Information processing apparatus, information processing method, and information processing program

An information processing method, comprising:

• presenting to a user terminal an order-dedicated screen to upload a manufacturing order comprising product specifying data. a desired delivery date, and a budget, wherein the product specifying data specifies a product to be manufactured;
• receiving from the user terminal the manufacturing order comprising the product specifying data, the desired delivery date, and the budget;
• detecting signals from sensors respectively provided in a plurality of machine tools;
• processing the signals from the sensors to determine operation statuses of the plurality of machine tools;
• determining, with reference to a machine tool database, machine tools which can be idle for a predetermined period before the desired delivery date as a plurality of usable machine tools, wherein the machine tool database stores, for each machine tool, a machine tool ID, specifications and structural characteristics, an installation location, a type, a processing result, and a use status indicating an idle state or, when in use, the time until which the machine tool is used;
• performing cutting simulation in consideration of the product specifying data and the specifications and structural characteristics of each machine tool included in the machine tool database;
• determining whether it is possible to perform processing of a desired shape with a desired accuracy;
• deriving an optimum processing condition from a processing time and processing accuracy;
• determining a necessary machine tool which can perform processing under the optimum processing condition, by analyzing past processing result data included in the machine tool database and a past product having a shape most similar to the product specifying data received from the user terminal;
• determining, as the necessary machine tool, a machine tool that processed the past product, wherein a plurality of singular points are extracted from the product specifying data and compared with singular points of the past product shape, to determine shape similarity;
• searching for the necessary machine tool from the plurality of usable machine tools;
• presenting information concerning the necessary machine tool as a search result, wherein said search result includes a list of factories each including the necessary machine tool in an order of at least one of a delivery date order, cost order, processing accuracy order, processing time order, and processing distance order;
• and
• prompting the user terminal to place an order to reserve a selected machine tool.

A non-transitory computer readable medium storing an information processing program for causing a computer to execute a method, said method comprising:

• presenting to a user terminal an order-dedicated screen to upload a manufacturing order comprising product specifying data, a desired delivery date, and a budget, wherein the product specifying data specifies a product to be manufactured;
• receiving the manufacturing order comprising the product specifying data, the desired delivery date, and the budget;
• detecting signals from sensors respectively provided in a plurality of machine tools;
• processing the signals from the sensors to determine operation statuses of the plurality of machine tools;
• determining, with reference to a machine tool database, machine tools which can be idle for a predetermined period before the desired delivery date as a plurality of usable machine tools, wherein the machine tool database stores, for each machine tool, a machine tool ID, specifications and structural characteristics, an installation location, a type, a processing result, and a use status indicating an idle state or, when in use, the time until which the machine tool is used;
• performing cutting simulation in consideration of the product specifying data and the specifications and structural characteristics of each machine tool included in the machine tool database;
• determining whether it is possible to perform processing of a desired shape with a desired accuracy;
• deriving an optimum processing condition from a processing time and processing accuracy;
• and
• determining a necessary machine tool which can perform processing under the optimum processing condition, by analyzing past processing result data included in the machine tool database and a past product having a shape most similar to the product specifying data received from the user terminal;
• determining, as the necessary machine tool, a machine tool that processed the past product, wherein a plurality of singular points are extracted from the product specifying data and compared with singular points of the past product shape, to determine shape similarity;
• searching for the necessary machine tool from the plurality of usable machine tools;
• presenting information concerning the necessary machine tool as a search result, wherein said search result includes a list of factories each including the necessary machine tool in an order of at least one of a delivery date order, cost order, processing accuracy order, processing time order, and processing distance order;
• and
• prompting the user terminal to place an order to reserve a selected machine tool.