JP7633960B2 - Logistics Support Equipment - Google Patents

Description

Article 30, paragraph 2 of the Patent Act was applied. Published on October 14, 2021 at the following website address: https://www. nipponexpress-holdings. com/ja/press/2021/20211014-1. html

The present invention relates to a logistics support device.

Conventionally, there is known a technique for calculating environmental loads such as _CO2 emissions in the transportation of goods (see, for example, Patent Literature 1). The simulation device described in Patent Literature 1 displays, on a display unit, transportation routes and transportation evaluation indices for each transportation means superimposed on map information.

JP 2020-003216 A

However, at present, the environmental load is merely grasped, and the effect of reducing the environmental load is not sufficient. Therefore, the present invention aims to provide a logistics support device that can visualize the reduction effect of _CO2 emissions in logistics transportation and support the verification of decarbonization effects.

The present invention relates to a logistics support device including a transport information acquisition unit that acquires transport information for transporting goods, a mileage memory unit that stores a mileage related to transport for transporting the goods, a transport distance calculation unit that calculates a transport distance for transporting the goods based on the transport information and the mileage related to the transport, an environment-related information calculation unit that calculates an amount of _CO2 emissions in each of a plurality of transport modes for transporting the goods, schedule information related to the transport of the goods, and fee information related to the transport of the goods based on the transport information and the transport distance, and an information presentation unit that generates output information including the amount of _CO2 emissions in each of the plurality of transport modes, the schedule information, the fee information, and store information responsible for transporting the goods, and presents the output information in a lump.

It is also preferable that the information presentation unit generates a report showing the effect of reducing the amount of _CO2 emissions, and presents the generated report together with the output information.

It is preferable that the environment-related information calculation unit calculates the amount of CO ₂ emissions in the current transportation mode and the amount of CO ₂ emissions after the transportation mode is changed, based on the transportation information and a travel distance related to the transportation.

In addition, when the customer requesting the transportation of the goods is a new customer, it is preferable that the transportation information acquisition unit presents a _CO2 emission calculation request form for acquiring the transportation information to the customer and acquires the transportation information entered into the _CO2 emission calculation request form.

In addition, when the customer requesting the transportation of the item is an existing customer, it is preferable that the transportation information acquisition unit acquires the transportation information based on the shipping data and/or billing data of the customer.

It is also preferable that the shipping information includes at least the origin address, destination address, shipping date, total weight, total number, and shipping mode.

Moreover, it is preferable that the report indicates the effect of reducing the amount of _CO2 emissions and includes a designated form that describes the amount of _CO2 emissions and is to be submitted to a public administrative agency.

According to the present invention, a logistics support device can be provided that can visualize the effect of reducing _CO2 emissions in logistics transportation and support verification of the decarbonization effect.

1 is a schematic diagram showing an overall configuration of an embodiment of a logistics support system according to the present embodiment; 1 is a block diagram showing a functional configuration of a logistics support device according to an embodiment of the present invention; FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating an example of the configuration of a terminal device according to the present embodiment. FIG. 11 is a diagram showing an example of a CO ₂ emission amount calculation request form. FIG. 11 is a diagram illustrating an example of output information. An example of a report for a new customer is shown below. An example of a report for an existing customer is shown below. FIG. 13 is a diagram showing an example of detailed contents of a report. FIG. 13 is a diagram showing an example of detailed contents of a report. FIG. 13 is a diagram showing an example of detailed contents of a report. This is an example of a logistics efficiency improvement application form (attached sheet) to be submitted to the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism. This is an example of the specified shipper periodic report (Appendix 3) to be submitted to the Agency for Natural Resources and Energy. 4 is a flowchart showing a flow of processing by the logistics support device according to the present embodiment.

The following describes an embodiment of a logistics support system 1 of the present invention with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram showing the overall configuration of an embodiment of a logistics support system 1 according to the present invention. As shown in FIG. 1, the logistics support system 1 includes a logistics support device 2 and a terminal device 3.

