Information processing method, information processing device, and information processing program

Abstract

This information processing device acquires past daily inventory levels, demand, and incoming quantities of a product. On the basis of the inventory levels, the device calculates a moving average convergence / divergence (MACD) value of the past daily inventory levels and a signal value indicating a moving average of the MACD value. Using the inventory levels, demand, incoming quantities, MACD value, and signal value, the device creates an analysis report analyzing the inventory status and outputs the analysis report.

Description

Information Processing Method, Information Processing Apparatus, and Information Processing Program

[0001] This disclosure relates to a technology for managing product inventory.

[0002] For example, in Patent Document 1, the sum of one or more adjacent inventory data is calculated as the height of one graph of the inventory data so that the entire period of the inventory data fits within the horizontal range of the thumbnail, and the numerical value of the height of each graph is divided by a predetermined number so that the height of each graph of the inventory data fits within the vertical range of the thumbnail, thereby creating each thumbnail, converting each created thumbnail into an image format, arranging the thumbnails in the image format on the display screen, and displaying them as a thumbnail list. An inventory transition processing device is disclosed.

[0003] However, in the above conventional technology, there is a risk that the efficiency of the inventory management operation may deteriorate, and there is also a risk of out-of-stock and overstock, and further improvement has been required.

[0004] Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2009-187449

[0005] This disclosure has been made to solve the above problems, and an object thereof is to provide a technology that can improve the efficiency of the inventory management operation and suppress the occurrence of out-of-stock and overstock.

[0006] An information processing method according to an aspect of the present disclosure is an information processing method executed by a computer, including acquiring daily inventory amounts, demands, and incoming amounts of products in the past, calculating a moving average convergence divergence (MACD) value of the daily inventory amounts in the past and a signal value indicating a moving average of the MACD value based on the inventory amounts, creating an analysis report analyzing the situation of the inventory amounts using the inventory amounts, the demands, the incoming amounts, the MACD values, and the signal values, and outputting the analysis report.

[0007] According to the present disclosure, the efficiency of the inventory management operation can be improved, and the occurrence of out-of-stock and overstock can be suppressed.

[0008] This figure shows the configuration of the inventory management system according to this embodiment. This figure shows an example of past daily inventory, demand, and incoming quantities of a product in this embodiment. This figure shows an example of future planned daily incoming quantities of a product in this embodiment. This figure shows an example of MACD values ​​and signal values ​​for past daily inventory quantities of a product in this embodiment. This figure shows the trends of MACD values ​​and signal values ​​calculated by the inventory trend calculation unit in this embodiment. This is a flowchart for explaining information processing by the information processing device in the embodiment of this disclosure. This figure shows a first example of a prompt created by the prompt creation unit in this embodiment. This figure shows the trends of past inventory, demand, and incoming quantities shown in Figure 7. This figure shows a first example of an analysis report generated by the generation AI in this embodiment. This figure shows a second example of a prompt created by the prompt creation unit in this embodiment. This figure shows the trends of past inventory, demand, and incoming quantities shown in Figure 10. This figure shows a second example of an analysis report generated by the generation AI in this embodiment. This figure shows a third example of a prompt created by the prompt creation unit in this embodiment. This figure shows a third example of an analysis report generated by the generation AI in this embodiment.

[0009] (Knowledge forming the basis of this disclosure) In conventional inventory management, managers make business decisions based on data from the inventory management system. Specifically, managers make decisions regarding the timing of product orders, the quantity of products to order, adjustments to production plans, maintaining appropriate inventory levels, and cost reductions based on data from the inventory management system.

[0010] For example, Patent Document 1 discloses a method for efficiently supporting the early detection of abnormal inventory by displaying inventory data, which shows the quantity or value of inventory items in chronological order, as thumbnail images on a display screen.

[0011] However, as the number of product types increases, data analysis, data monitoring, and the identification of products with abnormal inventory levels become more difficult, potentially leading to decreased efficiency in inventory management operations and increasing the risk of stockouts and excess inventory.

[0012] To address the above challenges, the following technologies are disclosed.

[0013] (1) An information processing method relating to one aspect of the present disclosure is an information processing method performed by a computer, which includes: obtaining past daily inventory quantities, demand, and incoming quantities of a product; calculating a moving average convergence-divergence (MACD) value of the past daily inventory quantities and a signal value indicating the moving average of the MACD value based on the inventory quantities; creating an analysis report analyzing the status of the inventory quantities using the inventory quantities, demand, incoming quantities, MACD value, and signal value; and outputting the analysis report.

