JPH0498398A - Store information collection system - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To reduce a burden on the side of a sales store and to avoid interruption of the telephone service by performing an originating call against the terminal equipment of respective stores, connecting lines with the received terminal equipment, and after that, collecting the store information from line- connected terminal equipment. CONSTITUTION:The originating call is performed by the liquor shop's telephone number during recording to a store information file stored in an EWS (engineering work station) 14 on the side of a center prepared for each liquor shop. When there is an incoming call, a starting system 44 of a personal computer 100 of the liquor shop commands the response for the incoming call against a switching device 40. Power supply 38 of a main body is turned on, and the starting systems stored in a ROM30 or a RAM32 of the personal computer 100 are executed. Namely, in the personal computer 100 on the side of the liquor shop, a POS(point of sales) data file is opened, the completion of preparation is sent to the side of the EWS14, and the transmission of the POS data is started. Thus, the burden of the side of the sales store is reduced, and the interruption of the telephone service is avoided.

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] [Industrial Application Field] The present invention is applicable to PO8
The present invention relates to a branch information collection system that collects branch information such as information to an information processing system on the center side under the leadership of a center.

[Prior Art] In store sales at a retail store, the sales amount is greatly influenced by the method of displaying the products and the number of display rows.

Currently, stores are introducing computerized cash registers in order to grasp and manage product sales status and sales information. Then, the sales information is collected on a host computer at the headquarters, aggregated for each product, and after understanding which products are best-selling and which are dead, we ask retailers to purchase products that will be effective in increasing sales or to display products. is proposed. This computer-based information processing method is called POS data system (POS = point).
This is called "ofsale" (sales site) and is used in convenience stores, etc.

[Problems to be Solved by the Invention] Conventionally, this PO8 information collection system connects the information processing device of the store to a telephone line and transmits the information to the central information processing device, or the information is recorded and sent to the central information processing device. In any case, the floppy disks that were used were mailed to the headquarters, which placed a heavy burden on the dealers. In addition, collection failures may occur due to store information being forgotten to be sent, or telephone lines may be busy (busy).
The problem was the amount of time it took to resend the data.

The present invention was proposed to solve the above problem, and proposes a branch information collection system that can collect branch information under the direction of a center.

[Means for Solving the Problems] The configuration of the branch information collection system of the present invention for achieving the above-mentioned problems is based on a branch information collection system stored in a branch information processing terminal device installed in each of a plurality of branches. In a branch information collection system that collects information to a central data processing unit using a telephone line in order to centrally process the information, a call is made from the central data processing unit to the terminal device of each branch. , a line connection is made with the terminal device that received the call, and then the central data processing device collects branch information from the terminal device connected to the line.

Therefore, automatic information collection led by the center not only reduces the burden on the store side, but also avoids the inconvenience of being unable to receive calls due to telephone calls from multiple stores at the same time.

By adding an automatic power-on function, it is especially effective for collecting data at night.

The following margins [Example] The branch information collection/processing system of the present invention will be described below.
A branch POS terminal device consisting of an S register and a personal computer, and a so-called EWS (engineer
An embodiment will be described in which the central data processing unit includes a computer (G Work 5tation) and a personal computer. Further, in this embodiment, a liquor store is taken as an example of a business store.

<System configuration> FIG. 1 shows an outline of the system configuration of this embodiment.

In FIG. 1, in this system, the center device is located at a liquor wholesaler or a brewery. An example of the configuration of this center-side device is shown in Fig. 2, which includes a personal computer (in this example, a Matsukin Trash manufactured by Apple Inc. in the United States) equipped with an image processing function and an EWS (UNIX manufactured by Sun Inc. in the United States). - workstation, LI
NIX is a registered trademark of AT&T Bell Laboratories, USA). The store equipment will be placed at each liquor store. An example of this sales sending equipment is shown in Figure 3.The main equipment on the sales branch side is a POS register and a personal computer (in the figure, P
(denoted as C).

