storage area of ​​a company belonging to an adjacent Tier downstream. In this example, Tier 1 We assume that company X1, Tier 2 company X2, and Tier 3 company X3 are present in the supply chain, with company X3 being the end company.

[0112] Company X3's dedicated memory area stores product information related to Company X3's products, along with traceability-related information. The information provision unit 114 reflects this traceability-related information into Company X3's product information written in Company X2's dedicated memory area. Subsequently, the information provision unit 114 integrates the traceability-related information for Company X3's products written in Company X2's dedicated memory area with the traceability-related information for Company X2's products, and reflects the integration result into Company X2's product information written in Company X1's dedicated memory area.

[0113] Thus, the information provision unit 114 may sequentially perform the transfer (writing) process of traceability-related information (integration results for companies other than the upstream company) using the keys of downstream companies, and the integration process of traceability-related information within each company's dedicated storage area, from the upstream company to the downstream companies. With this configuration, downstream companies can access traceability-related information from the upstream company up to its upstream products. The integrated results of the reports can be accessed on a dedicated storage area. This allows for the transfer of integrated traceability-related information between companies, enabling them to obtain traceability-related information regarding the target product.

[0114] In this embodiment, with the exception of traceability-related information of the upstream company, traceability-related information originating from the upstream company's products does not need to be passed on to downstream companies between adjacent companies. That is, the server device 1 does not need to copy traceability-related information specific to upstream products (for example, CO2 emissions from the upstream company's production activities of the upstream product) to the downstream company's dedicated storage area unless permitted by the upstream company (for example, on the screen in Figure 9A). This ensures the confidentiality of traceability-related information originating from the products of each company except the upstream company, while obtaining traceability-related information (integrated results) regarding the target product.

[0115] As described above, the server device 1 (information provision unit 114) is configured to sequentially execute the transfer and integration processes of traceability-related information contained in each product information from the upstream to the downstream. As a result, the information provision unit 114 can generate information about the product tree, including the results of the integration of traceability-related information.

[0116] In the example above, carbon dioxide emissions were used as an example of the data to be integrated, but the traceability-related information to be integrated may also include the recycling rate for a given raw material, due diligence scores, etc. Furthermore, if the traceability-related information is numerical, the integration may be performed by numerical calculations, and if the traceability-related information is not numerical (for example, due diligence-related information), the integration may simply be information collection.

[0117] Furthermore, traceability-related information does not necessarily have to be included in the product information. For example, the product information may include information indicating the location of the traceability-related information for the corresponding product (hereinafter referred to as "location information," typically an address, pointer, etc.). In this case, the integration may involve collecting the location information included in the product information.

[0118] The information provision unit 114 may output the generated product tree in image format. It may also simultaneously output traceability-related information corresponding to any product. Figure 14 shows an example of a screen displaying the product tree as an image. The illustrated screen includes an image showing the supply relationships of multiple products constituting the final product using a tree diagram. Furthermore, by selecting any product, users can view traceability-related information corresponding to that product, or the integrated result of traceability-related information covering the entire period until the product is produced (for example, the total value of carbon dioxide emissions from the upstream source). Such information can be output via the input / output device 14 of the server device 1 based on the operation of the server device 1 operator.

[0119] Furthermore, the information provision unit 114 may provide the generated product tree to the corporate terminal 2 (information acquisition unit 214) upon request from the corporate terminal 2. However, it may not be appropriate to disclose the entire product tree to a specific company. Therefore, when the information provision unit 114 provides the product tree to a corporate terminal 2 corresponding to a certain company, it may perform a process to keep the portion that the company does not have access rights to confidential.

[0120] For example, in the example in Figure 13A, suppose the information provision unit 114 receives a request to disclose the product tree from a company terminal 2 corresponding to a company that produces product A12. Here, suppose that company has been granted access rights only to products A121, A122, and A123. In other words, the company has been granted access rights to these three products and products other than the downstream product A1. Product information cannot be accessed. In this case, the information provision unit 114 provides the corporate terminal 2 with a product tree in which information about products for which access is not permitted is not disclosed.

[0121] Figure 15 shows an example of a product tree when products for which access rights are not granted are kept secret. In this example, for products that are not disclosed, the product tree is displayed with detailed information (or even their existence) concealed. In this embodiment, product information for which the target company has not been granted access rights (concealed) is not written to the target company's dedicated storage area. Therefore, the information provision unit 114 may conceal the portion of the product tree corresponding to the product that has not been written to the target company's dedicated storage area, and provide the concealed product tree to the target company.

[0122] In cases where the existence of a product is publicly known, but access permissions are not granted to specific items within the corresponding product information, confidentiality processing may be applied only to those specific items, as shown by the dotted line in the diagram. In the illustrated example, it is shown that the carbon dioxide emissions during the production of product A121 are not publicly disclosed.

