JPH10143568A - Physical distribution information management system - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To dissolve troubles by transportation such as the loss of an article or the like by constructing the communication network system of physical distribution management and exchanging information such as the transmission route and delivery schedule, etc., of the articles distributed on a physical distribution network by communication terminals with each other by an electronic mail. SOLUTION: Physical distribution communication terminals MT1, MT2, MT3 and MT4 installed at the business offices in respective areas of door-to- door delivery traders and transportation traders, etc., a sender communication terminal DT and a receiver communication terminal RT are mutually connected to a physical distribution information server MIS for unitarily managing information from the respective physical distribution communication terminals by a public communication network INT such as the internet or the like and the information of the transmission route and delivery schedule, etc., of the articles is exchanged by the communication terminals with each other by the electronic mail. Thus, the troubles by the transportation such as the loss, delayed delivery and erroneous delivery, etc., of the articles are dissolved and the delivery schedule of the articles is optimized.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a distribution information management system using a general-purpose network constituted by connecting a plurality of communication terminals such as computers. The distribution information management system according to the present invention includes a communication terminal at a collection / delivery base of goods on a distribution network, interconnects these terminals via a general-purpose communication network such as the Internet, and a transmission route, a delivery schedule, and the like of the goods flowing on the distribution network. By exchanging the information between the communication terminals by e-mail,
This is an information management system that realizes unprecedented logistics services such as eliminating troubles caused by transportation such as lost, delayed or incorrect delivery of goods, optimizing the delivery schedule of goods, and returning unsolicited goods.

[0002]

In recent years, an example of performing physical distribution management using a network in which communication terminals such as a plurality of computers are connected by a communication line has been known as a value-added communication network (VA).
N) and other information networks are widely used. In a network of this type of information processing device, a plurality of information processing terminals are connected to the network via a dedicated line, a telephone line, or the like to form a system, and data relating to goods input at a delivery place where each terminal is located. Is input to a database and management and delivery procedures are performed.

For example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 7-267329 discloses a virtual network in which the configuration of a transport network corresponding to a transport route including a plurality of locations where goods are transported is associated with a communication network, and information processing apparatuses are associated with locations. Transfer of goods on a virtual network by constructing a simple network and transferring the delivery information of the goods in response to the movement of the goods between information processing devices positioned as bases on the transportation route A method of physical distribution management in which the status of an article transported from a route is confirmed is disclosed.

[0004] However, such a conventional logistics management network is a closed system dedicated to a logistics company, and a sender who sends out goods and a receiver who receives goods have access to this system. I couldn't do it. Because of this, the sender cannot directly participate in the information once the item has been dispatched until it reaches the recipient,
Also, the recipient who receives the item could not obtain the information until the item was delivered. For this reason, it was not possible to obtain this information in advance and refuse this information even when troubles due to transportation such as loss, late delivery, or incorrect delivery of the goods, delivery schedules of the goods, or when unsolicited goods were delivered.

[0005]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to a logistics communication terminal owned by a logistics company or a material handling company constituting a physical distribution network for moving goods, a sender's communication terminal of a shipper for shipping goods, and an article. A communication network system for logistics management that enables mutual exchange of information with each other by connecting the recipient communication terminals of the recipient who receives the By exchanging information such as transmission route and delivery schedule between communication terminals by e-mail, troubles caused by transportation such as lost, delayed, incorrect delivery, etc. can be resolved, optimization of delivery schedule of goods,
This realizes an information management system that realizes unprecedented logistics services such as returning unwanted products.

[0006]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION

FIG. 1 is an explanatory diagram showing the configuration of a distribution information management system according to the present invention. In FIG. 1, MNT is a distribution network. M1, M2, M3, and M4 are business offices of a carrier and a courier service, respectively. The sales offices M1, M2, M3, and M4 of transporters and courier companies are connected by a transportation network of trucks or railroads to form a regular transportation route for goods, thereby forming a distribution network MNT.

[0007] INT is a communication network. As the communication network INT, a general-purpose network such as the Internet is used. MT1, MT2, MT3, and MT4 are distribution communication terminals, respectively. Distribution communication terminals MT1, M
T2, MT3, and MT4 are installed in the business offices M1, M2, M3, and M4 of the carrier and the courier service, respectively, and are connected to the communication network INT.

