Commodity purchasing management system and method

• US 20060080189A1
• Filed: 09/12/2005
• Published: 04/13/2006
• Est. Priority Date: 09/24/2004
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Fujitsu Limited
• Original Assignee: Fujitsu Limited
• Inventors: Takahashi, Naoki, Asai, Takeshi, Morisugi, Toshiya
• Granted Patent: US 7,401,735 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 705/28
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/08 Logistics, e.g. warehousing, loading or distribution; Inventory or stock management
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/087 Inventory or stock management, e.g. order filling, procurement or balancing against orders
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/203 Inventory monitoring
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/06 Buying, selling or leasing transactions

Abstract

An automated commodity customer delivery driven method/system to manage commodity sales by acquiring a chance of purchase of a selecting customer as well as another new customer for a relevant commodity by assuring availability of the inventory for both customers of the relevant commodity. The shop inventory for the selecting customer is acquired according to acceptance of a temporary reservation status for requesting acquisition of the inventory of the selected commodity and the inventory in the shop that was acquired for the selecting customer is returned to the number of inventories for selling to the other new customer, based upon a specified method of transferring the selected commodity to the selecting customer.

Claims

1. A commodity purchasing management system, comprising:

a customer identifying information acquirer acquiring customer identification information identifying a customer;

a inventory storage storing a number of inventories of each commodity and a number of commodity reservation inventories for the relevant commodity in process of selling;

a commodity identifier that identifies a commodity requested by the customer;

a customer commodity transfer specifier specifying a transfer method of the commodity identified by the commodity identifier based upon the request by the customer;

a judger judging whether a number of the commodity reservation inventories in process of selling the relevant commodity in the inventory storage is assignable to the requesting customer, according to the specifying of the transfer method to transfer the identified commodity to the requesting customer; and

a commodity assigner that assigns a number of the commodity reservation inventories in process of selling the relevant commodity in the inventory storage to the requesting customer indicated by the customer identifying information obtained from the customer identifying information acquirer according to a result of the judging.

2. The commodity purchasing management system according to claim 1, further comprising:

a quasi-inventory storage storing a date of next commodity supplement to supplement the number of inventories of each commodity and a number of commodities supplemented;

wherein the judger judges that the number of the commodity reservation inventories in process of selling the relevant commodity of the inventory storage is assignable, when a customer commodity transfer method obtained from the customer commodity transfer specifier is set as “

take-out”

or when a transfer method is not set as “

take-out” and

assignment to the customer from the number of commodities to be supplemented by the next and subsequent commodity supplements is impossible,

the judger judges that the number of supplemented commodities of the relevant commodity of the quasi-inventory storage is assignable, when the customer commodity transfer method obtained from the customer commodity transfer specifier is not set as “

take-out” and

the assignment to customer from the number of commodities of the next and subsequent commodity supplements is possible, and

the commodity assigner assigns, from the number of commodity inventories, the number of commodity reservation inventories in process of selling the relevant commodity in the inventory storage for the customer indicated by the customer identifying information obtained from the customer identifying information acquirer and/or assigns from the number of commodities to be supplemented of the relevant commodity in the quasi-inventory storage, according to the judging.

3. The commodity purchasing management system according to claim 1, wherein the information stored in the inventory storage for the commodity identified with the commodity identifier is exclusively updated based upon the specified customer commodity transfer method by the customer commodity transfer specifier and based upon updating of the number of the commodity reservation inventories.

4. The commodity purchasing management system according to claim 2, wherein the information stored in the inventory storage and the quasi-inventory storage for the commodity identified with the commodity identifier is exclusively updated based upon the specified customer commodity transfer method by the customer commodity transfer specifier and based upon updating of reserved commodities of the quasi-inventory storage.

5. A method of managing commodity purchasing, comprising:

acquiring customer identifying information identifying a customer;

storing a number of inventories for each commodity and a number of reserved commodity inventories for the relevant commodity in process of selling;

identifying a commodity requested by a customer;

specifying by the customer a method of transferring to the customer the identified commodity requested by the customer;

judging whether a number of the reserved commodity inventories for the relevant commodity in process of selling in the inventory storage is assignable to the requesting customer according to the specified transfer method for the identified commodity by the requesting customer; and

temporarily reserving a commodity by assigning a number of the reserved commodity inventories for the relevant commodity in the process of selling in the inventory storage to the requesting customer, according to the judging.

6. The commodity purchasing management method according to claim 5, further comprising:

storing in a quasi-inventory storage dates of next and subsequent supplements of commodity and a number of commodities to be supplemented;

wherein the judging judges that the number of the reserved commodity inventories for the relevant commodity in the process of selling is assignable in the inventory storage, when the specified transfer method is “

take-out”

or when the specified transfer method is not “

take-out” and

assignment to the customer from the number of commodities to be supplemented in the next and the subsequent supplements is impossible;

the judging judges that the number of commodities supplemented of the relevant commodity in the quasi-inventory storage is assignable when the specified transfer method is not “

take-out”

or when the specified transfer method is “

delivery” and

the assignment to customer from the number of commodities to be supplemented in the next and subsequent supplements is possible; and

the temporary reserving of the commodity comprises assigning, from the number of commodity inventories, the number of reserved commodity inventories for the relevant commodity in processing of selling and/or assigning from the number of commodities supplemented of the relevant commodities in the quasi-inventory storage, according to the judging.

7. The commodity purchasing management method according to claim 5, further comprising:

updating the inventory storage for the commodity identified in the commodity identifying exclusively based upon the specified transfer method of the commodity to the customer and based upon updating of the number of temporary reserved commodity inventories.

8. The commodity purchasing management method according to claim 6, further comprising:

updating the inventory storage and the quasi-inventory storage for the commodity identified in the commodity identifying exclusively based upon the specified transfer method of the commodity to the customer and based upon updating of temporary reserved commodities of the quasi-inventory storage.

9. An apparatus, comprising:

a database storage storing a number of inventories and quasi-inventories for each store commodity;

a customer identifier acquiring customer identification information identifying a customer;

a commodity identifier that identifies a commodity selected by the identified customer according to commodity identification information; and

a programmed computer processor controlling the apparatus according to a process comprising;

specifying by the identified customer a method of transferring the selected commodity to the identified customer, according to the identified commodity;

judging, according to the specified method of transferring the selected commodity to the identified customer, whether a number of inventories of the selected commodity and/or a number of quasi-inventories of the selected commodity in the inventory storage is assignable to the identified customer; and

assigning to the identified customer the number of inventories of the selected commodity and/or the number of quasi-inventories of the selected commodity in the inventory storage, according to the judging.

10. The apparatus of claim 9, wherein the customer identifier is an integrated circuit type card storing customer transaction information comprising the customer identification information and readable by the apparatus.

11. The apparatus of claim 9,

wherein the commodity identifier is a Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) information tag that stores the commodity identification information that identifies the commodity selected by the customer, and

wherein the customer identifier is a mobile information terminal having an RFID reader to read the RFID information tag, the mobile information terminal transmitting customer transaction information comprising the customer identification information and the commodity identification information read from the RFID information tag to the apparatus.