JP2014091298A - Consumables management device, and consumables management program - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To facilitate appropriate instruction for delivering consumables to a spot where an image forming apparatus is installed.SOLUTION: A communication part 21 obtains, from an image forming apparatus 3, a value indicating a degree of consumption of toner and a value indicating an operating condition of the apparatus; an assumed-consumption identification part 22 identifies a current assumed consumption volume of the toner on the basis of the values respectively indicating the degree of consumption of the toner and the operating condition, the value obtained from the image forming apparatus 3; a prediction part 23 predicts a value indicating a degree of consumption of the toner when a residual volume of the toner is reduced to zero on the basis of the assumed consumption volume; and a delivery instruction part 24 instructs delivery of the toner to a spot where the image forming apparatus 3 is installed, on the basis of a prediction value for the value indicating the degree of consumption of the toner when the residual volume of the toner is reduced to zero.

Description

  The present invention relates to a consumable management apparatus and a consumable management program.

As an image forming apparatus having a function of forming an image on a recording material such as paper, a copying machine, a printer apparatus, a facsimile apparatus, and a multifunction machine having these functions are known.
In such an image forming apparatus, various consumables such as toner consumed in forming an image, a photosensitive drum and a light source LED (Light Emitting Diode) that are worn and deteriorated in forming the image are used. . If these consumables are not properly replenished or replaced, it may cause a malfunction or the like in the operation of the image forming apparatus. Therefore, as a part of the maintenance service of the image forming apparatus, it is necessary to deliver the consumables to the installation place of the image forming apparatus before the work to replenish or replace the consumables is required. There is a need to be able to replenish or replace consumables as soon as possible.

Here, various inventions have been proposed regarding techniques related to maintenance of the image forming apparatus.
For example, Patent Document 1 discloses information relating to toner conveyance time in a toner conveyance mechanism of an image forming apparatus, information relating to characteristic amounts relating to fluctuations in toner consumption in a developing device, and characteristics representing the environment in the image forming apparatus. Information on the amount of toner, and a prediction value for the remaining amount of toner in the toner container is calculated by the prediction unit based on the acquired information on the transport time of the toner. Acquire the correspondence relationship with the measured value of the remaining amount of toner in the toner container, correct the acquired correspondence relationship with the characteristic amount related to the fluctuation of toner consumption and the characteristic amount representing the environment, and use the corrected correspondence relationship. An invention for correcting the predicted value is described.

JP 2011-65003 A

  SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An object of the present invention is to make it possible to appropriately issue a consumable delivery instruction to an installation location of an image forming apparatus.

  According to the first aspect of the present invention, an acquisition unit that acquires a value indicating a consumption level of a consumable item from the image forming apparatus, and a change tendency of the value indicating the consumption level of the consumable item acquired by the acquisition unit. A predicting unit that predicts a value indicating the degree of wear at the time when replacement of the consumables is required, and an instruction to deliver the consumables to the installation location of the image forming apparatus based on a result predicted by the predicting unit And an instructing means for performing the consumable management apparatus.

  According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the first aspect of the present invention, the instructing means is configured to deliver a consumable from a predicted value indicating a degree of consumption at a time when the consumable needs to be replaced. A value obtained by subtracting the amount of change in the value indicating the degree of wear during the required period is set as a threshold, and when the value indicating the degree of wear obtained from the image forming apparatus reaches the threshold, the image forming apparatus is installed. This is a consumable management device characterized in that an instruction to deliver consumables is given.

  According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the first aspect of the present invention, the instructing unit is configured to deliver a consumable from a predicted value indicating a degree of consumption at a time when the consumable needs to be replaced. A value obtained by subtracting the amount of change in the value indicating the degree of wear during the required period is set as a threshold, and the number of remaining days until the value indicating the degree of wear reaches the threshold is calculated. A consumable management apparatus that issues an instruction to deliver consumables to an installation location of an image forming apparatus.

  According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, in the present invention according to the third aspect, the consumable management device has a calendar that specifies a non-working day of the image forming apparatus, and the instruction means includes the calendar. Based on the number of remaining days until the threshold is reached, the number of days of non-working days included in the period corresponding to the number of remaining days is added to correct the number of remaining days. It is.

  According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, in the present invention according to the first to fourth aspects, the acquisition unit further acquires a value indicating an operating condition from the image forming apparatus, and the prediction unit includes the acquisition unit. A consumables management apparatus that predicts a value indicating a degree of wear at a point in time when replacement of consumables is necessary in consideration of a value indicating an acquired operating condition.

