JP2002160813A - Stock control system and recording medium - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a stock control system and a recording medium whereby it is possible to preclude occurrence of missing items and avoid generation of the full condition and which do not require frequent reshipment scheduling. SOLUTION: The stock control system is equipped with a shipment instruction receiving means 6 to receive the shipment plan information including the name of goods to be shipped and their quantity which are entered previously and a stock control value correcting means to increase the minimum stocked amount 30 as a reference value for starting replenishment in the case the stocked amount after shipment made on the basis of the given shipment plan information becomes smaller than the reference stock amount specified previously for each item of goods.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an inventory management system and a storage medium for managing a stock by issuing a work instruction regarding receipt / shipment of an automatic warehouse.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art It is important to plan the efficient delivery and unloading of automated warehouses.
Various technical developments for this purpose are underway.

FIG. 12 is a diagram showing the configuration of a case shipping distribution center having an automatic warehouse.

The goods transported to the distribution center by a transport truck or the like are loaded into a pallet loading / unloading device 50 with a plurality of cases stored in containers called pallets, and then temporarily stored in an automatic pallet warehouse 51. Stored in units. Next, when a delivery request is made, the pallet taken out in response to the request is sent again to the depalletizer 52 via the pallet receiving / shipping device 50. Depalletizer 52
Then, the product is disassembled from the pallet unit to the case unit and stored in the case automatic warehouse 53. If there is a shipping instruction here, the product is taken out of the automatic case warehouse 53. In the palletizer 54, required types of commodities are collected in pallets in a required quantity, loaded on a carrier, and shipped.

FIG. 13 is a diagram for explaining a method of managing inventory in an automatic case warehouse.

In the present inventory management method, a maximum inventory value 55 and a minimum inventory value 56 are determined as inventory management values, and when the inventory volume falls below the minimum inventory volume, which is the ordering point at which replenishment starts, a fixed pallet is automatically transferred from the pallet automatic warehouse. This is to replenish the quantity of goods.
However, in this inventory management method, when the distribution of shipping products, etc., assumed at the time of the design planning of automatic warehouse construction is different from the actual distribution of shipping products, or when the transfer time from the pallet warehouse is not constant and fluctuates. However, there is a problem that the balance between shipping and replenishment is disrupted, resulting in a shortage of goods in the case automatic warehouse 53 and a delay in shipping work.

[0007] As a method for solving such a decrease in work efficiency due to the imbalance between shipment and replenishment, a method called a material flow rate prediction simulation is known. In this method, a plurality of types of shipping plans are simulated under predetermined conditions, and as a result, a shipping plan that does not cause a delay in shipping work or the like is extracted and adopted (Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. H8-2648).

[0008]

However, since the automatic warehouse is usually shipped on a shipping truck, the rate of occurrence of a change in the order of shipment and urgent shipment is high. Replanning is required.

[0009] In addition, in the inventory management by the ordering point method in which replenishment or the like is performed according to the management value as in the above-described inventory management method, not only the occurrence of a stockout condition that the stock is exhausted, but also
It is also necessary to avoid occurrence of a full state in which there is no empty shelf for replenishing goods in the warehouse.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and can prevent the occurrence of a shortage when replenishing based on the current stock amount, and can also prevent the occurrence of a full state, thereby making it possible to schedule re-shipment more frequently. An object is to provide an inventory management system and a recording medium that are not required.

[0011]

According to the present invention, there is provided a shipping instruction receiving means for receiving shipping schedule information including a product name and a quantity to be shipped which are inputted in advance, and a shipping instruction receiving means for receiving the shipping schedule information based on the received shipping schedule information. An inventory management system including inventory management value correction means for increasing the minimum inventory amount, which is a reference value for starting replenishment, when the inventory amount is smaller than a reference inventory amount predetermined for each product.

Further, the present invention provides the inventory management system according to the present invention, wherein a confirmed shipping instruction accepting means for accepting a shipping instruction inputted every time order information including a name of a product to be shipped and a quantity is confirmed, And a shipping plan creating means for creating a plan in which the starting time of each of the shipping work and the replenishment work is specified based on the shipping instruction.

