JP4552903B2 - Distribution management method and system - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to distribution management. In particular, the present invention relates to the distribution management of goods (things called products, products, intermediate products, parts, etc., as well as fluids, powders, etc., if they are carried in a predetermined container, etc.). Hereinafter, in this specification, a product is represented as a product or a product on behalf of the product.

Certain types of products such as branded products have little difference between genuine products and counterfeit products, and accurate authentication is difficult unless they are judged by an appraiser (such as a manufacturer of a genuine product). This authentication is time consuming and labor intensive and inefficient.
In the distribution process of products, 100% inspection of products is impossible due to restrictions on the quantity and time of the products. Therefore, the prevalence of counterfeit goods that just get on the trust of genuine goods is expanding. For this reason, the distribution of counterfeit products has led to a decline in the brand value of manufacturers. In addition, merchandise distributors and final consumers have the unreasonableness of paying the same price as genuine products and purchasing counterfeit products without knowing it.
Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. 2000-148950 discloses a counterfeit product discrimination system by attaching a non-contact tag to a position that cannot be recognized from the outside of a product. According to this document, a non-contact tag is equipped with a data transmission means capable of non-contact data transmission and a non-volatile memory that holds product management information. Then, by reading the information through the distribution channel of the product by supplying the non-contact tag, it can be determined whether it is a regular product or a counterfeit product.
In the merchandise distribution management system disclosed in Japanese Patent No. 2,584,963, identification information transmitted through a terminal is used for identifying each of a plurality of shipped merchandise from a distribution superior in the distribution process. Information is registered in advance by the function of the product information registration means. In addition, the information recording medium is transported along with the distributed merchandise, and merchandise identification information corresponding to the merchandise is recorded on the information recording medium in a mechanically readable manner. The merchandise identification information recorded on the information recording medium corresponding to a plurality of merchandise received by a distributor on the distribution side is read by the reading means, and the read merchandise identification information and the merchandise information registration means are registered. By comparing with the product identification information, it is possible to check for an abnormality in the product received by the distribution lower side merchandise other than the product shipped by the distribution upper side merchant.

In the counterfeit product discrimination system described in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2000-148950, product information and distribution base identification information are written in an ID tag attached to a product during the distribution process. There is a possibility that the predetermined information cannot be added to the ID tag due to restrictions. In the case where the additional writing of information is insufficient, there arises a problem that information necessary for authenticity determination becomes insufficient.
In addition, since many writing processes are involved in the distribution channel, there is a risk that an information error may occur due to falsification of information such as writing false information in the ID tag or the electromagnetic environment of the distribution channel. This also impairs the reliability of information used for authenticity determination.
According to the invention described in Japanese Patent No. 2,584,963, the system receives merchandise identification information from each distribution base and performs authenticity determination. This is based on checking whether the received product identification information is registered in the system and whether the product has passed through the distribution base. However, no consideration has been given to ensuring the reliability of authenticity determination regarding counterfeit products loaded with information recording media copied by a third party.
An object of the present invention is to provide a distribution management method and system that can efficiently determine the authenticity of a product.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a distribution management method and system that facilitates the collection / management of distribution history information of products.

The object of the present invention is achieved as follows. In the product distribution stage, information on the location and time of each base through which the product passes is managed in correspondence with the ID attached to the product. Determine the authenticity of the product by referring to the location, time, etc.

According to the present invention, since the distribution route considering the time is checked using the product state management data managed by the product state management database, it is possible to efficiently determine the authenticity of the product.
Furthermore, product state management data can be accumulated in the product state management database, and product history information can be easily collected / managed.

