Transaction support system, transaction support method, and program

Abstract

One aspect of this disclosure is a transaction support system comprising: an inventory management unit for managing the inventory quantity of a product; a sales management unit for managing the sales quantity, which indicates the quantity of the product sold to customers; a calculation unit for calculating the supply quantity as the sum of the inventory quantity managed by the inventory management unit and the sales quantity managed by the sales management unit; and a price determination unit for determining the sales price of the product based on the supply quantity calculated by the calculation unit. The sales quantity may be the quantity of products sold during a set period, or the cumulative quantity of products sold during a set period.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present disclosure relates to a transaction support system, a transaction support method, and a program.

Background Art

[0002] Conventionally, as technologies for determining the selling price of products and the like, for example, the following Patent Documents 1, 2, and 3 are known. Patent Document 1 describes a product sales transaction support system for determining the selling price of a product, which stores production plan information of the product, part appearance information, part inventory information, part incoming schedule information, part purchase price information, production-completed model information, and processing cost information, and calculates a product selling price that does not result in losses from the additional order amount, the producible quantity of the production-completed model, and the additional processing cost.

[0003] Patent Document 2 describes setting the selling price of a product for each unit period during the sales season, generating a time-series transition of the sales volume at the set selling price of the product, and simulating at least one change in the total sales volume, the final inventory quantity, and the final gross profit accompanying a change in the selling price of the product during the sales season.

[0004] Patent Document 3 describes setting a selling price based on the inventory quantity and purchase price of a target product, predicting the future sales volume based on the price elasticity of the target product, and predicting the future selling price and sales volume based on the past sales volume and selling price of the target product.

Prior Art Documents

Patent Documents

[0005]

Patent Document 1

Patent Document 2

Patent Document 3

[0006] It is desirable to consider the economic value in the market when determining the price of a product. The economic value of a product fluctuates depending on factors such as the total number of products in stock or sold in the market. However, the technologies described in the aforementioned Patent Documents 1 to 3 may not be able to set prices while taking the economic value of the product into consideration.

[0007] This disclosure is proposed in light of the circumstances described above and aims to provide a trading support system, trading support method, and program that can set prices taking into account the economic value of the product. [Means for solving the problem]

[0008] One aspect of the transaction support system relating to this disclosure is a transaction support system comprising: an inventory management unit that manages the inventory quantity of a product; a sales management unit that manages the sales quantity, which indicates the quantity of the product that has been sold to customers; a calculation unit that calculates the supply quantity as the sum of the inventory quantity managed by the inventory management unit and the sales quantity managed by the sales management unit; and a price determination unit that determines the sales price of the product based on the supply quantity calculated by the calculation unit.

[0009] One aspect of the transaction support method relating to this disclosure is a transaction support method in which a computer performs the steps of: managing the inventory quantity of a product; managing the sales quantity, which indicates the quantity of the product already sold to customers; calculating the supply quantity as the sum of the inventory quantity and the sales quantity; and determining the sales price of the product based on the calculated supply quantity.

[0010] One aspect of the program relating to this disclosure is a program that causes a computer to perform the following steps: managing the inventory quantity of a product; managing the sales quantity, which indicates the quantity of the product already sold to customers; calculating the supply quantity as the sum of the inventory quantity and the sales quantity; and determining the sales price of the product based on the calculated supply quantity. [Effects of the Invention]

[0011] According to this disclosure, pricing can be set considering the economic value of the product. [Brief explanation of the drawing]

[0012] [Figure 1] This is a block diagram showing an example of a transaction support system 100 according to the first embodiment. [Figure 2] This is a block diagram showing an example of the configuration of the transaction support system 100 in the first embodiment. [Figure 3] This is a block diagram showing an example of a transaction support system 100A according to the second embodiment. [Figure 4] This is a block diagram showing an example of a transaction support system 100B according to the third embodiment. [Figure 5] This is a block diagram showing an example of a transaction support system 100C according to the fourth embodiment. [Modes for carrying out the invention]

[0013] Hereinafter, a transaction support system, transaction support method, and program to which the present invention is applied will be described with reference to the drawings. However, the scope of this disclosure is not limited to the embodiments described below and can be modified as appropriate within the scope of the technical idea of ​​this disclosure.

[0014] (First Embodiment) First, the transaction support system, transaction support method, and program according to the first embodiment will be described.