The logistics support device 2 is a computer device provided for the purpose of visualizing the effect of reducing _CO2 emissions in logistics transportation. The logistics support device 2 is configured to be able to communicate with a terminal device 3 via a network 4. The logistics support device 2 may be configured with a single computer device or may be configured with multiple computer devices. The logistics support device 2 is managed, for example, by a logistics transportation company that transports goods.

The terminal device 3 is a computer device for accessing the logistics support device 2. The terminal device 3 is configured to be able to communicate with the logistics support device 2 via the network 4. The terminal device 3 is operated, for example, by a logistics transport business operator that accesses the logistics support device 2, a customer (user) that uses the services provided by the logistics support device 2, etc.

Figure 2 is a block diagram showing the functional configuration of the logistics support device 2 according to this embodiment. As shown in Figure 2, the logistics support device 2 includes a control unit 21, a storage unit 22, and a communication unit 23.

The control unit 21 is realized, for example, by a hardware processor such as a CPU (Central Processing Unit) executing a program (software). Some or all of these components may be realized by hardware (including circuitry) such as an LSI (Large Scale Integration), ASIC (Application Specific Integrated Circuit), FPGA (Field-Programmable Gate Array), or GPU (Graphics Processing Unit), or may be realized by a combination of software and hardware.

The program may be stored in advance in the storage unit 22 (a storage device with a non-transient storage medium), or may be stored in a removable storage medium (non-transient storage medium) such as a DVD or CD-ROM, and installed when the storage medium is inserted into the drive device.

The memory unit 22 is realized, for example, by a storage device having a non-transient storage medium such as a hard disk drive (HDD), flash memory, electrically erasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM), or read-only memory (ROM), or by a random access memory (RAM).

Specifically, the storage unit 22 includes a mileage database (DB) 221 that stores mileages related to transportation for transporting goods in a database. For example, the mileage database (DB) 221 stores a collection and delivery distance as the mileage related to collection and delivery, and a trunk line distance as the mileage related to the trunk line.

Collection and delivery distances are calculated by specifying the working area of each collection and delivery base for each transport mode, and the distance between each collection and delivery base postal code and all postal codes within the working area is stored in a database. The distance between postal codes corresponds to the national road map, and uses the actual road distance calculated using road map data that is updated annually.

For main line distances, the National Freight Truck Commercial Kilometres Chart is used for chartered transport and small-lot corporate freight transport, the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism's registered shipping route plan is used for domestic ships, government statistical data (domestic scheduled airline routes) is used for domestic aviation, and the Freight Commercial Kilometres Chart is used for rail transport.

The memory unit 22 also stores various information for calculating or generating transport distances, output information, reports, etc., as described below.

The communication unit 23 is a communication interface for communicating with external devices via a network.

The control unit 21 also includes a transport information acquisition unit 211, a transport distance calculation unit 212, an environment-related information calculation unit 213, and an information presentation unit 214.

The transport information acquisition unit 211 acquires transport information for transporting goods. Specifically, when a customer requesting the transport of goods is a new customer, the transport information acquisition unit 211 presents a _CO2 emission calculation request form for acquiring transport information to the customer, and acquires the transport information entered in the _CO2 emission calculation request form.

The transport distance calculation unit 212 calculates a transport distance for transporting the goods based on the transport information and the travel distance related to the transport. Specifically, the environment-related information calculation unit 213 calculates the _CO2 emission amount in the current transport mode and the _CO2 emission amount after the transport mode is changed based on the transport information and the travel distance related to the transport.

Furthermore, when the customer requesting the transportation of an item is an existing customer, the transportation information acquisition unit 211 acquires transportation information based on the shipping data and/or billing data of the customer.
The shipping information includes at least the origin address, the destination address, the shipping date, the total weight, the total number of pieces, and the shipping mode.

