JP7327481B2 - 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

JP 2008-077346 A

Intermediaries such as trading companies that mediate transactions need to combine (match) transaction conditions such as transaction volumes and transaction prices desired by sellers and buyers of goods to be traded. On the other hand, the intermediary's profit differs depending on the combination of the seller and the buyer. Therefore, when this matching is automated, simply determining a combination that satisfies the conditions for establishing a contract may not result in a desirable combination for the intermediary. In addition, since the terms of trade also serve as negotiation material, there are cases in which the terms are changed on a daily basis according to the demands of the other party, and negotiations are made to change them strategically.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In view of the problems described above, the main object of the present invention is to provide an information processing apparatus, a control method, and a storage medium capable of suitably determining a combination of a seller and a buyer of transactions.

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 each of a plurality of sellers to be traded; Based on buyer information acquiring means for acquiring buyer information indicating buying conditions specified by each, the seller information, the buyer information, and the interest of an intermediary who mediates the transaction of the transaction target, the transaction is determining means for determining a first combination of each of said sellers and each of said buyers to be established; condition changing means for changing at least one of said selling conditions or said buying conditions; and said first combination. display control means for displaying information indicating on a display device, the determination means, based on the buyer information and the seller information reflecting the change, and the intermediary's profit, the transaction When determining a second combination of each of the sellers and each of the buyers in which Information relating to at least one of the seller or the buyer with a different trading partner than the first combination is highlighted .

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 each of a plurality of sellers to be traded is acquired, and each of the plurality of buyers to be traded is acquired. Each of said sellers with whom said transaction is concluded based on said seller information, said buyer information, and the interest of an intermediary who mediates said transaction subject to said transaction. and each of said buyers, modifying at least one of said selling conditions or said buying conditions, displaying information indicative of said first combinations on a display device, and Determining a second combination of each of the sellers and each of the buyers with which the transaction is concluded based on the reflected buyer information and seller information and the intermediary's interest , and after the change When the information indicating the second combination is displayed on the display device in , the information on at least one of the seller or the buyer who is a trading partner different from the first combination is highlighted.

One aspect of the program comprises: seller information acquiring means for acquiring seller information indicating selling conditions specified by each of a plurality of sellers to be traded; Each of the sellers and the buyers with whom the transaction is concluded based on the buyer information acquisition means for acquiring information, the seller information, the buyer information, and the interest of the intermediary who mediates the transaction of the transaction target determining means for determining a first combination with each of; condition changing means for changing at least one of the selling condition or the buying condition ; and information indicating the first combination on a display device The computer functions as display control means , and the determination means determines each of the sellers with whom the transaction is concluded based on the buyer information and the seller information reflecting the change, and the profit of the intermediary. A second combination with each of the buyers is determined, and the display control means, when displaying information indicating the second combination after the change on the display device, selects the first combination and the trading partner. highlight information about at least one of the seller or the buyer that differs from the

ADVANTAGE OF THE INVENTION According to the present invention, it is possible to appropriately determine a combination of a seller and a buyer that is preferable for a transaction intermediary in response to changes in transaction conditions.

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 the data structure of processing result information. It is an example of a functional block of an information processing device. It is a display example of a matching confirmation screen. It is an example of a display of a matching confirmation screen after a change in transaction terms. It is a display example of a summary screen. 4 is a flowchart showing the procedure of optimization processing; 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 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 specified by the user regarding the optimization process. or Further, the information processing device 1 accepts changes to the conditions related to the optimization process 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. 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 , vessel information 43 , port information 44 and processing result information 45 . 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 about 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.

The processing result information 45 is information indicating the result of optimization processing. The processing result information 45 includes, for example, the combination of the seller and the buyer obtained by the optimization processing and the information regarding the transportation schedule of the goods.

In addition to the information described above, the storage device 4 may store various information necessary for the optimization process. For example, the storage device 4 may further store information necessary for calculating the price of the commodity to be traded. Further, 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). Also, the memory 12 stores a program for executing the optimization 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 creation date and time information, seller identification information, delivery place information, price information, delivery period information, and transaction volume information.

"Creation date information" is information indicating the date and time when the target seller information 41 was created or changed. Note that the storage device 4 may store a plurality of pieces of seller information 41 with different dates and times indicated by the created date and time information for the same seller. "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 creation date and time information, buyer identification information, delivery place information, price information, delivery period information, and transaction volume information.