  According to the sixth aspect of the present invention, an acquisition function for acquiring a value indicating the degree of consumption of consumables from the image forming apparatus to the computer, and a change tendency of the value indicating the degree of consumption of the consumables acquired by the acquisition function. Based on the prediction function for predicting a value indicating the degree of consumption at the time when replacement of the consumable is required, and delivering the consumable to the installation location of the image forming apparatus based on the result predicted by the prediction function And a consumables management program for realizing an instruction function for instructing to perform an instruction.

  According to the first and sixth aspects of the present invention, the predicting means for predicting the value indicating the degree of wear at the time when the replacement of the consumable is required based on the change tendency of the value indicating the degree of wear of the consumable. Compared to the case of not having it, an appropriate delivery instruction can be performed.

  According to the second and third aspects of the present invention, it is possible to give a delivery instruction in consideration of a period required for delivery of consumables.

  According to the present invention described in claim 4, it is possible to calculate the number of days by excluding a non-working day that is apparent in advance, and to perform a more appropriate delivery instruction.

  According to the fifth aspect of the present invention, it is possible to predict the value indicating the degree of wear at the time when the consumables need to be replaced with higher accuracy than when the present invention is not applied.

It is a figure which shows the outline of the whole structure of a consumables management system. It is a figure which shows the example of the functional block of a consumables management apparatus. FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating a distribution example of a difference between a toner replacement prediction date and a toner replacement implementation date. FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating an example of a toner replacement prediction date and its variation. FIG. 10 is a diagram for explaining high-precision prediction of the remaining amount of toner.

An embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.
FIG. 1 shows an outline of the overall configuration of a consumable management system according to an embodiment of the present invention.
The consumables management system 1 of this example has a configuration in which a plurality of (six in this example) image forming apparatuses 3A to 3F (hereinafter, image forming apparatus 3) are connected to a consumables management apparatus 2 via a network 4. It has become.
Here, in the following description, the process of determining the delivery time of the consumables by predicting the time when the supply or replacement of the consumables is necessary, using toner as a kind of consumables by the image forming apparatus 3 as an example. As will be described, the present invention can also be applied to other consumables such as a photosensitive drum and a light source LED.

As the image forming apparatus 3, various apparatuses having a function of forming an image with a toner on a recording material such as paper can be used. For example, a copier, a printer apparatus, a facsimile apparatus, and these functions are combined. A multifunction machine or the like is used.
As the network 4, various communication paths can be used. For example, a LAN (Local Area Network), a WAN (Wide Area Network), the Internet, or the like is used.

The consumables management apparatus 2 is installed, for example, in a management center that manages the consumables delivery service, and remotely monitors the image forming apparatuses 3 installed in various places such as offices by communication via the network 4.
As shown in FIG. 2, the consumables management apparatus 2 includes a communication unit 21, an assumed consumption specifying unit 22, a prediction unit 23, and a delivery instruction unit 24.

The communication unit 21 acquires a value indicating the degree of toner consumption and a value indicating the operating condition of the image forming apparatus 3 from each image forming apparatus 3 via the network 4. These values are used in processing by a subsequent processing unit (such as the assumed consumption specifying unit 23 and the prediction unit 24).
The image forming apparatus 3 is provided with a detection unit for detecting these values in order to provide a value indicating the degree of toner consumption and a value indicating the operating condition of the image forming apparatus 3. The detected value is transmitted to the consumables management apparatus 2 periodically (in this example, every day).

Here, in this example, as a value indicating the degree of toner consumption of the image forming apparatus 3, the energization integration time of the dispense motor for supplying toner is used. This utilizes the fact that the toner consumption (an index indicating the degree of toner consumption) is proportional to the cumulative energization time of the dispense motor.
Other values may be used as values indicating the degree of toner consumption, and any value that can grasp the degree of toner consumption may be used.
Also, when consumables other than toner are to be processed by the assumed consumption specifying unit 23 and the predicting unit 24 in the subsequent stage, a value corresponding to the type of the consumables may be acquired. Any value can be used as long as the degree of wear can be grasped. Specifically, for example, when the photosensitive drum is a processing target, a counter value for counting the number of images formed by the image forming apparatus 3 is acquired as a value indicating the degree of consumption of the photosensitive drum. For example, when the light source LED is a processing target, the operation integration time of the image forming apparatus 3 is acquired as a value indicating the degree of wear of the light source LED.