The environment-related information calculation unit 213 calculates, based on the transportation information and the transportation distance, the CO ₂ emissions for each of a plurality of transportation modes for transporting the goods, schedule information regarding the transportation of the goods, and fee information regarding the transportation of the goods.

The information presentation unit 214 generates output information including the _CO2 emission amount for each of the multiple transport modes, schedule information, fee information, and store information responsible for transporting the goods, and presents the output information in a lump sum. Furthermore, the information presentation unit 214 generates a report showing the effect of reducing _CO2 emission together with the output information, and presents the generated report together with the output information.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing an example of the configuration of the terminal device 3 according to this embodiment. As shown in FIG. 3, the terminal device 3 includes a control unit 31, a storage unit 32, a communication unit 33, a display unit 34, and an operation unit 35.

The control unit 31 is realized, for example, by a hardware processor such as a CPU executing a program (software). Some or all of these components may be realized by hardware (including circuit units) such as an LSI, ASIC, FPGA, or GPU, or may be realized by a combination of software and hardware. The program may be stored in advance in a storage device such as an HDD or flash memory (a storage device with a non-transient storage medium), or may be stored in a removable storage medium (non-transient storage medium) such as a DVD or CD-ROM, and installed by inserting the storage medium into a drive device.

The memory unit 32 is realized, for example, by a storage device equipped with a non-transitory storage medium such as an HDD, flash memory, EEPROM, or ROM, or by a RAM, etc.

The communication unit 33 is a communication interface for communicating with external devices via a network.
The display unit 34 is a device that displays an image. The display unit 34 is, for example, an LCD or an organic EL display.

The operation unit 35 is composed of buttons for operating the display unit 34. The display unit 34 and the operation unit 35 may be a touch panel in which these functions are integrated. In this case, the operation unit 35 may be a GUI switch displayed on the display unit 34. The operation unit 35 may be a mechanical button.

4 is a diagram showing an example of the _CO2 emission calculation request form 5. As described above, the _CO2 emission calculation request form 5 is generated by the transport information acquisition unit 211 and presented to the terminal device 3 that has accessed the logistics support device 2. A user operating the terminal device 3 inputs transport information by inputting each item into the _CO2 emission calculation request form 5, and outputs the transport information to the logistics support device 2.

As shown in FIG. 4, the CO ₂ emission calculation request form 5 has items 51 to 55 .
Item 51 is a text box for searching for a detailed quotation request number. When a customer operating the terminal device 3 inputs a detailed quotation request number in item 51, the logistics support device 2 reads out previously input transportation information from the storage unit 22 and automatically inputs it into the _CO2 emission calculation request form 5.

Item 52 is a text box for inputting the departure address and destination address. The customer operating the terminal device 3 inputs the prefecture and city/ward/town/village name by selecting the prefecture and city/ward/town/village from a pull-down menu. The prefecture and city/ward/town/village name can also be input by inputting a postal code and clicking postal code search. The auxiliary address is an optional input item, and can be input from the auxiliary address screen by clicking address search.

Item 53 is a text box for inputting the total weight, total number, etc. The customer operating the terminal device 3 inputs the total weight, total volume, and total number of cargo items. When inputting detailed size, dimensions and up to five types of cargo information can be input. By inputting cargo details, a vehicle can be selected taking into consideration the volume, dimensions, etc.

Item 54 is a selection item for inputting the shipping date, transportation mode, etc. The customer operating the terminal device 3 can select the item, product (corresponding to the transportation mode), collection and delivery date and time designation (corresponding to the shipping date), and display order.

In detail, the item can be selected from among dry, refrigerated, and frozen, and the relevant item can be selected from among dangerous goods, valuables, fragile goods, letters, and personal information. The product is a pull-down list for selecting the transport mode to be searched, and the options available are All, Air, Arrow (small-lot cargo transport for businesses), Rail, Inland (coastal shipping), Charter, and Sea & Rail. If "All" is selected, the logistics support device 2 will perform a search across all transport modes.

