JP2002269186A - Container managing system - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a container managing system which can easily perform exact production management since the number of delivery-requested containers can be transmitted in real time on the basis of the quantity of containers returned from a user, can reduce the quantity of stock preserved on the transaction base and further can suitably meets a change in the consumption of the user. SOLUTION: In this container managing system, an information processing means carries out a processing step for calculating as the number of delivery- requested containers, the number obtained by adding the number resulting from subtracting the number of returned consumed containers for a plurality of times in the past from the latest number of returned consumed containers for each gas specification from the user to the latest number of returned consumed container and a processing step for transmitting the calculated number of delivery-requested containers through a communication means to a production source together with information specifying the gas specification and a transmission source and in the production source, the production management is performed by utilizing the received number of delivery-requested containers.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

The present invention relates to a processing procedure for calculating the number of requested delivery containers from the latest number of consumed return containers and transmitting the information to a manufacturer via communication means together with information for specifying a gas specification and a transmission source. The present invention relates to a container management system that is executed by information processing means and that performs manufacturing management using the number of delivery requests received by a manufacturer.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, as shown in FIG. 1, a gas-filled container filled with gas by a manufacturer M passes through an intermediate base as required, and is then traded with a user in a local region where the gas-filled container is traded with a user. In general, the data is delivered to a base Da, temporarily stored there, and then delivered to users Ua, Ub, and so on. It is very complicated for the users Ua, Ub... To return the consumed gas containers to the trading base Da at an appropriate usage amount or period, and to place an order for each return. Irrespective of the time, the gas-filled container has been ordered to the trading base Da by an appropriate amount at an appropriate time. In addition, when receiving the order from the trading base Da, it is complicated to make a production request to the manufacturer M in response to each order when delivering the product according to the order from the stock. In some cases, no request was made.

[0003]

Therefore, in the above-mentioned transaction form, since the order is irrelevant to the return of the container, when the user places an order for the gas, all the orders are made so that the delivery date is not delayed at the transaction base. A sufficient amount of gas must be kept in stock, and the total number of stock tends to be large. For this reason, the production request from the trading base to the manufacturer is likely to have a large wave, and it has been extremely difficult for the manufacturer to make a production plan together with the ordering irrelevant to the return of the container. Furthermore, even if the trading base has a sufficient amount of stock, if the consumption of the gas by the user increases, especially for gas types that require time to manufacture (fill), the empty container must be returned. When the time timing between the order and the order is bad, there is a problem that the state of the stock is likely to occur.

[0004] In addition, the demand for semiconductor manufacturing gas, whose demand has been increasing in recent years, may be short-term due to deterioration of products over time, and such a gas is required to have a real-time property.

On the other hand, since it is necessary to accurately grasp the type and quantity of gas-filled containers existing in the site at each trading base, a gas-filled container in which information on the containers located in each distribution channel is centrally managed by a computer. Management systems are becoming widespread.

[0006] Therefore, an object of the present invention is to be able to transmit the required number of deliveries in real time based on the amount of containers returned from the user, so that accurate production management can be easily performed.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a container management system that can reduce the amount of stock held at a transaction base and can appropriately cope with a change in consumption of a user.

[0007]

The above object can be achieved by the present invention as described below. That is, the container management system of the present invention calculates the number of the latest consumed return containers obtained by subtracting the average number of consumed returned containers in the past multiple times from the latest consumed returned container number for each gas specification from the user. Information processing procedure for calculating the number of containers in addition to the number of containers as the number of requested delivery, and processing for transmitting the calculated number of requested delivery to the manufacturer via communication means together with information specifying the gas specification and the source. In addition to the execution by means, the manufacturer performs production management using the received number of requested delivery.

[0008] Another container management system of the present invention is based on the latest number of used return containers for each gas specification from the user.
A processing procedure of calculating the number of containers obtained by subtracting the previously determined number of returned containers from the number of consumed returned containers of a plurality of times used in the past, and adding the number of containers to the latest number of consumed returned containers as a requested number of delivery; The information processing means executes the processing procedure of transmitting the requested number of delivery requests to the manufacturer via the communication means together with the information for specifying the gas specification and the source, and the manufacturer uses the received number of requested delivery to manage the production. Is performed.