[0123] On the other hand, even if there are products (or items) in the tree for which access permissions are not granted, the aforementioned integration of traceability-related information may be carried out without being affected. For example, in the illustrated example, the carbon dioxide emissions for product A121 are not publicly available, but this does not affect the process of calculating the total carbon dioxide emissions for product A12.

[0124] The method of concealment is not limited to this form. In another example, if all product information is accessible, the information provision unit 114 may generate an unconcealed product tree and then perform concealment processing on the product tree for each company based on the access rights granted to each company. Alternatively, the information provision unit 114 may generate the product tree using the rights of the relevant company. For example, if company A requests a product tree, the information provision unit 114 may use company A's account to extract information from the storage area to which company A is permitted access and generate at least a portion of the product tree.

[0125] [Processing flow] Next, the processing flow executed by server device 1 and enterprise terminal 2 will be explained with reference to Figures 16 and 17. Figure 16 is a sequence diagram corresponding to the second and third phases described above.

[0126] In one example, the interaction between server device 1 and corporate terminal 2 begins when an operator from each company logs into server device 1 via corporate terminal 2 using the corresponding company's account. In this example, it is assumed that each company's operator logs into server device 1 using their own company's account.

[0127] As a prerequisite for processing, it is assumed that server device 1 acquires product information from multiple corporate terminals 2 corresponding to multiple companies and stores the acquired product information. Here, corporate terminals used by downstream companies are referred to as corporate terminal 2A, and corporate terminals used by upstream companies are referred to as corporate terminal 2B. The product information received by server device 1 (information collection unit 111) is stored in storage unit 12. At this time, the information collection unit 111 saves the product information in a storage area (dedicated storage area) to which access rights are granted only to companies that produce the corresponding products.

[0128] First, in step S11, the enterprise terminal 2A used by the downstream company generates a public request to the upstream company requesting access rights to product information of the upstream product. The public request is received by the server device 1 (authorization setting unit 112). Authorization setting unit of server device 1 Upon receiving the disclosure request, 112 generates a key to access the downstream company's dedicated storage area (step S12). This key is assigned to the upstream company's account. Once key generation is complete, the authorization setting unit 112 of the server device 1 sends a request for permission information input to the corporate terminal 2B used by the upstream company. The request for permission information input is a request to the upstream company to input permission information (i.e., grant access rights to product information).

[0129] Upon receiving the input request, the operator at the upstream company identifies the products for which access privileges may be granted to the company that sent the disclosure request, and enters the authorization information via the company terminal 2B (step S13). In this step, the company terminal 2B may provide a user interface screen as described with reference to Figure 9A, allowing the user to specify any combination of products and downstream companies that are permitted to access the product information. The entered authorization information is sent to the server device 1.

[0130] In step S14, the authorization setting unit 112 of the server device 1 grants access rights to the target product information based on the received authorization information. In this step, as explained with reference to Figure 11, the authorization setting unit 112 uses the key issued to the upstream company's account to write (copy) the target product information to the downstream company's dedicated storage area. This makes it possible to grant access rights to any product information to any company.

[0131] In addition, when copying product information in this step, additional information may be added. For example, product information generated by an upstream company may include part numbers, etc. However, since these part numbers, etc. are used by the upstream company, they may not be usable by the downstream company as is. Therefore, for example, part numbers, etc. used by the downstream company may be added to the product information to be copied as additional information.

[0132] Next, in step S15, the linking request unit 213 of the corporate terminal 2A sends data (linking request) to the server device 1 requesting that the product information it has sent to the server device 1 be linked to the upstream product. This linking request includes the company's corporate ID and the product ID of the target product.

[0133] In step S16, the server device 1 (linking unit 113) generates a list of products that the target company is permitted to access, and provides a user interface screen containing this list to the corporate terminal 2A. The list of products that the target company is permitted to access can be extracted from the product information for which the company has been granted access rights. In this step, the server device 1 may provide the corporate terminal 2A with a user interface screen as described with reference to Figure 10, allowing the user to specify any product and the upstream product associated with that product.

[0134] In step S17, the linking request unit 213 of the enterprise terminal 2A receives a specification from the operator regarding the combination of the target product and the upstream product associated with that product. The linking request unit 213 generates data (linking data) indicating the association between the upstream product and the downstream product, and sends the generated linking data to the server device 1.

[0135] In step S18, the linking unit 113 of the server device 1 updates the stored product information based on the linking data, reflecting the linking between the product information. The linking of product information may also be performed by storing information about the upstream product (identifier, pointer, etc.) in the linking-related information contained in the product information of the downstream product.

[0136] Furthermore, if there is no upstream company from the perspective of a particular company (i.e., no linked entity for the target product), the company's enterprise terminal 2 may perform the process of setting the termination flag described above instead of sending a disclosure request. In this case, the process shown in Figure 16 is omitted.

[0137] Figure 17 is a sequence diagram corresponding to the fourth phase described above. First, in step S21, the enterprise terminal 2 (information acquisition unit 214) requests the server device 1 to provide information about the product tree. This request includes, for example, the identifier of the target product. The target product may be the final product or another product (intermediate product).

