JP7808977B2 - Order management device and program - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to an order management device and program.

In recent years, restaurants have increasingly been using the services of delivery agencies in addition to dine-in services. Delivery agencies accept orders for restaurant menu items from users' smartphones on their websites, share the order data with the restaurant, and deliver the menu items once they have been prepared at the restaurant.

In addition, restaurants often have contracts with multiple delivery agents. These delivery agents set their own prices depending on the delivery method and service content. At restaurants, the price of the same menu item may differ depending on the delivery agent, so each delivery agent is assigned a different menu code and managed as a separate menu. As a result, if a menu item is out of stock, the restaurant must also process the out-of-stock status for each of the partner delivery agents, which is time-consuming for restaurant staff.

Here, one method for controlling out-of-stock items is to set up an ingredient table that associates ingredients with menu items, and search the ingredient table using the out-of-stock ingredient as a keyword, thereby simultaneously marking multiple menu items as out of stock and prohibiting the issuance of meal tickets (Patent Document 1).

Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2000-57383

However, if an ingredient table is associated with a menu, as in the prior art, two master files - an ingredient master and a menu master - must be updated when the menu is changed, which makes modifying the master files time-consuming. Furthermore, because out-of-stock operations involve changing the ingredient master, marking a menu item as out of stock requires checking the ingredients and marking that ingredient as out of stock, which creates the problem of being difficult to operate intuitively.

The present invention was conceived in light of the above points, and aims to provide an order management device and program that, when a menu item is out of stock, automatically processes other linked menu items as out of stock, thereby reducing the burden of processing out-of-stock items.

The order management device of the first aspect includes a storage unit that stores a first menu and the inventory status corresponding to the first menu, and a management unit that, when an order for a second menu item to which link information to the corresponding first menu item is attached is received from an external device, checks the inventory status corresponding to the first menu item from the link information for the ordered second menu item.

The order management device of the first aspect makes it possible to provide an order management device that can reduce the burden of processing out-of-stock items by processing other linked menu items as out of stock when a menu item is out of stock.

In addition, in the order management device of the second aspect, if the management unit checks the inventory status and finds that the item is out of stock, it sends a message to the external device that the second menu item is out of stock.

The second aspect of the order management device makes it possible to provide an order management device that can output the results of inventory status confirmation to an external device.

In addition, in the order management device of the third aspect, the inventory status includes the inventory status of ingredients used in the first menu.

The order management device of the third aspect makes it possible to provide an order management device that can reduce the processing burden when an ingredient runs out by processing other menu items that use the same ingredient as being out of stock when an ingredient runs out.

Furthermore, in the fourth aspect of the order management device, the second menu item is provided with link information to the first menu item that uses the same ingredient.

The fourth aspect of the order management device makes it possible to provide an order management device that, when an ingredient runs out, can follow the link information to process other menu items that use the same ingredient as being out of stock.

Furthermore, if the order management device of the fifth aspect checks the inventory status of the ingredient and finds that the ingredient is out of stock, it transmits to the external device a notice that the second menu item, as well as other second menu items that use the same ingredient and for which no orders have been accepted, are out of stock.

The order management device of the fifth aspect makes it possible to notify the person placing the order that they cannot order other menu items that use ingredients that are out of stock, making it possible to provide an order management device that can assist in selecting an alternative menu item for a menu item that uses ingredients that are out of stock.

Furthermore, the program for the order management device of the sixth aspect causes a computer to execute a process of reading a first menu and the inventory status corresponding to a corresponding second menu from a storage unit that stores the first menu and the inventory status corresponding to the first menu, and a process of confirming the inventory status corresponding to the first menu from the link information of the ordered second menu when an order for the second menu to which link information to the corresponding first menu is attached is received from an external device.

The sixth aspect of the order management device program makes it possible to provide an order management device program that can reduce the burden of processing out-of-stock items by processing other linked menu items as out of stock when a menu item is out of stock.

This invention makes it possible to provide an order management device and program that can reduce the burden of processing out-of-stock items by processing other linked menu items as out of stock when a menu item is out of stock.

