JP2001301931A - Article delivery system - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To easily select a cost effective delivery company and to improve an efficiency of collection and delivery. SOLUTION: This system is provided with a data base including plural types of tables describing charges defined based on a delivery destination of an article and a weight of the article, and a control device indicating a type of the table and amount of the cheapest charge in charges of tables obtained from the data base based on a delivery destination of a given article and a weight of the article.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an article delivery system for selecting an inexpensive delivery company under various conditions when delivering an article to a destination.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, as an article delivery system of this kind, there has been one disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. Hei 10-31621.

[0003] The publication described in this gazette is based on the relationship between a warehouse (sender) having stock and the location of a customer (destination) with respect to product information requested by a customer. This is to select a trader and to deliver goods to customers efficiently.

[0004]

In this prior art,
Warehouse management is mainly performed, and the warehouse selected by this inventory management is used as a sender, and a low-cost delivery company is simply designated from registered delivery companies (including own flights).

[0005] Therefore, a certain amount of goods is delivered, the fee is set roughly, and small goods are targeted, and various conditions such as delivery time, refrigeration / freezing, and the number of days for delivery are considered. It is not intended for delivery with consideration.

[0006] That is to say, it is not intended for the price of goods set in detail according to various conditions, delivery destination, weight, etc., but it is possible to select an optimal delivery company when delivering small goods. Was not.

[0007]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is an example of a table showing a fee determined based on the delivery destination of the article and the weight of the article,
This shows the charge of the delivery company A.

In this table, the horizontal axis indicates the delivery destination of the article, the vertical axis indicates the weight of the article, and the fee corresponding to each value. For example, the fee for sending an article weighing 0.3 kg to Dalian is 3100 yen, and the weight is 100 yen.
The fee for sending 0Kg goods to Singapore is 21
It is 2900 yen. Therefore, if the weight of the article and the destination are known, the shipping fee can be known.

A table (not shown) indicating the number of days required for delivery by delivery company A under the same conditions (delivery destination and weight) as this table (delivery company A) is provided. Similarly, the number of days required for delivery can be obtained from the weight and the destination. For example, if the delivery company A weighs 2.5 kg and the destination is South Korea, the number of days required for delivery is two days.

FIG. 2 is a system diagram schematically showing a delivery system using the table shown in FIG. Reference numeral 1 denotes a database storing a plurality of charge tables, and a plurality of types of charge tables 2 (including a charge table for the delivery company A, a charge table for the delivery company C, D).

Reference numeral 3 denotes a database for storing a table for calculating the number of days required for delivery based on the weight and the delivery destination. The database 3 includes a plurality of tables 4 corresponding to each delivery company.

Reference numeral 5 denotes a control unit for extracting a delivery company and a fee corresponding to the conditions set by the terminal 6 from the databases 1 and 3 and displaying the same on the terminal 6.

Reference numeral 7 denotes a network, which is configured to transmit and receive signals (data) to and from the database 1, the database 3, the control device 5, and the terminal 6 (there may be a plurality of terminals). For example, WAN, LAN, etc.

Reference numeral 8 denotes a database of the delivery company A, and reference numeral 10 denotes a database of the delivery company B (databases of other delivery companies are omitted). Terminals 9 and 11 for displaying the contents of the databases 8 and 10, respectively, are provided. ing.

The connection with the databases of the delivery company A and the delivery company B is shown as a WAN or LAN connection in FIG. 2 for the sake of simplicity of explanation, but actually, the mutual security is taken into consideration. Alternatively, data may be transmitted / received using a medium such as an Internet connection via a firewall, a remote access connection by a modem when a connection is required, or an e-mail.

FIG. 3 shows a screen when the control device 5 is accessed from the terminal 6 (a screen when the operation of the control device 5 is constructed as a WWW site). The user selects a desired destination from the destination (destination) list of the articles added to the conbox 12 in the conbox 12, and enters a text box 13
When the command button (search) 14 is clicked after inputting the weight (weight KG) of the article in the field, the destination and the data of the weight are transmitted to the control device 5.

The controller 5 reads a value (shipping cost) in which the destination matches the weight from the table of the delivery company A in the database 1, and then reads the destination and the weight from the table of the delivery company A in the database 3. Is read out, and a record including fields of a delivery company, a charge, a difference, and the number of days (required days) is generated. Similarly, after generating records corresponding to the delivery companies B, C, and D, a record with the highest charge is selected from these records, the difference between the charge and the charge of each record is calculated, and the value of the difference field is calculated. Update.

