System, method, and storage medium for inventory management of expendable supplies used in printing devices

• US 7,996,283 B2
• Filed: 04/22/2003
• Issued: 08/09/2011
• Est. Priority Date: 04/22/2002
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Canon Kabushiki Kaisha (Canon Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Canon Kabushiki Kaisha (Canon Inc.)
• Inventors: Oya, Takeshi
• Primary Examiner(s): ZARE, SCOTT A
• Application Number:
  US10/419,946
• Publication Number:
  US 20040002905A1
• Time in Patent Office: 3,031 Days
• Field of Search: 399/24, 399/1, 399/8, 705/28
• US Class Current: 705/28
• CPC Class Codes: G03G 15/5079 for maintenance
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/087 Inventory or stock management, e.g. order filling, procurement or balancing against orders

Abstract

It is an object of the present invention to provide a mechanism for efficiently performing inventory management, including storage places, of expendable supplies to be used in devices. Storage place information in which held storage places and classifications of expendable supplies are associated with each other is updated based upon an association of a designated storage place and a specified classification of expendable supplies.

Claims

1. An information processing apparatus comprising:

a holding unit comprising a memory configured to hold inventory information including one or more inventory information sets, wherein each of the inventory information sets includes a storage place identification, a type of an expendable supply, and a number of stocks of the expendable supply, wherein said information processing apparatus is provided with an inventory management function that performs a deduction of the number of stocks of the expendable supply included in each of the inventory information sets held by said holding unit;

a receiving unit configured to receive input information, which includes connection information of a color printing apparatus, the connection information comprising at least one of an IP address, an MAC address, and a device name of the color printing apparatus, and a storage place identification of the color printing apparatus, the input information being input when the color printing apparatus is newly set;

an acquisition unit configured to acquire a model code from the color printing apparatus by using the connection information included in the input information received by said receiving unit;

a specifying unit configured to specify, using the model code acquired by said acquisition unit from the color printing apparatus, a plurality expendable supplies used in the color printing apparatus, wherein said specifying unit executes the specifying by using a management table that includes one or more printing apparatus sets, each of the printing apparatus sets includes a model code, an expendable supply type, and a name of the expendable supply; and

an updating unit configured to update the inventory information held in said holding unit when the color printing apparatus is newly set, wherein (i) in the event that the inventory information does not include an inventory information set with the storage place identification for the color printing apparatus received as the input information by said receiving unit and the plurality of types of expendable supplies specified by said specifying unit, said updating unit updates the inventory information by adding a new inventory information set which includes the storage place identification set as the storage place identification for the color printing apparatus received as the input information by said receiving unit, the plurality of types of expendable supplies specified by said specifying unit, and sets the number of stocks of the expendable supplies to zero, and (ii) in the event that the inventory information includes an inventory information set with the storage place identification for the color printing apparatus received as the input information by said receiving unit, and the plurality of types of expendable supplies specified by said specifying unit, said updating unit does not update the inventory information.

2. An information processing method comprising:

performing the following steps using a processor;

a holding step of holding, in a memory, inventory information including one or more inventory information sets, wherein each of the inventory information sets includes a storage place identification, a type of expendable supply, and a number of stocks of the expendable supply;

a receiving step of receiving input information, which includes connection information of a color printing apparatus, the connection information comprising at least one of an IP address, an MAC address, and a device name of the color printing apparatus, and a storage place identification of the color printing apparatus, the input information being input when the color printing apparatus is newly set;

an acquisition step configured to acquire a model code from the color printing apparatus by using the connection information included in the input information received by said receiving step;

a specifying step of specifying, using the model code acquired by said acquisition step from the color printing apparatus, a plurality of expendable supplies used in the color printing apparatus, wherein said specifying step executes the specifying by using a management table that includes one or more printing apparatus sets, each of the printing apparatus sets includes a model code, a type of an expendable code, and a name of the expendable supply; and

an updating step of updating the inventory information held in said holding step when the color printing apparatus is newly set, wherein (i) in the event that the inventory information does not include an inventory information set with the storage place identification for the color printing apparatus received as the input information by said receiving step and the plurality of types of expendable supplies specified by said specifying step, in said updating step, the inventory information is updated by adding a new inventory information set which includes the storage place identification for the color printing apparatus received as the input information by said receiving step, the plurality of types of expendable supplies specified by said specifying step, and sets the number of stocks of the expendable supplies to zero, and (ii) in the event that the inventory information includes an inventory information set with the storage place identification for the color printing apparatus received as the input information by said receiving step and the plurality of types of expendable supplies specified by said specifying step, said updating step does not update the inventory information.

3. A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium storing a program, which, when executed by an information processing apparatus, causes the information processing apparatus to perform a method comprising the following steps:

a holding step of holding inventory information including one or more inventory information sets, wherein each of the inventory information sets includes a storage place identification, a type of expendable supply, and a number of stocks of the expendable supply;

a receiving step of receiving input information, which includes connection information of a color printing apparatus, the connection information comprising at least one of an IP address, an MAC address, and a device name of the color printing apparatus, and a storage place identification of the color printing apparatus, the input information being input when the color printing apparatus is newly set;

an acquisition step configured to acquire a model code from the color printing apparatus by using the connection information included in the input information received by said receiving step;

a specifying step of specifying, using the model code acquired by said acquisition step from the color printing apparatus, a plurality of expendable supplies used in the color printing apparatus, wherein said specifying step executes the specifying by using a management table that includes one or more printing apparatus sets, each of the printing apparatus sets includes a model code, a type of an expendable code, and a name of the expendable supply; and

an updating step of updating the inventory information held in said holding step when the color printing apparatus is newly set, wherein (i) in the event that the inventory information does not include an inventory information set with the storage place identification for the color printing apparatus received as the input information by said receiving step and the plurality of types of expendable supplies specified by said specifying step, in said updating step, the inventory information is updated by adding a new inventory information set which includes the storage place identification for the color printing apparatus received as the input information by said receiving step, the plurality of types of expendable supplies specified by said specifying step, and sets the number of stocks of the expendable supplies to zero, and (ii) in the event that the inventory information includes an inventory information set with the storage place identification for the color printing apparatus received as the input information by said receiving step and the plurality of types of expendable supplies specified by said specifying step, said updating step does not update the inventory information.