[0138] The server device 1 (information provision unit 114) that receives the request determines whether or not the product tree has been finalized (step S22). In this step, it is determined that the product tree has been finalized if the following conditions are met. (Condition 1) The termination flag is set to "1" for the product information in all leaf nodes. If the termination flag is set for all leaf nodes, the product tree can be said to be complete.

[0139] If even one of the leaf nodes in the product tree does not meet the above conditions, further linking may occur for the target product. In this case, the server device 1 (information provision unit 114) may terminate processing after returning the determination result to the corporate terminal 2.

[0140] Next, the server device 1 (information provision unit 114) generates information about the product tree through the process described above (step S23). At this time, the information provision unit 114 performs a process to integrate the traceability-related information defined in each product information from the upstream to the downstream. The result of the integration is reflected in each product information.

[0141] Next, in step S24, a process is executed to conceal information that the target company does not have access to, based on the access rights it possesses. For example, if a company is not aware of the existence of other companies' product information, a process is executed to conceal the existence of that product information. Also, if only specific items included in the product information are not publicly available, a process is executed to conceal the content of those items. Information regarding the product tree, which has been anonymized, is provided to the corporate terminal 2 (information acquisition unit 214) and output.

[0142] As described above, in this embodiment, in a system that collects product information from corporate terminals 2 and generates a product tree, each corporate terminal 2 accepts the designation of downstream companies that are permitted to access information about its own products, and links the product information to each other based on this designation. Furthermore, by storing the product information in multiple memory areas to which each company is granted access rights, access control to the product information is realized. In addition, when providing the product tree to each corporate terminal 2, information confidentiality processing is performed within the scope of the access rights held by each company. With this configuration, it becomes possible to collect information across the entire supply chain while maintaining confidentiality.

[0143] Furthermore, the server device 1 according to this embodiment maintains information indicating whether or not each of the multiple product information entries is the end of the product tree. This allows the server device 1 to determine whether or not the product tree is complete.

[0144] (Modification of the first embodiment) In the first embodiment, the product tree was determined to be complete when the termination flag was set to "1" for the product information in all leaf nodes. However, intermediate nodes In the case of products that are already linked, further linking may occur. For example, if a downstream product is linked to one upstream product, it may be further linked to a second or subsequent upstream product.

[0145] Taking such cases into consideration, in step S22, the determination may be made using the following conditions in addition to condition 1 described above. (Condition 2) For product information in all nodes except leaf nodes, the linking completion flag is set to "1". By using conditions 1 and 2 described above in combination, it is possible to guarantee that the product tree is finalized.

[0146] (Second Embodiment) In the first embodiment, the server device 1 issued a key to the upstream company's account and used the key to perform access control (write permission) to the downstream company's dedicated storage area. The key may be managed, for example, by at least one of the operating system and middleware running on the server device 1.

[0147] On the other hand, access control to the dedicated storage area of ​​downstream companies can be implemented using various infrastructures. The second embodiment is an embodiment in which data is written to the dedicated storage area allocated to the downstream company using an electronic certificate. The "key" exemplified in the first embodiment may be the electronic certificate itself, or it may be a component of the electronic certificate (e.g., a public key). Furthermore, the electronic certificate may be issued by a certification authority, or it may be issued by the downstream company's enterprise terminal 2 or server device 1. As long as the company can be identified within the supply chain, the issuer of the electronic certificate is irrelevant.

[0148] In the first embodiment, server device 1 issued a key to the upstream company. In contrast, in the second embodiment, server device 1 requests a certification authority to issue an electronic certificate to be granted to the upstream company. The electronic certificate may be configured to include the downstream company's public key and an electronic signature for said public key. By receiving the electronic certificate from the downstream company, the upstream company can obtain write access to the downstream company's dedicated storage area and can verify that write access (e.g., the public key) by the electronic signature.

[0149] The upstream company uses the downstream company's digital certificate (key) obtained to write product information of the upstream product to the downstream company's dedicated storage area. At this time, the upstream company may encrypt the product information of the upstream product using the public key contained in the digital certificate and write the encrypted product information to the downstream company's dedicated storage area. The downstream company can decrypt the written information using the private key generated in correspondence with the public key. The phrase "issuing a key indicating write permission to the dedicated storage area to the upstream company" in this disclosure may include such methods. In other words, the key in this disclosure is not particularly limited in its configuration as long as it can indicate write permission to the target dedicated storage area. In one example, the key may be data that simply indicates write permission. In another example, the key may be configured to be used for other roles (encryption in the second embodiment) in addition to write permission, as in this second embodiment. In this embodiment, an example is given in which a certification authority issues the digital certificate, but the digital certificate may be issued by the downstream company's enterprise terminal 2 or server device 1.

