Alternative material proposal system, alternative material proposal method, and program

Abstract

The present invention makes it possible to propose more appropriate alternative materials that could be substituted for materials that may be unavailable in the future.　This alternative material proposal system comprises an alternative material proposing device, a first terminal device used by a material user, and a second terminal device used by a material seller, and the alternative material proposing device evaluates candidate materials on the basis of the magnitude of a difference between required characteristics required of an alternative material, accepted from the first terminal device, and material characteristics of each candidate material, accepted from the second terminal device, and the magnitude of a difference between the material composition of a current material, accepted from the first terminal device, and the material compositions of the candidate materials accepted from the second terminal device, and causes the first terminal device to display the candidate materials having higher evaluation results as alternative material candidates.

Description

Substitute material suggestion system, substitute material suggestion method, and program

[0001] The present invention relates to a system, a method, and a program for proposing alternative materials. This invention claims priority from Japanese Patent Application No. 2024-049194, filed on March 26, 2024, and the contents of that application are incorporated by reference into this application in designated states where incorporation by reference of documents is permitted.

[0002] Many chemical raw materials are produced in Europe and the United States. In recent years, measures to prevent environmental pollution by chemical substances have been promoted due to the tightening and expansion of EU regulations such as the REACH (Registration, Evaluation, Authorisation and Restriction of Chemicals) regulation.

[0003] As regulations become stronger, there are concerns that the production of synthetic chemicals using chemical raw materials will be suspended, stopped, or discontinued in the future, and there is a risk that synthetic chemicals using regulated chemical raw materials will no longer be available in Japan.

[0004] Patent Literature 1 discloses a technology for predicting the properties of a composite material. Specifically, Patent Literature 1 describes: "A property prediction device for predicting the properties of a composite material composed of a plurality of raw material classifications, the device including: a prediction model creation unit that uses a training dataset of the composite material including raw material types of a first raw material classification and material types of a second raw material classification to create a prediction model through machine learning of correspondences between the properties of the composite material, which are objective variables, and the blending amounts of the material types of the first raw material classification and the weighted feature values ​​of the material types of the second raw material classification, which are explanatory variables; and a prediction unit that inputs the blending amounts of the material types of the first raw material classification and the weighted feature values ​​of the material types of the second raw material classification, which are created from prediction data of the composite material whose properties are to be predicted, into the prediction model as explanatory variables, and predicts the properties of the composite material corresponding to the prediction data."

[0005] International Publication No. 2023 / 032809

[0006] The technology of Patent Document 1 predicts the properties of a composite material by constructing a learning model using the composition of the composite material as an explanatory variable and the properties as a target variable. However, the technology of this document does not take into consideration the risk associated with the discontinuation of production of synthetic chemical products using regulated raw materials (so-called discontinued risk). Therefore, it is considered difficult for the technology of Patent Document 1 to solve the above-mentioned problem.

[0007] The present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned problems, and aims to propose a more suitable alternative material that can replace materials that may become unavailable in the future.

[0008] The present application includes a plurality of means for solving at least part of the above-described problems, examples of which are as follows: A substitute material suggestion system according to one aspect of the present invention for solving the above-described problems comprises a substitute material suggestion device, a first terminal device used by a material user, and a second terminal device used by a material distributor, wherein the substitute material suggestion device evaluates the candidate materials based on the magnitude of difference between required properties of the substitute material received from the first terminal device and the material properties of the candidate materials received from the second terminal device, and the magnitude of difference between the material composition of the current material received from the first terminal device and the material composition of the candidate materials received from the second terminal device, and causes the first terminal device to display the candidate materials with higher evaluation results as candidates for substitute materials.

[0009] The present invention makes it possible to propose more suitable alternative materials that can replace materials that may become unavailable in the future.

[0010] Problems, configurations, and effects other than those described above will become clear from the following description of the embodiments.

[0011] FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an example of an outline of an alternative material proposing system. FIG. 2 is a diagram showing an example of a registration information input screen. FIG. 3 is a diagram showing an example of a registration information input screen. FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an example of target material information. FIG. 5 is a diagram showing an example of candidate material information. FIG. 6 is a flow diagram showing an example of candidate material evaluation processing according to the first embodiment. FIG. 7 is a diagram showing an example of a candidate material display screen. FIG. 8 is a diagram showing another example of a candidate material display screen. FIG. 9 is a diagram showing an example of a proposal status report screen. FIG. 10 is a diagram showing an example of a required characteristic viewing screen. FIG. 11 is a flow diagram showing an example of candidate material evaluation processing according to the second embodiment. FIG. 12 is a diagram showing an example of a regulation information notification screen. FIG. 13 is a diagram showing an example of the hardware configuration of an alternative material proposing device.

[0012] The following embodiments are examples for explaining the present invention, and some omissions and simplifications have been made as appropriate for clarity of explanation. The present invention can be implemented in various other forms. Furthermore, unless otherwise specified, each component may be singular or plural.