D is the sender of the goods, R is the receiver of the goods and D
T is a sender communication terminal, and RT is a receiver communication terminal. The sender communication terminal DT and the receiver communication terminal RT are also connected to the communication network INT. MA is an article to be distributed. MIS is a physical superiority information server which is connected to the communication network INT and centrally manages information from each physical distribution communication terminal.

The operation of the physical distribution information management system of the present invention thus configured will be described below. The distribution communication terminals MT1, MT2, MT3, and MT4, the sender communication terminal DT, and the receiver communication terminal RT, which are installed at business offices in each region such as a courier company and a transportation company, also integrally manage information from each distribution communication terminal. Are connected to each other by a public communication network such as the Internet, so that communication between a sender of goods using the physical distribution network and a communication terminal owned by the receiver is possible.

Distribution communication terminals MT1, MT2, MT3, M
The number of T4s is equal to the number of users who want to use the physical distribution information management system of the present invention, and is increased accordingly as the number of users increases. As the sender communication terminal DT and the receiver communication terminal RT, communication terminals owned by the sender or receiver of the article are used. For this reason, in general, the sender of the article can also be the recipient and the recipient of the article can be the sender, so that the sender communication terminal DT also becomes the receiver communication terminal RT, and conversely, the receiver communication terminal RT. RT also becomes the sender communication terminal DT.

In this case, since the physical distribution information management system of the present invention uses a public communication network such as the Internet, the user of the system only needs to prepare a general-purpose communication terminal connectable to the network. There is an advantage that the burden is light and the cost of system maintenance is low. In the physical distribution information management system of the present invention, the flow of articles and the processing of information related thereto are performed as follows.

First, when an article dispatcher D requests the nearest sales office M3 such as a courier company or a shipping company to ship an article MA, the sales office M3 transmits the article MA to the distribution network M3.
At the same time as taking the shipping procedure to the request destination R on NT,
This information is input to the distribution communication terminal MT3 of the business office M3. Thereby, the ID code of the article MA is attached and registered in the distribution information server MIS.

[0013] Accordingly, in conjunction with the flow of the article MA through the distribution network MNT, information on the article is transmitted from the distribution communication terminal of the related distributor to the communication network INT, and transmitted to the distribution information server MIS. In addition to being input and managed, this information can also be sent directly to other physical distribution communication terminals, sender communication terminals DT, and recipient communication terminals RT as needed.

[0014] The ID number assigned to the article MA at the time of getting on the distribution network MNT is managed on the communication network INT with this number during the distribution process of the article, and when the article MA reaches the recipient R, This ID number disappears. As described above, the physical distribution information management system of the present invention relates to the flow of goods, the trader undertaking the shipment of goods, the trader who delivers goods, the user who sent the goods, and the user who will receive the goods. An open information management system capable of sharing information can be realized.

For this reason, the present invention provides a communication terminal at a collection / delivery base of goods on a distribution network, interconnects them with a communication network such as the Internet, and flows on the distribution network to provide a body route, a delivery schedule, etc. for goods. Exchange of information between communication terminals by e-mail eliminates problems caused by transportation such as loss of goods, delayed delivery, incorrect delivery, etc., optimization of logistics service schedule, return of unwanted products, etc. This is a system that manages information related to no physical distribution.

Specific examples of characteristic services that can be provided by the physical distribution information management system of the present invention are as follows. 1. Distribution Management Information Mail Management System According to the present invention, distribution related information can be shared among people involved in distribution by exchanging information relating to distribution of articles in the form of e-mail at distribution communication terminals. As a result, since the management of the information on the articles from the entrance, which is the sender of the articles, to the exit, which is the recipient of the articles, is thorough, it is possible to prevent loss, delay, and incorrect distribution of the articles on the distribution route.

2. Super-Distributed Inventory Management and Delivery System The logistics information management system of the present invention can be used to reduce the size of a traditional warehouse-based centralized inventory management system from a large warehouse to a small warehouse owned by a local courier or transport company. It is possible to shift to a system that disperses inventory in the future.

The distribution information server MIS retrieves distribution information from distribution communication terminals distributed in various places via the network INT, and manages various kinds of information relating to the goods in a centralized manner. It is possible to perform decentralized inventory management because it can be obtained freely among the people involved, and it is possible to receive delivery instructions via the network INT by e-mail from the distribution information server MIS or directly from the recipient communication terminal For reasons such as

For example, a product shipped from a factory is directly delivered to a local carrier such as a courier near the factory, and the delivery of this product to a store is separately provided with information necessary for a distribution communication server MIS. By providing a system for giving instructions, a large warehouse becomes unnecessary.

