JPH0777000B2 - Logistics management system - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Industrial field of use] The present invention relates to a physical distribution system in which an article ordered from a customer is delivered to a customer's house by a delivery vehicle and the article is delivered. In particular, the traveling route of the vehicle is indefinite. The management system of the logistics system.

[Prior art]

In such a system, as described in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 60-110098, a terminal controller is used to display the sales status of each terminal, so-called point of sales (POS).
Using the system, transaction information of merchandise is exchanged between the order receiving center and the delivery vehicle.
The vehicle operation management system (MCA system) described in Japanese Patent Publication No. 98 was used to manage the operation of delivery vehicles. Further, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 60-173700 describes a technique for communicating the position information from a position detection device mounted on the vehicle to the management station together with the operation information of the vehicle.

[Problems to be Solved by the Invention]

According to the above-mentioned conventional technique, since the management of the commodity transaction information and the operation management of the vehicle are performed by independent systems, there has been a problem that the operation of transmitting the information on the vehicle side becomes complicated and the transmitting device becomes complicated. Further, there is a problem that information management is complicated on the order center side. Further, in the conventional technology that transmits the vehicle position information to the management station together with the vehicle operation information, it is necessary to install a complicated and expensive detection device for detecting the position on the vehicle side.

An object of the present invention is to realize management of merchandise transaction information and vehicle operation management by one simple system without providing a special position detection device on the vehicle.

[Means for Solving the Problems]

The above purpose is a logistics system that receives an order from a customer at a management center, attaches a bar code indicating customer information / product information to the ordered product, and delivers it to the customer by a delivery vehicle. A bar code that reads the bar code attached to the product A reader, a communication system for transmitting the customer / product information read by the bar code reader from the delivery vehicle to the management center, installed in the management center, and based on the customer / product information sent from the delivery vehicle, In the host computer that updates the article management data stored in the database, based on the customer information sent from the delivery vehicle to this host computer, the customer address stored in the database is stored in the customer register. Search function, detect the position of the vehicle from the address, and manage the operation of the vehicle. Can be achieved.

[Action]

According to the present invention configured as described above, the transaction information management of the merchandise and the operation management of the delivery vehicle can be operated by substantially one system, and the trouble of transmitting and receiving the information and the cost increase of the device are eliminated.

In addition, since the operation management information of the delivery vehicle can be obtained from the database of transaction information of existing products, the utilization rate of the database is increased and it is not necessary to install a special position detecting device on the vehicle.

〔Example〕

An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to FIG. First
The figure shows the overall configuration of a POS system in the operating industry according to the present invention. First, an order from the customer 10 to the order receiving center 11 is made via a telephone line or the like. This order is processed using a personal computer and office computer, and a customer list (name, phone number, address, etc.), home delivery, collection and delivery, and an order list are stored as a database. This is called an order entry system. Based on this order list, automatic arrangements will be made at 12 factories and 13 warehouses using NTT communication lines. Also, based on the customer list
Information on the destination, travel route, visit time, etc. is also transmitted to 14 collection / delivery (service) centers using communication lines. The 14 service centers are MCAs for contacting operating vehicles.
It consists of a base station, a cargo collection point that outputs operation records and creates slips, and a baggage loading area that attaches barcodes to items. The fifteen transportation periods include trucks and other vehicles. The details of the device mounted on this will be described later. The fifteen vehicles deliver parcels from ten collection and delivery centers to ten customers, and conversely, collect and deliver parcels from ten customers. or,
During operation, it contacts business with 14 collection and delivery centers via 16 MCA relay stations.

Next, the devices mounted on the fifteen vehicles will be described with reference to FIG. First, there is an in-vehicle stationary device 200 including an MCA communication device 20 that is a means for making business contact with 14 collection and delivery centers, and a printer 21 that outputs the contents of communication (communication) performed by communication by this MCA. Furthermore, there is a portable device (carrying terminal) 201 consisting of a bar code reader 22 for reading the bar code attached to the luggage and a keyboard 23 for recording work / delivery data etc. These are connected by a code 24. It