[0013] Furthermore, in order to facilitate understanding of the invention, the position, size, shape, range, etc. of each component shown in the drawings may not represent the actual position, size, shape, range, etc. Therefore, the present invention is not necessarily limited to the position, size, shape, range, etc. disclosed in the drawings.

[0014] Furthermore, various types of information may be described using expressions such as "table," "list," and "queue," but the various types of information may be expressed using data structures other than these. For example, various types of information such as "XX table," "XX list," and "XX queue" may be expressed as "XX information." When describing identification information, expressions such as "identification information," "identifier," "name," "ID," and "number" are used, but these are interchangeable.

[0015] In addition, when there are multiple components having the same or similar functions, they may be described by using the same reference numeral with different subscripts, or when there is no need to distinguish between these multiple components, the subscripts may be omitted.

[0016] In addition, in the embodiments, there may be cases where processing performed by executing a program is described. Here, a computer executes the program using a processor (e.g., a CPU or a GPU), and performs processing defined by the program while using storage resources (e.g., memory) and interface devices (e.g., communication ports). Therefore, the processor may be the entity that executes the program and performs the processing.

[0017] Similarly, the entity that executes the program and performs the processing may be a controller, device, system, computer, or node having a processor. The entity that executes the program and performs the processing may be any computing unit, and may include a dedicated circuit that performs specific processing. Here, the dedicated circuit is, for example, an FPGA (Field Programmable Gate Array), an ASIC (Application Specific Integrated Circuit), or a CPLD (Complex Programmable Logic Device).

[0018] A program may be installed on a computer from a program source. The program source may be, for example, a program distribution server or a computer-readable storage medium. When the program source is a program distribution server, the program distribution server may include a processor and storage resources for storing the program to be distributed, and the processor of the program distribution server may distribute the program to be distributed to other computers. In addition, in the embodiments, two or more programs may be realized as one program, or one program may be realized as two or more programs.

[0019] 1 is a diagram showing an overview of an alternative material proposal system 1000 and an example of the functional configuration of an alternative material proposal device 100. As shown in the figure, the alternative material proposal system 1000 includes an alternative material proposal device 100, a terminal device 200 used by a material user, and a terminal device 300 used by a material distributor, and these devices are interconnected so as to be able to communicate with each other via a network N. The network N is, for example, a communication network such as the Internet, a LAN (Local Area Network), or a WAN (Wide Area Network).

[0020] The alternative material suggestion system 1000 is a system that suggests suitable alternative materials to substitute for current materials to material users. Specifically, the alternative material suggestion system 1000 suggests to material users, as candidates for alternative materials, materials that satisfy required properties, have only small differences from the required properties, and have large differences from the material composition of the current material.

[0021] More specifically, the alternative material proposal system 1000 accepts registration of information on required properties and material composition of current materials from material users. Also, the alternative material proposal system 1000 accepts registration of information on material properties and material composition of candidate materials that can be candidates for replacing the current material from material vendors.

[0022] In addition, the alternative material proposal system 1000 calculates the magnitude of the difference between the required characteristics and the material characteristics of the candidate material, and the magnitude of the difference between the material composition of the current material and the material composition of the candidate material, and evaluates the candidate material based on the magnitude of these differences.

[0023] Furthermore, the alternative material proposing system 1000 proposes a predetermined number of candidate materials with better evaluation results as alternative materials to the material user.

[0024] Such an alternative material suggestion system can suggest to material users more appropriate candidate materials as alternatives to materials that may become unavailable in the future due to, for example, discontinuation of production. In particular, the alternative material suggestion system can suggest as alternative materials candidate materials that meet the required characteristics, have only small differences from the required characteristics, and have a large difference in composition from current materials that may be subject to regulation. Therefore, the alternative material suggestion system can suggest to material users, from among candidate materials that meet the required characteristics, materials with a relatively low risk of discontinuation as candidate alternative materials.

[0025] Hereinafter, each embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

[0026] <First Embodiment> <<Material User's Terminal Device 200>> The material user's terminal device (first terminal device) 200 is a terminal device used by a material user, and is, for example, a computer such as a smartphone, a tablet terminal, or a personal computer. The material user registers information regarding the required properties of an alternative material and the material composition of the current material in the alternative material proposal device 100 via the terminal device 200.

[0027] <<Material Vendor's Terminal Device>> The material vendor's terminal device (second terminal device) 300 is a terminal device used by the material vendor, and is, for example, a computer such as a smartphone, a tablet terminal, or a personal computer. The material vendor registers information about the material properties and material composition of candidate materials that may be substitute materials in the alternative material proposal device 100 via the terminal device 300.

