JPH07302284A - Merchandise supply managing system - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To provide the merchandise supply managing system with which the efficiency of delivery can be improved, the work of clerks can be decreased and the system can be easily applied to any private shop as well. CONSTITUTION:Inside the institution of a retail shop, a merchandise managing shelf 1 is installed as one owned by the merchandise supply side. A worker on the merchandise supply side complements a merchandise case 3 into the merchandise managing shelf 1 at suitable timing and inserts a merchandise managing chip 7 with a built-in radio ID tag provided with ID data corresponding to merchandise to a chip inserting port 5 corresponding to the case complemented position in this case. On the retail shop side, the merchandise case 3 is taken out of the merchandise managing shelf 1 as needed but in this case, the merchandise managing chip 7 corresponding to the taken-out merchandise case 3 is dropped down and guided to a chip collection box 6 by a chip transfer mechanism provided inside the merchandise managing shelf 1. A reader provided near the chip transfer mechanism reads the ID data from the radio ID tag of the merchandise managing chip 7 passing there, and a data collector transfers those ID data to a managing center.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a product supply management system for supplying products such as soft drinks and liquor to retailers in case units.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, as a method of supplying products of this kind to a retail store, there is a product that is delivered according to an order from the retail store or a product that is regularly or irregularly asked for and lacks. It was common to deliver in some cases.

On the other hand, although the inventory management of merchandise is being digitized by a POS system or the like, it is often done by a bar code, which requires a work in which a store clerk holds a reader for reading.

[0004]

As described above, it is common to supply merchandise by ordering from a retail store or by asking, but the following problems have been pointed out. It was If the order from the retail store is delayed, the goods must be delivered in an urgent manner, and efficient delivery cannot be achieved, or if the delivery is not in time, the product will be out of stock. With the method of going to the customer's request, there is a high possibility that wasteful legs will occur and efficient delivery cannot be performed. Even if the waste is not wasted, the work efficiency is poor because it is necessary to go to see which product is missing and then return it to a truck or the like. If a product that seems to be in short supply is delivered to the retail store without permission, a bill will be generated, and the retail store will complain.

On the other hand, in stores where inventory management is performed by a POS system or the like, since the ordering of products is electronically managed, the above problems (1) to (3) do not occur, but there are the following problems. Since bar codes are the mainstream in conventional POS systems, a store clerk must read the bar code for each individual product or product case, and the work cannot be ignored. It is difficult to introduce a POS system into an individual store or the like.

The present invention has been proposed in view of the above points, and an object thereof is to improve delivery efficiency, reduce the work of a clerk, and easily to an individual store. It is to provide a product supply management system that can be applied.

[0007]

[Means for Solving the Problems] In order to achieve the above object, as a first configuration of the present invention, the product is installed in the facility of a retail store as possession of the product supply side, and the product supply side appropriately sets the product case. Are replenished and the product case is taken out at the retailer's side as needed, and a wireless ID having ID data that is inserted into the chip insertion slot corresponding to the case replenishment position when replenishing the product and is associated with the product. A product management chip with a built-in tag and provided in the product management shelf,
When the product case is taken out, the corresponding product management chip is dropped and guided to the chip collection box, and ID data is provided from the wireless ID tag of the product management chip that is provided in the vicinity of this chip transfer mechanism. A reader for reading and a data collecting device for transferring the ID data obtained from the reader to the management center are provided.

As a second configuration, the product supply side is installed in the facility of the retail store as the property of the product supply side, and the product case is appropriately replenished by the product supply side. A radio frequency identification tag that is set corresponding to the product management shelf from which the product is taken out and the case replenishment position at the time of product replenishment, and that is inserted into the card collection box when the product case is taken out and that has ID data associated with the product A built-in product management card, a reader that is provided inside the card collection box and reads ID data from the wireless ID tag of the inserted product management card, and data collection that transfers the ID data obtained from this reader to the management center And a device.

