JPH10120121A - Inventory control system and inventory control method - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an inventory control system and inventory control method whereby the inventory control of the warehouses dotted over the country is standardized and controlled centrally so as to deliver merchandise rapidly and accurately according to the receipt of order. SOLUTION: An order receipt terminal station 2 which generates order receipt data showing the content of order of customers and stores a terminal station inventory master for controlling the stock of merchandise, a central information processing station 3 which generates delivery instruction data and stores a processing station stock master based on the order receipt data prepared by the order receipt terminal station 2, and multiple physical distribution base stations 4 which perform data processing based on the delivery instruction data and store the base station stock master to which stock in the base station is registered are connected to each other through a communication network 5 in order to form an inventory control system 1.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an inventory management system and an inventory management method in which distribution management systems provided in a plurality of warehouses are connected by a communication network.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Generally, in addition to logistics specialists, among merchandise manufacturers and distributors, those with a large number or quantity of merchandise have a dedicated warehouse, and outsourced to other companies in the warehouse. The merchandise or in-house merchandise is managed as inventory, and merchandise is received and shipped. In recent years, there are many cases where a company having such a warehouse introduces a unique logistics management system for each warehouse, and management of a shipping instruction from a customer, a change in stock, and the like are performed using a computer system.

[0003]

However, since inventory management by such a system is performed by a unique system for each warehouse unit, when warehouses are scattered all over the country, the warehouses are linked to each other. Was difficult to secure. For this reason, because the same merchandise is managed by the same trader and the inventory is distributed to multiple warehouses, there are warehouses that are out of stock and warehouses that do not, so that customers can quickly and accurately place orders. In some cases, it was not possible to respond. In addition, warehouses closest to the customer's desired shipping destination may not always have the necessary inventory, and some may have to ship from distant warehouses. Was the cause. On the other hand, for manufacturers and sales companies that outsource inventory management to logistics specialists,
When the sales area becomes large, there are times when it is necessary to outsource to a plurality of companies, and there is a problem that management of own products is complicated and management costs are increased.

The inventor of the present invention has conducted intensive studies with the aim of solving the above-mentioned problems, and as a result, has been able to quickly and accurately identify and deliver a destination in accordance with the contents of an order, as well as to reduce storage costs. Invented is an inventory management system and an inventory management method that enable the user to arbitrarily select an optimum storage location from a plurality of warehouses in consideration of the above.

[0005]

As specific means for solving the above problems, the present invention provides processing means for generating shipping instruction data for issuing a shipping instruction to a shipping destination specified based on order data, A central processing unit having processing means for updating the stock bureau stock master that manages the inventory, a means for storing the processing bureau stock master, and an order data conversion processing means; and Data conversion processing means for converting received shipping instruction data; central processing means for performing processing for updating a base station inventory master that has registered inventory in the base station together with predetermined processing based on the received shipping instruction data; A plurality of distribution base stations having main storage means for storing station inventory masters, and the central information processing station and the plurality of distribution base stations are connected via a communication network; Constitute the inventory management system by connecting Te.

This inventory management system is characterized in that warehouses scattered all over the country are treated as if they are the same warehouse in the system, and the problem is solved by performing unified unified management. is there. In other words, according to this inventory management system, the order processing data brought in from the outside can be converted into a unified format by the conversion processing means at the central information processing bureau. Can be transmitted to the distribution base station. Each distribution base station can perform a shipping operation based on the received shipping instruction data and an update operation of the base station inventory master, and transmit the updated inventory master data to the central information processing station. At the central information processing office,
Since the processing station inventory master is updated upon receiving update data from a plurality of base stations, the inventory masters of both stations can be synchronized.

In addition, the inventory management system of the present invention generates central station processing means for generating order data and updating a terminal station inventory master for managing inventory, main storage means for storing the terminal station inventory master, and one or more units. An order receiving terminal station having two or more terminals, processing means for generating shipping instruction data for issuing a shipping instruction to a shipping destination specified based on the order receiving data, and processing for updating a processing station inventory master for managing inventory Processing unit, means for storing the processing station inventory master, and order data conversion processing means, and a data conversion processing means for converting shipping instruction data received from the central information processing station. Central processing means for performing a process of updating a base station inventory master that has registered inventory in the base station together with a predetermined process based on the received shipping instruction data A plurality of distribution base stations having main storage means for storing the base station inventory master, connecting the order receiving terminal station to the central information processing station via a communication network, and Furthermore, an inventory management system having a configuration in which the plurality of distribution base stations are connected via a communication network can be provided.