In the above, the information processing means stores gas specifications in association with information for specifying each container, and when a plurality of used containers are returned from a user,
It is preferable to execute a processing procedure of inputting information for specifying each container, classifying each container for each gas specification from the information, integrating the number, and calculating the consumed return container number.

In addition, the collection time of the used return container is determined in advance at a substantially constant interval with the user, and when the interval of the collection time is changed, the interval before the change and the interval after the change are changed. It is preferable to calculate the delivery request number by correcting the number of pieces returned before the change using the ratio of (i).

In addition, the information processing means sequentially stores the number of used return containers in association with each user, and in response to access from the user by the communication means,
It is preferable to execute a processing procedure for transmitting data including the past number of consumed return containers.

According to the present invention, according to the present invention, there is provided a processing procedure for calculating the number of required return containers from the latest number of consumed return containers and transmitting the information to the manufacturer via communication means together with information for specifying the gas specification and the source. Is performed by the information processing means, so that accurate manufacturing management can be performed in real time by using the number of delivery requests received by the manufacturer. At this time, instead of using the latest number of consumed return containers as the requested number of delivery, the average number of consumed return units in the past multiple times or the number of consumed returned units in the past multiple times is calculated based on the latest consumed return containers. Of these, the number obtained by subtracting the predetermined number of return containers for one batch is used as the number of containers required for delivery in addition to the latest number of used return containers, so that it is possible to take into account fluctuations from past consumption trends. it can. In addition, since an excessive demand for delivery is unlikely to occur, the amount of inventory held at the transaction base is also unlikely to be excessive. As a result, the number of requested deliveries can be transmitted in real time based on the amount of containers returned by the user, making it easy to perform accurate production control, reducing the amount of inventory held at the transaction base, It is possible to suitably cope with a change in consumption.

The information processing means stores gas specifications in association with information for specifying each container, and inputs information for specifying each container when a plurality of consumed containers are returned from a user. Then, when executing the processing procedure of classifying each container from the information for each gas specification and calculating the number of the consumed return containers by integrating the number, simply input information for specifying the container such as a barcode. Thus, the number of used return containers for each gas specification can be calculated, and other information does not need to be input, thereby saving labor.

The collection time of the used return container is previously determined at a substantially constant interval with the user, and when the interval of the collection time is changed, the ratio between the interval before the change and the interval after the change is determined. When calculating the number of requested deliveries by correcting the number of pieces returned before the change using, the collection timing is determined at approximately constant intervals in advance, so consumption trends can be more reliably grasped from the number of return containers. As a result, more appropriate manufacturing control can be performed. In addition, the user can easily grasp the management system on the manufacturing side, and the container can be easily managed by returning it regularly.
On the other hand, when the interval of the pick-up time is changed, by correcting the number of returned items before the change using the ratio of the interval before the change and the interval after the change, past consumption trends can be more reliably It will be reflected in production control.

The information processing means sequentially stores the consumed return containers in association with each user,
When executing a processing procedure to transmit data including the number of past used return containers in response to access by the user through the communication means, the processing procedure shall allow the user to grasp his / her past consumption tendency. Can be.

[0016]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

First, a system configuration according to the present invention will be described with reference to FIG. The management system of the present invention includes information processing means capable of executing a specific processing procedure, and the information processing means may be provided at least at a transaction base for trading containers with the user. Between the information processing means disposed in the communication base and the information processing means disposed in the transaction base for trading the container with the user. Is preferred. In the present embodiment, as a further preferred embodiment, the host-side information processing means 1 for inputting and storing container-related information and user-related information is provided at the manufacturer, and the communication means 2 is provided.
An example is shown in which a terminal-side information processing means 3 capable of transmitting and receiving necessary information to and from the host-side information processing means 1 is provided at a transaction base.

The host-side information processing means 1 permits input of at least a container code of a container to be filled with gas, gas information relating to the gas to be filled in the container, and location information of the container, and associates the information with each other. It is stored in the storage unit as information 1a. Also, the host-side information processing means 1
The consumption tendency information 1b for each user and each gas obtained using the gas information and the location information is stored. The input of the container-related information 1a may be performed directly from the input means 6 on the host side. However, it is preferable that the information input on the terminal side be input immediately or once stored and then received via the communication means 2. preferable.

