JP2013235442A - Intra-office automatic vending machine management system - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To further improve services for business workers by providing an effective management system when freely selecting commodities to be put in automatic vending machines.SOLUTION: A business worker client 5 operated by a business worker of an office where an automatic vending machine 1 is installed accesses a server 2 via an Internet 4. The server 2 acquires an automatic vending machine ID according to information transmitted from the business worker client 5, creates a list of commodities that are within a line of business and are not currently put in the automatic vending machine 1 identified by the automatic vending machine ID, and transmits and displays the list to the business worker client 5. When a specific commodity is selected from the list and transmitted, the server 2 adds and records it to a desired commodity information accumulation file. The desired commodity information accumulation file can be browsed by a management client 3.

Description

  The invention of the present application relates to management of a vending machine installed in a business office.

  Business offices such as corporate offices and factories are equipped with beverage vending machines, allowing employees to purchase freely and improve convenience. “Affiliate” means a person who purchases a product with a vending machine in the office. In the case of a company office or factory, it is an employee, and in the case of a municipal facility, it is a resident who uses the facility. A membership system such as a sports club is a member. In the case of business establishments such as hotels, inns, and recreational facilities, guests are referred to as “belonging members”.

  Such vending machines in business establishments may be set at lower prices for products than ordinary vending machines installed on the streets as part of providing services and profits to the affiliated persons. For example, in offices and factories, product prices are set low as part of employee benefits. Normally, the vending machine installer's margin is added to the purchase price of the product, but this margin is set to zero, and the product is made cheaper to make employee benefits.

On the other hand, considering the service and profit provision to the affiliation, the goods that the affiliation wants should be put into the vending machine, but this is often difficult in reality. The products sold in vending machines are often soft drinks such as canned coffee and plastic bottle drinks. In each beverage manufacturer, vending machines are an extremely important sales route, and the control of beverage manufacturers is progressing accordingly.
With regard to vending machines, businesses called operators have been approved by land owners and office managers, etc., and vending machines are placed in the business. The operator pays the installation fee to the land owner and business office, and manages the replenishment of goods to the vending machine.

  In such a vending machine business, vending machines themselves are owned by beverage manufacturers. The operator borrows a vending machine from a beverage manufacturer and installs it. Beverage manufacturers own and lend vending machines to promote sales of their products, and of course, in many cases, vending machines only allow the introduction of their products. Even though there are some popular products from other companies and the operator thinks that they can sell if they are put in, it is not possible because the beverage manufacturer does not allow it.

JP 2008-165609 A

Although the vending machine business and the actual situation in the industry are as described above, it is not impossible for an operator to own and operate a vending machine. If you develop your business with a vending machine that you own, you will not be subject to control from the beverage manufacturer, so you can freely select the products you want to launch.
The invention of the present application was made in view of the actual situation of the vending machine business, and provides an effective management system for freely selecting products to be put into the vending machine. It has technical significance to further improve the service.

In order to solve the above-mentioned problem, the invention described in claim 1 of the present application performs management including selection of products to be introduced into each vending machine installed in each business site and replacement work of product types other than the business site concerned. An in-office vending machine management system used when an external management company that is a business entity performs,
It consists of a server connected to the network and a management client that can access the server.
The management client is a computer operated by an external management company,
The server can accept access from each member client via the network, and each member client belongs to each office and is operated by each member who purchases products at the vending machine. Computer
The server includes a storage unit and a processor,
In the storage part of the server,
A handleable product information file that records information about products that can be sold by each external vending machine,
An input product information file that records information about the products input to each vending machine,
Stores a product request information collection file in which information received regarding the wishes of products sold at each vending machine is stored,
The server has a member identification program, a vending machine identification program, a possible product display program, and a product request reception program.
The affiliation identification program is a program for acquiring an affiliation ID, which is information for identifying the affiliation or the affiliation client, according to the information transmitted from the affiliation client.
The vending machine specifying program is a program for acquiring a vending machine ID, which is information for specifying a vending machine, according to information transmitted from the affiliated client,
The possible product display program obtains information on the product currently introduced to the vending machine from the contents of the input product information file for the vending machine identified by the vending machine ID obtained by the vending machine identification program, and handles It is a program that creates a list of products that can be handled and are not currently put into the vending machine by referring to the possible product information file, and sends the list to the affiliated client for display.
The product request receiving program, when a specific product is selected from the displayed list of products and information specifying the product is transmitted from the affiliate client, the information specifying the product and the list of products It is a program that records the vending machine ID acquired at the time of display in the product request information accumulation file,
The product request receiving program transmits the same affiliation ID within a certain period, and when the information specifying the product for the same vending machine ID is transmitted from the affiliation client a predetermined number of times or a predetermined number of times, It is a program that does not record in the product request information file for more than a predetermined number of transmissions,
The management client has a configuration in which the contents of the product request information aggregation file can be browsed.
In order to solve the above problem, the invention according to claim 2 is the configuration according to claim 1, wherein the member client is a mobile terminal, and the vending machine executes the vending machine specifying program. A code notifying unit for notifying the affiliate client of a code including a command, and the code notifying unit includes the vending machine ID of the vending machine; The vending machine ID is obtained by the code notified by the department.
In order to solve the above problem, the invention described in claim 3 has a configuration in which, in the configuration of claim 2, the code notification unit is a QR code displayed on the front surface of the vending machine.
In order to solve the above-mentioned problem, the invention according to claim 4 is the configuration according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the storage unit of the server stores information on the sales results of each product in each vending machine. Is stored in the sales information file,
The server is equipped with a replacement candidate product browsing program for allowing each affiliate client to browse a product that is a replacement candidate in each vending machine, and the replacement candidate product browsing program is the vending machine specifying program. According to the vending machine ID acquired by the above, the sales information information of each product in the vending machine is acquired from the sales information file, and the information of the product having a lower sales result compared to other products is replaced as the candidate product information. The program is displayed on the client.
In order to solve the above problem, the invention according to claim 5 is the configuration according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein the vending machine information file stores position information of an installation position of each vending machine. And
The server is implemented with a location information transmission program for transmitting the location information of the location where the affiliated client is located to the affiliated client and a vending machine identifying program for identifying a vending machine according to the transmitted location information. And
The vending machine specifying program sequentially calculates the distance between the position specified by the position information transmitted by the position information transmission program and the position specified by the position information of each vending machine recorded in the vending machine information file, The program is a program for specifying the vending machine having the shortest distance.
In order to solve the above problem, the invention according to claim 6 is the configuration according to any one of claims 1 to 5, wherein a privilege issue program is installed in the server,
The privilege issuance program is a program that extracts one or a plurality of affiliation IDs as specific grantees from each affiliation ID for a plurality of affiliation clients that have transmitted information identifying the product within the certain period. It has a configuration.

