WO2009083650A1 - Arrangement, information system and method for monitoring the deliveries of consumer merchandises - Google Patents

Arrangement, information system and method for monitoring the deliveries of consumer merchandises Download PDF

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Publication number
WO2009083650A1
WO2009083650A1 PCT/FI2008/050787 FI2008050787W WO2009083650A1 WO 2009083650 A1 WO2009083650 A1 WO 2009083650A1 FI 2008050787 W FI2008050787 W FI 2008050787W WO 2009083650 A1 WO2009083650 A1 WO 2009083650A1
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WO
WIPO (PCT)
Prior art keywords
information
consumer
consignment
received
store
Prior art date
Application number
PCT/FI2008/050787
Other languages
French (fr)
Inventor
Jalliina Järvinen
Niilo PÖYHÖNEN
Petteri Leskinen
Original Assignee
Stora Enso Oyj
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Publication date
Application filed by Stora Enso Oyj filed Critical Stora Enso Oyj
Publication of WO2009083650A1 publication Critical patent/WO2009083650A1/en

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    • G—PHYSICS
    • G06—COMPUTING; CALCULATING OR COUNTING
    • G06Q—INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY [ICT] SPECIALLY ADAPTED FOR ADMINISTRATIVE, COMMERCIAL, FINANCIAL, MANAGERIAL OR SUPERVISORY PURPOSES; SYSTEMS OR METHODS SPECIALLY ADAPTED FOR ADMINISTRATIVE, COMMERCIAL, FINANCIAL, MANAGERIAL OR SUPERVISORY PURPOSES, NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR
    • G06Q10/00—Administration; Management
    • G06Q10/08—Logistics, e.g. warehousing, loading or distribution; Inventory or stock management
    • G06Q10/087—Inventory or stock management, e.g. order filling, procurement or balancing against orders
    • G—PHYSICS
    • G06—COMPUTING; CALCULATING OR COUNTING
    • G06Q—INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY [ICT] SPECIALLY ADAPTED FOR ADMINISTRATIVE, COMMERCIAL, FINANCIAL, MANAGERIAL OR SUPERVISORY PURPOSES; SYSTEMS OR METHODS SPECIALLY ADAPTED FOR ADMINISTRATIVE, COMMERCIAL, FINANCIAL, MANAGERIAL OR SUPERVISORY PURPOSES, NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR
    • G06Q10/00—Administration; Management
    • G06Q10/08—Logistics, e.g. warehousing, loading or distribution; Inventory or stock management
    • G—PHYSICS
    • G06—COMPUTING; CALCULATING OR COUNTING
    • G06Q—INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY [ICT] SPECIALLY ADAPTED FOR ADMINISTRATIVE, COMMERCIAL, FINANCIAL, MANAGERIAL OR SUPERVISORY PURPOSES; SYSTEMS OR METHODS SPECIALLY ADAPTED FOR ADMINISTRATIVE, COMMERCIAL, FINANCIAL, MANAGERIAL OR SUPERVISORY PURPOSES, NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR
    • G06Q30/00—Commerce
    • G06Q30/06—Buying, selling or leasing transactions

