JP2010003234A - Order processing apparatus and order processing program - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an order processing apparatus and an order processing program which perform order processing, after receiving approval from an administrator. <P>SOLUTION: A consumables monitoring unit 42 monitors whether a remainder of a consumable item for a target apparatus becomes a predetermined threshold value or less. When the remainder becomes the predetermined threshold or less, a confirmation unit 38 asks the owner to determine whether to make an application to the administrator for an order of the consumable item. When the owner inputs a direction to the effect that the owner will make the application, a price obtaining unit 36 obtains price information of the consumable item from an administration device 52, and a recording unit 30 records predetermined information, including the price information in order-sheet information registered by an order-sheet information registering unit 26, on the basis of a recording rule set by a recording rule setting unit 28. An order-sheet information sending unit 32 sends the order-sheet information to an administrator's terminal, and the like. When the administrator inputs order instruction information, on the basis of the order-sheet information, an order processing unit 34 sends the order-sheet information to a supplier of the consumable item for order processing. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2010,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to an order processing apparatus and an order processing program.

  Conventionally, a system for automating the ordering of toner, printing paper and other consumables used in office equipment has been proposed. For example, in the following Patent Document 1, a server that supplies consumables monitors the state of each consumer's consumables, and receives an order for an alternative consumable when the remaining amount of consumables is reduced to a certain threshold. It is disclosed.

JP 2002-318678 A

  When ordering consumables requires administrator approval, the consumer must monitor the status of the consumables and obtain approval from the administrator before ordering replacement consumables . For this purpose, a procedure for obtaining the approval of the manager, such as creation of a consumable purchase order, submission to the manager, and the like occurs.

  An object of the present invention is to provide an order processing apparatus and an order processing program for executing order processing after receiving approval from an administrator.

  In order to achieve the above object, the invention of the order processing apparatus according to claim 1 sets the order form information registration means for registering the order form information set for each order object, and the description rule of the order form information. A description rule setting means; a description means for describing predetermined items in the registered order form information based on the description rules; an order form information transmitting means for transmitting the described order form information to an administrator; And order processing means for performing order processing based on the order form information based on an instruction from the manager.

  The invention according to claim 2 is the invention according to claim 1, wherein the order form information registration means receives the order form information via the communication means or reads the order form image by the image reading device. Purchase order information is acquired and registered.

  According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the first or second aspect of the present invention, the purchase order information transmitting means is a facsimile, e-mail, storage in a storage area exclusively for an administrator, or a printing apparatus used by the administrator. The purchase order information is transmitted to the manager by transmitting the above.

  According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, the invention according to any one of the first to third aspects further comprises price acquisition means for acquiring price information of an order object from a management device, wherein the description means includes the order The target price information is described in the order form information.

  The invention according to claim 5 is the invention according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein the order form information is transmitted to the administrator when the remaining amount to be ordered is below a predetermined threshold value. Confirmation means for confirming whether or not to do so, wherein the order form information transmitting means performs processing for transmitting the order form information based on the confirmation result.

  The invention of the order processing program according to claim 6 includes: a purchase order information registration means for registering order form information set for each order object; a description rule setting means for setting a description rule for the order form information; In the registered order form information, description means for describing predetermined items based on the description rules, order form information transmitting means for transmitting the described order form information to an administrator, based on an instruction from the administrator, It is characterized by functioning as order processing means for performing order processing based on purchase order information.

  According to the first aspect of the present invention, the order process can be executed after receiving the approval of the manager from the order form in which the predetermined items are described, as compared with the case where the present configuration is not provided.

  According to the second aspect of the present invention, it is possible to use the purchase order currently in use without modification as compared with the case where the present configuration is not provided.

  According to the third aspect of the present invention, it is possible to easily submit an order form or the like to the manager as compared with the case where this configuration is not provided.

  According to the invention of claim 4, as compared with the case where this configuration is not provided, it is possible to reflect the order target price information in the order form without checking each time.

  According to the fifth aspect of the present invention, it is possible to determine whether or not to apply for an order to the manager according to the remaining amount of the order object, compared with the case where the present configuration is not provided.

  According to the sixth aspect of the present invention, it is possible to provide an order processing program capable of executing the order processing after receiving the approval of the manager from the order form in which the predetermined items are described, as compared with the case without this configuration.

  Hereinafter, the best mode for carrying out the present invention (hereinafter referred to as an embodiment) will be described with reference to the drawings.

