JP7164043B2 - Information processing device, control method and program - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to a technical field of an information processing device, a control method, and a storage medium that perform transaction-related processing.

Conventionally, a system is known for determining a plan regarding transactions for fuel or the like. For example, Patent Literature 1 discloses a transaction server that extracts combinations in which a common medium exists from LNG suppliers and consumers, and extracts combinations that satisfy contract establishment conditions from among the extracted combinations. there is Further, Patent Literature 2 discloses an electronic transaction brokerage system that determines a plurality of combination candidates so as to simultaneously satisfy the desired transaction conditions of both the trader and the customer.

JP 2008-077346 A JP 2004-030658 A

An intermediary such as a trading company that mediates transactions must match the sellers and buyers of the goods to be traded so that the transaction conditions such as transaction volume and transaction price desired by each are matched. In addition, such transaction terms are refined or changed through negotiations as the transaction period approaches. In this case, the intermediary must negotiate the terms of the transaction with the seller and the buyer, and make changes that are as advantageous as possible to the intermediary. On the other hand, there are various transaction conditions, and it has been difficult to accurately determine which transaction conditions should be changed and how much by a personal method.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In view of the problems described above, the main object of the present invention is to provide an information processing device, a control method, and a storage medium capable of suitably determining transaction conditions to be changed.

One aspect of an information processing apparatus is an information processing apparatus comprising seller information acquiring means for acquiring seller information indicating selling conditions specified by a seller to be traded, and buying conditions specified by the buyer to be traded. Buyer information acquiring means for acquiring buyer information, said selling condition and said selling condition , wherein profit of said intermediary increases based on said seller information, said buyer information, and profit of said intermediary who mediates said transaction object and determining means for determining candidate changes to trading terms with respect to at least one of the buying terms.
Another aspect of the information processing apparatus is an information processing apparatus, comprising: seller information acquiring means for acquiring seller information indicating selling conditions specified by the seller of the transaction target; and indicating the purchase conditions specified by the buyer of the transaction target. Transaction conditions relating to at least one of said selling conditions and said buying conditions based on buyer information acquiring means for acquiring buyer information, said seller information, said buyer information, and interests of an intermediary who mediates said transaction object. and display control means for displaying the candidate on a display device together with the intermediary's profit, which increases when the change in the transaction conditions indicated by the candidate is reflected.
Yet another aspect of the information processing apparatus is an information processing apparatus comprising: seller information acquiring means for acquiring seller information indicating selling conditions specified by a seller to be traded; a transaction relating to at least one of said selling conditions and said buying conditions based on buyer information acquisition means for acquiring buyer information indicating said seller information, said buyer information, and interests of an intermediary who mediates said transaction object; determining means for determining candidates for changing conditions, wherein the determining means determines a combination of the seller and the buyer with which the transaction is concluded based on the seller information and the buyer information; The determining means determines the candidate based on the intermediary's interest in the combination before the change in the transaction terms and the intermediary's interest in the combination after the change in the transaction terms.
Yet another aspect of the information processing apparatus is an information processing apparatus comprising: seller information acquiring means for acquiring seller information indicating selling conditions specified by a seller to be traded; a transaction relating to at least one of said selling conditions and said buying conditions based on buyer information acquisition means for acquiring buyer information indicating said seller information, said buyer information, and interests of an intermediary who mediates said transaction object; determining means for determining a condition change candidate, further comprising transportation information acquiring means for acquiring transportation information relating to transportation of the transaction object from the seller to the buyer, wherein the determining means includes the seller information. and, based on the buyer information, the transportation information, and the interests of the intermediary who mediates the transaction object, the candidate is determined.

One aspect of the control method is a control method executed by an information processing apparatus, in which seller information indicating selling conditions specified by a seller to be traded is acquired, and a buyer indicating buying conditions specified by the buyer to be traded is acquired. At least one of the sell condition and the buy condition , wherein the profit of the intermediary is increased based on the information obtained, the seller information, the buyer information, and the profit of the intermediary who mediates the transaction object. determine candidates for changes to the terms and conditions of

One aspect of the program is seller information acquisition means for acquiring seller information indicating the selling conditions specified by the seller of the transaction target, and buyer information acquisition means for acquiring buyer information indicating the purchase conditions specified by the buyer of the transaction target. and the seller information, the buyer information, and the profit of the intermediary who mediates the transaction object, and the profit of the intermediary increases based on at least one of the selling condition and the buying condition. It is a program that causes a computer to function as a determination means for determining candidates for modification of the .

ADVANTAGE OF THE INVENTION According to this invention, the profit of the intermediary who mediates a transaction object can be considered and the transaction conditions which should be changed can be suitably determined.

1 shows the configuration of an optimization system in the first embodiment; 2 shows a hardware configuration of an information processing device; It is an example of the data structure of seller information. It is an example of the data structure of buyer information. It is an example of the data structure of vessel information. It is an example of the data structure of port information. It is an example of a functional block of an information processing device. A display example of the matching confirmation screen It is a display example of an input window for designating candidate determination conditions. It is a display example of a change condition candidate screen. FIG. 10 is a flow chart showing a procedure of candidate determination processing accompanied by display of a matching confirmation screen; FIG. FIG. 10 is a flow chart showing a procedure of candidate determination processing without displaying a matching confirmation screen; FIG. 1 shows the configuration of an optimization system in a second embodiment; 3 shows the configuration of an information processing apparatus according to a third embodiment;

Hereinafter, embodiments of an information processing device, a control method, and a storage medium will be described with reference to the drawings.

<First Embodiment>
[Configuration of optimization system]
FIG. 1 shows the configuration of an optimization system 100 according to the first embodiment. The optimization system 100 mainly includes an information processing device 1 , an input device 2 , a display device 3 and a storage device 4 .

The information processing device 1 performs processing (also simply referred to as “optimization processing”) related to optimizing the combination of sellers and buyers of goods to be traded and the transportation schedule of the goods. The information processing apparatus 1 is preferably used by a trading company that acts as an intermediary in the buying and selling of goods to be traded. Materials to be traded may be fuels such as LNG, steel, machinery, electronics, textiles, chemical products, medical products, foods, and other arbitrary items. In addition, if the commodity to be traded is a commodity that causes loss over time (for example, LNG that evaporates over time), it is necessary to smoothly transport from the seller to the buyer, and the need for optimizing the transportation schedule is particularly high. Become.

The information processing device 1 also performs processing (also referred to as “candidate determination processing”) for determining candidates for changing transaction conditions (also referred to as “change condition candidates”). In this case, as will be described later, the information processing apparatus 1 determines, as one change condition candidate, one or more transaction conditions that increase the profit of the intermediary who is the user of the information processing apparatus 1. . The information processing device 1 preferably determines a plurality of change condition candidates and causes the display device 3 to display a list of change condition candidates. In this case, each change condition candidate indicates, for example, a combination of one or a plurality of transaction conditions to be changed and the content of each of the transaction conditions after change.

The input device 2 is an interface that receives user input, and corresponds to, for example, a touch panel, buttons, voice input device, and the like. The input device 2 supplies the input information “S1” generated based on the user's input to the information processing device 1 . In this case, for example, the information processing device 1 generates various types of information to be stored in the storage device 4 based on the input information S1 supplied from the input device 2, and specifies conditions etc. specified by the user regarding the optimization process. or The information processing device 1 also determines conditions (also referred to as “candidate determination conditions”) for determining change condition candidates based on the input information S1 supplied from the input device 2 .

The display device 3 is, for example, a display, a projector, or the like, and performs predetermined display based on the display information “S2” supplied from the information processing device 1 .

The storage device 4 is a memory that stores various information necessary for optimization processing and candidate determination processing. The storage device 4 may be an external storage device such as a hard disk connected to or built into the information processing device 1, or may be a storage medium such as a flash memory. Further, the storage device 4 may be a server device that performs data communication with the information processing device 1 . In this case, the storage device 4 may be composed of a plurality of server devices.

