JP2010083674A - Physical distribution management system and physical distribution management method - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a physical distribution management system and a physical distribution management method capable of surely managing physical distribution while being reduced in manpower. <P>SOLUTION: The physical distribution management system includes a tag attached to an article for storing information about the article, an information acquisition means for acquiring conveyance information which is information about the conveyance of the article and a storing means for receiving the conveyance information from the information acquisition means and storing the conveyance information. The information acquisition means includes a tag information acquisition means communicating with the tag to obtain tag information that the tag includes as the conveyance information. The tag information acquisition means is provided for a movable body for supporting and moving the article when the article is conveyed. The information acquisition means includes a means for corresponding with the tag information obtained by communication and acquiring information about a position of the article to which the tag for communication is attached as the conveyance information and a means for making the tag information obtained by communication associated with acquiring information about a time when the communication is executed as the conveyance information. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2010,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a physical distribution management system and a physical distribution management method.

  In the manufacturing site, it is important for improving productivity to quickly move a member to be processed or a work-in-process part to a work place. In addition, at a product storage site, for example, a warehouse where articles to be shipped to customers are stored, when an order is placed, it may be required to quickly carry out the order target articles. Here, in these cases, if a great deal of time is spent in order to confirm the location of the article to be processed or the article to be ordered, the productivity may be lowered or the request from the customer may not be satisfied. For this reason, physical distribution management is required to quickly grasp the location of the article.

Until now, a system using an IC tag has been proposed as a system for managing the location of an article (for example, Patent Document 1).
JP 2007-310615 A

  The present invention provides a physical distribution management system and a physical distribution management method capable of performing physical distribution management with a small human burden.

  According to one aspect of the present invention, a tag attached to an article and having information related to the article, information acquisition means for acquiring conveyance information that is information relating to conveyance of the article, and receiving the conveyance information from the information acquisition means Storage means for storing the transport information, and the information acquisition means includes tag information acquisition means for communicating with the tag and acquiring tag information that is information of the tag as the transport information. The tag information acquisition means is provided in a moving body that carries and moves the article when the article is transported, and the information acquisition means further performs the communication in association with the tag information acquired by communication. The communication is performed in association with the tag information acquired by communication and the means for acquiring information related to the position of the article with the tag as the transport information. It means for obtaining information about between the said conveying information, the physical distribution management system characterized by having provided.

  According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a physical distribution management method using the physical distribution management system.

  ADVANTAGE OF THE INVENTION According to this invention, the physical distribution management system and the physical distribution management method which can perform physical distribution management reliably with little human burden are provided.

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. In addition, in each drawing, the same code | symbol is attached | subjected to the same component and detailed description is abbreviate | omitted suitably.
FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an example (specific example 1) of the configuration of the physical distribution management system according to the present embodiment.

  As shown in FIG. 1, the physical distribution management system 1 according to the present embodiment acquires information that acquires a tag 2 that is attached to an article 20 and has information about the article 20, and conveyance information T that is information related to the conveyance of the article 20. Means G and storage means 6 for receiving the conveyance information T from the information acquisition means G and storing (recording) the conveyance information T are provided.

The information acquisition means G has tag information acquisition means 3 (hereinafter referred to as “tag reading means 3”) that communicates with the tag 2 and acquires tag information 2a, which is information held by the tag 2, as the conveyance information T.
The tag 2 may be, for example, an RFID (Radio Frequency IDentification) tag (IC tag or the like). The tag reading unit 3 may be an RFID reader (reader), for example.
The tag reading means 3 is provided in a moving body 30 that carries and moves the article 20 when the article 20 is conveyed.

Moreover, the information acquisition means G has the positional information acquisition means 4 which acquires the positional information 4a of the article | item 20 with which the tag 2 which performs this communication was attached | subjected as the conveyance information T in association with the tag information 2a acquired by communication. .
Moreover, the information acquisition means G has the time information acquisition means 5 which acquires the time information 5a when this communication is performed as the conveyance information T in association with the tag information 2a acquired by communication.

  In addition, the information acquisition unit G may further include a unit that acquires information other than the above related to the communication as the transport information T in association with the tag information 2a acquired by communication as necessary (not shown). ). The information includes, for example, the environmental information (temperature, humidity, pressure, etc.) of the article 20 to which the tag 2 that performs this communication is attached, and the type of the moving body 30 that is provided with the tag reading means 3 that performs this communication. Information. Examples of the former environmental information acquisition means include means using a thermometer, a hygrometer, a pressure gauge, and the like.

