Supply Chain Traceability Modeling for Upstream Supplier Gaps
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Solution Overview
Problem
Companies face challenges in identifying and assessing risks associated with suppliers in the supply chain beyond their immediate Tier 1 suppliers, particularly during disasters or malfunctions, due to limited traceability information on upstream suppliers.
Innovation Solution
A traceability information creation support system utilizing a processor and storage device to learn relationships between articles and their suppliers, estimate missing information, and update models based on user confirmation to create comprehensive traceability records, including supplier risk assessment.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Loss of information
If a company directly purchases and manages parts from Tier 1 suppliers, then information on directly purchased parts is acquired, but information on upstream suppliers (Tier 2 and beyond) remains inaccessible
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces an information processing system that acts as an intermediary to collect, integrate, and manage traceability information from multiple supply chain levels. This system receives data from Tier 1 suppliers and automatically traces upstream to Tier 2 and beyond suppliers, bridging the information gap without requiring direct company involvement at each supply chain level.
Solution Approach 2:
The system performs preliminary actions by proactively collecting and organizing traceability information from upstream suppliers before risks occur. It maintains a pre-established database of supplier relationships and part flow information, enabling rapid risk assessment and response when disasters or malfunctions occur in the supply chain.
2Reliability
If traceability information is expanded to include upstream suppliers, then supply chain risk identification is improved, but information management complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments the complex supply chain information into manageable hierarchical levels (Tier 1, Tier 2, Tier 3, etc.). The system processes and manages information at each level separately, allowing companies to focus on immediate Tier 1 suppliers while automatically tracking upstream risks at deeper levels without overwhelming information management complexity.
Solution Approach 2:
The information processing system performs multiple functions: it collects data from various sources, stores traceability information, traces upstream suppliers automatically, assesses risks, and provides alerts. This multi-functional system consolidates what would otherwise require separate tools and processes, managing complexity through integration rather than proliferation of separate systems.
3Loss of information
If complete traceability information is manually collected from all suppliers, then comprehensive risk identification is achieved, but time and resources required increase significantly
Solution Approach 1:
The system enables self-service by automatically collecting traceability information from suppliers through integrated data exchange interfaces. Suppliers input their own part and supplier information into the system, which then automatically traces upstream relationships without requiring manual data collection efforts from the purchasing company, significantly reducing time and resource requirements.
Solution Approach 2:
The system establishes feedback loops where traceability information flows automatically from suppliers back to the purchasing company through the information processing system. This continuous feedback mechanism ensures complete traceability information is maintained without requiring periodic manual data collection, as the system continuously updates and refreshes supplier relationship data.
Data Source
AI summary
Provided is a traceability information creation support system, comprising a processor and a storage device, wherein the storage device holds an article and a model that has learned a relationship between an article and an article forming the article and a supplier thereof, and wherein the processor is configured to receive an input of traceability information indicating a relationship between an article and at least one article forming the article and a supplier thereof, estimate, by using the model, one or more articles and suppliers thereof that are lacking in the input traceability information, output the estimated one or more articles and suppliers thereof for confirmation by a user, store one or more articles and suppliers thereof confirmed by the user in the storage device as determined traceability information, and update the model by learning the determined traceability information.