“Creation date information” is information indicating the date and time when the target buyer information 42 was created or changed. It should be noted that there may be a plurality of buyer information 42 with different dates and times indicated by the created date and time information for the same buyer. “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.

The information processing device 1 changes the transaction conditions indicated by each of the seller information 41 and the buyer information 42 based on the input information S1 supplied from the input device 2. FIG. For example, the information processing device 1 displays the optimum combination of the seller and the buyer together with the transaction conditions desired by the seller and the transaction conditions desired by the buyer on the display device 3, and changes these transaction conditions on the input device 2. is accepted by the input operation of Then, when the information processing device 1 receives the input information S1 instructing to change the transaction conditions from the input device 2, the information processing device 1 changes the corresponding seller information 41 or buyer information 42 based on the input information S1. In this case, the information processing device 1 may store the seller information 41 and the buyer information 42 before and after the change in the storage device 4, respectively, as the seller information 41 and the buyer information 42 having different "creation date and time information".

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 ship. 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.

FIG. 7 is an example of the data structure of the processing result information 45. As shown in FIG. The processing result information 45 is generated and stored, for example, for each optimization processing that is repeatedly executed with different transaction conditions. The processing result information 45 includes plan identification information, processing condition information, combination information, and transportation schedule information.

"Proposal identification information" is identification information assigned to each optimization process executed by changing the transaction terms. For example, the plan identification information is information indicating a plan name assigned based on user input or the like for each optimization process. "Processing condition information" is information indicating conditions when the target optimization process is executed. The processing condition information is, for example, information for identifying the seller information 41 and the buyer information 42 used in the target optimization process. In this case, for example, the processing condition information includes creation date/time information and seller identification information of the seller information 41 used in the target optimization process, and creation date/time information and buyer identification information of the buyer information 42 . In other examples, the process condition information may include information indicating the sell and buy conditions used for the target optimization process.

“Combination information” is information indicating a combination of sellers and buyers matched in the target optimization process. "Transportation schedule information" is information indicating the transportation schedule determined in the target optimization process. In addition to the various types of information described above, the processing result information 45 includes the intermediary's profit, profit, and Information such as cost may be included. In another example, the processing result information 45 may include information on optimal trading conditions (trading volume, delivery time, etc.) for each combined trade.

[Function block]
FIG. 8 is an example of functional blocks of the information processing device 1 that executes optimization processing regarding a combination (matching) of a seller and a buyer and a transportation schedule by ship. The processor 11 of the information processing device 1 functionally includes a seller information acquisition unit 51, a buyer information acquisition unit 52, a transportation information acquisition unit 53, a determination unit 54, a display control unit 55, and a condition change unit 56. , and a storage unit 57 .

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 and the date of transportation (day of delivery). 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 determination 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 cannot be made in time for 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. .

In addition, 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 transaction 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 location information of the seller information 41, the delivery location information of the buyer information 42, the travel 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 apparatus 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 traded. .

Further, the determining unit 54 receives instruction information from the condition changing unit 56 to change at least one of the selling conditions indicated by the seller information 41 and the buying conditions indicated by the buyer information 42 and instructing re-execution of the optimization process. If so, re-execute the optimization process. In this case, the determining unit 54 maximizes the profit of the user of the information processing device 1 based on the selling conditions and buying conditions changed based on the instruction information received from the condition changing unit 56 and the ship information 43 and the port information 44. Redetermine the combination of sellers and buyers and the transportation schedule so that

Then, the determination unit 54 sends information indicating the processing results regarding the combination of sellers and buyers determined by the optimization process or the re-execution of the optimization process, the transportation schedule, the calculated intermediary profit, etc. to the display control unit 55. They are supplied to the storage unit 57 respectively. Further, when re-executing the optimization process, the determination unit 54 supplies the storage unit 57 with the seller information 41 and the buyer information 42 reflecting the change in the transaction terms. Note that the determination unit 54 may supply the various types of information described above to the storage unit 57 only when the input information S<b>1 instructing storage of the processing result is received from the input device 2 .

Based on the information received from the determination unit 54, the display control unit 55 generates display information S2 for displaying a screen showing the combination of the seller and the buyer determined by the determination unit 54 (also referred to as a "matching confirmation screen"). to generate 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. In addition, the display control unit 55 displays, on the matching screen, the combination of the seller and the buyer, as well as the selling conditions specified by each seller and the buying conditions specified by each buyer in a manner that can be selected by user input. . Then, the display control unit 55 receives, through the input device 2, an input instructing a change to the transaction conditions relating to the selling condition or the buying condition selected by the user, and receives input information S1 indicating the input from the input device 2. In this case, the display control unit 55 supplies the identification information of the transaction conditions selected by the user to be changed and the input information S1 received from the input device 2 to the condition change unit 56 . A display example of the matching confirmation screen will be described later.