[0015] FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an example of a transaction support system 100 according to the first embodiment. The transaction support system 100 is connected to, for example, one or more customer systems 200, an equipment manufacturer system 300, and an inventory management system 400 via a communication network NW. The transaction support system 100, the customer system 200, the equipment manufacturer system 300, and the inventory management system 400 have a communication interface (not shown), such as a NIC (Network Interface Card) or a wireless communication module, for connecting to a communication network NW such as the Internet. The communication network NW may include, for example, a general-purpose network such as the Internet, and a private network such as local 5G or WiFi (registered trademark).

[0016] The transaction support system 100 includes an information processing device that performs processing for determining the price of a product. The products in the embodiment are, for example, devices included in equipment used by customers and parts of the devices. The equipment is, for example, power generation equipment, the device is a generator, and the parts are bearings and the like.

[0017] The customer system 200 includes an information processing device managed by a customer who purchases and uses the product. The customer is, for example, an equipment management company that operates equipment including the product. The customer system 200 includes, for example, equipment, a control device for the equipment, a database device for managing the operating state of the equipment, a terminal device operated by the equipment management company, and a communication device that communicates via a communication network.

[0018] The equipment manufacturer system 300 includes an information processing device managed by an equipment manufacturer that manufactures devices included in the equipment and parts of the devices. The equipment manufacturer system 300 includes, for example, manufacturing devices for the devices and parts, a database device for managing device information and part information, a terminal device operated by the equipment manufacturer, and a communication device that communicates via a communication network.

[0019] The inventory management system 400 includes an information processing device that manages the inventory of products manufactured by the equipment manufacturer system 300. The inventory management system 400 includes, for example, storage facilities for devices and parts as inventory items, a database device that manages inventory item information, a terminal device operated by an inventory management operator, and a communication device that communicates via a communication network. The inventory item information includes, for example, customer information and product information including a product ID and quantity.

[0020] In an embodiment, the transaction support system 100 determines the selling price of a product and outputs price information to the customer system 200 (procedure 1). The customer refers to the price information and enters into a product sales contract with the equipment manufacturer, whereby the ownership of the product is given to the customer system 200 (procedure 2). The equipment manufacturer system 300 manufactures based on the product sales contract (procedure 3), and the manufactured product is stored as an inventory item (procedure 4). Thereafter, when the time to ship the product arrives, the product is shipped to the customer (procedure 5). Hereinafter, the functions of the transaction support system 100 that supports such a product transaction will be described.

[0021] FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing an example of the configuration of the transaction support system 100 in the first embodiment. The transaction support system 100 includes, for example, an acquisition unit 102, a management unit 104, a calculation unit 106, a price determination unit 108, an output unit 110, and a storage unit 112. The acquisition unit 102, the management unit 104, the calculation unit 106, the price determination unit 108, and the output unit 110 are functional units realized by a processor such as a CPU (Central Processing Unit) executing a program stored in a program memory. The storage unit 112 is a storage device such as a memory. The storage unit 112 may be an external storage device connected to the transaction support system 100 such as a database server.

[0022] The acquisition unit 102 acquires, for example, product information and sales volume information. The product information and sales volume information may be information transmitted from, for example, the equipment manufacturer system 300. The product information includes the product ID and quantity. The sales volume is, for example, the quantity sold during a set period such as a year, month, or week. The quantity sold during the set period indicates the amount distributed from the equipment manufacturer to the customer during the set period. The sales volume may also be the cumulative quantity of products sold during the set period. The cumulative quantity indicates the amount of products accumulated at a certain point in time.

[0023] The acquisition unit 102 acquires, for example, product information and inventory quantity information. The inventory quantity information is information indicating the number of products in stock. The inventory quantity information may also be information transmitted from the inventory management system 400.

[0024] The management unit 104 comprises an inventory management unit 120 and a sales management unit 122. The inventory management unit 120 manages the inventory quantity of products. The inventory management unit 120 updates the inventory quantity stored in the storage unit 112 using, for example, information indicating the inventory quantity acquired by the acquisition unit 102. The sales management unit 122 manages the sales quantity, which indicates the quantity of products sold to customers. The sales management unit 122 updates the sales quantity stored in the storage unit 112 using, for example, information indicating the sales quantity acquired by the acquisition unit 102.

[0025] The calculation unit 106 calculates the supply quantity as the sum of the inventory quantity managed by the inventory management unit 120 and the sales quantity managed by the sales management unit 122.

[0026] The price determination unit 108 determines the selling price of the product based on the supply quantity calculated by the calculation unit 106. For example, the price determination unit 108 lowers the selling price when the supply quantity is large and raises the selling price when the supply quantity is small.