The storage unit 6 receives the conveyance information T acquired by the information acquisition unit G from the information acquisition unit G and stores it. The storage means 6 may be any storage medium that can be written to and read from, for example, a computer having a hard disk. As a means for transmitting the conveyance information T to the storage means 6, for example, a wireless LAN (local area network) can be cited.
In addition, in the above, the article 20 to which the tag 2 is attached includes a packaging container for the article 20 in addition to the article 20 itself.

FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram illustrating the physical distribution management system 1 according to the first specific example.
As shown in FIG. 2, the tag 2 is attached to an arbitrary place of the article 20 (article, part, member, unit, etc.). When the tag 2 is attached to the article 20, the position information of the tag 2 may be stored in the storage unit 6. Thereby, even when the article 20 does not experience conveyance, the position of the article 20 can be known.

  The tag reading unit 3 is provided on the moving body 30. Examples of the moving body 30 include a crane hook block (a hook and a pulley), a trolley (a moving body that moves on a guide rail of the crane, etc.), a forklift, a hand lifter, and personnel. Further, the tag reading means 3 may be provided in a portion (the carrying portion 32) that carries the article 20 that is a portion of the moving body 30. Examples of the carrying portion 32 include a crane hook block, a forklift claw and its vicinity (including a pallet), a hand lifter loading platform, and a personnel arm.

  Note that the moving body 30 (supporting portion 32) may be provided with only the antenna portion of the tag reading means 3, and the reader (reader) body of the tag reading means 3 may be provided at another location. The tag reading unit 3 may be configured not only to read the tag information 2a included in the tag 2, but also to rewrite the tag information 2a. In this case, for example, the conveyance history of the article 20 can be written in the tag 2.

  3 and 4 are schematic perspective views illustrating examples of the moving body 30. FIG. 3A is a schematic perspective view showing an overhead crane, FIG. 3B is a forklift, FIG. 4A is a hand lifter, and FIGS. 4B and 4C are personnel.

In the example of the overhead crane shown in FIG. 3A, the part from the hook indicated by reference numeral 32 to the trolley indicated by reference numeral 34 is the moving body 30. Among these, the hook and its vicinity (for example, hook block) serve as the carrying portion 32.
In the example of the forklift illustrated in FIG. 3B, the entire forklift is the moving body 30. Among these, the claw of the forklift and its vicinity (including the pallet), that is, the portion that is movable in the vertical direction at the time of conveyance is the carrying portion 32.

In the example of the hand lifter illustrated in FIG. 4A, the entire hand lifter is the moving body 30. Of these, the loading platform becomes the carrying portion 32.
In the example of the personnel shown in FIG. 4B, the entire personnel is the moving body 30. Among these, the arm becomes the carrying portion 32. For example, as shown in FIG. 4C, the tag reading unit 3 can be attached by attaching a wrist band provided with the tag reading unit 3 to the arm 32 by a person 30.

By including the tag reading means 3 in all the conveying means (movable body 30) that can be used in the field including these, it is possible to carry out physical distribution management reliably.
Note that the distance between the tag 2 and the tag reading unit 3 (hereinafter, simply referred to as “communicable distance”) at which the tag 2 and the tag reading unit 3 can communicate with each other is appropriately set within a range in which both can communicate when the article 20 is conveyed. be able to.

Next, returning to FIG. 1, the operation of the physical distribution management system 1 will be described.
The tag reading unit 3 communicates with the tag 2 when the article 20 is conveyed, and acquires tag information 2a. The tag information 2a includes information on the article 20, that is, identification information such as the type and quantity of the article 20.

Note that the tag reading means 3 is provided in the carrying portion 32, and the distance at which the tag 2 and the tag reading means 3 can communicate with each other is set to a small value such as the distance between the article 20 and the carrying portion 32 during transportation. If set, the possibility that the tag reading means 3 communicates with the tag 2 attached to the article 20 that is not to be conveyed and acquires the tag information 2a related thereto is reduced. Thereby, it is possible to prevent unnecessary recording from being performed in the storage unit 6.
Thereafter, the tag reading unit 3 transmits the acquired tag information 2 a to the storage unit 6. The storage means 6 receives and stores the tag information 2a.