Further, according to the present invention, in the inventory management system according to the above invention, the shipping plan creating means uses the past actual shipping time and the actual replenishing time to designate the starting time of each of the shipping operation and the replenishing operation. Is an inventory management system.

Further, according to the present invention, a shipping instruction receiving step of receiving shipping schedule information including a product name and a quantity of a shipping schedule input in advance, and based on the received shipping schedule information,
If the stock quantity after shipment is smaller than a reference stock quantity predetermined for each product, a stock control value correction step of increasing a minimum stock quantity, which is a reference value for starting replenishment, is provided. The recorded computer-readable recording medium.

Further, according to the present invention, in the recording medium according to the present invention, a confirmed shipping instruction receiving step of receiving a shipping instruction input every time order information including a shipping product name and quantity is determined, This is a computer-readable recording medium on which a data processing program for realizing a shipping plan creation step of creating a plan designating respective work start times of shipping work and replenishment work based on a shipping instruction is recorded.

Further, according to the present invention, in the recording medium according to the present invention, the shipping plan creation step includes a step of designating the starting time of each of the shipping operation and the replenishing operation using the past actual shipping time and the actual refilling time. This is a computer-readable recording medium that records a data processing program to be created.

[0017]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a first embodiment of an inventory management system according to the present invention.

Here, the configuration of the distribution center to be managed is the same as the configuration shown in FIG. 12, and therefore, the same portions are denoted by the same reference numerals and description thereof will be omitted.

The present inventory management system comprises an inventory management device 1, a distribution center 2 to be managed by the inventory management device 1, and a higher-level processing device 3 for instructing shipping products, quantities, and the like.

The inventory management device 1 includes an input / output data processing unit 5 for exchanging various types of information between the distribution center 2 and a high-level processing device, necessary preparations based on shipping instructions from the high-level processing device 3, and the like. , A shipment management unit 7 that performs operations related to shipping based on the shipping instructions, a case warehouse control unit 8 that controls the incoming and outgoing of the automatic case warehouse 53, and controls a shipment of the automatic pallet warehouse 51. A pallet warehouse shipping control unit 9 and a storage unit 10 for storing data necessary for the operation of each unit are provided.

Then, the shipping management section 7 stores the case automatic warehouse 5
3 is composed of a shipping plan creating section 7a for creating a shipping and replenishment plan and a shipping result managing section 7b for managing the work results related to the shipping and replenishment. The case warehouse control section 8 controls the receiving operation to the automatic case warehouse 53. And a case warehouse shipping control unit 8b for controlling shipping operations from the case automatic warehouse 53.

The storage unit 10 stores a product-specific management data memory 10 for storing data on inventory management for each product.
a, a case inventory storage data memory 10b for storing the inventory status of the automatic case warehouse 53 and a pallet inventory storage data memory 10 for storing the inventory status of the automatic pallet warehouse 51
c.

Next, the operation of the inventory management device 1 configured as described above will be described.

At the beginning of the day, all orders to be shipped on the day are sent from the host processor 3. Upon receiving this instruction, the input / output data processing 5 activates the shipping instruction receiving unit 6.

The transmitted shipping information is not limited to one day of the scheduled shipping date, but the scheduled shipping content needs to be information having a certain degree of certainty. From the viewpoint of gender, it is desirable that the schedule be within two days.

FIG. 2 is a flowchart showing a processing procedure of the shipping instruction receiving unit 6.

The shipping instruction receiving unit 6 performs a process for each product for all orders scheduled to be shipped on the day (S
1).

First, the product-specific management data memory 10a is searched to extract [reference stock amount] from the management data 15 on the product shown in FIG. 3 and compare it with the quantity of ordered products (S2).

