JP2006343793A - Asset management method and asset management system - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a technique for implementing asset management of products in consideration of relation between the products using identifiers which are added to the products themselves. <P>SOLUTION: An RFID 100 prepared in a management object product is read from an RFID reader 200 for the management object products (codes 10-14) related to an asset management object terminal 350 and information of the read RFID 100 is stored in an asset management file 300. Contents of the asset management file 300 of the asset management object terminal 350 are collectively managed in an asset management database 400 of an asset management terminal 450. By matching contents of the asset management database 400 with existing asset information (an actual article information file 1100), using state of the products can be grasped. Moreover, by matching the actual article information file 1100 with article shipment information (a customer asset management database 650) of a vendor, presence of the product can be grasped. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2007,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a technology for managing product data provided by a product manufacturer using a wireless communication element.

  In companies and the like, a wide variety of systems have been introduced in order to perform efficient corporate activities. When these systems are introduced, various products such as software media and software manuals and their product attachments are delivered from product manufacturers. Each time the version (revision) of each product is upgraded, the product and the version (revision) upgraded version of the product attachment are sent. For this reason, there are cases where a customer owns a plurality of products of the same version even when the same product has different versions or a plurality of servers. For this reason, there are many products that are no longer needed, and the asset management man-hours of these ever-increasing products are increasing.

  By the way, when managing a product delivered as an asset when introducing the system, it is first necessary to identify and manage a product delivered from a product manufacturing vendor. For this reason, conventionally, an identification code or an index is attached to an appropriate location of a product such as a manual, a document, or a software medium. In addition, a bar code was attached so that the code could be read mechanically.

  In this way, in order to perform individual recognition of products, a visual individual recognition technology that prints predetermined management numbers and barcodes on asset management targets such as products and documents, and reads and identifies them with a dedicated reader Exists. With this technology, the history management of products, documents, etc., and the current location are managed. Such a management method can be operated as an individual product recognition and management system simply by printing a predetermined management number or barcode, so that the system can be constructed at a low cost and the volume occupied by printing on the product can be reduced. There is an advantage that it can be made thin.

  However, in the management method, the number and barcode must be exposed on the surface of the product to be managed. For this reason, there is a problem that restrictions are imposed on the appearance of the managed product. In addition, when performing asset management, there is a restriction that information on a large number of target items for asset management cannot be read at a time, and numbers and barcodes existing at some distant locations cannot be read. In addition, if the printed number or bar code is dirty, there is a problem that it becomes impossible to read and management becomes difficult. In addition, in the case of a barcode, there is a limit to the information that can be recorded, and there is a problem that it is not suitable for storing a large amount of information.

  On the other hand, as described in Non-Patent Document 1, “RFID (Radio Frequency IDentification) tag and its application, affixing information to an object”, an ID element that holds individual information electronically and transmits information in a non-contact manner by electromagnetic induction Technology is being developed and applied to object identification management. The individual recognition method using an ID element does not have the disadvantages of the barcode described above, has a relatively large data storage capacity, does not impose restrictions on the design of the object, because of information transmission by electromagnetic induction, and has a surface of There is an advantage that even if it is dirty, reading is not affected.

IPSJ Journal Vol.40, No.8, p846-850, August 1999

  The RFID can be read at a long distance of several centimeters to several meters, and a plurality of RFIDs can be read at the same time. That is, a plurality of RFIDs in a specific space can be read by a single reading operation. Therefore, it is suitable for use in, for example, parts inventory management.

  By the way, in product asset management, it is necessary to keep in mind that various products exist as management targets, and that there are a plurality of the same products. That is, when managing, it is desired to be able to collect information on the asset management target accurately and easily with as little effort as possible.

  In addition, a technology for identifying assets provided by product manufacturing vendors from software media to hardware at the product level and managing the assets while maintaining the relationship for each related product has not been developed.

  The object of the present invention is to use the identification information attached to the product itself, which is the asset management target, to identify the management target between the product and the level of the product attachment, and The purpose is to manage assets comprehensively by associating products and product attachments.

  The present invention is an asset management method for managing ownership status between products provided to a customer from a product provider or between the product and its product attachment material as asset information using an asset management system, The asset management system includes a memory and a processing unit, and the processing unit stores unique identification information stored in each wireless communication element attached to each other or to the product and its product attachments. A step of acquiring the contents of the memory, a step of receiving unique identification information of each wireless communication element read by a reading device, and the acquired identification information and the received identification information Discriminating between the products equipped with the wireless communication elements storing the matched identification information, or the products and their product attachments; And outputting the determination result to the outside, characterized in that the run.