[0008] In the case of such an inventory management system, in addition to the order data brought in from the outside, the order receiving terminal station generates order data using a terminal, and generates shipping instruction data based on the order data. Processing for transmitting to the corresponding distribution base station can be performed. Further, after updating the processing station inventory master managed by the central information processing station, the information is transmitted to the order receiving terminal station to update the terminal station inventory master, and the inventory of the order receiving terminal station, the central information processing station and a plurality of distribution base stations is updated. The master can be synchronized.

Still further, according to the present invention, there is provided a central processing means for generating order data and updating a terminal station inventory master for managing inventory, a main storage means for storing the terminal station inventory master, and one or two units. An order receiving terminal station having the above terminals, processing means for generating shipping instruction data for issuing a shipping instruction to a shipping destination specified based on the order data, and processing for updating a processing station inventory master for managing inventory are performed. Processing means, means for storing the processing station inventory master, a central information processing station having an order data conversion processing means, and data conversion processing means for converting shipping instruction data received from the central information processing station, Central processing means for performing processing for updating a base station inventory master that has registered inventory in the base station together with predetermined processing based on the received shipping instruction data, and A plurality of distribution base stations each having a main storage unit for storing an inventory master, and updating the base station inventory master of each of the distribution base stations or the update data of the master file via the communication network to the central information processing station. Transmitting the data to the processing station inventory master, and updating the processing station inventory master using the received update data of the base station inventory master or the master file in the central information processing station. There is also a feature in the inventory management method including the step of transmitting to the order receiving terminal station. The communication network of the inventory management system or the inventory management method of the present invention includes a wired line such as a telephone line network and a wireless line using a communication satellite.

[0010]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment of an inventory management system according to the present invention will be described below in detail with reference to the drawings. As shown in FIG. 1, an inventory management system 1 according to the present invention specifies a plurality of order receiving terminal stations 2 having a function of receiving an order from a customer, a function of inquiring a product stock, and the like, and specifying contents of a product order. (For example, product code, quantity, order date, etc.) required to perform the operation (called order data)
From the central information processing station 3 which performs processing such as generating shipping instruction data including items necessary for instructing the distribution base station 4 to be the shipping destination to ship the product and managing various master files. Communication between a plurality of distribution base stations 4 that perform a process of shipping a product based on data from the central information processing station 3 and a process of managing inventory by wire or wireless using a communication satellite such as a telephone line network. It has a configuration connected by a network 5.

The order receiving terminal station 2 is installed at a plurality of places all over the country, and each of them has a configuration in which a plurality of operator terminals 7 are connected to a data processing device 6 as shown in FIG. . As shown in the figure, the data processing device 6 is configured around a central processing unit 8, and the central processing unit 8 is connected to a main storage unit 9 for storing a base station inventory master and the like and a communication line network 5. Communication control means 10 for controlling data transfer between them is connected. The operator terminal 7 is a terminal that inputs data necessary for generating order data to the data processing device 6, refers to a master file such as a terminal station inventory master, and corrects input data. is there.

Next, the configuration of the central information processing station 3 will be described. As shown in FIG. 3, the central information processing station 3 is configured around a central processing unit 11, and a communication control unit 12 that controls transmission and reception of data to and from the communication line network 5 to the central processing unit 11. It has a configuration in which a data conversion processing device 13, a main storage device 14, a terminal 15, and a printing device 16 are connected. As will be described later, the central processing unit 11 specifies a shipping destination based on the order data, generates shipping instruction data, updates the processing station stock master, performs processing of stock movement, and the like. Each of the processing means indicated by reference numeral 20 is provided. Here, reference numeral 17 denotes shipping instruction data processing means for specifying a shipping destination based on the order data and generating shipping instruction data addressed to each distribution base station 4;
Denotes a master update processing means for updating a master file; 19, a received data processing means for processing received data from each distribution base station 4; and 20, a processing station stock master is updated by changing a storage base. The storage base change processing means for performing the processing is shown.

As shown in FIG. 4, the shipping instruction data processing means 17 includes an alignment processing unit 21 for performing a process of aligning transaction data (TR data) of order contents stored in an order TR data storage unit, which will be described later. For the sorted data, a customer code determination unit 22 that determines the presence or absence of a customer code, a customer master search processing unit 23 that performs a customer master search process, and a delivery area master search that performs a delivery area master search described later A processing unit 24, which further performs a search process for a stock bureau stock master, a stock master search processing unit 25, a stock determining unit 26 for determining whether there is stock, and a process for generating and transmitting shipping instruction data. It has a transmission processing unit 27 and an order stock movement processing unit 28 that performs order / stock processing.