  FIG. 1 shows an example of the hardware configuration of a computer constituting the order processing apparatus according to the present invention. In FIG. 1, the order processing device includes a central processing unit (for example, a CPU can be used) 10, a random access memory (RAM) 12, a read-only memory (ROM) 14, a communication device 16, an input device 18, and a display device 20. And a hard disk device (HDD) 22. These components are connected to each other by a bus 24.

  The CPU 10 controls the operation of each unit described below based on a control program stored in the RAM 12 or the ROM 14. The RAM 12 mainly functions as a work area for the CPU 10, and the ROM 14 stores a control program such as BIOS and other data used by the CPU 10.

  The communication device 16 includes a USB (Universal Serial Bus) port, a network port, and other appropriate interfaces, and is used by the CPU 10 to exchange data with an external device via communication means such as a network.

  The input device 18 includes a keyboard, a pointing device, a touch panel, and the like, and is used to input operation instructions such as an order application instruction and an order instruction, which will be described later, and other information.

  The display device 20 includes a liquid crystal display, a touch panel, and the like, and displays order form information, confirmation information for the user, a user interface screen used for information input, and the like.

  The hard disk device 22 is a large-capacity storage device, and can store various data necessary for processing to be described later. Instead of the hard disk device 22, a nonvolatile storage device such as an EEPROM may be used.

  FIG. 2 shows a functional block diagram of an embodiment of the order processing apparatus according to the present invention. 2, the order processing apparatus includes an order form information registration unit 26, a description rule setting unit 28, a description unit 30, an order form information transmission unit 32, an order processing unit 34, a price acquisition unit 36, a confirmation unit 38, and a communication unit 40. And the consumables monitoring unit 42, and these functions are realized by the CPU 10 and a program for controlling the processing operation of the CPU 10.

  The purchase order information registration unit 26 stores and registers the electronic data of the order form set for each order object in the storage device such as the hard disk device 22 as the order form information. Here, examples of the order target include consumables used in the target device. The target device refers to, for example, a multifunction device having functions such as a printer, a facsimile device, a copy device, and a scanner. The order form information registration unit 26 receives the order form electronic data by e-mail or other appropriate communication method, or reads the order form image by an image reading apparatus such as a scanner to register the order form. Get electronic data.

  The description rule setting unit 28 sets the description rule of the order form information set for each order object. Here, the description rule is an agreement regarding which information is to be described in which position of the purchase order. Information indicating the description rule can be added to the order form information which is electronic data.

  The description unit 30 describes predetermined items in the order form information registered by the order form information registration unit 26 based on the description rules set by the description rule setting unit 28. Here, the description means writing information representing the predetermined item in the order form information according to the description rule.

  The purchase order information transmission unit 32 transmits the purchase order information already described by the description unit 30 to the administrator. Here, the administrator has the authority to approve orders for orders such as consumables. Further, the destination of the order form information is an administrator use target device 46 or an administrator use terminal 50 described later. The order form information is transmitted by facsimile, electronic mail, storage in a storage area dedicated to the administrator, or transmission to an administrator use target device 46 described later. When stored in the storage area dedicated to the manager, only the manager can take out the order form information. Further, when it is transmitted to the manager use target device 46, it is preferable that the transmitted purchase order information is printed out without any special instruction.

  The order processing unit 34 performs order processing based on the order form information based on the instruction from the administrator. This order processing is performed by transmitting the order form information to the supply destination to be ordered. The order processing unit 34 may be formed only in the manager use target device 46 or the manager use terminal 50 described later.

  The price acquisition unit 36 acquires price information of an order target such as consumables from the management device. The acquired price information may be stored in a storage device such as the hard disk device 22 and used for the next ordering process. In this case, it is preferable that the price acquisition unit 36 is notified of the update information from the management device when the price information is updated. The management device is a device that holds the price of each order as price information.

  The confirmation unit 38 displays confirmation information on the display device 20 for confirming to the user whether or not to send the order form information to the administrator when the remaining amount to be ordered is equal to or less than a predetermined threshold. . The remaining amount to be ordered is monitored by a consumable monitoring unit 42 described later.

  The communication unit 40 exchanges information with the administrator use target device 46, the administrator use terminal 50, the management device, or the like via communication means such as a network.

  The consumables monitoring unit 42 monitors the remaining amount of consumables used in the target device. The consumable monitoring unit 42 may be formed on a target device whose remaining amount of consumables is monitored, or may be formed on another device and communicates information on the remaining amount of consumables from the monitored target device. It is good also as a structure acquired via the part 40. FIG.

  FIG. 3 shows a configuration example of an order processing system to which the order processing apparatus according to the present invention is applied. In the order processing system shown in FIG. 3, a target device 44, an administrator use target device 46, a normal terminal 48, an administrator use terminal 50, and a management device 52 are connected via a communication means 54 such as a network.