  As described above, according to the present invention, by using the wireless communication element that stores the identification information assigned to the product itself for asset management of the product, it is possible to identify the individual at the product level and between products such as products and product attachments. Relevance can be maintained and managed. Further, according to the present invention, it is possible to easily add, delete, and change product management information.

(System overview)
The asset management method and the asset management system of this embodiment will be described with reference to the system outline diagram of FIG. This asset management system includes an RFID reader 200 that reads data from the wireless communication element 100, an asset management target terminal 350, an asset management terminal 450, and an information providing device 600. The asset management target terminal 350, the asset management terminal 450, and the information providing apparatus 600 are configured to communicate with each other through the network environment 500 and the network environment 700. The asset management target terminal 350 registers the asset management file 300 according to the asset management application 1000, the asset management terminal 450 registers the asset management file 300 and the asset management database 400, and the information providing apparatus 600 stores the customer asset management database 650. sign up.

  In this embodiment, the product information file 1100 for grasping the existing asset information and the asset management database 400 that collectively manages the asset contents of the customer (system user) are compared to grasp the usage status of the product. A product usage information file 1200 is created. In addition, in order to make the customer confirm the presence of the product by performing data matching between the actual product information file 1100 and the customer asset management database 650 that manages product shipment information by the product manufacturer (product provider). The inventory information file 1300 is created. Products provided by product manufacturers may be paid or free.

  Next, the asset management target product used in this embodiment will be described. Various types of products are targeted as asset management targets (also referred to as asset management targets) regardless of materials and forms. However, here, it refers to products used at the time of system construction, and product attachments. That is, as shown in FIG. 1, a description is given for a software medium 11, a software license certificate (hereinafter referred to as "license certificate") 13, a manual 12, a support service certificate 10, and hardware 14 as a computer. To do. Of course, the asset management target is not limited to these. In addition, what was shown with the codes | symbols 10-14 is collectively called "management object product."

  A wireless communication element 100 that performs close proximity wireless communication is attached to a part to be managed at the time of shipment. One piece is provided for each product. In the management target product (asset management target) shown in FIG. 1, the wireless communication element 100 is provided so as to be visible. When a fine semiconductor chip is used as the wireless communication element 100, it is very small and may not be easily visible when embedded in a product attachment such as a document.

  Here, an example of attaching the wireless communication element 100 to a management target product or product attachment will be described. FIG. 2 shows that the wireless communication element 100 is present on the spine portion of the manual 12 as the management target product. In this example, it is assumed that the wireless communication element 100 is used for the purpose of identifying the manual 12 itself. In the present embodiment, the user does not need to be aware of the installation location of the wireless communication element 100, and the installation location can be left up to the product manufacturer. In addition, since the wireless communication element 100 used in the present embodiment is minute in nature, wireless communication is also performed for a management target product such as the software medium 11 of the management target product that is difficult to install for the purpose of use of the product. The element 100 can be installed.

  Returning to FIG. 1, also in the hardware 14, the wireless communication element 100 for each product (each minimum configuration that can be subdivided such as a central processing unit, a main storage device, and an external storage device) that configures the hardware 14 at the time of shipment. Shall be attached. In the present embodiment, management is performed in units in which the wireless communication element 100 is attached.

  The wireless communication element 100 has a wireless communication function and identification information (for example, an identification number and an identifier) previously assigned thereto. Therefore, in the following description, the wireless communication element 100 is referred to as an RFID 100.

(RFID function)
A variety of products sent from a product manufacturing vendor at the time of system construction are targeted for products that are the targets of asset management in which the RFID 100 is installed. Therefore, it is desired to read RFID 100 of many products at once to reduce asset management man-hours. For this reason, it is desirable that the wireless effective range is as wide and long as possible. For example, the interval between the RFID 100 and the RFID reader 200 that communicates is 1 m or more, and if possible, several m or more.

  In this embodiment, the RFID 100 is formed with an electronic circuit 101 functioning as a memory, a capacitor 102, and an antenna 103 as shown in FIG. Here, the electronic circuit 101, the capacitor 102, and the antenna 103 induce electric current in the antenna 103 from radio waves given from the outside, accumulate electric charge in the capacitor 102, and obtain electric power obtained from the electric charge accumulated in the capacitor 102. Is used to transmit information stored in the electronic circuit 101 from the antenna 103 using radio waves.

  That is, by applying a radio wave to the electronic circuit 101, information stored in the electronic circuit 101 can be read out from the outside without contact. Since the RFID 100 can store several kilobytes of information in the electronic circuit 101, the product ID 120 and product shown in FIG. 4 are included as necessary, including the product ID 120 that is the identification number (identification information) of the RFID 100 itself. It is assumed that identification information that can identify a product such as a model name 121, a product name 122, and a product version 123 is stored.