As shown in FIG. 5, the master update processing means 18 comprises processing units indicated by reference numerals 29 to 31. Here, reference numeral 29 denotes an alignment processing unit that performs processing for aligning update data of the base station inventory master provided in each distribution base station 4, and reference numeral 30 denotes processing that updates the processing station inventory master provided in the central information processing station 3. Reference numeral 31 denotes a master update processing unit for updating a master file other than the processing station inventory master.

The received data processing means 19 is provided for the distribution base station 4
It has a reception data processing unit 32 that performs a predetermined item check on the reception data from.

The storage site change processing means 20 comprises a first processing unit 33 and a second processing unit 34 as shown in FIG. The first processing unit 33 includes a read processing unit 35 that performs a process of reading a product master, a base movement flag determination unit 36 that determines whether a base movement flag is present, and a conditional expression master search that performs a process of searching for a conditional expression master. Processing unit 37
And a condition determination unit 38 and a site transfer file generation unit 39. The second processing unit 34 includes a base movement data display processing unit 40 that performs a process of displaying the base movement data on the screen of the terminal 15, a selection instruction input processing unit 41 that inputs a selection / instruction from the terminal 15, a storage space And a stock transfer processing unit 43 for performing stock transfer processing and updating the processing station stock master.

Next, the data conversion processing device 13 serves as a conversion processing means for performing a process of converting the received TR data received from outside the central information processing station 3 into a predetermined format. It is configured to have a conversion processing function for data stored in an external storage medium such as a disk and to be taken in from outside the central information processing station 3 without passing through the order receiving terminal station 2. I have.

The main storage unit 14 serves as storage means for storing the order TR data, shipping instruction data, processing station stock master, and the like, and is composed of storage units 44 to 50 shown in FIG. Here, reference numeral 44 denotes an order TR data storage unit for storing order TR data, 45 a shipping instruction data storage unit for storing shipping instruction data, and 46 an inventory update data storage unit for storing update data of the base station inventory master. ing. Reference numeral 47 denotes an inventory master storage unit that stores a processing station inventory master provided in the central information processing station 3, 48 denotes a customer master storage unit that stores a customer master, 49 denotes a delivery area master storage unit that stores a delivery area master,
Reference numeral 50 denotes a processing procedure storage unit that stores a program that defines a processing procedure performed by the central processing unit 11.

Next, the configuration of the distribution base station 4 will be described. The distribution base station 4 manages the products of the customer who uses the inventory management system 1, and performs operations such as shipping the products based on the shipping instruction data received from the central information processing station 3. The distribution base stations 4 are scattered at a plurality of places all over the country, each has its own warehouse, and has its own internal configuration because its own management system is introduced. As shown in (1), a common feature is that a data processing device 52 including a data conversion processing means 51 is provided.
Here, the data conversion processing means 51 is the central information processing station 3
Conversion processing for taking in data such as shipping instruction data transmitted from the base station into its own management system in each distribution base station 4, and processing the data generated by the system in each base station 4 in the central information processing station 3 The processing for converting the data into the common layout data to be performed is performed.

The data processing device 52 stores, in addition to the data conversion processing means 51, a central processing means 53 for performing predetermined processing based on the shipping instruction data after the conversion processing, and predetermined transaction data and master file data. And a main storage unit 54. As shown in FIG. 8, the central processing unit 53 updates the picking data generation processing unit 53a, the picking data instructing unit 53b, the shipping inspection processing unit 53c, the delivery processing unit 53d, and the base station stock master that has registered the stock in the base station. It has a processing unit 53e. The distribution base station 4 shown in FIG.
Is a data processing device 52 including data conversion processing means 51
In addition, an input processing device 55 having a display and a printing device 56 are provided, but the internal configuration of the distribution base station 4 is not limited to this, and various configurations can be considered.

Next, the processing flow of the inventory management system 1 having the above configuration will be specifically described. Since various cases can be considered for the specific number of installation of the order receiving terminal station 2 and the distribution base station 4, in the following, the order receiving terminal station 2 is divided into two places, 2A and 2B, as shown in FIG. To 4A, 4
Description will be made by taking the case of three places B and 4C as an example. Then, the order receiving terminal stations 2A and 2B respectively generate order receiving TR data by order receiving processing for receiving an order for a product, and the central information processing station 3 processes the order receiving TR data to generate shipping instruction data. The shipping instruction data is transmitted from the physical distribution base stations 4A, 4B, and 4C to the corresponding base station via the communication network 5, and then the physical distribution base stations 4A, 4B, and 4C perform predetermined shipping instruction processing. A series of processing flows until the central information processing station 3 performs processing such as updating the processing station stock master based on the data generated by performing the processing described above will be described.