In FIG. 1, there are two systems of human power for branch information to the center side device. In other words, in this system, the input information is the display shelf image of the liquor store and the POS obtained from the liquor store.
It is data. Images of display shelves at liquor stores are obtained by an electronic still video camera, as will be described later, and a floppy disk from this camera is read by a center device. Another input system is PoS data obtained through telephone lines.

The center equipment and equipment at each branch are connected via public telephone lines. This is because it provides more flexibility than connecting a specific dedicated line.

The configuration of the center side device will be explained with reference to FIG. In the figure,
12 is a personal computer, and 14 is an EWS. File transfer between the personal computer 12 and the EWS 14 is performed via a run cable 20 with a getway (indicated by GW in the figure) 13 intervening. The process performed by EW514 is PoS from a liquor store.
This involves collecting data, creating a PoS file, and creating a database. The main processing performed by the personal computer 12 is that of the still video camera 10.
Floppy disk 21 via image data converter 11
reads the images stored in the image file and converts them into an image file, identifies the products included in the file from this image file, and the data obtained from this identification (same items on the same shelf). The purpose of this is to link the number of products (hereinafter referred to as "one column number") with the POS file of EWS 14.

On the other hand, in addition to the run 20, the EWS 14 also has an interface with a telephone line. In Figure 2, EWS
14 is connected to the exchange 17 via a modem (indicated by MOD) 7 line connection device 15.

It is continued.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing the configuration of the sales branch side of this system. In FIG. 3, the POS register device (FIG. 1) is omitted. In FIG. 3, 30 to 39 are inside the personal computer main body. Further, 40 to 44 are installed on boards installed in expansion slots in the main body of the personal computer. 43 and 44 are supplied with DC voltage from the main body power supply 38 and are connected to each element (30 to 39) in the main body via a system bus. 40 is supplied with DC voltage from an extended power supply 42 1 The main body power supply 38 is activated by a power on switch (not shown), whereas the extended power supply is always in operation and supplies voltage to 40 at all times. The reason why the expansion board is always in operation is to ensure that it can recognize commands from the center side (data collection commands to be described later) even when the main unit is off.

The main body of the personal computer is controlled by the CPU 31. The control program and application program are stored in the ROM30. It is stored in RAM32. R.A.
PoS data files and the like are stored in M32. P.O.
The S data input interface 36 is a POS (not shown).
The data input to the register is sucked up to the hard disk 39.

Describe the elements within the expansion slot. Switching device 40
The telephone line is connected to the modem 43 in the expansion slot, or to an external device such as a facsimile (not shown) or a telephone (not shown). Communication data converted into serial digital data by the modem 43 is sent to the system bus via the R5232 interface 37. The activation device 44 turns on the power source 38 in response to a command sent from the center through a telephone line.

Figure 4 shows the software configuration of the center side system.

The main software in EWS 14 is 03 (UNI
X system (UNIX is a registered trademark of AT & T Health Research Institute, USA), as well as a line control program, a LAN control program, a relational database (RDB), and a POS data collection program. The software on the personal computer side is a LAN control program,
relational database, card type database,
These are a spreadsheet type database, a display shelf image input program, a product mask image input program, and a pattern recording program. The row number data etc. obtained from the shelf display images are linked with the POS data by using the database function of the system (for example, the above-mentioned spreadsheet type database).

<Automatic Data Collection> One of the major features of the head office information collection/processing system is the automatic collection of POS data led by the center. During this collection, the power to the personal computer is turned off at the liquor store, but when collection is activated from the center, the power is automatically turned on at the store.

FIG. 5A is a flowchart showing the control procedure of the automatic collection program for POS data on the center side. This automatic collection program runs on a personal computer 100.
It interacts with the startup program (Figure '146B) of the startup device inside. The startup program shown in FIG. 6B powers up the personal computer 100 and starts its system program. When the personal computer 100 on the liquor store side is powered on, the initialization program shown in FIG. 6C is activated within the personal computer 100. This initialization program starts the automatic transmission program of FIG. 6D.

The automatic transmission program shown in Figure 6D and Figure 5A on the liquor store side
In synchronization with the PoS data automatic collection program shown in the figure, POS data is transmitted and received from the liquor store side to the center side.