(System details)
Next, the asset management system will be described in detail with reference to FIG. FIG. 5 shows a system configuration diagram of the present embodiment. As shown in FIG. 5, in this embodiment, the RFID 100 (see FIG. 1) provided in the managed product, the RFID reader 200 (see FIG. 1) that reads the RFID 100 provided in the product, and the read RFID 100 And an asset management file 300 (see FIG. 1).

  In this embodiment, an asset management target terminal 350 (see FIG. 1) that creates and manages the asset management file 300, an asset management database 400 (see FIG. 1) that collectively manages the contents of the asset management file 300, and an asset An asset management terminal 450 (see FIG. 1) for managing the management database 400 and a network environment 500 (see FIG. 1) for transmitting the contents of the asset management file 300 to the asset management database 400 are provided.

  Also, in the present embodiment, an information providing apparatus 600 (see FIG. 1) that provides shipping information of each customer and is constructed and managed by a product manufacturer, and a customer asset management database 650 (see FIG. 1) that manages product shipping information to customers. 1), a network environment 700 (see FIG. 1) connecting the customer environment and the information providing apparatus 600 of the product manufacturer, and the existing customer assets are read from the RFID reader 200 as needed, and a list of existing assets is obtained. A product information file 1100 (see FIG. 1). The asset management file 300 and the asset management file creation unit 310 are provided by being included in the asset management application 1000. The asset management application 1000 is activated in each asset management target terminal 350.

  Further, each asset management target terminal 350 used by the customer stores the asset management file creation means (processing unit) 310 for creating the asset management file 300 on the memory (not shown) and the information on the RFID 100 read by the RFID reader 200. RFID reading means 311 to be read into each asset management target terminal 350 and communication control means 312 to be connected to a network environment 500 such as the Internet are provided.

  Further, the asset management terminal 450 used by the customer includes a communication control unit 411 connected to the network environment 500, an asset management file collection unit 410 that collects the asset management file 300, and a database control unit that manages the asset management database 400. 401, asset management file creation means 310 for creating the asset management file 300, asset management file 300, and actual product information file creation means 1110 for creating the actual product information file 1100.

  Further, the asset management terminal 450 includes a product usage information file 1200 (see FIG. 1), product usage information file creation means 1210 for creating the product usage information file 1200, an inventory information file 1300 (see FIG. 1), An inventory information file creating unit 1310 that creates the inventory information file 1300 and an RFID reading unit 412 that imports information of the RFID 100 read by the RFID reader 200 into the asset management terminal 450 are provided.

  Further, the customer side is provided with communication control means 360 for controlling communication in the network environment 500. On the other hand, the information providing apparatus 600 installed on the product manufacturing vendor side includes a communication control unit 610 connected to the network environment 700, a user authentication unit 611 for authenticating a customer, and a WWW screen for displaying a WWW (World Wide Web) screen. Display means 612, database control means 613 for managing customer asset management database 650, and customer data fetching means 614 for fetching customer data are provided.

  In order to use this embodiment, data of a software configuration list, a hardware configuration list, and a list of product attachments constituting each asset management target terminal 350 is created in the asset management file 300. start from. Creation is performed by the asset management file creation means 310. Hereinafter, the creation procedure of the asset management file creation means 310 (see FIG. 5) and the like will be described.

  The creation procedure by the asset management file creation unit 310 is as shown in FIG. 6, and first, the asset management application 1000 bundled with the hardware 14 (see FIG. 1) is started (Sa1). As a result, the asset management file creation unit 310 operates in accordance with the asset management application 1000 thereafter. In the asset management application 1000, the product category 132 of the product to be managed is displayed on the display screen (computer display), and the product category corresponding to the product is selected from the product category 132 by the customer's operation (for example, mouse The selection is made according to the operation of the input device such as the same (the same applies hereinafter) (Sa2). In this case, the product classification is 1: software product related, 2: manual related, 3: support service related, 4: hardware product related.

  The asset management application 1000 then causes the RFID reader 311 to read the content recorded in the RFID 100 of the product received from the antenna by the customer holding the RFID 100 of the product over the RFID reader 200 (Sa3). Then, the asset management application 1000 automatically converts the four pieces of information of the product ID 120, the product type name 121, the product name 122, and the product version 123 shown in FIG. 4 to the asset management file 300 as shown in FIG. (Sa4). At this time, the product registration date 124 (see FIG. 7) and the host (host) name 131 (see FIG. 7) are also automatically registered in the asset management file 300 based on the system date and system information.