As described below, according to the invention described in claim 1 of the present application, when an external management company freely selects a product to be introduced into a vending machine without receiving control from the manufacturer, each vending machine The questionnaire result of the desired product can be obtained. For this reason, sales per vending machine can be increased by introducing more popular products. As each affiliation, it becomes convenient because it becomes possible to purchase it with a vending machine without going to the convenience store etc. to buy a favorite product, and it is also suitable as a business office from the viewpoint of service to each affiliation Become. In addition, when trying to improve the service to each affiliation, the establishment does not have any particular effort or burden, and can obtain a beneficial effect in both directions.
According to the invention described in claim 2, in addition to the above effect, the code notified by the code notifying unit includes the vending machine ID of the vending machine, and the vending machine specifying program is based on the code notified by the code notifying unit. Since the vending machine ID is acquired, there is no need for the user to input to select the vending machine, which increases convenience.
According to the invention described in claim 3, in addition to the above-described effect, since a QR code equipped with a reading function is used in many types of portable terminals, the convenience is further enhanced in this respect. Moreover, since the display can be performed by a simple method such as attaching a seal printed with a QR code, the introduction is easy.
According to the invention described in claim 4, in addition to the above effects, each affiliation browses information on replacement candidate products (products with less sales results compared to other products) for a specific vending machine. Therefore, if a product that is a candidate for replacement is a favorite product, the number of purchases can be increased or a colleague can be recommended to increase the rank so that the product cannot be replaced. As an external management company, sales of products can be expected by such notification.
Further, according to the invention described in claim 5, in addition to the above effect, since the vending machine is specified by the position information transmitted from each affiliated client, each affiliated person selects the vending machine, It is not necessary for the vending machine to announce the vending machine ID, and this is highly convenient and easy to introduce.
According to the sixth aspect of the present invention, there is an expectation that a privilege is given to a person who has sent a product request, so that an incentive for product request transmission is given. For this reason, it becomes easy to gather merchandise hopes, and the above effects are further enhanced.

1 is a schematic diagram of an in-office vending machine management system according to an embodiment of the present invention. It is the schematic shown about the structure for the access to the vending machine information site in the vending machine management system of embodiment. It is the schematic which showed an example of the vending machine information file. It is the schematic shown about an example of a certain input merchandise information file. It is the schematic shown about an example of the questionnaire reply page. It is the flowchart which showed the outline of the possible goods display program. It is the schematic shown about an example of the merchandise wish information accumulation file. It is the schematic shown about an example of the management menu page. It is the schematic which shows an example of the output result by all the vending machine output programs. It is the schematic shown about an example of the candidate goods display page which displayed replacement candidate goods. It is the schematic which showed an example of the structure which identifies a vending machine and transmits merchandise wish information without an input in an affiliation. It is the schematic shown about the other example of the vending machine specific | specification means, and shows the example using the position notification function of a portable terminal. It is the flowchart which showed the outline of the vending machine specific program 85 shown in FIG.

Next, modes for carrying out the present invention (hereinafter referred to as embodiments) will be described.
FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of an in-office vending machine management system according to an embodiment of the present invention. The management system shown in FIG. 1 is a system used when an external management company manages each vending machine 1 installed in each business office. The external management business operator is a business operator other than the business office and a business operator who undertakes management of the vending machine 1. The above-mentioned operators are mainly assumed. However, a person who can freely select a product without being controlled by the manufacturer such as owning the vending machine 1 is assumed.
Note that “management” of the vending machine 1 in the present embodiment includes selection of products to be input to each vending machine 1 and replacement of product types. The external management company selects a product to be sold by each vending machine 1. Further, the delivery staff of the external management company periodically visits each vending machine 1 to check whether or not it is necessary to replenish the product, and if necessary, puts the product into the vending machine 1 and replenishes it.

As shown in FIG. 1, the system of this embodiment used when performing such management includes a server 2 connected to a network, and a management client 3 that can access the server 2. It is composed of
The Internet 4 is assumed as a network. The server 2 can accept access from the clients 3 and 5 via the Internet 4. Such a server 2 can be realized by mounting various server programs on a server computer. In addition, the server 2 also has a data server function for managing various files, and includes a storage unit (storage such as a hard disk) that stores various files.

One of the clients accessing the server 2 is a management client 3 operated by an external management company. In this embodiment, the management client 3 is accessed via the Internet 4 in the same manner as other clients. However, the management client 3 is provided on the intranet connected to the server 2 and accessed via the intranet. In some cases.
Note that a main one of the other clients is a client computer (hereinafter, “affiliation client”) 5 operated by the affiliation. The affiliation client 5 may be a personal computer used by the user in an office or the like, or may be a mobile terminal such as a smartphone or a mobile phone.

  Now, the major feature of the management system of this embodiment is that it is possible to freely select products to be introduced into the vending machine 1, and at this time, the convenience of the affiliation is maximized. It is. Specifically, the management system of the present embodiment causes each member belonging to each business office to send a request for a product that he / she wants to introduce to the vending machine he / she always uses, and totals this. The results are used for management. This will be specifically described below.

When sending a product request, information specifying the product (product specifying information) should of course be sent, but information specifying the vending machine (which vending machine do you want the product to be put in? ) Should be included. In addition, the transmission of a product request has the nature of a questionnaire response, and if the same person sends a large number of duplicates, the hope will not be reflected fairly. It is necessary to devise such as specifying and omitting transmission a predetermined number of times or after a predetermined number. Therefore, it is necessary to specify the sender (member).
For this reason, the system of this embodiment is provided with a vending machine specifying means and a transmission member specifying means for specifying the transmitted member. As the transmission member specifying means, when the member client 5 is a personal computer, a means for specifying by an IP address or issuing a member ID for transmission can be considered. In the case where the affiliation client 5 is a mobile terminal such as a smartphone or a mobile phone, a means for specifying by the subscriber unique ID or the terminal ID can be considered. About these, a conventionally well-known means can be employ | adopted suitably.