[0027] The output unit 110 outputs sales price information showing the sales price of the product determined by the price determination unit 108. The output unit 110 outputs the sales price information to the customer system 200. This allows customers to consider purchasing the product based on its price. The output unit 110 may also output the sales price information to the equipment manufacturer system 300. This allows equipment managers to consider manufacturing and selling the product based on its price.

[0028] As described above, the transaction support system 100 of the first embodiment can manage the inventory and sales quantities of a product, calculate the supply quantity as the sum of the inventory and sales quantities, and determine the sales price of the product based on the calculated supply quantity. Thus, the transaction support system 100 can set the price of a product while taking into account that the economic value of the product fluctuates according to the supply quantity, including the inventory and sales quantities.

[0029] (Second Embodiment) Next, a transaction support system, transaction support method, and program according to the second embodiment will be described. Note that parts identical to those in the first embodiment will be denoted by the same reference numerals, and detailed explanations will be omitted.

[0030] Figure 3 is a block diagram showing an example of a transaction support system 100A according to the second embodiment. The transaction support system 100A comprises a setting unit 130, a target determination unit 132, and a production management unit 134. The setting unit 130, the target determination unit 132, and the production management unit 134 are functional units that are realized, for example, by a processor such as a CPU executing a program stored in program memory.

[0031] The production control unit 134 manages the production quantity of products. The production quantity is the amount produced by the equipment manufacturer system 300 during a set period, such as a year, month, or week.

[0032] The setting unit 130 sets a target price, which is a target value for the selling price of the product. The setting unit 130 may set the target price based on a request sent from, for example, the customer system 200. The setting unit 130 may set the target price based on a request sent from the equipment manufacturer system 300.

[0033] The target determination unit 132 calculates the number of units to be supplied at which the selling price of the product becomes the target price as the target supply unit, and calculates the target inventory unit by subtracting the number of units sold from the target supply unit. The target determination unit 132 calculates a lower target supply quantity if the setting unit 130 sets a target price higher than the product's selling price. The target determination unit 132 then calculates the target inventory quantity by subtracting the sales quantity calculated by the calculation unit 106 from the calculated target supply quantity. As a result, the target determination unit 132 can reduce the target inventory quantity as the target supply quantity decreases. The target determination unit 132 calculates a higher target supply quantity if the setting unit 130 sets a target price lower than the product's selling price. The target determination unit 132 then calculates the target inventory quantity by subtracting the sales quantity calculated by the calculation unit 106 from the calculated target supply quantity. As a result, the target determination unit 132 can set a higher target inventory quantity the higher the target supply quantity.

[0034] The production control unit 134 adjusts the production quantity based on the inventory quantity managed by the inventory control unit 120 and the target inventory quantity calculated by the target determination unit 132. The production control unit 134 adjusts the production quantity so that the inventory quantity managed by the inventory control unit 120 is close to the target inventory quantity calculated by the target determination unit 132. The production control unit 134 can adjust the production quantity to be lower the lower the target inventory quantity. The production control unit 134 can adjust the production quantity to be higher the higher the target inventory quantity.

[0035] The output unit 110 may output production quantity instruction information that indicates the production quantity managed by the production management unit 134. The output unit 110 can output production quantity instruction information to, for example, the equipment manufacturer system 300.

[0036] As described above, according to the transaction support system 100A of the second embodiment, a target price can be set, the number of units supplied that will result in the product's selling price being the target price can be calculated as the target supply quantity, the value obtained by subtracting the number of units sold from the target supply quantity can be calculated as the target inventory quantity, and the production quantity can be adjusted to reach the target inventory quantity.

[0037] Furthermore, according to the transaction support system 100A, a target price can be set based on the inventory level, and the production quantity can be adjusted to reach a target inventory level that approaches the target price.

[0038] (Third embodiment) Next, a transaction support system, transaction support method, and program according to the third embodiment will be described. Note that parts identical to those in the above embodiments will be denoted by the same reference numerals, and detailed explanations will be omitted.

[0039] Figure 4 is a block diagram showing an example of the transaction support system 100B according to the third embodiment. The acquisition unit 102 acquires customer ownership information indicating the number of products owned by the customer. Customer ownership information indicates the number of transferable products owned by the customer, but is not limited to this; it may also include the number of products owned by the customer but not owned by the customer. Products owned by the customer but not owned by the customer are, for example, products owned by the customer among the inventory managed by the inventory management system 400. Customer ownership information may also be the sum of the number of products actually owned by the customer system 200 and the number of products owned by the customer but not owned by the customer. Furthermore, customer ownership information may also include the number of products that are not used in the equipment and whose economic value is affected by resale or transfer of ownership, etc.