First, the processing flow from the generation of the order TR data to the execution of the shipping instruction processing will be described. In the inventory management system 1 described below, the order receiving TR data includes the customer data a1 transmitted via the order receiving terminal station 2A or 2B and the floppy disk A or the like independently without passing through the order receiving terminal station 2. Two types of data are to be processed: customer data a2 which records and carries in order TR data in an external storage medium. In this case, all the customers use the inventory management system 1 according to the present invention to manage the inventory of consigned products of the company or other companies, and through the central information processing station 3, the distribution base stations 4A, 4B, A product maker or a seller who instructs 4C to ship stocked items, and specifically, a mail order company that does not have a store and sells mail order by catalog. In other words, these customers are the distribution base stations 4A and 4 in the inventory management system 1.
It means that the warehouses provided in B and 4C are external contractors who use the warehouses as if they were their own warehouses. In the inventory management system 1, the system may be configured such that the processing is limited to the TR data a2 without providing the order receiving terminal stations 2A and 2B.

The order receiving TR data a1 is generated by the following processing in the order receiving terminal station 2A or 2B. First,
Either of the order receiving terminal stations 2A and 2B executes an order receiving process d for receiving an order from a customer by telephone c or a facsimile (not shown). This order receiving process d is performed while each operator operates the operator terminal 7 in each of the order receiving terminal stations 2A and 2B. At this time, the operator operates the terminal 7 while interacting with the customer by telephone or watching the contents of the document sent by facsimile, and performs an order receiving process for receiving an order. Then, the data processing device 6 is activated in conjunction with the operation of the terminal 7, whereby the central processing unit 8 performs a process of searching for the terminal station inventory master stored in the main storage unit 9, and a product desired by the customer Is the distribution base station 4A,
A process is performed to check whether the stock is stored in any of 4B and 4C. In this case, although described in detail later, the terminal station inventory masters of the order receiving terminal stations 2A and 2B are synchronized with the contents of the processing station inventory master stored in the inventory master storage unit 47 of the central information processing station 3. Moreover, the contents of the processing station inventory master include a plurality of distribution base stations 4A, 4B,
Since the contents are the same as those obtained by centrally managing the inventory of 4C, the desired product is stored in a plurality of distribution base stations 4A, 4B, 4C.
Even if the stock is distributed, the presence or absence of the stock can be checked accurately and quickly. Then, when the existence of the stock can be confirmed, the central processing means 8 performs a process of generating detailed data indicating the details of the order received. Next, the central processing means 8 processes the detailed data at regular intervals to obtain order TR data a1, and transmits the order TR data a1 to the central information processing station 3 via the communication control means 10 and the communication network 5. e).

Subsequently, the central information processing station 3 takes in the above-mentioned received order TR data a1 via the communication network 5 and also receives externally received order TR data a2. This received TR data a1 is the communication control device 1
2, the order conversion TR data a2 is sent to the data conversion processing unit 13 and the format conversion is performed. The data is written to the data storage unit 44. Thus, the order TR data f is generated.

The subsequent processing in the central information processing station 3 is executed according to the processing flow shown in FIG. First,
The sorting processing unit 21 reads the TR data f stored in the received order TR data storage unit 44, and performs sorting (SORT) using predetermined items as key items. In this sorting process, the sequence of each record may not be complete due to the relationship between the plurality of shipping instruction data a1 and a2, and this is suitable for the processing in the search processing unit 23 and the search processing unit 24 to be described later. Are arranged in a sequence.

On the other hand, the order T obtained by the above processing
If the customer is a new customer, the data of the customer is not registered in the customer master described later, so the customer code is not input when generating the order TR data a1 and a2. It is possible that some records have no code. For this reason, the central information processing station 3 is configured such that the customer code determination unit 22 performs the processing following the processing of the alignment processing unit 21. The customer code determination unit 22 determines whether or not a customer code is input in each record of the received order TR data f on a record-by-record basis, and determines whether the customer code is input (for example, the customer code is not a space). The processing procedure stored in the processing procedure storage unit 50 is defined so as to branch the subsequent processing. The processing procedure is defined so that the search processing unit 23 of the customer master is executed when there is an input, and the search processing unit 24 of the delivery area master is executed when there is no input.

The search processing section 23 of the customer master receives the order T
The customer master storage unit 48 is accessed using the customer code in the R data f as a key item, the stored customer master is read, and the distribution base stations 4A, 4B, and 4C registered on the corresponding record are read. The processing for specifying the distribution base station in charge of the delivery of the product is performed. By executing the processing of the search processing unit 23, the order TR
For each record of the data f, the distribution base station to which the product is to be shipped is specified from among 4A, 4B, and 4C, and the station code of the base station specified in this process is transmitted to the shipping instruction transmission described later. This is a key item when performing the transmission process in the processing unit 27.