When receiving the combination of the identification information of the transaction conditions to be changed and the input information S1 from the display control unit 55, the condition change unit 56 changes the transaction conditions to be changed to the contents indicated by the input information S1 to optimize the conditions. It supplies the determination unit 54 with instruction information for instructing re-execution of the conversion processing.

The storage unit 57 stores the processing result information 45 in the storage device 4 when receiving the information indicating the execution result (including the re-execution result) of the optimization process supplied from the determination unit 54 . In this case, as shown in the data structure of FIG. 7, the storage unit 57 generates plan identification information unique to the target optimization process, and stores the plan identification information in processing condition information, combination information, and transportation information. Information associated with schedule information and the like is stored as processing result information 45 . Note that, when the optimization process is re-executed, the storage unit 57 stores, for example, the information specifying the seller information 41 and the buyer information 42 reflecting the change in transaction conditions as the processing condition information in the processing result information 45. include in

Further, the storage unit 57 receives the seller information 41 and the buyer information 42 reflecting the change in the transaction conditions from the determination unit 54 when the determination unit 54 re-executes the optimization process. Then, the storage unit 57 stores the seller information 41 and the buyer information 42 in the storage device 4 . In this case, the storage unit 57 may store, in the storage device 4, the seller information 41 and the buyer information 42 before and after reflecting the change in the transaction conditions to be changed, respectively. 41 and the buyer information 42 may be overwritten with the seller information 41 and the buyer information 42 after the transaction conditions are changed.

[Display example]
(1) Matching confirmation screen
FIG. 9 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, a matching re-execution button 61, an overwrite save button 62, and a copy save button 63 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". Further, the processing result of the optimization processing displayed in the matching table 60 is assigned plan identification information indicating the plan name "first plan".

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, on the matching confirmation screen, cells displaying various transaction conditions can be selected, and the display control unit 55 highlights the selected cell and prompts for input of information on the changed transaction conditions. accept. In the example of FIG. 9 , the display control unit 55 detects that the cell 71 related to the upper limit of purchase heat amount of the buyer ID “B7” has been selected, highlights the cell 71 with a border effect, and pops up the input window 72. it's shown. The input window 72 is a window in which contents to be changed can be input, and includes a reflect button 73 and a cancel button 74 . Then, based on the input information S1 supplied from the input device 2, the display control unit 55 detects that "500" has been specified as the content after the change of the upper limit of purchased heat amount after the change, and displays on the input window 72 "500" is displayed. When detecting that the reflection button 73 has been selected, the display control unit 55 changes the contents of the selected cell 71 to “500” input in the input window 72 . It should be noted that, as in the example of FIG. 9, when the transaction terms relating to the transaction volume of the commodity to be traded are changed, there is a possibility that the amount of profit generated in the target transaction, the types of vessels that can be used, etc. will change. Therefore, in this case, the combination of sellers and buyers obtained by the optimization process and the transportation schedule may change.

Then, when the display control unit 55 detects that the matching re-execution button 61 is selected after any cell in the matching table 60 is changed, the display control unit 55 becomes a change target corresponding to the changed cell 71. The identification information of the transaction conditions and the input information S1, which is the content entered in the cell 71, are supplied to the condition change unit 56. FIG. Then, based on the information received from the display control unit 55, the condition changing unit 56 supplies the determining unit 54 with instruction information for changing the transaction conditions and instructing re-execution of the optimization process. In this case, the determination unit 54 executes the optimization process reflecting the change in transaction conditions based on the instruction information transmitted from the condition change unit 56 .

FIG. 10 is a display example of the matching confirmation screen when the matching re-execution button 61 is selected on the matching confirmation screen of FIG.

In this case, the determination unit 54 executes optimization processing that reflects the change in the transaction conditions, and the display control unit 55 displays the matching table 60 of the matching confirmation screen based on the processing result of the optimization processing executed by the determination unit 54. The display of is updated. For example, the determining unit 54 changes the seller to be combined with the buyer ID "B7" from the seller with the seller ID "S2" to the seller with the seller ID "S9" as a result of executing the optimization process reflecting the change in the transaction conditions. are doing.

