KR20210129840A - Distribution management method and system - Google Patents

Abstract

According to an embodiment of the present invention, a commodity distribution management system includes a commodity management center. The commodity management center includes a management device receiving a commodity security data on a commodity from a distribution place and a commodity management database storing the data received from the distribution place for use in a process of commodity certification. The data includes security information and commodity identification information used for certifying the commodity.

Description

Product distribution management and distribution system {DISTRIBUTION MANAGEMENT METHOD AND SYSTEM}

The present invention relates to the distribution management of products (hereinafter referred to as 'products' or 'products') such as goods, intermediate products, parts, and raw materials transported in containers.

In branded goods such as expensive handbags and clothing, it is sometimes difficult for ordinary people to distinguish between genuine and counterfeit goods. In this situation, an appraiser or manufacturer's representative is needed to determine the authenticity of the product. This kind of evaluation requires considerable time and effort.

Accordingly, in the course of distribution of goods, the inspection of individual goods is impractical due to the large number of goods involved and time constraints. As a result, counterfeiting is rampant, and manufacturers and owners of well-known branded goods are of great concern. This counterfeit product reduces sales revenue and lowers the value of the brand name. Counterfeit goods also harm wholesalers and end-users in the distribution of goods, because they deceive them into buying them at the same price as the real ones.

Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2000-148950 discloses a counterfeit inspection system using an identification tag. This identification tag is attached to the product in a location invisible to the general public. This tag is connected to a data transmission means capable of non-contact data transmission, and includes a non-volatile memory for storing product management information. The authenticity of the product is judged by reading the information stored in this tag.

Japanese Patent No. 2584963 discloses a product distribution management system in which product identification information is stored in a product management center prior to loading the product. This product identification information is used to register products shipped to a specific recipient. A bar code is attached to each product, and a person responsible for receiving or receiving the product reads the barcode when receiving the product using a scanning device. In this case, the recipient can reveal the authenticity of the received product by comparing the scanned product identification information, that is, the barcode, with the record of the shipped product, that is, product identification information registered in advance.

In the counterfeit product inspection system disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2000-148950, product information and distribution location identification information are written on an ID tag attached to a product during a distribution process. Accordingly, the storage capacity of the ID tag limits the amount of information that can be input to the ID tag. Due to this, it may not be possible to enter important security information, for example, product distribution path.

In addition, since numerous writing processes are performed in the distribution process, incorrect information may be written on the tag, and there is a risk that the stored information may be damaged by exposure to the electronic system during the product distribution process. This risk impairs the reliability of the disclosed counterfeit inspection system.

In Japanese Patent No. 2584963, the product distribution management system receives product identification information from each distribution site upon receipt of the product. At this time, the product is verified to be genuine by determining whether the received product identification information has been previously registered in the system and whether the system has received an authentication request from the same distribution place for the product identification information at least once. Also, the use of barcodes is not very pleasing to look at and is not appropriate for many high-priced, well-known brand products.

In one embodiment, the product distribution management system includes a product management center. The product management center includes a management device that receives product security data on products from the distribution site and a product management database that stores the data received from the distribution site for use in the product authentication process. This data includes product authentication information and security information used to authenticate the product.

In another embodiment, the product distribution management center includes a management device for receiving product security data from a distribution site and a product distribution management database for storing product security data for use by another distribution site to authenticate the product. This data includes security information generated by the distribution site for use in the product authentication process and tag identification information associated with the product.

In another embodiment, a product distribution management method includes: reading identification information for identifying a product at an initial distribution location; generating an initial distribution record by associating the identification information with initial security information about the product; and storing the first distribution record in a product management center located far from the distribution place.

In another embodiment, the product authentication method includes the steps of reading an electronic tag attached to the product and searching for tag identification information for identifying the product at an initial distribution location; generating an initial distribution record by associating the tag identification information with initial security information about the product (the initial security information includes product distribution related information); transmitting the first distribution record to a product management center installed at a location far from the first distribution place; storing the first distribution record in the product management center; reading the electronic tag attached to the product received from the first distribution location and searching for tag identification information in a second distribution location; generating product data including the tag identification information at a second distribution location; transmitting the product data from a second distribution location to the product management center; retrieving at least a portion of the initial distribution record from the product management center using the product data; evaluating the authenticity of the product using the retrieved part of the first distribution record; and storing the evaluation result as a product management center.