[0014] This configuration calculates MACD values ​​for past daily inventory levels and signal values ​​representing the moving average of MACD values. Therefore, it is possible to understand the trend of inventory levels from the MACD values ​​and signal values, and to analyze the inventory situation in more detail. Consequently, it is possible to improve the efficiency of inventory management operations and suppress the occurrence of stockouts and excess inventory.

[0015] (2) In the information processing method described in (1) above, the creation of the analysis report may include creating a prompt that describes a task to cause a generating artificial intelligence (AI) to analyze the inventory quantity, the demand, the incoming quantity, the MACD value, and the signal value, and obtaining the analysis report generated by the generating AI by inputting the prompt into the generating AI.

[0016] With this configuration, analysis reports are generated by the AI, allowing for more efficient analysis of inventory levels.

[0017] (3) The information processing method described in (1) or (2) above further includes obtaining the planned daily future delivery quantity of the product, and the preparation of the analysis report may include preparing the analysis report using the inventory quantity, the demand, the delivery quantity, the MACD value, the signal value, and the planned delivery quantity.

[0018] This configuration allows for the creation of analytical reports that further consider the planned daily future arrival volume of the product, enabling appropriate adjustments to the production plan.

[0019] (4) The information processing method described in (1) or (2) above further includes obtaining the safety stock level of the product, the maximum daily production volume of the product, and the maximum storage volume of the product, and the preparation of the analysis report may include preparing the analysis report using the inventory volume, the demand, the incoming volume, the MACD value, the signal value, the safety stock level, the maximum production volume, and the maximum storage volume.

[0020] This configuration allows for the creation of analytical reports that further consider product safety stock levels, maximum daily production volume, and maximum storage capacity, thereby effectively controlling and preventing stockouts and excess inventory.

[0021] (5) The information processing method described in (1) or (2) above further includes obtaining the production cost of the product, the storage cost of the product, and the price of the product, and the preparation of the analysis report may include preparing the analysis report using the inventory quantity, the demand, the incoming quantity, the MACD value, the signal value, the production cost, the storage cost, and the price.

[0022] This configuration allows for the creation of analytical reports that further consider product production costs, product storage costs, and product pricing, enabling the proposal of inventory management that can achieve cost reductions.

[0023] (6) The information processing method described in (1) or (2) above further includes obtaining comments on inventory management entered by the user, and the creation of the analysis report may include creating the analysis report using the inventory quantity, the demand, the incoming quantity, the MACD value, the signal value, and the comments.

[0024] This configuration allows for the creation of analytical reports that further consider comments on inventory management entered by users. For example, if comments regarding future demand changes are entered, the system can present analytical results indicating whether the inventory level is sufficient to accommodate those changes.

[0025] (7) In the information processing method described in (1) or (2) above, the analysis report may include a warning title indicating the title of a warning suggested to the user as a result of analyzing the inventory quantity, demand, incoming quantity, MACD value, and signal value, and the reason for suggesting the warning.

[0026] This configuration analyzes inventory levels, demand, incoming quantities, MACD values, and signal values, and generates an analysis report that includes warning titles suggesting warnings to the user, along with the reasons for suggesting the warnings. This supports the user's inventory management operations and makes them more efficient.

[0027] (8) In the information processing method described in any one of (1) to (7) above, the output may include displaying the analysis report.

[0028] This configuration allows for the display of analytical reports, enabling the system to present these reports to users and assist them with their inventory management tasks.

[0029] Furthermore, this disclosure can be implemented not only as an information processing method that performs the characteristic processing described above, but also as an information processing device having a characteristic configuration corresponding to the characteristic processing performed by the information processing method. It can also be implemented as a computer program that causes a computer to execute the characteristic processing included in such an information processing method. Therefore, the same effects as the above-described information processing method can be achieved in the following other embodiments.

[0030] (9) An information processing device according to another aspect of the present disclosure is an information processing device comprising a processor, the processor acquiring past daily inventory, demand, and incoming quantities of a product, calculating a moving average convergence-divergence (MACD) value of the past daily inventory and a signal value indicating the moving average of the MACD value based on the inventory, creating an analysis report analyzing the status of the inventory using the inventory, demand, incoming quantities, MACD value, and signal value, and outputting the analysis report.

[0031] (10) Information processing programs according to other embodiments of the present disclosure acquire past daily inventory, demand, and incoming quantities of a product; calculate a moving average convergence-divergence (MACD) value of the past daily inventory and a signal value representing the moving average of the MACD value based on the inventory; create an analysis report analyzing the inventory situation using the inventory, demand, incoming quantities, MACD value, and signal value; and cause the computer to function to output the analysis report.