[0028] <<Alternative Material Proposal Device 100>> The alternative material proposal device 100 is a device that uses registration information about materials received from material users and material distributors to identify appropriate candidate materials that can be substituted for current materials and proposes them to the material user. As shown in Figure 1, the alternative material proposal device 100 has a processing unit 110, a storage unit 120, and a communication unit 130.

[0029] The processing unit 110 is a functional unit that performs processing executed by the alternative material proposal device 100. Specifically, the processing unit 110 has, as individual functional units that perform various processes, an information registration unit 111, a candidate material evaluation unit 112, a display information generation unit 113, a feedback reception unit 114, an update unit 115, and a regulation information notification unit 116. Note that the feedback reception unit 114, the update unit 115, and the regulation information notification unit 116 are functional units that correspond to the third and subsequent embodiments described below, and therefore detailed descriptions of these functional units will be provided in the corresponding embodiments.

[0030] The information registration unit 111 is a functional unit that registers information about materials received from material users and material distributors. The information registration unit 111 displays a predetermined registration information input screen on the terminal device 200 of the material user and the terminal device 300 of the material distributor via the display information generation unit 113, and stores the registration information received from the terminal device 200 and the terminal device 300 in the databases (target material DB 121 and candidate material DB 122) of the storage unit 120.

[0031] 2 shows an example of a registration information input screen displayed on a terminal device of a material user. As shown in the figure, the registration information input screen 500 has an input area 510 for information regarding required properties and an input area 520 for information regarding material composition. The input area 510 also has an input field 511 for the type of property (e.g., elastic modulus, glass transition temperature, adhesive strength, etc.) and an input field 512 for the property value. The input area 520 has an input field 521 for the components of the material composition of the current material (e.g., epoxy resin, reducing agent, oxidizing agent, curing agent, accelerator, etc.) and an input field 522 for the values ​​(which may be the percentage of each component).

[0032] 3 shows an example of a registration information input screen displayed on a terminal device of a material supplier. As shown in the figure, the registration information input screen 550 has an input area 560 for information on the material properties of the candidate material and an input area 570 for information on the material composition of the candidate material. The input area 560 also has an input field 561 for the type of property and an input field 562 for the property value, while the input area 570 has an input field 571 for the components of the material composition of the candidate material and an input field 572 for the values ​​thereof. The type of property and the components of the material composition are similar to the required properties and the material composition of the current material, and therefore detailed description thereof will be omitted.

[0033] The material user and material distributor input registration information via the registration information input screen 500 and the registration information input screen 550, and register the information in the alternative material proposal device 100. The information registration unit 111 registers the information received from the material user as target material information a in the target material DB 121. The information registration unit 111 also registers the information received from the material distributor as candidate material information b in the candidate material DB 122.

[0034] 4 is a diagram showing an example of target material information a. The target material information a includes a set of information on required properties received from a material user (required property information a1) and information on material composition (material composition information a2).

[0035] 5 is a diagram showing an example of candidate material information b. The candidate material information b contains a set of information on the material properties of the candidate material received from the material vendor (material property information b1) and information on the material composition (material composition information b2).

[0036] The candidate material evaluation unit 112 is a functional unit that evaluates candidate materials. The candidate material evaluation unit 112 evaluates candidate materials based on the magnitude of difference between the required characteristics and the material properties of the candidate material, and the magnitude of difference between the material composition of the current material and the material properties of the candidate material. Details of the evaluation will be described later.

[0037] The display information generating unit 113 is a functional unit that generates various display information (screen information) to be displayed on the terminal devices of the material user and material distributor or other display devices. The display information generating unit 113 generates, for example, screen information 500, 550 (FIGS. 2 and 3) for the registration information input screen, and displays it on the terminal device 200 of the material user and the terminal device 300 of the material distributor via the communication unit 130.

[0038] The display information generating unit 113 also generates screen information for a candidate material display screen including, for example, a predetermined number of highly rated candidate materials and their evaluation scores, and causes the screen information to be displayed on the terminal device 200 of the material user via the communication unit 130. The display information generating unit 113 also generates screen information for a proposal status report screen that notifies the material user that a candidate material has been proposed, and causes the screen information to be displayed on the terminal device 300 of the material distributor of the candidate material via the communication unit 130.

[0039] Next, the storage unit 120 will be described. The storage unit 120 is a functional unit that stores various types of information. Specifically, the storage unit 120 has a target material DB 121 and a candidate material DB 122. The target material DB 121 is a database that stores target material information a (FIG. 3). The candidate material DB 122 is a database that stores candidate material information b (FIG. 4).

[0040] It should be noted that the alternative material proposing device 100 does not necessarily need to have the target material DB 121 and the candidate material DB 122 in the storage unit 120, and may have them in, for example, an external device (e.g., a server device on the cloud) that is independent of the alternative material proposing device 100 and communicably connected via the network N. In this case, when the alternative material proposing device 100 acquires registration information from a material user or a material distributor, it stores the information in a database owned by the external device, and when using the registration information in processing by the alternative material proposing device 100, it acquires the information from the database of the external device.