The storage device 4 stores seller information 41 , buyer information 42 , ship information 43 and port information 44 . The seller information 41 is information relating to the seller of the commodity to be traded by the user of the information processing apparatus 1 . The buyer information 42 is information relating to the buyer of the commodity to be traded by the user of the information processing apparatus 1 . The vessel information 43 is information relating to vessels that can be used by an intermediary (such as a trading company) who is a user of the information processing apparatus 1 to transport goods to be traded. The port information 44 is information about the port (the port of discharge or the port of loading) used for transporting the goods to be traded.

In addition to the information described above, the storage device 4 may store various information necessary for the optimization process and the candidate determination process. For example, the storage device 4 may further store information necessary for calculating the price of the commodity to be traded. Moreover, the seller information 41, the buyer information 42, the vessel information 43, and the port information 44 may be generated in advance by a device other than the information processing device 1, and may be generated by the information processing device based on the input information of the input device 2. 1 may be generated or/and updated information.

In addition, preferably, the storage device 4 stores information about the loss related to the material that will be lost over time. In this case, the information about the loss may be, for example, information on the amount of loss caused by the material to be traded over time, or information indicating the reduction rate of the material on a time basis.

[Hardware Configuration of Information Processing Device]
FIG. 2 shows the hardware configuration of the information processing device 1. As shown in FIG. The information processing device 1 includes a processor 11, a memory 12, and an interface 13 as hardware. Processor 11 , memory 12 and interface 13 are connected via data bus 19 .

The processor 11 performs predetermined processing by executing programs stored in the memory 12 . The processor 11 is a processor such as a CPU (Central Processing Unit) or a GPU (Graphics Processing Unit).

The memory 12 is composed of various memories such as RAM (Random Access Memory) and ROM (Read Only Memory). The memory 12 also stores a program for executing the optimization process and the candidate determination process executed by the information processing apparatus 1 . Also, the memory 12 is used as a work memory and temporarily stores information and the like acquired from the storage device 4 . Note that the memory 12 may function as the storage device 4 . Similarly, the storage device 4 may function as the memory 12 of the information processing device 1 . Note that the program executed by the information processing device 1 may be stored in a storage medium other than the memory 12 .

The interface 13 is an interface for electrically connecting the information processing device 1 and other devices. For example, the interface 13 is an interface for connecting the information processing device 1 and the input device 2, an interface for connecting the information processing device 1 and the display device 3, and an interface for connecting the information processing device 1 and the storage device 4. Contains an interface for For example, the interface for connecting the information processing device 1 and the storage device 4 is a communication interface such as a network adapter for transmitting and receiving data to and from the storage device 4 by wire or wirelessly under the control of the processor 11 . In another example, the information processing device 1 and the storage device 4 may be connected by a cable or the like. In this case, the interface 13 includes an interface conforming to USB, SATA (Serial AT Attachment), etc. for exchanging data with the storage device 4 .

Note that the hardware configuration of the information processing device 1 is not limited to the configuration shown in FIG. For example, the information processing device 1 may include at least one of the input device 2 and the display device 3 . Further, the information processing device 1 may be connected to or built in a sound output device such as a speaker. In this case, the information processing apparatus 1 may be a tablet terminal or the like in which the input function and the output function are integrated with the main body.

[data structure]
Next, examples of data structures of various information stored in the storage device 4 will be described with reference to FIGS. 3 to 7. FIG.

FIG. 3 is an example of the data structure of the seller information 41. As shown in FIG. The seller information 41 is information generated for each seller of a commodity to be traded, and is information indicating the selling conditions presented by the seller (that is, the transaction conditions desired by the seller). Specifically, the seller information 41 includes seller identification information, delivery place information, price information, delivery period information, and transaction volume information.

"Seller identification information" is information that identifies the seller of the goods to be traded. The seller identification information may include a unique ID (seller ID) for identifying the seller, as well as information on attributes of the seller such as the seller's company name and location.

The “delivery place information” is information about the delivery place of the transaction target desired by the target seller. For example, the delivery place information includes information indicating whether the delivery place is the port of loading or the port of discharge, and information on the port serving as the delivery place.

The "price information" is information indicating the price of the commodity to be traded desired by the target seller. The “delivery period information” is information indicating the delivery period of the transaction target commodity desired by the target seller. The delivery period is generally set longer the earlier the delivery is scheduled, and is set in more detail as the time for delivery approaches.

The “transaction volume information” is information indicating the transaction volume of the commodity to be traded desired by the target seller. For example, the transaction volume information is information indicating the lower limit and the upper limit of the transaction volume of the material to be traded desired by the target seller. In addition, when the material to be traded is fuel, the traded amount is the amount of heat.

FIG. 4 is an example of the data structure of the buyer information 42. As shown in FIG. The buyer information 42 is information generated for each buyer of the goods to be traded, and is information indicating the terms of purchase presented by the buyer (that is, the terms of trade desired by the buyer). Specifically, the buyer information 42 includes buyer identification information, delivery location information, price information, delivery period information, and transaction volume information.

“Buyer identification information” is information for identifying the buyer of the goods to be traded. The buyer identification information may include a unique ID (buyer ID) for identifying the buyer, as well as information on attributes of the buyer such as the buyer's company name and location.

The “delivery place information” is information about the delivery place of the transaction target desired by the target buyer. For example, the delivery place information includes information indicating whether the delivery place is the port of loading or the port of discharge, and information on the port serving as the delivery place.

The “price information” is information indicating the price of the transaction target commodity desired by the target buyer. The “delivery period information” is information indicating the delivery period of the transaction target commodity desired by the target buyer. The delivery period is generally set longer the earlier the delivery is scheduled, and is set in more detail as the time for delivery approaches.

The “transaction volume information” is information indicating the transaction volume of the transaction target commodity desired by the target buyer. For example, the transaction volume information is information indicating the lower limit and the upper limit of the transaction volume of the commodity to be traded desired by the target buyer.

FIG. 5 is an example of the data structure of the vessel information 43. As shown in FIG. The vessel information 43 is information generated for each vessel that can be used by the user of the information processing device 1, and mainly includes vessel name information, load information, speed information, and fuel consumption information. Note that the vessel information 43 may be information indicating a table or list in which various types of information for each vessel are set as one record.

"Vessel name information" is information indicating the name of the target vessel. "Loading amount information" is information indicating the amount of goods that can be loaded on the target ship. "Speed information" is information about the speed (for example, maximum speed and average speed) of the target ship. "Fuel consumption information" is information about the fuel consumption of the target vessel. Preferably, the fuel consumption information is information indicating the fuel consumption for each speed of the target vessel.

Note that the vessel information 43 may be information on a vessel (chartered vessel) that the user of the information processing apparatus 1 can rent for a short period of time. In this case, the vessel information 43 may further include information such as information on the cost of chartering (a chartering cost per day, a fixed chartering cost, etc.). The vessel information 43 may further include information on the category of the target vessel, information on the size of the target vessel, and the like.

FIG. 6 is an example of the data structure of the port information 44. As shown in FIG. The port information 44 is information about a port that is a candidate for a loading port or a discharging port, and includes travel distance information, used canal information, usage charge information, and ship restriction information.

"Moving distance information" is information indicating the moving distance between ports. The travel distance information is, for example, table information indicating the travel distance from the port of loading to the port of discharge for each possible combination of the port of loading and the port of discharge.

The "use canal information" is information indicating a canal (for example, the Panama Canal or the Suez Canal) that requires a toll when traveling between ports. The used canal information is, for example, table information indicating the canal to be passed when moving from the loading port to the discharging port for each combination of the assumed loading port and the discharging port.

"Usage fee information" is information indicating the usage fee for each port. The toll information may also include information about tolls for canals where tolls are charged.

"Vessel restriction information" is information indicating vessels that cannot be used for each port. For example, the ship restriction information is table information indicating whether or not there are restrictions on each ship that can be used by the user of the information processing device 1 for each port.

