JP6040664B2 - Warning control program, control device, and control program - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a control device and the like.

  At the store, the clerk arranges the purchased products on a display shelf, and the products are sold to customers. When the store clerk confirms that the number of products on the display shelf has decreased, the store clerk carries out the product stored in the warehouse or the like, arranges the carried product on the display shelf, and replenishes the product. The store clerk repeatedly performs such work to sell products sequentially.

Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 9-171591

  However, there is a problem that a product whose expiration date is close to the current date is sold before a product whose expiration date is far from the current date.

  For example, on the display shelf, even if there is a product that is nearing the expiration date, if the number of products decreases, the product with the expiration date earlier, that is, the expiration date that is farther from the current date will be given again. In some cases, products that have been added are replenished. Even if there is a stock, it cannot be sold if the product is not displayed on the shelf, and if the product is not lined up on the shelf, it leads to a loss of sales opportunities. This is because there is a desire to line up as many items as possible. Customers tend to choose products that have a best-before date, so products that are nearing their expiration date will remain on the display shelf, and products with the best-before date will be sold in sequence, resulting in a best-before date. However, products that are closer to the current date will remain unsold. In order not to fall into such a situation, it would be convenient if there was a mechanism to make it aware that measures should be taken in advance according to the sales situation.

  In one aspect, an object is to provide a mechanism for realizing that measures should be taken in advance according to the sales situation.

  In the first plan, the control device includes an output unit, a counting unit, and a warning unit. The output unit outputs information on the first best-before date regarding the best-before date of the product that is the target of the settlement process at the time of sale. The counting unit accepts information indicating whether or not the second best-before date assigned to the product that is the target of the checkout process matches the first best-before date, and counts the number of coincidence or mismatch. The warning unit outputs information based on the value counted by the counting unit.

  According to one embodiment of the present invention, it is possible to provide a mechanism for recognizing that measures should be taken in advance according to the sales situation.

FIG. 1 is a functional block diagram illustrating the configuration of the control device according to the first embodiment. FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating the configuration of the system according to the second embodiment. FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating an example of a display screen of the POS terminal. FIG. 4 is a functional block diagram illustrating the configuration of the control device according to the second embodiment. FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating an example of the data structure of the product information table. FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating an example of the data structure of the product sales table. FIG. 7 is a diagram illustrating an example of the data structure of the determination table. FIG. 8 is a diagram illustrating an example of a data structure of the display position table. FIG. 9 is a flowchart (1) illustrating the processing procedure of the control device according to the second embodiment. FIG. 10 is a flowchart (2) illustrating the processing procedure of the control device according to the second embodiment. FIG. 11 is a diagram illustrating an example of a computer that executes a control program.

  Hereinafter, embodiments of a control device and a control program disclosed in the present application will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. Note that the present invention is not limited to the embodiments.

  A control apparatus according to the first embodiment will be described. FIG. 1 is a functional block diagram illustrating the configuration of the control device according to the first embodiment. As illustrated in FIG. 1, the control device 10 includes an output unit 11, a counting unit 12, and a warning unit 13.

  The output unit 11 outputs information on the first best-before date related to the best-before date of the product that is to be settled at the time of sale.

  The counting unit 12 receives information indicating whether or not the second best-before date given to the product to be settled matches the first best-before date, and counts the number of times of coincidence or mismatch.

  The warning unit 13 outputs information based on the value counted by the counting unit 12. For example, a warning is output when the number of times counted by the counting unit 12 exceeds a threshold value.

  The control apparatus 10 which concerns on the present Example 1 outputs the information on the 1st expiration date regarding the expiration date of the goods which are the payment object at the time of sale. The control device 10 receives information indicating whether or not the second best-before date assigned to the product to be settled matches the first best-before date, and calculates statistical information about the number of times of coincidence or mismatch. . Using the calculated statistical information, for example, a warning can be output when the number of mismatches exceeds a threshold. When the number of times that the first best-before date and the second best-before date do not match is equal to or greater than the threshold value, there is a case in which products with a best-before date remain unsold among the products in the display area. For this reason, by giving a warning and notifying the store clerk, etc., the store clerk takes measures such as replacing the product displayed in the display area, for example, to display only the product with a near expiration date. be able to. As a result, it is possible to support selling products on a first-in first-out basis.