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. In addition, a present Example is only an example and this invention is not limited by this.
FIG. 1 shows the configuration of a distribution management system that is an embodiment of the present invention.
The manufacturer 100 manufactures the product 180 and ships it to the distributor / wholesaler 110. The agent / wholesaler 110 ships the received product 180 to the retailer 120. Retailer 120 sells product 180 to consumer 160. The tag management center 150 issues a tag 170 to the manufacturer 100. The product status management center 130 manages the distribution status of the product 180 at the manufacturer 100, the distributor / wholesaler 110, and the retailer 120. The product authenticity determination place 140 determines the authenticity of the product 180. The tag 170 is a non-volatile memory that stores information and cannot be rewritten, and is, for example, an EEPROM or a ROM. In this embodiment, information stored in the tag 170 is ID (identification information). In this embodiment, the information stored in the tag 170 is a unique ID.
Each block in FIG. 1 is functionally divided, and the block management center 150 and the product state management center 130 are the same center, and there are a plurality of agents / wholesalers 110, etc. There can be a split.
The configuration and operation of this system will be described with reference to FIG. 1 and using other figures as necessary.
In response to issuance of the tag 170 storing the ID, the tag management center 150 associates the ID with information for specifying the manufacturer 100 of the issue destination and stores them in the tag management DB 151. This storage is to enable the tag management center 150 to respond to an inquiry from another party via the network 190 with the correspondence between the ID and the manufacturer.
The ID stored in the tag ID has a predetermined number of bits. Write to some bit positions in the tag management center 150, write to the remaining bit positions in the process after the manufacturer 100, and write to all bit positions in the tag management center 150 based on the specifications determined by the manufacturer 100 and later There is a case.
An example of processing in the manufacturer 100 that has received the issue of the tag 170 from the tag management center 150 is shown in FIG. The manufacturer 100 attaches the tag 170 received from the tag management center 150. The management device 102 stores the tag ID read by the tag reading device 101 in the mounting management DB 103 in association with the mounting date and product model number (step 330). The management device 102 may be a general-purpose personal computer instead of a dedicated device.
At the time of shipment, the management device 102 reads the tag ID with the reading device 101, and stores the shipping destination, the shipping date and time corresponding to the read tag ID in a predetermined area of the tag attachment management DB 103 (step 340). Information registered in the tag attachment management DB 103 is transmitted via the network 190 to the management device 131 of the product state management center 130 (step 350). This information is stored in the product state management DB 132 by the management device 131.
FIG. 3 shows the data structure of the tag attachment management DB 103 in which information is stored in steps 330 and 340 of FIG. The tag mounting management DB 103 is a database that stores the product model number 420, the mounting date / time 430, the shipping destination 440, and the shipping date / time 450 as items for the tag ID 410. The contents of the tag attachment management DB 103 are used as a backup of the product state management DB 132 of the product state management center 130.
Returning to FIG. 1, the operation of this system in the agency / wholesaler 110 will be described. In the agency / wholesaler 110, the management device 112 reads the tag ID from the tag 170 of the received product 180 using the tag reading device 111. The management device 112 of the agency / wholesaler 110 transmits the tag ID to the management device 131 of the product state management center 130 via the network 190. Thereafter, authenticity is determined. The authenticity determination will be described later. The management device 112 transmits the authentication result to the management device 131 of the product state management center 130.
When the product 180 is shipped, the tag ID is read from the tag 170 by the reading device 111, and the shipping date and the shipping destination are stored in the management DB 113 in correspondence with the tag ID. The management device 131 transmits information registered in the management DB 113 to the management device 141 of the product state management center 130 via the network 190.
The operation of the system at retailer 120 is similar to that at agent / wholesaler 110. Since the retailer sells the product 180 to the consumer 160 instead of shipping the product 180 to the retailer 120, there is usually no information corresponding to the shipping destination ID in the agency / wholesaler. If the agent / wholesaler 110, the tag reader 111, the management device 112, and the management DB 113 are replaced with the retailer 120, the tag reader 121, the management device 122, and the management DB 123, respectively, as understood in the above description, The description of the operation is omitted here.