[Function block]
FIG. 7 is an example of functional blocks of the information processing device 1 that executes optimization processing and candidate determination processing. The processor 11 of the information processing device 1 functionally includes a seller information acquisition unit 51, a buyer information acquisition unit 52, a transport information acquisition unit 53, a determination unit 54, a display control unit 55, and a condition designation unit 56. and have

The seller information acquisition unit 51 acquires seller information 41 corresponding to a plurality of sellers to be matched by referring to the storage device 4 . The seller information acquisition unit 51 then supplies the acquired seller information 41 to the determination unit 54 . The buyer information acquisition unit 52 also acquires buyer information 42 corresponding to a plurality of buyers to be matched by referring to the storage device 4 . The buyer information acquisition unit 52 then supplies the acquired buyer information 42 to the determination unit 54 .

If the number of buyers and the number of sellers do not match, the seller information obtaining unit 51 or the buyer information obtaining unit 52 obtains temporarily generated seller information (also referred to as “temporary seller information”) or temporarily generated buyer information. Information (also referred to as “provisional buyer information”) may be generated. For example, when the number of sellers is less than the number of buyers, the seller information acquisition unit 51 obtains a temporary value indicating typical (representative) transaction conditions (price, delivery place, delivery period, transaction volume, etc.) desired by the seller. Generate seller information for the shortage of sellers. Similarly, when the number of buyers is less than the number of sellers, the buyer information acquisition unit 52 indicates typical (representative) transaction conditions (price, delivery place, delivery period, transaction volume, etc.) desired by the buyer. Temporary buyer information is generated for the shortage of buyers. Note that the delivery period indicated by the provisional seller information and the provisional buyer information may be set to be sufficiently long so as to facilitate matching with the buyer or the seller. The temporary seller information and the temporary buyer information may be stored in the storage device 4 in advance. At this time, based on the matching using the provisional seller information and the provisional buyer information, the user of the information processing device 1 can use it, for example, as a guideline for separately procuring a trading partner.

The transport information acquisition unit 53 refers to the storage device 4 to acquire ship information 43 and port information 44, which are information relating to the transport of goods to be traded. Then, the transport information acquisition unit 53 supplies the acquired vessel information 43 and port information 44 to the determination unit 54 . Each of the vessel information 43 and the port information 44 is an example of transportation information.

Based on the seller information 41 supplied by the seller information acquisition unit 51, the buyer information 42 supplied by the buyer information acquisition unit 52, and the transportation information supplied by the transportation information acquisition unit 53, the determination unit 54 selects the seller and the buyer with whom the transaction is concluded. and transportation schedule. In this case, the determination unit 54 optimizes the combination of the seller and the buyer with whom the transaction is concluded and the transportation schedule so that the profit for the user of the information processing device 1 is maximized while satisfying the constraints on the transaction of the transaction target. make a change.

In this case, the determining unit 54 considers, for example, determining the combination of the seller and the buyer and the transportation schedule that maximizes the profit of the intermediary who is the user of the information processing device 1 as a combinatorial optimization problem, and the integer We formulate it as a planning problem. In other words, the determination unit 54 considers the combination of the seller, the buyer, the vessel to be used, and the voyage period of the vessel as one combinatorial optimization problem and formulates an integer programming problem. Then, the determining unit 54 obtains a solution by performing processing equivalent to that of a general application program (for example, IBM ILOG CPLEX, Gurobi Optimizer, SCIP) for the formulated integer programming problem. Specifically, the determination unit 54 inputs the constraints of transactions and transportation in the form of linear integer constraints into the above-described application program, and inputs a linear objective function that determines profits, thereby making transactions that maximize profits. or ask for a transportation plan. In this case, the determination unit 54 also determines the delivery timing and transaction volume that maximize the user's profit. It should be noted that the assignment of vessels when transportation is required can also be described as an integer constraint.

In the above-mentioned integer programming problem, the determination unit 54 determines the objective function representing the total profit of the intermediary and linear integer constraints on transactions and transportation based on information on the price of the commodity to be traded, the date of transportation (the date of delivery), etc. set.

Here are examples of trade and transportation conditions defined as linear integer constraints.

For example, the determination unit 54 sets a constraint on the transaction that the delivery period indicated by the delivery period information of the seller information 41 and the delivery period indicated by the buyer information 42 match. In this case, if the goods to be traded need to be transported, the determination unit 54 determines the approximate distance from the loading port specified by the seller to the discharging port specified by the buyer based on the vessel information 43 and the port information 44. Calculate the number of sailing days for Then, the determining unit 54 considers the calculated number of sailing days, and the delivery from the seller to the intermediary (i.e., the user of the information processing device 1) during the delivery period specified by the seller, and the delivery period specified by the buyer. It is determined whether or not the transfer from the intermediary to the buyer is possible.

The number of sailing days, which indicates the length of the sailing period, is the number of days required to move the ship to the port of loading and the number of days required to transport the goods to be traded. Here, for example, based on the port of loading information of the seller information 41, the port of discharge information of the buyer information 42, the movement distance information of the port information 44, and the speed information of the vessel information 43, the determination unit 54 determines that each vessel Calculate each of the above-mentioned number of days required for the transaction.

For example, an appropriate difference in the delivery period required for matching to be established can be described in the form of linear integer constraints as follows, depending on the movement distance.

各ｂ＝１，２，・・・，Ｂに対して、

Assuming that there are S sellers and B buyers for integers S and B, the seller's index is "s=1, 2, . . . , S" and the buyer's index is "b=1 , 2, . . . , B”. Let “x _s,b ” be a variable with a value of either 0 or 1, and let “x _s,b =1” mean that the item procured from seller s is sold to buyer b. At this time, the one-to-one correspondence between sellers and buyers can be expressed as follows.
For each s = 1, 2, ..., S,

For each b=1, 2, . . . , B,

Here, the time of purchase from seller s is represented by a variable "t _s ", and similarly the time of delivery to buyer b is represented by a variable "t _b ". Also, the time required for transportation from seller s to buyer b is represented by "d _s,b ". At this time, by using a sufficiently large positive constant "M", the constraint that the transportation time is secured can be expressed as follows.
For each s = 1, 2, ..., S and each b = 1, 2, ..., B,

は常に成立し、よってこの制約は無効化される。一方、売手sから買手bに輸送される場合、「ｘ_ｓ,ｂ＝１」である。このとき、制約

が要求され、これは十分な輸送時間が担保されることを意味する。This formula is explained as follows. If not transported from seller s to buyer b, then "x _s,b =0". At this time, since M is sufficiently large,

always holds, thus invalidating this constraint. On the other hand, if it is shipped from seller s to buyer b, then "x _s,b =1". At this time, the constraint

is required, which means that sufficient transportation time is guaranteed.

これは、受け取り時刻が時刻「Ｔ_ｓ,１」と時刻「Ｔ_ｓ,２」の間でなければならないということを意味する。Also, the constraint on the purchase (receipt) time _ts from the seller can be expressed as follows.

This means that the receipt time must be between time 'T _s,1 ' and time 'T _s,2 '.

Further, the determination unit 54 can deliver the goods from the seller during the delivery period indicated by the delivery period information of the seller information 41 and deliver the goods to the buyer during the delivery period indicated by the delivery period information of the buyer information 42. , determine the allocation of vessels to be used for each transaction and the duration of the voyage. The vessel allocation can be described in terms of linear integer constraints as follows.