The date and time specification is a field for specifying the date and time of collection and delivery. After selecting the collection and delivery conditions and clicking the date, the user can select a date from the calendar. The time condition can be selected as either AM or PM. The display order indicates the condition for the display order of the search results, and can be selected from among fee priority, lead time priority, and _CO2 emission priority.

Item 55 is a button for executing a search, and the customer operating the terminal device 3 clicks item 55 to output the transportation information entered in the _CO2 emission calculation request form 5 to the logistics support device 2. Then, the output information and report are presented from the logistics support device 2 to the terminal device 3, and the screen displayed on the display unit 34 of the terminal device 3 transitions from the screen of the _CO2 emission calculation request form 5 to a screen of output information 6.

Figure 5 is a diagram showing an example of output information 6. As described above, the output information 6 is generated by the information presentation unit 214 and presented to the terminal device 3 that has accessed the logistics support device 2. As shown in Figure 5, the output information 6 has items 61 to 71.

Item 61 indicates the departure point (collection location) and arrival point (delivery location), and indicates the collection address and delivery address entered in the CO ₂ emission calculation request form 5 .
Item 62 indicates whether the search results shown in items 63 to 70 are displayed in order of lowest _CO2 emissions ( _CO2 emissions priority), lead time (lead time priority), or lowest price (price priority).

Item 63 is a check box for selecting each transportation service (desired product) shown as a search result.
Item 64 is an in-screen transition button, and clicking on this button causes the screen to transition to detailed information on a specific transportation service (product).

Item 65 shows the service names of the transport mode candidates searched for for each transport mode.
In addition, item 65 displays an information icon, which is a circular icon with the letter "i" inside, and a caution icon, which is a triangular icon with the letter "!" inside. The information icon indicates that there are multiple transport candidates for the transport mode, and clicking on it allows you to check other transport candidates for the transport mode. The caution icon indicates that there are notes specific to the transport mode, and clicking on it displays the notes on a separate caution sub-screen, where you can check the contents.

Item 66 shows the calculated _CO2 emissions for each transportation mode.
Item 67 indicates the dispatch date and time (collection date and time), and item 68 indicates the dispatch date and time (delivery date and time).
Item 69 indicates the freight charge including collection charges, delivery charges, transportation charges and other surcharges.
Item 70 indicates the sales office responsible for collection, and when the link shown in item 70 is clicked, a store information introduction screen is displayed on a separate sub-screen, and the store name, store code, telephone number, etc. of the sales office can be confirmed.
Item 71, when the user of the terminal device 3 is a customer, transitions to a message screen for creating and sending an inquiry to the service provider.

6A and 6B are diagrams showing examples of reports of estimated _CO2 emission amounts, where FIG. 6A shows an example of a report for a new customer, and FIG. 6B shows an example of a report for an existing customer.
As shown in FIG. 6A, the _CO2 emission calculation result report 81 for new customers presents the _CO2 emission amount of the current transportation mode, the _CO2 emission amount of the changed transportation mode, the _CO2 emission reduction effect, and the _CO2 emission reduction rate to the customer operating the terminal device 3.

Similarly, as shown in FIG. 6B, a _CO2 emission calculation result report 82 for existing customers presents the _CO2 emission amount of the current transportation mode, the _CO2 emission amount of the comparison transportation mode, the environmental contribution effect related to the _CO2 emission amount, and the environmental contribution rate related to the _CO2 emission amount to the customer operating the terminal device 3.

7A, 7B, and 7C are diagrams showing examples of detailed contents of the report. Reports 83, 84, and 85 of the estimated _CO2 emission amount calculation results shown in Fig. 7A, 7B, and 7C are detailed contents following Fig. 6A or Fig. 6B.