Here, the items of the customer master will be described. The customer master manages customer information. As shown in FIG. 11 (a), the customer master, the customer code, the name, the address, the station code of the distribution base station responsible for the delivery, and the like can be considered as main items. . As shown in the figure, the customer master is characterized in that the record layout is set so that a plurality of distribution base station codes can be registered for one customer. In general, customers who use the inventory management system 1 have different business areas and different products (for example, order TR data a1).
In this case, the seller of the home electric appliance in the Kanto area and the seller of a2 are the daily goods seller in the Kansai area. In order to flexibly cope with such a situation, it is preferable that the distribution base station that handles the delivery of the product can be arbitrarily set for each trader, including the number of registrations. For this reason, the inventory management system 1 allows a plurality of distribution base station codes to be registered for one trader. Therefore, the customer master can arbitrarily select a base station that is responsible for the product delivery of the customer from a plurality of distribution base stations 4 scattered all over the country and register the base station in the customer master. It is possible to centrally manage the customer units for the stations 4A, 4B, and 4C (see FIG. 1).
In the case of No. 1, the distribution base stations 4A and 4B are registered for the customer "0001", and only the distribution base station 4C is registered for the customer "0077".

On the other hand, if the customer code has not been entered, the distribution base station responsible for the delivery of the goods cannot be specified in the manner described above, so that the search processing unit 24 of the delivery area master is activated. ing. This search processing unit 2
4 accesses the delivery area master storage unit 49 to read the stored delivery area master, and based on the delivery destination address in the received order TR data f, identifies the closest distribution base station to be the shipping destination of the product to 4A, 4B and 4C are executed.

Here, the delivery area master will be described. As shown in FIG. 11B, the delivery area master manages the delivery area of each distribution base station by registering the delivery area assigned to each distribution base station 4A, 4B, 4C. It is. Therefore, by reading the delivery area master, even if it is not possible to specify the distribution base station responsible for the delivery of the product because the customer code is not registered, the delivery area including the address of the customer to be delivered is included. And the delivery destination of the product can be specified from the distribution base stations 4A, 4B, and 4C.

In this way, in the inventory management system 1, regardless of whether or not a customer code is input, the shipping instruction data is created so that the goods are shipped from the closest destination by efficiently selecting the shipping destination of the goods. This contributes to a reduction in distribution costs.

Following the above processing, the stock master search processing section 25 performs the processing (FIG. 10). The inventory master search processing unit 25 determines whether the product included in the order received TR data f, that is, the product desired to be shipped ordered by the customer is the distribution base station 4A,
The processing for checking whether or not the stock is stored in 4B, 4C is performed by accessing the processing station stock master stored in the stock master storage unit 47 using the product code as a key item for each record unit of the TR data f. It is done by doing. If there is a stock (the number of stocks is equal to or more than the number of purchases), the subsequent processing is performed by the shipping instruction data transmission processing unit 27, and if not, the processing of the order / stock movement processing unit 28 is performed. Thus, the processing procedure is defined.

Here, items of the processing station stock master provided in the central information processing station 3 will be described. The processing station inventory master stores information for centrally managing the inventory in each of the distribution base stations 4A, 4B, and 4C, and includes, for example, a product code, shipping results for the past several months, The main items are the appropriate stock amount and the storage fee of the primary storage location and the secondary storage location (FIG. 12). In particular, the processing station stock master is characterized in that the proper stock amount can be managed for each physical distribution base station 4A, 4B, 4C. With such a configuration, it is possible to manage the appropriate stock amount for each station code of the distribution base stations 4A, 4B, and 4C. Therefore, even if the same product is distributed and stored in the distribution base stations 4A, 4B, and 4C, by reading the record of the processing station inventory master using the product code as a key item, all the distribution base stations are read. The product inventory for 4A, 4B, and 4C can be grasped at a time. Therefore,
Even if actual products are stored in distribution base stations 4A, 4B, and 4C in an appropriate amount in a distributed manner, the inventory is systematically managed by the inventory management system 1 without distinguishing each base station, and as if one product It can be managed with the same accuracy as stored in the base station.

In order to centrally manage the inventory of each of the base stations 4A, 4B and 4C by such a processing station inventory master, the contents of the processing station inventory master and the actual contents of the base station inventory master of each base station are determined. It needs to be synchronized with the contents. For this reason, the central information processing station 3 performs a master update process described later, fetches update data of each base station inventory master in the distribution base stations 4A, 4B, and 4C and updates the processing station inventory master. I have. in this way,
Since the processing station inventory master is synchronized with the inventory master of each base station, the inventory master search processing unit 2
If it is found out that the inventory has run out when the search process is performed in step 5, it means that the distribution base stations 4A, 4B, and 4C have actually run out of stock. Although not shown, the updated latest processing station inventory master is periodically transmitted to the order receiving terminal stations 2A and 2B via the communication control device 12 and the communication network 5. Then, in response to this, the central processing means 8 of each of the terminal stations 2A, 2B updates the base station inventory master. Thus, the latest contents of the processing station inventory master are reflected in the terminal station inventory masters in the order receiving terminal stations 2A and 2B, so that the inventory masters of both stations can be synchronized.