FIG. 4 shows the contents of the product state management DB 132. The product status management DB 132 corresponds to the tag ID 601, manufacturer 610, manufacturer ID 611, product model number 612, installation date and time 613, shipping destination ID 614, shipping date and time 615, agency / wholesaler 620, agency / wholesaler ID 621, authenticity Judgment date 622, authenticity judgment result 623, shipping destination ID624, shipping date 625, retailer 630, retailer ID631, authenticity judgment date 632, authenticity judgment result 633, sale date 634, product authenticity judgment place 640, product authenticity judgment place ID641 This is a database for storing authentication date / time 642 and authentication result 643 as items.
In addition, in the information registration processing method in the product state management center 130, it is possible to restrict access to a registered trader in advance. Thereby, the reliability of the data stored in the product state management DB 132 can be improved.
With reference to FIG. 5, the authenticity determination process at the bases such as both the agency / wholesale 110 and the retailer 120 will be described.
The base management device reads the tag ID of the product using the tag reading device (step 500). It is determined whether it has been read (step 510). If it is read, the read tag ID and base ID are transmitted to the product state management center 130. The base ID is the agency / wholesale ID 621 shown in FIG. 4 for the agency / wholesaler 110, and the retail ID 631 shown in FIG. 4 for the retailer 120.
It waits for reception of information from the product state management center 130 (step 530), and if it is received, it is determined whether the received content indicates “no ID registration” (step 540). If “No ID registration”, the process branches to step 590. If it is not “No ID registration”, it is determined whether or not it is the previous base information. The previous base information will be briefly described with reference to FIG. When the base currently described is the agent / wholesaler 110, the previous base is the manufacturer 100, and the previous base information is transmitted from the manufacturer 100 such as the manufacturer ID 611 and the product model number 612 in FIG. 4 to the product state management center 130. Information. When the base currently described is the retailer 120, the retail ID 631 shown in FIG. It is determined whether the shipping destination in the previous base information is the main base (step 560). When the tag ID of FIG. 4 is 1000001 and the main site is the retailer 120, the retailer is 120 “R335” (see 631 in FIG. 4), and the shipping destination of the agency / wholesaler 110 which is the previous base Since 624 is “R335”, the process proceeds to step 570 in this case.
Next, the validity of the difference (generally transportation time) between the current time and the previous site shipping time is determined (step 570). In general, there is no significant change in the transportation route and means from the manufacturer 100 to the distributor / wholesaler 110, and from the distributor / wholesaler 110 to the retailer 120, and the transportation time usually does not vary greatly. Therefore, when two days are usually required, the case where the transportation time is half a day or the case where it takes one week is not normal. When the transportation means is changed, for example, when changing from air mail to sea mail, it is only necessary that the management device at each base has the normal transportation time of both. In this case, “what is the transportation means” may be received by the product status management center 130 from the shipping base and stored in the product status management DB 132. Further, instead of obtaining the transport time from the current time and the previous base shipment time, the estimated arrival time at the main base may be obtained at the previous base and stored in the product state management DB 132. In this case, the estimated arrival time can be obtained by adding the normal transportation time corresponding to the transportation means to the shipping time. The estimated arrival time may be calculated by the product state management device 131. Thereby, the load on the management device 122 of the retailer 120 can be reduced.
If the arrival time is appropriate as a result of the determination in step 570, the authenticity determination date and time and the determination result “true” are transmitted in association with the tag ID, and a display device (not shown) connected to the management device is transmitted. ). Depending on the case, the appraisal may be used for simple appraisal.
Since step 590 is likely to be a counterfeit, it will be appraised in detail by the appraiser. The management apparatus transmits the result to the product state management center 130 (step 595).