  In asset management, the software medium 11 as a product and the product attachments related to the product such as the support service certificate 10, the manual 12, and the license certificate 13 maintain the relationship between the products. It is desirable to manage Therefore, the software medium 11 is registered in the asset management file 300, and the contents are displayed on the display screen to allow the customer to confirm (Sa5). When the asset management application 1000 has a related product of the software medium 11 (as described later, product-related material and hardware-related material of the software medium 11) (Sa6), the software medium 11 11 is a mechanism capable of registering product information (identification information, etc.) related to the asset management file 300. Note that the presence or absence of related products is input by the asset management application 1000 by using a GUI (Graphical User Interface) to display the input screen for the presence or absence of related products on the computer display. Judge according to the operation.

  In addition to the software medium 11 and product-related materials, asset management of hardware 14 and hardware-related materials can also be a management target in this embodiment. When registering the hardware 14 and hardware-related materials in the asset management file 300, the asset management application 1000 prompts the customer to input necessary items related to product classification through the GUI. For example, the asset management application 1000 displays a radio button indicating a product category on the screen by using the GUI, and causes the customer to select the radio button (Sa7). The asset management application 1000 reads the data of the RFID 100 attached to the hardware 14 from the antenna to the RFID reader 200 (Sa8), as in the software medium 11, and the asset of the product category corresponding to the radio button The asset content of hardware 14 (read data of RFID 100) is written to management file 300 (Sa9).

  At that time, the asset management target is registered in the asset management file 300 so that each hardware component is associated with the hardware representative product ID 130 (see FIG. 7), and the registration content is displayed on the display screen by the GUI. The customer is confirmed (Sa10). In this confirmation process, the registered contents are transmitted to the information providing apparatus 600 via the network environment 700, and the registered contents are displayed on the WWW screen display means 612 of the information providing apparatus 600, and registered on the product manufacturing vendor side. Let the contents be confirmed.

  On the other hand, after the content (including identification information) regarding the software medium 11 is registered in the asset management file 300 and the content is displayed on the display screen and confirmed by the customer (Sa5), there is no related product (Sa6) , None), the asset management application 1000 saves the asset management file 300 (Sa11), stops (Sa12), and ends the process.

  In this way, the asset management file creation means 310 includes the software medium 11, the software product-related attachments (support service certificate 10, manual 12, license certificate 13), and the hardware 14 and hardware product-related attachments (manual 12). An example of a data configuration diagram of the asset management file 300 created according to FIG. 7 is shown in FIG. An asset management file 300 as shown in FIG. 7 is created and managed by each asset management target terminal 350 and asset management terminal 450.

  In FIG. 7, there are a product ID 120 with a unique number that is read when the RFID 100 is read from the RFID reader 200, a product type name 121, a product name 122, and a product version 123. Also, the registration date 124 that is automatically input based on the system date when reading the RFID 100, the deletion date 125 that is input when the product is no longer used, such as product uninstallation and replacement, and the software medium 11. There are a manual ID 126 for associating products, a manual attachment ID 127, a software license certificate ID 128, and a software support service certificate ID 129.

  In addition, since there are a large number of components, the hardware 14 is uniquely managed only by the representative name of the hardware. The hardware representative product ID 130 required for that purpose, the host name 131, the product required for connecting the asset management target terminal 350 and the asset management file 300 when collectively managing the asset management file 300 in the asset management database 400 There is a product category 132 indicating the category of.

  As the system is operated, software upgrades and hardware replacements often occur. When uninstalling software from a computer, such as uninstalling when software is upgraded, or when it is no longer used, the contents need to be reflected in the asset management file 300. By inputting the uninstall date in the item of the deletion date 125 of the asset management file 300, it means that the software has been uninstalled from the hardware on the asset management file 300. In the asset management file 300 shown in FIG. 7, the deletion date is input in the product ID “34439” on the third line, which means that the software (product) has been uninstalled in this asset management method. (Inventor additional text)

  Further, when hardware replacement occurs, it is necessary to reflect the contents of the replacement in the asset management file 300. As a method for changing the contents of the asset management file 300, the replacement date is input in the item of the deletion date 125 of the failed hardware component. Further, information of the RFID 100 attached to the newly installed hardware component is read by the RFID reader 200 and registered in the asset management file 300. At this time, in order to maintain the relevance between the hardware components as described above, the product ID of the hardware representative product is registered in the hardware representative product ID 130 of the newly attached component. FIG. 14 shows a method for changing the asset management file 300 accompanying such software uninstallation, hardware addition / replacement, and the like. (Inventor addition sentence, FIG. 14 is also the same) In this method, the asset management file creation means 310 operates according to the asset management application 1000.