[0032] (11) Non-temporary computer-readable recording media relating to other aspects of the present disclosure record the information processing programs described in (10) above.

[0033] Embodiments of this disclosure will be described below with reference to the attached drawings. Note that the embodiments described below are all specific examples of this disclosure. The numerical values, shapes, components, steps, and order of steps shown in the following embodiments are examples only and are not intended to limit this disclosure. Furthermore, components in the following embodiments that are not described in the independent claim representing the highest-level concept will be described as optional components. Also, in all embodiments, the contents of each can be combined.

[0034] (Embodiment) Figure 1 is a diagram showing the configuration of the inventory management system 1 according to this embodiment.

[0035] The inventory management system 1 comprises an information processing device 10 and a production management system 20.

[0036] The information processing device 10 is connected to the production management system 20 via a network, enabling communication between them. The network is, for example, a local area network or a wide area network.

[0037] The production management system 20 manages the historical daily inventory, demand, and incoming quantities of products. It also manages the planned future daily incoming quantities of products. Furthermore, the production management system 20 manages the safety stock level, the maximum daily production volume, and the maximum storage capacity of products. The historical daily inventory, demand, and incoming quantities of products are entered by the user and stored in the memory of the production management system 20. Similarly, the planned future daily incoming quantities of products are entered by the user and stored in the memory of the production management system 20. The safety stock level, the maximum daily production volume, and the maximum storage capacity are also entered by the user and stored in the memory of the production management system 20.

[0038] The production management system 20 transmits the past daily inventory, demand, and incoming quantity of products to the information processing device 10. Also, the production management system 20 transmits the planned incoming quantity of products on a daily basis in the future to the information processing device 10. Further, the production management system 20 transmits the safety stock level of products, the maximum daily production volume of products, and the maximum storage volume of products to the information processing device 10.

[0039] The information processing device 10 includes a data acquisition unit 101, an inventory trend calculation unit 102, an input unit 103, a comment acquisition unit 104, an analysis report creation unit 105, a display unit 106, and a basic prompt storage unit 200.

[0040] The information processing device 10 includes at least a computer system including, for example, a control program, a processing circuit such as a processor or a logic circuit that executes the control program, and a recording device such as an internal memory or an accessible external memory that stores the control program. Note that the information processing device 10 may be realized, for example, by hardware implementation by a processing circuit, or by execution of a software program held in a memory by a processing circuit, or distributed from an external server, or by a combination of these hardware implementation and software implementation. Also, the information processing device 10 may be a server.

[0041] The data acquisition unit 101 acquires the past daily inventory, demand, and incoming quantity of products from the production management system 20. Note that the data acquisition unit 101 may request the production management system 20 to transmit the past daily inventory, demand, and incoming quantity of products, and acquire the past daily inventory, demand, and incoming quantity of products transmitted by the production management system 20 in response to the request.

[0042] FIG. 2 is a diagram showing an example of the past daily inventory, demand, and incoming quantity of products in the present embodiment.

[0043] As shown in FIG. 2, the data acquisition unit 101 acquires the inventory quantity, demand, and incoming quantity for each of the (t-1)th day, (t-2)th day, (t-3)th day, and (t-4)th day associated with the product ID for identifying the product. Here, t represents the date of today. In FIG. 2, the inventory quantity, demand, and incoming quantity for four days are shown, but the data acquisition unit 101 acquires the daily inventory quantity, demand, and incoming quantity of the product for a predetermined period in the past. The predetermined period is, for example, one year.

[0044] In addition, the data acquisition unit 101 acquires the planned incoming quantity of the product on a daily basis in the future from the production management system 20. Note that the data acquisition unit 101 may request the production management system 20 to transmit the planned incoming quantity of the product on a daily basis in the future, and acquire the planned incoming quantity of the product on a daily basis in the future transmitted by the production management system 20 in response to the request.

[0045] FIG. 3 is a diagram showing an example of the planned incoming quantity of the product on a daily basis in the future in the present embodiment.

[0046] As shown in FIG. 3, the data acquisition unit 101 acquires the planned incoming quantity for each of the tth day, (t + 1)th day, (t + 2)th day, and (t + 3)th day associated with the product ID for identifying the product. Here, t represents the date of today. In FIG. 3, the planned incoming quantity for four days is shown, but the data acquisition unit 101 acquires the planned incoming quantity of the product on a daily basis for a predetermined period in the future. The predetermined period is, for example, one year.