  A system according to the second embodiment will be described. FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating the configuration of the system according to the second embodiment. As shown in FIG. 2, this system includes a control device 100 and a POS (Point Of Sale) terminal 60. For example, the control device 100 and the POS terminal 60 are connected to each other via the network 50. Here, one POS terminal 60 is shown as an example, but this system may have other POS terminals 60.

  The POS terminal 60 is a cash register used when a store clerk sells products, and is connected to, for example, a bar code reader. When a clerk sells a product, the bar code attached to the product is scanned by a bar code reader. The scanned barcode includes a product identification number that identifies the product, and the POS terminal 60 transmits the product identification information of the product to be sold to the control device 100. The POS terminal 60 is an example of the external device 5 in the first embodiment.

  Note that the product identification number used in this embodiment does not identify each product in the same type of product. For example, there are a plurality of products that are the product identification information “product A”. The expiration date is set for each product of the same product specifying information. In this embodiment, for a product of certain product specifying information, the expiration date closest to the current date is described as the shortest expiration date of the product. Detailed explanation about the shortest best-before date will be described later.

  The POS terminal 60 acquires information related to the expiration date of the product to be sold from the control device 100 after transmitting the product identification information to the control device 100. The POS terminal 60 displays information related to the expiration date of the product on the display screen.

  FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating an example of a display screen of the POS terminal. As shown in FIG. 3, the shortest expiration date information is displayed in the area 20 a of the display screen as the product identification information of the corresponding product and the information related to the expiration date of the corresponding product. For example, if the shortest expiration date of the product identification information “product A” is “February 28, 2012”, the POS terminal 60 will ask “Is the expiration date of product A February 28, 2012?” Displayed in the area 20a. The button 20b is a button that is pressed by the store clerk when the shortest expiration date matches the expiration date of the corresponding product. The button 20c is a button pressed by a store clerk when the shortest expiration date and the expiration date of the corresponding product do not match.

  The store clerk confirms whether or not the shortest expiration date displayed on the display screen is equal to the expiration date of the product. The store clerk presses the button 20b when the shortest expiry date and the expiry date of the product are equal. When the button 20b is pressed, the POS terminal 60 transmits product identification information and response information including information indicating that it matches the shortest best-before date to the control device 100.

  On the other hand, the store clerk presses the button 20c when the shortest expiration date and the expiration date of the product are different. When the button 20c is pressed, the POS terminal 60 transmits product identification information and response information including information indicating that the shortest expiration date does not coincide with the control device 100.

  Further, another output form is also conceivable as an example of the display screen of the POS terminal. For example, a plurality of expiration dates that are stored in the product information table 141 (to be described later) in association with the corresponding product as product identification information of the corresponding product and information related to the expiration date of the corresponding product in the area 20a of the display screen. May be displayed. In this case, a button for selecting one of the plurality of expiration dates may be provided instead of the buttons 20b and 20c. The store clerk selects and instructs the expiration date equal to the expiration date of the product to be sold from among the expiration dates displayed on the display screen. When an instruction to select one of the expiration dates is input, the POS terminal 60 transmits product identification information and response information including information on the selected expiration date to the control device 100.

  The control device 100 is a device that communicates with the POS terminal 60 and calculates statistical information related to the expiration date assigned to the product to be sold. For example, using the calculated statistical information, it is determined whether or not a product whose expiration date is near is likely to be unsold, and a warning is given to the store clerk if it is highly likely that the product will not be sold. it can. The store clerk who has received the warning can respond by, for example, removing a product whose expiration date is not imminent from the product displayed on the display shelf.