If the quantity of ordered goods is larger than the reference stock, there is a possibility that the case stock will be insufficient during the shipping work, so it is necessary to plan for replenishment early in the shipping work. . For this reason, [replenishment priority] of the management data 15 is extracted and its value is increased (S
3). Here, as the value to be increased, a predetermined amount may be added, or a value determined according to the order quantity may be added.

If the quantity of ordered goods is smaller than the reference stock quantity, the case stock quantity does not become insufficient during the shipping operation, so the [replenishment priority] of the management data 15 is extracted and its value is calculated. Is set to the reference value (= 1) (S4).

When the above operation is performed for all the products (S5), the shipping instruction receiving unit 6 terminates the processing.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing the configuration of the device in the automatic case storage 53. As shown in FIG.

In the automatic case storage 53, a plurality of storage units 2 are provided.
A plurality of rows of storage shelves 21a and 21b having 0 are provided, and a rail 22 is laid between the storage shelves 21a and 21b. A stacker 23 is stacked on the rail 22 and travels back and forth on the rail 22 to take out and store products stored in a storage unit 20 at a predetermined position.

The operation of the stacker 23 is controlled by the inventory management device 1
Is controlled by the case warehouse control unit 8, and the case warehouse control unit 8 issues an instruction to the stacker 23 to determine in which storage unit 20 of the storage shelf the product is to be stored or to be taken out from which storage unit 20. I have.

FIG. 5 shows a case warehouse storage data memory 10.
FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating a configuration of stored data stored in a storage device.

Product data 25 is stored at a position (i row and j column) corresponding to the storage section 20 of the storage shelf.
The product data 25 includes [status sign], [product name], and [storage quantity], and the [status sign] indicates whether the storage unit is currently in use, reserved, or empty. I have.

These data are always kept up to date by the operation of the tracking processing unit (not shown) of the inventory management device 1.

The automatic control of the pallet automatic warehouse 51 is also performed by the pallet warehouse shipping control section 9 and the like under the same apparatus configuration as that of the automatic case warehousing 53 described above.

Next, the operation of creating a shipping plan will be described.

When the product shipping truck arrives at the distribution center 2, the name of the product to be shipped and the quantity to be shipped are determined. At this time, the corresponding shipping instruction is transmitted from the host processor 3.
Upon receiving this shipping instruction, the inventory management device 1 activates the shipping instruction receiving unit 6 and calls the shipping plan creating unit 7a.

FIGS. 6 and 7 are flow charts for explaining a procedure for creating a shipping plan by the shipping plan creating section 7a.

Since the transmitted shipping instruction includes the product name and quantity, the following process is performed for each product.

First, the "case amount per pallet" of the management data 15 of the product is compared with the quantity of the shipping instruction (S1).
0). If the quantity of the shipping instruction is larger than the case quantity per pallet, the pallet can be shipped in pallet units, so the pallet warehouse shipping control 9 is instructed to carry out pallet shipping (S11).

The pallet warehouse shipping control 9 controls the removal of the pallets stored in the pallet automatic warehouse 51.
The pallets thus taken out are directly loaded on a shipping truck without passing through the automatic case warehouse 53.

When the quantity to be taken out of the case automatic warehouse is determined, subsequently, the case warehouse storage data memory 10b is searched to calculate the total quantity of the product stored in the case warehouse, and the inventory quantity X at the time of completion of the shipping work is calculated. Calculate (S1
2).

Next, a safe minimum stock amount Y is calculated by multiplying the "replenishment priority" of the management data 15 by the "minimum stock amount" (S13). FIG. 8 is a diagram showing the relationship between the minimum stock quantity and the safe minimum stock quantity. A safe minimum stock amount 31 having a value larger than the minimum stock amount 30 which is a conventional reference for starting replenishment is provided. In the subsequent work, this safe minimum stock amount 31 is treated as a reference value for starting replenishment. As mentioned above, for products with a large shipment quantity on the day, it is considered that the shipment of the product will continue even in subsequent shipments, so by introducing a coefficient of replenishment priority so that replenishment work can be performed early. This is to change the replenishment reference point. Subsequently, the stock quantity X at the time of completion of the shipping work is compared with the safe minimum stock quantity Y (S1).
4).