[0047] In addition, the data acquisition unit 101 acquires the safety stock level of the product, the maximum daily production quantity of the product, and the maximum storage quantity of the product from the production management system 20. The safety stock level represents the minimum inventory quantity to be stored to prevent out-of-stock situations. Note that the data acquisition unit 101 may request the production management system 20 to transmit the safety stock level of the product, the maximum daily production quantity of the product, and the maximum storage quantity of the product, and acquire the safety stock level of the product, the maximum daily production quantity of the product, and the maximum storage quantity of the product transmitted by the production management system 20 in response to the request.

[0048] The data acquisition unit 101 outputs the historical daily inventory levels of the acquired products to the inventory trend calculation unit 102. The data acquisition unit 101 also outputs the acquired inventory levels, demand, incoming quantities, planned incoming quantities, product safety stock levels, maximum daily production quantities of the products, and maximum storage quantities of the products to the prompt creation unit 107 of the analysis report creation unit 105.

[0049] The inventory trend calculation unit 102 calculates the Moving Average Convergence Divergence (MACD) value and the moving average of the MACD value for past daily inventory quantities, based on the inventory quantities acquired by the data acquisition unit 101.

[0050] Figure 4 shows an example of MACD values ​​and signal values ​​for the past daily inventory levels of the product in this embodiment.

[0051] As shown in Figure 4, the inventory trend calculation unit 102 calculates the MACD value and signal value for the inventory quantity on (t-1), (t-2), (t-3), and (t-4) days, which are associated with the product ID used to identify the product. Note that t represents today's date. Figure 4 shows the MACD value and signal value for four days, but the inventory trend calculation unit 102 also calculates the MACD value and signal value for the daily inventory quantity of the product over a predetermined period in the past. The predetermined period is, for example, one year.

[0052] Here, we will explain how to calculate the MACD value and signal value. Generally, the MACD value and signal value are indicators used when analyzing stock price trends. In this embodiment, the MACD value and signal value are used when analyzing inventory level trends.

[0053] The MACD value is calculated using the following formula (1).

[0054] MACD=Short-term EMA-Long-term EMA...(1)

[0055] EMA is an exponential moving average and is calculated using the following formula (2).

[0056] EMA = {S ｔ*2 / (N+1)}+EMA ｔ－１ *{1-2 / (N+1)}...(2)

[0057] The signal value is the simple moving average (SMA) of the MACD values. The SMA is calculated using the following formula (3).

[0058] SMA = {S ｔ－Ｎ +S ｔ－（Ｎ－１） +...+S ｔ－１ +S ｔ} / N...(3)

[0059] In equations (2) and (3), S represents the inventory quantity, t represents the time (day), and N represents the period for calculating the average. The period N for the short-term EMA is, for example, 12 days, the period N for the long-term EMA is, for example, 26 days, and the period N for the SMA is, for example, 9 days.

[0060] Figure 5 shows the changes in MACD value and signal value calculated by the inventory trend calculation unit 102 in this embodiment.

[0061] In Figure 5, the horizontal axis represents time (date), the left vertical axis represents inventory and demand (quantity), and the right vertical axis represents MACD value and signal value. The solid line represents the change in inventory, the dashed line represents the change in MACD value, and the dotted line represents the change in signal value. The bar graph represents the demand for each day.

[0062] When the signal value exceeds the MACD value, it indicates that inventory is being consumed rapidly. Conversely, when the MACD value exceeds the signal value, it indicates that inventory is accumulating.

[0063] The inventory trend calculation unit 102 outputs the calculated MACD value and signal value to the prompt creation unit 107 of the analysis report creation unit 105.

[0064] The input unit 103 is, for example, a keyboard, mouse, or touch panel, and accepts information input from the user. The input unit 103 may be connected to the information processing device 10 via a wired or wireless connection so that they can communicate with each other. Alternatively, the input unit 103 may be connected to the information processing device 10 via a network so that they can communicate with each other. The network may be a local area network or a wide area network.

[0065] The input unit 103 accepts comments from the user regarding inventory management. The user enters comments related to inventory management. The comments are information that should be considered when analyzing inventory levels. For example, comments regarding future changes in demand may be entered. Information that is difficult to quantify may also be entered as comments.

[0066] The comment acquisition unit 104 acquires comments related to inventory management entered by the user. The comment acquisition unit 104 outputs the acquired comments to the prompt creation unit 107 of the analysis report creation unit 105.