  The configuration of the control device 100 shown in FIG. 2 will be described. FIG. 4 is a functional block diagram illustrating the configuration of the control device according to the second embodiment. As illustrated in FIG. 4, the control device 100 includes a communication unit 110, an input unit 120, a display unit 130, a storage unit 140, and a control unit 150.

  The communication unit 110 is a processing unit that performs data communication with the POS terminal 60 via the network 50. For example, the communication unit 110 corresponds to a communication device. A control unit 150 described later exchanges data with the POS terminal 60 via the communication unit 110.

  The input unit 120 is an input device that inputs various types of information. For example, the input unit 120 corresponds to a keyboard, a mouse, and a touch panel. The display unit 130 is a display device that displays various data. For example, the display unit 130 corresponds to a display, a touch panel, or the like.

  The storage unit 140 stores a product information table 141, a product sales table 142, a determination table 143, and a display position table 144. The storage unit 140 corresponds to a storage device such as a semiconductor memory element such as a random access memory (RAM), a read only memory (ROM), and a flash memory.

  The product information table 141 is a table that holds the expiration date of the product. In the second embodiment, the expiration date of each product is not managed. When a product is purchased, the expiration date is managed for each group of purchased products. For example, when 50 products A are purchased and the expiration date of such products A is March 31, the expiration date of the 50 products A is collectively March 31. Products that are purchased together use the fact that the expiration date is the same.

  FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating an example of the data structure of the product information table. As shown in FIG. 5, the product information table 141 includes data items of product specifying information, the number of shelves, the expiration date, and the number of stocks. The product specifying information is information for specifying a product. The number of shelves is the number of products that can be displayed on the display shelf. For example, when the number of shelves of the product A is “10”, it indicates that a maximum of 10 products can be displayed on the display shelf of the product A. The expiration date indicates the expiration date of the corresponding product. The stock quantity indicates the stock quantity of the purchased product. In the example illustrated in FIG. 5, the inventory quantity of the product A with the expiration date “February 28, 2012” is “5”. Further, it indicates that the number of stocks of the product A whose expiration date is “March 31, 2012” is “50”.

  The update of the stock quantity data may be performed by another method. For example, the store clerk confirms the expiry date for the products on the display shelf at any time determined by the store operator, such as the end of the day, and based on the confirmation result, the corresponding product and the corresponding expiry date. The data of the inventory quantity corresponding to the item may be updated to the actual inventory quantity.

  In addition, since it is common not to make the goods for which the expiration date expires into the object of sale, the store clerk removes the products for which the expiration date has been exceeded among the products arranged on the display shelf. Therefore, it is assumed that records whose current date exceeds the expiration date are deleted from the product information table 141, and only records whose expiration date is later than the current date are registered.

  The merchandise sales table 142 is a table that holds information related to sales of merchandise. FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating an example of the data structure of the product sales table. As shown in FIG. 6, the product sales table 142 has data items of product specifying information, sales date, and quantity. The sales date indicates the date when the product was sold. The quantity is the number of items sold on the relevant date. For example, the sales date “February 9, 2012” indicates that “4 products” were sold.

  The determination table 143 is a table that holds information on the number of times that the shortest expiration date of a product based on the current date does not match the expiration date of the sold product. FIG. 7 is a diagram illustrating an example of the data structure of the determination table. As shown in FIG. 7, the determination table 143 includes data items for product identification information, threshold values, and count values. The threshold value is a numerical value that serves as a criterion for determining whether or not to output a warning. The count value is a value indicating the number of times the expiration date of the sold product does not match the shortest expiration date corresponding to the product.

  In addition, when receiving the information specifying the expiration date together with the information specifying the prize from the POS terminal 60, the determination table 143 displays the record including the product specifying information, the threshold value, and the count value for each product specifying information. You may store for every time limit. The count value of the determination table 143 may be cleared to zero at the timing when the warning is output, or when a signal indicating that the display shelf has been checked by the store clerk after the warning is output. May be cleared to zero.

