Method and system for managing recycling of a product

• US 20040039587A1
• Filed: 03/31/2003
• Published: 02/26/2004
• Est. Priority Date: 06/17/2002
• Status: Abandoned Application

• Current Assignee: Hitachi, Ltd., International Business Machines Corporation
• Original Assignee: Hitachi, Ltd., International Business Machines Corporation
• Inventors: Adachi, Yoshihiro, Horoshige, Yuzo, Nishimoto, Takeshi, Kassai, Takashi, Imai, Kenji, Sakaue, Masakazu, Shionoya, Junichi
• Application Number:
  US10/401,966
• Publication Number:
  US 20040039587A1
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 705/1
• CPC Class Codes: B09B 5/00 Operations not covered by a single other subclass or by a single other group in this subclass
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/06 Resources, workflows, human or project management; Enterprise or organisation planning; Enterprise or organisation modelling
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/30 Administration of product recycling or disposal
• CPC Class Codes: Y02W 90/00 Enabling technologies or technologies with a potential or indirect contribution to greenhouse gas [GHG] emissions mitigation

Abstract

A recycler that is entrusted with recycling of a used product manages information according to entrustment information provided beforehand so that the product is recycled within a predetermined period of time.

The recycler assigns a management number to a recycling job when the recycler is entrusted with the recycling. As soon as a product arrives, the recycler compares the product arrived with the entrustment information on the product. The received product is sorted out in according to the judgment of the value thereof, and how to recycle the product is managed. The progress of recycling is managed according to how to recycle the product, such as disassembling and mechanical recycling, or it is managed on a product basis or on a component basis after disassembling. If the product is shipped to the second recycler, the third recycler and more in order so that the recycling of the product is further entrusted to them, shipment information and the progress of recycling in the ship-to companies are managed in association with the management number. In addition, time limits of the recycling are also managed. By use of the above-mentioned functions, recycling information is managed.

Claims

1. A recycling information management system for managing recycling of a product, comprising:

an assigning unit which assigns a management number to each recycling job;

a keeping unit which keeps track of information about a product included in a recycling job by associating the information about the product with a management number beforehand; and

a managing unit which manages recycling information about a product that has actually arrived by associating the recycling information with the management number.

2. A recycling information management system for managing recycling of a product, comprising:

an assigning unit which assigns a management number to each recycling job;

a keeping unit which keeps track of information about a product included in a recycling job by associating the information about the product with a management number beforehand; and

a checking and displaying unit which checks as to whether or not information about a product that has actually arrived coincides with information about a product that is kept track of beforehand on the basis of the management number to confirm that the product that has arrived is a scheduled product, and if an unscheduled product has arrived, displays a warning message to the effect that the unscheduled product is included by specifying an appropriate management number.

3. A recycling information management system for managing recycling of a product, comprising:

an assigning unit which assigns a management number to each recycling job;

a keeping unit which keeps track of information about a product included in a recycling job by associating the information about the product with a management number beforehand; and

a checking and displaying unit which checks as to whether or not information about a product that has actually arrived coincides with information about a product that is kept track of beforehand on the basis of the management number to confirm that the product that has arrived is a scheduled product, and if a scheduled product has not arrived, displays a warning message to the effect that the scheduled product is not delivered yet by specifying an appropriate management number.

4. A recycling information management system for managing recycling of a product, comprising:

an assigning unit which assigns a management number to each recycling job;

a keeping unit which keeps track of information about a product included in a recycling job by associating the information about the product with a management number beforehand; and

a checking and displaying unit which checks as to whether or not information about a product that has actually arrived coincides with information about a product that is kept track of beforehand on the basis of the management number, and if the information does not coincide with each other, displays a warning message to the effect that the information about the product arrived does not coincide with the information about the product that is kept track of beforehand by specifying an appropriate management number.

5. A recycling information management system for managing recycling of a product according to claim 4, wherein said recycling information management system consists of a system of a requester which entrusts the recycling and a system of a recycler that is entrusted with the recycling, and said system on the recycler side comprises a sending unit which automatically sends, to the system on the requester side, a document to the effect that information does not coincide with each other, said document being used as the warning message to be displayed.

6. A recycling information management system for managing recycling of a product according to claim 5, wherein said system of the recycler comprises:

a sending unit which sends back a result of judgment made by the requester about a discrepancy in information, said result of judgment being included in the document that is automatically sent to the requester; and

a judging unit which judges recycling information according to a reply received.