Fig. 3 shows the structure of the order center 11 and the customer 10, factory 12, and
It shows the connection between the warehouse 13 and the collection / delivery center 14, that is, the relationship between order entry. First, an order request from the customer 10 is received by the order center 11 by telephone or input / output terminal 30.
Sent to. The request by telephone is input to the host computer 32 by the data input / output terminal 31 of the center 11,
In addition, the input / output terminal 30 directly inputs to the computer 32. Here, the host computer 32 is
It is composed of a personal computer and creates a database for the order ledger (item name, quantity, etc.) and customer ledger (customer name, address, telephone number, etc.). In addition, the host computer 32 is a factory 12.
It is also connected to the terminal computer of the warehouse 13 via a communication line, always grasps the production / inventory situation (production management / inventory management), and holds those data. Host computer based on these order / production / stock data
32 automatically makes a production request to the factory 12 and an order request to the warehouse 13. And the terminal computer of the collection and delivery center 14
33 make delivery arrangements. The details of the arrangement are a delivery list, a customer list, a collection / delivery route, and a destination label (bar code / label) attached to the item.

FIG. 4 shows the structure of the collection / delivery center 14. The terminal computer 33 accepts the delivery arrangement sent from the host computer 32 of the order receiving center 11 via the communication line, and sends an instruction to the cargo collection / delivery office 40 and the cargo sorting / loading office 41 according to the contents of the arrangement. Outputs slips to the collection and delivery point,
On the contrary, the delivery / delivery center receives the delivery and delivery contents from the customer 10 and the delivery record from the warehouse 13. At the load sorting and loading place, the output instruction of the luggage code (bar code label) to be attached to the item is given. In addition, the MCA wireless device 42 is used to send stop data (travel route instruction / visit time, etc.) to the operating vehicle to the operating vehicle 15 via the MCA relay station 16.

FIG. 5 is a block diagram of the vehicle-mounted device. First of all, a microcomputer computer 501 that controls the entire in-vehicle stationary device 200.
There is. A non-volatile memory (ROM) 502 that stores the operation procedure of the control unit 501 and a temporary data save /
A volatile memory (RAM) 503 for storing is connected to 501. A memory cassette 5 for storing data and operation records (operation time / operation speed etc.) input from the keyboard 23 and the barcode reader 22 of the portable device 201.
05 is connected to 501 via the memory cassette control circuit 504. In the MCA communication device 20, "voice call" and "data transmission" are performed, and the instruction data from the collection / delivery center 14 is sent to the printer 21 via the printer drive circuit 506.
Is output from. Similar to the in-vehicle stationary device 200, the portable device 201 includes a microcomputer 507 that controls the entire control, a control data storage ROM 508, a temporary data save / storage RAM 509, and a barcode reader 22 that controls the control circuit 510 ( It is connected to my (black) computer 507 via the barcode I / O circuit). The keyboard 23 is also connected to the my (black) computer 507 via the control circuit 511 (keyboard I / O circuit). The in-vehicle stationary device 200 and the portable device 201 are connected by the respective connection plugs 512 and 513 and the cord 24.

POS with the above configuration to detect vehicle position during operation
The control procedure of the system will be described below.

FIG. 6 shows an example of the control procedure for order entry.
When the order request 60 from the customer 10 is transmitted to the order receiving center 11 via a telephone line or the like, the center uses the host computer 32 to make an order ledger. Creating / updating the database for the customer ledger 61
Then, at 62, an inventory check of customer ordered items is performed using the database for inventory management. If there is stock, an order request is sent to the warehouse 13 at 63 and the database is updated. If there is no inventory or there is a shortage, a production request (instruction) is sent to the factory 12 at 65 and the database for inventory management / production management is updated. On the other hand, the warehouse 13 and the factory 12 receive the requests of 63 and 65, respectively, and deliver the goods to the collection and delivery center at 64, and start the production at 66. Order Center 11
Then, after the requests 63 and 65 are completed, at 67, a delivery request (delivery list / customer list / collection / delivery route / destination label) is sent to the collection / delivery center 14 via the communication line. Upon receipt of the request, the collection / delivery center starts the work of receiving the article at 68.

FIG. 7 is an example of a control procedure for home delivery work. Collection and delivery center 14
Then, as shown in Fig. 68, when the receiving work is started, the cargo sorting and loading place
At 41, attach the barcode label to the item. Then, at 71, the luggage is loaded on the transportation system (vehicle) 15, the business communication and the operation start instruction are sent to the loaded vehicle, and the vehicle starts the MCA communication at 72. After this, the collection / delivery center 14 sends a communication to the vehicle 15 regarding the collection / delivery travel route, visiting time, etc., as needed.
Is output to. The transportation means 15 starts to send information for informing the position of the vehicle from the start of MCA communication of 72, that is, the start of operation. This will be described in detail with reference to FIGS.