[0009]

In the merchandise supply management system of the present invention, the merchandise management shelf is installed in the facility of the retail store as possession of the merchandise supply side. A worker on the product supply side replenishes the product management shelf with a product case at an appropriate timing, and at this time, a product with a built-in wireless ID tag having ID data associated with the product in the chip insertion opening corresponding to the case replenishment position. Put in a management chip. At the retail store side, the product case is taken out from the product management shelf as needed, and at this time, the chip transfer mechanism provided in the product management shelf drops the product management chip corresponding to the taken-out product case, Lead to the tip collection box. Then, the reader provided near the chip transfer mechanism reads the I
The D data is read, and the data collection device transfers the ID data to the management center.

Further, instead of the product management chip, a product management card with a built-in wireless ID tag is set on the product management shelf, and when the product case is taken out, the product management card is removed and placed in a card collection box. The ID data may be read by a reader provided in the box.

[0011]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an embodiment of a product supply management system of the present invention.

In FIG. 1, the product management shelf 1 has a case storage section 2 having a sufficient space for a product case 3.
There are a plurality of the above, and an entrance / exit detection switch 4 for detecting the insertion / extraction of the product case 3 is provided at the center of the bottom surface inside each case storage section 2.

Here, as shown in FIG. 2, the entrance / exit detection switch 4 has a structure in which a cam-shaped member is axially fixed, and when the product case 3 is not inserted, it is shown in FIG. 2 (a). As described above, the cam portion is projected from the bottom surface, and when the product case 3 is inserted, the cam portion is pushed down as shown in FIG. 2B. The configuration of the entry / exit detection switch is not limited to the illustrated example, and various methods are conceivable (for example, by optical detection).

On the other hand, in FIG. 1, a chip insertion port 5 provided corresponding to the position of each case storage section 2 is provided at the center of the product management shelf 1, and a coin-shaped product management chip 7 is inserted. It is possible. For example, each case of the merchandise management shelf 1 is provided with four case storage sections 2, but four chip insertion ports 5 of this step are also provided, which correspond to the order of arrangement in the left-right direction. ing.

The product management chip 7 is put in when a worker on the product supply side replenishes the product case 3 with the product case 3, and a product corresponding to the product type of the product case 3 is prepared in advance. To be done. Then, inside the wireless I having a function of wirelessly returning preset ID data in response to an inquiry signal by an electromagnetic induction wave from the outside.
A D tag is provided. There are two types of ID data that are fixedly given and one that can be written later. In the latter case, detailed data such as the date and the ID of the operator can be provided. Further, the surface of the product management chip 7 is given a color and a product name so that the corresponding product can be clearly identified.

On the other hand, a drawer-shaped chip collection box 6 is provided at the bottom of the product management shelf 1 (a perspective view is shown in FIG. 3). The chip recovery box 6 is connected to the chip insertion port 5, and a shutter mechanism that opens and closes according to the operation of the entrance / exit detection switch 4 is interposed in the middle of the path. Then, when the product case 3 is pulled out from the case storage unit 2, the product management chip 7 previously inserted into the corresponding chip insertion port 5 falls and the chip recovery box 6 is released.
The worker on the product supply side collects and reuses the product at an appropriate timing. In addition,
A well-known technique can be used as the chip transfer mechanism.

In the vicinity of the chip collection box 6, a reader is provided which issues an inquiry signal to the wireless ID tag of the product management chip 7 and reads the returned ID data.

FIG. 4 shows the configuration of the data processing system including the reader 8. As the configuration of the store shown by the broken line, the control terminal 9 for processing the signal of the reader 8 and the collected data in the communication network. 11 and a modem 10 for sending out to the terminal 11.

A management center 12 is connected to the other end of the communication network 11 to detect which product is consumed and how much from the ID data read by the reader 8 in each store, and perform a totaling process and the like. Information is supplied to the person in charge of product delivery. The person in charge of product delivery makes an efficient delivery plan and performs actual delivery while checking the stock status of each store.

In the above embodiment, the coin-shaped product management chips 7 are inserted as many as the replenished product cases 3, but the types of products stored in each case storage unit 2 are fixed. In such a case, a holder in which several tens of product management chips 7 are assembled in a tubular shape can be inserted in advance so that they can be automatically used from here. In this case, the remaining amount of the product management chip 7 is made visible, and when the remaining amount is low, the product management chip 7 is replenished.

Next, FIG. 5 shows another embodiment of the present invention, in which the present invention can be easily applied at a lower cost than that shown in FIG.