  The display position table 144 is a table that holds information related to the display position of the product. FIG. 8 is a diagram illustrating an example of a data structure of the display position table. As shown in FIG. 8, this display position table 144 has data items of product specifying information and display positions. The display position is information that uniquely identifies the display position of the product. For example, the display position of the product A is “A-50”.

  Returning to the description of FIG. The control unit 150 includes a management unit 151, an expiration date specifying unit 152, an output unit 153, a calculation unit 154, a counting unit 155, and a warning unit 156. The control unit 150 corresponds to an integrated device such as an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC) or a field programmable gate array (FPGA). Moreover, the control part 150 respond | corresponds to electronic circuits, such as CPU and MPU (Micro Processing Unit), for example.

  The management unit 151 is a processing unit that appropriately updates the product information table 141 and the product sales table 142. For example, when the store clerk operates the input unit and purchases a product, the product specifying information of the purchased product and the expiration date information are input, and the management unit 151 stores the information in the product information table 141. sign up. Further, the management unit 151 communicates with the POS terminal 60, acquires the product specifying information of the product sold, and updates the quantity of the product sales table.

  The expiration date specifying unit 152 is a processing unit that specifies the shortest expiration date corresponding to the product specifying information when the product specifying information is received from the POS terminal 60. The expiration date specifying unit 152 outputs information on the product specifying information and the shortest expiration date to the output unit 153.

  The expiration date specifying unit 152 acquires the product specification information from the POS terminal 60, compares the acquired product specification information with the product information table 141, and acquires the expiration date corresponding to the product specification information. The expiration date specifying unit 152 may specify the expiration date closest to the current date among the acquired expiration dates as the shortest expiration date of the corresponding product specifying information. For example, in FIG. 5, the expiration date corresponding to the product specifying information “product A” is “February 28, 2012” and “March 31, 2012”. When the current date is “February 11, 2012”, the shortest expiry date corresponding to the product identification information “Product A” is “February 28, 2012”.

  The store clerk may operate the input unit 120 to input the shortest expiration date of each item specifying information. In this case, the storage unit 140 stores a table in which the product specifying information and the shortest expiration date are associated with each other, and when the expiration date specifying unit 152 acquires the product specifying information from the POS terminal 60, the storage unit 140 stores the table. The shortest expiration date corresponding to the product specifying information may be specified with reference.

  The output unit 153 is a processing unit that outputs the product identification information and the expiration date information acquired from the expiration date specification unit 152 to the POS terminal 60 and displays the expiration date information. As described with reference to FIG. 3, the POS terminal 60 displays the information on the shortest expiration date when the information on the shortest expiration date is received.

  When the product specifying information is received from the POS terminal 60, the calculating unit 154 is a processing unit that calculates the average number of sales, the number of remaining days, the number of remaining display items, and the number of products in stock with the shortest expiration date for the product of the product specifying information. is there. The calculation unit 154 outputs the calculated average sales number, remaining days number, display remaining number, and inventory number information to the warning unit 156.

  Processing in which the calculation unit 154 calculates the average number of sales will be described. The calculation unit 154 compares the product identification information with the product sales table 142, and calculates the average number of sales by averaging the quantity of each sales day of the corresponding product. For example, in FIG. 6, the average number of sales of the product specifying information “product A” is “4”. Note that the number after the decimal point may be rounded up or rounded down. It is assumed that the administrator sets the handling of numerical values after the decimal point in advance.

  A process in which the calculation unit 154 calculates the remaining number of days will be described. The remaining number of days is the number of days from the shortest expiration date corresponding to the product specifying information to the current date. The calculation unit 154 acquires information on the shortest expiration date corresponding to the product specification information from the expiration date specification unit 152. The calculation unit 154 calculates the remaining number of days by counting the number of days from the shortest best-before date to the current date. For example, when the shortest expiration date of the product identification information “product A” is “February 28, 2012” and the current date is “February 11, 2012”, the remaining number of days is “18”.