If the stock amount X at the time of completion of the shipping work is larger than the minimum safe stock amount Y, it is not necessary to replenish the stock yet.
The case warehouse shipping control unit 8b is instructed to start the shipping operation for the product (S15). The warehouse shipping control unit 8b starts the product shipping operation based on this instruction as soon as the operation currently being performed is completed.

If the stock quantity X at the time of completion of the shipping work is smaller than the minimum safe stock quantity Y, it is necessary to replenish before the shipping work is completed.
0b is searched to check the empty state of the shelf (S17).

First, the case warehouse storage data memory 10b
Is searched to extract empty shelves, and an empty shelves storage amount W obtained by accumulating the quantities that can be stored in the shelves. Subsequently, the product-specific management data memory 10a is searched to extract the replenishment amount S to the case warehouse per one time of the product and compare it with the empty shelf storage amount W (S18).

When the vacant shelf storage amount W is equal to or more than the replenishment amount S per time, all the products can be stored even if they are replenished, so that the case warehouse shipping control unit 8b is instructed to start shipping work on the products. At the same time, the pallet warehouse shipping control unit 9 and the case warehouse receiving control unit 8a are instructed to start the replenishment work for the product from the pallet warehouse to the case warehouse (S19). Then, the corresponding shelf in the case warehouse storage data memory 10b is set as a reserved state, and the product name and the storage quantity are entered.

The case warehouse shipping section 8b starts the shipping work of the corresponding product based on the instruction as soon as the work currently being performed is completed. The pallet warehouse shipping control unit 9 and the case warehouse receiving control unit 8a start the replenishment work at the start of the case warehouse shipping unit 8b.

FIG. 9 is a diagram showing a change in the stock amount when the shipping operation and the replenishing operation are started at the same time.

FIG. 9A shows the change in the stock amount when the shipping work is completed early, but no shortage occurs even when the shipping is completed. FIG. 9 (b) shows the change in the stock amount when the replenishment operation is completed early, but even when the replenishment is completed, the stock amount is less than the maximum stock amount, and no congestion due to the full storage shelf has occurred. .

If the empty shelf storage amount W is smaller than the replenishment amount S at one time, when replenishment is performed in this state, the storage shelf may become full and congestion may occur. Therefore, a comparison is made based on the actual shipping time and the actual refilling time.

First, the actual data of the shipment time and the shipment quantity, and the replenishment time and the replenishment quantity are extracted by searching the product-specific management data memory 10a. These data are collected by the shipment result management 7b based on past work results. An estimated shipping time T0 per commodity quantity and an estimated replenishment time T1 per quantity are obtained based on these actual data (S21).

Next, the estimated shipping time T0 and the estimated replenishment time T
1 are compared (S22).

If the estimated shipping time T0 is shorter than the estimated replenishment time T1, the number of empty shelves increases in the course of the shipping operation, and it becomes possible to allocate empty shelves. In addition to instructing the shipping control unit 8b, the pallet warehouse shipping control unit 9 and the case warehouse receiving control unit 8a are instructed to start replenishment work for the product from the pallet warehouse to the case warehouse in parallel (S2).
3). Then, the corresponding shelf in the case warehouse storage data memory 10b is set as a reserved state, and the product name and the storage quantity are entered.

The case warehouse shipping section 8b starts the shipping work of the corresponding product based on this instruction as soon as the work currently being performed is completed. The pallet warehouse shipping control unit 9 and the case warehouse receiving control unit 8a start the replenishment work at the start of the case warehouse shipping unit 8b.

FIG. 10 is a diagram showing the transition of the stock amount when the shipping operation and the replenishing operation are started at the same time.

The replenishment amount S is added to the stock amount N0 at the current time t0.
However, since the estimated shipping time T0 is shorter than the estimated replenishment time T1, the number of empty shelves increases even if the shipping work and the replenishment work are started at the same time. No congestion occurs.