1 is a schematic configuration diagram of an order management system according to an embodiment of the present invention. 1 is a schematic block diagram of an order management device according to an embodiment of the present invention. 1 is a block diagram illustrating an example of a functional configuration of an order management device according to an embodiment of the present invention. 3 is an explanatory diagram illustrating an example of a menu information table stored in the order management device according to the embodiment of the present invention. FIG. FIG. 10 is an explanatory diagram illustrating an example of an out-of-stock table according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram illustrating an example of a menu information table stored in the server according to the embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 2 is a sequence diagram showing an example of an operation of the order management system according to the embodiment of the present invention. 10 is a flowchart illustrating an example of an order receiving process according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 10 is an explanatory diagram for explaining another example of the menu information table according to the embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 10 is an explanatory diagram for explaining another example of an out-of-stock table of ingredients according to an embodiment of the present invention.

An example of an embodiment of the present invention will now be described with reference to the drawings. Note that the same reference numerals are used throughout the drawings to designate identical or equivalent components and parts. Also, the dimensional proportions in the drawings have been exaggerated for the sake of explanation and may differ from the actual proportions.

An example of an order management system 10 according to the present embodiment will be described with reference to FIG.
FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an example of a schematic configuration of an order management system 10 according to the present embodiment.
As shown in FIG. 1 , the order management system 10 according to the present embodiment includes an in-store system 20 housed in a store such as a restaurant, and a delivery agent server 400 connected to the in-store system 20 via an internet line or the like. The delivery agent server 400 accepts restaurant menu orders from users' smartphones 500 or the like via an internet line or the like, and transmits the accepted order information to the in-store system 20. Here, in the present embodiment, the delivery agent server 400 is an example of an external device. The delivery agent server 400 includes a number of servers 400 equal to the number of delivery agents contracted by the store.

The in-store system 20 comprises multiple order terminal devices 100, an order management device 200, and a printer 300. The order management device 200 is not limited to being housed within the store, but may also be installed outside the store by connecting to the order terminal device 100 and printer 300 via an internet line or the like. The in-store system 20 may also comprise other devices such as a display device that displays information to be referenced during cooking.

The order terminal device 100 is a device used by store staff when entering orders from customers, and in this embodiment is a smartphone or tablet terminal device. The order terminal device 100 communicates with the order management device 200 via wireless communication, such as a wireless LAN (Local Area Network).

In this embodiment, the order management device 200 manages order information input from the order terminal device 100 and server 400, controls the printer 300 to print customer slips based on the order information, and checks the remaining quantity of menu items, which will be described later.

The printer 300 is a device that prints customer slips and other documents used during checkout. The printer 300 communicates with the order management device 200 via a wired network. Information sent from the order management device 200 to the printer 300 includes slip images and other information used to print customer slips. Note that the printer 300 is not limited to communicating with the order management device 200 via a wired network; it may also communicate with the order management device 200 via wireless communication, such as a wireless LAN or the Internet.

(Order management device 200)
FIG. 2 is a block diagram of an order management device 200 according to this embodiment.
As shown in FIG. 2, the order management device 200 according to this embodiment includes a control unit 201 , a storage unit 202 , a communication unit 203 , an input unit 204 , and a display unit 205 .
Each component is connected to each other via a bus 206 so that they can communicate with each other.

The control unit 201 is equipped with a CPU (Central Processing Unit) and executes various programs and controls each unit of the order management device 200. In other words, the control unit 201 controls each of the above components and performs various calculation processes based on the programs recorded in the memory unit 202.

The control unit 201 also creates a slip image based on the order information input from the order terminal 100 or the server 400, and instructs the printer 300 to print it.

The storage unit 202 includes a ROM (Read Only Memory) and a RAM (Random Access Memory), and stores various programs including an operating system and information.
The storage unit 202 may be, for example, a hard disk drive (HDD), a solid state drive (SSD), or a flash memory.

In this embodiment, information stored in the storage unit 202 includes, for example, a menu information table M1 relating to orderable menu items shown in Figure 4, and an out-of-stock table S shown in Figure 5.

The program stored in the storage unit 202 may be pre-installed in the order management device 200. Alternatively, the program may be stored on a non-volatile storage medium or distributed via a network and installed appropriately in the order management device 200. Examples of non-volatile storage media include CD-ROMs, DVD-ROMs, USB memory, and memory cards.

The communication unit 203 communicates with other devices such as the order terminal 100, printer 300, and server 400. It outputs information received from the order terminal 100, printer 300, and server 400 to the control unit 201 via a wired network, and also transmits input information input from the control unit 201 to the order terminal 100, printer 300, and server 400 via a wireless LAN.

The input unit 204 includes a keyboard and a pointing device such as a mouse, and is used to enter various inputs.