[0067] The analysis report generation unit 105 generates an analysis report that analyzes the inventory status using inventory quantity, demand, incoming quantity, MACD value, signal value, planned incoming quantity, safety stock level, maximum production quantity, maximum storage quantity, and comments. The analysis report generation unit 105 includes a prompt generation unit 107, an analysis report acquisition unit 108, and a generation AI 109.

[0068] The prompt creation unit 107 creates prompts that describe a task to have the generating AI 109 analyze inventory quantity, demand, incoming quantity, MACD value, signal value, planned incoming quantity, safety stock level, maximum production quantity, maximum storage quantity, and comments.

[0069] The basic prompt storage unit 200 stores in advance basic prompts that describe the content of the task to be analyzed by the generating AI 109. The basic prompts do not contain numerical values ​​for inventory quantity, demand, incoming quantity, MACD value, signal value, planned incoming quantity, safety stock level, maximum production quantity, and maximum storage quantity, nor do they contain comments.

[0070] The prompt creation unit 107 reads a basic prompt from the basic prompt storage unit 200 and writes the numerical values ​​for inventory quantity, demand, incoming quantity, MACD value, signal value, planned incoming quantity, safety stock level, maximum production quantity, and maximum storage quantity, along with the content of a comment, to the read basic prompt. This creates a prompt.

[0071] The analysis report acquisition unit 108 acquires the analysis report generated by the generation AI 109 by inputting a prompt to the generation AI 109.

[0072] The generating AI 109 generates a text response to a given prompt. The generating AI 109 is, for example, a large-scale language model such as Chat-GPT, but is not particularly limited to this. The generating AI 109 executes the task described in the input prompt. The generating AI 109 analyzes inventory quantity, demand, incoming quantity, MACD value, signal value, planned incoming quantity, safety stock level, maximum production quantity, maximum storage quantity, and comments, and generates an analysis report showing the analysis results. The generating AI 109 outputs the generated analysis report to the analysis report acquisition unit 108. The analysis report includes a warning title indicating the title of a warning suggested to the user as a result of analyzing inventory quantity, demand, incoming quantity, MACD value, signal value, planned incoming quantity, safety stock level, maximum production quantity, maximum storage quantity, and comments, and the reason for suggesting the warning. Specific examples of prompts and analysis reports will be described later.

[0073] In this embodiment, the information processing device 10 is equipped with a generation AI 109, but the disclosure is not limited thereto, and the information processing device 10 may be connected to a server having the function of the generation AI 109 via a network. In this case, the information processing device 10 may send a prompt to the server and receive an analysis report from the server. The server may be an on-premise server or a cloud server.

[0074] The display unit 106 is, for example, a liquid crystal display device that displays information to be presented to the user. The display unit 106 may be connected to the information processing device 10 via wired or wireless means so as to be able to communicate with each other. Alternatively, the display unit 106 may be connected to the information processing device 10 via a network so as to be able to communicate with each other. The network may be a local area network or a wide area network.

[0075] The display unit 106 outputs the analysis report created by the analysis report creation unit 105. The display unit 106 displays the analysis report created by the analysis report creation unit 105.

[0076] The display unit 106 may also display past inventory levels, past demand, past incoming quantities, future planned incoming quantities, product safety stock levels, maximum daily production quantities, and maximum product storage quantities acquired by the data acquisition unit 101. Users may check the past inventory levels, past demand, past incoming quantities, future planned incoming quantities, product safety stock levels, maximum daily production quantities, and maximum product storage quantities displayed on the display unit 106 and enter comments.

[0077] Alternatively, the data acquisition unit 101 may acquire only the past daily inventory, demand, and incoming quantities of the product, and the analysis report creation unit 105 may create an analysis report using the inventory, demand, incoming quantities, MACD value, and signal value. Alternatively, the analysis report creation unit 105 may create an analysis report using the inventory, demand, incoming quantities, MACD value, signal value, and comments.

[0078] Alternatively, the data acquisition unit 101 may acquire the past daily inventory, demand, and incoming quantities of the product, as well as the future daily planned incoming quantities of the product, and the analysis report creation unit 105 may create an analysis report using the inventory, demand, incoming quantities, MACD values, signal values, and planned incoming quantities.

[0079] Alternatively, the data acquisition unit 101 may acquire the product's past daily inventory, demand, and incoming quantities, as well as the product's safety stock level, the product's maximum daily production volume, and the product's maximum storage volume. The analysis report creation unit 105 may then create an analysis report using the inventory, demand, incoming quantities, MACD value, signal value, safety stock level, maximum production volume, and maximum storage volume.