Before transmitting the POS data, the liquor store must convert the POS data into a file. The process of creating a file will be explained with reference to FIG. 6A.

In step S16 and step S1B of FIG. 6A, the PO
The personal computer 101 collects the POS data created by the S register 101.

If the personal computer 100 and the POS register 101 are always connected, this collection can be done using the R5232 interface 37, for example.
If not always connected, this is done periodically using the PQS data manual interface 36 (FIG. 3). This collection operation causes the POS data to be written to the disk 39 in the personal computer 100 as a POS file, and continues until the operator selects the end menu.

If the operator selects the end menu, the process advances to step S22, and it is determined whether the operator has designated the created POS file as a special item to be sent to the center at night. This designation also applies to personal computers]00
This is done on a CRT (cathode ray tube) screen. If you select to perform automatic transmission at night, a startup file to that effect is created in the disk 39 in step S24, whereas if automatic transmission is not selected, a startup file to that effect is created in step S26. Create a startup file. This startup file is created when the personal computer lOO is turned on again.
It is used by the startup program of the personal computer 100 to determine whether automatic transmission should be performed. Step 5
At step 28, the power to the main body of the personal computer 100 is turned off. As described in connection with FIG. 3, even if the main body power is turned off, the expansion power supply 42 continues to supply voltage to the expansion board. That is, the expansion board activation device 44 is waiting for a activation instruction from the center side.

POS at EWS 14 on the center side according to Figure 5A.
The control procedure of the automatic data collection program will be explained, and the startup control procedure in the startup device 44 of the personal computer 100 on the liquor store side (FIG. 6B) and the control procedure on the initialization program on the personal computer main body side (FIG. 6C) will be explained. Explain. Figure 5B is for each liquor store! 1! In the store information file stored in the EWS14,
The code stores the store code of the liquor store, its telephone number, and an address pointer on a disk (equipped in the EWS 14) into which the downloaded POS data is written.

First, in step S2 of FIG. 5A, store information file 1
Retrieves records related to two stores. In step S4,
Make a call to the liquor store phone number in this record. and,
In step S6, a response to the incoming call from the liquor store is awaited.

In step S50 of FIG. 6B, the activation device 44 of the personal computer 100 of the liquor store waits for a call from the center side. If there is any incoming call, in step S52, if the call is not for facsimile or telephone, that is, the personal computer 1
Check whether the dial signal is for 00 or not by checking the extension number of the dial signal. If it is not addressed to the personal computer 100, the line is switched in step S54. In any case, the activation device 44 instructs the switching device 40 to respond to the incoming call. The switching device 40 accomplishes this in hardware. The activation device 44 receives this incoming call from the personal computer l.

If it is addressed to O, the power of the main body is turned on in step S56. This is done by turning on a relay (not shown) in the power supply 38, for example.

When the power of the main unit is turned on, the personal computer 100
A startup program stored in the ROM or RAM of the computer is executed. Figure vS6c shows the control procedure of the startup program. In step S30, a startup file is searched.

This file was created in step S24 or step S26 when the personal computer 100 was turned off.

If this file indicates that PoS data should be automatically collected, a data transmission program (the details of which are shown in FIG. 6D) is executed in step S33. If automatic transmission is not to be performed, a normal initial screen is displayed in step S34 and control is returned to O3.

On the other hand, upon receiving the incoming call response, the EWS 14 proceeds from step S6 to step S7 in FIG. 5A, and receives the telephone number from the liquor store. Thereby, in step S8, the EWS 14 matches and confirms the telephone number of the liquor store that the user called and the telephone number sent from the liquor store.

In the personal computer 100 on the liquor store side,
Proceeding to step 53B, the POS data file is opened and, in step 540, the e-mail is read as ready.
Send to WS14 side. This message will be acknowledged in step s8 in the EWS 14, and
Transmission of PoS data is started in step S42.

On the other hand, EWS 14 that received the confirmation message is step S
8 to step S9, the POS data for one store is manually inputted from the line and written as a POS file on the hard disk. Then, the process returns from step S11 to step s2, and the above-mentioned operation is a-rejected for all liquor stores.