  When the customer performs uninstallation or hardware replacement, the settings are updated, and the configuration change is completed (uninstallation, hardware replacement completed) (Sf1), the asset management file creation unit 310 of the asset management terminal 450 Activates the asset management application 1000 (Sf2). The asset management application 1000 designates an asset management file update function including a deletion date input function of the asset management target terminal 350 (Sf3). Subsequently, the asset management application 1000 of the asset management target terminal 350 reads the product ID (RFID) of the product to be excluded from the asset management file 300 according to the asset management file update function (Sf4).

  The asset management application 1000 sets the value of N representing the row of the asset management file 300 to 0 (Sf5), and reads the RFID 100 (recorded value of the RFID 100) read in the (N + 1) th row of the “product ID” column of the asset management file 300 ) Exists (Sf6). If the RFID 100 does not exist (Sf6, none), the asset management application 1000 determines whether the N + 1th line of the asset management file 300 exists (Sf7).

  If the line exists (Sf7, yes), the asset management application 1000 increments the value of N by 1 (Sf8), returns to the processing of Sf6, and if the line does not exist (Sf7, none). Displays an error message indicating that the corresponding product does not exist, for example, on a computer display (Sf9) and stops (Sf12). On the other hand, if the RFID 100 exists (Sf6: present), the asset management application 1000 inputs the system date to the “deletion date” (Sf10), saves it as the actual product information file 1100 (Sf11), and stops ( Sf12).

  Returning to FIG. 5, the management man-hours can be reduced by centrally managing the asset management file 300. As a method for centrally managing such an asset management file 300, information is aggregated in the asset management database 400 in the asset management terminal 450 to perform unified management of asset information. Assume that the asset management file collection unit 410 (method shown in FIG. 8) periodically collects the asset management file 300 and stores the data in the asset management database 400 when performing unified management.

  Note that in the collection target terminal identification (Sb1) in FIG. 8, broadcast is performed on the network environment 500, the presence of the asset management target terminals 350 scattered in the network environment 500, and the collection of the asset management file 300 are performed. To implement. When the asset management file 300 is collected, the asset management file 300 is stored (transferred) from the asset management target terminal 350 to the asset management terminal 450 (Sb6). At that time, it is necessary to previously create an asset management database 400 for each customer for collecting asset management files in the asset management terminal 450 and the asset management target terminal 350.

  The asset management file collection unit 410 identifies the asset management target terminal 350 (Sb1) and creates an asset management target terminal list (Sb2). The asset management file collection unit 410 sets the value of the N counter indicating the number of rows in the created list to 0 (Sb3), and determines whether or not data exists in the (N + 1) th row of the list (Sb4). If the data does not exist (Sb4, none), the asset management file collection unit 410 terminates the processing. If the data exists (Sb4, present), the asset management target terminal 350 in the list N + 1 line. Communication with the (collection target terminal) is established (Sb5).

  Next, the asset management file collection unit 410 receives the asset management file 300 from the asset management target terminal 350, stores the received asset management file 300 in the asset management terminal 450 (Sb6), and sets the number of lines in the asset management file 300. The value M of the counter to be represented is set to 0 (Sb7), and the asset management file collection unit 410 determines whether or not data exists in the M + 1th line of the asset management file 300 (Sb8). Then, the asset management file collection unit 410 determines whether or not the same data exists in the asset management database 400 when the data exists in the (M + 1) th row (Sb8, presence) (Sb9). The asset management file collection means 410 returns to the processing of Sb8 as it is when the same data exists (Sb9, yes), and returns the data to the asset management database 400 when the same data does not exist (Sb9, none). Register (Sb10), increment the value of M by 1 (Sb11), and return to the process of Sb8.

  Further, when the data does not exist on the M + 1th line (Sb8, none), the asset management file collection unit 410 commits (Sb12) the asset management database (DB) 400, and the list N + 1th line. The communication with the collection target terminal is disconnected (Sb13), the value of N is incremented by 1 (Sb14), and the process returns to Sb4.

  By the way, the actual product information file 1100 needs to exist for the purpose of grasping the contents of existing assets when inventorying products. The creation method follows the actual product information file creation means 1110, and as shown in the procedure of FIG. 9, by reading the RFID 100 of the product that exists as appropriate, the actual product information file 1100 representing a list of assets existing at that time can be created. . The actual product information file creation means 1110 can create a real product information file 1100 representing the customer's asset presence status. The contents of the actual product information file 1100 are shown in FIG. In the actual product information file 1100, product IDs are stored over a plurality of lines.

