JP2002288473A - Product ordering device and product ordering system - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Summary] [PROBLEMS] To provide a product ordering apparatus and a product ordering system capable of ordering a product that meets the needs of each customer. A product design program is uploaded to a server computer from a manufacturer computer. When the customer computer 14 accesses the Internet shop site of the server computer 12 and selects a desired product, the server computer 12
The design program uploaded from the manufacturer that manufactures and sells the product is downloaded to the customer computer 14. The customer designs a product using this design program and stores the design data in the server computer 1.
Send to 2. The server computer 12 transmits this design data to the manufacturer's computer 16 to order a product. The manufacturer manufactures a product based on the design data and delivers it to the customer.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a merchandise ordering apparatus and a merchandise ordering system, and more particularly to a merchandise ordering apparatus and an merchandise ordering system for ordering goods using a network such as the Internet.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, product functions and designs have been developed.
Usually, a manufacturer performs the research, but when developing a product, it is usual to conduct a market research on a large number of customers in advance and develop a product that is expected to gain the support of the most customers.

[0003] However, in the product development in such a process, a product of a minority opinion is rarely developed, and it takes time to develop a product reflecting market needs, and the product is supplied to the market. There is a time delay before the data is transferred.

[0004] Further, since products developed by manufacturers are supplied to the market in large quantities, they may not have originality and may not be attractive to customers, and products developed by different manufacturers may be uniform. In many cases, and the products become obsolete quickly.

[0005] When a product is developed by a manufacturer,
Since a store that sells the product is required, the number of customers is limited due to the display space of the product and the geographical situation of the store, and there has been a problem that sales are difficult, for example, on remote islands or overseas.

[0006] In recent years, a system has been known in which products can be ordered online using a network such as the Internet.

[0007] In such a system, as shown in FIGS. 6 and 7, a customer accesses an Internet shop site provided by a server 302 using an information terminal 300 and specifies specifications according to product standard data 304 in the server 302. Procedures such as selecting and notifying the result of the selected specification to the information terminal 300 by the server 302 are repeated, and when the customer is satisfied with the specification and result of the product, an order is placed.

[0008]

However, in such a system using the Internet, since the specification selection operation is frequently performed by the customer, the load on the data communication and the server 302 increases, and the access to the server 302 is restricted. If the user concentrates, there is a problem that the responsiveness of the information terminal 300 on the customer side deteriorates. Further, since only the specification can be selected, a product having originality matching the specification required by the customer is used. Is difficult.

[0009] The present invention has been made to solve the above-mentioned problems.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a product ordering device and a product ordering system capable of ordering the product.

[0010]

In order to achieve the above object, according to the present invention, there is provided a storage means for storing a product design program transmitted from a manufacturing terminal device via a network; A product design program stored in the storage means corresponding to the product design program request signal transmitted to the customer side terminal device when the product design program request signal transmitted from the customer side terminal device is received via the And a design program transmission / reception means.

According to the present invention, the storage means stores the product design program transmitted from the manufacturing terminal device that manufactures the product via the network. The manufacturing-side terminal device may transmit the product design program spontaneously or may transmit the product design program upon request. When the customer wants to design and order a product, a product design program request signal is transmitted from the customer terminal device. When receiving the product design program request signal transmitted from the customer side terminal device via the network, the product design program transmission / reception means reads the product design program corresponding to the product design program request signal from the storage means and reads the product design program from the storage means. To the local terminal device.

Thus, in the customer terminal device, the product design program is stored in the product design program storage means, the product design program is started, and the design data is input or selected by the input means to design the product. It becomes possible. As described above, since the product can be designed by the customer, it is possible to design the product that meets the needs of each customer.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, the product design information transmitted from the customer side terminal device is stored in the storage means, and a product price and a delivery date are calculated from the product design information to generate estimate information. And a quotation information generating means for transmitting the generated quotation information to the customer side terminal device; and when the order designating signal transmitted from the customer side terminal device is received, the product design information is manufactured via the network. And an ordering means for transmitting to the side terminal device.