On the personal computer side of the liquor store, P.

If all S data is sent to the center side, step S46
Then, the power supply 38 is turned off.

Step 512 in FIG. 5A is for the center to detect if the liquor store's device does not operate or if the store does not wish to automatically collect alcohol at night.

The above is a description of the operation of the center-led automatic collection system for POS data.Next, the branch information processing system will be described.

<Sales store information processing system> This processing system uses the data collected by the above-mentioned POS data collection system and the image information of the liquor store (and the shelf information of the liquor store obtained from this image) to the personal computer 12 of the center. They are organically bonded together.

That is, in FIG. 2, the above POS data is EWS
It is stored in the hard disk of 14. On the other hand, the personal computer 12 is connected to the still video camera 10.
image data converter 11 from the floppy disk 21 of
The stored image is read and converted into an image file via the . identify the products included in the file from this image file, and use this identification data and EWS 1
Link with the POS file of 4.

FIG. 7 is a CRT screen of the personal computer 12 for explaining this product recognition operation. CR7 screen 5
0, various buttons are displayed in addition to an image 60 of a shelf at a liquor store. This location screen displays one card of the card type database. 1 card has 1
Contains images of two display shelves. Here, the button is a type of software-based user interface technology, and is a program that allows the user to define the display position, display scene ball, and procedure to be activated when the button is pressed.

The operation of recognizing products displayed on a shelf from a shelf display image will be explained with reference to FIG. 61 of the shelf images 60 is a shelf, and 60a, 60b, and 60c are images of a plurality of canned beer displayed on each shelf. On the third shelf from the top are so-called long canned beers. Product recognition in this embodiment is performed by recognizing the product name, manufacturer name, etc. from the label in the image of one product. The operator specifies which part of the image 60 is an image of one product using a movable cursor 62. To specify this, first select the button 54 that matches the shape of the product you are about to recognize from among the three types of product shapes. Press button 54. Then, a cursor 62 indicated by a broken line is displayed overlapping the image 50 according to the size of the product. When the operator clicks a mouse (not shown) at the position of the cursor 62 and drags it, the cursor moves in the direction of the drag. Move this cursor to the part of the image you want to recognize. Once you have moved to that part of the image, release the mouse click. When the button 55 is clicked, the recognition processing program (FIG. 12) connected to that button is executed. The recognition results (product name, product code (JAN code)) are displayed in display area 5758, respectively. If the recognition result is correct, the operator clicks the button 56. By repeating such operations, the types of all products in the image shown on the screen 60 are recognized. That is, product A has X number of products (ie, the number of rows of the same product in the tank), product B has Y number of products, and so on.

Figure 8 shows the number of columns for each product obtained in this way.
This is an example of displaying a database after it has been linked with POS data. As mentioned above, the POS database on the EWS 14 obtained through the telephone line records the daily sales amount of a certain product for each liquor store. From experience, this sales amount varies depending on the season, but it is also affected by the number of rows and where the product is placed on the shelf. However, the arrangement of products on the shelf does not change in a short period of time, so each time the arrangement on the shelf changes, the image taken with a still video camera is subjected to recognition processing as described above. By doing so, the center can grasp the product placement on the shelves at a specific store during a certain period of time.

Therefore, by searching the POS data within that period, arranging it for each product, and connecting the sales data for each product with the number of columns for each product obtained from the image, a database like the one shown in Figure 8 can be created. You can get it. Such a database is extremely convenient for knowing how the number of rows of the same product on a shelf affects sales, and is also suitable for performing various statistical analyses. Moreover, since the computer recognizes the number of rows of the same product, the operator can
This frees you from the troublesome work of manually inputting row number data sent from liquor stores, or visually recognizing the number of rows from photos and counting the number of rows.

Product recognition in this embodiment is performed by pattern matching between a product image obtained from the above-mentioned image via an operator and a pre-registered image of a product whose name is known (hereinafter referred to as a mask image).