On the other hand, special measures are required for the vending machine specifying means. Regarding the vending machine specifying means, a method of specifying by means of information input to the affiliation at the time of login or after login, or a method of specifying by other special configuration can be considered.
Explaining the former configuration, information that can identify the affiliation is transmitted at the time of login, and the office to which the affiliation belongs is identified by the information. Then, the information of the vending machine 1 provided in the business office is stored in a database in advance, and the information is sent to the affiliated client 5 that has accessed it, and the affiliated person is selected from there.
As the latter special configuration, for example, it is conceivable that information for specifying the vending machine 1 can be notified to the affiliated client 5 in each vending machine 1. As another method, the position information of each vending machine 1 is managed on the system, and the position information of the affiliated client 5 is acquired at the time of login, and the vending machine is obtained according to the positional information of the affiliated client 5. A method of specifying 1 is also conceivable.

  The special configuration will be described later, and the former configuration will be described below. FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram illustrating a configuration for accessing a vending machine information site in the vending machine management system according to the embodiment. The system of the present embodiment provides a website (hereinafter referred to as a vending machine information site) for providing and collecting information (including questionnaire responses) regarding the vending machine 1.

  As a method of guiding the affiliated client 5 to the vending machine information site, there is generally a method of registering with a search engine. As a method of identifying the affiliated person, member registration is performed on the site and a member ID is issued. There is a way to do it. However, the main purpose of the site of this embodiment is to collect questionnaire responses about vending machines from the affiliation, so these methods are too large. A simple and preferred method is a method in which a link button is provided on a site in an office accessed by a member and the vending machine information site is accessed from there. At this time, if the site in the office is a site that can be accessed only by the affiliation, and if the ID is acquired at the time of login, it is preferable to have the ID handed over to the vending machine information site side. . This is because if the ID is used as the affiliation ID, it is not necessary to make an input for identifying the affiliation on the vending machine information site. The example shown in FIG. 2 implements such a simple and preferable method.

  More specifically, a certain office has established a website (site) that can be accessed only by those who belong to the office. An example is a site for providing information to employees. A link button (hereinafter referred to as a vending machine link) 61 to a vending machine information site is provided on the top page (hereinafter referred to as an internal site page) 6 of the internal site. In this vending machine link 61, link information is embedded so as to pass the user ID (for example, employee ID) input at the time of login to the site to the vending machine information site as an argument.

  When the affiliation person operates the affiliation client 5 to log in to the site and browses the site page 6, when the vending machine link 61 is clicked, the user jumps to the vending machine information site 7 as shown in FIG. At this time, the URL embedded in the vending machine link 61 is coded such that the user ID held at the time of login is passed as an argument. Therefore, when the top page 7 of the vending machine information site is displayed on the affiliation client 5, the user ID is automatically displayed as shown in FIG.

As shown in FIG. 2, a column for selecting the vending machine 1 (hereinafter referred to as a vending machine selection column) 71 is displayed under the user ID. The vending machine selection column 71 is a pull-down list (so-called combo box) in this example. The pull-down list data source is preset when the top page 7 is displayed.
An establishment ID is assigned to each establishment where each vending machine 1 managed by the system of this embodiment is installed. The storage unit of the server 2 stores a vending machine information file that is a file in which information of all managed vending machines 1 is converted into a database. FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram showing an example of a vending machine information file.

  As shown in FIG. 3, the vending machine information file includes fields such as “vending machine ID”, “vending machine name”, “vending machine description”, “input product information file name”, “establishment ID”, and “establishment name”. This is a database file in which a large number of records are recorded. “Vending machine name” and “Vending machine description” assume that a plurality of vending machines 1 are installed in one office. The “Vending machine description” is a field in which information that allows the affiliation to know which vending machine 1 is in the office is recorded in text.

Further, the storage unit of the server 2 stores a file (hereinafter referred to as an input product information file) in which information on products being input into each vending machine 1 is databased. One input product information file is provided for each vending machine 1 and can be identified by a file name using a vending machine ID. As shown in FIG. 3, each record of the vending machine information file has a field of “product information file name”, and the file name is recorded here.
FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram showing an example of a certain input product information file. As shown in FIG. 4, the input product information file is provided with a number of records including fields such as “product ID” and “product name”.

  The storage unit of the server 2 stores a file (hereinafter referred to as a handleable product information file) in which information on products (products that can be put into the vending machine 1) that can be handled by the external management company is databased. . Although illustration is omitted, the handleable product information file is also a file in which a large number of records including fields such as “product ID”, “product name”, and “maker name” are registered.

  The server 2 has a display program for the top page 7 of the vending machine information site shown in FIG. The vending machine link 61 on the site page 6 is coded with a URL that passes the user ID as well as the business site ID of the business site (the business site having the site). The display program of the top page 7 searches the vending machine information file using the passed business office ID as a search key, and reads the “vending machine name” of all the records with the same business office ID. The display program is preset as a data source of the pull-down list (vending machine selection field 71), and the top page file is sent to the affiliate client 5 that has been accessed, and displayed on the affiliate client 5.

  As shown in FIG. 2, a command button (hereinafter, an explanation button) 711 labeled “View Vending Machine Description” is provided beside the vending machine selection column (pull-down list) 71. The explanation button 711 is a field for displaying a description of the vending machine 1 having the name selected in the pull vending machine selection field 71 in a separate window. The explanation button 711 embeds an activation command for a program that searches the vending machine information file, obtains the value of “vending machine explanation” of the corresponding record, and displays it in another window.