In this case, the display control unit 55 also displays the cell 71 in which the transaction conditions have been changed on the matching table 60, and the seller with the seller ID "S9" whose combination is different before and after the change in the transaction conditions. The corresponding cell rows 75 are highlighted respectively. Note that instead of the display example of FIG. 10, the display control unit 55 may highlight the cell rows of both the seller and the buyer whose combinations are different before and after the transaction conditions are changed. You can also highlight only the cell rows that

Then, when the display control unit 55 detects that the overwrite save button 62 has been selected, the storage unit 57 stores the seller information 41 and the buyer information 42 reflecting the change in the transaction conditions. The seller information 41 and the buyer information 42 are overwritten and stored in the storage device 4. - 特許庁Similarly, the storage unit 57 overwrites and saves information indicating the result of re-execution of the optimization process reflecting the change in the transaction conditions on the processing result information 45 before the change in the transaction conditions is reflected. That is, in this case, the storage unit 57 specifies the seller information 41 and the buyer information 42 reflecting the change in transaction terms for the processing result information 45 including the plan identification information indicating the plan name "first plan". and the combination information and transport schedule information based on the re-execution of the optimization process are overwritten and saved.

Further, when the display control unit 55 detects that the duplicate save button 63 has been selected, the storage unit 57 saves the seller information 41 and the buyer information 42 reflecting the change in the transaction conditions. The information is stored in the storage device 4 separately from the seller information 41 and the buyer information 42 which have not been registered. In addition, the storage unit 57 stores the processing result information 45 generated based on the processing result of re-execution of the optimization processing in the storage device 4 separately from the processing result information 45 before the change of the transaction conditions is reflected. . For example, the storage unit 57 adds processing condition information for specifying the seller information 41 and the buyer information 42 reflecting the change in the transaction conditions to the proposal identification information indicating the newly generated proposal name, and re-optimization processing. Processing result information 45 is generated that associates the combination information based on the execution and the transport schedule information.

In this way, the information processing device 1 performs optimization processing based on the seller information 41 and the buyer information 42 stored in the storage device 4 and displays the matching confirmation screen. Accepts input for changing transaction conditions. As a result, the information processing device 1 displays, for example, on the matching confirmation screen, the transaction terms that the intermediary in the transaction, who is the user of the information processing device 1, intends to change through negotiations with the seller or the buyer. Can accept changes. As a result, the intermediary can immediately grasp the combination of the seller and the buyer, the transportation schedule, etc. when the transaction terms are changed, on the matching confirmation screen.

In addition, the transaction conditions to be changed are the transaction conditions related to the transaction volume of the material to be traded (“upper limit of heat quantity purchased”, “lower limit of heat quantity purchased”, “upper limit of heat quantity sold”, and “lower limit of heat quantity sold” in FIGS. 9 and 10). ) is not limited to For example, the transaction conditions to be changed may be the transaction conditions related to the delivery period (“delivery start” and “delivery end” in FIGS. 9 and 10). The delivery period is generally defined in detail over time. Therefore, when the transaction conditions relating to the delivery period are subject to change, the intermediary can immediately grasp the optimum combination of the seller and the buyer and the transportation schedule for the change of the specified delivery period.

(2) Summary screen
FIG. 11 is a display example of a summary 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, on the summary screen, a proposal list table 65 that is a list of proposals generated each time the transaction conditions are changed. The proposal list table 65 mainly has items of "proposal name", "creation date and time", "profit", "income", and "expense".

The display control unit 55 displays the name of the plan associated with the processing result information 45 indicating the processing result of the optimization process corresponding to each record in the plan list table 65 in the “plan name” item. In addition, the display control unit 55 displays the date and time of generation of the processing result information 45 corresponding to each record of the plan list 65 in the item of “date and time of creation”. Further, the display control unit 55 displays information on the intermediary's profit (profit/loss), profit, and expense included in the processing result information 45 corresponding to each record of the plan list 65 as "profit", "profit", and "expense", respectively. Displayed in the "Cost" item. That is, for each combination of a seller and a buyer determined by changing the transaction terms, the display control unit 55 designates the intermediary's profits, profits, and expenses that occur when the combination is adopted as "profit" and "profit." , to be displayed in the “Cost” section.