On the other hand, when it is determined that there is stock as a result of the processing of the search processing unit 25 shown in FIG. 10, the shipping instruction data transmission processing unit 27 performs the processing on the received order TR data f. By this processing, the shipping instruction data g in a transmission format addressed to the distribution base stations 4A, 4B, and 4C is generated from the order receiving TR data f. The data g is temporarily stored in the shipping instruction data storage unit 45. Subsequently, as shown in FIG. 9, a shipping instruction process h for transmitting the shipping instruction data g to the corresponding distribution base station 4A (4B, 4C).
(For each distribution base station 4A, 4B, 4C, h1, h2, h
3) is performed. When this processing is performed, the processing of the central information processing station 3 is completed, and subsequently, the distribution base station 4
Each processing in A, 4B, and 4C is performed.

The distribution base stations 4A, 4B, 4C
Executes the following processing for each base station after receiving the shipping instruction data g via the communication network 5. Here, the distribution base station 4A will be described as an example. First, FIG.
As shown in (2), the received data g is sent to the data conversion processing means 51, and a process of converting the data g into data of a predetermined format corresponding to the management system in the base station 4A is performed. The specific processing of the data conversion processing means 51 can be different or the same, provided that the systems provided in the distribution base stations 4A, 4B, and 4C are different from each other. Are generated that are different or identical to each other.

Next, the converted data is stored in the central processing unit 5.
It is sent to 3. Then, first, the picking data generation processing unit 53a is activated to generate the picking data. By performing this process, it is possible to generate data necessary for picking, that is, for sorting and extracting products. Next, the picking instruction unit 53b is activated, outputs a picking list from the picking data, and performs work according to the list. Also,
The shipping inspection processing unit 53c is activated, generates data for shipping inspection processing based on the picking data, and performs shipping inspection processing for each order. And the delivery processing unit 53
d is activated, and a delivery list is output in the case of in-house delivery, and a slip for home delivery is output in the case of using an external company. Based on the data obtained by these processes, the operation of shipping the merchandise from the distribution base stations 4A, 4B, and 4C is performed, and the merchandise is delivered to the customer.

Next, following the shipping operation at the distribution base stations 4A, 4B, and 4C, a process of transmitting data from each distribution base station to the central information processing station 3, and the central information processing station 3 converts the received data into data. A description will be given of a processing flow until a master file update process is performed based on the logistics base stations 4A and 4B.
B and 4C will be described by taking 4A as an example). In the distribution base station 4A, the inventory master update processing unit 53e is activated to update the base station inventory master in parallel with the above-described commodity shipping operation. The stock master update processing unit 53e stores in the main storage unit 54 the shipping result data indicating the results of the products shipped from the warehouse in the base station and the receiving results data indicating the results of the products received in the warehouse. A process for updating the stored base station inventory master is performed. Base station inventory master is base station 4
Since it corresponds one-to-one with the inventory of A, the inventory in the base station 4A can be accurately grasped by referring to this. After performing the process of updating the base station inventory master, the updated data is transmitted from the base station 4A periodically (for example, daily or hourly).
1 (similarly, i2 and i3 from the base stations 4B and 4C, respectively) and are sent to the central information processing station 3 via the communication network 5.

In the central information processing station 3, the base station 4A
When the update data j is received from the communication controller 12, the update data j is sent to the reception data processing unit 19 via the communication control device 12. When the reception data processing unit 19 is activated, a predetermined item check is performed on the update data j received by the reception data processing unit 32 according to the processing flow shown in FIG. Subsequently, the alignment processing unit 29 of the master update processing unit 18 is activated, and after sorting in a predetermined order, the sorted data k is stored in the inventory update data storage unit 46.
Is performed. Then, the stock master update processing unit 30 is activated. This inventory master update processing unit 30 stores the inventory update data k stored in the inventory update data storage unit 46, that is, the distribution base stations 4A, 4B, and 4C.
The processing of updating the processing station inventory master stored in the inventory master storage unit 47 is performed by the update data of the base station inventory master in the above. By performing this updating process, each distribution base station 4A, 4B, 4
The contents of the base station inventory master of C can be reflected. This means that inventory management in distribution base stations scattered all over the country is centralized by the processing station inventory master,
This means that the contents of the processing station inventory master can be accurately synchronized with the inventory of each distribution base station at all times.