  As shown in FIG. 2, the top page 7 is provided with a command button 72 (hereinafter referred to as a product request button) labeled “Send a request for a product to be newly added”. On the other hand, the server 2 is installed with a program (hereinafter referred to as a possible product display program) that displays on the affiliated client 5 products that can be answered as products that are desired to be newly introduced into the vending machine 1. In the product request button 72, an activation command for a possible product display program is embedded. When a specific vending machine is selected in the vending machine selection column (pull-down list) 71 and the product request button 72 is clicked, a possible product display program is started, and a questionnaire response page is transmitted to the affiliated client 5 who has accessed. It is displayed.

  FIG. 5 is a schematic diagram showing an example of a questionnaire response page. As shown in FIG. 5, the name of the vending machine 1 selected in the vending machine selection field 71 and the description of the vending machine 1 are displayed on the questionnaire response page. In addition, the questionnaire response page can be replaced with a column (hereinafter referred to as an on-product display column) 73 that displays a list of products that are currently input to the vending machine 1 and the vending machine 1. A column (hereinafter, “possible product display column”) 74 that displays a list of possible products is provided.

  FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing an outline of the possible product display program. The start command embedded in the product request button 72 starts the possible product display program with the vending machine ID of the vending machine 1 selected in the vending machine selection field 71 as an argument. As shown in FIG. 6, the possible product display program searches the vending machine information file using the passed vending machine ID as a search key, and acquires the value of the “input product information file name” field. Then, the input product information file is opened according to this value, all the product names of the products being input are acquired, listed, and displayed in the input product display field 73. At this time, all product IDs of each product are read and recorded in a temporary file.

  Next, the possible merchandise display program opens a handleable merchandise information file, searches the vending machine 1 for merchandise not currently put in, and makes a list. That is, the product information file that can be handled is opened, the product ID is read from the first record, and it is determined whether the product ID matches any product ID recorded in the temporary file. If they match, they are skipped because they are being introduced. If they do not match, the product ID is recorded in another temporary file. This process is repeated until the last record of the handleable product information file. Then, the product names are listed according to the product ID recorded in another temporary file and displayed in the possible product display column 74.

As shown in FIG. 5, the possible product display column 74 is provided with a product selection column 75 for selecting a desired product from the displayed products. In this example, the product selection field 75 is a check box.
In addition, a send button 76 is provided on the questionnaire response page. The server 2 is mounted with a product request receiving program for processing the transmitted product request. In the transmission button 76, an activation command for the product request reception program is embedded. The product selection column (check box) 75 on the questionnaire response page corresponds to the product ID of the product displayed in the row. The activation command is configured to activate the merchandise request reception program using the merchandise ID of the merchandise whose check box is checked and the member ID acquired at the time of login as arguments.

  The storage unit of the server 2 stores a product request information accumulation file that is a file obtained by accumulating product request information into a database. The merchandise request receiving program is a program for newly adding one record to the merchandise request information accumulation file and recording it for one receipt of the merchandise request. FIG. 7 is a schematic diagram showing an example of the product request information accumulation file. As shown in FIG. 7, the product wish information collection file is a database file in which a number of records including fields such as “affiliation ID”, “desired product”, “reception date” are recorded.

  The merchandise request receiving program records the affiliation ID passed as an argument in the “affiliation ID” of the new record of the merchandise desire information accumulation file, and records the merchandise ID in the “desired merchandise” field. Since a plurality of product IDs may be passed, the product request receiving program concatenates the product IDs by a predetermined method such as separating them with commas and records them in the “desired product” field. The reception date and time is acquired from the session information and recorded. In the merchandise wish information accumulation file, merchandise wish information is accumulated for a certain period, a backup copy for storage is taken, and then all records are deleted.

  In addition, the product request receiving program lacks fairness when the same affiliation transmits a large number of product request information for the same vending machine 1, and therefore the product request for a predetermined number of times or a predetermined number of product request information transmissions. It is not recorded in the information accumulation file. More specifically, in this example, there is no limit on the number of products (a limit on the number of product IDs) in one transmission of product request information, but it is possible to transmit only once in a certain accumulation period. . In other words, the merchandise request receiving program returns an error message and terminates the program (does not add a new record) when the same affiliation ID and the same vending machine ID are transmitted for the second and subsequent transmissions. It is programmed as such. However, if the vending machine ID is different, the product request information can be transmitted a plurality of times even with the same affiliation ID.

The contents of the product request information accumulation file in which product request information is accumulated in this way can be viewed on the management client 3. In the present embodiment, an output program for browsing is installed in the server 2. Hereinafter, this program will be described.
The storage unit of the server 2 stores a management menu page file that can be displayed on the management client 3. FIG. 8 is a schematic diagram showing an example of the management menu page. As shown in FIG. 8, the management menu page is provided with command buttons 81, 82, and 83 respectively labeled “all vending machine output”, “office specified output”, and “vending machine specified output”. The server 2 is equipped with an all-vending machine output program, an office-designated output program, and a vending machine-designated output program, and respective start commands are embedded in the command buttons 81, 82, 83.

  As described above, the accumulation period in the product desired information accumulation file is one month in this embodiment, and all records are deleted every month, and the file contents at that time are backed up and saved. Each output program usually opens a file that has been most recently backed up and saved, and obtains the result of counting the desired product information therefrom. That is, the all vending machine output program sequentially reads the vending machine ID from the first record of the vending machine information file, searches the latest backup storage file, and reads the value of “desired product” in the record with the matching vending machine ID. Then, each product ID is extracted from the read value and stored in a temporary file. After this is done up to the last record of the backup storage file, the number is counted for each product ID and recorded in the temporary file as the totaling result in the vending machine ID. Such a process is repeated until the last record of the vending machine information file, and the number of desired transmissions (questionnaire responses) for each product ID is counted. FIG. 9 is a schematic diagram showing an example of an output result by the all vending machine output program. As shown in FIG. 9, the all vending machine output program is a program that ranks each business office and every vending machine 1 and outputs the aggregate result of the desired product. In this example, each vending machine is a program that picks up and lists products with the number of sales from the first to third.