  The target device 44 is a multifunction device or other device having functions such as a printer, a facsimile device, a copy device, and a scanner, and uses consumables. The administrator use target device 46 is a device used by the administrator among the target devices 44.

  The normal terminal 48 is configured by a computer device and is used by a user (other than the administrator) of the order processing system. Similarly to the normal terminal 48, the manager use terminal 50 is configured by a computer device and is used by the manager of the order processing system.

  The management device 52 is a device that holds the price of each order object as price information. The management device 52 is a device independent of the target device 44 or the administrator use target device 46, and is configured to always update the price information to the latest information. Although the management device 52 can be formed on the target device 44 or the administrator use target device 46, it is necessary for the user or the administrator to update the price information.

  Note that the numbers of the target device 44, the administrator use target device 46, the normal terminal 48, and the administrator use terminal 50 are not limited to the example illustrated in FIG. 3 and can be arbitrarily determined. Further, the order processing device according to the present invention can be formed in the target device 44, the administrator use target device 46, the normal terminal 48, and the administrator use terminal 50.

  However, it is not necessary to form all the components of the order processing device shown in FIG. 2 in each of the above devices, and it is determined which component is to be formed in which device in response to a request to the order processing system. May be. For example, in the target device 44 or the normal terminal 48, the order form information registration unit 26, the description rule setting unit 28, the description unit 30, the order form information transmission unit 32, the price acquisition unit 36, the confirmation unit 38, the communication unit 40, the consumption The product monitoring unit 42 may be provided, and the order processing unit 34 and the communication unit 40 may be provided in the manager use target device 46 or the manager use terminal 50. In this case, the order terminal information registration process and the description rule setting process are performed from the normal terminal 48, the confirmation process of whether or not to transmit the order form information to the administrator, the consumable price information acquisition process, the order form It is good also as a structure which the object apparatus 44 performs the description process to information, the transmission process of order form information, etc.

  FIG. 4 shows a flow of an operation example of the order processing apparatus according to the present invention. In FIG. 4, for example, in the order processing system of FIG. 3, the target device 44 receives electronic data (order form information) of the order form set for each order object by e-mail or the like, or the order form image is obtained by a scanner or the like. The purchase order information registration unit 26 stores the purchase order information in a storage device such as the hard disk device 22, and the description rule setting unit 28 sets a description rule for describing predetermined items in the purchase order information. It is assumed that it is set. Further, a process for monitoring the consumables of the target device 44 shown in FIG. 3 and creating purchase order information will be described as an example.

  In FIG. 4, the consumables monitoring unit 42 formed in the target device 44 monitors whether or not the remaining amount of consumables has become a predetermined threshold or less (S1), and the remaining amount of consumables has a predetermined threshold or less. When this happens, the confirmation unit 38 is notified accordingly. When the consumables monitoring unit 42 is formed on a target device 44 or a normal terminal 48 different from the target device 44 that monitors the remaining amount of consumables, the remaining amount of consumables is monitored. The information regarding the remaining amount of consumables is acquired from the target device 44 via the communication unit 40 and the communication means 54, and the process of S1 is executed.

  When the confirmation unit 38 receives a notification from the consumable monitoring unit 42 that the remaining amount of consumables has become a predetermined threshold value or less, the confirmation unit 38 transmits the order form information to the administrator and applies to the administrator to order the consumables. Confirmation information for confirming with the user whether or not to do so is displayed on the display device 20 (S2). The display device 20 is a display device provided in the target device 44 or the normal terminal 48 used by the user. The confirmation unit 38 monitors whether or not an instruction to apply is input from the user (S3). When the instruction to apply is input, the confirmation unit 38 notifies the price acquisition unit 36 of the input. The instruction to apply can be input by the input device 18 while referring to the user interface screen or the like displayed on the display device 20 by the user. In S3, the operation from S2 is repeated while an instruction to apply is not input from the user.

  FIG. 5 shows an example of a user interface screen for inquiring the user about ordering application. In FIG. 5, confirmation information “Remaining amount of consumable A has decreased. Do you want to apply for order?” Is displayed, and “Yes” and “No” buttons are displayed along with this confirmation information. The user performs an operation such as clicking the “Yes” button when applying for an order, and clicking the “No” button when not applying for an order. The consumable A represents a consumable such as toner and printing paper.

  Next, when the price acquisition unit 36 receives a notification from the confirmation unit 38 that the instruction to apply is input, the price acquisition unit 36 obtains the price information of the consumables from the management device 52 via the communication unit 40 and the communication unit 54. Obtain (S4).