Incidentally, theoretically, when the total value of the shipping quantity and the storage quantity of empty shelves is smaller than the replenishment quantity at one time, that is, there is a shortage of empty shelves that accept replenishment even if all the goods are shipped. However, this may be the case when the storage capacity of the automatic warehouse itself is insufficient or when the setting of the replenishment amount is inappropriate.

If the estimated shipping time T0 is equal to or longer than the estimated replenishment time T1, if the shipping operation and the replenishing operation are started at the same time, traffic jams may occur due to the fullness of the storage shelves. 8b is instructed to start a shipping operation, and then a point in time at which the number of empty storage shelves can be secured is designated to instruct the pallet warehouse shipping control unit 9 and the case warehouse receiving control unit 8a to start a refilling operation (S24).

FIG. 11 is a diagram showing a change in the stock amount when the replenishment work is started after a lapse of a predetermined time from the start of the shipping work.

The relationship between the stock amount N0 at the shipping start time t0 and the stock amount N1 at the replenishment start time t1 is expressed by equation (1).

N1 = N0− (t1−t0) / T0 (1) The relationship between the stock amount N0 at the shipping start time t0 and the stock amount N2 at the replenishment completion time t2 is expressed by equation (2).

N2 = N1 + (t2-t1) / (1 / T1-1 / T0) (2) Since t2-t1 is a time for replenishing the replenishment amount S, it is expressed by the following equation (3).

T2−t1 = S · T1 (3) By rearranging equations (1) to (3), equation (4) is obtained for N2.

N2 = N0− (t1−t0) / T0−S · T1 / T0 + S (4) Now, when the replenishment is completed, the stock amount N2 becomes a value equal to or less than the maximum stock amount Nmax using the formula (5). The relationship is necessary.

N 2 ≦ Nmax (5) The equation (4) is substituted into the equation (5) and rearranged to obtain the equation (6).

T1−t0 ≧ ｛N0 + S (1−T1 / T0) −Nmax｝ T0 (6) Therefore, if the replenishment start time is delayed by the time represented by the equation (6), congestion due to the full storage shelf occurs. The replenishment work can be performed without causing the replenishment work.

The case warehouse shipping section 8b starts shipping the corresponding product based on the instruction as soon as the work currently being carried out is completed. The pallet warehouse shipping control unit 9 and the case warehouse receiving control unit 8a start replenishment work after a lapse of a predetermined time from the start of the case warehouse shipping unit 8b.

Here, it is checked whether or not plans have been created for all the products (S25). If the plans have been created, the shipment plan creation ends.

Based on the plan created by the above procedure, the control of the receipt / shipment work of the pallet automatic warehouse 51 and the case automatic warehouse 53 is performed. Perform administrative tasks such as collecting information.

The system described in this embodiment is
The functions of the shipping instruction receiving unit 6, the shipping management unit 7, the case warehouse control unit 8, and the pallet warehouse shipping control unit 9 can be realized by reading the program stored in the storage medium into a computer. It is stored in an attached storage medium (not shown).

[0075]

As described above, according to the present invention, the following effects can be obtained.

Since the replenishment reference value of the product is changed in advance based on a short-term and highly reliable schedule such as the same-day shipping schedule, the possibility of running out of stock in the shipping work is reduced.

Since a shipping plan is created when a shipping carrier arrives, it is possible to flexibly cope with a change in the shipping order or an emergency shipping with respect to the original plan.

Replenishment work time based on past actual time,
Accurate estimation is possible because the shipping work time is estimated.

Since the start timing is instructed for the replenishment work and the shipping work, the work can be performed while maintaining the balance between the works, and the congestion of the work due to the shortage or the warehouse full can be eliminated.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram showing a first embodiment of an inventory management system according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a flowchart showing a processing procedure of a shipping instruction receiving unit 6;

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a configuration of storage data stored in a product-specific management data memory.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a configuration of an apparatus in a case automatic warehouse 53.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing a configuration of storage data stored in a case warehouse storage data memory.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart illustrating a procedure for creating a shipping plan by a shipping plan creating unit 7a.