  The establishment designation output program displays an input field for designating an establishment on the management client 3, and acquires the establishment ID according to the information input there. Then, the vending machine information file is searched using the establishment ID as a search key, and the “vending machine ID” of the records having the same establishment ID is sequentially acquired. Then, the backup storage file is searched using the vending machine ID as a search key, and the value of “desired product” of the matching record is read. Then, each product ID is taken out and recorded in a temporary file. When processing is performed up to the last record of the backup storage file, the number of each product ID is stored in a temporary file. Such a process is performed for all vending machine IDs having the same establishment ID, and each is recorded in a temporary file. The contents of each temporary file are similarly output to the management computer. The output result is the same as that shown in FIG. 9 except that the output result is only for the vending machine 1 installed in one office.

  The vending machine designating output program displays an input field for designating the vending machine 1 on the management client 3, and acquires the vending machine ID according to the information inputted there. For example, a column for designating an office is displayed first, and a pull-down list of the vending machine 1 installed at the office designated there is displayed next. And vending machine ID is acquired from the vending machine 1 selected there. The rest is the same as the business location output program, and the backup storage file is searched by the vending machine ID, and each product ID is extracted from the value of the “desired product” of the matching record and totaled. Needless to say, the output of each program is displayed on the display of the management computer or printed by a printer.

In each of the above output programs, the product desired information accumulation file may be output over a plurality of accumulation periods. For example, it may be programmed to grasp the desired product status by the total number of items for the past three months, or to grasp the desired product status by the average number of items for half a year.
Further, the accumulation period of the product desired information accumulation file can be changed as appropriate. For example, there is a case where it is changed so as to be accumulated in units of one week or in units of three months. In addition, as understood from the above description, the “accumulation” here is a period during which the same affiliation is prohibited from transmitting a product request for a predetermined number of times or a predetermined number of times to the same vending machine 1. The purpose is to aggregate the hopes within.
In addition to the case where the output program is mounted on the server 2 as described above, the management client 3 may simply open the product desired information integrated file (including the backup storage file) and browse the contents. Of course.

Next, management of each vending machine 1 using the management system of the present embodiment according to the above configuration will be described.
The external management company negotiates with the department in charge of each office (general affairs section, general affairs section, etc.) and obtains permission to install the vending machine 1. At this time, the business office and the external management company will make a contract, and the contract includes an installation fee, a margin fee per sale of a product, and the like. However, if you are a company that you consider to be part of employee benefits, you may be signed a contract that will free installation fees and margins and reduce the price of the product accordingly.

In addition, the external management company opens the vending machine information site as described above, and receives certain information necessary for identifying each affiliation from the establishment. The certain information is an employee ID in the above-described example. Also, a vending machine link 61 is provided on the site page 6 of the office.
The external management company installs the vending machine 1, and the affiliation person operates the vending machine 1 to purchase products. The delivery staff of the external management company regularly visits the office, checks the vending machine 1 and replenishes the missing goods. In many cases, the affiliation person purchases a product with the same vending machine 1. If it is an office, the vending machine 1 closest to the place where the desk is located is used.

  In selling products using the vending machine 1, the member operates the member client 5 and clicks the vending machine link 61 pasted on the site page 6 to display the top page 7 of the vending machine information site. browse. Then, after selecting a vending machine in the vending machine selection column 71, the product request button 72 is clicked, and a questionnaire response page is displayed. In this case, it goes without saying that the vending machine that is always used is selected. After that, a check is made in the check box 75 of the line of the product desired to be inserted into the vending machine 1, and the transmission button 76 is clicked. As a result, the product request receiving program on the server 2 is activated, and a new record is added to the product request information accumulation file.

  The administrative staff of the external management company operates the management client 3 and periodically executes the output program. And the ranking of the goods desired totaled for every vending machine 1 is referred. Then, the delivery staff is instructed to replace the high ranking product with the existing product and put it into the vending machine 1. The delivery staff replaces the product according to the instruction.

According to the vending machine management system of the present embodiment relating to such a configuration and operation, when an external management company freely selects a product to be introduced into the vending machine 1 without receiving control from the manufacturer, A questionnaire result of the desired product can be obtained for each vending machine 1. For this reason, the sales per one vending machine 1 can be made higher by introducing a more popular product.
As an affiliation, it is convenient because you can purchase your favorite products at a vending machine 1 without having to go to a convenience store, etc. In view of the above). In addition, when trying to improve the service to the affiliation, the business office does not have any particular effort or burden, and in the above example, only provides information identifying the affiliation, such as an employee ID. Accordingly, a three-way effect can be obtained.

  When specifying the affiliation, there may be a method in which information such as an employee ID is not particularly provided from the business operator. For example, there can be a method of acquiring the IP address of the personal computer from the session information in place of the affiliation ID, or issuing the membership ID to the affiliation by sending the vending machine information site to the membership system site and transmitting it. . When the affiliation client 5 is a portable terminal such as a mobile phone or a smartphone, the subscriber unique ID or the terminal unique ID may be acquired from the session information and used as the affiliation ID. In this case, since it is not necessary to have the affiliated person identification information provided from the business establishment, there is no trouble at the time of introduction, and it is also suitable in terms of information management on the business establishment side.

Next, a configuration suitable for replacing products using the management system of the present embodiment will be described. In this configuration, each vending machine 1 is provided with means for notifying the affiliation of a product that is a candidate for replacement.
More specifically, as shown in FIG. 2, the top page 7 of the vending machine information site is provided with a command button (hereinafter referred to as a replacement candidate product browsing button) 77 labeled “View replacement candidate products”. Yes. A replacement candidate product browsing program is installed in the server 2, and an activation command for this program is embedded in the replacement candidate product browsing button 77.

  On the other hand, a sales information file classified by vending machine is stored in the storage unit of the server 2. The sales information file for each vending machine is a database file in which which products are sold and how much they are sold for each vending machine 1, and each record includes a field in which the product ID is recorded and a product with the product ID. It has a field that records the number of sales within a certain period. The certain period is, for example, one month, and the sales information file for each vending machine is updated based on the sales results every month. The vending machine information file includes a field in which the file name of the sales information file for each vending machine is recorded.