Let 'v=1,2,...,V' be the vessel index and let the variable 'ys _,v ' be 0 or 0 for seller 's=1,2,...,S' Let the variable be any value of 1. Also, "y _s,v =1" indicates that the transaction with the seller s is carried out on the ship v. At this time, the constraint on which vessel is assigned to each transaction can be expressed as follows.
For each s = 1, 2, ..., S,

Also, for each transaction for each seller s, "C(s) ⊆ {1, 2, ..., S}" cannot be transported by the same vessel used for the transaction of seller s. Let it represent the seller. This means that if we allocate vessel v to seller s's transaction, vessel v will not be able to meet the transaction time of other sellers ``s∈C(s)'' included in C(s). do. At this time, the constraint that ship assignments do not conflict among multiple sellers' transactions can be expressed using a sufficiently large positive constant M as follows.
For each s = 1, 2, ..., S and each v = 1, 2, ..., V,

This constraint is explained as follows. If 'y _s,v =0' and no vessel v is assigned to seller s's transaction, then this constraint is invalid because M is large enough. On the other hand, if ``y <sub>s,v</sub> =1'' and assigns vessel v to the transaction of seller s, then ``y _s',v =0'' must be satisfied in the transaction of seller s' included in C(s). , which means that we do not assign the same vessel v to transactions of other sellers 'εC(s)'.

Note that the actual mounting method is not limited to the above examples. For example, the above example deals with the case where the travel time is fixed and known in advance, but the constraint when the speed of the ship can be adjusted can be expressed similarly. Also, in the above example, an example was described in which conflicts in ship assignments were expressed only by assignments to sellers, but it is also possible to write constraints in the case where both sellers and buyers are affected in the same way.

Further, the determining unit 54 sets, for example, that the range of transaction volume indicated by the transaction volume information indicated by the seller information 41 and the range of transaction volume indicated by the transaction volume information of the buyer information 42 overlap as a constraint condition of the transaction. .

Further, the determining unit 54 sets, for example, that the price desired by the seller (ie, the desired selling price) and the price desired by the buyer (ie, the desired buying price) satisfy a predetermined relational expression as a constraint condition of the transaction. In this case, for example, the above-mentioned relational expression may be an expression that defines that the desired selling price is within a predetermined percentage of the desired buying price. In this case, the determining unit 54 may determine, for example, an intermediate value between the desired selling price and the desired buying price as the trading price, and determines the trading price from the desired selling price and the desired buying price based on a predetermined formula. good too.

In addition to or instead of the conditions described above, the determination unit 54 may set various conditions necessary for the transaction of the transaction target to be established as linear integer constraints.

Next, a supplementary description will be given of the benefits of the user of the information processing apparatus 1, who is an intermediary, which is set as the objective function in the integer programming problem described above. For example, a certain percentage of the total transaction amount accrues in the intermediary's profit. Also, as will be described later, in the case of a transaction involving transportation by an intermediary, a fixed amount or an amount corresponding to the transportation fee is generated as the intermediary's profit. Therefore, given the seller-buyer pairing, it is possible to establish an estimate of the user's profit based on the transaction price. Therefore, the determination unit 54 solves the above combinatorial optimization problem so that the predicted value of the intermediary's profit calculated in this manner is maximized. It should be noted that the intermediary's profit can typically be formulated as the total sale price minus the total purchase price and transportation costs. In addition, the determination unit 54 performs calculations such as multiplying the predicted value of profit in the distant future (for example, the predicted value of profit over a predetermined period of time) by a decay rate of less than 1 and adding them together, so that the user can may determine the expected value of the profit of

For example, in the above example, the profit “p _s,b ” when delivering from seller s to buyer b and the cost “c _s,v ” when the transaction from seller s is carried out by ship v can be calculated in advance. , the total profit (= profit from transaction - cost) can be expressed as follows.

For this purpose, the transportation schedule that maximizes profit can be calculated by solving an integer programming problem based on linear constraints under the above constraints.

The above is an example, and the implementation is not limited to this. For example, transportation costs may include a variety of things, such as port usage costs and fuel costs, and can also be rewritten as dependent on the buyer.

Further, the determination unit 54 further considers the delivery place information of the seller information 41, the delivery place information of the buyer information 42, the movement distance information of the port information 44, and the fuel consumption information for each speed included in the vessel information 43, A transport schedule that maximizes the profit for the user of the information processing device 1 may be determined. As a result, the determining unit 54, for example, in a transaction with a relatively large margin in the schedule of the ship (that is, the number of sailing days can be set long), sets a long sailing period so that fuel efficiency is prioritized over speed. decide. As a result, profits for the user of the information processing device 1 can be enhanced. On the other hand, the determining unit 54 shortens the navigation period by giving priority to shortening the number of sailing days over fuel consumption in a transaction with relatively little margin in the schedule of the vessel (that is, when transactions using the target vessel are consecutive). do.

In addition, when dealing with a commodity that causes a loss over time, the determination unit 54 obtains from the storage device 4 information on the amount of loss caused by the commodity over time, and further considers the information. , the transportation schedule is determined so that the user of the information processing apparatus 1 will benefit the most. As a result, the determination unit 54 can determine the transportation schedule so as to maximize the profit for the user of the information processing device 1 even when the commodity such as LNG that is lost due to evaporation is the object of trade. .

Further, when instruction information designating a candidate determination condition and instructing execution of the candidate determination process is received from the condition designating section 56, the determination section 54 executes the candidate determination process. Specifically, the determining unit 54 changes the selling conditions indicated by the seller information 41 or the buying conditions indicated by the buyer information 42 based on the candidate decision conditions supplied from the condition specifying unit 56, thereby increasing the profits of the intermediary. is determined as a change condition candidate. For example, the determination unit 54 determines a predetermined number of change condition candidates that maximize the increase in the intermediary's profit by applying the change. After executing the candidate determination process, the determination unit 54 supplies information about the determined change condition candidate to the display control unit 55 .

Here, a supplementary explanation will be given of the method of determining change condition candidates. The decision unit 54 solves the optimization problem that overwrites the above-mentioned constraints as follows, for each transaction condition to be changed, the increase in the intermediary's profit when it is permitted to extend by a predetermined number of days. Calculated by

この制約は、上述したように、売手からの受取時刻が時刻Ｔ_ｓ,１と時刻Ｔ_ｓ,２の間でなければならないということを意味する。Consider the following constraints on the time of receipt t _s from the seller in the optimization problem before running the candidate determination process.

This constraint means that the time of receipt from the seller must be between times T _s,1 and T _s,2 , as described above.

の制約に置き換えた最適化問題を解き、利益を算出する。これにより、Δの時間幅で交渉を行うことでどれだけ利益が改善するかを好適に把握することができると共に、Δの時間幅で交渉を行う際の交渉相手を決定することができる。この置き換えは、交渉が有望な一部の取引を選び、それに対してのみ行うことも可能である。そして、決定部５４は、例えば、仲介者の利益の増加が最大となる取引条件の変更（ここでは特定の売手に対する受取時刻の変更）を、変更条件候補として決定する。Given a negotiable time span 'Δ' for this original constraint, the previous constraint is

Solve the optimization problem replaced by the constraint of , and calculate the profit. As a result, it is possible to appropriately grasp how much profit is improved by negotiating in the time span of Δ, and to determine the negotiating partner when negotiating in the time span of Δ. It is also possible to select some transactions that are promising for negotiation and perform this replacement only on them. Then, the determining unit 54 determines, for example, a modification of the transaction conditions that maximizes the increase in the intermediary's profit (here, a modification of the receipt time for a specific seller) as a modification condition candidate.

この制約は、交渉要員などが限られている場合に有用である。We can also express the constraint "negotiable with at most K candidate sellers" by introducing non-negative integer variables "k _s " and "K" and imposing the following constraint.

This constraint is useful when negotiating personnel and the like are limited.

Note that the constraint method and conditions are not limited to the above formulas and the like. Similarly, regarding the transaction volume, etc., by setting similar constraints and solving the optimization problem, the change in transaction conditions that maximizes the increase in the intermediary's profit (here, the change in the transaction volume for a specific seller) ) can be determined as a change condition candidate. The example described above is an example of a method of formulating change condition candidates (that is, negotiation partners and transaction conditions to be negotiated). Another example is a method of discovering a partner whose bargaining effect exceeds the penalty by imposing a penalty that increases according to the amount of violation instead of prohibiting constraint violation strictly by inequality. . Therefore, the method of implementing the expression defining the constraint is not limited to this.