When a customer designs a product using a product design program and instructs an estimate, the customer terminal device transmits product design information (design data). The quotation information generating means stores the product design information transmitted from the customer side terminal device in the storage means, calculates a product price and a delivery date from the product design information, generates quotation information, and transmits the generated quotation information to the customer. To the local terminal device. This allows
The customer can easily know the price and delivery date of the product designed by himself / herself.

[0015] When the customer instructs the order,
An order instruction signal is transmitted from the customer terminal device. The ordering means, when receiving the ordering instruction signal transmitted from the customer terminal, transmits the product design information to the manufacturing terminal via the network. As a result, the manufacturing side manufactures a product based on the product design information.

As described above, since the quotation information is generated and provided to the customer side, the customer can easily know the price and delivery date of the product designed by himself / herself, and can easily determine whether or not to order. Become. Also, because you can order online,
There is no need to have a sales outlet, and sales costs can be reduced.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, there is provided a manufacturing terminal device for transmitting a product design program via a network,
Transmitting / receiving means for transmitting a product design program request signal via the network and receiving a product design program corresponding to the product design program request signal transmitted from the network, and a product design program storage means for storing the product design program A customer side comprising: input means for inputting product design information according to the product design program; and control means for controlling the product design program and transmitting the product design information input by the input means to the network. A terminal device;
A storage unit for storing a product design program transmitted from the manufacturing-side terminal device via the network, and when a product design program request signal transmitted from the customer-side terminal device is received, the product design program request signal A server having a product design program transmitting / receiving means for transmitting a corresponding product design program to the customer-side terminal device stored in the storage means.

According to the present invention, when the product design program request signal is transmitted from the customer terminal device to the server, the product design program stored in the storage means of the server is transmitted to the customer terminal device. In the customer terminal device, the received product design program is stored in the product design program storage means, and is controlled by the control means. Then, the product design information input by the input means is transmitted to the server.

As described above, since the product design program is provided to the customer side and the product can be designed on the customer side, the product can be designed according to the needs of each customer.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, the transmission / reception means transmits an order instruction signal corresponding to the product design information, and the server stores the product design information transmitted from the customer terminal. Means for calculating the product price and the delivery date from the product design information to generate the quote information, and transmitting the generated quote information to the customer side terminal device; and Order receiving means for transmitting the product design information to the manufacturing terminal device when receiving the transmitted order instruction signal;
Is further provided.

According to the present invention, when an order instruction signal corresponding to the product design information is transmitted from the customer terminal device to the server, estimate information is generated by the estimate information generating means of the server and provided to the customer. Therefore, the customer can easily know the price and delivery date of the product designed by himself, and can easily determine whether or not to order. Further, when the order instruction signal is transmitted from the customer side terminal device to the server, the server transmits the product design information corresponding to the order instruction signal to the manufacturing side terminal device, so that the product can be ordered online. For this reason, it is not necessary to have a store, and the sales cost can be reduced.

According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, the control means includes:
After transmitting the order instruction signal, the product design program stored in the product design program storage means is erased.

According to the present invention, after transmitting the order instruction signal, the product design program stored in the product design program storage means is deleted. As a result, it is possible to prevent the capacity of the product design program storage means of the customer terminal device from being wasted.

[0024]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 shows a schematic configuration of a commodity ordering system 10. Product ordering system 10 is shown in FIG.
As shown in FIG. 1, an Internet shop (server computer) 12, a customer (computer computer) 14, a plurality of manufacturers (manufacturer computers) 16, a customer bank (customer bank computer) 18, an Internet shop bank (internet) (A computer at the shop bank) 20 and a bank at the manufacturer (computer at the manufacturer bank) 22.