Figure 7A compares actual and forecasted _CO2 emissions to specifically show the reduction effect of annual _CO2 emissions. Figure 7B shows the annual reduction effect of annual freight charges and annual _CO2 emissions for the current transport mode and the changed (proposed) transport mode. Figure 7C shows the reduction effect of total freight charges, total _CO2 emissions, and average transport days for each origin area. With such detailed reports, customers can clearly understand the reduction effect of _CO2 emissions, freight charges, etc.

7D and 7E are diagrams showing examples of recording _CO2 emissions in a designated form to be submitted to a public administrative agency, which is added as an option to the report. Fig. 7D is an example of a logistics efficiency improvement application form (attached sheet) to be submitted by a business customer to the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism. As shown in Fig. 7D, the logistics support device 2 records (i.e., inputs) the calculated _CO2 emissions of the current transportation mode and after the change of the transportation mode in the logistics efficiency improvement application form (attached sheet).

Fig. 7E is an example of a specified shipper periodic report (Appendix 3) that a business customer submits to the Agency for Natural Resources and Energy. Note that Fig. 7E is an excerpt of a portion of the specified shipper periodic report (Appendix 3). The logistics support device 2 records the calculated _CO2 emissions for the current transport mode and after the transport mode is changed in the specified shipper periodic report (Appendix 3) shown in Fig. 7E. By recording the _CO2 emissions in a designated form to be submitted to a public administrative agency as an option in this way, the administrative work of the business customer can be reduced.

FIG. 8 is a flowchart showing the flow of processing by the logistics support device 2 according to this embodiment.
In step S1, if the customer requesting the transportation of goods is a new customer, the transportation information acquisition unit 211 presents a _CO2 emission calculation request form for acquiring transportation information to the customer and acquires the transportation information entered in the _CO2 emission calculation request form. If the customer is an existing customer, the transportation information is acquired based on the customer's shipping data and/or billing data.

In step S2, the transport distance calculation unit 212 calculates the transport distance for transporting the goods based on the transport information and the travel distance related to the transport.

In step S3, the environment-related information calculation unit 213 calculates the _CO2 emissions for each of a plurality of transport modes for transporting the goods, schedule information related to the transport of the goods, and fee information related to the transport of the goods, based on the transport information and the transport distance.

In step S4, the information presentation unit 214 generates output information including the _CO2 emissions for each of the multiple transportation modes, schedule information, fee information, and store information responsible for transporting the goods, generates a report showing the _CO2 emission reduction effect together with the output information, and presents the generated report together with the output information.

As described above, the logistics support device 2 according to this embodiment includes a transport information acquisition unit 211 that acquires transport information for transporting goods, a mileage database 221 that stores travel distances related to transporting goods, a transport distance calculation unit 212 that calculates a transport distance for transporting goods based on the transport information and the travel distance related to the transport, an environment-related information calculation unit 213 that calculates, based on the transport information and the transport distance, the amount of _CO2 emissions in each of a plurality of transport modes for transporting goods, schedule information related to the transport of the goods, and fee information related to the transport of the goods, and an information presentation unit 214 that generates output information including the amount of _CO2 emissions in each of the plurality of transport modes, the schedule information, the fee information, and store information responsible for transporting the goods, and presents it all at once.

With this configuration, the logistics support device 2 can visualize the reduction effect of _CO2 emissions in logistics transportation by presenting output information including _CO2 emissions, etc. to a user operating the terminal device 3, thereby supporting the verification of the decarbonization effect.

Furthermore, the information presentation unit 214 generates a report showing the effect of reducing _CO2 emissions and presents the generated report together with the output information. In this way, the logistics support device 2 presents the report together with the output information, so that the user can more clearly recognize the effect of reducing _CO2 emissions and can verify the decarbonization effect in detail.