As the container-related information 1a, container information relating to a container to be filled with gas may be further inputted and stored. The container valve type, container specification (size, material,
Inner surface processing), representative product names, and the like. The container code is information for specifying the container, and the container code is composed of a combination of the container symbol and the container number.

The gas information is information on the filling gas, and it is sufficient that the gas information includes at least information for specifying the gas. As the information, gas specifications are convenient,
It is preferable to unify or code the expression form of the gas specifications so that the search is easy. In addition to gas specifications, date of manufacture,
Performance items (filling pressure, purity, impurity content) and the like may be input and stored.

The location information of a container is information indicating where each container is located, such as a manufacturing factory name or its code, a business base name or its code, a user name or its code, and the like. You.

Consumption trend information 1b for each user and each gas
Means, for each user, data recording the number of empty containers returned within a predetermined period (for example, several months to several years) and the return interval for each gas. In addition, as information on the user, a user name, a user code, a user address, a filling gas guarantee period, a required quality value, and the like may be input and stored.

The terminal-side information processing means 3 is provided at a transaction base for trading containers with a user. Usually, a plurality of terminal-side information processing means 3 are provided for one host-side information processing means 1. ing. A terminal ID or the like for specifying each of the plurality of terminal-side information processing means 3 is attached so that the host-side information processing means 1 can identify the data when transmitting and receiving data. The terminal-side information processing means 3 is composed of a personal computer, a dedicated terminal computer, a microcomputer and the like, and is capable of printing the required number of deliveries and the like.
And terminal-side input means 4 such as a keyboard capable of inputting necessary data.

The communication means 2 is mainly composed of a terminal side transceiver 2a, a host side transceiver 2c and a telephone line 2b for connecting the two. The telephone line 2b may be connected directly via a telephone line, or may be connected via the Internet or a LAN. A communication control program is usually used for communication, and a modulator or the like is used when an analog line is used.

The communication means 2 enables transmission / reception and retrieval of necessary information in response to a request from the host or the terminal. Further, the container-related information 1a stored in the host-side information processing means 1 is transmitted to the terminal based on the set value corresponding to the elapsed time and the like, and the container-related information stored in the terminal-side information processing means 3 is transmitted. May be overwritten at any time.

The direct object of the present invention is to calculate the number of requested deliveries in accordance with the number of empty containers returned from the user. The management of the location of the container, the management of the distribution route of the container, the management of the type of the container, the management of the filling gas of the container, the management of the frequency of consumption of the container by the user, and the management of the empty container can be performed together. These various types of information management can be performed on the host side or the terminal side. In addition to the overall management, the terminal side can perform individual information management at the transaction base.

The stored container-related information 1a and consumption tendency information 1b are read out by a program for the information management process as described above, and are subjected to various calculations and outputs (display, printing).
After the processing is performed, the information may be stored as secondary information in the storage unit of the host-side information processing unit 1 as necessary. Also, it can be read out by the program of the terminal side information processing means 3,
Necessary information may be searched.

Next, regarding the processing procedure in the present invention,
This will be described with reference to FIG. In this embodiment, every time an empty container (consumed return container) is returned using information previously received and stored from the host-side information processing unit 1,
An example is shown in which, after calculating the number of delivery requests on the terminal side, delivery request data is transmitted to the host side. At that time, the information processing means stores the gas specification in association with the information for specifying each container, and inputs the information for specifying each container when a plurality of consumed containers are returned from the user. This is an example of executing a processing procedure of classifying each container from the information for each gas specification, integrating the number, and calculating the consumed return container number. In addition, in this embodiment, it is assumed that the empty container returned from the user contains different types of gases, and one or more of each gas are returned.

First, when the container is returned from the user,
One of the container codes is input from the input means 4 on the terminal side (see step 1). Return of the container from the user,
Although it may be left to the user (even in this case, it is desirable to return the container regularly), as described above, it is preferable to determine in advance the collection time of the used return container at substantially constant intervals with the user. . The interval is preferably changed according to the consumption tendency of the user. For example, when the number of returned products is equal to or more than a specific number, the interval may be reduced to half the number of days. In this way, by changing the interval of the pick-up time, for example, when the consumption increases, the turnover rate of the container can be increased to avoid new investment, which leads to a reduction in the maximum stock.