7. A recycling information management system for managing recycling of a product, comprising:

an assigning unit which assigns a management number to each recycling job;

a keeping unit which keeps track of information about a product included in a recycling job by associating the information about the product with a management number beforehand, said association including a service required for the product;

a storing unit which stores a service actually performed in relation to the product by associating the service actually performed with the management number; and

a comparing unit which compares the service kept track of beforehand with the service actually performed.

8. A recycling information management system for managing recycling of a product, comprising:

an assigning unit which assigns a management number to each recycling job;

an information keeping unit which keeps track of information about a product included in a recycling job by associating the information about the product with a management number beforehand;

a service keeping unit which keeps track of a service required to be performed for the product before the product arrives according to the management number;

a storing unit which stores the service that has been actually performed for the product arrived; and

a comparing unit which compares the service kept track of beforehand with the service actually performed and stored.

9. A recycling information management method used by a recycler, comprising the steps of:

extracting an individual product identification number on a requester side, said individual product identification number being assigned to a product to be recycled;

presenting the individual product identification number to the requester; and

obtaining, from the requester, a value calculated according to the individual product identification number.

10. A recycling information management system for managing recycling of a product, comprising:

a system of a requester which entrusts the recycling; and

a system of a recycler that is entrusted with the recycling;

wherein said recycling management system on the recycler side comprises;

an extracting and confirming unit which extracts an individual product identification number on the requester side, which is assigned to a product arrived that should be recycled, and confirms that the extracted individual product identification number coincides with an individual product identification number sent from the requester beforehand; and

an allowing unit which allows the recycling of a product if the extracted individual product identification number of the product coincides with a corresponding individual product identification number sent beforehand.

11. A recycling information management method used by a recycler, comprising the steps of:

extracting an individual product identification number on a requester side, said individual product identification number being assigned to a product to be recycled;

confirming that the extracted individual product identification number coincides with an individual product identification number sent from the requester beforehand;

allowing the recycling of a product if the extracted individual product identification number of the product coincides with a corresponding individual product identification number sent beforehand; and

obtaining, from the requester, a value calculated according to the individual product identification number.

12. A recycling information management system for managing recycling of a product, comprising:

a keeping unit which keeps track of information about a product to be recycled by associating the information about the product with a management number;

a judging, assigning and entrusting unit which makes a judgment as to whether or not the product is reusable on a product basis, assigns an identification number associated with the management number to each product according to the result of the judgment, and entrusts the product to the next company; and

an associating unit which associates information sent from the entrusted company with the identification number to manage the information.

13. A recycling information management system for managing recycling of a product, comprising:

an assigning unit which assigns a management number to each recycling job;

a keeping unit which keeps track of information about a product included in a recycling job by associating the information about the product with the management number;

a judging and assigning unit which makes a judgment as to whether or not the product is reusable, and as a result of the judgment, if it is judged that the product is not reusable, assigns an identification number to each component after the recycling; and

a managing unit which manages the progress of recycling in association with the identification number.

14. A management system of a recycler that recycles a product, said management system comprising:

an assigning unit which assigns a management number to each recycling job;

a managing unit which manages information about a product included in a recycling job by associating the information about the product with a management number;

a judging and assigning unit which makes a judgment as to whether or not the product to be recycled is usable on a product basis, and according to the result of the judgment, assigns an identification number associated with the management number to each component after the recycling; and

an accepting and identifying unit which accepts a report on the recycling sent from a department in charge of recycling in association with the identification number, and identifies the report on the recycling number associated with a management number by the association of the identification number with the management number.

15. A management system of a recycler that recycles a product, comprising:

an assigning unit which assigns a management number to each recycling job;

a managing unit which manages information about a product included in a recycling job by associating the information about the product with a management number; and

a judging, assigning and accepting unit which making a judgment as to whether or not a product arrived is reusable, and according to the result of the judgment, assigns an identification number associated with the management number to each product so as to entrust the product to a department in charge of the recycling, and accepts a report on the recycling from the department in charge of the recycling in association with the identification number.

16. A recycling information management system for managing recycling of a product, comprising:

an assigning unit which assigns a management number to each recycling job;

a managing unit which manages information about a product included in a recycling job by associating the information about the product including a start date of recycling with a management number; and

a displaying unit which if the recycling is not completed by a given period of time before a predetermined time limit, displays an attention message or a warning message so as to request hastening of the recycling.