[0041] The storage unit 120 also stores an evaluation model 123 used to evaluate the candidate material. The evaluation model 123 is constructed using an evaluation function that calculates a higher evaluation score the smaller the difference between the required characteristics and the material characteristics of the candidate material and the larger the difference between the material composition of the current material and the material composition of the candidate material. The expression "higher evaluation score" is not limited to meaning a numerically larger score, but is used to mean a higher evaluation. Therefore, if a numerically smaller score is defined as a higher evaluation, a smaller value may also correspond to a higher evaluation.

[0042] Next, the communication unit 130 will be described. The communication unit 130 is a functional unit that communicates information with external devices. Specifically, the communication unit 130 communicates information with the material user's terminal device 200 and the material distributor's terminal device 300, and receives registration information from these terminal devices 200, 300. The communication unit 130 also transmits various types of screen information, such as candidate material display screens, to the material user's and material distributor's terminal devices 200, 300.

[0043] The functional configuration of the alternative material proposing device 100 has been described above.

[0044] <Candidate Material Evaluation Process> Next, the candidate material evaluation process executed by the alternative material proposal device 100 will be described.

[0045] 6 is a flow diagram showing an example of the candidate material evaluation process. This process is initiated, for example, when an execution instruction is received from a material user via the terminal device 200. Note that the material user may issue an execution instruction for this process for target material information a including required properties and the material composition of the current material at the time of inputting this information via the registration information input screen 500, or may issue an execution instruction for this process by specifying target material information a registered in advance in the alternative material proposal device 100.

[0046] When the process starts, the candidate material evaluation unit 112 acquires the target material information a and the candidate material information b from the target material DB 121 and the candidate material DB 122, respectively (step S10).

[0047] Next, the candidate material evaluation unit 112 calculates the magnitude of the difference between the required properties of the target material information a and the material properties of each candidate material (step S20). Specifically, the candidate material evaluation unit 112 compares the property values ​​of the required properties (e.g., property 1, property 2, etc.) included in the target material information a with the property values ​​of the corresponding properties of the candidate materials, and selects a candidate material that satisfies all the property values ​​of the required properties.

[0048] Furthermore, the candidate material evaluation unit 112 calculates the magnitude of the difference between the required characteristics and the material characteristics of each candidate material based on the difference between each characteristic value of the required characteristics and each characteristic value of the corresponding characteristic of the selected candidate material. Note that the magnitude of the difference may be calculated, for example, based on the value obtained by adding up the differences between each characteristic value.

[0049] Furthermore, the method for calculating the magnitude of the difference is not limited to this, and various methods can be employed. As an example, if the required characteristics are characteristics 1 to 3, the candidate material evaluation unit 112 calculates a vector based on the magnitude of each characteristic value, with each characteristic as an axis in three directions. Similarly, for the selected candidate material, the candidate material evaluation unit 112 calculates a vector for the material characteristic corresponding to the required characteristics. Furthermore, by taking the dot product of these vectors, the candidate material evaluation unit 112 calculates the difference in the direction of each vector as the difference between the required characteristics and the material characteristic of the candidate material, and calculates the magnitude of the difference.

[0050] Next, the candidate material evaluation unit 112 calculates the magnitude of the difference between the material composition of the current material and the material composition of each candidate material (step S30). Specifically, the candidate material evaluation unit 112 calculates the magnitude of the difference between the material composition of the current material and the material composition of each candidate material based on the difference between the quantitative value of each component of the current material and the quantitative value of the corresponding component of the selected candidate material.

[0051] The quantitative value of each component of the material composition is determined in advance by a molecular descriptor according to the chemical structure of each component and stored in the storage unit 120, and this quantitative value is used. For composite materials consisting of multiple components, the molecular descriptor of the composite material can be determined by weighted averaging the molecular descriptors of each component according to their composition ratio. As the molecular descriptor, for example, a known method such as the "fingerprint method," the "MACCSKey method," the "FCFP method," or the "MHFP method," or a combination of these methods, can be used.

[0052] The candidate material evaluation unit 112 calculates the magnitude of the difference based on, for example, the sum of the differences between the quantitative values ​​of each component of the current material and the quantitative values ​​of the corresponding components of the selected candidate material. Alternatively, the candidate material evaluation unit 112 obtains the vectors of the material composition of the current material and the vectors of the material composition of the candidate material based on the quantitative values ​​of each component of the current material and the corresponding component of the candidate material, and, as in the case of characteristic values, calculates the dot product of these vectors to determine the difference in the direction of each vector as the difference between the material composition of the current material and the material composition of the candidate material, and calculates the magnitude of the difference.