Here, an outline of the flow of ordering of goods will be described. A manufacturer's computer 16 uploads a design program of a product manufactured and sold by the manufacturer to the server computer 12. This design program is a program for designing designs and functions of products (automobiles, furniture, electric appliances, etc.). The customer accesses the Internet shop site of the server computer 12 by the customer computer 14 and registers the customer. When the customer computer 14 accesses the Internet shop site of the server computer 12 and selects a product, the server computer 12
The customer program is approved, and the design program uploaded from the manufacturer computer 16 that manufactures and sells the product is downloaded to the customer computer 14.

The customer designs a product using the design program, and transmits the design data to the server computer 12. The server computer 12 transmits this design data to the manufacturer's computer 16 to order a product. The manufacturer manufactures a product based on the design data and delivers it to the customer. The customer bank 18 pays the Internet shop usage fee and the product price to the Internet shop bank 20, and the product price is paid from the Internet shop bank 20 to the manufacturer bank 22.

FIG. 2 shows a network system to which the commodity ordering system 10 is applied. As shown in FIG. 2, each computer has a modem, a router, a TA, respectively.
It is connected to a network (for example, the Internet) 32 via a connection device 30 such as a terminal adapter (Terminal Adapter). These computers can exchange information via the network 32 by mutual communication.

In this embodiment, a case where the Internet is applied as a network will be described. In this case, the server computer 12 is, for example, a WWW (World Wide
b) Functioning as a server, the customer computer 14 and the manufacturer computer 16 can function as WWW clients.

More specifically, a WWW browser is installed in the customer computer 14 and the manufacturer computer 16. By activating the WWW browser, the server computer 1 is connected via the network 32.
2 can be arbitrarily accessed. At this time, the access position (data consisting of the position of the server computer 12 to be accessed and the position of the information in the server computer 12) is specified by a URL (Uniform Resource Locator).

When there is an access request from the customer computer 14 and the manufacturer computer 16, the server computer 12 transmits the data at the position specified by the URL via the network 32 to the customer computer 14 as the access source. Send to At this time, the data is generally transferred according to HTTP (Hyper Text Transfer Protocol).

Each computer is identified by IP
(Internet Protocol) address is used. Also,
For identification of a customer who operates the customer computer 14 and the manufacturer computer 16, input of the customer himself / herself, a customer ID such as a predetermined code, and a password can be used.

The server computer 12 has a general-purpose configuration as shown in FIG.
OM 42 and I / O (input / output interface) 43
Are connected by a bus 44 so that data can be exchanged with each other.

The I / O 46 includes a display 45 for displaying processing results and the like, an input device 46 such as a keyboard and a mouse for inputting instructions, a hard disk 47 storing design programs and design data, and a CD-ROM.
CD for reading data recorded on recording media such as
-The ROM drive 48 and the connection device 30 described above are connected.

The customer computer 14, the manufacturer computer 16, the customer bank computer 18, the Internet shop bank computer 20, and the manufacturer bank computer 22 have basically the same basic configuration as the server computer 12. The description is omitted.

Next, the operation of the present embodiment will be described with reference to FIG.
Flowchart of a control routine executed by the server computer 12 shown in FIG.
This will be described with reference to the flowchart of the control routine executed in Step 4.

The server computer 12 determines in step 100 shown in FIG. 4 whether or not the Internet shop has been accessed. If there has been access, the menu screen data for displaying the menu screen is displayed in step 101. Send to the accessing computer. Then, in the next step 102, it is determined whether or not there is a request for uploading a design tool (design program).

When the manufacturer's computer 16 accesses the Internet shop and requests upload of a design tool, the server computer 12 executes step 1
02 is affirmed, and the design tool is registered in the next step 104. Specifically, the manufacturer's computer 1
6 is permitted to upload the design tool, and the design tool transmitted from the manufacturer's computer 16 is stored in the hard disk 47.

On the other hand, on the customer side, when the customer performs an operation for accessing the Internet shop using the customer side computer 14, a process for accessing the Internet shop site is performed in step 200 of FIG. Thereby, the menu screen data is transmitted from the server computer 12, and the menu screen is displayed on the display.