[0150] Furthermore, different digital certificates may be issued to multiple upstream companies. In this case, server device 1 requests the certification authority to issue a digital certificate in response to a request from a downstream company. At this time, the certification authority maintains the relationship between the issued digital certificate and the upstream company to which the digital certificate was granted. The server device 1 requests the certification authority to provide data for verifying the digital certificate. By limiting the issuance of certificates to upstream companies, permission to verify the authenticity of digital certificates can be granted only to the target upstream companies. The request for digital certificate issuance may be made from the downstream company's terminal 2 to the certification authority, or from server device 1 to the certification authority. Furthermore, if server device 1 issues the digital certificate, server device 1 may manage the aforementioned correspondence relationships.

[0151] Figure 18 is a flowchart illustrating an example of the process flow when an upstream company uses an electronic certificate to write data to a dedicated storage area allocated to a downstream company.

[0152] First, in step S31, a private key and public key pair is generated for each downstream company. The private key and public key pair may be generated by the Certificate Authority, the downstream company's enterprise terminal 2, or the server device 1.

[0153] Next, in step S32, a request is made to the certification authority to issue an electronic certificate in response to a request from a downstream company. The request for the issuance of the electronic certificate may be made in accordance with the public key generated in step S31. In this step, the request for the issuance of an electronic certificate may also be made for information other than the public key generated in step S31 (for example, another public key). In this case, step S31 may be omitted. The request for the issuance of the electronic certificate may be sent from the corporate terminal 2 to the certification authority, or it may be sent from the server device 1, which received the request from the corporate terminal 2, to the certification authority. It is also possible to have an electronic certificate that does not include a public key. In this case, any information may be designated as the subject of the electronic signature.

[0154] Furthermore, when issuing digital certificates to multiple upstream companies, the certificate authority may specify the recipients in this step. In this case, the certificate authority will remember the correspondence between the issued digital certificates and the recipient companies.

[0155] Next, in step S33, the downstream company sets up its own dedicated storage area so that it can exchange data using its own public and private keys. For example, if each storage area is configured on a blockchain platform and the public key included in the digital certificate indicates write permission, the permission to write data using that public key may be set in a smart contract.

[0156] Next, in step S34, the issued digital certificate is sent to the enterprise terminal 2 corresponding to the upstream company. The enterprise terminal 2 corresponding to the upstream company verifies the authenticity of the received digital certificate at any time. For example, the authenticity of the public key can be verified by decrypting the digital signature contained in the digital certificate with the public key and checking whether the obtained value matches the hash value of the public key. In the second embodiment, steps S33 and S34 are an example of the process of "issuing a key indicating write permission to the downstream company's dedicated storage area to the upstream company." Note that the execution order of steps S33 and S34 may be reversed.

[0157] In this embodiment, an electronic certificate was used as the key, but other data can also be used as the key. In another example, the key could be, for example, a random string or a hash value.

[0158] (modified version) The embodiments described above are merely examples, and this disclosure may be modified as appropriate without departing from its essence. For example, the processes and means described in this disclosure can be freely combined and implemented as long as no technical inconsistencies arise.

[0159] Furthermore, in the description of the embodiment, the server device 1 stores product information in a database, but product information may be stored by means other than a database.

[0160] Furthermore, while the description of the embodiment illustrates a configuration in which the server device 1 completes the product tree by executing the first to fourth phases, the role of the server device 1 may be distributed among multiple corporate terminals 2. For example, product information may be stored in a distributed database using a blockchain platform. In this case, the product information database may be composed of multiple corporate terminals 2. In this case, smart contracts may be used to execute the processing of each of the aforementioned phases. For example, the processing in the second phase may be triggered when an account of a certain company writes permission information to the database. Alternatively, the processing in the third phase may be triggered when an account of a certain company writes a linking request to the database.

[0161] The memory areas where each product's information is stored may also be distributed across multiple corporate terminals 2. In this case, the dedicated memory area may be located only within the corporate terminal 2 of the corresponding company.

[0162] Furthermore, while the description of the embodiment included an example of granting access to arbitrary product information to adjacent companies in the supply chain, companies that are not adjacent in the supply chain may also share product information. For example, if information sharing between companies is necessary for purposes such as legal compliance, companies that do not have a direct business relationship may share specific product information. Even in this case, as in the first embodiment, the necessary data can be written to a predetermined storage area by issuing a key to the account of the target company. If a blockchain platform is used for each storage area, access control using keys may be executed by smart contracts.

[0163] In the example shown in Figure 16, a downstream company sends a disclosure request, and in response, the upstream company sends authorization information. However, the processing flow is not limited to this. For example, the upstream company may send the authorization information first. In this case, the server device 1 may determine whether a key has been generated based on the instructions from the downstream company, and if it has not been generated, it may request the downstream company to send a disclosure request.