FIG. 9 is a flowchart showing the control procedure of this mask image registration program in the personal computer 12 on the center side. The original image of this master image is also taken with an electronic still video camera 10.
For example, it is advantageous to use photographs taken of all known products placed one at a time on one shelf, since this allows mask registration of multiple products at once from one screen.

In FIG. 9, first, in step S70, it is confirmed whether the image data converter 11 and the electronic still video camera 10 are connected to the personal computer 12. If connected, step S72. 1 in step S74
In the first step S75, in which one frame of image is read for each field, the image is transferred to the personal computer 12.
is displayed on a CRT (not shown). The display screen is the 10th
As shown in the figure. This display screen is similar to an operation screen for image recognition. That is, since the shape of the product to be registered is known, buttons 69 (three buttons 69 are shown in this example) created in advance for each shape are displayed on the operation screen as shown in FIG. do. The image to be registered is cut out by activating the cursor 66 in the image 65, as in the case of the recognition operation. That is, once the image portion is selected in step 576,
At step 578, the portion is cut out.

In step 580, the operator enters the input area 67.68.
Manually enter the product name and product code entered in Step S.
At step 82, these product names and product coats and images are linked and registered. When registering, not only the image but also the features of the image are extracted and registered, which improves work efficiency during the u FJt. In this way, the mask image that serves as a reference for product recognition in the shelf image is stored in the hard disk (not shown) of the personal computer 12.

Next, according to the flowchart shown in FIG. 11, the bartuna of the shelf display images sent from each branch is sent.

The input procedure to the computer 12 will be explained. In this operation, the store code and the date and time of photographing are added to the display image and the display image is saved on the hard disk.

That is, each time a floppy disk (50 images per disk) is inserted into the drive 21 of the electronic still video camera 10, the store code and the shooting date and time are input in step S86, and the display image and the input store code are input in step S86. and shooting date and time information are stored in the hard disk.

Next, the control procedure for product recognition in the personal computer 12 will be explained based on the flowchart shown in FIG. When this program is started, step 5100 in FIG. 12 is executed and an operation screen as shown in FIG. 7 is displayed. In step 5101, the operator manually inputs the store number and the date and time of photographing in order to specify the image to be recognized. In step 5102, the image file is searched and read out using the store code and photographing date and time as keys, and displayed in the display area 60 in step 5104. Step 510
6 waits for the cursor 62 to specify the image part; 1;
Once two areas have been designated, in a loop from step 3110 to step 5118, matching is performed in sequence with one of the mask images, and the matching is repeated until the matching is completed. Here, the size adjustment in step 5112 is performed to match the number of pixels of the product image and the mask image. If one product image and one mask image are matched (this is detected by the program when the operator presses button 56),
The process advances from step 5116 to step 5126 to check whether matching has already been achieved. If it is a product that has been successfully matched for the first time, one record is created in the recognition data file as shown in FIG. 13 with the "Number of columns per column" field set to "1". If matching has already been done and a record has been created, set the column number field of that record to 1 without creating a reft.
Increment. Then, the process returns to step 5106 and waits for another image portion to be specified. In this way, a recognition data file as shown in FIG. 13 is created in the hard disk of the personal computer 12.

Next, the POS data file of the personal computer 12 and the product recognition data file of the EWS 14 (TS1
The connection control shown in FIG. 3) will be explained according to the connection program shown in FIG. 14.

This connection program is started by specifying "connection operation" from a predetermined menu screen.

First, in step 5150, a recognition data file to be linked is specified using a store code and a photographing date. and,
At step 5152, the recognition data file is read.

In the system of this embodiment, shelf images are sent from the liquor stores to the center by mail or other means.

Additionally, POS data is sent to the center from liquor stores every day. Therefore, until the center side knows the photographing date of the shelf display image, the POS data that has been input up to that point is data without knowing the product arrangement on the shelf.

Therefore, in step 5154, the same store coat and the photographing date are sent to the EWS 14 via the LAN.