FIG. 7 is a flowchart illustrating a procedure for creating a shipping plan by a shipping plan creating unit 7a.

FIG. 8 is a diagram showing a relationship between a minimum stock amount and a safe minimum stock amount.

FIG. 9 is a diagram showing a change in inventory amount when a shipping operation and a replenishing operation are started at the same time.

FIG. 10 is a diagram showing a change in stock amount when a shipping operation and a replenishing operation are started at the same time.

FIG. 11 is a diagram showing a change in inventory amount when a replenishment operation is started after a lapse of a predetermined time from the start of a shipping operation.

FIG. 12 is a diagram showing a configuration of a case shipping distribution center provided with an automatic warehouse.

FIG. 13 is a view for explaining an inventory management method for a case automatic warehouse.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Inventory management apparatus 2 ... Distribution center 3 ... Host processing apparatus 6 ... Shipment instruction receiving part 7 ... Shipment management part 7a ... Shipment plan creation part 7b ... Shipment result management part 8 ... Case warehouse control part 8a ... Case warehouse receipt control part 8b ... Case warehouse shipping control unit 9 ... Pallet warehouse shipping control unit 30 ... Minimum stock amount 31 ... Safety minimum stock amount 51 ... Pallet automatic warehouse 53 ... Case automatic warehouse

 ──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continued on the front page (72) Inventor Yoshiaki Nishina 1-2-1, Marunouchi, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo Inside Nihon Kokan Co., Ltd. (72) Inventor Shinji Toyama 1-1-2, Marunouchi, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo Nippon Kokan Co., Ltd. F-term (reference) 3F022 EE02 EE05 FF01 MM03 MM07 MM11 MM27 MM29 MM30 5B049 BB31 CC27

Claims (6)

[Claims] 1. An inventory management system of a distribution center having an automatic warehouse and a replenishment warehouse having a function of replenishing goods to the automatic warehouse, a shipping schedule including a product name and quantity to be shipped which are input in advance. A shipping instruction receiving means for receiving information, based on the received shipping schedule information, if the stock amount after shipment is smaller than a reference stock amount predetermined for each product, a reference value for starting replenishment; An inventory management system comprising: inventory management value correction means for increasing a certain minimum inventory amount. 2. The inventory management system according to claim 1, wherein: a confirmed shipping instruction accepting means for accepting a shipping instruction input every time order information including a product name to be shipped and a quantity is determined; An inventory management system, comprising: a shipping plan creating means for creating a plan that designates a start time of each of a shipping operation and a replenishing operation based on a shipping instruction. 3. The inventory management system according to claim 2, wherein the shipping plan creating means uses the past actual shipping time and the actual replenishing time to create a plan that specifies the starting time of each of the shipping and refilling operations. An inventory management system characterized by being created. 4. A recording medium recording an inventory management program of an automatic warehouse and a distribution center having a replenishment warehouse having a function of replenishing goods to the automatic warehouse, said program being input to a computer in advance. A shipping instruction receiving step for receiving shipping schedule information including a product name and a quantity of a shipping schedule to be shipped; and, based on the received shipping schedule information, a stock amount after shipment is larger than a standard stock amount predetermined for each product. And a stock management value correcting step of increasing the minimum stock quantity, which is a reference value at which replenishment is started, to realize a stock management value correcting step. 5. A storage medium storing the data processing program according to claim 4, wherein: a finalized shipping instruction receiving step of receiving a shipping instruction input every time order information including a product name to be shipped and a quantity is determined; A computer readable recording of a data processing program, which realizes a shipping plan creation step of creating a plan designating the respective work start times of the shipping work and the replenishment work based on the input confirmed shipping instruction. Recording medium. 6. A storage medium storing the data processing program according to claim 5, wherein the shipping plan creation step uses a past actual shipping time and an actual replenishing time to start respective operations of shipping and replenishing operations. A computer-readable recording medium having recorded thereon a data processing program for creating a plan designating a program.