System and method for providing environmental impact information, recording medium recording the information, and computer data signal
AssigneeRicoh Company, Ltd.
InventorsMasamitsu Sakurai, Tatsuo Tani, Hiroshi Uramoto, Hiromitsu Hatano
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
An environmental impact information collection system modifies and analyzes environmental impact information, which is collected and stored in advance, and obtains the environmental impact at each process done in an organization, according to each product. The environmental impact information collection system then obtains a set of environmental impacts in a product's life cycle.
Claims19
An environmental impact information system, comprising:
- an environmental impact information obtaining unit which obtains environmental impact information regarding an environmental impact at a plurality of processes included in activities of an organization, the plurality of processes comprising a designing process, a manufacturing process, a distribution/sales process, a usage process, and a maintenance process,
- an environmental impact information collector which collects the environmental impact information obtained by the environmental impact information obtaining unit,
- an environmental impact information analyzer which analyzes the environmental impact information collected by the environmental impact information collector and generates a set of environmental impacts in a product's life cycle and an amount of reduction in environmental impact, and
- an environmental cost calculator which calculates an environmental cost invested for activities on environmental control at each of the plurality of processes.
An environmental impact information system including a plurality of process management devices for managing a plurality of processes included in activities of an organization, the plurality of processes comprising a designing process, a manufacturing process, a distribution/sales process, a usage process, and a maintenance process,
- an environmental management device and an information management device, which are connected with each other through a predetermined network, and wherein:
- each of the process management devices obtains environmental impact information regarding an environmental impact at each of the processes,
- the environmental management device collects the environmental impact information obtained by each of the process management devices through a network, and generates a set of environmental impacts in a product's life cycle and an amount of reduction in environmental impact based on the collected environmental impact information, and
- the information management device calculates an environmental cost invested for activities on environmental control at each of the plurality of processes.
An environmental impact information system, comprising:
- environmental impact information obtaining means for obtaining environmental impact information regarding an environmental impact at a plurality of processes included in activities of an organization, the plurality of processes comprising a designing process, a manufacturing process, a distribution/sales process, a usage process, and a maintenance process,
- environmental impact information collection means for collecting the environmental impact information obtained by the environmental impact information obtaining means,
- environmental impact information analyzing means for analyzing the environmental impact information collected by the environmental impact information collection means and generating a set of environmental impacts in a product's life cycle and an amount of reduction in environmental impact,
- environmental cost calculation means for calculating an environmental cost invested for activities on environmental control at each of the plurality of processes, and
- report information generation means for generating report information including the amount of reduction in environmental impact generated by the environmental impact information analyzing means and the environmental cost calculated by the environmental cost calculation means.
An environmental impact information system, including a process management device for managing a plurality of processes included in activities of an organization, the plurality of processes comprising a designing process, a manufacturing process, a distribution/sales process, a usage process, and a maintenance process,
- an environmental management device and an information management device which are connected with each other through a predetermined network, and wherein:
- the process management device includes environmental impact information obtaining means for obtaining environmental impact information regarding an environmental impact at each of the plurality of processes,
- the environmental management device includes:
- an environmental impact information collection means for collecting the environmental impact information which is obtained by the environmental impact information obtaining means, and
- an environmental impact analyzing means for analyzing the environmental impact information collected by the environmental impact information collection means and generating a set of environmental impacts in a product's life cycle and an amount of reduction in environmental impact, and
- the information management device includes environmental cost calculation means for calculating an environmental cost invested for activities on environmental control at each of the plurality of processes.
A method for providing environmental impact information, comprising:
- obtaining environmental impact information regarding an environmental impact at each of a plurality of processes included in activities of an organization, the plurality of processes comprising a designing process, a manufacturing process, a distribution/sales process, a usage process, and a maintenance process,
- collecting the environmental impact information obtained at the obtaining step,
- generating a set of environmental impacts in a product's life cycle and an amount of reduction in environmental impact based on the environmental impact information collected at the collecting step,
- calculating an environmental cost invested for activities on environmental control at each of the plurality of processes, and
- providing information regarding the set of environmental impacts generated at the generating step and information regarding the environmental cost calculated at the calculating step.
A computer readable recording medium which records a program for controlling a computer to execute a method for providing environmental impact information, comprising:
- obtaining environmental impact information regarding an environmental impact at each of a plurality of processes included in activities of an organization, the plurality of processes comprising a designing process, a manufacturing process, a distribution/sales process, a usage process, and a maintenance process,
- collecting the environmental impact information obtained at the obtaining step,
- generating a set of environmental impacts in a product's life cycle and an amount of reduction in environmental impact based on the environmental impact information collected at the collecting step,
- calculating an environmental cost invested for activities on environmental control at each of the plurality of processes, and
- providing information regarding the set of environmental impacts generated at the generating step and information regarding the environmental cost calculated at the calculating step.
A data signal embedded in a carrier wave and representing an instruction sequence for controlling a computer to execute a method for providing environmental impact information, comprising:
- obtaining environmental impact information regarding an environmental impact at each of a plurality of processes included in activities of an organization, the plurality of processes comprising a designing process, a manufacturing process, a distribution/sales process, a usage process, and a maintenance process,
- collecting the environmental impact information obtained at the obtaining step,
- generating a set of environmental impacts in a product's life cycle and an amount of reduction in environmental impact based on the environmental impact information collected at the collecting step,
- calculating an environmental cost invested for activities on environmental control at each of the plurality of processes,
- providing information regarding the set of environmental impacts generated at the generating step and information regarding the environmental cost calculated at the calculating step.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.