  In this example, as a value indicating the operating condition of the image forming apparatus 3, a value indicating an environmental factor such as temperature and humidity and a value indicating a use situation such as an image forming density on the recording material are used. In other words, even if the cumulative energization time of the dispense motor is the same, the degree of toner consumption varies due to differences in operating conditions such as temperature, humidity, and image formation density. Get the value of. These are merely examples, and values of various elements that can affect the degree of toner consumption can be used.

The assumed consumption specifying unit 22 is assumed for each image forming apparatus 3 at the present time based on a value indicating the degree of toner consumption and a value indicating operating conditions acquired from each image forming apparatus 3 by the communication unit 21 ( An expected consumption that is an expected toner consumption (an index indicating the degree of toner consumption) is specified (calculated).
Here, it is possible to calculate the estimated toner consumption even with simple regression using only the value indicating the degree of toner consumption (in this example, the accumulated time of energization of the dispense motor), but the accuracy is not sufficient. Then, the assumed toner consumption is calculated by multiple regression taking into account the value indicating the operating condition. In addition, since there are various values indicating the operating conditions and it is not preferable to use all the values from the viewpoint of the processing burden, in this example, not all of the various values indicating the operating conditions, but the degree of toner consumption. Some values that are estimated to have a high degree of contribution to the influence are selected by a predetermined algorithm and used for multiple regression. Examples of the predetermined algorithm include an algorithm employing AIC (Akaike's Information Criterion).

The prediction unit 23 consumes toner at the time when the remaining amount of toner becomes zero for each image forming apparatus 3 based on the estimated toner consumption for each image forming apparatus 3 specified by the assumed consumption specifying unit 22. A value indicating the degree is predicted (that is, a predicted value of the integrated energization time of the dispense motor is calculated).
This prediction can be performed by various methods. For example, a regression line (or regression curve) representing a trend of toner consumption (temporal change) based on the transition of the estimated consumption of toner so far is obtained. There is a method for predicting the cumulative energization time of the dispense motor at the time when the remaining amount of toner becomes zero from this regression line (or regression curve).

The delivery instruction unit 24 is based on the predicted value of the value indicating the degree of toner consumption at the time when the remaining amount of toner becomes zero, which is predicted by the prediction unit 23 (the integrated time of energization of the dispense motor). An instruction to deliver toner to the installation location is output to the display unit of the terminal device of the department in charge (for example, the delivery center).
More specifically, based on the accumulated energization time of the dispense motor provided periodically (every day in this example) from the image forming apparatus 3, the accumulated energization time of the dispense motor per day in the image forming apparatus 3. The amount of change is obtained, and the amount of change in the cumulative motor energization time during the period of toner delivery is calculated by multiplying the amount of change by the number of days for toner delivery (the number of days assumed to be required for toner delivery). Then, a value obtained by subtracting the amount of change in the accumulated integration time of the dispense motor during the toner delivery period from the predicted value of the accumulated integration time of the dispense motor at the time when the remaining amount of toner becomes zero is set as a threshold value. When the cumulative energization time of the dispense motor provided from the apparatus 3 reaches the threshold value, a toner delivery instruction is output.
The delivery instruction can be output by any method, for example, by e-mail addressed to the department in charge.

The delivery instruction by the consumables management apparatus 2 of this example will be described with a specific example.
FIG. 3 shows an example of the distribution of the difference between the predicted toner replacement date and the toner replacement date calculated by simple regression based on the accumulated energization time of the dispense motor for a large number of image forming apparatuses. In the distribution example of FIG. 3, the horizontal axis represents the number of days elapsed from the toner replacement date (the remaining amount of toner is 100%) to the time when the remaining amount of toner reaches 20% (hereinafter referred to as Days 20). The vertical axis represents the difference between the estimated elapsed days from the toner replacement date until the NE (Near Empty) where the remaining amount of toner is zero or substantially zero and the actual elapsed days.

  As can be seen from the distribution example in FIG. 3, the longer the number of days elapsed from the toner replacement date to the Day 20, the longer the error in the prediction from the toner replacement date to the toner remaining amount NE (the predicted elapsed days and The difference from the actual number of elapsed days) tends to increase.