FIG. 8 is an example of the notification of the vehicle position by the transportation means 15 visiting the customer. First, at 80, the luggage is unloaded, and the portable device 201 is brought, and the barcode attached to the luggage at 81 is scanned by the 22 barcode reader. Then, when returning to the vehicle, the portable device 201 and the in-vehicle stationary device 200 are connected by the cord 24. At this time, after the information (customer code) read from the barcode is transmitted between 201 and 200,
From the in-vehicle MCA20 under the control of Microcomputer 501
This customer code is automatically sent to 14 to 82. The collection and delivery center 83 transmits this to the order receiving center 11. Order Center 11
Can search the address from the customer ledger database, the vehicle position of the transportation means 15 can be found at 84. Then, at 85, the new vehicle position is registered.

FIG. 9 shows an example of vehicle position notification when the transportation system 15 is moving. First, the transportation system 15 periodically sends the travel distance from the previous visit destination (easily found by the vehicle speed sensor) to the collection / delivery center 14 using MCA at 90. The collection and delivery center 91 transmits this to the order receiving center 11. Since the order receiving center 11 holds the traveling route of the vehicle and the customer address in the database, the vehicle position is obtained from the previous visited address and the moving route / movement distance from the previous visiting address in 92, and the new vehicle position is registered in 93. I'll do it.

Next, a method for the customer's pick-up and delivery request will be described with reference to FIG. In this case, it is more efficient to operate the vehicle 15 in the proximity of the customer with the vehicle 15 in operation than the vehicle 15 in the collection and delivery center 14 in response to the request, and the response time to the customer is increased. It is a method of shortening. First, when the customer 10 sends a pick-up / delivery request 100 to the order receiving center 11, the center 101 searches the database for an operating vehicle in the vicinity of the customer, and at 102, a pick-up / delivery additional instruction (vehicle number / customer name / new The travel route etc) is sent to the collection and delivery center 14. The center 14 uses the MCA communication at 103 for the corresponding vehicle.
Transmit to 15. After the vehicle receives this data at 104,
The data is output to the printer 21. Also, the bar code is not prepared in advance when visiting the customer who came in by such a dash, but at this time, prepare a null code bar code in advance in the car and scan it when visiting. As a result, the order center 11 is notified as shown in FIG. 8, and the center 11 is asked for a destination based on the vehicle number, traveling route, moving distance, and visiting time.

As described above, by using the barcode and the MCA communication, it is possible to provide the vehicle position detection system that can dynamically grasp the position of the operating vehicle.

〔The invention's effect〕

According to the present invention, since the vehicle position can be grasped dynamically at the central center, there is an effect that the operation management is accurately performed. Further, since it is possible to additionally instruct a visit to a customer in the vicinity of the running vehicle, there is an effect that the operating rate of the operating vehicle can be improved and the customer's request can be expedited.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a system diagram showing the overall configuration of one embodiment of the present invention and their connections, FIG. 2 is a diagram showing the configuration of an in-vehicle device, and FIG. 3 is a diagram showing the configuration of an order receiving center. FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a configuration of a collection and delivery center, FIG. 5 is a system configuration diagram of an in-vehicle device, FIG. 6 is a flow chart showing an order entry control procedure, and FIG. 7 is a delivery delivery control procedure. FIG. 8 and FIG. 9 are flow charts showing the control procedure for detecting the vehicle position, and FIG. 10 is a flow chart showing the control procedure for instructing addition to the vehicle. 10 ... Customer, 11 ... Order center, 12 ... Factory, 13 ... Warehouse, 14 ...
Collection / delivery center, 15 ... Transportation facility, 16 ... MCA relay station.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A distribution management system for managing a distribution system in which a management center receives an order from a customer, attaches a bar code indicating customer information and product information to the ordered product, and delivers it to the customer by a delivery vehicle. A bar code reader that reads the bar code attached to the item, a communication system that transmits the customer / commodity information read by this bar code reader from the delivery vehicle to the management center, and is installed in the management center and sent from the delivery vehicle. In a logistics management system having a host computer that updates the article management data stored in the database based on the received customer / commodity information, the host computer is further provided with the customer information sent from the delivery vehicle. Based on this, the customer's address stored in the database is searched and the customer's address is retrieved from that address. Logistics management system characterized by having a detects the position of the serial vehicle function for operation control of said vehicle.