As described above, by checking the distribution route and the transportation time corresponding to the tag ID, it is not necessary to carry out detailed identification of the total number of products, and the efficiency of authenticity determination is increased. In particular, the detailed appraisal is artificial and has a great effect in terms of time saving in the distribution process.
With reference to FIGS. 6 and 7, the authenticity determination process in the product state management center 130 in this embodiment will be described.
The tag ID transmitted from the base management device is received (step 800), and it is searched whether the tag ID is stored in the product state management DB 132. If stored (step 810), the most recent shipment date / time of the site ID corresponding to the tag ID and the shipment date / time is read out from the product management DB 132 (step 820) and transmitted to the tag ID transmission source site. (Step 830). If not stored, the content “No ID registration” is transmitted to the base of the tag ID transmission source (step 840).
When the management device 131 receives the base ID, tag ID, and determination result from the base management device (step 700), the management device 131 stores the received contents in the product state management DB in association with each other (step 710).
The product state management center 130 will be described. The storage of each piece of information in the product state management DB 131 shown in FIG. 4 and the transmission of the contents corresponding to the tag ID are apparent from the description of the distribution bases 100, 110, 120, and 140. Here, unlike the method of authenticity determination in FIGS. 5 to 7, a method of authenticating by the product state management center 130 will be described.
In the above embodiment, the product state management center 130 searches the product state management DB 132 for the tag ID. If the tag ID is not stored in the product state management DB 132, the product state management device 131 can determine that the product is “counterfeit”, and only the determination result can be transmitted to the base. In addition, if the shipment date and time and the transportation method after shipment are managed by the product status management center 130, the estimated arrival time is calculated by the product status management center 130, and forged products that are significantly out of the arrival time are forged. The product can be determined as a product and the determination result can be transmitted to the base.
Next, the product authentication place 140 will be described. The authenticity determination place 140 is provided for authenticity determination separately from the normal distribution channel of the product. In some cases, a management device or DB may not be provided in a part of the distribution channel. The same applies to the consumer 160. The place where the authenticity is determined instead of such a place is the product authenticity determination place 140.
Here, the tag ID of the brought-in product 180 is read, and the management device 142 transmits the information to the product status management center 130, so that all information in the product status management DB 132 corresponding to the tag ID is obtained from the product status management center. receive. Corresponding information between tag IDs and issuer manufacturers is also obtained from the tag management DB 151 of the tag management center 150 as necessary. The authenticity is determined by combining these pieces of information.
For example, it is checked whether the transportation time from the manufacturer 100 to the distributor / wholesaler 110 is too long. The method of checking will be easily understood from the description of FIGS. However, at the authenticity judgment place 140, the current time cannot be used. This is because the date has passed since the person who brought the product acquired. Instead of the current time, it is possible to use the acquisition date of the person who brought the product.
Here, it supplements about time or date, such as shipping time. For example, the shipping time may not be strictly the time when the product is shipped, but may be the time when shipping data is input to the management device. The approximate time is sufficient. This is because the errors present there are small compared to the transport time and can be ignored.
In this embodiment, the base management device acquires the previous base information. However, if the base management apparatus also includes other information stored in the product status management DB 132, the base management device can make the determination in the same manner as the authenticity determination place. it can.
According to this embodiment, since information is stored in the center instead of storing information in the information recording medium, information managed by the identification information of the information recording medium without worrying about the capacity or format of the information recording medium. Can be stored, and the room for erroneous information can be reduced.