Then, in step 202, it is determined whether or not an operation for determining whether or not the customer registration has been selected from the menu screen has been performed. If the customer registration has been selected, the customer data is stored in the server in step 204. Send to computer 12. More specifically, the customer's name, address, telephone number, password, and the like are input, transmitted to the server computer 12 as customer data, and stored on the hard disk of the customer computer 14. .

Thus, the server computer 12 determines in step 106 of FIG. 4 that the customer registration has been selected, and performs a customer registration process in the next step 108. That is, the customer data transmitted from the customer computer 14 is stored in the hard disk 47. As a result, the customer can use the Internet shop.

Then, when the customer selects an item desired to be ordered from the menu and performs an operation for downloading the design tool for this item, the customer-side computer 14 determines in step 206 in FIG. 5 that a download request operation has been performed. In a next step 208, for example, a name and a password are
And transmits a download request signal to the server computer 12 indicating that the download of the design tool of the selected product is requested.

Thus, the server computer 12 determines in step 110 of FIG. 4 that a download has been requested, and in the next step 112, approves the customer and determines whether or not the customer has been registered. Specifically, it is determined whether or not the name and the password transmitted from the customer computer 14 match the customer data stored in the hard disk 47.

If the customer is registered,
That is, if the name and the password transmitted from the customer computer 14 match the customer data stored in the hard disk 47, the result in step 112 is affirmative,
In the next step 114, an approval OK signal indicating that the customer has been approved is transmitted to the customer computer 14. Then, in the next step 212, the design tool corresponding to the download request signal is read from the hard disk 47 and transmitted to the customer computer 14.

On the other hand, if you are not registered as a customer,
That is, if the name and password transmitted from the customer computer 14 do not match the customer data stored in the hard disk 47, the result is denied in step 112, and it is determined that the customer has not been approved in the next step 115. An approval NG signal is transmitted to the customer computer 14, and the process returns to step 102.

If the customer-side computer 14 receives the approval NG signal, the result is negative in step 210 and the process returns to step 202. On the other hand, if the approval OK signal has been received, the result is affirmative in step 210 and step 212
It is determined whether a design tool has been received. And
If the design tool has been received, the result in step 212 is affirmative, and in the next step 214, the received design tool is activated.

Thus, the customer can design a product using the design tool started by the customer computer 14.

When the customer inputs or selects the design data using the design tool, in step 216, the judgment of the input of the design data is affirmed, and in the next step 218, the input or selected design data is stored in the hard disk. You.

In the next step 220, it is determined whether or not the input of the design data has been completed, and the processing of steps 216 and 218 is repeated until the input has been completed. And
When the design is completed, the result in step 220 is affirmative, and in the next step 222, the design data stored in the hard disk is transmitted to the server computer 12.

Thus, in the server computer 12, the determination of the reception of the design data is affirmed in step 118 of FIG. 4, and the received design data is stored in the hard disk 47 in the next step 120. This design data can be referred to by accessing from the manufacturer's computer 16, whereby the manufacturer can use the design data for finding new product ideas.

Next, in step 122, the server computer 12 performs, based on the received design data,
The price and delivery date are calculated, estimate data is generated, and transmitted to the customer computer 14.

As a result, the customer computer 14 affirms the determination of the estimation data reception in step 224 shown in FIG. 5, and displays the received estimation data on the display in the next step 226.

When the customer performs an operation for placing an order with reference to the displayed estimate data, it is determined in step 228 that an order has been issued, and the next step 230
, An order instruction signal for instructing the order is transmitted to the server computer 12. And the next step 2
At 31, the design tool and design data stored on the hard disk are erased.

Thus, the server computer 12 determines in step 124 of FIG. 4 that an order has been instructed, and performs an order process in the next step 126.
Specifically, the design data stored in the hard disk 47 is transmitted to the manufacturer's computer 16. This allows
The manufacturer manufactures a product based on the received design data and delivers the product to the customer.