3. Home delivery information mail service Although the use of home delivery has become remarkable at present, misdelivery and late delivery still occur. On the other hand, malicious business using courier services is also rampant, in which goods that you do not know arrive, and if you do not show unnecessary intentions within a specified date, you will be charged an outrageous price.

In addition, many homes are absent at the time of delivery, and it is not unusual that it takes several days after delivery to receive the goods. Depending on the courier, this may be considered, but rarely. According to the present invention, it is possible to notify the sender and the receiver of the information on the delivery and the route of the goods by the home delivery by e-mail, so that the above-described trouble and inconvenience can be solved.

4. Handling misdelivery or late delivery When an item passes through each physical distribution communication terminal, the item name, shipping date,
Data such as the scheduled date of arrival and the name of the receiver are sequentially sent to the sender communication terminal and the receiver communication terminal by e-mail. According to this, if the information on the article is lost on the way or the article does not arrive even after the scheduled date, there is a possibility of late or incorrect delivery. In such a case, by judging the contents of the data sent up to that point, the cause of the delay or incorrect delivery can be found, the correct error can be indicated to the courier, and thorough distribution management on the courier side Can be encouraged.

5. Unwanted merchandise return service A courier service industry group creates a service system called "courier service information mail service". When a user subscribes to this service system, the address, name and e-mail address are registered in the database. All information on the courier service provided to the user is sent to the user by e-mail. With such a service system, if an item is sent from a sender who is completely unaware of the recipient, the refusal of the item is notified to the service administrator using an electronic node and immediately sent to the sender. Items can be returned.

6. Out-of-office delivery date change service If the recipient is informed in advance that the item will be delivered by e-mail, and the recipient cannot receive it on the scheduled date and time, By notifying the service manager or the home delivery company of the receivable date and time, it is possible to receive a satisfactory article. In addition, the delivery company does not needlessly deliver, so that efficient delivery can be performed.

[0025]

As is apparent from the above description, according to the present invention, a distribution network for moving goods,
A logistics communication terminal for obtaining and setting information necessary for transportation at the same time as putting goods in and out of the distribution network, and a sender communication terminal of a shipper who ships goods,
A communication network that connects the recipient communication terminal of the recipient who receives the goods, the physical distribution communication terminal, the sender communication terminal, and the recipient communication terminal, and enables mutual information exchange, and information on the goods flowing on the physical distribution network A distribution information management system opened by a distribution information server that centrally manages the information can be realized.

For this purpose, a logistics communication terminal owned by a logistics company or a goods handling company constituting a physical distribution network for moving goods, a sender communication terminal of a shipper who ships goods, and a recipient who receives goods. Can communicate with each other via a general-purpose network such as the Internet, thereby enabling mutual information exchange.

[0027] Thus, by exchanging information such as the transmission route and delivery schedule of the goods flowing on the distribution network between the communication terminals by e-mail, the loss of the goods and
Unprecedented logistics services, such as troubles caused by transportation such as delayed or incorrect delivery, optimization of the delivery schedule of goods, return of unwanted products, etc., can be realized.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is an explanatory diagram showing a configuration of a distribution information management system of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

MNT: logistics network, INT: communication network, M1: sales office of carrier and courier, M2: sales office of carrier and courier,
M3: Carrier or courier business office, M4 ...
-Carrier or courier business office, MT1 ... distribution communication terminal, MT2 ... distribution communication terminal, MT3
... Distribution communication terminal. MT4: Distribution communication terminal,
D: article sender, DT: sender communication terminal,
MA: article, R: article recipient RT: recipient communication terminal,

Continued on the front page (72) Inventor Takeharu Nishikata 6-7-35 Kita Shinagawa, Shinagawa-ku, Tokyo Sony Corporation

Claims (8)