According to the present invention, by using the product status management data managed by the product status management database, a time-consider distribution route is investigated, so that it is possible to efficiently determine the authenticity of a product.

Further, product status management data can be accumulated in the product status management database, and collection/management of product history information can be easily performed.

An embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. 1 to 7 . These examples are presented for the purpose of explanation, and are not intended to limit the present invention.

1A shows the configuration of a product distribution management system 50 according to an embodiment of the present invention. The system 50 includes a tag management center 150 , a manufacturer 100 , an agency / wholesaler 110 , a retailer 120 , a product management center 130 , a certification evaluation office 140 , and a consumer ( 160).

The manufacturer 100 manufactures the product 180 and ships it to the agent/wholesaler 110 . The agent/wholesaler 110 ships the received product 180 to the retailer 120 . Retailer 120 sells this product 180 to consumer 160 . The tag management center 150 makes a tag 170 , for example, an electronic tag and provides it to the manufacturer 100 . The product distribution management center 130, when the product is delivered from one distribution place to another distribution place, for example, the manufacturer 100, the agent/wholesaler 110, the retailer 120, and the consumer 160 (180) to store and manage security information. The product certification evaluation center 140 allows a person, for example, a consumer, to confirm that the product 180 is genuine. The tag 170 is an electronic device including a non-volatile memory for storing identification information. In this embodiment, the information stored in the tag 170 is unique identification information associated with a given product for identifying and authenticating the product. In another embodiment, the tag 170 is a non-electronic device, such as a barcode.

As used herein, 'manufacturer' refers to an individual or legal entity that manufactures, has ownership of, or includes both. Accordingly, a manufacturer may or may not be a trademark owner associated with a product that may or may not actually manufacture the product. The goods referred to in this embodiment are branded consumer goods with considerable credibility, such as expensive handbags or clothing. However, the present invention may be used for other types of commodities, as will be appreciated by those skilled in the art.

In FIG. 1A, each block is associated with a specific function, but blocks may be combined or divided with each other, for example, the tag management center 150 and the product status management center 130 may be the same center, or more than one There may be an agent/wholesaler 110 .

The tag management center 150 provides the tag 170 including tag identification information ('tag ID') or product identification information to the manufacturer 100 . The tag 170 includes a memory device 62 and an antenna or transmitter 64 connected to the memory device for transmitting data stored in the memory device to an external receiver or tag reader (FIG. 1b). . In one embodiment, the antenna 64 is wire bonded to the memory device. In another embodiment, the antenna and memory device are integrated on the same substrate and manufactured using the same manufacturing process. The memory device is a non-volatile memory, such as ROM or EEPROM, configured in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention to read data from, but not write data to. The memory device has an area of 0.16 mm 2 (that is, a width and a length of 0.4 mm each) and is configured to store 128 bits of data in this embodiment. The information or data 66 stored in the memory device 52 includes a header field 68 , an identifier field 70 , and an application data field 72 . This device is described in detail in US Application Publication No. 09/801,748, filed March 9, 2001, assigned to the assignee of this application, which is incorporated herein by reference.

In one embodiment, the tag ID is stored in the application data field 72 . The tag management center 150 may write in a part of the application data field, and the manufacturer 100 and the agent 110 may write in the remaining part of this field. Alternatively, the tag management center 150 may write to all bit positions based on the specifications determined by the manufacturer 100 and the agent 110 .

2 is a flowchart illustrating steps involved in shipping a product to the agency 110 by the manufacturer. In step 330 , the manufacturer 100 attaches the tag 170 received from the tag management center 150 to the product. In one embodiment, the tag is located in a location that is normally invisible, such as between the exterior and interior material of the wallet. The tag ID is read using the tag reader 101 . The ID information is transmitted over the air to reader 101 by antenna 64 of tag 170 . The management device 102 stores the tag ID in the tagging management database 103 . The management device 102 need not be a dedicated device, but may be a general-purpose personal computer. The information stored in the database 103 is a record including a tag ID field for the read identification information, a timestamp field for attachment date and time, and a product model number field for the model number of the product associated with the tag 170 . Similar records are created for other goods shipped by the manufacturer.

In step 340, when the product is being shipped, the tag of the product is read using the reader 101 to retrieve the tag ID. The management device 102 receives the tag ID and associates it with product distribution information or first security information regarding a shipping destination, a shipping origin, a shipping date, and the like, which can be used for authenticity verification in the distribution process. The security information is stored in the tagging management database 103 . This record is also transmitted to the management device 131 of the product distribution management center 130 through the network 190 (step 350). The management device 131 sequentially stores this record in the product distribution management database 132 .