  A process in which the calculation unit 154 acquires information on the number of stocks of products with the shortest expiration date will be described. The calculation unit 154 detects the number of stocks corresponding to the combination of the product identification information and the shortest expiration date from the product information table 141. For example, when the product specifying information is “product A” and the shortest expiration date is “February 28, 2012”, the number of stocks is “5”.

  A process in which the calculation unit 154 calculates the display remaining number will be described. The remaining display number is the remaining number of items that can be placed on the display shelf. The calculation unit 154 compares the product specifying information with the product information table 141 and the product sales table 142, and detects the number of shelves corresponding to the product specifying information and the quantity on the current date. The quantity on the current date is the number of sales on that day. The calculation unit 154 calculates the remaining display number by subtracting the quantity from the number of shelves. For example, if the number of shelves of the product identification information “product A” is “10” and the quantity of the product A on the current date is “4”, the number of remaining displays is “6”.

  The counting unit 155 is a processing unit that receives response information from the POS terminal 60 and increments the count value of the determination table 143 by 1 based on the received response information. As described above, the response information includes product specifying information and information indicating whether or not the shortest expiration date has been reached.

  When the response information includes information indicating that it does not match the shortest expiration date, the calculation unit 155 adds 1 to the count value corresponding to the product specifying information. On the other hand, the calculation unit 155 does not increment the count value when the response information includes information indicating that it matches the shortest best-before date. The calculation unit 155 may calculate, for example, a value obtained by adding the number of times of matching with the best-before date other than the shortest, other than counting the number of times of mismatch with the shortest best-by date.

  The warning unit 156 is a processing unit that outputs information based on the value acquired from the calculation unit 154. For example, the warning unit 156 determines whether or not to issue a warning based on each piece of information acquired from the calculation unit 154 and the determination table 143.

  For example, the warning unit 156 issues a warning when either the first condition or the second condition and the third condition are satisfied. The first condition is a condition that a product corresponding to the shortest expiration date is not sold by the shortest expiration date. Specifically, the warning unit 156 determines that the first condition is satisfied when Expression (1) is satisfied. When the first condition is satisfied, there is a high possibility that the corresponding product will not be sold out by the shortest expiration date. On the other hand, when the first condition is not satisfied, there is a high possibility that the corresponding product will be sold out by the shortest expiration date, so that it is not necessary to issue a warning.

  Number of remaining days ≤ number of products with shortest expiry date ÷ average number of sales (1)

  The second condition is a condition that the number of remaining products on the display shelf is larger than the number of products in stock with the shortest expiry date. Specifically, the warning unit 156 determines that the second condition is satisfied when Expression (2) is satisfied under the condition that the first condition is not satisfied. When the second condition is satisfied, since the number of products remaining on the display shelf is larger than the number of products in stock with the shortest expiry date, there is a possibility that a product with the shortest expiry date is displayed. If the product with the shortest shelf life and the product with the shortest shelf life are on the display shelf at the same time, consumers tend to choose the product with the longest expiration date, so the product with the shortest shelf life remains unsold. There is a high possibility that On the other hand, if the second condition is not satisfied, it means that only the product with the shortest shelf life is left on the display shelf. Therefore, it is not necessary to give a warning.

  Number of items with shortest expiry date <Remaining number of displays ... (2)

  The third condition is a condition that the count value corresponding to the product specifying information is greater than or equal to the corresponding threshold value. For example, in the example illustrated in FIG. 7, the count value “5” for the product identification information “product A” is equal to or greater than the threshold value “5”, and therefore satisfies the third condition.