When the display control unit 55 receives information about the result of the optimization process from the determination unit 54, the display control unit 55 displays a screen showing the combination of the seller and the buyer determined by the determination unit 54 based on the information (also referred to as a "matching confirmation screen"). ) is generated. Then, the display control unit 55 supplies the generated display information S2 to the display device 3, thereby causing the display device 3 to display a matching confirmation screen. A display example of the matching confirmation screen will be described later.

Further, when the display control unit 55 receives input information S1 requesting display of change condition candidates, the display control unit 55 displays a user interface for accepting input specifying candidate determination conditions. Candidate determination conditions include, for example, constraints related to the number of transaction conditions to be changed, constraints related to the types of transaction conditions to be changed, constraints related to sellers or buyers to be changed, and the extent of change in the transaction conditions to be changed ( degree of change). When the display control unit 55 receives the input information S1 specifying the candidate determination condition from the input device 2 through the user interface, the display control unit 55 supplies the input information S1 to the condition specifying unit 56 .

Further, when the display control unit 55 receives information about the execution result of the candidate determination process from the determination unit 54, the display control unit 55 displays a screen showing a list of change condition candidates (also referred to as a “change condition candidate screen”) based on the information. display information S2 for displaying is generated. Then, the display control unit 55 supplies the generated display information S2 to the display device 3, thereby causing the display device 3 to display the change condition candidate screen. A display example of the change condition candidate screen will be described later.

When receiving input information S1 designating a candidate determination condition from display control unit 55, condition designating unit 56 sends instruction information for instructing execution of the candidate determination process according to the candidate determination condition indicated by input information S1 to determination unit 54. supply to

[Display example]
(1) Matching confirmation screen
FIG. 8 is a display example of a matching confirmation screen displayed by the display device 3 under the control of the display control unit 55 of the information processing device 1. As shown in FIG. The display control unit 55 displays a matching table 60 and a recommendation button 61 on the matching confirmation screen shown in FIG. Here, as an example, the display control unit 55 causes the display device 3 to display a matching confirmation screen when the transaction target is LNG.

The matching table 60 mainly has major items of "seller information", "buyer information", and "trading matching information". The "seller information" has sub-items of "seller ID", "transaction terms", "price", "delivery start", "delivery end", "lower limit of selling heat", and "upper limit of selling heat". . In addition, the "buyer information" has sub-items of "buyer ID", "transaction terms", "price", "delivery start", "delivery end", "purchase lower limit", and "purchase upper limit". . In addition, the "trading matching information" has sub-items of "profit and loss", "vessel used", and "number of sailing days".

Here, the display control unit 55 generates each record of the matching table 60 based on the corresponding seller information 41 and buyer information 42 for each combination of seller and buyer determined by the determination unit 54 . For example, the display control unit 55 displays the seller ID indicated by the seller identification information of the corresponding seller information 41 in the "seller ID" item. In addition, the display control unit 55 displays the information of the delivery place indicated by the delivery place information of the seller information 41 (here, information indicating whether it is the port of loading or the port of discharge) in the item of "transaction terms". , the price indicated by the price information of the seller information 41 is displayed in the "price" item. In addition, the display control unit 55 displays the start date and the end date of the delivery period indicated by the delivery period information of the seller information 41 in the "delivery start" and "delivery end" items, respectively, and the transaction volume of the seller information 41. The lower limit and the upper limit of the transaction amount indicated by the information are displayed in the items of "lower limit of heat quantity for sale" and "upper limit of heat quantity for sale", respectively. Further, the display control unit 55 displays the buyer ID indicated by the buyer identification information of the corresponding buyer information 42 in the "buyer ID" item. In addition, the display control unit 55 displays the information of the delivery place indicated by the delivery place information of the buyer information 42 (here, information indicating whether it is the port of loading or the port of discharge) in the item of "transaction terms". Then, the price indicated by the price information of the buyer information 42 is displayed in the "price" item. In addition, the display control unit 55 displays the start date and the end date of the delivery period indicated by the delivery period information of the buyer information 42 in the “delivery start” item and the “delivery end” item, respectively, and the transaction amount of the buyer information 42 is displayed. The lower limit and upper limit of the amount of transaction indicated by the information are displayed in the items of "lower limit of purchased heat amount" and "upper limit of purchased heat amount", respectively.

In addition, the display control unit 55 displays, for each record in the matching table 60, information on the combined seller and buyer, as well as profit and loss from the target transaction, information on the assigned vessel, etc., as "trading matching information". ing. Specifically, the display control unit 55 displays the profit/loss calculated by the determination unit 54 for the target transaction (that is, the combination of the seller and the buyer) in the “profit/loss” item. In addition, the display control unit 55 displays the ship identification information assigned to the target transaction by the determination unit 54 on the basis of the ship name information of the ship information 43 in the item “used ship”. In addition, the display control unit 55 displays the number of sailing days determined by the determining unit 54 for the target transaction in the item “Navigating days”. In addition, the display control unit 55 also provides, as “trading matching information”, an item indicating the amount of transaction (amount of heat) when the profit of the user of the information processing apparatus 1 is maximized, It may further include an item or the like indicating the delivery time of the seller and the delivery time of the buyer. These pieces of information are generated in the optimization process by the determination unit 54 and supplied to the display control unit 55 .

In this way, the information processing apparatus 1 can preferably present to the user a list of combinations of sellers and buyers that are matched so as to maximize the user's profit. Further, the information processing device 1 preferably presents to the user not only the combination of the seller and the buyer, but also the information of the ship scheduled for each combination so as to maximize the user's profit. be able to.

In addition, when the display control unit 55 detects that the recommendation button 61 has been selected, it displays a user interface for receiving an input specifying the candidate determination condition. A display example of the user interface displayed in this case will be described with reference to FIG.

(2) Change condition candidate screen
Next, display examples related to the change condition candidate screen will be described with reference to FIGS. 9 and 10. FIG.

FIG. 9 is a display example of the display device 3 when the recommendation button 61 is selected in FIG. In the example of FIG. 9, the display control unit 55 detects that the recommendation button 61 has been selected, and pops up an input window 64 for designating candidate determination conditions on the matching confirmation screen.

The display control unit 55 displays a first input field 71 , a second input field 72 , an execute button 73 and a cancel button 74 on the input window 64 .

Here, the first input field 71 is a pull-down menu type input field for designating the maximum number of transaction conditions that can be changed (also referred to as "upper limit number of changes"). In the example of FIG. 9, the upper limit number of changes “2” is specified in the first input field 71 . In this case, the information processing device 1 determines a combination of changes of up to two transaction conditions as one change condition candidate.

The second input field 72 is a pull-down menu type input field for designating the type of transaction conditions that can be changed. In the example of FIG. 9 , “trading volume and delivery period” are designated in the second input field 72 as the type of changeable transaction conditions. In this case, in the candidate determination process, the determining unit 54 selects items relating to the transaction amount “lower limit of heat quantity for sale”, “upper limit of heat quantity to be sold”, “lower limit of heat quantity to purchase”, and “upper limit of heat quantity to purchase”, and an item relating to the delivery period “start of delivery”. and "end of delivery" are regarded as candidates for trading conditions to be changed. The second input field 72 includes “transaction volume and delivery period”, “transaction volume only” for changing only the transaction volume, and “delivery period only” for changing only the delivery period, as specified by the seller. It may include various selectable menus such as "selling conditions only" that limits only conditions to be purchased, "buying conditions only" that limits only conditions specified by the buyer, and the like.

In addition to the first input field 71 and the second input field 72, the input window 64 may be provided with input fields for designating various candidate determination conditions. For example, the display control unit 55 designates an input field for designating the buyer ID and/or the seller ID for which the transaction conditions are to be changed, or/and the degree of change (change width) in the transaction conditions to be changed. The input window 64 may further display an input field for . For example, if the trading conditions are subject to change, such as the trading volume, the upper limit of the change (e.g., 30%) to the original value will apply to the degree of change mentioned above. If the date is set as the transaction condition to be changed, the maximum number of days to change the original date is applicable.

