Management apparatus, management method, and program

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-12522441-B2
Application number	US-202318325339-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	May 30, 2023
Priority date	Jun 20, 2022
Publication date	Jan 13, 2026
Grant date	Jan 13, 2026

Abstract

A management apparatus, a management method, and a program capable of preventing inefficient replenishment from being performed are provided. A management apparatus includes an information acquisition unit configured to acquire consumption information, which is information indicating an amount of consumption of articles stored in a storage container and a replenishment determination unit configured to determine, based on the consumption information, whether to individually replenish articles in the storage container in which the articles have been consumed using a picking robot or to replace the storage container in which the articles have been consumed by a storage container in which a predetermined number of articles are stored.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1 . A management apparatus comprising:
an information acquisition unit configured to acquire consumption information, which is information indicating an amount of consumption of articles stored in a storage container; and a replenishment determination unit configured to determine, based on the consumption information, whether to individually replenish articles in the storage container in which the articles have been consumed using a picking robot or to replace the storage container in which the articles have been consumed by a storage container in which a predetermined number of articles are stored.

2 . The management apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the replenishment determination unit determines, based on the magnitude of the amount of consumption specified from the consumption information, whether to individually replenish the articles in the storage container in which the articles have been consumed using the picking robot or to replace the storage container in which the articles have been consumed by a storage container in which a predetermined number of articles are stored.

3 . The management apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the replenishment determination unit determines, based on the magnitude of the variation of the amount of consumption for each kind of article specified from the consumption information, whether to individually replenish the articles in the storage container in which the articles have been consumed using the picking robot or to replace the storage container in which the articles have been consumed by a storage container in which a predetermined number of articles are stored.

4 . The management apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the replenishment determination unit makes the determination based on a cost of the work performed by the picking robot calculated from features of the articles and the consumption information for replenishment by the picking robot.

5 . The management apparatus according to claim 4 , wherein the replenishment determination unit makes the determination based on the working cost which depends on at least a weight of the article.

6 . The management apparatus according to claim 4 , wherein the replenishment determination unit makes the determination based on the working cost which depends on at least a material of the article.

7 . The management apparatus according to claim 4 , wherein the replenishment determination unit makes the determination based on the working cost which depends on at least a shape of the article.

8 . A management method, wherein
a management apparatus acquires consumption information, which is information indicating an amount of consumption of articles stored in a storage container, and the management apparatus determines, based on the consumption information, whether to individually replenish articles in the storage container in which the articles have been consumed using a picking robot or to replace the storage container in which the articles have been consumed by a storage container in which a predetermined number of articles are stored.

9 . A non-transitory computer readable medium storing a program for causing a computer to execute the following processing of:
acquiring consumption information, which is information indicating an amount of consumption of articles stored in a storage container; and determining, based on the consumption information, whether to individually replenish articles in the storage container in which the articles have been consumed using a picking robot or to replace the storage container in which the articles have been consumed by a storage container in which a predetermined number of articles are stored.

Assignees

• Toyota Motor Co Ltd

Inventors

• Ota Junya
• Morimitsu Takatoshi
• Koike Uori
• Iwamoto Kunihiro

Classifications

• B65G1/137

  with arrangements or automatic control means for selecting which articles are to be removed · CPC title

• G06Q10/08

  Logistics, e.g. warehousing, loading or distribution; Inventory or stock management · CPC title

• G06Q10/06315

  Needs-based resource requirements planning or analysis · CPC title

• G06Q10/06313

  Resource planning in a project environment · CPC title

• B25J9/16 Primary

  Program controls (total factory control, i.e. centrally controlling a plurality of machines, G05B19/418) · CPC title