The input of the container code may be performed using a bar code reader or the like. Corresponding to this, the corresponding gas information is retrieved from the container code (see step 2), and the number of returns is accumulated from the retrieved gas information (see step 3). The final integrated value by this integration is the latest consumed return container number Ln for each gas specification from the user.

The input of the container code of another container is continued, and the input is repeated until the input of all the containers is completed (see step 4). At this time, for example, in a state of waiting for the input of the container code, by pressing a specific key, it is determined that the input of the total number is completed, or the number of returned items is input in advance, and the input corresponding to the number is input. May be determined at the time of completion of the input. When the input is completed, the number of returned gas for each gas is accumulated.

On the other hand, information for specifying the user is input (see step 5). Usually, a user name and a user code are input.

Next, for any one of the gases, the consumption tendency information of the gas for the user is read from the input information for specifying the user (see step 6). In the present embodiment, the consumption tendency information is stored in the terminal side, and the content is updated periodically based on the information received from the host side.

From the consumption tendency information,
The average number An of the number of consumed returned pieces in the past plural times is calculated (see step 7). As a calculation method, the sum is calculated by dividing the sum of the number of pieces consumed in a predetermined number of times (for example, 2 to 5 times) by the number of times. If the above constant is not an integer,
In some cases, the number of delivery requests may not be an integer, in which case rounding, rounding up, downing, etc. may be performed. The number of times may be different for each user or gas, and the number of times may be periodically reviewed according to a change in the consumption tendency of the user.

Next, the number of containers obtained by subtracting the average number An of the number of consumed returned containers in the past plural times from the latest number Ln of used returned containers is added to the latest number Ln of consumed returned containers. It is calculated as the required number (see step 8). It is determined whether or not this calculation has been performed for all the gases.
8 is repeated to calculate the number of delivery requests, and the process is repeated until the calculation is completed for all the gases in the returned containers (see steps 6 to 9).

When this is completed, delivery request data including the number of delivery requests for each gas, gas specifications, and information for specifying the source is created. This delivery request data may be communicated to the manufacturer by facsimile or the like, but in this embodiment, the delivery request data is transmitted to the host side in order to improve the real-timeness and accuracy of the data (see step 10). . Further, the delivery request data may be output by the output unit 5 or may be simply displayed on the display unit 3a. Further, the stored delivery request data is updated anew (see step 11). The host receives the delivery request data and updates the manufacturing management data (see steps 12 and 13). At this time, the delivery request data may be output by the output means 7. When the production management data is updated, the production amount is adjusted accordingly.

Specifically, for example, based on delivery request data from each transaction base (delivery center), the number of production requests for each gas specification is accumulated, and when the accumulated value exceeds a certain value, production is performed. The filling container may be delivered to each transaction base.

[Other Embodiments] Hereinafter, other embodiments of the present invention will be described.

(1) In the above-described embodiment, the terminal calculates the number of delivery requests on the terminal side every time an empty container is returned, using information previously received and stored from the host-side information processing means. Although an example has been shown in which delivery request data is transmitted to the host and an order is placed, the number of delivery requests may be calculated using only information stored on the terminal.

(2) In the above-described embodiment, an example has been described in which information such as container-related information is also stored in the terminal-side information processing means. However, information is stored only in the host-side information processing means.
The information may be retrieved from the terminal side to execute the processing procedure of the present invention.

(3) In the above-described embodiment, the information processing means is provided between the information processing means provided at the manufacturer and the information processing means provided at the transaction base for trading containers with the user. Although an example has been described in which required information can be transmitted and received via the communication means, the processing procedure of the present invention may be executed only by the information processing means provided at the transaction base. In that case, all information necessary for executing the processing procedure is input and stored in the information processing means.

(4) In the above-described embodiment, an example has been described in which the host-side information processing means is provided at the manufacturer. However, the host-side information processing means 1 is provided in the management section, and another terminal-side information processing means is provided. The means may be located at the manufacturer. In that case, the terminal-side information processing means only needs to be capable of receiving the request from the host-side information processing means, receiving the delivery request data and the cumulative data, and displaying or outputting them.