[0080] Furthermore, the data acquisition unit 101 may acquire the production cost of the product, the storage cost of the product, and the price of the product. The analysis report creation unit 105 may create an analysis report using the inventory quantity, demand, incoming quantity, MACD value, signal value, production cost, storage cost, and price. This makes it possible to present the user with analysis results that further consider the production cost of the product, the storage cost of the product, and the price of the product.

[0081] Next, the information processing by the information processing device 10 in the embodiment of this disclosure will be described.

[0082] Figure 6 is a flowchart illustrating the information processing performed by the information processing device 10 in the embodiment of this disclosure.

[0083] First, in step S1, the data acquisition unit 101 acquires the past daily inventory, demand, and incoming quantities of the product from the production management system 20.

[0084] Next, in step S2, the data acquisition unit 101 acquires the planned daily future arrival quantities of the product from the production management system 20.

[0085] Next, in step S3, the data acquisition unit 101 acquires the product safety stock level, the maximum daily production volume of the product, and the maximum storage volume of the product from the production management system 20.

[0086] Next, in step S4, the comment acquisition unit 104 acquires comments related to inventory management entered by the user from the input unit 103. At this time, the input unit 103 accepts user input of comments related to inventory management. The comment acquisition unit 104 acquires the user comments accepted by the input unit 103.

[0087] Next, in step S5, the inventory trend calculation unit 102 calculates the MACD value of past daily inventory quantities and a signal value that represents the moving average of the MACD values, based on the past daily inventory quantities acquired by the data acquisition unit 101.

[0088] Next, in step S6, the prompt creation unit 107 creates a prompt that describes a task to have the generating AI 109 analyze inventory quantity, demand, incoming quantity, MACD value, signal value, planned incoming quantity, safety stock level, maximum production quantity, maximum storage quantity, and comments.

[0089] Next, in step S7, the analysis report acquisition unit 108 inputs the prompt created by the prompt creation unit 107 to the generation AI 109.

[0090] Next, in step S8, the generating AI 109 analyzes the inventory quantity, demand, incoming quantity, MACD value, signal value, planned incoming quantity, safety stock level, maximum production quantity, maximum storage quantity, and comments based on the input prompts, and generates an analysis report as the analysis result.

[0091] Next, in step S9, the analysis report acquisition unit 108 acquires the analysis report from the generation AI 109. The analysis report acquisition unit 108 outputs the acquired analysis report to the display unit 106.

[0092] Next, in step S10, the display unit 106 displays the analysis report acquired by the analysis report acquisition unit 108.

[0093] In this way, the MACD value of past daily inventory levels and a signal value representing the moving average of the MACD values ​​are calculated. Therefore, it is possible to understand the trend of inventory levels from the MACD value and signal value of inventory levels, and to analyze the inventory situation in more detail. Consequently, it is possible to improve the efficiency of inventory management operations and suppress the occurrence of stockouts and excess inventory.

[0094] Furthermore, the analysis report can present users with information about any abnormalities in inventory levels detected through the analysis, the reasons for the abnormalities, and methods to improve the situation, enabling users to respond quickly to any abnormalities in inventory levels.

[0095] Next, specific examples of prompts and analysis reports in this embodiment will be described.

[0096] Figure 7 shows a first example of a prompt 201 created by the prompt creation unit 107 in this embodiment. Figure 8 shows the trends in past inventory levels, demand, and incoming quantities shown in Figure 7. In Figure 8, the horizontal axis represents time (date), and the vertical axis represents quantity (number of units). The solid line represents inventory levels, the dashed line represents demand, and the dotted line represents incoming quantities.

[0097] Figures 7 and 8 simulate a situation where the amount of goods received does not meet the demand.

[0098] The prompt 201 shown in Figure 7 includes a sentence 211 that instructs the role of the generating AI 109, a sentence 212 that describes the type of data, data 213 that shows past daily inventory levels, data 214 that shows past daily demand, data 215 that shows past daily incoming quantities, data 216 that shows past daily MACD values, data 217 that shows past daily signal values, data 218 that shows future planned daily incoming quantities, data 219 that shows the safety stock level, data 220 that shows the maximum daily production volume, data 221 that shows the maximum storage volume, a comment 222 entered by the user (inventory manager), a sentence 223 that indicates the task to be performed by the generating AI 109, and a sentence 224 that indicates additional instructions such as the display format.