  As in the case of the questionnaire response page, the replacement candidate product browsing program searches the vending machine information file by the vending machine ID acquired in accordance with the designation in the vending machine selection column 71, and displays the sales information file name field by vending machine in the matching record. Get the value. In accordance with this, the replacement candidate product browsing program opens the sales information file for each vending machine and sorts the products by the number of sales of the products, thereby acquiring the product IDs of about three products in ascending order of the number of sales. Then, referring to the available product information file, obtain the product name, manufacturer name, etc. of each product ID, embed each product name in a dedicated page (hereinafter “candidate product display page”) and access the affiliated client Send to 5.

FIG. 10 is a schematic diagram illustrating an example of a candidate product display page displaying replacement candidate products. As shown in FIG. 10, this page has a column displaying the name of the selected vending machine 1 and the name of the establishment, and below that, the name of the replacement candidate product, the manufacturer name, etc. are displayed in a list. There is a place. Each replacement candidate product is displayed together with the number of sales.
Each affiliation can know the products that are candidates for replacement in the vending machine 1 that is always used by browsing the candidate product display page. Therefore, if a product that is a candidate for replacement is a favorite product, the number of purchases can be increased or a colleague is recommended to purchase, and the rank can be raised so that the product is not subject to replacement. As an external management company, sales of products can be expected by such notification.
The replacement candidate product can be displayed on a display attached to the vending machine 1. That is, a terminal on which a program for accessing the server 2 is installed periodically is attached to the vending machine 1. This program is a program that transmits the vending machine ID, executes the replacement candidate product browsing program, and displays the execution result on the display similarly to FIG.

  In the present embodiment described above, the identification of the vending machine 1 is an indispensable element, but a configuration that eliminates the input work for identifying the vending machine is also conceivable. This point will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 11 is a schematic diagram showing an example of a configuration in which a vending machine is identified and product request information is transmitted without input by an affiliation member.

In order to make it unnecessary to input the specific information of the vending machine 1, the information may be notified to the affiliated client 5 and transmitted to the server 2 via the affiliated client 5. Since the affiliation client 5 needs to call and execute a program (possible product display program) on the server 2, as a preferred configuration, the affiliation client 5 is notified of the execution command, and in that case It is conceivable to use a code including the vending machine ID as an argument. That is, the vending machine 1 has a code notification unit that notifies the affiliated client of a code for executing the possible product display program with the vending machine ID as an argument.
There are several examples of such a code notification unit, but the example shown in FIG. 11 uses a QR code (“QR code” is a registered trademark of Denso Wave Inc.). is there). As shown in FIG. 11, in this example, the URL of the vending machine information site is converted into a QR code, and the QR code 11 is displayed by sticking a sticker on the front surface of the vending machine 1.

  The affiliated person reads the QR code 11 by operating the affiliated client (a mobile phone in this example) 5 when purchasing (or doing) a product with the vending machine 1. As a result, the QR code 78 is displayed on the affiliation client 5. The QR code 78 is processed by the QR code processing function of the member client 5. As a result, the URL encoded by the QR code 78 is automatically accessed. At this time, as shown in FIG. 11, the URL is coded to pass the vending machine ID of the vending machine 1 as an argument in addition to the affiliation ID (here, the mobile subscriber's subscriber unique ID or terminal unique ID). ing. In FIG. 11, reference numeral 781 is an argument part of the subscriber ID, and reference numeral 782 is an argument part of the vending machine ID.

  On the other hand, the program on the server 2 that displays the top page of the vending machine information site temporarily stores the passed vending machine ID in a memory variable and acquires the subscriber unique ID (or terminal unique ID) from the session information. Temporarily store in memory variables. Then, as shown in FIG. 11, the top page is displayed on the affiliation client 5 after incorporating the product request button 72 and the replacement candidate product browsing button 77. When the merchandise request button 72 is clicked, the input merchandise information file is opened according to the vending machine ID as described above, the handleable merchandise information file is searched, and the questionnaire response page is sent to the affiliated client 5 based on the result. Is displayed. Similarly, when the replacement candidate product browsing button 77 is clicked, the candidate product display page is displayed on the affiliation client 5 according to the vending machine ID.

  If the vending machine ID is acquired by the code notified by the code notification unit as in this example, there is no need for the user to input the vending machine, and this is highly convenient. Further, when the code notification part is a part displaying a QR code, since a QR code reading function is installed in many types of portable terminals, the convenience is further improved. Moreover, since it can be displayed by a simple method such as sticking a seal printed with a QR code, introduction is easy.

  As a code notification unit other than one that uses a QR code, for example, a configuration in which a transmitter that transmits a vending machine ID by infrared is attached to the vending machine 1 may be used. When the transmitter is operated, the vending machine information site URL is sent to the mobile phone by the infrared communication function of the mobile phone, and the vending machine information site is transmitted to the server 2 while transmitting the vending machine ID and the subscriber unique ID as in the case of the QR code. The top page of is displayed.

In addition to the configuration in which the vending machine ID is notified to the affiliation client 5 and transmitted to the server 2, when the affiliation client 5 is a mobile terminal, the vending machine ID is not required to be notified by using the location information of the mobile terminal. Configuration is also conceivable. This configuration will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 12 is a schematic view showing another example of the vending machine specifying means, and shows an example in which the position notification function of the mobile terminal is used.
In this example, as shown in FIG. 12, each record of the vending machine information file 84 is provided with a field “GPS position information”. In this field, GPS position information of each vending machine 1 is recorded. When each vending machine 1 is installed, the position information is recorded using the GPS function of the portable terminal.

Also in this example, the QR code 11 is displayed on the front surface of each vending machine 1. This QR code 11 is also used to access the URL of the vending machine information site. However, in this example, the vending machine ID of the vending machine 1 is not set as an argument, and the subscriber unique ID or terminal unique ID of the affiliate client (mobile terminal) 5 is only set as an argument. .
On the other hand, when the server 2 is accessed from the member client 5, the server 2 identifies the vending machine 1 according to the position information transmission program 85 for transmitting the GPS position information to the member client 5 and the transmitted position information. A vending machine specifying program 86 is implemented.