(5) In the above-described embodiment, an example has been described in which the number of requested delivery units is calculated using the average number of consumed return units in the past plural times. The required number of returned containers may be calculated using the number of returned containers for one time. In this case, for example, the number of return containers for the immediately preceding one or even the previous one can be used.

(6) In the above-described embodiment, an example is shown in which access from the user through the communication means is not taken into consideration. However, the information processing means sequentially stores the number of used return containers in association with each user. Alternatively, a procedure for transmitting data including the past number of consumed return containers may be executed in response to access from the user through the communication means. At this time, the number of delivery requests calculated based on the consumption of the user and the method of calculating the number of delivery requests negotiated with the user may be transmitted together.

(7) From the latest number of used return containers for each gas specification from the delivery center, the average number of the past plurality of consumed return units or the predetermined number of the previously consumed multiple returned units of one The number obtained by subtracting the number of returned containers for the batch may be calculated by adding the number of containers required for delivery to the latest number of used returned containers.

(8) The number of gas-filled containers supplied from the factory to the delivery center at the time of gas filling is the total of the number of delivery requests calculated at each supply interval and calculated when each user returns empty containers to the delivery center. May be planned based on

(9) Set the cumulative remaining number of the maximum number of required deliveries of the gas filling factory, and (after taking into account the maintenance and procurement of containers, production capacity, etc.) between the gas filling factory and the delivery center. May be adjusted (at the same time, empty pick-up) or the empty container pick-up interval between the delivery center and the user (simultaneous supply). At that time, it is preferable to first adjust the supply interval between the gas charging factory and the delivery center.

(10) In the above-described embodiment, an example is described in which the case where the interval of the pick-up time previously determined with the user is not changed is considered, but the interval of the pick-up time is set according to the consumption tendency of the user. It is preferable to calculate the delivery request number by correcting the number of pieces returned before the change using the ratio of the interval before the change and the interval after the change at that time. For example, if the interval is reduced to half the number of days according to the increase in the consumption tendency of the user, the number of returned products before the change is 1
The delivery request number may be calculated using the number corrected by multiplying by / 2.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram showing a transaction form which is a premise of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram showing a system configuration of a management system according to the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart illustrating an example of a processing procedure according to the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Host-side information processing means 2 Communication means 3 Terminal-side information processing means 4 Terminal-side input means 7 Host-side output means M Manufacturer Da Business base Ua, Ub User

Claims (5)

[Claims] 1. A number obtained by subtracting the average number of used returned containers in a plurality of past times from the latest number of used returned containers for each gas specification from a user is added to the latest number of used returned containers. The information processing means executes the processing procedure of calculating the number of containers as the required number of delivery and the processing procedure of transmitting the calculated required number of delivery to the manufacturer via the communication means together with the information for specifying the gas specification and the source. A container management system that performs manufacturing management using the number of delivery requests received by the manufacturer. 2. A number obtained by subtracting a predetermined number of returned containers from a plurality of past used containers returned from the latest number of used returned containers for each gas specification from the user, A processing procedure of calculating the number of containers in addition to the number of consumed return containers as a required number of deliveries, a processing procedure of transmitting the calculated required number of deliveries to the manufacturer via communication means together with information for specifying the gas specification and the source. And a container management system for performing manufacturing management using the number of delivery requests received by the manufacturer. 3. The information processing means stores a gas specification in association with information for specifying each container, and information for specifying each container when a plurality of consumed containers are returned from a user. 3. The container management system according to claim 1, wherein a processing procedure is performed in which each container is classified according to gas specifications from the information, and the number of the returned containers is calculated by integrating the number. 4. The collection time of the used return container is previously determined with the user at a substantially constant interval, and when the interval of the collection time is changed, the interval before the change and the interval after the change are changed. The method for managing a gas-filled container according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the number of requested deliveries is calculated by correcting the number of pieces returned before the change using the ratio of (i). 5. The information processing means sequentially stores the number of consumed return containers in association with each user, and includes the past number of consumed return containers in response to access from the user by the communication means. The method for managing a gas-filled container according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein a procedure for transmitting data is executed.