[0053] Next, the candidate material evaluation unit 112 evaluates the candidate materials based on the magnitude of the differences in the properties and compositions (step S40). Specifically, the candidate material evaluation unit 112 calculates an evaluation score for each candidate material using an evaluation model 123 that calculates a higher evaluation score the smaller the difference between the required properties and the material properties of the candidate material and the larger the difference between the material composition of the current material and the material composition of the candidate material.

[0054] Next, the display information generation unit 113 displays a predetermined number of candidate materials with high evaluation scores as candidate substitute materials on the terminal device of the material user (step S50). Specifically, the display information generation unit 113 identifies candidate materials whose evaluation scores are equal to or greater than a predetermined threshold. Furthermore, the display information generation unit 113 identifies a predetermined number (e.g., three) of candidate materials with higher evaluation scores from the identified candidate materials, and generates display information (screen information for a candidate material display screen) including the candidate materials and the evaluation scores of each candidate material. Furthermore, the display information generation unit 113 displays the generated display information on the terminal device 200 of the material user (the material user who issued the instruction to execute the process) via the communication unit 130.

[0055] FIG. 7 is a diagram showing an example of a candidate material display screen. As shown, the screen 600 displays a list of a predetermined number of candidate materials in descending order of evaluation score, along with their evaluation scores. As shown, the candidate material display screen 600 may also display the material properties and composition of each candidate material in association with its manufacturer. This information can be identified based on information stored in the storage unit 120. For example, the material properties and composition of the candidate material can be identified from candidate material information b stored in the candidate material DB 122. Furthermore, the manufacturer can be identified based on predetermined information (not shown) stored in the storage unit 120 that registers the correspondence between candidate materials and manufacturers. The display information generation unit 113 identifies the predetermined number of candidate materials, as well as the material properties, material compositions, and manufacturers, and generates display information including these to display on the terminal device.

[0056] The candidate material display screen is not limited to the format shown in FIG. 7, and various formats can be applied as long as it includes at least a predetermined number of candidate materials with high evaluation scores.

[0057] 8 is a diagram showing another example of a candidate material display screen. As shown in the figure, a candidate material display screen 610 according to this example displays information about each candidate material in a display area for each candidate material.

[0058] When the candidate material display screen 600 (or 610) is displayed on the terminal device 200 (step S50), the display information generating unit 113 ends the processing of this flow.

[0059] The candidate material evaluation process has been described above.

[0060] Such an alternative material suggestion system can suggest to material users more appropriate candidate materials as alternative materials for materials that may become unavailable in the future due to, for example, discontinuation of production. In particular, the alternative material suggestion system can suggest candidate materials as alternative materials that meet the required characteristics (have small differences from the required characteristics) and that differ significantly from the composition of current materials that may be subject to regulation. Therefore, the alternative material suggestion system can suggest to material users, from among candidate materials that meet the required characteristics, materials with a relatively low risk of discontinuation as candidate alternative materials.

[0061] <First Modification> The alternative material proposal system 1000 notifies (reports) to a material vendor of a candidate material that the candidate material has been proposed to the material user as a candidate alternative material. Specifically, the display information generation unit 113 of the alternative material proposal device 100 identifies the material vendor of the candidate material displayed on the material user's terminal device 200 in step S50 of the candidate material evaluation process, for example, based on predetermined information (not shown) in the storage unit 120 in which the candidate material and the material vendor are linked and registered. The display information generation unit 113 also generates screen information (screen information of a proposal status report screen) for notifying the material user that the candidate material has been proposed, and displays the screen information on the material vendor's terminal device 300 via the communication unit 130.

[0062] 9 is a diagram showing an example of a proposal status report screen. As shown in the figure, the proposal status report screen 700 displays a predetermined message 701 indicating that information on a candidate material has been provided to the material user, information 702 regarding the material properties and material composition of the candidate material proposed to the material user, and information 703 regarding the material user who received the proposal for the candidate material (e.g., the material user's name and contact information). Note that the contents of the proposal status report screen 700 are not limited to these, and it is sufficient if at least some of these display contents are included.

[0063] With this alternative material suggestion system, material sellers can know that the materials they sell have been provided to material users as candidates for alternative materials. This gives the material sellers an opportunity to suggest the materials they sell to material users. Furthermore, if there has been no previous transaction between the material seller and the material user, the material seller can gain a new sales opportunity.

[0064] <Second Modification> The alternative material proposal system 1000 grants a material distributor the right to view required properties registered by a material user and, in response to a request, displays the required properties on the terminal device 300 of the material distributor. Specifically, upon receiving a request from a material distributor, the display information generation unit 113 of the alternative material proposal device 100 extracts the required properties registered by the material user from the target material DB 121 and generates screen information (screen information for a required property viewing screen) for displaying the extracted required properties. The display information generation unit 113 also displays the generated screen information on the terminal device 300 of the material distributor via the communication unit 130. The required property viewing authority may be granted based on a predetermined rule, such as being granted to the material distributor of the candidate material proposed to the material user. Alternatively, the required property viewing authority may not be provided, and the required properties registered by the material user may be viewable by any material distributor.

