Management apparatus, management system, object management method, and computer-readable storage medium

A management system comprising:

• a plurality of reading devices;
• and
• a management apparatus, wherein
• the management apparatus includes
• a search part that requests the reading devices to search for a terminal device to obtain search information from a reading device that detects the terminal device via communication, the search information including object identifying information for identifying an object to be managed to which the terminal device is attached, location information regarding a location where the object locates currently, and storage location information indicating a storage location of the object that was set by a user terminal on a pull-down menu of a print setting screen when instructing a printing device to perform printing, the terminal device storing the object identifying information and the storage location information;
• a determination part that determines whether the object is stored at the storage location based on the search information obtained from the plurality of reading devices;
• and
• an output part that outputs a result of the determination,
• each of the reading devices includes
• a storage part that stores the location information;
• and
• a control part that, when succeeding in communication with the terminal device, detects the terminal device, obtains the object identifying information and the storage location information from the detected terminal device, obtains the location information from the storage part to generate the search information, and transmits the search information to the management apparatus,
• the reading devices are devices for reading, via communication, information stored in the terminal device,
• the management apparatus further includes a management part that obtains management information including the object identifying information, time and date information, the location information, and the storage location information and that manages the management information in an management information storage part every time each of the reading devices detects the terminal device via communication,
• the output part further outputs transference history information indicating a transference history of the object based on the management information when the determination part determines that the object is missing,
• the transference history information includes information representing at least one path and an arrow associated with the at least one path,
• the at least one path and the arrow show where the terminal device was located at a first time and where the terminal device was located at a second time, and
• the arrow points away from a first object associated with a first reading device where the terminal device was located at the first time, and the arrow points toward a second object associated with a second reading device where the terminal device was located at the second time.

An object management method comprising:

• requesting a plurality of reading devices to search for a terminal device to obtain search information from a reading device that detects the terminal device via communication, the search information including object identifying information for identifying an object to be managed to which the terminal device is attached, location information regarding a location where the object locates currently, and storage location information indicating a storage location of the object that was set by a user terminal on a pull-down menu of a print setting screen when instructing a printing device to perform printing, the terminal device storing the object identifying information and the storage location information, and the reading device storing the location information;
• determining whether the object is stored at the storage location based on the search information obtained from the plurality of reading devices;
• outputting a result of the determination;
• obtaining management information including the object identifying information, time and date information, the location information, and the storage location information;
• managing the management information in a management information storage every time each of the reading devices detects the terminal device via communication;
• and
• outputting transference history information indicating a transference history of the object based on the management information when it is determined that the object is missing, wherein
• the reading devices are devices for reading, via communication, information stored in the terminal device,
• the transference history information includes information representing at least one path and an arrow associated with the at least one path,
• the at least one path and the arrow show where the terminal device was located at a first time and where the terminal device was located at a second time, and
• the arrow points away from a first object associated with a first reading device where the terminal device was located at the first time, and the arrow points toward a second object associated with a second reading device where the terminal device was located at the second time.