  In this example, when the QR code is read by the mobile terminal of the affiliation (affiliation client 5) and the vending machine information site is automatically accessed by the QR code processing function of the mobile terminal, as shown in FIG. First, a screen asking whether to notify location information is displayed. In this screen, an OK button 79 is provided, and the OK button 79 is embedded with an activation command for the position information transmission program 85. The position information transmission program 85 confirms the model of the portable terminal from the session information, selects a command accordingly, and sends it to the portable terminal for execution. The transmission destination of the position information is a designated place on the server 2. In addition, the position information transmission program 85 is programmed to execute the vending machine specifying program 86 with the transmitted position information as an argument.

  FIG. 13 is a flowchart showing an outline of the vending machine specifying program 85 shown in FIG. As shown in FIG. 13, the vending machine specifying program 86 first opens the vending machine information file 84 and reads the value of “GPS position information” of the first record. Then, the distance between the two points is calculated by comparing with the position information passed as an argument. The calculated distance is temporarily stored in a memory variable. In addition, the value of “vending machine ID” of the record is also temporarily stored in another memory variable.

  The vending machine specifying program 86 similarly calculates the distance for the next record, determines whether the distance is shorter than the distance of the previous record, and if it is shorter, updates the distance to a memory variable and stores it. The value of the “vending machine ID” is read and updated to a memory variable and stored. This process is sequentially performed for each record, and the distance and vending machine ID are updated and stored in the memory variables for the records with shorter distances. When processing is performed up to the last record, the vending machine ID stored at that time is that of the vending machine 1 located at the position closest to the position indicated by the transmitted position information. Therefore, it is determined that the member who has transmitted the position information is near the vending machine 1 specified by the vending machine ID, and specifies the vending machine 1 as the questionnaire response target vending machine 1. Subsequent processing is the same as in the above-described embodiment, and the server 2 sends a questionnaire response page to the mobile terminal to select and send a desired product.

  In this example, it is not necessary to embed the vending machine ID in the QR code 11, and the same URL may be converted into the QR code for the fully automatic vending machine 1. For this reason, introduction is easy. When the vending machine 1 is specified by the GPS position information, not only the QR code is used but also other configurations can be adopted. For example, the URL of the vending machine information site may be displayed on the front surface of the vending machine 1 by sticking a sticker or the like, and the affiliated person may input the URL to be accessed. At this time, similarly, a screen requesting permission for notification of GPS position information is first displayed on the mobile terminal.

Next, a configuration for further promoting a questionnaire response from each member will be described.
In order to increase the convenience of each vending machine 1 by the system of the embodiment, it is necessary to have more members send a request for the product. Each member has an expectation that a product he / she wants to buy may be put in, so this may be an incentive for transmission, but it may not be performed because the transmission is troublesome. In consideration of this point, the system of the present embodiment adopts a configuration for giving a privilege for incentive to each affiliation.

  More specifically, as shown in FIG. 2, a message that a privilege is granted by lottery is displayed on the top page 7 of the vending machine information site when a product request is transmitted. On the other hand, a privilege issue program is implemented in the server 2. FIG. 14 is a flowchart showing an outline of the privilege issue program. The privilege issue program is a program executed by the management client 3. As shown in FIG. 8, the management menu page includes a command button 84 written as “privilege issuance”, and an execution command for the privilege issuance program is embedded in the command button 84.

In addition, a member information file is stored in the storage unit of the server 2. The affiliation information file (not shown) varies depending on the method of granting benefits. For example, a large number of records including fields such as “affiliation ID”, “affiliation name”, and “affiliation address” are recorded. can do.
In the present embodiment, the privilege issue program is a program that selects one or a plurality of records from a large number of records recorded in the latest product desired information accumulation file (backup storage file). “One or more” is the number of members to whom a privilege is given, and is arbitrarily designated.

  As shown in FIG. 14, the privilege issue program has a random number generation program as a subprogram. A record number is assigned to each record of the product wish information accumulation file. The privilege issue program counts the number of records in the product request information file, and executes the random number generation program with the number and the privilege grant number as arguments. For example, if the number of records is 100 and the number of benefits is 10, the random number generation program is executed so that 10 integers are randomly extracted from the numbers 1 to 100.

  The privilege issue program stores the return value in each memory variable. For each return value, the affiliation ID of each record in the affiliation information file whose integer is the record number is acquired and stored in a temporary file. When the affiliation ID is stored for all return values, the temporary file is stored in the storage unit of the server 2 as an appropriate file name for saving (hereinafter, this file is referred to as “privilege granter file”), and the program is terminated. To do.

  The execution result of the privilege issue program is used when the identification is actually given. How to use depends on the content of the privilege and the method of granting the privilege. As a simple example, when granting benefits such as gift certificates or discount coupons by mail, the privilege granter file is opened, and the affiliation name and affiliation address of each record are for mailing. Printed on invoices and envelopes and enclosed with gift certificates for special benefits.

Moreover, it is also possible to give privilege provision by the method of discount or cashback. For example, electronic money using a non-contact type IC chip built-in mobile phone (hereinafter referred to as “mobile phone electronic money”) is becoming widespread, and this system can be used for discounting or cashback.
In the mobile phone electronic money service, a data center for managing payment information of each user is provided. The store side (member store) where the product or service is purchased using the mobile phone electronic money transmits purchase information (purchaser specifying information, amount, etc.) to the data center. After performing necessary authentication, the data center performs billing settlement processing.

Also in this embodiment, when using mobile phone electronic money, the external management company becomes a member store and transmits purchase information. At this time, the external management company provides a file that associates the purchaser specifying information in the mobile phone electronic money with the affiliation ID in the present embodiment. For the purchaser identification information corresponding to the affiliation ID to which the privilege is granted, information is sent to the data center so as to reduce the settlement amount, or the balance of the cash back point is increased. Send information to make it happen. By doing in this way, it can be set as discount and cash-back privilege provision.
In addition, a privilege granting system operated by an airline and a privilege granting system operated by a video rental company can be used for privilege granting in the present embodiment in the same manner.

In the embodiment described above, a soft drink is assumed as the product, but the present invention is not limited to this. Cup noodle vending machines and food vending machines such as confectionery and bread are known, and the present invention can be applied to these vending machines.
Further, as the server 2, a server that provides a website (web server) and a server that stores various files (data server) may be different. Furthermore, a configuration in which servers are provided in each intranet (private cloud) scattered on the Internet using so-called cloud computing technology may be employed.
In the above embodiment, the input product information file and the sales information file are provided for each vending machine. However, one input product information file and one sales information file may be used for all the vending machines. In this case, each record includes a vending machine ID field so that it can be specified whether the record is for the vending machine.
The information for specifying the product may be other than the product ID described above, and the product may be specified by the product name and the manufacturer name.