  Next, processing when the warning unit 156 issues a warning will be described. When any one of the first to third conditions is satisfied, the warning unit 156 compares the product specifying information with the display position table 144 and determines the position of the display shelf of the product specifying information. For example, the warning unit 156 turns on a warning lamp installed on the display shelf after determining the position of the display shelf. It is assumed that the control device 100 and the warning lamp are connected in advance. Alternatively, the warning unit 156 may perform a warning by displaying the position of the display shelf on the POS terminal 60, a store management center, or the like.

  Next, a processing procedure of the control device 100 according to the second embodiment will be described. 9 and 10 are flowcharts illustrating the processing procedure of the control device according to the second embodiment. For example, the processing shown in FIGS. 9 and 10 is executed when the product specifying information of the product to be sold is received from the POS terminal 60.

  As shown in FIG. 9, the control device 100 receives the product specifying information (step S101), and determines the shortest expiration date among the products displayed on the display shelf (step S102). The control device 100 calculates the average number of items sold per day (step S103).

  The control device 100 determines whether or not the condition of the formula (1) is satisfied (step S104). When the condition of Expression (1) is satisfied (step S104, Yes), the control device 100 proceeds to step S107 in FIG.

  On the other hand, when the condition of formula (1) is not satisfied (step S104, No), the control device 100 calculates the remaining display number (step S105). The control device 100 determines whether or not the condition of Expression (2) is satisfied (step S106). The control apparatus 100 complete | finishes a process, when not satisfy | filling the conditions of Formula (2) (step S106, No).

  On the other hand, when the condition of Expression (2) is satisfied (step S106, Yes), the control device 100 proceeds to step S107 in FIG.

  The description shifts to the description of FIG. The control device 100 transmits the shortest expiration date of the corresponding product to the POS terminal 60 (step S107). The control device 100 receives from the POS terminal 60 response information indicating whether or not the shelf life of the sold product matches the shortest shelf life (step S108).

  The control device 100 determines whether or not the shortest expiration date matches the expiration date of the sold product (Step S109). Here, when the response information received from the POS terminal 60 does not include information on whether or not it matches the shortest expiration date, but includes information regarding the expiration date of the product to be sold, the control device 100 It is determined whether or not the received expiration date is the same as the shortest expiration date of the corresponding product. That is, the expiration date data stored in association with the corresponding product is read from the product information table 141, the shortest expiration date is specified from the data, and the expiration date is compared with the received expiration date. If they are the same, it is determined that the shortest expiration date matches the expiration date of the sold product.

  When the shortest expiration date matches the expiration date of the sold product, the control device 100 ends the process (step S109, Yes).

  When the shortest expiration date and the expiration date of the sold product do not match (No in step S109), the control device 100 sets 1 to the count value corresponding to the product indicated in the product specifying information received in step S101. Add (step S110). Note that the determination method in step S109 and the count addition method in step 110 may take other methods. In addition to counting the number of mismatches with the shortest expiry date in step S109, for example, the number of times of matching with the expiry date other than the shortest may be counted. In this case, in step S110, the number of times matching the expiration date other than the shortest is incremented.

  The control device 100 determines whether or not the count value of the corresponding product is greater than or equal to a threshold value (step S111). When the count value of the corresponding product is equal to or greater than the threshold (Yes at Step S111), the control device 100 outputs an alarm including the information on the corresponding product (Step S112). As a method of outputting an alarm, for example, it may be possible to output information including the corresponding product and the position of the display shelf as a warning to the POS terminal 60 or a management center of a store. Further, for example, it is conceivable to turn on a lamp of a display shelf on which the corresponding product is displayed. On the other hand, the control apparatus 100 complete | finishes a process, when the count value of an applicable goods is less than a threshold value (step S111, No).

  Next, effects of the control device 100 according to the second embodiment will be described. The control device 100 transmits to the POS terminal 60 information on the shortest expiration date closest to the current date among the expiration dates of the products displayed on the display shelf. In addition, the control device 100 receives information indicating whether or not the best-before date of the sold product matches the shortest-best date from the POS terminal 60, and counts the number of times of mismatch. Therefore, it is possible to calculate statistical information regarding the expiration date given to the product to be sold.