Also, preferably, the display control unit 55 displays a matching confirmation screen corresponding to the plan corresponding to the selected record when it detects that one of the records in the plan list 65 has been selected. In this case, the display control unit 55 displays the above matching confirmation screen based on the seller information 41, the buyer information 42, the processing result information 45, etc. corresponding to the plan corresponding to the selected record.

In this manner, the information processing apparatus 1 displays, on the summary screen, the corresponding relationships between the date and time of creation of the proposal and the profits, revenues, and expenses for the proposals generated by changing the transaction conditions. As a result, the information processing device 1 can display the profits and the like for each proposal generated by changing the transaction conditions so that the user of the information processing device 1 can preferably compare them.

[Processing flow]
FIG. 12 is a flowchart showing the procedure of optimization processing in this embodiment. The information processing device 1 executes the processing shown in FIG. 12, for example, when input information instructing display of a matching confirmation screen is received from the input device 2. FIG.

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). Further, 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 acquiring 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 it has detected an input instructing a change of the transaction conditions regarding at least one of the selling conditions indicated by the seller information 41 and the buying conditions indicated by the buyer information 42 (step S16). Then, when the display control unit 55 detects an input instructing to change the trading conditions (step S16; Yes), the condition changing unit 56 changes the trading conditions and outputs instruction information to instruct re-execution of the optimization process. It is transmitted to the determination unit 54 . Then, based on the instruction information, the determining unit 54 redetermines the combination of the seller and the buyer who are transaction partners, and the transportation schedule (step S17). That is, in this case, the determination unit 54 determines the combination of the seller and the buyer who are the trading partners based on the seller information 41 and the buyer information 42 reflecting the change in the transaction conditions, the vessel information 43 and the port information 44, and determine the transportation schedule; As a result, the determination unit 54 considers the changed transaction conditions, combines the seller and the buyer so as to maximize the profit for the user of the information processing device 1, and determines the combination of the seller and the buyer that require transportation. assignment of vessels and determination of sailing period.

Then, the display control unit 55 updates the matching confirmation screen based on the processing result of the determination unit 54 in step S17 (step S18). That is, the display control unit 55 updates the matching confirmation screen displayed in step S15 based on the processing result of the determination unit 54 in step S17. Then, the display control unit 55 determines whether or not to end the display of the matching confirmation screen (step S19). Then, the display control unit 55 determines that the display of the matching confirmation screen should be finished when, for example, the input information S1 instructing to finish displaying the matching confirmation screen is received from the input device 2, and the processing of the flowchart is finished. . On the other hand, when the display control unit 55 determines that the display of the matching confirmation screen should not be terminated (step S19; No), the process returns to step S16, and again determines whether or not there is an input of an instruction to change the transaction conditions.

<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 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 . Further, the information processing device 1A 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 a matching confirmation screen, a summary screen, and the like based on the display information S2. In addition, the terminal device 5 accepts a user input regarding a change in a predetermined transaction condition on the matching confirmation screen, and transmits the accepted input information S1 to the information processing device 1A. In this case, the information processing device 1A re-executes the optimization process based on the input information S1 indicating the changed content of the transaction conditions, and generates the display information S2 for updating the matching confirmation screen. The information processing device 1A then transmits the generated display information S2 to the terminal device 5 . Based on the display information S2, the terminal device 5 displays a matching confirmation screen reflecting the change in the designated transaction conditions.

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 the information processing device 1A receives the input information S1 regarding the change of the transaction terms from the terminal device 5, the information processing device 1A selects the combination of the seller and the buyer and the transportation schedule that maximizes the profit for the user based on the changed transaction terms. Redetermine. As a result, the information processing device 1A can suitably present to the user of the terminal device 5 the optimum combination of the seller and the buyer, the transportation schedule, etc. reflecting the change in the designated transaction conditions.

<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, a determination section 54B, and a condition change section 56B.

The seller information acquisition unit 51B acquires seller information indicating selling conditions specified by each of a plurality of sellers to be traded. The buyer information acquiring unit 52B acquires buyer information indicating buying conditions presented by each of a plurality of buyers to be traded. The determination unit 54B determines a first combination of each of the sellers and the buyers with whom the transaction is concluded, based on the seller information, the buyer information, and the profit of the intermediary who mediates the transaction to be traded. . The condition changing unit 56B changes at least one of the selling conditions indicated by the seller information and the buying conditions indicated by the buyer information. Then, the determination unit 54B determines a second combination of each of the sellers and each of the buyers with which the transaction is concluded based on the buyer information and seller information reflecting the change and the profit of the intermediary.