  The description unit 30 describes predetermined information such as consumable type, quantity, price information (unit price) acquired by the price acquisition unit 36, and the orderer based on the description rules set by the description rule setting unit 28, and places an order. Document information is created (S5). By this processing, the predetermined information is written in the purchase order information, which is electronic data, according to the description rule. The created order form information is passed to the order form information transmission unit 32.

  The purchase order information transmission unit 32 transmits the purchase order information acquired from the description unit 30 to the administrator use target device 46 or the administrator use terminal 50 by a method such as facsimile, e-mail, or storage in a dedicated storage area. (S6). Further, the order form information transmitting unit 32 may transmit the order form information to the manager use target device 46 having a printing function. In this case, it is preferable that the transmitted purchase order information is printed out.

  The administrator who has received the order form information displays the order form information on the manager use target device 46 or the display device 20 of the manager use terminal 50, or prints out and confirms whether or not to approve the order. To decide. When approving the order, the user interface screen displayed on the display device 20 is referred to, and order instruction information is input from the input device 18.

  FIG. 6 shows an example of a user interface screen for order application approval. In FIG. 6, a message “Do you approve order application?” Is displayed, and “Yes” and “No” buttons are displayed along with this wording. When approving the order application, the administrator performs an operation such as clicking on the “Yes” button and inputs the order instruction information. If not approved, an operation such as clicking on the “No” button is performed.

  The order processing unit 34 monitors whether or not the order instruction information has been input (S7). When the order instruction information is input, the order processing information is transmitted to the supply destination to be ordered as an order process. (S8). When the order processing unit 34 is not formed on the manager use target device 46 or the manager use terminal 50, the order instruction information is acquired via the communication unit 40 and the communication unit 54.

  In S7, when the order instruction information is not input (the “No” button is clicked), the process is terminated.

  Note that the above-described program for executing the steps of FIG. 4 can be stored in a recording medium, and the program can be provided by communication means. In that case, for example, the above-described program can also be regarded as an invention of a “computer-readable recording medium recording the program”.

It is a figure which shows the example of the hardware constitutions of the computer which comprises the order processing apparatus concerning this invention. It is a functional block diagram of one embodiment of an order processing device concerning the present invention. It is a figure which shows the structural example of the order processing system to which the order processing apparatus concerning this invention is applied. It is a flowchart of the operation example of the order processing apparatus concerning this invention. It is a figure which shows the example of the user interface screen for inquiring a user about order application. It is a figure which shows the example of the user interface screen for order application approval.

Explanation of symbols

  10 CPU, 12 RAM, 14 ROM, 16 communication device, 18 input device, 20 display device, 22 hard disk device, 24 bus, 26 order information registration part, 28 description rule setting part, 30 description part, 32 order information transmission 34, order processing unit, 36 price acquisition unit, 38 confirmation unit, 40 communication unit, 42 consumables monitoring unit, 44 target device, 46 administrator use target device, 48 normal terminal, 50 administrator use terminal, 52 management device 54 Communication means.

Claims (6)

Order form information registration means for registering order form information set for each order target;
A description rule setting means for setting a description rule of the purchase order information;
In the registered purchase order information, description means for describing a predetermined item based on the description rule;
Order form information transmitting means for transmitting the described order form information to an administrator;
Order processing means for performing order processing based on the order form information based on instructions from the manager;
An order processing apparatus comprising:   2. The order processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the order form information registration unit obtains the order form information by receiving the order form information through the communication unit or by reading the order form image with the image reading apparatus. Order processing apparatus characterized by registering.   3. The order processing apparatus according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the order form information transmitting means stores the order form information by facsimile, e-mail, storage in a storage area dedicated to an administrator, or transmission to a printing apparatus used by the administrator. Is transmitted to the administrator.   The order processing apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 3, further comprising price acquisition means for acquiring order target price information from a management apparatus, wherein the description means orders the order target price information. An order processing apparatus characterized in that it is described in a document information.   The order processing device according to any one of claims 1 to 4, further confirms whether or not to send the order form information to the administrator when the remaining amount to be ordered is equal to or less than a predetermined threshold value. An order processing apparatus, wherein the order form information transmitting means performs processing for transmitting the order form information based on the confirmation result. Computer
Order form information registration means for registering the order form information set for each order object;
Description rule setting means for setting a description rule for the purchase order information,
Description means for describing predetermined items in the registered purchase order information based on the description rules,
Order form information transmitting means for transmitting the described order form information to an administrator;
Order processing means for performing order processing based on the order form information based on instructions from the administrator;
An order processing program characterized by functioning as

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