[0099] Document 211 states that Generative AI 109 is an "advanced AI inventory analyst" and is assigned the role of "supporting inventory management." Document 223 states that Generative AI 109's tasks are to "analyze data and provide warning statements that immediately identify areas of concern from the data" and to "list and specifically explain recommended next actions / plans to be taken to mitigate concerns and strengthen inventory management practices."

[0100] Additionally, comment 222 is written as "Nothing in particular". If the user does not enter a comment, or if the user enters the comment "Nothing in particular", the prompt creation unit 107 writes the comment "Nothing in particular" to the prompt.

[0101] The basic prompts stored in the basic prompt storage unit 200 include texts 211, 212, 223, and 224. The prompt creation unit 107 creates prompt 201 by writing the acquired various data 213 to 221 and comment 222 to the basic prompts read from the basic prompt storage unit 200.

[0102] Figure 9 shows a first example of the analysis report 301 generated by the generating AI 109 in this embodiment.

[0103] The analysis report 301 shown in Figure 9 includes a warning title 311 indicating the warning suggested as a result of the data analysis, a text 312 explaining the reason for the suggested warning, and a text 313 indicating the recommended next action / plan.

[0104] The generating AI 109 generates the analysis report 301 shown in Figure 9 based on the prompt 201 shown in Figure 7.

[0105] Warning title 311 reads, “Dangerous decline in inventory levels,” and sentence 312 explains the reasons for the warning. Sentence 313 lists the following recommended actions / plans to be taken to mitigate concerns and strengthen inventory management practices.

[0106] The analysis report 301 shown in Figure 9 is based on the historical trends in inventory levels, demand, and incoming shipments shown in Figure 8.

[0107] As shown in Figure 5, when the signal value exceeds the MACD value, a warning is issued indicating that inventory is being consumed rapidly and that there is a risk of running out of stock. The black circles in Figure 5 indicate the timing at which warnings of potential stock shortages are issued. In particular, period 401 is a short-term trend in which warnings of potential stock shortages are issued continuously for a short period of about one week, while period 402 is a long-term trend in which warnings of potential stock shortages are issued continuously for a long period of more than one month. By calculating the MACD value and signal value of the inventory quantity, it becomes possible to analyze the short-term and long-term trends of potential stock shortages.

[0108] Figure 10 shows a second example of a prompt 202 created by the prompt creation unit 107 in this embodiment. Figure 11 shows the trends in past inventory levels, demand, and incoming quantities shown in Figure 10. In Figure 11, the horizontal axis represents time (date), and the vertical axis represents quantity (number of units). The solid line represents inventory levels, the dashed line represents demand, and the dotted line represents incoming quantities.

[0109] The content of sentences 211, 212, 223, and 224 shown in Figure 10 is the same as the content of sentences 211, 212, 223, and 224 shown in Figure 7.

[0110] Figures 10 and 11 simulate a situation where the increase in future demand described in the comments is not reflected in inventory management.

[0111] Comment 222, shown in Figure 10, states, "We plan to hold a campaign in one month. The campaign period will be three months. We plan to sell 30,000 units per month during the campaign."

[0112] Figure 12 shows a second example of the analysis report 302 generated by the generating AI 109 in this embodiment.

[0113] The generating AI 109 generates the analysis report 302 shown in Figure 12 based on the prompt 202 shown in Figure 10.

[0114] Warning title 311 reads, "Risk of Inventory Shortages During the Campaign Period," and text 312 explains the reasons for the warning. Text 313 lists the following recommended actions / plans to be taken to mitigate concerns and strengthen inventory management practices.

[0115] The analysis report 302 shown in Figure 12 reflects the historical trends in inventory, demand, and incoming inventory shown in Figure 11, as well as the comments 222 entered by the user. Specifically, the analysis report 302 indicates that the expected increase in future demand due to the campaign is not reflected in the planned incoming inventory and safety stock levels, and there is a risk of inventory shortages during the campaign period.

[0116] Figure 13 shows a third example of a prompt 203 created by the prompt creation unit 107 in this embodiment.

[0117] Figure 13 simulates a scenario where there are no abnormalities in inventory management.

[0118] The content of sentences 211, 212, 223, and 224 shown in Figure 13 is the same as the content of sentences 211, 212, 223, and 224 shown in Figure 7. Also, the values ​​of the various data 213 to 221 shown in Figure 13 are the same as the values ​​of the various data 213 to 221 shown in Figure 10. The comment 222 shown in Figure 13 is written as "None in particular".

[0119] Figure 14 shows a third example of the analysis report 303 generated by the generating AI 109 in this embodiment.