Therefore, if the destination (destination) is entered as “Dalian” and the weight (weight KG) is entered as “0.3”, a record composed of the fields of the delivery company, the charge, the number of days, and the difference is "Distributor A, 13,115,0,2", "Distributor B, 3,100, -10,015,2""Distributor C, 5,000, -8,115,2""Distributor D ,
4,570, -8,545,3 "is generated.

Thereafter, the control unit 5 sends the record of the database to the terminal 6, and the terminal 6
5, 16, 17, and 18 are sequentially displayed on the screen in a matrix. Further, the delivery company (the delivery company B in this embodiment) of the record with the lowest price among these records is displayed on the display 19.

In order to display these records, the records may be sorted in ascending order of charge and then displayed in ascending order of charge, or only the cheapest record may be displayed. .

Next, when the command button (issue slip) 20 is clicked, the control device 5 causes the delivery slip for pasting the goods in which the delivery destination and the delivery source are entered or the delivery slip for pasting the goods in the format of each delivery company to be displayed. Prints from a printer.

The control unit responds to the click of the command button 20 by requesting the database 10 of the delivery company B to collect and deliver a record (at least data such as a delivery source, a desired delivery / delivery location, a desired delivery / delivery time, a weight and a number). Include). The collection and delivery company B reads the record from the terminal 11 and sets a schedule for collecting and delivering the goods.

In the embodiment shown in FIG. 2, the addition of records to the database 10 is performed directly via the WAN and LAN networks, but the WAN is changed to the Internet, and the data is directly transmitted to the database (computer) using the IP address. A transfer (file transfer) may be performed, and a record requesting collection and delivery from the control device 10 to the database 10 is transmitted to the database 10 by using the respective e-mail server,
The mail data received by the delivery company may be converted into a record and added to the database 10. The records in the database 10 are browsed on the terminal 11 as described above. Further, the delivery company may be requested to pick up and deliver by facsimile.

Similarly, based on data such as the number of delivery days and delivery time, the delivery date or time of the article is automatically notified to the delivery destination by facsimile, electronic mail (using MAPI, etc.), etc. Is also good.

The charge table shown in FIG. 1 is, for example, for luggage, but includes a database of charge tables (charge table similar to FIG. 1) for documents. May be made switchable.

Similarly, a database having a table for each additional condition for sending (delivery condition) may be provided and used as a condition for selecting a delivery company in the same manner as the table of days. Additional conditions include whether delivery time can be specified, ice temperature /
Whether or not the temperature of the refrigeration can be controlled, whether or not door-to-door should be performed, and the like can be obtained for each delivery company.

The charge table and the additional condition table described above may be downloaded from the homepage of the delivery company via the Internet or the like and updated sequentially.
Further, a configuration may be adopted in which the latest table data is periodically obtained from the delivery company.

FIG. 4 is a system diagram showing another embodiment. The difference from the system diagram shown in FIG.
2 is stored not as a table but as a record 13 in which charges, additional conditions, and the like are summarized. The structure of the fields of this record is, for example, the delivery company, charge category (package /
Documents), charges, destination, weight, number of days to send, additional conditions, etc.

Therefore, in the database 12, there are a plurality of records having the same destination and weight conditions but different delivery companies and additional conditions.

Screen of terminal 15 (same configuration as terminal 6)
Then, after selecting the destination and inputting the weight, the command button (search) 14 is clicked, and the destination (weight) data (information) is sent to the control device 14.

The controller 14 selects a destination and a data whose weight matches the data transmitted from the terminal 15 from among the records of the database 13 and creates a new set database. If the additional condition is set in the terminal 15, a record satisfying the additional condition is further selected from this set to create a new set database.

Therefore, for example, if the destination (destination) is entered as “Dalian” and the weight (weight KG) is entered as “0.3” at the terminal 15, the delivery company, package, charge, delivery destination, weight, A database composed of records in which a difference field (may be omitted) is added to the fields of the number of days to be sent and the additional condition is created.

Examples of the record include “delivery company A, package, 13,115, Dalian, 0.3, 2, additional condition availability, 0”, “delivery company B, package, 3,100, Dalian,
0.3, 2, availability of additional conditions, -10,015 "," delivery company C, package, 5,000, Dalian, 0.3, 2, availability of additional conditions, -8,115 "," delivery company D, luggage,
4,570, Dalian, 0.3, 3, additional condition availability,-
8,545 "is generated.
It should be noted that the availability of the additional condition is determined for each set additional condition.
Fields indicating the value of no are arranged.