3 shows a table 400 including a plurality of records 402 stored in the tagging management database 103 . This record 402 is the distribution record created in steps 330 and 340 above. A record is created for each tag ID, where the tag ID 401 includes a plurality of fields or attributes, such as a product model number 420, a tagging date and time 430, a shipping destination 440, and a shipping date and time 450. is associated with The table 410 stored in the database 103 is used as backup data for the product state management database 132 in the distribution management center 130 .

Referring again to FIG. 1A , an operation related to the agency/wholesaler 110 will be described. At the agency/wholesaler 110 , the tag of the product 180 received from the manufacturer 100 is read using the tag reader 111 . The tag ID read by the reader 111 is transmitted to the management device 112 . The management device 112 transmits this tag ID to the management device 131 of the management center 130 through the network 190 . At this time, the management device 112 performs an authentication evaluation. This certification evaluation will be described later. The management device 112 transmits the evaluation result to the management device 131 of the management center 130 . In another embodiment, this evaluation is performed in the product management center (130).

When the product 180 is shipped, the reader 111 reads the tag ID from the tag 170 . The tag ID is associated with second security or distribution information, such as a shipment date and a shipment destination. This security information is stored in the management database 113 . In one embodiment, the reader generates security information. In another embodiment, the management device generates the security information. The management device 112 transmits this security or distribution information to the management device 131 of the product state management center 130 to store it in the database 132 .

Operations performed at retailer 120 are similar to those performed at wholesaler/distributor 110 . The above description shows that the agency/wholesaler 110, the tag reader 111, the management device 112, and the management database 113 are the retailer 120, the tag reader 121, the management device 122, respectively. And when replaced with the management database 123 can be applied immediately. Therefore, a description of these operations will be omitted. However, one difference is that since merchandise 180 is sold to consumer 160 rather than shipped to retailer 120, there is generally no information corresponding to the shipping destination information used at the agency/wholesaler location. .

4 shows a table 600 including a plurality of distribution records 602 stored in the product distribution management database 132 . A record is provided for each tag ID. This record includes a tag ID field 601 , a manufacturer field 610 , an agent/wholesaler field 620 , a retailer field 630 , and a certifying agency field 640 . The manufacturer field 610 includes a plurality of subfields, for example, a manufacturer ID 611 , a product model number 612 , an attachment date and time 613 , a shipment destination ID 614 , and a shipment date and time 615 . The agency/wholesaler 620 includes a plurality of subfields, for example, the agency/wholesaler ID 621, the certification evaluation date and time 622, the certification evaluation result 623, the shipment destination ID 624, and the shipment date and time 625. ) is included. The retailer 630 includes a plurality of subfields, for example, a retailer ID 631 , an authentication evaluation date and time 632 , an authentication evaluation result 633 , and a sale date and time 634 . The product certification evaluation office 640 includes a plurality of subfields, for example, a product certification evaluation agency ID 641 , a certification evaluation date and time 642 , and a certification evaluation result 643 .

One or more fields or subfields may be blank depending on the distribution process step or route for the product. For example, if a product is sent directly from a manufacturer to a retailer, then the agent/wholesaler field 620 and its subfields 621-625 will be empty.

In one embodiment, access to the product distribution management center 130 related to data entry is restricted for the delegator or the delegating party to increase the reliability of the data stored in the management database (132). In another embodiment, individuals may be granted limited data entry rights to write to records relating to certain types of merchandise, such as brand A shoes rather than brand B shoes. In another embodiment, individuals are authorized to write only records pertaining to selected tag IDs.

Hereinafter, with reference to FIG. 5 , the certification evaluation process 500 performed by the agency/wholesaler 110 and/or the retailer 120 will be described. The tag 170 attached to the product 180 is read using the tag reader 111 or 121 to obtain a tag ID (step 502). An evaluation is made as to whether the tag ID was successfully retrieved (step 510). Otherwise, process 500 indicates that an appraiser is needed to evaluate the product for authentication (step 590). If the reading step is successful, the read tag ID and the read location ID (ie, the current location) are transmitted to the product distribution management center 130 . The place ID may be a subfield 621 or 631 in FIG. 4 .