[0164] Furthermore, although the description of the embodiment separates the phase in which the server device 1 receives product information regarding upstream products and the phase in which the server device 1 receives authorization information corresponding to said product information, both may be received simultaneously. Similarly, although the description of the embodiment separates the phase in which the server device 1 receives product information regarding downstream products and the phase in which the server device 1 receives a disclosure request related to said product information, both may be received simultaneously.

[0165] Furthermore, in the above embodiment, the multiple companies included in the supply chain were 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, or wholesale products may also be included in the companies that make up the supply chain. For example, some of the companies among the multiple companies may be companies that do not perform the manufacturing process, such as trading companies, sales agents, or import agents, and may receive products from companies located one level up (upstream companies) and deliver products to companies located one level down (downstream companies).

[0166] Furthermore, in the above embodiment, a supply chain for products related to automobiles was assumed, and OEM manufacturers were described as the lowest-level companies, while companies supplying parts, materials, assemblies, etc., were described as suppliers. However, the companies belonging to the supply chain are not necessarily limited to these. The companies at each stage may be determined as appropriate depending on the product, etc. Also, the final product The manufacturing activities carried out by each company to obtain the final product may be determined as appropriate depending on the embodiment, and may include, for example, all activities that can be carried out until the final product is obtained, such as excavation, processing, assembly, transportation, and storage.

[0167] Furthermore, in the description of the embodiment, the phase in which the upstream company grants access rights to product information to the downstream company based on a disclosure request sent from the downstream company (second phase) and the phase in which the product information is linked together (third phase) were performed separately. However, these processes may be performed sequentially.

[0168] For example, the step of sending a linking request may be omitted by including a linking request in the disclosure request. In one example, the disclosure request may include the specification of the upstream product to which disclosure is requested. The upstream product may be specified in any way that makes it possible to identify the upstream product, such as a part number, product name, or transaction record. In this case, the server device 1 may omit the processing in steps S15 to S18 and automatically execute the processing to link the product information identified by the disclosure request in response to the upstream company's permission to disclose in step S14. Alternatively, the server device 1 may query the downstream company's account to execute the linking process in response to the upstream company's permission to disclose, and execute the linking process in response to the downstream company's account's response. In this way, it is possible to omit some of the processing shown in Figure 16. In this modified example, the linking process at the downstream company is executed in response to the upstream company's response. Therefore, the upstream company's response may correspond to a permission response or a linking instruction to the linking request. Thus, the downstream company's disclosure request may be considered a linking request, and the upstream company's permission response may be considered a linking permission or a linking instruction.

[0169] In another example, server device 1 may notify the downstream company's enterprise terminal 2 of the results of the automatically executed linking process. Alternatively, server device 1 may send a notification to the downstream company's enterprise terminal 2 requesting permission to execute the linking process before automatically executing it. Server device 1 may then execute the linking process in response to the permission response from the downstream company's enterprise terminal 2.

[0170] Furthermore, in the description of the embodiment, the server device 1 generated a key based on a disclosure request sent from the downstream company's enterprise terminal 2, but the key may be generated directly by the downstream company's enterprise terminal 2. Also, in the description of the embodiment, in step S14, the authorization setting unit 112 that received the authorization information wrote the product information of the upstream product to the downstream company's dedicated storage area, but the writing of the product information may be performed directly by the upstream company's enterprise terminal 2.

[0171] Furthermore, in the above embodiment, regardless of the disclosure request, the downstream company's enterprise terminal 2 or server device 1 may generate a key at any time and provide the generated key to the upstream company. In this case, step S11 (disclosure request) may be omitted.

[0172] For each company, the number of keys indicating write permissions can be arbitrary. For example, a downstream company may generate a common key for all upstream companies and provide the generated key to the upstream companies. In another example, a downstream company may generate different keys for at least some of the upstream companies to which it requests the disclosure of product information, compared to the other upstream companies.

[0173] Furthermore, the key's expiration date may be arbitrary. In one example, the key may be valid only once. In this case, a key may be generated each time a downstream company requests information disclosure from an upstream company. In another example, the generated key may be used continuously. In this case, as long as the generated key continues to be used, step S12 (key generation) above may be omitted.

[0174] Furthermore, in the description of the embodiment, upstream companies and downstream companies are considered to be different companies, that is, upstream It was assumed that the product and downstream products are produced by different companies. However, in the above embodiment, the upstream company can be in the position of an upstream company, and the downstream company can be in the position of a downstream company. Companies other than the upstream and downstream companies can be in the position of both an upstream and a downstream company. Therefore, in the second phase, each company's enterprise terminal 2 may send authorization information to the server device 1, designating itself as an upstream company, which includes specifying its downstream companies that are permitted to access product information relating to its own products. Its own products are an example of the target company's first target products, and the product information relating to its own products is an example of first product information relating to the first target products. Accordingly, the server device 1 may perform the above access permission setting. Furthermore, in the third phase, each company's enterprise terminal 2 may send a linking request or termination flag setting request to the server device 1, designating itself as a downstream company, which includes selecting product information to link to product information relating to its own products from among the product information that it has been permitted to access from its upstream company. In this scenario, the user's own product is an example of the target company's second target product, and the product information relating to the user's own product is an example of the second product information relating to the second target product. Accordingly, server device 1 may perform linking or termination flag processing. Note that the first target product (the target of access permission) and the second target product (the target of linking or termination flag assignment) may be the same or different. If the first and second target products are the same, the first product information and the second product information may be the same; if the first and second target products are different, the first product information and the second product information may be different.