The display unit 205 is, for example, a liquid crystal display, and displays various information according to the control of the control unit 201 .
The display unit 205 may also function as the input unit 204 by adopting a touch panel system.

When executing the above programs, the order management system 200 uses the above hardware resources to realize various functions.
The functional configuration realized by the order management device 200 will be described.
FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing an example of the functional configuration of the control unit (CPU) 201 of the order management device 200.

As shown in FIG. 3, the order management device 200 has, as its functional components, a reception unit 210, a transmission unit 220, and a management unit 230. Each functional component is realized by the control unit (CPU) 201 reading and executing a program stored in the memory unit 202.

(Reception unit 210)
The reception unit 210 receives order information including the ordered food, the ordered quantity of the food, etc., sent from the order terminal device 100 or the server 400 of the delivery agent.

(Transmitting unit 220)
The transmitting unit 220 replies to the server 400 of the delivery agent with information on whether the received order information has been accepted or is out of stock.

(Management department 230)
When the management section 230 receives an order for a delivery menu with link information to a corresponding in-store menu from a server 400 of a delivery agent, the management section 230 checks the stock situation corresponding to the in-store menu from the link information of the ordered delivery menu.
Furthermore, if the management unit 230 finds that the product is out of stock after checking the stock status, the management unit 230 uses the transmission unit 220 to transmit a message to the server 400 of the delivery agent that the product is out of stock.

(Server 400)
The server 400 of the delivery agent stores a menu information table M2, which shows menus that can be ordered from the delivery agent, as shown in Fig. 6. In this example, an example of the menu information table M2 stored in the server 400 of delivery agent A is shown.

Using Figures 4 to 6, we will explain the menu information table M1 and out-of-stock table S stored in the order management device 200, and the menu information table M2 stored on the delivery agent's server 400.

Figure 4 is an example of a menu information table M1 stored in the order management device 200. As shown in Figure 4, the menu information table M1 stored in the order management device 200 stores an in-store menu and a delivery menu. Here, the in-store menu is an example of a first menu, and the delivery menu is an example of a second menu.

As shown in Figure 4, the menu information table M1 stored in the order management device 200 contains a menu code for identifying the menu, the menu name, unit price, and a link menu code. The link menu code is assigned to a delivery menu and is link information that indicates an association with the corresponding in-store menu. In this example, link information is assigned to "Hamburger for Company A" on the delivery menu with menu code "1001," "Hamburger for Company B" with menu code "2001," and "Hamburger for Company C" with menu code "3001" to "Hamburger" on the in-store menu with menu code "0001." Similarly, link information is assigned to "Beef Stew for Company A" on the delivery menu with menu code "1002," "Beef Stew for Company B" with menu code "2002," and "Beef Stew for Company C" with menu code "3002" to "Beef Stew" on the in-store menu with menu code "0002." Note that the delivery menu to which link information is attached and the corresponding in-store menu do not have to have the same menu name, and may have different menu names. For example, for the menu item "Hamburg steak," the specific name of the in-store menu may be "Hamburg steak," the specific name of "Company A's Hamburg steak" may be "Special Hamburg steak," and the specific name of "Company B's Hamburg steak" may be "Hamburg steak." For example, the menu items may have the same or different menu names.

Figure 5 is an example of the out-of-stock table S stored in the order management device 200. As shown in Figure 5, the out-of-stock table S stored in the order management device 200 stores the remaining quantity as the inventory status for in-store menu items. Here, a remaining quantity of "0" in Figure 5 indicates an out-of-stock state, "10" indicates that the remaining quantity is "10", and "9999" indicates that no remaining quantity is set, i.e., the menu item is not managed for out-of-stock status. Furthermore, remaining quantities are entered into the out-of-stock table S using the input unit 204 of the order management device 200 or the order terminal device 100.

Note that the out-of-stock table S is not limited to being provided separately from the menu information table M1; it is also possible to increase the number of items in the menu information table M1 and store the "remaining quantity" as well.

Furthermore, using Figure 6, the menu information table M2 stored in the delivery agent's server 400 will be described. As shown in Figure 6, the server 400 stores the menu of the delivery agent in question from among the in-store menus. In this example, the menu information table M2 stored in the server 400 of delivery agent Company A is shown. Therefore, this menu information table M2 stores the same menu as the delivery (Company A) menu from the menu information table M1 stored in the order management device 200. Note that the delivery agent's menu may not be stored in the delivery agent's server 400, but may be stored in the order management device 200, and the delivery agent's menu stored in the order management device 200 may be displayed on the display unit of the delivery agent's server 400 to accept orders from users.