  The control device 100 can issue a warning when, for example, the counted number of times calculated as statistical information exceeds a threshold value. By giving a warning to the control device 100, it is possible to notify the person in charge of the store that there is a possibility that a product whose expiration date is imminent will be unsold. Can do.

  Further, when the control device 100 according to the second embodiment determines that the product is not sold out by the shortest expiration date, the control device 100 counts the number of mismatches. For example, a warning can be output when the number of mismatches obtained as a factor exceeds a threshold value. When there is a high possibility that a product will be sold out by the shortest expiration date, it is not necessary to give a warning in particular, so that a clerk can be warned efficiently.

  Further, the control device 100 according to the second embodiment counts the number of mismatches when the remaining number of products on the display shelf is larger than the number of stocks of products with the shortest expiration date. For example, a warning can be output when the number of mismatches obtained as a factor exceeds a threshold value. When the number of remaining products on the display shelf is smaller than the number of products with the shortest expiration date, only the products with the shortest expiration date are displayed on the display shelf. For this reason, even in the state as it is, products with the shortest expiration date can be sold sequentially, and it is not necessary to give a warning, so that it is possible to prevent the store clerk from being wasted.

  In addition, when managing the expiration date for each product, identification information of each product, a tag holding information on the expiration date, and the like are used, but labor costs and product costs increase. On the other hand, in the system according to the second embodiment, since the expiration date management is not performed for each product, the product can be sold on a first-in first-out basis while suppressing the cost.

  In the description of the first and second embodiments, the expiration date is described as an example, but this may be changed to the expiration date. In the description of the first embodiment and the second embodiment, an example is given in which the date is managed as the expiration date. However, information on the time may be added thereto.

  In the first embodiment, the control device 10 receives product specifying information from the external device 5, and in the second embodiment, the POS terminal 60 receives product specifying information and outputs information related to warnings. . However, in the above embodiment, the external device 5 has the function of the control device 10, the POS terminal 60 has the function of the control device 100, and the processing shown in FIGS. 9 and 10 is the external device 5 and the POS terminal 60. May be executed in a stand-alone state.

  Next, an example of a computer that executes a control program that realizes the same function as that of the control device 10 described in the embodiment will be described. FIG. 11 is a diagram illustrating an example of a computer that executes a control program.

  As illustrated in FIG. 11, the computer 200 includes a CPU 201 that executes various arithmetic processes, an input device 202 that receives data input from a user, and a display 203. The computer 200 also includes a reading device 204 that reads a program and the like from a storage medium, and an interface device 205 that exchanges data with other computers via a network. The computer 200 also includes a RAM 206 that temporarily stores various information and a hard disk device 207. The devices 201 to 207 are connected to the bus 208.

  The hard disk device 207 has, for example, an output program 207a, a counting program 207b, and a warning program 207c. The CPU 201 reads each program 207 a to 207 c and develops it in the RAM 206.

  The output program 207a functions as the output process 206a. The counting program 207b functions as a counting process 206b. The warning program 207c functions as a warning process 206c.

  For example, the output process 206 a corresponds to the output units 11 and 153. The counting process 206 b corresponds to the counting units 12 and 155. The warning process 206c corresponds to the warning units 13 and 156.

  Note that the programs 207a to 207c are not necessarily stored in the hard disk device 207 from the beginning. For example, each program is stored in a “portable physical medium” such as a flexible disk (FD), a CD-ROM, a DVD disk, a magneto-optical disk, and an IC card inserted into the computer 200. Then, the computer 200 may read the programs 207a to 207c from these and execute them.

  The following supplementary notes are further disclosed with respect to the embodiments including the above examples.

(Supplementary Note 1) an output unit that outputs information on the first best-before date regarding the best-before date of the product that is the target of the settlement process at the time of sale;
A counter that accepts information indicating whether or not the second best-before date given to the product that is the target of the checkout process matches the first best-before date, and counts the number of matches or mismatches;
And a warning unit that outputs information based on the value counted by the counting unit.