[0175] Furthermore, the above embodiment shows an example of how to calculate CO2 emissions (CFP value). The CFP value may be calculated using the following formula. Tier N-1 CFP value = Tier N-1's own measured CFP value + Σ k CFP value of (Company k (TierN)) ×Usage in Tier N-1 uk Here, "Tier N-1 CFP value" represents the result of integrating the CFP value of the upstream company (company k (Tier N)) with our own CFP value. Our own measured CFP value represents the CFP value included in each company's product information. If Tier N is the upstream company, "Tier N's ​​CFP value" is the CFP value included in that company's product information; otherwise, "Tier N's ​​CFP value" represents the CFP value of an even further upstream company. This is the result of integrating the CFP values ​​of (Tier N+1) with the CFP values ​​included in the product information of the company in question. By setting TierN as the upstream company (end company) and repeating the calculation until N=1, the CFP value of the Tier0 product (=final product) can be obtained.

[0176] Furthermore, in the above embodiment, the server device 1 may perform calculations of the recycling rate and due diligence (score) together with or instead of calculating the CO2 emissions (CFP value). The recycling rate may be calculated using the following formula. "(Recycling rate for Tier N-1 products for the target substance) = {(Total amount used in Tier N-1) × (Recycling rate in Tier N-1) + Σ k (Total usage at company k (Tier N) × Recycling rate at company k (Tier N) × Usage 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} +Σ k (Amount of recycled material used at company k (Tier N) × Amount used at Tier N-1 u k )}÷{Total in Tier N-1 Total usage +Σ k (Total usage at company k (Tier N) × Usage at Tier N-1 u k )}" The recycled material utilization amount indicates the amount of recycled material used for the target substance. Similar to the CFP value, the recycling rate in the final product for the target substance can be calculated by calculating it sequentially from the upstream company (end company). Furthermore, the due diligence score (DD score) can be integrated using the same calculation method as the CFP value and recycling rate described above. For example, by replacing the above CFP value with the DD score and calculating it sequentially from the upstream company (end company), the DD score (integrated result) for the final product can be obtained.

[0177] Furthermore, in the above embodiment, it was assumed that each company places an order with one company for a certain material. However, in the above embodiment, the ordering format of each company is not limited to this example. At least some of the companies belonging to the supply chain are related to the same product. The company may then place orders with multiple upstream companies and selectively use the obtained upstream products in its own products. For example, in the example shown in Figure 13A above, the Tier 1 product A1 may selectively use Tier 2 products A11_1, A11_2, or A11_3. In this case, the server device 1 will select the pattern to be used. A linking relationship may be maintained for each line. In the example above, server device 1 is linked to product A1 of Tier 1. Therefore, Pattern 1 is "Tier 2 product A11_1, ...", and Pattern 2 is "product A11_2, ...". And linking information may be maintained as in Pattern 3 "Product A11_3, ...". The server device 1 may perform the above-mentioned calculation (integration) of traceability-related information for each pattern. In this case, in one example, the server device 1 may output the calculation results for each pattern. In another example, the server device 1 may calculate statistical quantities such as the maximum value, minimum value, mean, variance, standard deviation, and median from the calculation results and output the calculated statistical quantities.

[0178] Furthermore, in the above embodiment, the traceability-related information (in particular, CFP values) may consist of primary data or secondary data (inventory data). Primary data are measured values, and secondary data are reference values ​​used when measured values ​​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 it may be calculated by a weighting calculation in which the CFP value in the above CFP value calculation formula is replaced with the primary data ratio of each company and calculated sequentially from the upstream company.

[0179] Furthermore, in the above embodiment, the linking information (including termination flags) of each company may also be transferred and integrated from the upstream company to the target company (typically the downstream company), similar to the traceability-related information. As a result, the result of integrating the linking information from the upstream company to itself is written to each company's dedicated storage area. This allows each company to refer to the product tree up to itself. Note that the application of this modified example, which performs the transfer and integration of this linking information, is not limited to the access restriction configuration of the above embodiment. For example, in the storage unit 12 of the server device 1, in addition to the dedicated storage areas of each company, a shared storage area may be provided between companies that share information. In this case, instead of writing the product information of the upstream product to the dedicated storage area of ​​the downstream company using a key received from the downstream company, the upstream company may share the product information of the upstream product by writing the product information to the shared storage area with the downstream company. That is, in this form, writing information to the downstream company's dedicated storage area using the downstream company's key may be replaced with writing information to the corresponding shared storage area. The method for transferring and integrating the above-mentioned linking information may also be applied to such access restriction configurations.