Upon receiving the product, the customer pays the price of the product and the usage fee of the internet shop to the internet shop bank by transfer or account transfer from the customer's bank, and the internet shop bank transfers the price of the product to the manufacturer's side. Pay to the bank.

On the other hand, if the customer does not give an order and performs an operation for re-inputting the design data, the determination of the re-input instruction is affirmed in step 229, and the process returns to step 216 to return to the design data. Is re-entered.

If no re-entry instruction is given, it is determined that no order is placed, and in the next step 231 the design tool and design data stored on the hard disk are erased. Thereby, the customer computer 1
4 can be prevented from being wasted.

As described above, since the product design and function design can be performed on the customer side, an original product can be ordered. Further, since the development process is transferred to the customer side, just-in-time can be achieved, and desired products can be purchased in a short period of time. Also,
Since there is no need to have a sales outlet, it is possible to place orders for products without being affected by the geographical conditions of customers.

[0059]

As described above, according to the present invention,
This has the effect that it is possible to place an order for a product that meets the needs of each customer in a short period of time.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic block diagram of a product ordering system of a system according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a schematic configuration diagram of a network system according to the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a schematic block diagram of a server computer.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart of a control routine executed by the server computer.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart of a control routine executed by the customer computer.

FIG. 6 is a diagram for explaining conventional ordering of goods by an Internet shop.

FIG. 7 is a diagram for explaining conventional ordering of goods by an Internet shop.

[Explanation of symbols]

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 Merchandise ordering system 12 Server computer (commodity ordering device) 14 Customer's computer (customer's terminal) 16 Manufacturer's computer (manufacturing's terminal) 18 Customer's bank 20 Internet shop's bank 22 Manufacturer's bank 30 Connection device 32 Network 40 CPU (Commodity design program transmission / reception means, estimation information generation means, ordering means) 44 Bus 45 Display 46 Input device 47 Hard disk (storage means) 48 CD-ROM drive

Continued on the front page (51) Int.Cl. ⁷ Identification symbol FI Theme coat II (Reference) G06F 17/60 306 G06F 17/60 306 502 502 502

Claims (5)

[Claims] 1. A storage means for storing a product design program transmitted from a manufacturing terminal device via a network, and a product design program request signal transmitted from a customer terminal device via the network. A merchandise design program transmitting / receiving means for transmitting a merchandise design program stored in the storage means corresponding to the merchandise design program request signal to the customer-side terminal device. 2. The product design information transmitted from the customer-side terminal device is stored in the storage means, and a product price and a delivery date are calculated from the product design information to generate quote information, and the generated quote information is generated. Quotation information generating means for transmitting the product design information to the manufacturing side terminal device via the network when receiving the order instruction signal transmitted from the customer side terminal device. The product ordering device according to claim 1, further comprising: ordering means. 3. A manufacturing-side terminal device for transmitting a product design program via a network, a product design program request signal transmitted via the network, and a product design program request signal transmitted from the network. Transmission / reception means for receiving a product design program, product design program storage means for storing the product design program, input means for inputting product design information according to the product design program, and controlling the product design program A customer terminal device provided with control means for transmitting the product design information input by the means to the network; a storage device for storing a product design program transmitted from the manufacturing terminal device via the network; The product design profile sent from the And a server having a product design program transmitting / receiving means for transmitting a product design program stored in the storage means corresponding to the product design program request signal to the customer-side terminal device when receiving the program request signal. Product ordering system. 4. The transmission / reception unit transmits an order instruction signal corresponding to the product design information, and the server stores the product design information transmitted from the customer terminal device in the storage unit, A quotation information generating means for calculating a product price and a delivery date from the product design information to generate quotation information, transmitting the generated quotation information to the customer side terminal device, and an order instruction signal transmitted from the customer side terminal device 4. An order receiving / ordering system according to claim 3, further comprising: order receiving means for transmitting said product design information to said manufacturing-side terminal device when receiving the request. 5. The commodity ordering system according to claim 4, wherein said control means deletes said commodity design program stored in said commodity design program storage means after transmitting said order instruction signal. .