  The actual product information file creation unit 1110 activates the asset management application 1000 of the asset management target terminal 350 (Sc1). In the asset management target terminal 350, the asset management application 1000 determines whether or not there is an RFID reading product (Sc2). That is, the presence or absence of a product can be determined based on whether or not the antenna of the RFID reader 200 has received a signal from the RFID 100. When there is a product (Sc2, Yes), the asset management application 1000 reads information stored in the RFID 100 by the RFID reader 200 (Sc3), writes it to the actual product information file 1100 (Sc4), and the Sc2 Return to processing. If there is no product (Sc2, none), the asset management application 1000 saves the actual product information file 1100 (Sc5) and stops (Sc6).

  Accordingly, since the asset management database 400 and the actual product information file 1100 are stored in the memory, the product usage information file 1200 grasps the usage status of the product by matching the asset management database 400 and the actual product information file 1100. It can be created for the purpose. That is, according to the product usage information file creation means 1210, the product usage information file 1200 can be created by matching the data between the actual product information file 1100 and the asset management database 400. Although the product usage information file 1200 has a product entity, it is possible to identify a product that has already been uninstalled and a product that is not currently used or a support service for which the contract has expired. As described above, the user of this embodiment can identify a used asset by referring to the actual product information file 1100, and can easily make a decision as to whether or not to recognize it as a product to be discarded. The processing of the product usage information file creation means 1210 is shown in FIG.

  The product usage information file creation means 1210 reads the actual product information file 1100 (Sd1), substitutes 0 for the value of N (Sd2), and determines whether or not data exists in the N + 1th line of the actual product information file 1100. (Sd3). Then, if the data exists (Sd3), the product usage information file creation unit 1210 determines whether the data (product ID) on the N + 1th row exists in the asset management database (DB) 400. Judgment is made (Sd4). If the data does not exist (Sd4, No), the product usage information file creation means 1210 displays it as an unknown product on the display (Sd5) and returns to the processing of Sd3.

  Further, if the data exists (Sd4, Yes), the product usage information file creation unit 1210 determines whether the product is not used (the deletion date is input) (Sd6). . The product usage information file creation unit 1210 uses the product without entering the deletion date (Sd6, Yes), or when the deletion date is input and the product is not used. While being displayed as a used product according to (Sd6, No) (Sd7), it is displayed on the display as an unknown product (Sd5), and the process returns to Sd3. On the other hand, if there is no data on the N + 1th line (Sd3, none), the product usage information file creation unit 1210 stores the processing result as the product usage information file 1200 (Sd8) and ends the processing.

Returning to FIG. 5, when the software of a certain software medium 11 has been uninstalled and is currently used, the product-related materials related to the software medium 11 can be simultaneously identified as used assets, It is possible to easily make a decision as to whether or not to recognize as a product to be discarded.
In addition, even when the hardware 14 has been used, whether the product installed on the hardware 14 or the installed product can be identified as a used asset at the same time, and whether or not to recognize it as a product to be discarded. Can make decisions easily.

Next, the information providing apparatus 600 constructed and operated by the product manufacturing vendor and the customer asset management database 650 managed by the information providing apparatus 600 will be described.
In the information providing apparatus 600 and the customer asset management database 650, the vendor manages each product shipment information for each customer shown in FIGS. 12A to 12F, the support service contract status, and the like. In addition, a customer-specific portal screen will be prepared to provide information about products such as version upgrade information and related new product announcements. That is, the customer can access upgrade information and new product announcement information via the network through the customer portal window set in the information providing apparatus 600.

  In addition, the inventory information file 1300 can be created for the purpose of confirming the presence or absence of a product. The inventory information file 1300 can be created by collating data between the customer asset management database 650 and the actual product information file 1100. The inventory information file 1300 can identify a product that is shipped from a product manufacturer but does not exist as a customer asset. Therefore, by referring to the inventory information file 1300, a product that does not exist in the customer storage location can be easily identified, and a product that may be lost can be identified.

  Note that the inventory information file creation unit 1310 creates the inventory information file 1300 by matching data between the customer asset management database 650 and the actual product information file 1100. The contents of the procedure will be described with reference to FIG.

  When establishing communication with the information providing apparatus 600 (Se1), the inventory information file creation unit 1310 displays a WWW screen on the WWW screen display unit 612 (Se2), and performs user authentication by the user authentication unit 611 (Se3). The actual product information file 1100 is transmitted to the information providing apparatus 600 (Se4). Subsequently, the inventory information file creation unit 1310 substitutes 0 for the value of N (Se5), causes the database control unit 613 to clear the work column in the asset management database (DB) 400 (Se6), and the actual product information file 1100. It is determined whether or not data exists in the (N + 1) th row (Se7).