[0065] 10 is a diagram showing an example of a required property viewing screen. As shown in the figure, the required property viewing screen 710 displays required property information a1 registered by a material user.

[0066] Such an alternative material suggestion system allows material distributors to know the material user's needs regarding material properties, thereby enabling the material distributors to suggest materials that meet the material user's needs.

[0067] Second Embodiment An alternative material proposal system 1000 according to a second embodiment evaluates candidate materials while also taking into consideration the material composition of substances that are likely to be restricted in the future (hereinafter referred to as "substances of concern for regulation"). Information on the substances of concern for regulation is provided to the alternative material proposal device 100 from an information providing device 400 included in the alternative material proposal system 1000 of this embodiment.

[0068] The information providing device 400 is a device that provides various types of information, and is a device that provides information on regulated substances of concern to the alternative material proposal device 100. Specifically, the information providing device 400 provides information on regulated substances of concern, including, for example, information on substances of very high concern (SVHC) and a community rolling action plan (CoRAP), to the alternative material proposal device 100.

[0069] The following description will focus on processes that differ from the first embodiment, and descriptions of configurations, functions, and processes that are the same as those in the first embodiment will be omitted.

[0070] 11 is a flow diagram showing an example of the candidate material evaluation process according to the second embodiment. Note that the processes of steps S100 to S120 and step S150 are similar to steps S10 to S30 and step S50 in the first embodiment, and therefore detailed description thereof will be omitted.

[0071] In step S130, the candidate material evaluation unit 112 calculates the magnitude of the difference between the material composition of the substance of regulatory concern included in the information on the substance of regulatory concern and the material composition of each candidate material. Specifically, the candidate material evaluation unit 112 refers to the SVHC and CoRAP obtained from the information provider 400 via the communication unit 130, and if there is a component that matches a component included in the material composition of the current material, it identifies that component as a component of the material composition of the substance of regulatory concern.

[0072] Furthermore, the candidate material evaluation unit 112 determines the quantitative values ​​of the components of the substance of regulatory concern and the quantitative values ​​of the corresponding components of the current material in the same manner as in step S30 of the first embodiment, and calculates the difference between these as the magnitude of the difference. Alternatively, the candidate material evaluation unit 112 calculates the dot product of a vector determined based on the quantitative values ​​of the components of the substance of regulatory concern and a vector determined based on the quantitative values ​​of the corresponding components of the current material, and calculates the difference in the direction of each vector as the difference between the components of the substance of regulatory concern (material composition) and the components of the current material (material composition), and calculates the magnitude of the difference.

[0073] Next, the candidate material evaluation unit 112 evaluates the candidate materials based on the magnitude of the differences in the properties and compositions (step S140). Specifically, the candidate material evaluation unit 112 calculates the evaluation score using an evaluation model 123 that calculates a higher evaluation score the smaller the difference in properties and the larger the difference in composition. The magnitude of the difference in composition is determined by both the magnitude of the difference in material composition between the current material and the candidate material (step S120) and the magnitude of the difference in material composition between the substance of regulatory concern and the current material (step S130). That is, the candidate material evaluation unit 112 calculates the evaluation score of the candidate material by inputting the magnitude of the difference in properties, the magnitude of the difference in material composition between the current material and the candidate material, and the magnitude of the difference in material composition between the substance of regulatory concern and the current material into the evaluation model 123.

[0074] The candidate material evaluation process according to the second embodiment has been described above.

[0075] This alternative material suggestion system can evaluate candidate materials while taking into consideration the presence of substances of concern that are likely to be subject to regulation in the future. Therefore, the alternative material suggestion system according to this embodiment can suggest materials with a lower risk of future discontinuation as candidate alternative materials.

[0076] Third Embodiment An alternative material proposing system 1000 according to a third embodiment receives feedback from a material user who has proposed a candidate material, and updates an evaluation model 123 used to evaluate the candidate material. Specifically, a feedback receiving unit 114 of the alternative material proposing device 100 receives various feedback information about the candidate material (e.g., whether the proposed candidate material is suitable for use, etc.) via the terminal device of the material user, and stores this information in a database (not shown) in a storage unit 120.

[0077] The update unit 115 also updates the internal variables of the evaluation function using the feedback information. For example, the candidate materials proposed to the material user may include materials that are unsuitable or unusable depending on the material user's business type (e.g., automotive, building materials, chemicals, etc.). Therefore, the update unit 115 updates the evaluation function to provide appropriate internal variables for each material user based on the feedback information from the material user. Note that the evaluation function may be updated for each type of business type of the material user, for example.