It is a block diagram which shows the system configuration | structure in one Example of the distribution management system to which this invention is applied. It is a flowchart which shows an example of the process in the maker which received issue of the tag from the tag management center. It is a data block diagram which shows an example of tag mounting management DB. It is a data block diagram which shows an example of product state management DB. It is a flowchart which shows an example of the authentication determination process in an agency / wholesaler or a retailer. It is a flowchart which shows an example of the authenticity determination process in a product state management center. It is a flowchart which shows an example of the storage process of the authentication determination process result in a product state management center.

Explanation of symbols

100 ... Manufacturer, 110 ... Distributor / Wholesaler, 120 ... Retailer, 130 ... Product status management center, 140 ... Authentication judgment center, 150 ... Tag management center, 160 ... Consumer, 170 ... Tag, 180 ... Product, 190 ... Network, 101, 111, 121, 141 ... Tag reading device, 102, 112, 122, 131, 142 ... Management device, 103 ... Tag mounting management DB, 113 ... Incoming / outgoing pear DB, 123 ... Incoming / Sales management DB, 132 ... Product status management DB, 143 ... Authentication judgment management DB, 410 ... Tag ID, 440, 614, 624 ... Shipping destination, 450, 615, 625 ... Shipping date and time

Claims (8)

A distribution management system for managing products with identification information distributed between bases on a distribution channel,
A base management device provided at the base;
A product status management device connected to the site management device via a network;
The connection with product state management device, the location information and a local management database that stores in association with the identification information of said product,
The base information is information for identifying a next base and information on a scheduled time of arrival at the next base ,
The base management device of the next base sends the product identification information to the product state management device ,
The product state management device acquires the base information of the product from the base management database based on the transmitted identification information of the product ,
And information identifying the next site included in the acquired location information, or the determination information identifying bases that currently the product matches, arrive at the next site included in the location information By determining whether the difference between the information about the scheduled time and the current time is a predetermined time, the information for identifying the next base matches the information for identifying the base where the current product is located, A distribution management system characterized in that, when a difference between information related to a scheduled time and a current time is a predetermined time, the product is determined to be a genuine product .   A distribution management system for managing products with identification information distributed between bases on a distribution channel,
  A base management device provided at the base;
  A product status management device connected to the site management device via a network;
  A base management database connected to the product state management device and storing base information in association with identification information of the product;
  The base information is information for identifying a next base and information on a scheduled time of arrival at the next base,
  The base management device of the next base sends the product identification information to the product state management device,
  The product state management device acquires the base information of the product from the base management database based on the transmitted identification information, and transmits the base information to the base management device that has transmitted the product identification information. ,
  The site management device determines whether the information identifying the next site included in the acquired site information matches information identifying the site where the current product is located, and the next information included in the site information. Information for identifying the next base and information for identifying the base where the current product is located by determining whether the difference between the information about the scheduled time of arrival at the base and the current time is a predetermined time. The distribution management system is characterized in that, when the difference between the information about the scheduled time and the current time is a predetermined time, the product is determined to be genuine.   In the distribution management system according to claim 1 or 2,
  The distribution management system, wherein the product identification information is read by a reading device installed at the base.   In the distribution management system according to any one of claims 1 to 3,
  The distribution management system according to claim 1, wherein the base information is stored in the base management database based on information transmitted from a base management apparatus at a base in front of the next base. A distribution management method for managing a product having identification information in a distribution management system including a base management device, a product state management device, and a base management database,
  The site management database stores site information and the product identification information in association with each other.
  The base information is information for identifying a next base and information on a scheduled time of arrival at the next base,
  Sending the product identification information to the product status management device by the site management device of the next site;
  Acquiring the product base information from the base management database based on the transmitted identification information by the product state management device;
  The product status management device determines whether the information identifying the next site included in the acquired site information matches the information identifying the site where the current product is located, and the next information included in the site information. Information for identifying the next base and information for identifying the base where the current product is located by determining whether the difference between the information about the scheduled time of arrival at the base and the current time is a predetermined time. And a step of determining that the product is a genuine product when the difference between the information about the scheduled time and the current time is a predetermined time that is determined in advance. .   A distribution management method for managing a product having identification information in a distribution management system including a base management device, a product state management device, and a base management database,
  The site management database stores site information and the product identification information in association with each other.
  The base information is information for identifying a next base and information on a scheduled time of arrival at the next base,
  Sending the product identification information to the product status management device by the site management device of the next site;
  Based on the transmitted identification information, the product state management apparatus acquires the base information of the product from the base management database, and transmits the base information to the base management apparatus that has transmitted the product identification information. Steps,
  The base management device of the next base determines whether the information identifying the next base included in the acquired base information matches the information identifying the base where the current product is, and is included in the base information By identifying whether the difference between the information about the scheduled time of arrival at the next location and the current time is a predetermined time, the location where the current product is located is identified from the information identifying the next location. And a step of determining that the product is a genuine product when the information matches and the difference between the information about the scheduled time and the current time is a predetermined time. Management method.   In the distribution management method according to claim 5 or 6,
  The distribution management method, wherein the product identification information is read by a reading device installed at the base.   In the distribution management method according to any one of claims 5 to 7,
  The distribution management method, wherein the base information is stored in the base management database based on information transmitted from a base management apparatus of a base in front of the next base.

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