In addition to the order receiving and shipping instruction processing described above, the inventory management system 1 executes a process for selecting an optimal storage location in consideration of storage costs and moving the inventory within each base station as appropriate. Is provided. Therefore, the processing contents for changing the stock storage base will be described below, taking the contents of the screens shown in FIGS. 14 and 15 as an example.

FIG. 14 shows an example of items displayed on the display screen of the terminal 15 in the central information processing station 3 when the storage base change processing means 20 provided in the central information processing station 3 is activated. It is shown. As shown in the figure, by activating the storage base change processing means 20, the name of the physical distribution base station 4A before the movement, the name of the physical distribution base station 4C after the movement, and the details such as the product code and the quantity of the product as the candidate for the movement are displayed. Is displayed. This screen is displayed through the following processing. First, the merchandise master reading processing unit 35 of the first processing unit 33 is activated, and a process of reading merchandise master records stored in a not-shown merchandise master storage unit one by one is performed. Next, the base movement flag determination unit 36 is activated, and determines whether the read record has a base movement flag (whether or not there is a registration). The base move flag in this case is a base move, that is, an item for distinguishing whether or not the inventory is to be moved between base stations for each product. For example, “1” is registered in this item. This is for discriminating whether or not movement is possible according to the content of the item, such as when the item is moved, and when "" (blank) is excluded from the movement. The processing procedure is defined so that only the data having the base movement flag is set as a subsequent processing target, and the other data is excluded from the processing and the processing is not performed.

Next, the conditional expression master search processing section 37 is activated, and a process of searching for a conditional expression master based on the data to be processed is performed. Here, the conditional expression master will be described. The conditional expression master registers conditions for transferring stock from the primary storage location to the secondary storage location for each product for which inventory management is performed. Conditions in this case include, for example, each distribution base station 4A, 4
The case where the actual number of shipments in the last three months of B and 4C in the past three months is 10 or less, or the case where the stored stock exceeds the appropriate stock, etc. Then, after referring to the condition master, the condition determination unit 38 is activated, and thereby, it is determined whether or not each product satisfies the condition for moving the stock. At this time, if the conditions are met,
The processing of the site transfer file generation unit 39 is executed for the read record, and a site transfer file is generated. Subsequently, the base movement data display processing unit 40 of the second processing unit 34 is activated, and predetermined items in the data to be displayed are displayed on the screen of the terminal 15. Here, in order for the operator to select and instruct desired data, the selection input processing unit 41 is activated, and thereafter, the processing of the storage space allocation processing unit 42 and the inventory movement processing unit 43 are activated, and data for moving inventory is activated. Is generated. The data generated in this manner is transmitted to the corresponding distribution base station 4, and the base station 4 performs processing such as outputting a predetermined form, and actually moves the stock based on the form. Will be.

The above-described process of changing the storage base is a process for actually performing inventory movement. However, in order to reduce the storage cost by keeping the goods in the optimum storage location at any time, the change is performed. Periodic processing (for example, monthly)
It is preferable to review the storage base as appropriate. However, when this process is executed, data for actually performing the inventory movement is automatically generated. Therefore, before actually performing the movement, select a storage location that meets the conditions in advance and store the data. Preferably, an estimate of the cost can be obtained. For this reason, the inventory management system 1 enables a simulation process so that an optimal storage location can be selected by, for example, displaying a storage cost or the like for each storage location on a screen. FIG. 15 shows an example of screen display items when the simulation processing is performed. This screen reads the storage cost master (not shown), calculates the storage cost for each storage base based on items such as the number of storage items and the total storage amount input as calculation parameters by the operator, and then displays the screen of the terminal 15. It is shown above.

In addition to the above processing, the processing of the inventory system 1 includes a master file update processing. The master file updating process is performed by activating the master updating unit 31 of the master updating unit 18. The master update processing unit 31 has an individual processing unit (not shown) for each master file provided in the central information processing station 3, and by specifying it on the screen of the terminal 15, a desired master file, for example, , A product master, a conditional expression master, etc., can be corrected, and a new record can be replenished.

Further, according to the configuration of the inventory management system 1 described above, means for realizing so-called free location can be added to each distribution base station 4,
Thus, the free location processing performed by each distribution base station 4 can be centrally managed and performed by the central information processing station 3. This allows the location to be fixed so that despite the small inventory,
In order to secure a certain amount of space in the base station, the undesired situations of reduced space efficiency and waste of storage costs, such as empty storage shelves and empty floors, are eliminated. The space of the warehouse provided in the station 4 can be efficiently used.