  Further, when the tag reading means 3 communicates with the tag 2 to acquire the tag information 2a related to the article 20, the information X (or “communication is performed” is performed on the tag information 2a related to the article 20). Information X) “started” and “communication completed” is transmitted to information acquisition means G other than the tag reading means 3 such as the position information acquisition means 4 and the time information acquisition means 5. Then, the position information acquisition unit 4, the time information acquisition unit 5, and the like acquire the position information 4a, the time information 5a, and the like related to communication in association with the tag information 2a.

  Here, the position information acquisition unit 4, the time information acquisition unit 5 and the like can be configured to acquire the conveyance information T during the communication between the tag 2 and the tag reading unit 3, or The transport information T can be obtained only at the start and end of this communication. In the former case, all information during communication (during conveyance) can be recorded in the storage means 6. On the other hand, in the latter case, only the information related to the communication start point and end point (conveyance start point and end point) can be recorded in the storage unit 6. Moreover, after acquiring the conveyance information T during communication like the former, only the conveyance information T of the starting point and the end point may be recorded in the storage unit 6.

  As the position information acquisition means 4, for example, a global positioning system (GPS) receiver, an encoder (attached to a motor or the like, a position detection device for determining the position based on the rotation angle of the motor, And a potentiometer (a position detection device similar to an encoder and a device that detects as an analog quantity).

  The position information 4a of the article 20 to which the tag 2 for communication is attached is obtained indirectly, for example, by acquiring the position information of the mobile body 30 (supporting portion 32) provided with the tag reading means 3 for performing the communication. Can be obtained. Alternatively, the position information itself of the moving body 30 and the carrying portion 32 may be regarded as the position information 4a of the article 20. When a GPS receiver is used, the position information of the moving body 30 (carrying part 32) can be obtained by providing the GPS receiver in the moving body 30 (carrying part 32). Moreover, when using an encoder and a potentiometer, the positional information of the moving body 30 (supporting part 32) is acquirable by these.

  Further, the position information 4a can include at least one of a position in the horizontal direction (direction on the horizontal plane) and position information in the vertical direction. Generally, it is position information in a three-dimensional space including only horizontal position information or a horizontal position and a vertical position.

Examples of the time information acquisition unit 5 include a unit using a real time clock (RTC) and a stopwatch.
The time information 5a may be real time (time), or may be elapsed time from a specific time.

Thereafter, the position information acquisition means 4, the time information acquisition means 5 and the like transmit the acquired position information 4a and time information 5a to the storage means 6, and the storage means 6 receives and stores these information.
Thereafter, when the conveyance is finished and the article 20 and the moving body 30 are separated from each other and the tag 2 and the tag reading unit 3 cannot communicate with each other, the position information 4a and the time information 5a at that time are stored in the storage unit 6. The That is, various types of conveyance information T at the conveyance end point are stored in the storage unit 6.
As described above, the storage unit 6 stores various types of transport information T such as tag information 2a (article information), position information 4a, time information 5a, and the like. Thereby, the location of the article 20 and the movement history of the article 20 can be easily grasped.

  Moreover, the physical distribution management system 1 according to the present embodiment may further include process management means 7 (not shown) for managing processes. In this case, the storage unit 6 transmits the conveyance information T to the process management unit 7. The process management means 7 performs process management based on the received conveyance information T. Specifically, for example, when it is found from the conveyance information T that the specific article 20 exists at the same position for a longer time (period) than the original schedule, the process management means 7 It may be possible to notify the worker of any warning.

  As described above, according to the present embodiment, distribution management is automatically and surely performed on site without setting rules for distribution management and without the worker being aware of it. In other words, while making the burden on the site as zero as possible, the history of “What”, “When”, “Where” to “Where”, “What”, “When”, “Where” You can see the history of what happened.

  Until now, it is thought that on-site logistics management rules are often established and operated, but this rule may not be strict or may not be thorough to workers. was there. For this reason, the positions of members, parts, units, and the like are not always clear, and when the production amount increases, a lot of time may be devoted to “finding things”.

  On the other hand, in the logistics management system according to the present embodiment, there is a risk that logistics management is not sufficiently performed due to human burdens related to rule formulation and compliance, and human error such as non-compliance with rules. There is almost no logistics management.

Thereby, the time for searching for items can be reduced to zero as much as possible, and the productivity can be improved. Further, for example, when a defect occurs in a product, it is possible to reliably search for the position of an article in the past so as to investigate the cause. Thereby, for example, it becomes possible to investigate whether a necessary process has been taken.
As described above, according to the present embodiment, a physical distribution management system and a physical distribution management method that can perform physical distribution management with a small human burden are provided.