Thereafter, the process waits for a response from the product distribution management center 130 (step 530). If a response is received, it is checked whether it indicates 'ID not registered' (step 540). If so, process 500 jumps to step 590 . Otherwise, review the response to see if it contains security information generated by the previous site. If not, the process returns to step 530. As used herein, 'security information' is any information including product distribution information stored in system 50 that can be used to authenticate products independently or in combination with other information. The security information may be the entire record or a specific field within the record.

As used herein, 'place of transfer' refers to the point or place of notice of merchandise from which merchandise is received or supplied. For example, if a product is received at the agent/wholesaler 110 , the former location is the manufacturer 100 . In one embodiment, the security information generated by the former location is information transmitted by the manufacturer 100 to the management center 130 , such as a manufacturer ID 611 , an agent/wholesaler ID 621 , and a product model number. (612). On the other hand, if the recipient of the product is the retailer 120 , the security information includes an agent/wholesaler ID 621 and a retailer ID 631 or shipment destination information. The shipping destination is reviewed to see if the shipping destination corresponds to the retailer that received the goods (step 560). For example, suppose that the tag ID is 1000001 in FIG. 1 and the current location is retailer 'R335'. If the shipping destination value of the field 624 input by the agent is 'R335', the initial authentication step is passed and the process 500 proceeds to step 570. If not, the process moves to step 590 to request assistance from the appraiser.

Next, it is evaluated to see whether the difference between the current time and the previous location shipping time (approximately shipping time) is appropriate (step 570). In general, the shipping route, shipping means, etc. do not vary greatly between the manufacturer 100 and the agent/wholesaler 110 and between the agent/wholesaler 1 10 and the retailer 120 . The delivery period also does not change significantly. Thus, if shipments typically take two days, then a half-day or week-long shipment time can be considered irregular. When there is a change in the shipping means, for example, when there is a change from air delivery to sea transport, the management device 102 , 112 , 122 may store standard shipping times for both means. In this case, the management center 130 receives information from a shipping location indicating which shipping means is used and stores this information in the management database 132 . In one embodiment, the shipping location may enter the estimated arrival time into the management database 132, so that this information may be used by the receiving location for authentication purposes. In this case, the standard shipping time corresponding to the shipping means may be added to the shipping time to determine the estimated arrival time. The estimated arrival time may also be calculated by the management device 131 to relieve the burden on the management device 122 of the retailer 120 .

If the evaluation in step 570 determines that the arrival time is appropriate, the authentication evaluation date and time and the 'genuine' evaluation result are transmitted in combination with the tag ID (step 580). This is also output to a display device (not shown in the figure) connected to the management device. In some cases, an appraiser may make a simple assessment.

On the other hand, if the determination in step 570 is negative, the process moves to step 590 . In step 590, the appraiser makes a detailed evaluation of the product because it is highly likely that the product is a forgery. The evaluation result is transmitted to the product management center 130 (step 595). For example, field 633 shows one negative evaluation result. This evaluation data may be collected and analyzed to determine which types of goods are most frequently counterfeited or where counterfeiting problems occur most.

By examining the shipping time and distribution route of products as described above, the need for detailed evaluation of each product is eliminated and certification evaluation can be performed more efficiently. In addition to the above features, this process 500 includes a step of alerting an appraiser or an appropriate delegator when any place transmits the shipping information or received information about a specific tag ID to the distribution management center 130 more than once. do Ideally, each product should be received/shipped or sold/purchased once by a particular distribution site. Accordingly, table 600 includes an additional field (not shown) that tracks the number of times a particular tag ID has been processed by a particular distribution location in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention.

6 and 7 show an authentication evaluation process 800 performed in the product state management center 130 according to an embodiment of the present invention.

The management device 131 receives the tag ID transmitted from the current distribution location, for example, the management device of the wholesaler 110 or the retailer 120 (step 802). The product distribution management database 132 is checked to see if it contains a record including the tag ID (step 810). If found, the shipping place ID, the destination ID, and the shipping date and time associated with the tag ID for the latest shipping date and time are read from the product management database 132 (step 820). This data is transmitted to the current location (step 830). If the tag ID is not found, information 'tag ID not found' is transmitted to the current location (step 840).

Then, the management device 131 receives the current location ID, the tag ID, and the evaluation result from the management device of the current location, that is, security information (step 700). The management device 131 associates the received information with an appropriate distribution record of the product distribution management database (step 710).

