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AssigneeCanon Kabushiki Kaisha
InventorsRikio Shiba, Takayuki Nagatsuka, Yukihiko Shimizu
Estimating the term…
A manufacturer and retailer, which supply and sell articles such as business expendables or the like, stock articles in considerable quantities in their warehouses. However, such stocks are not always appropriate due to diversity of articles and difficulty in demand prediction, and articles cannot be delivered in a short term. A main server controls stock reserve of a branch warehouse on the basis of the check result of the urgency level of received order information, which is received from a user's information processing apparatus via a communication line, and the comparison result between the order quantity indicated by the received order information, and a non-reserved stock quantity.
A server apparatus comprising:
A control method of a server comprising the steps of:
A computer-readable storage medium storing a computer-executable program for causing a computer to perform a control method of a server, the control method comprising the steps of:
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.
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From the US filing history. Foreign family members aren’t listed.
Logistics, e.g. warehousing, loading or distribution; Inventory or stock management: inventory or stock management, e.g. order filling,…
Using inventory planning: for replenishment processing, procedures, or recommendations using forecasting or optimisation
Inventory or stock management, e.g. order filling, procurement or balancing against orders: by inventory control or reporting using inventory…
Point-of-sale [POS] network systems: inventory monitoring
About 1 year 2 months of term left · ends 10 Jan 2028 (estimated)
The present invention relates to a distribution control system and method, and a server apparatus and its control method and, for example, to efficient and effective management of stock, shipping, and delivery dates of articles such as toner cartridges and the like.
Printers, copying machines, and facsimile apparatuses which use electrophotography are indispensable apparatuses in business. These electrophotography apparatuses require expendables such as toner and the like. If such expendables are used up and cannot be immediately replenished, these apparatuses can no longer be used. In order to avoid such situation, each office maintains and manages an appropriate stock of expendables. Recently, a department called Information Manager of System (IMS) that maintains and manages an appropriate stock of expendables for the entire business establishment is present.
Some electrophotography apparatuses receive toner via a cartridge called a toner cartridge. A toner cartridge corresponding to the model of each apparatus must be mounted on it, and printers of different models normally require different toner cartridges. Hence, in offices or business establishments using many kinds of apparatuses, a large number of types of toner cartridges must be stocked, maintained, and managed. Note that not only toner cartridges but also all business supplies consumed in offices or business establishments require maintenance and management of appropriate stock. In the following description, articles such as toner cartridges are also called “business expendables”. The “business expendables” include toners for copying machines, photosensitive drums, inks for ink-jet printers, other service parts, paper sheets, OHP sheets, and the like in addition to toner cartridges.
FIG. 1 is a view for explaining the current flow of toner cartridges;
FIG. 2 is a view showing the flow of toner cartridges in this embodiment;
FIG. 3 is a view showing the arrangement of a sales/recovery system of a toner cartridge;
An article sales system according to the present invention will be described in detail hereinafter with reference to the accompanying drawings. In this embodiment, business expendables such as toner cartridges and the like used in apparatuses such as electrophotography printers, copying machines, facsimile apparatuses, and the like will be exemplified as articles. However, the present invention can be applied to other articles: for example, toners for copying machines, photosensitive drums, inks for ink-jet printers, other service parts, paper sheets, OHP sheets, and the like.
[Flow of Toner Cartridge]
FIG. 1 is a view for explaining the current flow of toner cartridges.