Next, examples of the present embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS.
(Example)
FIG. 5 is a schematic side view illustrating an example of the physical distribution management system 1 according to the embodiment.
As shown in FIG. 5A, in this example, a forklift is used as the conveying means. The article 20 is provided with an ID (identification) tag 2 (tag 2). This article 20 is placed on the pallet 50. An RFID reader 3 (tag reading means 3) is provided in the vicinity of the claw 32b (supporting portion 32) of the forklift 30 (moving body 30). The claw 32a and the claw vicinity 32b can move in the vertical direction as shown in FIG.

  Here, the ID tag 2 and the RFID reader 3 communicate with each other so that the tag information 2a of the ID tag 2 can be read by the RFID reader 3 in a state where the claw 32a of the forklift 30 is inserted into the pallet 50 on which the article 20 is placed. Set the possible distance.

  In this case, the position information 4a can be detected by providing a GPS receiver on the forklift 30, for example. The accuracy of the position of the article 20 is determined according to the GPS position resolution. Even if the resolution of the position information is 2 to 3 m, it can be considered to be sufficiently accurate if it is a relatively large part, unit or the like.

  Further, as shown in FIG. 5B, when the article 20 is transported to different vertical positions by using the vertically movable function of the claw 32a, for example, by providing an encoder in the driving unit of the claw 32a, The position information in the vertical direction of the article 20 can be acquired.

Next, FIG. 6 is a schematic side view illustrating another example of the physical distribution management system 1 according to the embodiment.
As shown in FIG. 6A, in this example, an overhead crane is used as the conveying means. In this case, the moving body 30 is from the hook 32 a to the trolley 34. The crane guide rail denoted by reference numeral 36 is also included in the moving body 30 because it carries and moves the article 20 when the article 20 is conveyed.

The ID tag 2 is attached to the article 20. An RFID reader 3 is provided on a pulley 32b (supporting portion 32) in the vicinity of the hook 32a of the crane.
As shown in FIG. 6B, the hook 32a can move in the vertical direction. When the article 20 is suspended, the wire 60 is attached to the article 20, and the wire 60 is hung on the hook 32a. Here, considering the assumed length of the wire 60, the ID tag 2 and the RFID reader 3 communicate so that the tag information 2a of the ID tag 2 can be read by the RFID reader 3 when the article 20 is suspended by a crane. Set the possible distance.

FIG. 7 is a schematic diagram showing an example of a method for detecting the position information 4a when a crane is used as the conveying means.
The crane is generally positioned with two axes orthogonal to the XY coordinates. Here, the upper left point in FIG. 7 is the origin (0, 0), and the article 20 is moved from position A to position B on the coordinates where the X axis extends to the right and the Y axis extends downward. take up.

When the article 20 to be transported is hung at the position A (coordinates (XA, YA)), the RFID reader 3 can read the tag information 2a of the ID tag 2 related to the article 20 at this position.
Thereafter, the state in which the position of the article 20 changes on the coordinates continues for a while while the article 20 is suspended. During this period, the RFID reader 3 continues to read the tag information 2a.

When the article 20 reaches the position B, the RFID reader 3 recognizes the position B (coordinates (XB, YB)). Then, when the wire 60 attached to the article 20 is removed from the hook 32a and the pulley 32b and the article 20 are separated to a distance farther than the communicable distance, the RFID reader 3 does not read the tag information 2a related to the article 20.
As a result, the storage unit 6 records the position information 4a, that is, the coordinates (XA, YA) at the starting point of conveyance and the coordinates (XB, YB) at the end point, or the locus therebetween. In this way, it is recorded that the article 20 has been conveyed from the position A to the position B.

  The position information 4a of the article 20 can be detected, for example, by providing an encoder for a motor that drives the crane in the X-axis direction and a motor that drives the Y-axis direction. Moreover, you may detect using a linear scale or a linear sensor. The accuracy of the position of the article 20 is determined according to the resolution relating to the detection of the position on the XY coordinates. Alternatively, a GPS receiver may be provided on the pulley 32b or the like.

  Further, as shown in FIG. 6B, when the article 20 is transported to different vertical positions using the vertical moving function of the hook 32a, for example, an encoder is connected to the drive unit (winding machine) of the hook 32a. By providing, the position information of the article 20 in the vertical direction can be acquired.