  Then, if the data exists (Se7, yes), the inventory information file creation unit 1310 determines whether the data (product ID) on the N + 1th row exists in the customer asset management database (DB) 650. It determines by performing communication with the information providing apparatus 600 (Se8). If the data (product ID) does not exist (Se8, No), the inventory information file creation means 1310 displays it as an unknown product (Se9), moves the process to Se10, and the data (product ID) exists. In the case (Se8, Yes), the processing is transferred to Se10 as it is. Subsequently, the inventory information file creation unit 1310 sets a flag in the work column of the data of the (N + 1) th row (Se10), increments the value of N by 1 (Se11), and returns to the processing of Se7.

  On the other hand, if there is no data on the N + 1th line of the actual product information file 1100 (Se7, none), the inventory information file creation unit 1310 has no flag in the work column in the customer asset management database (DB) 650. And the related information are displayed on the screen as actual product management information (Se12). Subsequently, the inventory information file creation unit 1310 saves the display content that is the actual item management information as an actual item information file (Se13), logs out (Se14), and disconnects communication with the information providing apparatus 600 (Se15). ,finish.

  In the above embodiment, the asset management target terminal 350 and the asset management terminal 450 have been described separately, but they may be configured by a single computer.

  Moreover, although the said embodiment demonstrated the software medium and its attached material as an example of the asset of management object, it is not restricted to these. For example, as described above, it may be hardware, which is owned by a customer, and can be used similarly in the case of a product that requires association between a plurality of products.

  In the above embodiment, the customer who receives the product from the product provider has been described as an example. However, the product provider itself manages the product (article) as a system customer (eg, inventory management). Also good. For example, when the system user (customer) is a bookstore, books can be managed by dividing the books into fields and managing them.

It is explanatory drawing which shows the conceptual diagram of the asset management system which is one Embodiment of this invention. It is a perspective view which shows an example of the product used by this embodiment. It is explanatory drawing which shows the structure (an electronic circuit, an antenna, a capacitor | condenser) of the radio | wireless communication element (RFID) used in this embodiment. It is explanatory drawing which shows 4 information of the product stored in a radio | wireless communication element (RFID), and its example. FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating an example of a system configuration in which a wireless communication element (RFID) is provided in a product and the product is managed while maintaining the relationship between the products. It is explanatory drawing which shows an example of the preparation means of the asset management file hold | maintained for every asset management object terminal. It is explanatory drawing which shows an example of the asset management file hold | maintained for every asset management object terminal. It is explanatory drawing which shows an example of the means to collect the asset management file hold | maintained for every asset management object terminal to an asset management terminal. It is explanatory drawing which shows an example of the means which collects the existing assets and produces a list (actual product information file). It is explanatory drawing which shows an example of the actual product information file showing the list of the existing assets. It is explanatory drawing which shows an example of the production method of the product usage information file produced by matching the actual product information file and the contents of the asset management database. It is explanatory drawing which shows an example of the data structure which manages software shipment information. It is explanatory drawing which shows an example of a data structure which manages software manual shipment information. It is explanatory drawing which shows an example of the data structure which manages the shipping information of a software manual attachment material. It is explanatory drawing which shows an example of the data structure which manages the shipping information of a software license certificate. It is explanatory drawing which shows an example of the data structure which manages the contract information of a support service. It is explanatory drawing which shows an example of the data structure which manages hardware shipment information. It is explanatory drawing which shows an example of the production method of the shipping information file produced by collating a product information file and the data in a customer asset database. It is explanatory drawing which shows an example of the change method of the asset management file 300 accompanying software uninstallation, hardware expansion / exchange, etc. FIG.