[0040] The transaction support system 100B may, for example, send a request containing product information to the customer system 200 and obtain customer-owned quantity information for the requested product from the customer system 200. Alternatively, the transaction support system 100B may send a request containing product information to the inventory management system 400 and obtain customer-owned quantity information for the requested product for each customer from the customer system 200.

[0041] The calculation unit 106 calculates the supply quantity as the sum of the inventory quantity stored in the storage unit 112 by the inventory management unit 120 and the customer-owned quantity acquired by the acquisition unit 102. The price determination unit 108 determines the selling price of the product based on the supply quantity calculated by the calculation unit 106.

[0042] As described above, according to the transaction support system 100B of the third embodiment, the sum of the inventory quantity and the customer's quantity is calculated as the supply quantity, and the sales price of the product can be determined based on the calculated supply quantity. Thus, according to the transaction support system 100, the price of the product can be set taking into account that the economic value of the product fluctuates according to the supply quantity, which includes the inventory quantity and the customer's quantity.

[0043] (Fourth embodiment) Next, a transaction support system, transaction support method, and program according to the fourth embodiment will be described. Note that parts identical to those in the third embodiment will be denoted by the same reference numerals, and detailed explanations will be omitted. Figure 5 is a block diagram showing an example of the transaction support system 100C according to the fourth embodiment. The transaction support system 100C comprises a setting unit 130, a target determination unit 132, and a production management unit 134. The setting unit 130, the target determination unit 132, and the production management unit 134 are functional units that are realized, for example, by a processor such as a CPU executing a program stored in program memory.

[0044] The acquisition unit 102 acquires customer ownership information indicating the number of items owned by each customer. The acquisition unit 102 also acquires product information and inventory information. The price determination unit 108 determines the selling price of the product based on the inventory quantity acquired by the acquisition unit 102.

[0045] The setting unit 130 sets a target price, which is a target value for the selling price of the product. The setting unit 130 may set the target price based on a request sent from, for example, the customer system 200. The setting unit 130 may set the target price based on a request sent from the equipment manufacturer system 300.

[0046] The setting unit 130 may set a target price, which is a target value for the selling price of a product, based on the inventory quantity managed by the inventory management unit 120. The setting unit 130 may set the target price higher or lower than the base selling price, based on the selling price calculated based on the current inventory quantity and sales quantity. The setting unit 130 may set the target price higher or lower than the base selling price in response to a request sent from the customer system 200 or a request sent from the equipment manufacturer system 300.

[0047] The target determination unit 132 calculates the number of units to be supplied so that the product's selling price becomes the target price as the target supply quantity, and calculates the target inventory quantity by subtracting the number of units held by customers from the target supply quantity. If the setting unit 130 sets a target price higher than the product's selling price, the target determination unit 132 calculates a lower target supply quantity to reduce the target inventory quantity. If the setting unit 130 sets a target price lower than the product's selling price, the target determination unit 132 calculates a higher target supply quantity to increase the target inventory quantity.

[0048] The production control unit 134 adjusts the production quantity based on the inventory quantity managed by the inventory control unit 120 and the target inventory quantity calculated by the target determination unit 132. The production control unit 134 adjusts the production quantity so that the inventory quantity managed by the inventory control unit 120 is close to the target inventory quantity calculated by the target determination unit 132. The production control unit 134 can adjust the production quantity to be lower the lower the target inventory quantity. The production control unit 134 can adjust the production quantity to be higher the higher the target inventory quantity.

[0049] The output unit 110 outputs sales price information determined by the price determination unit 108, and production quantity instruction information that indicates the production quantity managed by the production management unit 134. The output unit 110 can output sales price information and production quantity instruction information to, for example, the equipment manufacturer system 300 or the customer system 200.

[0050] As described above, the transaction support system 100C of the fourth embodiment allows for setting a target price, calculating the number of units to supply so that the product's selling price becomes the target price as the target supply unit, calculating the target inventory unit by subtracting the customer's holdings from the target supply unit, and adjusting the production unit to reach the target inventory unit. Furthermore, the transaction support system 100B can output the selling price determined based on the current inventory unit and the production unit that results in the inventory unit calculated based on the customer's holdings. This allows customers or equipment manufacturers to consider selling the product by taking into account the sales price determined based on the current inventory unit and the production unit that results in the target price.