[0180] Furthermore, in the above embodiment, the linking information (including the termination flag) for each company may be stored in any manner. In another example, the server device 1 (storage unit 12) may be provided with a shared storage area for all companies, and the linking information for each company may be stored in the shared storage area for all companies. In yet another example, each company's dedicated storage area may include an unencrypted area, and the linking information for each company may be stored in the unencrypted area of ​​each company's dedicated storage area. Alternatively, the linking information for each company may be stored in the encrypted area of ​​each company's dedicated storage area. As long as the linking relationships of the product tree can be traced on the system, the configuration and storage form of the linking information are not particularly limited and may be appropriately selected depending on the embodiment.

[0181] Furthermore, a process described as being performed by a single device may be divided and executed by multiple devices. Conversely, 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 implemented can be flexibly changed.

[0182] The present disclosure can also be realized by supplying a computer program implementing the functions described in the embodiments above 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 by a non-temporary computer-readable storage medium that can be connected to the computer's system bus, or it may be provided to the computer via a network. Non-temporary computer-readable storage mediums include, for example, any type of disk such as magnetic disks (floppy disks, hard disk drives (HDDs), etc.), optical disks (CD-ROMs, DVDs, Blu-ray discs, etc.), read-only memory (ROM), random access memory (RAM), EPROM, EEPROM, magnetic cards, flash memory, optical cards, and any type of medium suitable for storing electronic instructions. [Explanation of symbols]

[0183] 1. Server device 2. Enterprise terminals 11,21...Control Unit 12,22...Storage section 13,23... Communications Department 14,24... Input / Output Devices

Claims

1. A server device having a storage device that stores product information for each company included in the supply chain, and a control unit, In the aforementioned supply chain, upstream and downstream companies are defined between companies at two adjacent tiers. The aforementioned storage device is provided with a dedicated storage area corresponding to each company. The product information of each of the aforementioned companies is stored in the corresponding dedicated storage area. The control unit, between the two adjacent hierarchical levels of companies, In response to a request from the downstream company's account, the upstream company is issued a key indicating write access to the downstream company's dedicated storage area. Receiving a designation from the upstream company's account that the downstream company is permitted to access primary product information relating to the upstream company's upstream products, In response to the permission for the aforementioned access, the key to the designated dedicated storage area of ​​the downstream company is used to write the first product information to the designated dedicated storage area of ​​the downstream company, The downstream company's account receives a linking request that includes the selection of first product information from the first product information written to its own dedicated storage area to be linked to second product information relating to the downstream company's downstream products, In response to the received linking request, the system generates linking information indicating the linking relationship specified by the linking request, Configured to perform, Server device.

2. The aforementioned supply chain has a structure of three or more layers. The server device according to claim 1.

3. The aforementioned product information includes traceability-related information, The control unit, Obtaining traceability-related information contained in the product information of one or more included products that are identified from the linking information related to the target product, and one or more included products that are included in the target product, To integrate the traceability-related information obtained for one or more of the aforementioned included products and the aforementioned target products, Outputting the results of the aforementioned integration, It is configured to perform further actions. The server device according to claim 1.

4. The aforementioned traceability-related information includes information on greenhouse gas emissions, Integrating the aforementioned traceability-related information includes integrating the greenhouse gas emissions from one or more of the contained products and the target product to calculate the total greenhouse gas emissions related to the manufacturing activities up to the production of the target product. The server device according to claim 3.

5. The aforementioned traceability-related information includes the recycling rate for a given raw material. Integrating the aforementioned traceability-related information includes integrating the recycling rates of the predetermined raw materials in the one or more containing products and the target products to calculate the overall recycling rate of the predetermined raw materials in the target products. The server device according to claim 3.

6. The aforementioned traceability-related information includes due diligence scores, Integrating the aforementioned traceability-related information includes integrating the due diligence scores of one or more included products and the subject product to calculate an overall due diligence score for the subject product. The server device according to claim 3.

7. Acquiring the aforementioned traceability-related information and integrating the aforementioned traceability-related information is comprised of repeatedly transferring the traceability-related information of upstream products to downstream products between two adjacent hierarchical levels of companies, from the upstream product belonging to the product tree as a leaf node to the aforementioned target product, and integrating the traceability-related information of the transferred upstream product with the traceability-related information originating from the downstream product, and acquiring the integration result as the traceability-related information of the downstream product. The transfer of the traceability-related information of the upstream product to the downstream product is performed by writing the traceability-related information of the upstream product to the dedicated storage area of ​​the corresponding downstream company. Integrating the traceability-related information of the upstream product inherited and the traceability-related information derived from the downstream product is performed by integrating the traceability-related information of the upstream product and the traceability-related information derived from the downstream product, which are stored in the dedicated storage area of ​​the corresponding downstream company. A server device according to any one of claims 3 to 6.