The product distribution management center 130 will be described. The following is a description of the certification evaluation performed in the product management center 130, which is different from that performed at the distribution site, as shown in FIGS. 5 to 7 .

In one embodiment, the product distribution management center 130 searches the management database 132 to find the tag ID. If the tag ID is not found in the database 132, the management device 131 determines that there is a possibility that the product is a counterfeit product and warns the current place. In addition, when shipment information, for example, shipment date and time and shipment method are stored in the management center 130 , the management device 131 may estimate the arrival time and determine whether the product has been received within the allowable arrival time. If the goods are received too early or too late, a warning flag is sent to the current location.

Next, the product certification evaluation center 140 will be described. In one embodiment, the product certification evaluation center 140 performs the certification evaluation regardless of the above-described typical distribution channel. In some cases, distribution sites may not be provided with independent access to management devices and databases. Also, the consumer 160 may not normally have independent access to such a management device and database. The evaluation site 140 allows these users to rate products without independent access to the management device and database.

In one embodiment, the plurality of evaluation sites 140 are distributed at various designated locations for convenient access by the user. A user who wants to authenticate the authenticity of the product 1 80 takes the product to the evaluation place 140 . The tag ID of the product 180 is read and transmitted to the product distribution management center 130 using the management device 142 . In response, the management center 130 transmits the security information in the database 132 associated with the tag ID to the evaluation site 140 . The tag ID and information related to the tag issued to the manufacturer are also obtained from the tag management database 151 of the tag management center 150 when necessary. For example, information stored in database 151 may be used to determine if a manufacturer is using a valid tag or copy. The evaluation site 140 evaluates the authenticity of the product using the information received from the management center 130 and any other place. Alternatively, the evaluation site 1 40 may simply use the evaluation decisions made by the distribution site, such as fields 623 , 633 , 643 .

In one embodiment, the evaluation site 140 is provided within a department store or retailer so that consumers can research the authenticity of a product prior to purchase. Target advertisements of related products may be displayed together with the evaluation results. For example, if a certain brand C shirt is evaluated for authenticity, an advertisement for another brand C product may be displayed along with the evaluation result. This is possible because each tag ID uniquely identifies the product, including its brand, model, and type.

Referring back to this embodiment, the shipping time from the manufacturer 100 to the agent/wholesaler 110 is checked to see if it is within the acceptable shipping time, as described above with respect to FIGS. 5-7. The authentication confirmation location 140 does not generally use the current time in determining the allowable shipping time, because the additional time required for the user to bring the product from the time the product was initially received to the evaluation location 140 . because you need this Instead of the current time, the date and time the user brings the product may be used. Alternatively, the user may be asked to enter the date and time the product was first received.

As described herein, the shipping time need not be the exact time the product was shipped. An approximate time may be used instead. Since this time variation is relatively small compared to the shipping time, it may be the time at which shipping data is input to the management device.

According to this embodiment, the security information is stored in a central location instead of being stored in the electronic tag attached to the product. Thus, this information can be stored and managed using the tag ID without having to worry about the capacity or format of the tag.

In this embodiment, the product distribution management center is accessible by various interested parties to evaluate the authenticity of the product. As the evaluation process uses product distribution channels and shipping times as well as other security measures, it provides an additional level of security inspection.

In addition, product state management data may be stored in a product management database, and product history information may be easily collected and managed.

The above description is intended to describe specific embodiments of the present invention, not to limit the present invention. Various modifications and variations are possible within the scope of the present invention. For example, retailer 120 may include the identity of the consumer or purchaser 160 who purchased product 180 so that subsequent purchasers may verify the authenticity of the product. This method can also be used to verify the authenticity of artifacts, sports memorabilia, etc. Accordingly, the invention is defined by the appended claims.

Claims (4)

In the product distribution management system,

a management device for receiving product security data on a product from a distribution location, the data including security information and product identification information used for authenticating the product; and

A product management center including a product management database that stores data received from distribution locations for use in product certification processes

Product distribution management system comprising a.
According to claim 1,

The distribution location is a product distribution management system, characterized in that a manufacturer, a wholesaler, a retailer, or a consumer.
According to claim 1,

The product identification information is a product distribution management system, characterized in that it is retrieved by reading a tag attached to the product.
4. The method of claim 3,

The product distribution management system, characterized in that the tag is an electronic device having a non-volatile memory and an antenna.