Next, the operation of the order management system 10 will be explained using Figure 7. Figure 7 is a sequence diagram showing an example of the operation of the order management system 10.

In step S100, a user ordering food accesses the website of the delivery agent's server 400 using a device such as their smartphone 500 and places an order. In step S102, the CPU of the server 400, which receives the order, sends the received order data to the order management device 200.

The control unit 201 of the order management device 200, which receives the order data, references the out-of-stock table S to determine whether the item is out of stock and replies to the server 400 whether the item is out of stock or the order has been completed. The CPU of the server 400, which receives this reply, replies to the user's terminal whether the item is out of stock or the order has been completed. Note that the determination of whether an item is out of stock by referencing the out-of-stock table S does not have to be made by the control unit 201 of the order management device 200; the delivery agent's server 400 may also determine whether an item is out of stock by referencing the out-of-stock table S stored in the order management device 200. Alternatively, a copy of the out-of-stock table S stored in the order management device 200 may be stored in the delivery agent's server 400, and the delivery agent's server 400 may determine whether an item is out of stock by referencing the copy of the out-of-stock table S.

Next, the operation of the order management device 200 in this embodiment will be described using Figure 8. Figure 8 is a flowchart showing the flow of order reception processing by the order management device 200. The control unit 201 reads, expands, and executes a program from the storage unit 202 to perform this processing.

In step S200, the CPU (reception unit 210) of the control unit 201 determines whether a menu order has been accepted. That is, it determines whether the user has used a smartphone 500 or the like to connect to a delivery agent's server 400, for example, the server 400 of delivery agent Company A, and placed an order for a menu item for Company A via that server 400. If it is determined that a menu order has not been accepted, the process ends. On the other hand, if it is determined that a menu order has been accepted, the process proceeds to the next step S202.

In step S202, the CPU (management unit 230) of the control unit 201 determines whether the ordered menu item is out of stock. That is, the control unit 201 obtains the menu code of the corresponding in-store menu item from the menu information table M1 based on the menu link information associated with the ordered menu item for Company A, and references the out-of-stock table S for the obtained menu code to determine whether the remaining quantity is "0." Specifically, if one "Company A Hamburger" with menu code "1001" from delivery agent Company A is ordered, the CPU (management unit 230) of the control unit 201 obtains the in-store menu code "0001" listed in the linked menu code for "Company A Hamburger" with menu code "1001" from the menu information table M1. The CPU then determines whether the remaining quantity in the out-of-stock table S for the obtained menu code "0001" is "0." If it is determined that the item is out of stock, the process proceeds to the next step S204.

In step S204, the CPU (transmission unit 220) of the control unit 201 sends a reply to the server 400 of delivery agent A informing them that the item is out of stock. The process then ends.

On the other hand, if it is not determined in step S202 that the item is out of stock, the process proceeds to step S206, where the CPU (transmission unit 220) of the control unit 201 sends a reply to the server 400 of delivery agent A indicating that the order has been received, and the process then ends.
At the time of receiving an order, the remaining quantity corresponding to each menu code stored in the out-of-stock table S may be counted down by the number of orders to update the remaining quantity.

This embodiment makes it possible to provide an order management device 200 and program that can reduce the burden of processing out-of-stock items by processing other corresponding menu items as out-of-stock when a menu item is out of stock. In other words, it becomes possible to manage only the inventory status of in-store menu items, eliminating the need to manage the inventory status of delivery menu items. This is particularly effective in reducing the processing burden when there are multiple delivery agents and out-of-stock processing is performed for each delivery agent.

The present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment, and various modifications other than those described above are possible as long as they do not deviate from the spirit of the invention.

In the above-described embodiment, it may be determined whether the menu itself is out of stock, or whether a menu item that serves as an ingredient is out of stock in addition to or in addition to the menu itself, and based on the determination results, it may be determined whether a derived menu item that uses the common ingredient is available for order. For example, as will be described in more detail below, if the menu item "hamburger steak" that serves as an ingredient is out of stock, it may be determined that the derived menu item "cheese hamburger steak" that uses the common "hamburger steak" is also out of stock. Note that the determination is not limited to determining whether a menu item that serves as an ingredient is out of stock, and it may also be determined whether a menu item, such as beef or cabbage, is out of stock. For example, if beef is out of stock, it may be determined that a menu item that uses beef is out of stock.