[Claims] 1. A logistics network for moving goods, a logistics communication terminal for getting and setting information necessary for transportation at the same time as putting goods in and out of the physical distribution network, and a sender for shipping goods A communication network that connects the sender's communication terminal, the receiver's communication terminal of the receiver who receives the goods, the logistics communication terminal, the sender's communication terminal, and the receiver's communication terminal, and enables mutual information exchange, A logistics information management system comprising a logistics information server that centrally manages information on items flowing on a network. 2. A logistics network for moving goods, a logistics communication terminal for getting and setting information necessary for transportation while moving goods in and out of the physical distribution network, and a sender for shipping goods. Communication using the Internet, which connects the sender's communication terminal, the receiver's communication terminal of the receiver who receives the goods, the logistics communication terminal, the sender's communication terminal, and the receiver's communication terminal, and enables mutual information exchange A logistics information management system comprising a network and a logistics information server that centrally manages information on items flowing on the physical distribution network. 3. A logistics network for moving goods, a logistics communication terminal for getting and setting information necessary for transportation while moving goods in and out of the physical distribution network, and a sender for shipping goods. A communication network that connects the sender's communication terminal, the receiver's communication terminal of the receiver who receives the goods, the logistics communication terminal, the sender's communication terminal, and the receiver's communication terminal, and enables mutual information exchange, It consists of a logistics information server that centrally manages information on items flowing on the network, and exchanges e-mails between logistics communication terminals to manage the entrances and exits of the items, thereby controlling the items in the distribution network. A logistics information management system with an email function that prevents loss, delays in delivery, and incorrect delivery. 4. A logistics network for moving goods, a logistics communication terminal for getting and setting information necessary for transportation while moving goods into and out of the physical distribution network, and a sender for shipping goods. A communication network that connects the sender's communication terminal, the receiver's communication terminal of the receiver who receives the goods, the logistics communication terminal, the sender's communication terminal, and the receiver's communication terminal, and enables mutual information exchange, It consists of a logistics information server that centrally manages information on items flowing on the network, stores and distributes inventory to local courier companies and carriers, and the logistics information server distributes logistics from logistics communication terminals distributed in various places via the network. By raising information and centrally managing inventory, delivery instructions can be sent to a logistics information server or directly to recipient communication terminals via a network. A logistics information management system that can be received by e-mail and has a distribution and collection function for products. 5. A logistics network for moving goods, a logistics communication terminal for getting and setting information necessary for transportation while entering and leaving the goods, and a sender for shipping goods. A communication network that connects the sender's communication terminal, the receiver's communication terminal of the receiver who receives the goods, the logistics communication terminal, the sender's communication terminal, and the receiver's communication terminal, and enables mutual information exchange, Composed of a logistics information server that centrally manages information on items flowing on the network, and has a courier information mail function that informs the sender and receiver of information on shipping and routing of items by courier via e-mail. Logistics information management system. 6. A logistics network for moving goods, a logistics communication terminal for getting and setting information necessary for transportation while moving goods in and out of the physical distribution network, and a sender for shipping goods. A communication network that connects the sender's communication terminal, the receiver's communication terminal of the receiver who receives the goods, the logistics communication terminal, the sender's communication terminal, and the receiver's communication terminal, and enables mutual information exchange, Composed of a logistics information server that centrally manages information on items flowing on the network, and sends data such as item names, shipping dates, expected arrival dates, and owner names by e-mail when the items pass through each physical distribution communication terminal Logistics information management system with a function to respond to erroneous delivery and late delivery by sequentially sending data to recipient communication terminals and receiver communication terminals. 7. A logistics network for moving goods, a logistics communication terminal for getting and setting information necessary for transportation while entering and leaving the goods, and a sender for shipping goods. A communication network that connects the sender's communication terminal, the receiver's communication terminal of the receiver who receives the goods, the logistics communication terminal, the sender's communication terminal, and the receiver's communication terminal, and enables mutual information exchange, It consists of a logistics information server that centrally manages information on items flowing on the network, and sends home delivery information by e-mail to users whose address, name and e-mail address are registered in the database. If an item is dispatched from a sender who is completely unaware of the recipient, the refusal of the item is notified to the service administrator via electronic knoll and dispatched. Logistics information management system with a remand function of unsolicited goods that can remand the goods immediately to. 8. A logistics network for moving goods, a logistics communication terminal for getting and setting information necessary for transportation while moving goods into and out of the physical distribution network, and a sender for shipping goods. A communication network that connects the sender's communication terminal, the receiver's communication terminal of the receiver who receives the goods, the logistics communication terminal, the sender's communication terminal, and the receiver's communication terminal, and enables mutual information exchange, It consists of a logistics information server that centrally manages information on items flowing on the network. If the recipient is notified by e-mail that the item has been delivered, and the recipient cannot receive it at the scheduled date and time, the recipient By notifying the service manager or courier of the availability date and time in advance by e-mail, Logistics information management system with the door function.