  Here, a large number of image forming apparatuses are divided into a group (A) consisting of image forming apparatuses with relatively fast toner consumption based on the speed of toner consumption, a group (C) consisting of image forming apparatuses with relatively slow toner consumption, Classification (clustering) into a group (B) of intermediate image forming apparatuses. That is, for example, a group (A) composed of image forming apparatuses whose elapsed days to Days 20 are less than 20 days, a group (B) composed of image forming apparatuses whose elapsed days to Days 20 are 20 days or more and less than 50 days, and up to Days 20 Classification is made into a group (C) consisting of image forming apparatuses having an elapsed days of 50 days or more and less than 100 days.

  FIG. 4 shows an example of predicted toner replacement dates and variations thereof in the groups (A), (B), and (C) in which a large number of image forming apparatuses are classified according to the toner consumption speed. In the graph of FIG. 4, the horizontal axis represents the elapsed time (the number of days elapsed since the toner replacement date), and the vertical axis represents the assumed value of the remaining amount of toner. The assumed value of the remaining amount of toner can be calculated from the assumed toner consumption.

  In the consumables management apparatus 2 of this example, as shown in FIG. 4, the assumed consumption is specified in two stages. That is, the prediction based on the single regression using only the value indicating the degree of toner consumption and the high accuracy prediction based on the multiple regression using the value indicating the degree of toner consumption and the value indicating the operating condition of the image forming apparatus 3 are used in combination. ing. Specifically, the expected consumption of toner is specified by single regression until the time of Days 20 (time of point K in the figure), and thereafter the estimated consumption of toner is specified with high accuracy by multiple regression. In this high-precision prediction by multiple regression, values such as temperature, humidity, and image formation density (the operating conditions of the image forming apparatus 3 are shown) in order to consider the operating conditions of the image forming apparatus 3 that may affect the degree of toner consumption. The estimated toner consumption can be specified with higher accuracy than the conventional method by taking in data (such as those selected by AIC from various values) and performing data processing such as statistical processing and data analysis.

Here, FIG. 4 shows a temporal change in the remaining amount of toner calculated for Days 20 and later for each of the groups (A), (B), and (C) in which a large number of image forming apparatuses are classified according to the speed of toner consumption. Is indicated by a dotted line, and the elapsed days from Day 20 to NE are about 5 days for the group (A), about 12 days for the group (B), and about 25 days for the group (C).
Further, in FIG. 4, as shown by the alternate long and short dashed lines for the remaining amount of toner in each of the groups (A), (B), and (C), in the processing after Days 20, for each image forming apparatus 3. Since the value indicating the operating condition is taken into consideration, the temporal change in the remaining amount of toner after Days 20 is dispersed to some extent according to each operating condition, but is shorter than the number of days elapsed at the time of the reference point K. Never become.

As can be seen from FIG. 4, the group (C) of image forming apparatuses having a slower toner consumption rate (lower operating frequency) than the group (A) of image forming apparatuses having a higher toner consumption speed (higher operating frequency). This increases the prediction error. In other words, the lower the operation frequency of the image forming apparatus 3, the longer the state where the remaining amount of toner does not become zero even after the toner is delivered, and the amount of toner consigned to the user of the image forming apparatus 3 becomes smaller. It tends to increase.
The reason why such a prediction error occurs is as follows: (Cause 1) The operating condition of the image forming apparatus 3 fluctuated more than expected after the time point of Days 20. (Cause 2) The actual toner remaining amount at the time point of Days 20 deviated from 20%. And so on.
That is, the expected consumption of toner is identified by simple regression based on the cumulative energization time of the dispense motor and detection at the time point of Day 20 is performed, and thereafter, the estimated consumption is identified by multiple regression considering operating conditions and toner replacement is performed. By simply predicting the predicted date (the date when the remaining amount of toner becomes NE), a relatively large prediction error occurs.

Therefore, in the consumables management apparatus 2 of this example, the dispensing per day is based on the accumulated energization time of the dispense motor that has been provided regularly (every day in this example) from the image forming apparatus 3 until now at Days 20. The amount of change in the motor energization integration time is obtained, and this is multiplied by the number of toner delivery days to calculate the amount of change in the dispense motor energization integration time during the period of toner delivery days. The value subtracted from the predicted value of the energization integration time of the dispense motor is set as the threshold value. Then, even after the detection at the time of Days 20, the provision of the integrated cumulative energization time of the dispense motor is periodically received from the image forming apparatus 3, and the toner delivery instruction is output when the integrated cumulative energization time of the dispense motor reaches the threshold value. I made it.
As a result, it is possible to issue a delivery instruction that eliminates the influence of holidays and long holidays after Days 20. In addition, since the cumulative energization time of the dispense motor is calculated in consideration of the operating conditions, it is possible to issue a delivery instruction that also considers fluctuations in the operating conditions.