8. The aforementioned product in question is a battery-related product. The server device according to claim 7.

9. An information processing method performed by a server device having a storage device that stores product information for each company included in the supply chain, and a control unit, In the aforementioned supply chain, upstream and downstream companies are defined between companies at two adjacent tiers. The aforementioned storage device is provided with a dedicated storage area corresponding to each company. The product information of each of the aforementioned companies is stored in the corresponding dedicated storage area. The aforementioned information processing method is used between two adjacent layers of companies. In response to a request from the downstream company's account, the upstream company is issued a key indicating write access to the downstream company's dedicated storage area. Receiving a designation from the upstream company's account that the downstream company is permitted to access primary product information relating to the upstream company's upstream products, In response to the permission for the aforementioned access, the key to the designated dedicated storage area of ​​the downstream company is used to write the first product information to the designated dedicated storage area of ​​the downstream company, The downstream company's account receives a linking request that includes the selection of first product information from the first product information written to its own dedicated storage area to be linked to second product information relating to the downstream company's downstream products, In response to the received linking request, the system generates linking information indicating the linking relationship specified by the linking request, including, Information processing methods.

10. The aforementioned supply chain has a structure of three or more layers. The information processing method according to claim 9.

11. The aforementioned product information includes traceability-related information, Obtaining traceability-related information contained in the product information of one or more included products that are identified from the linking information related to the target product, and one or more included products that are included in the target product, To integrate the traceability-related information obtained for one or more of the aforementioned included products and the aforementioned target products, Outputting the results of the aforementioned integration, This also includes, The information processing method according to claim 9.

12. The aforementioned traceability-related information includes information on greenhouse gas emissions, Integrating the aforementioned traceability-related information includes integrating the greenhouse gas emissions from one or more of the contained products and the target product to calculate the total greenhouse gas emissions related to the manufacturing activities up to the production of the target product. The information processing method according to claim 11.

13. The aforementioned traceability-related information includes the recycling rate for a given raw material. Integrating the aforementioned traceability-related information includes integrating the recycling rates of the predetermined raw materials in the one or more containing products and the target products to calculate the overall recycling rate of the predetermined raw materials in the target products. The information processing method according to claim 11.

14. The aforementioned traceability-related information includes due diligence scores, Integrating the aforementioned traceability-related information includes integrating the due diligence scores of one or more included products and the subject product to calculate an overall due diligence score for the subject product. The information processing method according to claim 11.

15. Acquiring the aforementioned traceability-related information and integrating the aforementioned traceability-related information means that, in the product tree to which the target product belongs as a root node, the traceability-related information of the upstream product is passed down to the downstream product between the two adjacent layers of companies, from the upstream product belonging to the product tree as a leaf node to the target product, and The system is configured by repeatedly integrating the traceability-related information of the upstream product inherited and the traceability-related information derived from the downstream product, and obtaining the integration result as the traceability-related information of the downstream product. The transfer of the traceability-related information of the upstream product to the downstream product is performed by writing the traceability-related information of the upstream product to the dedicated storage area of ​​the corresponding downstream company. Integrating the traceability-related information of the upstream product inherited and the traceability-related information derived from the downstream product is performed by integrating the traceability-related information of the upstream product and the traceability-related information derived from the downstream product, which are stored in the dedicated storage area of ​​the corresponding downstream company. The information processing method according to any one of claims 11 to 14.

16. The aforementioned product in question is a battery-related product. The information processing method according to claim 15.

17. A program that causes an information processing device of a target company, which is capable of communicating with a server device, to execute an information processing method. The server device includes a storage device that stores product information for each company included in the supply chain, In the aforementioned supply chain, upstream and downstream companies are defined between companies at two adjacent tiers. The aforementioned storage device is provided with a dedicated storage area corresponding to each of the aforementioned companies. The aforementioned information processing method is: To issue a first key indicating write access rights to the target company's dedicated storage area to the target company's upstream company, or to send a request to the server device to issue the first key to the target company's upstream company. The aforementioned target company is designated as the upstream company, and the designation of downstream companies of the aforementioned target company is to be permitted to access the first product information relating to the first target product of the aforementioned target company, and In response to the acceptance of the aforementioned designation, the server device shall use a second key indicating write access to the designated downstream company's dedicated storage area to write the first product information to the designated downstream company's dedicated storage area, or to cause the server device to write the first product information to the designated downstream company's dedicated storage area. including, program.

18. The information processing method involves sending a linking request to the server device, with the target company as the downstream company, which includes selecting product information to be linked to the second product information relating to the target company's second target product from the product information written to the target company's dedicated storage area, thereby causing the server device to generate linking information indicating the linking relationship specified by the linking request. This also includes, The program according to claim 17.

19. The aforementioned product information includes traceability-related information, The program according to claim 17.

20. The aforementioned product is a battery-related product. The program according to any one of claims 17 to 19.

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