Explanation of symbols

10 ... Example of asset management object (support service certificate)
11 ... Example of asset management target (software medium)
12 ... Example of asset management object (manual)
13 ... Example of asset management object (license certificate)
14: An example of an asset management target (hardware)
100: Wireless communication element (RFID)
101 ... Product (electronic circuit) constituting a wireless communication element
102 ... Product (capacitor) constituting the wireless communication element
103 ... Product (antenna) constituting the wireless communication element
120... Example of information managed by RFID, asset management file (product ID)
121... Example of information managed by RFID, asset management file (product model name)
122... Example of information managed by RFID, asset management file (product name)
123 ... Example of information managed by RFID and asset management file (product version)
124 ... Example of information managed by asset management file (registration date)
125 ... Example of information managed by the asset management file (deletion date)
126 ... Example of information managed by asset management file (manual ID)
127 ... Example of information managed by asset management file (Manual attachment ID)
128 ... Example of information managed by asset management file (software license certificate ID)
129 ... Example of information managed by asset management file (software support service certificate ID)
130 ... Example of information managed by asset management file (hardware representative model ID)
131 ... Example of information managed by asset management file (host name)
132 ... Example of information managed by asset management file (product category)
200 ... RFID reader 300 ... Asset management file 310 ... Asset management file creation means (FIG. 6)
350 ... Asset management target terminal 400 ... Asset management database 410 ... Asset management file collection means (FIG. 8)
450: Asset management terminal 500 ... Network environment (connecting the asset management target terminal and the asset management terminal)
600 ... Information providing device 650 ... Customer asset management database 700 ... Network environment (connecting customers and vendors)
1000 ... Asset management application 1100 ... Actual product information file 1110 ... Actual product information file creation means (FIG. 9)
1200 ... Product usage information file 1210 ... Product usage information file creation means (FIG. 11)
1300 ... Inventory information file 1310 ... Inventory information file creation means (FIG. 13)

Claims (10)

An asset management method for managing ownership status between products provided to a customer from a product provider or between the product and its product attachment material as asset information using an asset management system,
The asset management system includes a memory and a processing unit,
The processing unit obtains the contents of the memory storing unique identification information stored in each wireless communication element mounted between products or the product and its product attachments; and
Receiving unique identification information of each of the wireless communication elements read by a reader;
The acquired identification information and the received identification information are matched, and the products equipped with the wireless communication elements storing the matched identification information, or the products and the product attachments thereof are determined. Steps,
Outputting the determination result to the outside;
The asset management method characterized by performing. The asset management method according to claim 1, wherein the processing unit includes:
In the obtaining step, as the identification information, at least one of five of an identification number, a product ID, a product model name, a product name, and a product version is obtained,
In the step of determining, the asset management method includes matching according to the acquired identification information. The asset management method according to claim 1, wherein the processing unit includes:
Further executing the step of storing the received identification information in the memory;
In the output step, the stored identification information is output to the outside. The asset management method according to claim 1, wherein the processing unit includes:
Collecting existing asset information and creating a product information file representing the list and storing it in the memory;
Building an asset management database in the memory that collectively manages asset information to be managed by customers,
Matching the contents of the stored actual product information file with the constructed asset management database to create a product usage information file representing the usage status of asset information;
Outputting the contents of the product usage information file to the outside;
The asset management method characterized by further performing.   2. The asset management method according to claim 1, wherein the identification information as the contents of the memory is acquired from computers distributed on a network. The asset management method according to claim 1, wherein the processing unit includes:
Receiving shipping information indicating that a plurality of products, or the products and their product attachments have been shipped to a customer, from a product provider's information providing device;
Outputting product upgrade information and / or new product announcement information included in the received shipping information to the outside;
The asset management method characterized by further performing. The asset management method according to claim 4, wherein the processing unit includes:
Transmitting the actual product information file to an information providing apparatus that manages the shipping information shipped to each customer by a product provider as a customer asset management database;
In the information providing apparatus, the actual product information file and the customer asset management database are matched, and the result is created as an inventory information file;
Identifying the managed product and / or product annexes as missing if the matching results are inconsistent;
Outputting the identification result of the loss to the outside;
The asset management method characterized by performing. The asset management method according to claim 1, wherein the processing unit includes:
When the product is a software medium and the product attachment is each attachment attached to the software medium, at least one of a registration date when the software of the software medium is installed or a deletion date when the software is uninstalled, An asset management method further comprising the step of creating a product actual product information file associated with identification information. The asset management method according to claim 1, wherein the processing unit includes:
If the product is a software medium and the product attachment is each attachment attached to the software medium,
In the receiving step, when installing software from the software medium into a computer, unique identification information is received from the wireless communication element attached to the software medium, and attached to each attached material attached to the software medium Receiving the unique identification information from the wireless communication element,
Further executing a step of registering the identification information of the received software medium in association with the identification information of the received attachments in a memory;
In the obtaining step, the associated identification information is obtained as the contents of the memory. An asset management system that manages, as asset information, the ownership status between products provided to a customer from a product provider or between the product and its product attachments,
Including a memory and a processing unit,
The processing unit acquires the contents of the memory storing the unique identification information stored in a wireless communication element mounted between products or the product and its product attachments,
Receiving the unique identification information of the wireless communication element read by the reader;
The acquired identification information and the received identification information are matched, the products equipped with the wireless communication element storing the matched identification information, or the product and its product attachment material are determined,
An asset management system that outputs the determination result to the outside.

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