On the EWS 14 side, all POS of the store after this date
The data is retrieved and sent back to the personal computer 12. In step 5158, the recognition data file obtained in step 5152 and the POS data file obtained in step 5156 are linked in units of store code and photographing date to create a database. FIG. 8 shows an example of the database after connection. In step 5160, predetermined statistical processing is performed, for example, by dividing the sales of each product by the sales period to calculate and display the sales in units of 10 days. In this way, the sales trend for a certain shelf display arrangement can be grasped. For example, for product A, displaying at least 8 or more trees on the shelves during the summer period will maximize sales.

<Modifications> The present invention can be modified in various ways without departing from the spirit thereof.

For example, in the above embodiment, the explanation was limited to a liquor store, but the present invention can be applied to any type of business as long as it handles POS data.

In the above embodiment, the center system configuration and branch system configuration were omitted as shown in FIGS. 2 and 3.
The present invention is not limited thereto.

For example, both the center and the sales branch can be constructed using one computer system.

Margin below [Effects of the Invention J As explained above, the branch information collection system of the present invention centrally collects branch information stored in branch information processing terminals installed in a plurality of branches. In a branch information collection system that collects data to a central data processing unit using a telephone line in order to process data, the central data processing unit makes a call to the terminal device of each branch, and the terminal device that receives the call. A line connection is established between the central data processing unit and the central data processing unit, after which the central data processing unit collects branch information from the terminal device connected to the line.

Therefore, automatic information collection led by the center not only reduces the burden on the store side, but also avoids the inconvenience of being unable to receive calls due to telephone calls from multiple stores at the same time.

By adding an automatic power-on function, it is especially effective for collecting data at night.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing the overall system configuration of this embodiment, and FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing the center side configuration of the system shown in FIG. Figure 3 is a block diagram showing the branch side configuration of the system shown in Figure 1. Figure 4 is a diagram showing the software configuration of the center side system. Figure 5A shows the control procedure of the automatic collection program for POS data at the center side. Flowchart, Figure 5B is a diagram showing the structure of the store information file used when collecting POS data, Figure 6A is a flowchart showing the control procedure of the POS data file generation program at the branch, and Figure 6B is the personal information file of the branch. FIG. 6C is a flowchart showing the control procedure of the startup program in the startup device 44 installed in the computer; FIG. 6C is a flowchart showing the control procedure of the initialization program after power is started in the personal computer main unit of the business store; FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing the control procedure of the automatic transmission program for POS data in the personal computer at the center, FIG. , a diagram showing an example of the screen display after the POS data of the center-side EWS 14 and the product recognition data of the personal computer 12 are linked, and FIG. 9 shows the control procedure of the mask image registration program in the center-side personal computer. FIG. 10 is a diagram showing an example of an operation screen when registering a mask image on the center-side personal computer; FIG. 11 is a flowchart showing a control procedure for shelf image input processing on the center-side personal computer; The figure is a flowchart showing the control procedure for recognition processing of shelf display images in the center-side personal computer. computer PO
FIG. 14 is a flowchart showing a control procedure for linking product recognition data in the center personal computer and POS data in the EWS 14. Fig. 5A EWS also has a low temperature, 7 cm / Matakom Fig. 5B 11 Stores) Figure D Figure 1 Star Registration Figure, Sogetsu 11.

Claims (3)

[Claims] (1) Branches that use telephone lines to collect branch information stored in branch information processing terminals placed in multiple branches into a central data processing device for central data processing. In the information collection system, a central data processing device makes a call to the terminal device of each branch, establishes a line connection with the incoming terminal device, and then the central data processing device connects the line. A branch information collection system characterized by collecting branch information from connected terminal devices. (2) The branch information collection system according to claim 1, wherein the terminal device has a nonvolatile memory that retains branch information even after power is turned off. (3) The terminal device is always powered on and includes a line connection circuit device that identifies calls from the center and connects the line, and receives the output of this line connection device to turn on the power of the terminal device itself. A claim comprising: a power supply circuit device; and a branch information transmission program that is activated when the power is turned on; the transmission program starts transmission of branch information in response to a start request from a center. The branch information collection system described in paragraph 2 of.