Furthermore, the environment-related information calculation unit 213 calculates the _CO2 emissions in the current transportation mode and the _CO2 emissions after the transportation mode is changed based on the transportation information and the travel distance related to the transportation. With this configuration, the logistics support device 2 can calculate the _CO2 emissions before and after the change and compare the _CO2 emissions before and after the change, so that the user can more clearly recognize the reduction effect of _CO2 emissions and can verify the decarbonization effect in detail.

Furthermore, when a customer requesting the transportation of goods is a new customer, the transportation information acquisition unit 211 presents the customer with a _CO2 emission calculation request form for acquiring transportation information, and acquires the transportation information inputted into the _CO2 emission calculation request form. This allows the new customer to appropriately input the transportation information required for calculating _CO2 emission, etc.

Furthermore, when the customer requesting the transportation of goods is an existing customer, the transportation information acquisition unit 211 acquires transportation information based on the customer's shipping data and/or billing data. This allows the existing customer to input transportation information required for calculating _CO2 emissions, etc., from past shipping data, billing data, etc.

The transportation information includes at least the origin address, the destination address, the shipping date, the total weight, the total number of items, and the transportation mode. This allows the logistics support device 2 to calculate more accurate _CO2 emissions and the like using appropriate data and present them to the user.

The report also indicates the effect of reducing the amount of _CO2 emissions and includes a designated form to be submitted to a public administrative agency, which describes the amount of _CO2 emissions. This allows the logistics support device 2 to reduce the effort required of the user to input information into the designated form.

Although the embodiment of the present invention has been described above, the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment. Furthermore, the effects described in this embodiment are merely a list of the most favorable effects resulting from the present invention, and the effects of the present invention are not limited to those described in this embodiment.

REFERENCE SIGNS LIST 1 Logistics support system 2 Logistics support device 3 Terminal device 4 Network 21 Control unit 22 Memory unit 23 Communication unit 31 Control unit 32 Memory unit 33 Communication unit 34 Display unit 35 Operation unit 211 Transport information acquisition unit 212 Transport distance calculation unit 213 Environment-related information calculation unit 214 Information presentation unit 221 Travel distance database

Claims (7)

a transport information acquisition unit that acquires transport information for transporting an item;
a travel distance storage unit that stores a travel distance related to transportation for transporting the item;
a transport distance calculation unit that calculates a transport distance for transporting the item based on the transport information and a travel distance related to the transport;
an environment-related information calculation unit that calculates, based on the transportation information and the transportation distance, _CO2 emissions in each of a plurality of transportation modes for transporting the goods, schedule information related to the transportation of the goods, and fee information related to the transportation of the goods;
an information presentation unit that generates output information including the _CO2 emission amount for each of the plurality of transportation modes, the schedule information, the fee information, and store information in charge of transporting the goods, and presents the output information in a lump;
A logistics support device comprising: The logistics support device according to claim 1 , wherein the information presentation unit generates a report showing an effect of reducing the amount of CO ₂ emissions, and presents the generated report together with the output information. 3 . The logistics support device according to claim 1 , wherein the environmental information calculation unit calculates the amount of CO ₂ emissions in a current transportation mode and the amount of CO ₂ emissions after a change in transportation mode based on the transportation information and a travel distance related to the transportation. The logistics support device according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein, when a customer requesting the transportation of the goods is a new customer, the transportation information acquisition unit presents a _CO2 emission calculation request form for acquiring the transportation information to the customer and acquires the transportation information entered into the _CO2 emission calculation request form. The logistics support device according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein the transport information acquisition unit acquires the transport information based on the shipping data and/or billing data of a customer requesting the transport of the goods when the customer is an existing customer. The logistics support device according to any one of claims 1 to 5, wherein the transport information includes at least a departure address, a destination address, a shipping date, a total weight, a total number of items, and a transport mode. The logistics support device according to claim 2 , wherein the report indicates the effect of reducing the amount of CO ₂ emissions and includes a designated form to be submitted to a public administrative agency, the designated form indicating the amount of CO ₂ emissions.

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