With reference to FIG. 5, (Procedure 1) to (Procedure 4) in an example of high-accuracy prediction of the remaining amount of toner by the consumable management device 2 of this example will be described. In the graph of FIG. 5, the horizontal axis represents the elapsed time (the number of days elapsed since the toner replacement date), and the vertical axis represents the assumed value of the remaining amount of toner.
(Procedure 1) From the accumulated energization time of the dispense motor at each time when the remaining amount of toner is 80%, 50%, and 20%, the accumulated energization time of the dispense motor when the remaining amount of toner becomes NE is predicted by simple regression. To do.
(Procedure 2) A difference between the actual NE occurrence date and the predicted NE occurrence date is obtained based on the past case, and this is set as a residual. Then, an AIC multiple regression prediction model is created using this value (residual) as an objective variable, and the time when the toner remaining amount becomes NE is predicted using the created model.
(Procedure 3) In the AIC multiple regression prediction model, the energization integration time of the dispense motor at the time when the remaining amount of toner becomes NE is predicted.
(Procedure 4) Based on the amount of change in the cumulative motor energization time per day until the remaining amount of toner reaches 20%, the number of toner delivery days (for example, 10 days) from when the remaining amount of toner becomes NE is calculated. The accumulated energization time of the dispense motor at the time of going back is obtained, and when the accumulated energization time of the dispense motor reaches this value, a delivery instruction is output to a department in charge (for example, a delivery center).
As a result, in the conventional case, a day 10 days or more after the predicted time point (Days 20 time point) (for example, 50 days later) may be calculated as a predicted toner replacement date. Although it has been enlarged, such an influence can be eliminated and a more appropriate delivery instruction can be performed.

As described above, in the consumable item management apparatus 2 of this example, the communication unit 21 acquires a value indicating the degree of toner consumption and a value indicating the operating condition of the image forming apparatus 3 from the image forming apparatus 3, and an assumed consumption amount. Based on the value indicating the toner consumption level and the value indicating the operating condition acquired from the image forming apparatus 3 by the specifying unit 22, the specifying unit 22 specifies the assumed toner consumption at the current time, and the prediction unit 23 sets the assumed toner consumption. Based on the value, the value indicating the degree of toner consumption at the time when the remaining amount of toner becomes zero is predicted, and the delivery instruction unit 24 predicts the value indicating the degree of toner consumption when the remaining amount of toner becomes zero. Based on the value, an instruction to deliver toner to the installation location of the image forming apparatus 3 is issued.
This eliminates the influence of the days when the image forming apparatus is not in operation (holidays, long vacations, etc.) after the prediction process is performed (for example, when the remaining amount of toner is assumed to be 20%). It is possible to give an instruction for delivery of goods, and an appropriate delivery instruction can be given.

  Here, in the above description, the accumulated energization time of the dispense motor at the time when the remaining amount of toner becomes NE is predicted, and a threshold value related to the accumulated energization time of the dispense motor is determined based on the result. The delivery instruction is given when the cumulative energization time of the dispense motor provided reaches the threshold, the number of remaining days until the threshold is reached, the delivery instruction is given when the remaining number of days elapses, etc. The delivery instruction may be performed by other methods. The remaining number of days until the threshold value is reached is the difference between the current cumulative integration time of the dispense motor and the cumulative current distribution time of the dispense motor indicated by the threshold value as the amount of change in the cumulative current distribution time of the dispense motor per day. It can be calculated by converting the number of days based on this.

When adopting the configuration for calculating the number of remaining days until the delivery instruction as described above, a calendar that specifies the non-working days (or working days) of the image forming apparatus 3 is prepared and based on the calendars. Then, the number of remaining days until the threshold value is reached may be corrected by adding the number of non-working days of the image forming apparatus 3 included in the period corresponding to the number of remaining days.
As a result, the number of days can be calculated by excluding the apparent non-working days in advance, and a more appropriate delivery instruction can be performed. If a calendar is prepared for each customer who uses the image forming apparatus 3, a delivery instruction corresponding to a vacation schedule for each customer can be realized.