Then, when the display control unit 55 detects that the execution button 73 has been selected, the input information S1 relating to the candidate determination conditions specified in the input fields such as the first input field 71 and the second input field 72 is displayed as the condition. It is supplied to the designation unit 56 . On the other hand, when the display control unit 55 detects that the cancel button 74 has been selected, the display control unit 55 erases the display of the input window 64 and displays the candidates specified by the input fields such as the first input field 71 and the second input field 72 . The input information S1 regarding the decision condition is erased.

FIG. 10 is a display example of a change condition candidate screen displayed when the execution button 73 of the input window 64 of FIG. 9 is selected. The display control unit 55 displays a change condition candidate list 65, a sort selection column 66, and a re-execute button 67 on the change condition candidate screen.

The change condition candidate list 65 is a list of change condition candidates. Here, the display control unit 55 arranges the change condition candidates in the change condition candidate list 65 in descending order of increasing profits of the intermediary.

Here, a supplementary description will be given of the display processing of the change condition candidate list 65. FIG. When the execution button 73 is selected in FIG. 9, the condition designation unit 56 causes the determination unit 54 to perform candidate determination processing specifying the candidate determination conditions based on the input information S1 regarding the candidate determination conditions received from the display control unit 55. to send the instruction information. Then, the determination unit 54 executes the candidate determination process based on the instruction information received from the condition designation unit 56, thereby determining a predetermined number of change condition candidates with the largest increase in the intermediary's profit. Then, the determination unit 54 supplies information about the change condition candidates to the display control unit 55, and the display control unit 55 selects the change condition candidates in descending order of increase in profit for the intermediary based on the information received from the determination unit 54. The arranged change condition candidate list 65 is displayed.

Here, the change condition candidate list 65 has items of "number", "proposal name", "change condition" ("change condition 1" and "change condition 2"), and "profit increase/decrease". “Number” indicates a serial number assigned in order from the top change condition candidate in the change condition candidate list 65 . The “proposal name” indicates a name uniquely assigned to each change condition candidate in the change condition candidate list 65 .

"Modification conditions" ("Modification conditions 1" and "Modification conditions 2") indicate the contents of modification of the transaction conditions to be modified. In the example of FIG. 10, the display control unit 55 includes, as "change conditions", identification information of the seller or buyer who designates the transaction conditions to be changed, and the items of the matching table 60 that are the transaction conditions to be changed. , and the contents of the transaction conditions before and after the change are displayed. The display control unit 55 provides the same number of “change conditions” items as the upper limit number of changes specified in the first input field 71 in the input window 64 of FIG. In the example of FIG. 10 , based on the upper limit number of changes “2” specified in the first input field 71, the display control unit 55 adds two items “change condition 1” and “change condition 2” to the change condition candidate list. 65.

“Increase/decrease in profit” indicates an increase/decrease in the intermediary's profit that increases when the change in the transaction condition indicated by the target change condition candidate is reflected. In this case, the information processing apparatus 1 may allow the combination of the seller and the buyer to be changed before and after the transaction conditions are changed, or may be left unchanged. In the former case, the display control unit 55 first determines the intermediary's profit based on the combination of the seller and the buyer obtained by the optimization process when the transaction conditions are not changed (that is, the "profit and loss" displayed on the matching confirmation screen in FIG. 8). ) is set as the first profit. In addition, the display control unit 55 performs optimization processing by reflecting changes in the transaction conditions indicated in the "change conditions" ("change conditions 1" and "change conditions 2") in the seller information 41 and the buyer information 42. , the intermediary's profit based on the combination of sellers and buyers obtained by the optimization process is defined as the second profit. Then, the display control unit 55 displays the increase of the second profit with respect to the first profit in the item of "increase/decrease in profit". On the other hand, if the combination of sellers and buyers is unchanged, the display control unit 55 does not perform optimization processing in calculating the above-described second profit. Assuming the combination, the intermediary's profit after changing the transaction conditions is calculated as the second profit.

Preferably, when the display control unit 55 detects that an arbitrary change condition candidate in the change condition candidate list 65 has been selected, the display control unit 55 performs optimization when reflecting the change in the transaction conditions indicated by the selected change condition candidate. A matching confirmation screen showing the result of processing may be displayed on the display device 3 . In this case, the display control unit 55 displays the matching table 60 displayed on the matching confirmation screen. Display information. As a result, the intermediary who is the user of the information processing apparatus 1 can suitably confirm the result of the optimization process when the change condition candidate is selected on the matching confirmation screen.

In addition, the display control unit 55 determines the arrangement order of the change condition candidates in the change condition candidate list 65 based on the order specified by the sort selection field 66 . In the example of FIG. 10, since "Sort in descending order of profit" is selected in the sort selection column 66, the change condition candidates are arranged in the change condition candidate list 65 in descending order of the value indicated by "increase or decrease in profit". In addition to the "sort in descending order of profit", the sort selection field 66 includes "sort in ascending order of change in conditions", "sort in descending order of changes in seller's conditions", and "sort in ascending order of changes in buyer's conditions". You may have various selectable menus such as . For example, when "Sort in descending order of conditions to be changed" is selected in the sort selection field 66, the display control unit 55 displays change condition candidates with a smaller number of changed transaction conditions at a higher rank. Further, when ``Sort in ascending order of changes in terms of the seller'' is selected in the sort selection field 66, the display control unit 55 displays change condition candidates with fewer changes in terms of the seller at a higher rank.

When the display control unit 55 detects that the re-execution button 67 has been selected, the display control unit 55 displays an input window equivalent to the input window 64 in FIG. . In this case, the display control unit 55 supplies the input information S1 generated by the input device 2 for the displayed input window to the condition specifying unit 56, and the condition specifying unit 56 performs the candidate determination process based on the input information S1. Instruction information instructing re-execution is supplied to the determination unit 54 . In this case, the determination unit 54 re-executes the candidate determination process and supplies the re-execution result to the display control unit 55 . Then, the display control unit 55 updates the display of the change condition candidate list 65 on the change condition candidate screen based on the information received from the determination unit 54 .

In this way, the information processing apparatus 1 accurately determines change condition candidates, which are candidates for transaction conditions whose change will increase the intermediary's profit, and suitably presents them to the intermediary. As a result, the information processing device 1 can suitably present to the intermediary transaction terms that the intermediary should negotiate with the seller or the buyer. Therefore, the intermediary can suitably negotiate with the seller or the buyer based on the change condition candidate presented by the information processing apparatus 1 so as to increase his/her own profit.

[Processing flow]
(1) When the matching confirmation screen is displayed
FIG. 11 is a flowchart showing a procedure of candidate determination processing accompanied by display of a matching confirmation screen. The information processing device 1 executes the process shown in FIG. 11, for example, when input information instructing display of a matching confirmation screen is received from the input device 2 .

First, the seller information acquisition unit 51 of the information processing device 1 acquires the seller information 41 corresponding to each of the sellers to be combined from the storage device 4 (step S11). In addition, the buyer information acquisition unit 52 acquires the buyer information 42 corresponding to each buyer to be combined from the storage device 4 (step S12). Further, the transportation information acquisition unit 53 acquires transportation information regarding transportation including the vessel information 43 and the port information 44 from the storage device 4 (step S13).

Next, based on the seller information 41 acquired in step S11, the buyer information 42 acquired in step S12, and the transportation information acquired in step S13, the determination unit 54 determines the combination of the seller and the buyer who are the transaction partners, and the transportation schedule. is determined (step S14). In this case, the determination unit 54 combines sellers and buyers so as to maximize the profit for the user of the information processing device 1, and assigns vessels and sailing periods to the combinations of sellers and buyers that require transportation. make a decision.