(Additional remark 2) The said 1st best-before date is the best-before date among the best-before dates of the goods which are the objects of the above-mentioned settlement process, and the above-mentioned warning part does not sell out the goods by the above-mentioned first best-by date. And a warning is output when the number of times counted by the counting unit is equal to or greater than a threshold value.

(Supplementary Note 3) The number of products displayed in the display area of the warning unit is larger than the number of products in stock at the first shelf life, and the number of times counted by the counting unit is equal to or greater than a threshold value. The control apparatus according to appendix 1, wherein a warning is output in the case.

(Appendix 4)
Output the first expiry date information about the expiry date of the product that is the target of the checkout process at the time of sale,
Receiving information indicating whether or not the second best-before date given to the product that is the target of the checkout process matches the first best-before date, and counting the number of matches or mismatches;
A control program that outputs information based on a counted result and that executes each process.

(Additional remark 5) The said 1st best-before date is a best-before date among the best-before dates of the goods which are the objects of the said check-out process, and the process to warn is a product sold out by the said 1st best-before date. The control program according to appendix 4, wherein the control program outputs a warning when the number of times counted by the counting unit is equal to or greater than a threshold value.

(Supplementary Note 6) The warning process is performed when the number of products displayed in the display area is larger than the number of products in stock at the first shelf life and the number counted by the counting unit is equal to or greater than a threshold value. In addition, the control program according to appendix 4, wherein a warning is output.

(Appendix 7) Memory,
A processor connected to the memory,
The processor is
Output the first expiry date information about the expiry date of the product that is the target of the checkout process at the time of sale,
Receiving information indicating whether or not the second best-before date given to the product that is the target of the checkout process matches the first best-before date, and counting the number of matches or mismatches;
A control device that outputs information based on the counted result and executes each process.

(Additional remark 8) Output the information of the 1st best-before date regarding the best-before date of the goods which are the objects of settlement processing at the time of sale
Receiving information indicating whether or not the second best-before date given to the product that is the target of the checkout process matches the first best-before date, and counting the number of matches or mismatches;
A computer-readable recording medium that stores a control program that causes a computer to execute information processing that outputs information based on the counted result.

5 External device 10 Control device 11 Output unit 12 Counting unit 13 Warning unit

Claims (6)

With reference to the storage unit in which the product and the expiration date are associated with each other, the expiration date assigned to the product to be settled and the best before date assigned to the same type of product as the product to be settled Identify whether the nearest expiry date matches,
When the number of times it is determined that they do not match is greater than or equal to a threshold value, a warning regarding the product to be paid is output.
A warning control program for causing a computer to execute processing. An output unit that outputs information on the first best-before date regarding the best-before date of the product that is the target of the settlement process at the time of sale;
A counting unit that the second expiry date granted to the product that is the subject of the settlement process accepts the information indicating whether or not matches the first expiration date, and counts the number of times that a mismatch,
A warning unit which on the basis of the counted value in the counting section, and outputs a warning,
A control device comprising:   The control apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the first expiration date is the expiration date closest to the current time among the expiration dates of the same type of product as the product to be processed.   The control device according to claim 2, wherein the warning unit outputs a warning when the number of times counted by the counting unit exceeds a threshold value.   The warning unit has the same type of product as the target of the checkout process to which the first expiration date is given, in which the number of products displayed in the display area of the same type of product as the target of the checkout process is 3. The control device according to claim 2, wherein a warning is output when the number of items in stock is larger than the number of items in stock and the number of times counted by the counting unit exceeds a threshold value. Output the first expiry date information about the expiry date of the product that is the target of the checkout process at the time of sale,
Receiving information indicating whether or not the second best-before date given to the product that is the target of the checkout process matches the first best-before date, and counting the number of matches or mismatches;
Output warning based on the counted result,
A control program for causing a computer to execute processing.

Images