  Further, in the above description, the characteristics of the single regression with a low calculation load but a low prediction accuracy and the multiple regression with a high calculation load but a high prediction accuracy are utilized to make a certain stage (for example, the remaining amount of toner is low). Up to 20%), the degree of wear of consumables is specified with relatively coarse accuracy by single regression, and after that, the degree of wear is specified with high accuracy by multiple regression, but only single regression is used. Alternatively, a configuration using only multiple regression may be used.

  Here, the consumables management apparatus 2 of this example has a CPU (Central Processing Unit) that performs various arithmetic processes, a RAM (Random Access Memory) that is a work area of the CPU, a ROM (Read) that records a basic control program, and the like. Main memory such as Only Memory), auxiliary storage such as HDD (Hard Disk Drive) that stores various programs and data, display device for displaying and outputting various information, and operations used for input operations by the operator Realized by a computer equipped with hardware resources such as an input / output I / F that is an interface with an input device such as a button or a touch panel, and a communication I / F that is an interface for performing wired or wireless communication with other devices. Has been.

That is, the function of the consumable management device according to the present invention is realized on a computer by reading the program according to the present invention from an auxiliary storage device or the like, developing the program in a RAM, and causing the CPU to execute the program.
In this example, the function of the acquisition unit according to the present invention is realized by the communication unit 21, the function of the prediction unit according to the present invention is realized by the assumed consumption specifying unit 22 and the prediction unit 23, and the instruction unit according to the present invention The function is realized by the delivery instruction unit 24.

Here, the program according to the present invention is stored in the computer of the consumables management device 2 in a format that is read from an external storage medium such as a CD-ROM that stores the program or a format that is received via a communication network or the like. Is set.
Note that the present invention is not limited to a mode in which each functional unit is realized by a software configuration as in this example, and each functional unit may be realized by a dedicated hardware module.

1: Consumables management system 2: Consumables management device 3 (3A to 3F): Image forming device 4: Network
21: Communication unit 22: Assumed consumption specifying unit 23: Prediction unit 24: Delivery instruction unit

Claims (6)

Obtaining means for obtaining a value indicating the degree of consumption of the consumable from the image forming apparatus;
A predicting means for predicting a value indicating the degree of wear at a point in time when replacement of the consumable is required based on a change tendency of the value indicating the degree of wear of the consumable obtained by the obtaining means;
Instructing means for instructing delivery of consumables to an installation location of the image forming apparatus based on a result predicted by the predicting means;
Consumables management device characterized by comprising: The instruction means sets a value obtained by subtracting the amount of change in the value indicating the degree of wear during the period required for delivery of the consumable from the predicted value indicating the degree of consumption at the time when the consumable needs to be replaced. When the value indicating the degree of wear acquired from the image forming apparatus reaches the threshold value, an instruction to deliver the consumable to the installation location of the image forming apparatus is given.
The consumable item management apparatus according to claim 1. The instruction means sets a value obtained by subtracting the amount of change in the value indicating the degree of wear during the period required for delivery of the consumable from the predicted value indicating the degree of consumption at the time when the consumable needs to be replaced. Calculating the remaining number of days until the value indicating the degree of wear reaches the threshold, and when the calculated number of days has elapsed, an instruction to deliver the consumable to the installation location of the image forming apparatus is given.
The consumable item management apparatus according to claim 1. The consumables management device has a calendar that specifies the non-working days of the image forming device,
The instruction means adds the number of non-working days included in the period corresponding to the number of remaining days to the number of remaining days until the threshold is reached based on the calendar, and corrects the number of remaining days.
The consumables management apparatus according to claim 3. The acquisition unit further acquires a value indicating an operation condition from the image forming apparatus,
The predicting means predicts a value indicating a degree of wear at a point in time when replacement of consumables is necessary, taking into account a value indicating the operating condition acquired by the acquiring means.
The consumable item management apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the consumable item management apparatus is provided. On the computer,
An acquisition function for acquiring a value indicating the consumption level of the consumable from the image forming apparatus;
A prediction function for predicting a value indicating the degree of wear at the time when replacement of the consumables is required based on a change tendency of the value indicating the degree of wear of the consumables acquired by the acquisition function;
An instruction function for instructing delivery of consumables to an installation location of the image forming apparatus based on a result predicted by the prediction function;
Consumables management program for realizing

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