[0120] The generating AI 109 generates the analysis report 303 shown in Figure 14 based on the prompt 203 shown in Figure 13.

[0121] Warning title 311 reads, "Maintaining Inventory Levels," and sentence 312 explains the reasons for the warning. Sentence 313 lists the following recommended actions / plans to be taken to mitigate concerns and strengthen inventory management practices.

[0122] In addition to the warning title 311 and text 312, the analysis report 303 further includes text 313 indicating that there are no abnormalities. Since text 224 shown in Figure 13 instructed that this be reported if there are no abnormalities, text 313 states that there are no abnormalities in inventory management.

[0123] In prompt 202 shown in Figure 10, comment 222 is entered, whereas in prompt 203 shown in Figure 13, comment 222 is not entered. Therefore, although prompt 202 and prompt 203 use the same data, analysis report 303 is different from analysis report 302.

[0124] Furthermore, some or all of the functions of the apparatus according to the embodiments of this disclosure may be realized by a processor such as a CPU executing a program.

[0125] Furthermore, all figures used above are illustrative examples provided to illustrate this disclosure, and this disclosure is not limited to these illustrative figures.

[0126] Furthermore, the order in which the steps shown in the flowchart above are performed is illustrative for the purpose of specifically illustrating this disclosure, and other orders are acceptable as long as similar effects are achieved. Also, some of the steps above may be performed simultaneously (in parallel) with other steps.

[0127] The technology described herein is useful as a technology for managing product inventory because it can improve the efficiency of inventory management operations and suppress the occurrence of stockouts and excess inventory.

Claims

1. An information processing method performed by a computer, comprising: obtaining past daily inventory quantities, demand, and incoming quantities of a product; calculating a moving average convergence-divergence (MACD) value of the past daily inventory quantities and a signal value indicating the moving average of the MACD value based on the inventory quantities; creating an analysis report analyzing the inventory situation using the inventory quantities, demand, incoming quantities, MACD value, and signal value; and outputting the analysis report.

2. The information processing method according to claim 1, wherein the creation of the analysis report includes: creating a prompt that describes a task to cause a generating artificial intelligence (AI) to analyze the inventory quantity, the demand, the incoming quantity, the MACD value, and the signal value; and obtaining the analysis report generated by the generating AI by inputting the prompt into the generating AI.

3. The information processing method according to claim 1 or 2, further comprising obtaining future daily planned incoming quantities of the product, wherein the preparation of the analysis report includes preparing the analysis report using the inventory quantity, the demand, the incoming quantity, the MACD value, the signal value, and the planned incoming quantity.

4. The information processing method according to claim 1 or 2, further comprising obtaining the safety stock level of the product, the maximum daily production volume of the product, and the maximum storage volume of the product, wherein the preparation of the analysis report includes preparing the analysis report using the inventory volume, the demand, the incoming volume, the MACD value, the signal value, the safety stock level, the maximum production volume, and the maximum storage volume.

5. The information processing method according to claim 1 or 2, further comprising obtaining the production cost of the product, the storage cost of the product, and the price of the product, wherein the preparation of the analysis report includes preparing the analysis report using the inventory quantity, the demand, the incoming quantity, the MACD value, the signal value, the production cost, the storage cost, and the price.

6. The information processing method according to claim 1 or 2, further comprising obtaining comments on inventory management entered by a user, wherein the creation of the analysis report includes creating the analysis report using the inventory quantity, the demand, the incoming quantity, the MACD value, the signal value, and the comments.

7. The information processing method according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the analysis report includes a warning title indicating a warning title suggested to the user as a result of analyzing the inventory quantity, demand, incoming quantity, MACD value, and signal value, and the reason for suggesting the warning.

8. The information processing method according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the output includes displaying the analysis report.

9. An information processing device comprising a processor, wherein the processor acquires past daily inventory levels, demand, and incoming quantities of a product; calculates a moving average convergence-divergence (MACD) value of the past daily inventory levels and a signal value representing the moving average of the MACD value based on the inventory levels; creates an analysis report analyzing the inventory levels using the inventory levels, demand, incoming quantities, MACD value, and signal value; and outputs the analysis report.

10. An information processing program that obtains historical daily inventory levels, demand, and incoming quantities of a product; calculates a moving average convergence-divergence (MACD) value of the historical daily inventory levels and a signal value representing the moving average of the MACD value based on the inventory levels; creates an analysis report analyzing the inventory levels using the inventory levels, demand, incoming quantities, MACD value, and signal value; and causes a computer to function to output the analysis report.

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