In FIG. 5, the product management shelf 1 is not provided with the entrance / exit detection switch 4, the chip insertion port 5, and the chip recovery box 6 as shown in FIG. A product management card 13 is set in the vicinity of the case storage section 2 in which the product management card 13 is placed, and a card collection box 14 for inserting the product management card 13 is provided on the side surface of the product management shelf 1. Inside the card collection box 14, a reader for reading the ID data of the wireless ID tag of the product management card 13 described later is provided.

The merchandise management card 13 is set at a predetermined position when a merchandise supply side worker replenishes the merchandise case 3 to the merchandise management shelf 1. As shown in FIG.
A wireless ID tag 13a is enclosed inside, and a product name is printed on the surface so that the corresponding product can be easily identified, and a color that is easier to understand is attached.

FIG. 7 shows an example of how to set the merchandise management card 13, which may be inserted into the card case 15 as shown in (a) or (b).
As shown in, a hole may be opened in the upper part of the product management card 13 and hooked on the hook 16.

Further, when pulling out the product case 3 from the case storage unit 2, the clerk of the retail store removes the product management card 13 and inserts it into the card collection box 14. This allows
The reader in the card collection box 14 reads the ID data of the wireless ID tag of the product management card 13, collects the information at the management center as appropriate, and centrally manages the stock status of each store.

[0027]

As described above, the product supply management system of the present invention has the following effects. Since the stock status of products can be automatically grasped at the management center, efficient delivery can be performed. Since the product management shelf is owned by the product supply side, it can be freely replenished independently of the retail store side, and the degree of freedom of delivery is increased. On the retail store side, the product can be purchased by simply taking out the product case from the product management shelf in its own facility as necessary, and it is not necessary to place an order, which improves work efficiency. Since the ID data can be automatically read by the wireless ID tag, the clerk does not need to perform the reading operation unlike the barcode. Since only one RFID ID reader is required on the product management shelf, the device can be constructed at low cost. Since the product management chip and product management card can be reused, running costs can be kept low. Since it is only necessary to install the merchandise management shelf on the retail store side, which is different from the POS system for total sales management, it can be easily installed in individual stores.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram showing an embodiment of a product supply management system of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram of an operation of the entry / exit detection switch in FIG.

FIG. 3 is a detailed view of the chip recovery box in FIG.

FIG. 4 is a configuration diagram for information processing of the product supply management system of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a configuration diagram showing another embodiment of the present invention.

6 is a diagram showing an example of a product management card in FIG.

FIG. 7 is a diagram showing an example of a method of attaching the product management card in FIG.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 ……… Merchandise management shelf 2 ……… Case storage 3 ……… Merchandise case 4 ……… Insertion / exit detection switch 5 ……… Tip insertion port 6 ……… Tip collection box 7 ……… Merchandise management tip 8… ...... Reader 9 …… Control terminal 10 …… Modem 11 …… Communication network 12 …… Management center 13 …… Product management card 13a …… Wireless ID tag 14 …… Card collection box 15 …… Card case 16 …… Hook

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. A product management shelf which is installed in a facility of a retail store as owned by a product supply side, and a product case is appropriately replenished by the product supply side, and the product case is taken out at the retail store side when necessary. And a product management chip having a built-in wireless ID tag, which is inserted into a chip insertion opening corresponding to a case refill position when replenishing products, and has a wireless ID tag, and the product case is provided in the product management shelf. A chip transfer mechanism that drops the corresponding product management chip when taken out and guides it to the chip collection box, and a reader that is provided in the vicinity of this chip transfer mechanism and reads ID data from the wireless ID tag of the passing product management chip. A product supply management system comprising: a data collection device that transfers ID data obtained from the reader to a management center. 2. A product management shelf that is installed in the facility of a retail store as owned by the product supply side, and the product supply side appropriately replenishes the product case and the retail store side takes out the product case when necessary. And a product management card with a built-in wireless ID tag, which is set corresponding to the case replenishment position during product replenishment, is inserted into a card collection box when the product case is taken out, and has ID data associated with the product. A reader for reading the ID data from the wireless ID tag of the inserted product management card, provided inside the card collection box, and a data collection device for transferring the ID data obtained from the reader to the management center Product supply management system characterized by.