The above description of the embodiment is merely an example of the present invention and does not limit the present invention, and various modifications are possible. For example, the central processing unit 11 of the central information processing station 3 and the main storage device 14 have been described as physically separate devices.
1, the central processing unit 11 may have a function of storing shipping instruction data and a processing station inventory master. Further, the case where the order receiving terminal station 2 is located at a plurality of locations has been described as an example, but the case of one location is also included in the present invention. Further, the device including the data conversion processing means 51 of the distribution base station 4 and the data processing device 52 may be physically separate devices.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is an overall configuration diagram showing an example of an inventory management system according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a configuration diagram showing an internal configuration of an order receiving terminal station.

FIG. 3 is a configuration diagram illustrating an internal configuration of a central information processing station.

FIG. 4 is a configuration diagram showing an internal configuration of a shipping instruction data processing means.

FIG. 5 is a configuration diagram showing an internal configuration of each of a master update processing unit and a reception data processing unit.

FIG. 6 is a configuration diagram showing an internal configuration of a storage base change processing unit.

FIG. 7 is a configuration diagram showing an internal configuration of a main storage device.

FIG. 8 is a configuration diagram showing an internal configuration of a distribution base station.

FIG. 9 is an overall processing flowchart of the inventory management system.

FIG. 10 is a process flowchart of a shipping instruction process.

FIG. 11A is an explanatory diagram showing main items of a customer master,
(b) is an explanatory view showing main items of the delivery area master.

FIG. 12 is an explanatory diagram showing main items of an inventory master.

FIG. 13 is a flowchart of an inventory master update process.

FIG. 14 is an explanatory diagram illustrating an example of screen display content when performing a base move process.

FIG. 15 is an explanatory diagram illustrating an example of a simulation processing screen of storage base movement.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Inventory management system 2 Order receiving terminal station 3 Central information processing station 4 Distribution base station 5 Communication line network 6,56 Data processing unit 7 Operator terminal 8,53 Central processing unit 9,54 Main storage unit 10 Communication control unit 11 Central processing unit 12 Communication control unit 13 Data conversion processing unit 14 Main storage unit 17 Shipping instruction data processing unit 18 Master update processing unit 19 Received data processing unit 20 Storage base change processing unit

Claims (3)

[Claims] A processing means for generating shipping instruction data for issuing a shipping instruction to a shipping destination specified based on order data, a processing means for updating a processing station inventory master for managing inventory, and A central information processing station having means for storing a processing station inventory master, and order processing data conversion processing means; data conversion processing means for converting shipping instruction data received from the central information processing station; and received shipping instruction data And a plurality of distribution base stations including a central processing unit that performs a process of updating a base station inventory master that has registered inventory in the base station, and a main storage unit that stores the base station inventory master. An inventory management system having a configuration in which the central information processing station and the plurality of distribution base stations are connected via a communication network. 2. A central processing means for generating order data and updating a terminal station inventory master for managing inventory,
A main storage means for storing the terminal station inventory master and an order receiving terminal station having one or more terminals, and processing for generating shipping instruction data for issuing a shipping instruction to a shipping destination specified based on the order receiving data. A central processing unit having means for processing a stock bureau stock master for managing inventory, processing means for updating the stock bureau stock master, means for storing the stock bureau stock master, and order data conversion processing means; Data conversion processing means for converting shipping instruction data received from the processing station, and central processing means for performing processing for updating the base station inventory master that has registered inventory in the base station, together with predetermined processing based on the received shipping instruction data. And a plurality of distribution base stations having main storage means for storing the base station inventory master, and the order receiving terminal station is connected to the central information via a communication network. With connecting sense station, this central information processing station, the inventory management system having the structure that is connected via the communication network a plurality of physical distribution base station. 3. A central processing means for generating order data and updating a terminal station inventory master for managing inventory,
A main storage means for storing the terminal station inventory master and an order receiving terminal station having one or more terminals, and processing for generating shipping instruction data for issuing a shipping instruction to a shipping destination specified based on the order receiving data. A central processing unit having means for processing a stock bureau stock master for managing inventory, processing means for updating the stock bureau stock master, means for storing the stock bureau stock master, and order data conversion processing means; Data conversion processing means for converting shipping instruction data received from the processing station, and central processing means for performing processing for updating the base station inventory master that has registered inventory in the base station, together with predetermined processing based on the received shipping instruction data. A plurality of logistics base stations having main storage means for storing the base station inventory master; and Transmitting the update data of the star file to the central information processing station via the communication network; and, at the central information processing station, using the received base station inventory master or the update data of the master file, the processing station. An inventory management method comprising: updating a stock master; and transmitting data of the updated stock bureau stock master to the order receiving terminal station.