The information processing apparatus 1B according to the third embodiment considers the interests of the intermediary who mediates the transaction of the transaction target, suitably determines the combination of the seller and the buyer, and changes the conditions related to the selling condition or the buying condition. Even if there is a change, it is possible to determine the combination of the seller and the buyer corresponding to the change.

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 each of a plurality of sellers to be traded;
a buyer information acquisition unit for acquiring buyer information indicating purchase conditions designated by each of the plurality of buyers to be traded;
Determining a first combination of each of the sellers and each of the buyers with which the transaction is concluded based on the seller information, the buyer information, and the interest of an intermediary who mediates the transaction to be traded. a decision unit to
a condition changing unit that changes at least one of the selling conditions or the buying conditions,
The determining unit determines a second relationship between each of the sellers with whom the transaction is concluded and each of the buyers based on the buyer information and the seller information to which the change is reflected and the interest of the intermediary. An information processing device that determines a combination.

[Appendix 2]
A display control unit that displays information indicating the first combination on a display device together with the selling condition and the buying condition,
The information processing according to Supplementary Note 1, wherein when there is an input instructing to change at least one of the selling condition and the buying condition displayed on the display device, the condition changing unit makes the change based on the input. Device.

[Appendix 3]
The display control unit displays, on the display device, at least information about the intermediary's profit when the first combination is used and information about the intermediary's profit when the second combination is used. The information processing device according to appendix 2, which displays.

[Appendix 4]
storing the information about the first combination in a storage unit in association with the seller information and the buyer information before the change is reflected;
4. The storage unit according to any one of appendices 1 to 3, further comprising a storage unit that associates the information regarding the second combination with the seller information and the buyer information after the change is reflected and stores the information in the storage unit. The information processing device described.

[Appendix 5]
The seller information includes information on the delivery period and transaction volume of the transaction object,
The buyer information includes information on the delivery period and transaction volume of the transaction object,
5. The information processing device according to any one of appendices 1 to 4, wherein the condition changing unit changes at least one of the delivery period and the trading volume.

[Appendix 6]
the seller information includes information on the price and transaction volume of the transaction object;
The buyer information includes information on the price and transaction volume of the transaction object,
6. The information processing apparatus according to any one of appendices 1 to 5, wherein the determination unit determines the first combination and the second combination so as to maximize the profit of the intermediary.

[Appendix 7]
further comprising a transportation information acquisition unit that acquires transportation information relating to transportation of the transaction object from the seller to the buyer;
The determination unit determines a first schedule of transportation for the first combination based on the seller information and the buyer information before the change, the broker's profit, and the transportation information, and determining a second schedule of transportation for the second combination based on the buyer information and the seller information reflected in the changes, the broker's interest, and the transportation information; The information processing device according to any one of the items.

[Appendix 8]
The transportation information includes vessel information about a vessel used for the transportation,
The determination unit determines the first schedule and the second schedule by determining the ship to be used for the transaction and the sailing period of the ship for the transaction that requires transportation of the transaction target. The information processing device according to appendix 7.

[Appendix 9]
A control method executed by an information processing device,
Acquiring seller information indicating selling conditions specified by each of a plurality of sellers to be traded,
acquiring buyer information indicating buying conditions specified by each of the plurality of buyers to be traded;
Determining a first combination of each of the sellers and each of the buyers with which the transaction is concluded based on the seller information, the buyer information, and the interest of an intermediary who mediates the transaction to be traded. death,
changing at least one of the selling conditions or the buying conditions;
Determining a second combination of each of the sellers and each of the buyers with which the transaction is concluded based on the buyer information and the seller information reflecting the change, and the intermediary's interest; control method.

[Appendix 10]
a seller information acquiring unit for acquiring seller information indicating selling conditions specified by each of a plurality of sellers to be traded;
a buyer information acquisition unit for acquiring buyer information indicating purchase conditions designated by each of the plurality of buyers to be traded;
Determining a first combination of each of the sellers and each of the buyers with which the transaction is concluded based on the seller information, the buyer information, and the interest of an intermediary who mediates the transaction to be traded. a decision unit to
causing the computer to function as a condition changing unit that changes at least one of the selling conditions and the buying conditions;
The determining unit determines a second relationship between each of the sellers with whom the transaction is concluded and each of the buyers based on the buyer information and the seller information to which the change is reflected and the interest of the intermediary. A storage medium that stores a program that determines a combination.