Next, the display control unit 55 generates the display information S2 for displaying the matching confirmation screen based on the execution result of the determination unit 54, the seller information 41 and the buyer information 42, and displays the display information S2 on the display device 3. By supplying it, a matching confirmation screen is displayed on the display device 3 (step S15).

Next, the display control unit 55 determines whether or not there is a request to display change condition candidates (step S16). For example, the display control unit 55 determines whether or not the recommendation button 61 on the matching confirmation screen in FIG. 8 has been selected. Then, when there is a request to display a change condition candidate (step S16; Yes), the display control unit 55 advances the process to step S17. On the other hand, if there is no change condition candidate display request (step S16; No), the display control unit 55 continues to determine whether or not there is a change condition candidate display request.

Then, the display control unit 55 receives an input designating a candidate determination condition (step S17). For example, as shown in FIG. 9, the display control unit 55 displays an input window 64 provided with a plurality of input fields for designating various candidate determination conditions. When the display control unit 55 receives the input information S1 specifying the candidate determination condition from the input device 2 , the display control unit 55 supplies the input information S1 to the condition specifying unit 56 . In this case, the condition designating unit 56 supplies the determining unit 54 with instruction information for instructing execution of the candidate determining process based on the candidate determining condition indicated by the input information S<b>1 received from the display control unit 55 .

Next, the determination unit 54 determines change condition candidates based on the candidate determination conditions (step S18). In this case, the determination unit 54 preferably determines a predetermined number of change condition candidates that maximize the increase in profit for the intermediary. Then, the determination unit 54 generates the display information S2 for displaying the change condition candidate screen, and supplies the display information S2 to the display device 3 to display the change condition candidate screen on the display device 3 (step S19).

Then, the display control unit 55 determines whether or not there is a request to re-specify the candidate determination condition (step S20). For example, the display control unit 55 determines whether or not the re-execution button 67 is selected on the change condition candidate screen of FIG. Then, when there is a request to re-specify the candidate determination condition (step S20; Yes), the display control unit 55 again receives input specifying the candidate determination condition in step S17. On the other hand, if there is no request for redesignation of the candidate determination condition (step S20; No), the display control unit 55 ends the processing of the flowchart.

(2) When the matching confirmation screen is not displayed
FIG. 12 is a flowchart showing a procedure of candidate determination processing without displaying a matching confirmation screen.

First, the display control unit 55 determines whether or not there is a request to display change condition candidates (step S21). In this case, the display control unit 55 determines whether or not the input information S1 generated based on the predetermined user input requesting display of the change condition candidate has been received from the input device 2 . Then, when there is a request to display a change condition candidate (step S21; Yes), the display control unit 55 advances the process to step S22. On the other hand, if there is no change condition candidate display request (step S21; No), the display control unit 55 continues to determine whether or not there is a change condition candidate display request.

Next, the information processing device 1 acquires information necessary for candidate determination processing, such as the seller information 41, the buyer information 42, and the transportation information (step S22). Further, the display control unit 55 receives an input designating a candidate determination condition (step S23). For example, the display control unit 55 displays a user interface provided with various input fields for specifying candidate determination conditions, similar to the input window 64 in FIG. When the display control unit 55 receives the input information S1 specifying the candidate determination condition from the input device 2 , the display control unit 55 supplies the input information S1 to the condition specifying unit 56 . In this case, the condition designating unit 56 supplies the determining unit 54 with instruction information for instructing execution of the candidate determining process based on the candidate determining condition indicated by the input information S<b>1 received from the display control unit 55 .

Next, based on the seller information 41 and the buyer information 42 acquired in step S22, the determination unit 54 determines change condition candidates using the candidate determination condition as a constraint condition (step S24). In this case, for example, the information processing device 1 pre-stores in the storage device 4 the execution result of the optimization processing when each transaction condition indicated by the seller information 41 and the buyer information 42 is not changed, and based on the execution result , determination processing of change condition candidates may be performed. In this case, for example, the information processing device 1, on the premise of the combination of the seller and the buyer indicated by the above-described execution result, changes one or more transaction conditions that increase the profit of the intermediary as change condition candidates. Determined as

Then, the determination unit 54 generates the display information S2 for displaying the change condition candidate screen, and supplies the display information S2 to the display device 3 to display the change condition candidate screen on the display device 3 (step S25). Then, the display control unit 55 determines whether or not there is a request to re-specify the candidate determination condition (step S26). Then, when there is a request to re-specify the candidate determination condition (step S26; Yes), the display control unit 55 again receives input specifying the candidate determination condition in step S23. On the other hand, if there is no request for redesignation of the candidate determination condition (step S26; No), the display control unit 55 ends the processing of the flowchart.

<Second embodiment>
FIG. 13 shows the configuration of an optimization system 100A in the second embodiment. As shown in FIG. 13, the optimization system 100A mainly includes an information processing device 1A, a storage device 4, and a terminal device 5. Information processing device 1A and terminal device 5 perform data communication via network 6 .

The information processing device 1A has the same configuration as the information processing device 1 according to the first embodiment, and executes the same optimization processing and candidate determination processing as the information processing device 1 does. In this case, the information processing device 1</b>A receives the input information S<b>1 that the information processing device 1 receives from the input device 2 in the first embodiment from the terminal device 5 via the network 6 . The information processing device 1A also transmits the display information S2, which the information processing device 1 transmitted to the display device 3 in the first embodiment, to the terminal device 5 via the network 6. FIG. Thus, the information processing device 1A according to the second embodiment functions as a server device.

The terminal device 5 is a terminal having an input function, a display function, and a communication function, and functions as the input device 2 and the display device 3 in the first embodiment. The terminal device 5 may be, for example, a personal computer, a tablet terminal, a PDA (Personal Digital Assistant), or the like. The terminal device 5 transmits input information S1 generated based on the received user input to the information processing device 1A via the network 6 . Further, when the terminal device 5 receives the display information S2 from the information processing device 1A, the terminal device 5 displays the matching confirmation screen based on the display information S2.

In addition, the terminal device 5 accepts user input regarding candidate determination conditions, and transmits the accepted input information S1 to the information processing device 1A. In this case, the information processing apparatus 1A performs the candidate determination process based on the input information S1 indicating the candidate determination condition, and generates the display information S2 for updating the change condition candidate screen. The information processing device 1A then transmits the generated display information S2 to the terminal device 5 . Then, the terminal device 5 displays the change condition candidate screen based on the display information S2.

In this manner, the information processing apparatus 1A according to the second embodiment preferably provides the user of the terminal device 5 with a combination of sellers and buyers and a transportation schedule that maximizes the user's profit. can be presented. Further, when information processing apparatus 1A receives input information S1 related to candidate determination conditions from terminal device 5, information processing apparatus 1A determines change condition candidates that increase the user's profit based on the candidate determination conditions, and sends them to terminal device 5. display. As a result, the information processing device 1A can suitably present transaction terms and the like to be negotiated with the seller or the buyer by the intermediary who is the user of the terminal device 5 to the intermediary.

<Third Embodiment>
FIG. 14 is a functional block diagram of an information processing device 1B according to the third embodiment. The information processing device 1B mainly has a seller information acquisition section 51B, a buyer information acquisition section 52B, and a determination section 54B.

The seller information acquisition unit 51B acquires seller information indicating selling conditions specified by the seller to be traded. The buyer information acquisition unit 52B acquires buyer information indicating purchase conditions specified by the buyer of the transaction target. The determining unit 54B determines change condition candidates, which are candidates for changing the transaction conditions for at least one of the sell conditions and the buy conditions, based on the seller information, the buyer information, and the interests of the intermediary who mediates the transaction object. do.

The information processing apparatus 1B according to the third embodiment can suitably determine change condition candidates for at least one of the selling conditions and the buying conditions, taking into consideration the interests of the intermediary who mediates the transaction of the transaction target.

In addition, part or all of each of the above-described embodiments can be described as the following supplementary remarks, but is not limited to the following.

