JP2014051331A - Stocktaking support method using rfid reader - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To solve the problem of taking much time in managing articles that are located for each "unit position (location)" such as one shelf (particularly, stocktaking) since conventionally rewriting of a list (stocktaking) is impossible unless the location of objects in the list is manually specified (activated).SOLUTION: A method is provided in which, when an RFID handy reader reads a prescribed number of tags, a location of objects is determined from the RFID's list containing the location so that the location part in the list becomes automatically active. In this way, the method has an advantage that activation of a location can be easily achieved, thus the part (location) that is an object of reading becomes a rewritable state (or preferentially matched) so as to enable reduction of processing load.

Description

  The present invention relates to management of articles installed at a predetermined position using RFID technology, and particularly relates to technology for supporting so-called inventory.

  Currently, among RFID readers, handy readers have the advantage of being able to collectively identify necessary information without moving the RFID-attached medium, and are therefore practically used as document / article management readers. . For example, it is managed to read which ID is recorded on an RFID tag attached to an article, which article is actually present at an installation location such as a shelf. At this time, there are many articles to be managed, and it is required to improve the processing efficiency in an apparatus including a reader such as a reader.

  For example, Patent Document 1 discloses the following configuration for the purpose of providing an RFID batch reading apparatus suitable for a number management process in a factory or the like. A holder that collectively stores a plurality of RFIDs that store data indicating articles, an antenna that receives data of a plurality of RFIDs stored in the holder, and an RFID that detects data received by the antennas And an alarm device that issues an alarm when the number is not the predetermined number. As a result, batch reading is possible and efficient article management is aimed at.

JP 2006-113901 A

  Here, the articles are installed for each “unit location (location)” such as one level of a shelf. In order to cope with this, conventionally, there is a problem that it takes time and effort because the list cannot be rewritten (inventory) unless the target location in the list is manually designated (activated).

  According to the present invention, when an RFID handy reader reads a predetermined number of tags, a target location is determined from a list including locations of the RFID reader, and a location portion in the list is automatically activated.

  According to the present invention, the activation of the location can be easily realized, and the read target portion (location) is in a rewritable state (or matched preferentially), so that the processing load can be reduced. is there.

It is a system configuration figure of a system used when implementing one embodiment of the present invention. It is a figure which shows the inventory list 106 used by one Embodiment of this invention. It is a flowchart which shows the process sequence (the whole) of one Embodiment of this invention. It is a flowchart which shows the detail of object location judgment processing S102 among processing procedures (whole) in one Embodiment of this invention.

  Hereinafter, an embodiment of the present invention will be described. In the present embodiment, an example will be described in which an RFID handy reader 101 is used to inventory 10 articles that are one unit (one shelf). Thereafter, the target location is discriminated based on the RFID tag (10 tag) read first, and processing for automatically activating the location portion in the list is executed.

  FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a system configuration of an RFID handy reader according to the present embodiment, an RFID tag attached to a medium, and a server that manages the information. Hereinafter, each component will be described together with a processing outline of the present embodiment. FIG. 1 is used to check the inventory of the article 104 (what is installed on the shelf and what is absent). First, the management system 108 includes an article information server 110. The article management server 110 has an inventory database 111 that is a storage medium for storing an inventory information table 112 related to the managed article. The inventory information table 112 includes a location number indicating the installation position (the first level of the shelf) of the article such as the inventory list 106 in FIG. Stocktaking result) may be stored. Then, when performing inventory, the article information server 110 extracts information on a shelf (for example, A shelf) on which inventory is performed from the inventory information table, and creates an inventory list 109. This extraction is performed in accordance with an input from the administrator or a predetermined rule (for example, a shelf to be inventoried is determined for each due date). Alternatively, the user of the RFID handy reader 101 transmits information specifying a shelf to be invented from the handy reader 101 and extracts a corresponding item from the inventory information table 112.

  Then, the article information server 110 transmits the inventory list 109 to the RFID handy reader 101 via the network 107. The article information server 110 is realized by a so-called computer device, and an arithmetic device such as a CPU executes these processes according to a program.

  The RFID handy reader 101 has an antenna 102, emits radio waves from the antenna, and reads information on an RFID tag for inventory. The reading target is the RFID tag 105 attached to the article 104. The RFID tag 105 stores at least an ID for identifying the RFID 105 or the article 104. Here, the content of the ID is the content of the RFID in the inventory list 106 shown in FIG. 2, and the location number ((1) (2), etc.) that distinguishes the installation position (the first level of the shelf), the number, It consists of unique identification information at least at the installation position, such as English letters. In addition, although the shelf is used as an installation position, what is necessary is just a certain unit position.