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 each of a plurality of sellers to be traded;
Buyer information acquisition means for acquiring buyer information indicating purchase conditions designated by each of the plurality of buyers to be traded;
Determining a first combination of each of the sellers and each of the buyers with which the transaction is concluded based on the seller information, the buyer information, and the interest of an intermediary who mediates the transaction to be traded. a determining means to
a condition changing means for changing at least one of the selling condition and the buying condition;
Display control means for displaying information indicating the first combination on a display device,
The decision means determines a second decision between each of the sellers with whom the transaction is concluded and each of the buyers based on the buyer information and the seller information to which the change is reflected and the interest of the intermediary. determine the combination
When displaying information indicating the second combination on the display device after the change, the display control means displays information on at least one of the seller or the buyer who is a trading partner different from the first combination, Information processing device for highlighting . The display control means displays information indicating the first combination on the display device together with the selling condition and the buying condition ,
2. The information according to claim 1, wherein said condition changing means makes said change based on said input when there is an input instructing to change at least one of said selling condition and said buying condition displayed on said display device. processing equipment. The display control means displays, on the display device, at least information about the intermediary's profit when the first combination is used and information about the intermediary's profit when the second combination is used. 3. The information processing apparatus according to claim 2, which displays. storing the information about the first combination in a storage means in association with the seller information and the buyer information before the change is reflected;
4. The storage means according to any one of claims 1 to 3, further comprising storing means for associating information relating to said second combination with said seller information and said buyer information after said change has been reflected, and storing said information in said storage means. The information processing device according to . The seller information includes information on the delivery period and transaction volume of the transaction object,
The buyer information includes information on the delivery period and transaction volume of the transaction object,
The information processing apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein said condition changing means changes at least one of said delivery period and said trading volume. the seller information includes information on the price and transaction volume of the transaction object;
The buyer information includes information on the price and transaction volume of the transaction object,
The information processing apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 5, wherein said determining means determines said first combination and said second combination so as to maximize the benefit of said intermediary. further comprising transportation information acquisition means for acquiring transportation information relating to transportation of the transaction object from the seller to the buyer;
The determination means determines a first schedule of transportation for the first combination based on the seller information and the buyer information before the change, the broker's profit, and the transportation information, and determining a second schedule of transportation for said second combination based on said buyer information and said seller information reflecting changes, said intermediary's interests, and said transportation information; The information processing device according to any one of . The transportation information includes vessel information about a vessel used for the transportation,
The determination means determines the first schedule and the second schedule by determining a vessel to be used for the transaction and a sailing period of the vessel for a transaction that requires transportation of the transaction target. The information processing apparatus according to claim 7. A control method executed by an information processing device,
Acquiring seller information indicating selling conditions specified by each of a plurality of sellers to be traded,
acquiring buyer information indicating buying conditions specified by each of the plurality of buyers to be traded;
Determining a first combination of each of the sellers and each of the buyers with which the transaction is concluded based on the seller information, the buyer information, and the interest of an intermediary who mediates the transaction to be traded. death,
changing at least one of the selling conditions or the buying conditions;
displaying information indicating the first combination on a display device;
determining a second combination of each of the sellers and each of the buyers with which the transaction is concluded based on the buyer information and the seller information reflecting the change, and the interest of the intermediary ;
A control method, wherein, when information indicating the second combination after the change is displayed on the display device, information regarding at least one of the seller and the buyer who are different trading partners from the first combination is highlighted. . seller information acquiring means for acquiring seller information indicating selling conditions specified by each of a plurality of sellers to be traded;
Buyer information acquisition means for acquiring buyer information indicating purchase conditions designated by each of the plurality of buyers to be traded;
Determining a first combination of each of the sellers and each of the buyers with which the transaction is concluded based on the seller information, the buyer information, and the interest of an intermediary who mediates the transaction to be traded. a determining means to
a condition changing means for changing at least one of the selling condition and the buying condition ;
Display control means for displaying information indicating the first combination on a display device
make the computer function as
The decision means determines a second decision between each of the sellers with whom the transaction is concluded and each of the buyers based on the buyer information and the seller information to which the change is reflected and the interest of the intermediary. determine the combination
When displaying information indicating the second combination on the display device after the change, the display control means displays information on at least one of the seller or the buyer who is a trading partner different from the first combination, program to highlight .

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