[Appendix 1]
a seller information acquiring unit for acquiring seller information indicating selling conditions specified by a seller to be traded;
a buyer information acquisition unit for acquiring buyer information indicating purchase conditions specified by the buyer of the transaction target;
a determination unit that determines a candidate for changing the transaction conditions for at least one of the sale conditions and the buy conditions based on the seller information, the buyer information, and the interests of the intermediary who mediates the transaction object;
An information processing device.

[Appendix 2]
further comprising a condition designating unit that designates a candidate determination condition that is a constraint condition for determining the candidate;
The information processing apparatus according to appendix 1, wherein the determination unit determines the candidate that satisfies the candidate determination condition.

[Appendix 3]
The candidate determination conditions include constraints on the upper limit number of transaction conditions to be changed, constraints on the types of transaction conditions to be changed, constraints on sellers or buyers corresponding to the transaction conditions to be changed, and constraints on the degree of change of the transaction conditions to be changed. The information processing device according to appendix 2, including at least one of the conditions.

[Appendix 4]
4. The display control unit according to any one of appendices 1 to 3, further comprising a display control unit that displays the candidate on a display device together with the intermediary's profit that increases when the change in the transaction conditions indicated by the candidate is reflected. Information processing equipment.

[Appendix 5]
The display control unit displays, as the candidates, the identification information of the seller or the buyer corresponding to the transaction terms to be changed, the information on the type of the transaction terms, and the information on the contents before and after the change of the transaction terms on the display device. 4. The information processing apparatus according to appendix 4, wherein

[Appendix 6]
The determination unit determines the plurality of candidates,
6. The information processing apparatus according to appendix 4 or 5, wherein the display control unit arranges the candidates in descending order of increase in profit of the intermediary when the change indicated by the candidate is reflected, and displays the candidates on the display device.

[Appendix 7]
The determination unit determines a combination of the seller and the buyer with which the transaction is concluded based on the seller information and the buyer information,
The determination unit determines the candidate based on the intermediary's interest in the combination before the change in the transaction conditions and the intermediary's interest in the combination after the change in the transaction conditions. 7. The information processing device according to any one of 6.

[Appendix 8]
further comprising a transportation information acquisition unit that acquires transportation information relating to transportation of the transaction object from the seller to the buyer;
8. Any one of Appendices 1 to 7, wherein the determination unit determines the candidate based on the seller information, the buyer information, the transportation information, and the interests of an intermediary who mediates the transaction object. The information processing device according to the item.

[Appendix 9]
A control method executed by an information processing device,
Acquire seller information indicating the selling conditions specified by the seller to be traded,
Acquiring buyer information indicating purchase conditions specified by the buyer of the transaction target,
A control method for determining candidates for changing transaction terms for at least one of said selling terms and said buying terms based on said seller information, said buyer information, and interests of an intermediary who mediates said transaction object.

[Appendix 10]
a seller information acquiring unit for acquiring seller information indicating selling conditions specified by a seller to be traded;
a buyer information acquisition unit for acquiring buyer information indicating purchase conditions specified by the buyer of the transaction target;
a computer as a determination unit that determines a candidate for changing the transaction conditions regarding at least one of the sale conditions and the purchase conditions based on the seller information, the buyer information, and the interests of an intermediary who mediates the transaction object; A storage medium that stores a program that functions.

Although the present invention has been described with reference to the embodiments, the present invention is not limited to the above embodiments. Various changes that can be understood by those skilled in the art can be made to the configuration and details of the present invention within the scope of the present invention. That is, the present invention naturally includes various variations and modifications that a person skilled in the art can make according to the entire disclosure including the scope of claims and technical ideas. In addition, the disclosures of the cited patent documents and the like are incorporated herein by reference.

Reference Signs List 1, 1A, 1B Information processing device 2 Input device 3 Display device 4 Storage device 5 Terminal device 100, 100A Optimization system

Claims (10)

seller information acquiring means for acquiring seller information indicating selling conditions specified by a seller to be traded;
Buyer information acquisition means for acquiring buyer information indicating purchase conditions specified by the buyer of the transaction target;
Modification of transaction conditions relating to at least one of said selling conditions and said buying conditions in which profits of said intermediary are increased based on said seller information, said buyer information, and profits of said intermediary who mediates said transaction object. a determining means for determining candidates for
An information processing device. Further comprising condition specifying means for specifying a candidate determination condition, which is a constraint condition for determining the candidate,
2. The information processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said determining means determines said candidate that satisfies said candidate determination condition. The candidate determination conditions include constraints on the upper limit number of transaction conditions to be changed, constraints on the types of transaction conditions to be changed, constraints on sellers or buyers corresponding to the transaction conditions to be changed, and constraints on the degree of change of the transaction conditions to be changed. 3. The information processing apparatus according to claim 2, including at least one of the conditions. seller information acquiring means for acquiring seller information indicating selling conditions specified by a seller to be traded;
Buyer information acquisition means for acquiring buyer information indicating purchase conditions specified by the buyer of the transaction target;
determining means for determining a candidate for changing the trading conditions for at least one of the selling conditions and the buying conditions based on the seller information, the buyer information, and the interest of an intermediary who mediates the transaction object;
display control means for displaying the candidate on a display device together with the intermediary's profit, which increases when a change in the transaction terms indicated by the candidate is reflected ;
An information processing device. The display control means displays, as the candidates, the identification information of the seller or the buyer corresponding to the transaction terms to be changed, the information on the type of the transaction terms, and the information on the contents before and after the change of the transaction terms on the display device. 5. The information processing apparatus according to claim 4, wherein the information processing apparatus displays the . The determination means determines a plurality of the candidates,
6. The information processing apparatus according to claim 4, wherein said display control means arranges said candidates in descending order of increase in profit of said intermediary when the change indicated by said candidate is reflected, and displays them on said display device. seller information acquiring means for acquiring seller information indicating selling conditions specified by a seller to be traded;
Buyer information acquisition means for acquiring buyer information indicating purchase conditions specified by the buyer of the transaction target;
determining means for determining a candidate for changing the trading conditions for at least one of the selling conditions and the buying conditions based on the seller information, the buyer information, and the interest of an intermediary who mediates the transaction object;
with
the determining means determines a combination of the seller and the buyer with which the transaction is concluded based on the seller information and the buyer information;
The information processing device, wherein the determination means determines the candidate based on the intermediary's profit for the combination before the transaction conditions are changed and the intermediary's profit for the combination after the transaction conditions are changed. . seller information acquiring means for acquiring seller information indicating selling conditions specified by a seller to be traded;
Buyer information acquisition means for acquiring buyer information indicating purchase conditions specified by the buyer of the transaction target;
determining means for determining a candidate for changing the trading conditions for at least one of the selling conditions and the buying conditions based on the seller information, the buyer information, and the interest of an intermediary who mediates the transaction object;
with
further comprising transportation information acquisition means for acquiring transportation information relating to transportation of the transaction object from the seller to the buyer;
The information processing apparatus, wherein the determination means determines the candidate based on the seller information, the buyer information, the transportation information, and the profit of a mediator who mediates the transaction object. A control method executed by an information processing device,
Acquire seller information indicating the selling conditions specified by the seller to be traded,
Acquiring buyer information indicating the purchase conditions specified by the buyer of the transaction target,
Modification of transaction conditions relating to at least one of said selling conditions and said buying conditions , in which profits of said intermediary are increased, based on said seller information, said buyer information, and profits of said intermediary who mediates said transaction object. A control method that determines candidates for . seller information acquiring means for acquiring seller information indicating selling conditions specified by a seller to be traded;
Buyer information acquisition means for acquiring buyer information indicating purchase conditions specified by the buyer of the transaction target;
Modification of transaction conditions relating to at least one of said selling conditions and said buying conditions , in which profits of said intermediary are increased, based on said seller information, said buyer information, and profits of said intermediary who mediates said transaction object. A program that causes a computer to act as a determining means for determining candidates for

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