  In the above embodiment, the number of desired product transmissions that can be performed together with the same affiliation ID and the same vending machine ID in a certain accumulation period is one, but the number of desired products (number of product IDs) is limited. May be. For example, only one product (only one product ID) can be transmitted in one transmission of product request information, and can be transmitted up to three times within the counting period. In this case, the merchandise desire receiving program searches the merchandise desired accumulation file with the affiliation ID acquired at the time of reception, and checks how many records match. If there are three records, no further transmission is possible, so an error message is displayed and the program is terminated. In this case, the affiliation member can transmit the same product up to three times (three votes are alone). Further, in this case, the number of products that can be transmitted in one transmission is limited to three, and a total of three desired product transmissions can be performed within the accumulation period. In other words, a limit may be set for the total number of votes within the totaling period, and programming exceeding this limit may be programmed so as not to be recorded in the product wish information accumulation file.

1 Vending Machine 2 Server 3 Management Client 4 Internet 5 Member Client
6 Site page 61 Vending machine link 7 Vending machine site page 71 Vending machine selection field 72 Product request button 77 Replacement candidate product browsing button

JP 2008-165607 A

1 is a schematic diagram of an in-office vending machine management system according to an embodiment of the present invention. It is the schematic shown about the structure for the access to the vending machine information site in the vending machine management system of embodiment. It is the schematic which showed an example of the vending machine information file. It is the schematic shown about an example of a certain input merchandise information file. It is the schematic shown about an example of the questionnaire reply page. It is the flowchart which showed the outline of the possible goods display program. It is the schematic shown about an example of the merchandise wish information accumulation file. It is the schematic shown about an example of the management menu page. It is the schematic which shows an example of the output result by all the vending machine output programs. It is the schematic shown about an example of the candidate goods display page which displayed replacement candidate goods. It is the schematic which showed an example of the structure which identifies a vending machine and transmits merchandise wish information without an input in an affiliation. It is the schematic shown about the other example of the vending machine specific | specification means, and shows the example using the position notification function of a portable terminal. It is the flowchart which showed the outline of the vending machine specific program 85 shown in FIG. It is the flowchart which showed the outline of the privilege issue program.

Claims (6)

Office automation used when an external management company, which is an entity other than the office, performs management including selection of products to be introduced into each vending machine installed in each office and replacement of product types A vending machine management system,
It consists of a server connected to the network and a management client that can access the server.
The management client is a computer operated by an external management company,
The server can accept access from each member client via the network, and each member client belongs to each office and is operated by each member who purchases products at the vending machine. Computer
The server includes a storage unit and a processor,
In the storage part of the server,
A handleable product information file that records information about products that can be sold by each external vending machine,
An input product information file that records information about the products input to each vending machine,
Stores a product request information collection file in which information received regarding the wishes of products sold at each vending machine is stored,
The server has a member identification program, a vending machine identification program, a possible product display program, and a product request reception program.
The affiliation identification program is a program for acquiring an affiliation ID, which is information for identifying the affiliation or the affiliation client, according to the information transmitted from the affiliation client.
The vending machine specifying program is a program for acquiring a vending machine ID, which is information for specifying a vending machine, according to information transmitted from the affiliated client,
The possible product display program obtains information on the product currently introduced to the vending machine from the contents of the input product information file for the vending machine identified by the vending machine ID obtained by the vending machine identification program, and handles It is a program that creates a list of products that can be handled and are not currently put into the vending machine by referring to the possible product information file, and sends the list to the affiliated client for display.
The product request receiving program, when a specific product is selected from the displayed list of products and information specifying the product is transmitted from the affiliate client, the information specifying the product and the list of products It is a program that records the vending machine ID acquired at the time of display in the product request information accumulation file,
The product request receiving program transmits the same affiliation ID within a certain period, and when the information specifying the product for the same vending machine ID is transmitted from the affiliation client a predetermined number of times or a predetermined number of times, It is a program that does not record in the product request information file for more than a predetermined number of transmissions,
An in-office vending machine management system characterized in that the management client can view the contents of the product request information summary file. The member client is a portable terminal, and the vending machine has a code notification unit that notifies the member client of a code including a command for executing the vending machine specifying program, and the code notification unit notifies 2. The business according to claim 1, wherein the code includes a vending machine ID of the vending machine, and the vending machine specifying program is a program for obtaining the vending machine ID from the code notified by the code notification unit. In-house vending machine management system. The in-office vending machine management system according to claim 2, wherein the code notification unit is a QR code displayed on a front surface of the vending machine. The storage unit of the server stores a sales information file that records information on the sales performance of each product in each vending machine,
The server is equipped with a replacement candidate product browsing program for allowing each affiliate client to browse a product that is a replacement candidate in each vending machine, and the replacement candidate product browsing program is the vending machine specifying program. According to the vending machine ID acquired by the above, the sales information information of each product in the vending machine is acquired from the sales information file, and the information of the product having a lower sales result compared to other products is replaced as the candidate product information. The in-office vending machine management system according to any one of claims 1 to 3, which is a program displayed on a client. In the vending machine information file, position information of the installation position of each vending machine is recorded,
The server is implemented with a location information transmission program for transmitting the location information of the location where the affiliated client is located to the affiliated client and a vending machine identifying program for identifying a vending machine according to the transmitted location information. And
The vending machine specifying program sequentially calculates the distance between the position specified by the position information transmitted by the position information transmission program and the position specified by the position information of each vending machine recorded in the vending machine information file, The in-office vending machine management system according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein the program specifies a vending machine having the shortest distance. The server is equipped with a privilege issue program,
The privilege issue program is a program for extracting one or a plurality of affiliation IDs as specific grantees from each affiliation ID for a plurality of affiliation clients that have transmitted information identifying the product within the certain period of time. The in-office vending machine management system according to any one of claims 1 to 5.

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