[0078] According to this alternative material suggestion system, the evaluation model can be updated for each material user or according to the business type of the material user, thereby improving the accuracy of the alternative material suggestion system.

[0079] Fourth Embodiment An alternative material proposal system 1000 according to a fourth embodiment notifies a material user when the likelihood of a current material being restricted increases. Specifically, the regulatory information notification unit 116 of the alternative material proposal device 100 identifies the material composition of a substance with an increased likelihood of being restricted (hereinafter referred to as a "probably restricted component") based on information about substances of regulatory concern. The regulatory information notification unit 116 also calculates a score of the degree of agreement between the likely restricted component and the material composition (component) of the current material. The method for calculating the score is not particularly limited. For example, the regulatory information notification unit 116 calculates the agreement score based on the proportion of the likely restricted component contained in the material composition of the current material. As an example, if there are three likely restricted components and the material composition of the current material contains two of these likely restricted components, the regulatory information notification unit 116 calculates the agreement score as 66%.

[0080] Furthermore, if the matching score is equal to or greater than a predetermined value (e.g., 60% or greater), the restriction information notification unit 116 notifies the material user who registered the current material that the likelihood of the current material being restricted is increasing. Specifically, the restriction information notification unit 116 generates predetermined screen information (restriction information notification screen) via the display information generation unit 113 and displays this on the terminal device of the material user.

[0081] 12 is a diagram showing an example of a regulatory information notification screen. As shown in the figure, regulatory information notification screen 800 displays a predetermined message 801 notifying that the current material is increasingly likely to be restricted, a material composition 802 of the current material, a material composition 803 of a substance included in the information on substances of concern that are subject to regulation, and a match score 804. Note that the content of regulatory information notification screen 800 is not limited to this, and it is sufficient if it includes at least some of these displayed contents.

[0082] Such an alternative material suggestion system allows material users to know when there is an increasing possibility that current materials will become unusable due to restrictions, and as a result, material users can use the system to receive suggestions for appropriate alternative materials before the current materials are restricted, enabling them to take action in advance.

[0083] <Hardware Configuration of Alternative Material Proposal Device 100> Fig. 13 is a diagram showing an example of the hardware configuration of the alternative material proposal device 100. As shown in the figure, the alternative material proposal device 100 has an input device 910, a display device 920, a processing device 930, a main memory device 940, an auxiliary memory device 950, a communication device 960, and a bus 970 that electrically interconnects these devices.

[0084] The input device 910 is, for example, a touch panel, a keyboard, a mouse, etc. The display device 920 is a display device such as a liquid crystal display or an organic display.

[0085] The processing device 930 is, for example, a processor such as a CPU (Central Processing Unit) or a GPU (Graphics Processing Unit). The main storage device 940 is a memory device (memory resource) such as a RAM (Random Access Memory) or a ROM (Read Only Memory). The alternative material proposal device 100 has at least one processor and one or more memory resources.

[0086] The auxiliary storage device 950 is a non-volatile storage device capable of storing digital information, such as a so-called hard disk drive, a solid state drive (SSD), or a flash memory.

[0087] The communication device 960 is a wired communication device 960 that performs wired communication via a network cable, or a wireless communication device that performs wireless communication via an antenna.

[0088] An example of the hardware configuration of the alternative material proposal device 100 has been described above.

[0089] The processing unit 110 of the alternative material proposing device 100 is realized by a program that causes the processing device 930 to perform processing. This program is stored in the main storage device 940 or the auxiliary storage device 950, and is loaded onto the main storage device 940 and executed by the processing device 930 when the program is executed.

[0090] The storage unit 120 is realized by a main storage device 940, an auxiliary storage device 950, or a combination of these. The communication unit 130 is realized by a communication device 960.

[0091] Furthermore, the above-described configurations, functions, processing units, processing means, etc. of the alternative material proposing device 100 may be partially or entirely realized in hardware, for example, by designing them as integrated circuits. The above-described configurations and functions may also be realized in software, in which a processor interprets and executes a program that realizes each function. Information such as the programs, tables, and files that realize each function can be stored in a storage device such as a memory, hard disk, or SSD, or in a recording medium such as an IC card, SD card, or DVD.

[0092] Furthermore, the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments and modifications, and includes various modifications within the scope of the same technical concept. For example, the above-described embodiments have been described in detail to clearly explain the present invention, and the present invention is not necessarily limited to those including all of the described configurations. Furthermore, it is possible to replace part of the configuration of one embodiment with the configuration of another embodiment, or to add the configuration of another embodiment to the configuration of one embodiment. Furthermore, it is possible to add, delete, or replace part of the configuration of each embodiment with other configurations.

[0093] In addition, in the above explanation, the control lines and information lines are those that are considered necessary for the explanation, and do not necessarily show all the control lines and information lines in the product. In reality, it can be considered that almost all components are interconnected.