  FIG. 8 is a flowchart showing an example of the steps of the embodiment. In this process, the article 20 is transported by the forklift 30 (S4 to S8) after the ID tag 2 is mounted at the receiving place (S1 to S3), and then transported by the crane moving body 30 (S9 to S13). ).

  Although conveyance with a forklift or a crane may be carried out with a certain high frequency, conveyance information T is recorded in the memory | storage means 6 each time. In the case where the object is to limit the time for searching for items to zero as much as possible, only the last transport information T may be recorded in the storage unit 6. On the other hand, in order to improve the efficiency of material handling (material handling), in the case where the data of the transfer history is used for on-site improvement, the transfer history (transfer information T) is all recorded in the storage unit 6. can do.

The embodiments of the present invention have been described above with reference to specific examples. However, the present invention is not limited to these specific examples. In other words, those specific examples that have been appropriately modified by those skilled in the art are also included in the scope of the present invention as long as they have the characteristics of the present invention. For example, the elements included in each of the specific examples described above and their arrangement, materials, conditions, shapes, sizes, and the like are not limited to those illustrated, but can be changed as appropriate.
Moreover, each element with which each embodiment mentioned above is provided can be combined as long as technically possible, and the combination of these is also included in the scope of the present invention as long as it includes the features of the present invention.

It is a block diagram showing an example (specific example 1) of the structure of the physical distribution management system which concerns on this embodiment. It is a schematic diagram showing the physical distribution management system 1 concerning the specific example 1. 3 is a schematic perspective view illustrating an example of a moving body 30. FIG. 3 is a schematic perspective view illustrating an example of a moving body 30. FIG. It is the model side view showing an example of the physical distribution management system 1 which concerns on an Example. It is the model side view showing another example of the physical distribution management system 1 which concerns on an Example. It is the schematic diagram showing an example of the detection method of the positional information 4a at the time of using a crane as a conveyance means. It is a flowchart showing an example of the process of an Example.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Logistics management system 2 Tag, ID tag 2a Tag information 3 Tag information acquisition means (tag reading means), RFID reader 4 Position information acquisition means 4a Position information 5 Time information acquisition means 5a Time information 6 Storage means 20 Article 30 Mobile object, Crane moving body, forklift, hand lifter, personnel 32 carrying part 32a hook, claw 32b pulley, claw vicinity 34 trolley 36 crane guide rail 50 pallet 60 wire G information acquisition means T conveyance information X information

Claims (10)

A tag attached to the article and having information about the article;
Information acquisition means for acquiring conveyance information which is information relating to conveyance of the article;
Storage means for receiving the conveyance information from the information acquisition means and storing the conveyance information;
With
The information acquisition means includes
Tag information acquisition means for communicating with the tag and acquiring tag information, which is information that the tag has, as the transport information;
The tag information acquisition means is provided on a moving body that carries and moves the article when the article is conveyed,
The information acquisition means further includes
Means for acquiring, as the conveyance information, information relating to the position of the article to which the tag that performs the communication is associated in association with the tag information acquired by communication;
Means for acquiring, as the conveyance information, information relating to the time during which the communication is performed in association with the tag information acquired by communication;
A logistics management system characterized by comprising: The information acquisition means includes
2. The physical distribution according to claim 1, further comprising means for acquiring, as the conveyance information, information related to an environment of the article to which the tag for performing the communication is attached in association with the tag information acquired by communication. Management system.   The physical distribution management system according to claim 1, wherein the tag information acquisition unit is provided in a portion of the mobile body that carries the article.   The physical distribution management system according to claim 1, wherein the storage unit stores the conveyance information while the communication is performed.   The physical distribution management system according to claim 1, wherein the storage unit stores the conveyance information at the start and end of the communication.   6. The physical distribution management system according to claim 1, wherein the information on the position includes information on a position in a vertical direction.   The physical distribution management system according to claim 1, wherein the moving body is at least one of a hook block or a trolley of a crane, a forklift, a hand lifter, and personnel.   The physical distribution management according to any one of claims 1 to 7, wherein the means for acquiring the position information is a means using at least one of a global positioning system receiver, an encoder, and a potentiometer. system. Further provided with a process management means for managing the process,
The physical distribution management system according to claim 1, wherein the storage unit transmits the conveyance information to the process management unit.   A physical distribution management method using the physical distribution management system according to claim 1.

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