[0051] Construction management may be performed by recording a program that implements some or all of the functions of the transaction support systems 100, 100A, 100B, and 100C onto a computer-readable recording medium, and then loading and executing the program recorded on this recording medium into a computer system. The term "computer system" here includes hardware such as the operating system and peripheral devices.

[0052] Furthermore, "computer system" shall also include the homepage provisioning environment (or display environment) if a WWW system is being used. Furthermore, "computer-readable recording media" refers to portable media such as flexible disks, magneto-optical disks, ROMs, and CD-ROMs, as well as storage devices such as hard disks built into computer systems. Moreover, "computer-readable recording media" includes those that retain programs for a certain period of time, such as volatile memory within server and client computer systems. The program itself may only implement a portion of the aforementioned functions, and may also be able to implement those functions in combination with programs already recorded in the computer system. Additionally, the program may be stored on a designated server and distributed (downloaded, etc.) via a communication line in response to requests from other devices.

[0053] While this disclosure describes various exemplary embodiments and examples, the various features, aspects, and functions described in one or more embodiments are not limited to the application of a particular embodiment, but are applicable individually or in various combinations to the embodiments. Accordingly, countless variations not illustrated herein are conceivable within the scope of the art disclosed herein. For example, these include modifying, adding or omitting at least one component, or even extracting at least one component and combining it with a component from another embodiment.

[0054] While embodiments of this disclosure have been described in detail above with reference to the drawings, the specific configuration is not limited to these embodiments and may include designs and the like that do not depart from the gist of this disclosure.

[0055] For example, the configurations and methods described herein can be combined as appropriate, provided they are not inconsistent with each other. [Explanation of symbols]

[0056] 100, 100A, 100B, 100C Transaction Support System 102 Acquisition Department 104 Management Department 106 Calculation Section 108 Pricing Section 110 Output section 112 Storage section 120 Inventory Management Department 122 Sales Management Department 130 Setting section 132 Goal Setting Department 134 Production Management Department 200 Customer Systems 300 Equipment Manufacturer Systems 400 Inventory Management System

Claims

1. The inventory management department manages the number of products in stock, A sales management department manages sales figures indicating the quantity of the aforementioned product sold to customers, A calculation unit calculates the supply quantity as the sum of the inventory quantity managed by the inventory management unit and the sales quantity managed by the sales management unit. A price determination unit that determines the selling price of the product based on the supply quantity calculated by the calculation unit, A trading support system equipped with the following features.

2. A production management department that manages the production quantity of the aforementioned product, A setting unit for setting a target price, which is a target value for the selling price of the aforementioned product, The system includes a target determination unit that calculates the target supply quantity based on a comparison of the sales price of the product and the target price, and calculates the target inventory quantity by subtracting the sales quantity from the target supply quantity. The transaction support system according to claim 1, wherein the production management unit adjusts the production quantity based on the inventory quantity managed by the inventory management unit and the target inventory quantity calculated by the target determination unit.

3. The transaction support system according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the sales quantity is the quantity of products sold during a set period.

4. The transaction support system according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the sales quantity is the cumulative quantity of products sold during a set period.

5. The system includes an acquisition unit that acquires the number of transferable products owned by the customer as the customer's owned quantity, The transaction support system according to claim 1, wherein the calculation unit calculates the supply quantity as the sum of the inventory quantity stored by the inventory management unit and the customer-owned quantity acquired by the acquisition unit.

6. A production management department that manages the production quantity of the aforementioned product, A setting unit for setting a target price, which is a target value for the selling price of the aforementioned product, The system includes a target determination unit that calculates the target supply quantity based on a comparison of the sales price of the product and the target price, and calculates the target inventory quantity by subtracting the customer's holdings from the target supply quantity, The transaction support system according to claim 5, wherein the production management unit adjusts the production quantity based on the inventory quantity stored by the inventory management unit and the target inventory quantity calculated by the target determination unit.

7. Computers Steps to manage product inventory, A step of managing sales figures that indicate the quantity of the aforementioned product sold to customers, The steps include: calculating the supply quantity by summing the inventory quantity and the sales quantity; The steps include determining the selling price of the product based on the calculated supply quantity, A trading support method that executes this.

8. On the computer, Steps to manage product inventory, A step of managing sales figures that indicate the quantity of the aforementioned product sold to customers, The steps include: calculating the supply quantity by summing the inventory quantity and the sales quantity; The steps include determining the selling price of the product based on the calculated supply quantity, A program that executes something.

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