Thereafter, the control device 14 sends the value (record) of the database to the terminal 15, and the terminal 15
The records are sequentially displayed in a matrix on the screen, as in the state shown in FIG. Further, the delivery company (the delivery company B in this embodiment) of the record with the lowest charge among these records is displayed in the same manner as the display 19 of the terminal 6.

In order to display these records, the records may be sorted in ascending order of charge, and then displayed in descending order of charge, or only the cheapest record may be displayed. .

Next, by clicking the command button (issue slip) 20, the control device 14
In the same manner as described above, a delivery slip in a format for each delivery company in which the delivery destination and delivery source are entered is printed from a printer.

The control unit 14 requests collection and delivery to the delivery company and updates records in the database in the same procedure as the control unit 5.

As a common operation of the control device 5 and the control device 14, a slip (a request for collection and delivery) issued within a predetermined period is counted, and a transfer slip for each delivery company is created or an automatic transfer is performed. . As this procedure, first, every time a slip is issued, the control device accumulates in the database a record in which a field for identifying a sender (shipping request source) is added to the issue condition of the slip. For example, the record is composed of fields such as a delivery company, a package, a charge, a delivery destination, weight, the number of days of delivery, additional conditions, a sender, and a collection / delivery request date.

Next, when performing the aggregation within the predetermined period, first, a record in which the field value of the collection / delivery request date is within the predetermined period is extracted to create a new database, and then extracted from this database for each sender. After creating a new database, we calculate the total fee for each shipping company,
A transfer slip and a statement are created and printed or displayed.

The collection / delivery company has a plurality of shipping sources (collection / delivery stations).
When traveling around, the weight of the baggage is obtained in advance as data (information), so that the total weight of the baggage that must be loaded in one collection and delivery can be known. Therefore, a vehicle (truck) required for collection and delivery can be determined from the load capacity, and an unnecessary large vehicle is not used, which can contribute to energy saving.

[0041]

In the article delivery system configured as described above, the control device extracts the delivery company based on the database storing the charge data (information) for each delivery company, and the extracted data (record) In this way, an optimal delivery company can be selected based on the above, and cost-effective delivery is possible.

Also, by automatically requesting the delivery company to pick up and deliver based on the selection of the delivery company, information on the weight of the article is sent to the delivery company, so the delivery company collects and delivers vehicles for collection and delivery. Can be selected according to the weight,
Energy efficient collection and delivery can be performed without using an unnecessarily large vehicle.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a charge table showing an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing an outline of a system according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram showing a display screen of a terminal.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an outline of a system showing another embodiment of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Database 2 Charge table 3 Database 4 Charge table 5 Control device 6 Terminal 7 Network 8 Database 9 Terminal 10 Database 11 Terminal 12 Database 13 Record 14 Control device 15 Terminal

Claims (9)

[Claims] 1. A database having a plurality of types of tables indicating a charge determined based on a delivery destination of an article and the weight of the article in advance, and obtained from the database based on a delivery destination of the given article and the weight of the article. An article delivery system comprising a controller that displays the type of the cheapest table among the charges for each table and the charge. 2. The article delivery system according to claim 1, wherein the type of the table corresponds to a delivery company. 3. A database having a plurality of records having fields of at least a delivery company, a delivery destination, weight, and a charge, wherein at least the lowest charge from among records extracted by satisfying the designated delivery destination and the weight, and An article delivery system comprising a control device for displaying a delivery company. 4. The article delivery system according to claim 3, wherein the database has a field indicating a delivery condition, and the delivery condition can be used for extracting a record. 5. A system according to claim 1, further comprising means for automatically selecting a desired record from the records displayed by said control device and automatically contacting a delivery company corresponding to the selected record for collection and delivery. The article delivery system according to claim 4, wherein 6. The article delivery system according to claim 5, wherein the contact for requesting collection and delivery is made by facsimile, electronic mail, or writing on a homepage. 7. The article delivery system according to claim 6, wherein the communication requesting collection and delivery includes at least information on a collection and delivery place, a desired collection and delivery time, and a number. 8. A field indicating an expected arrival date of an article at a destination is provided in the database, and when a desired record is selected, the expected arrival date in this record is sent to the set destination by facsimile or facsimile. 8. The article delivery system according to claim 6, wherein notification is made by e-mail. 9. When a desired record is selected, a slip for pasting articles describing at least a delivery company, a delivery destination and a delivery source based on this record is automatically generated. Item 9. The article delivery system according to item 8.