Figure 9 shows an example of a menu information table M3 stored in the order management device 200. The menu information table M3 stores ingredient menus and derived menus. Here, the ingredient menu is an example of a first menu, and the derived menu is an example of a second menu.

As shown in Figure 9, the menu information table M3 contains a menu code for identifying the menu, the menu name, unit price, and a link menu code. Multiple link menu codes can be entered to accommodate cases where there are multiple common ingredients. Here, the link menu code is link information that is assigned to the derived menu and indicates an association with the common ingredient menu. In this example, for "Cheese Hamburger" in the derived menu with menu code "9002," link information is assigned to "Hamburger" in the ingredient menu with menu code "0101." Similarly, for "Hamburger & Fried Shrimp" in the derived menu with menu code "9003," link information is assigned to "Hamburger" in the ingredient menu with menu code "0101" and "Fried Shrimp" with menu code "0102."

Figure 10 is an example of the out-of-stock table S2 stored in the order management device 200. As shown in Figure 10, the out-of-stock table S2 stored in the order management device 200 stores the remaining quantity as the inventory status for each ingredient menu item. Here, a remaining quantity of "0" shown in Figure 10 indicates an out-of-stock state, "10" indicates that the remaining quantity is "10", and "9999" indicates that no remaining quantity is set, i.e., the menu item is not managed for out-of-stock status.

For example, if one "Hamburg Steak & Fried Shrimp" with menu code "9003" is ordered, the control unit 201 of the order management device 200 retrieves the menu codes "0101" and "0102" of the ingredient menus listed in the linked menu code of the "Hamburg Steak & Fried Shrimp" from the menu information table M3. The control unit 201 then determines whether the remaining quantities in the out-of-stock table S for the retrieved menu codes "0101" and "0102" are "0". In the example of the out-of-stock table S shown in FIG. 10 , the remaining quantity for menu code "0102" is "10", so it is not out of stock, but the remaining quantity for menu code "0101" is "0", so the control unit 201 of the order management device 200 determines that "Hamburg Steak & Fried Shrimp" is out of stock.
In this example, since it is clear that the remaining quantity for menu code "0101" is "0," a notification may be sent to the terminal operated by the user who ordered "Hamburger Steak & Fried Shrimp" that "Hamburger Steak" with menu code "0101" and its derived menus that include "0101" in their link menu codes are out of stock. In other words, the user who ordered the food may be notified that "Cheese Hamburger Steak" with menu code "9002," which includes "Hamburger Steak" with menu code "0101," is also out of stock, and the user may be informed of other out-of-stock menu items as well, thereby assisting in the selection of an alternative menu to the out-of-stock menu item.

This modified example makes it possible to provide an order management device 200 and program that, when an ingredient runs out, can follow the link information to process other menu items that use the same ingredient as being out of stock.

10 Order management system 100 Order terminal device 200 Order management device 201 Control unit 202 Memory unit 203 Communication unit 204 Input unit 205 Display unit 206 Bus 300 Printer 400 Server M Menu information table S Out-of-stock table

Claims (5)

a storage unit that stores a first menu and an inventory status corresponding to the first menu;
a management unit that, when receiving an order for a second menu item from an external device to which link information to the corresponding first menu item is attached, checks the stock status of the first menu item from the link information of the ordered second menu item , and if the result of checking the stock status shows that the first menu item is out of stock, sends a message to the external device that the second menu item is out of stock ;
An order management device comprising: The order management device according to claim 1 , wherein the inventory status includes the inventory status of ingredients used in the first menu. The order management device according to claim 2 , wherein the second menu item is provided with the link information to the first menu item that uses the common ingredient. The order management device according to claim 2 or 3, wherein if the result of checking the inventory status of the ingredient indicates that the ingredient is out of stock, the device sends a message to the external device that the second menu item, as well as other second menu items that do not accept orders and use the same ingredient, are out of stock. On the computer,
A process of reading out a first menu and an inventory status corresponding to the first menu from a storage unit that stores the first menu and the inventory status;
A program for executing a process in which, when an order for a second menu that has link information to the corresponding first menu is received from an external device, the program checks the stock status corresponding to the first menu from the link information of the ordered second menu, and if the result of checking the stock status shows that the first menu is out of stock, the program sends a message to the external device that the second menu is out of stock .