  Then, the inventory list 106 is updated according to the result read by the RFID handy reader 101 and transmitted to the management system 108 via the network 107. Details of the updating and reading processing of the inventory list 106, that is, the determination of the target location will be described below with reference to FIG.

  FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating a form of the list 106 when the target location held in the RFID handy reader 101 is determined when the present embodiment is applied. A list 106 includes a location number 201, RFID information 202, and an inventory status 203, and holds information (204 to 206) for the target location.

  FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing an embodiment of a processing procedure when determining a target location in the present embodiment. The following processing is executed by the RFID handy reader 101, and is executed according to a program stored in the handy reader 101 in advance.

  First, in step S101, the number of the following loop processes, that is, the number of shelves to be invented is specified. This number (number of times) is specified according to the received inventory list 109 (106).

Next, in S102, processing for determining the target location is executed. The contents are shown in the flowchart of FIG. The contents will be described below.
In step S1021, an RFID tag information reading process is executed in the vicinity of an appropriate (for example, top) shelf step by a user operation. This reads a predetermined number of pieces of information. In this embodiment, information for 10 tags is read. Here, the ID as shown in FIG. 2, that is, the location number and the identification information in the location are read.

  Next, in S1022, the number of the same location numbers is counted for the read ID. The present embodiment includes the following control. Each time it is read, the IDs may be sorted by location number, recorded in memory, and counted. Further, when counting, when the number exceeds a certain number (for example, 6 = majority), the count itself may be suppressed. As a result, in S1023, which will be described later, it is sufficient that the maximum number can be specified, and therefore unnecessary counting processing can be omitted.

  Next, in S1023, the maximum number of location numbers is specified according to the result counted in S1022. This location number is set as the target location in S1024. That is, in the inventory list 106, the RFID tag corresponding to the target location is activated. In this case, when the information read in S104 described later is matched with the inventory list 106, the comparison target is limited to the activated record.

  Next, returning to FIG. S103 indicates the start of the loop, and indicates that the following processing is performed for the location number that is the inventory target. In S104, information is read from the RFID tag. At this time, as described in S1023, the process is executed only for the activated information. Then, the result, that is, the inventory status 203 is recorded in the inventory list 106.

  Next, in S105, it is determined according to the inventory list 106 (that is, the number of times described in S103) whether the processing has been completed for the target shelf. As a result, when the process is completed, as shown in S106, the process proceeds to the next loop.

Finally, in S107, the pressing of the registration button from the user is detected. In accordance with this, the inventory list in which the inventory status 203 is updated is transmitted to the article information server 110 via the network 107. Then, the article information server 110 updates the contents of the transmitted inventory list by overwriting the inventory information table 112 or the like.
RFID In the present embodiment above, only the target location is active (rewriteable), so that there is an effect of reducing the processing load.

  Further, since the operator does not need to designate the next shelf, the inventory operation is facilitated. In addition, there is no need to refer to the target location and the inventory list, and it is not necessary to be aware of the physical location. Therefore, it is possible to carry out the inventory from an arbitrary shelf, thereby improving convenience.

101 RFID Handy Reader Body 102 Antenna 103 Storage Tool 104 Medium 105 RFID Tag 106 Inventory List in Reader 107 Network 108 Management System 109 Inventory List in Management System 110 Information Management Server 111 Inventory Information Database 112 Inventory Information Table

Claims (5)

In an inventory support method using an RFID reader,
The RFID reader is
For an item to be inventoried, an inventory list stored in association with an ID for identifying the item and a location that is an installation unit of the item is stored.
A predetermined number of IDs for identifying the articles are read from RFID tags attached to the articles installed for each location that is the installation unit,
When it is detected that the predetermined number of IDs has been read, the number for each location is counted for the predetermined number of IDs,
Of the counted locations, identify the maximum number of locations,
The inventory support method using an RFID reader, wherein data of the specified location in the inventory list is activated. In the inventory support method using the RFID reader according to claim 1,
The RFID reader is
When it is determined that the number of IDs in one location is the maximum in relation to the number of IDs in other locations in the counting of the number for each location, the counting is suppressed,
An inventory support method using an RFID reader, wherein the one location is specified as the maximum number of locations. In the inventory support method using the RFID reader according to claim 2,
The confirmation that the maximum number is reached means that the number of IDs of the one location has reached a majority of the predetermined number. In the inventory support method using the RFID reader according to any one of claims 1 to 3,
The RFID reader is
Receiving the inventory list from an article information server connected via a network;
Overwrite the inventory result for the received inventory list,
An inventory support method using an RFID reader, wherein the overwritten inventory result is transmitted to the article information management server. In the inventory support method using the RFID reader according to any one of claims 1 to 4,
The inventory support method using an RFID reader, wherein the location is one level of a shelf on which the article is installed.

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