[0094] 1000: Alternative material proposal system, 100: Alternative material proposal device, 110: Processing unit, 111: Information registration unit, 112: Candidate material evaluation unit, 113: Display information generation unit, 114: Feedback reception unit, 115: Update unit, 116: Regulation information notification unit, 120: Storage unit, 121: Target material DB, 122: Candidate material DB, 123: Evaluation model, 130: Communication unit, 200: Material user's terminal device, 300: Material distributor's terminal device, 400: Information providing device, N: Network

Claims

1. A substitute material suggestion system having an alternative material suggestion device, a first terminal device used by a material user, and a second terminal device used by a material distributor, wherein the alternative material suggestion device evaluates the candidate materials based on the magnitude of difference between the required properties of the alternative material received from the first terminal device and the material properties of the candidate materials received from the second terminal device, and the magnitude of difference between the material composition of the current material received from the first terminal device and the material composition of the candidate materials received from the second terminal device, and causes the first terminal device to display the candidate materials with higher evaluation results as potential substitute materials.

2. An alternative material proposing system as described in claim 1, characterized in that the alternative material proposing device evaluates the candidate material using an evaluation model that calculates a higher evaluation score the smaller the difference between the required characteristics and the material characteristics of the candidate material and the greater the difference between the material composition of the current material and the material composition of the candidate material.

3. An alternative material proposing system as claimed in claim 1, characterized in that the alternative material proposing device evaluates the candidate material based on the magnitude of the difference between the material composition of the substance of regulated concern contained in information on substances of regulated concern obtained from an external device and the material composition of the candidate material, in addition to the magnitude of the difference.

4. An alternative material proposing system as claimed in claim 3, characterized in that the alternative material proposing device evaluates the candidate material using an evaluation model that calculates a higher evaluation score the smaller the difference between the required characteristics and the material characteristics of the candidate material, the larger the difference between the material composition of the current material and the material composition of the candidate material, and the larger the difference between the material composition of the substance of regulatory concern and the material composition of the candidate material.

5. An alternative material suggestion system as claimed in claim 2 or 4, characterized in that the alternative material suggestion device displays a predetermined number of the candidate materials with higher evaluation scores on the first terminal device.

6. An alternative material suggestion system as described in claim 5, characterized in that the alternative material suggestion device displays on the first terminal device a predetermined number of the candidate materials with higher evaluation scores, each of which is associated with the evaluation score.

7. An alternative material proposal system as described in claim 1, characterized in that the alternative material proposal device displays screen information on the second terminal device used by the material distributor of the candidate material, notifying the material user that information regarding the candidate material has been provided.

8. An alternative material proposing system as described in claim 1, characterized in that the alternative material proposing device grants the material distributor the authority to view the required characteristics received from the material user, and in response to a request from the material distributor, displays screen information including the required characteristics of the material user on the second terminal device.

9. An alternative material suggestion system as described in claim 2, characterized in that the alternative material suggestion device receives feedback regarding the candidate material proposed to the material user from the first terminal device, and updates the evaluation model according to the content of the feedback for each material user or for each type of business of the material user.

10. A system for proposing alternative materials as described in claim 1, wherein the alternative material proposing device calculates the degree of coincidence between the material composition of the substance of regulatory concern contained in information on substances of regulatory concern obtained from an external device and the material composition of the current material, and if the degree of coincidence is equal to or greater than a predetermined value, causes the first terminal device to display screen information notifying that there is an increasing possibility that the current material will be restricted.

11. An alternative material proposing system as described in claim 1, characterized in that the alternative material proposing device stores the information received from the first terminal device and the second terminal device in a memory unit possessed by the alternative material proposing device or in an external device.

12. A method for proposing an alternative material performed by an alternative material proposing device, wherein the alternative material proposing device performs the following steps: calculating the magnitude of the difference between required properties desired for an alternative material received from a first terminal device used by a material user and the material properties of a candidate material received from a second terminal device used by a material distributor; calculating the magnitude of the difference between the material composition of the current material received from the first terminal device and the material composition of the candidate material received from the second terminal device; evaluating the candidate material based on the magnitude of the difference between the required properties and the material properties and the magnitude of the difference between the material composition of the current material and the material composition of the candidate material; and displaying the candidate material with a higher evaluation result on the first terminal device as a candidate alternative material.

13. A program that causes a computer to function as an alternative material suggestion device, the program causing the computer to: calculate the magnitude of difference between required properties of an alternative material received from a first terminal device used by a material user and the material properties of a candidate material received from a second terminal device used by a material distributor; calculate the magnitude of difference between the material composition of the current material received from the first terminal device and the material composition of the candidate material received from the second terminal device; evaluate the candidate material based on the magnitude of difference between the required properties and the material properties and the magnitude of difference between the material composition of the current material and the material composition of the candidate material; and display the candidate material with a higher evaluation result on the first terminal device as a candidate alternative material.

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