Definitions

  • the invention relates to an arrangement, information system, and method and computer program product for combining information on consumer merchandises so that the deliveries of consumer merchandises can be monitored in a new way.
  • a product refers generally to consumer goods, which are intended to be sold or distributed in retail stores and provided with an (most preferably an electronically readable) identifier.
  • the product identifier reveals at least the type of the product and preferably also the packaging size, but generally the product identifier remains the same from one consignment to another.
  • a typical product is, for example, a medicine package, whose identifier read as bar code corresponds to the plain information "a 10 tablet package of medicine X". Because the product concept does not identify a certain single physical object, it is possible and even usual to say that all consumers in a certain consumer group bought a certain product (where the product concept is in singular form).
  • Merchandise refers here to a single physical occurrence of the product concept that the consumer actually acquires. Certain merchandise could be determined, for example, by saying "that 10 tablet package of medicine X which I bought from the pharmacy Y yesterday and the corner of which was slightly crushed as it hit the cash counter".
  • a consignment contains several merchandises of the same quality. It may be a concrete consignment to be handled in one place ("all the 10 tablet packages of medicine X in this roller cage"), or its definition can be based on limitations expressed in some other way (“the 10 tablet packages of medicine X that were manufactured between the times A and B").
  • the manufacturer usually wants to do a so-called recall, i.e., both the distribution network and the consumers who have already acquired the product are asked to return the product in question.
  • recall is usually done by publishing announcements in widely-sold media, informing of the defective consignment and requesting to return products already purchased back to the store.
  • consumers are given instructions how they can make sure if their merchandise is part of the defective consignment by examining the dates or other identification information printed on the package.
  • the message diffused by the recall is contradictory.
  • consumers are satisfied that a responsible manufacturer honestly admits what has happened and promises to compensate damages.
  • consumers tend to overreact and start to reject also other products of the same manufacturer than the ones that belong to the same consignment on the basis of package information.
  • the image loss suffered by the manufacturer is biggest with products the target groups of which comprise very small children or other such consumer groups whose well-being the buyers making the purchase decisions find especially important.
  • An object of the present invention is to present an arrangement, information system and method for monitoring deliveries in such a way that makes possible an efficient recall in a well targeted manner. It is also an object of the invention to improve the manufacturers' possibilities to communicate with the end user purchasing the product in a targeted and efficient manner.
  • the objects of the invention are achieved by combining information from the manufacturer's distribution control system monitoring the merchandise deliveries with retail stores' customer information systems.
  • the arrangement has a processing part, which is configured to receive information on consumers' product acquisitions from the customer information system of a store or a chain of stores; - the processing part is configured to combine information in a certain consignment database with information received from the customer information system to generate combined information, which depicts consumers' acquisition of merchandises belonging to certain identifiable consignments in the consignment database.
  • the invention also relates to an information system which is characterised in that the information system's server is configured to receive information on consumers' product acquisitions from the consumer information system of a store or a chain of stores and to combine the information received from said reader equipment with information received from the customer information system to generate combined information, which depicts consumers' acquisitions of merchandises belonging to such consignments on the reading transaction relating to which the server has received information.
  • the invention further relates to a method, which is characterised in that
  • the invention also relates to a computer program product, which is characterised in that it contains machine-readable commands that, when installed in a computer, make the computer to perform steps, in which
  • Retail stores and chains of stores have successfully adopted loyal customer systems, in which the consumer has an electronically readable identifier, such as a magnetic stripe card.
  • the store's cash terminal reads the information on the identifier electronically at the same time as the consumer pays their shopping.
  • the cash terminal also records exact information on what the consumer has bought at any given time.
  • a register making possible very detailed customer monitoring is formed for the store, indicating unambiguously who bought, when and which products. Nevertheless, the register is not as such suitable for a data source for targeted recalls, because it does not contain any information on as to which consignment a certain sold product belonged.
  • the cash terminal usually identifies a sold product by reading the bar code or some other code printed on the product or on its retail package, which is always the same for a certain product, irrespective of the consignment.
  • monitoring systems have been recently developed that are especially intended for the use of manufacturers, in which electronically readable identifiers are attached to the merchandises and/or their retail and wholesale packages.
  • Checkpoints can be placed on the delivery route of the merchandise from the manufacture through the wholesale step to retail, in which points these identifiers are read electronically.
  • the monitoring system is typically designed to produce and maintain information on whether the amounts, delivery routes and delivery schedules of merchandise follow the instructions given about them.
  • the purpose of the monitoring systems is to prevent loss and to make sure of the authenticity of products delivered to retail stores.
  • the monitoring typically takes place with an accuracy of at least such a consignment, which could come into question in a situation of recall.
  • the store's customer information system typically contains detailed contact information, by means of which these consumers can be reached personally.
  • the information to be conveyed to consumers does not necessarily concern a recall only, but the same system can be applied, for example, to the needs of various marketing or communication campaigns so that the manufacturer obtains a direct and targeted channel to the consumers who with their own purchasing behaviour have already indicated that they are interested in certain products.
  • targeted communication is advantageous from the point of view of all parties. Among other things, it helps to prevent the printing and distribution of unnecessary communications material, thus saving energy and environment. In addition, it reduces irritation that consumers feel when they receive advertising mail concerning products they are not at all interested in.
  • Figure 1 illustrates a principle and method for combining information from the customer information system and monitoring system
  • FIG. 2 illustrates an information system according to an embodiment of the invention
  • Figure 3 illustrates a method according to an embodiment of the invention
  • Figure 4 illustrates a possible placing of the monitoring terminals
  • Figure 5 illustrates an arrangement and computer program product according to an embodiment of the invention.
  • Figure 1 illustrates generally the customer information system 101 of a retail store or a chain of stores, to which information is recorded at least when consumers disclose their basic information to be entered in the system (step 102) and when consumers buy products from the store (step 103).
  • Information that is collected to the customer information system 101 essentially contains information on which products each consumer who has given their information to the system has bought, when and where.
  • FIG 1 also illustrates generally the monitoring system 111 intended for the authentication of merchandises and the monitoring of the delivery of consignments.
  • the manufacture, packing, transport and storage of merchandises intended for retail are generally processing of merchandises and consignments (step 112), as the result of which the monitoring system 111 is provided with information on how each merchandise or consignment has travelled on its route from the manufacturer towards the consumer. If this monitoring is extended to the same retail store, in which customer transactions were recorded at step 103, the monitoring system 111 at least provides information on which consignment was for sale in the retail store in question at that particular time. If the last checkpoint of the monitoring system is at the same counter where the purchase transaction was entered in the customer information system, the monitoring system can tell even with the accuracy of single merchandise, which individually identifiable merchandise was sold to each consumer.
  • Combining information in step 131 provides information on which merchandises belonging to a certain consignment each consumer bought in each recorded consumer transaction. If the manufacturer or some other interested party wishes to communicate in a targeted manner with consumers who have bought products of a certain consignment (step 141), this is conveniently done by using this combined information. As an example, the manufacturer can perform a targeted recall by sending information on the defective consignment and operating instructions to only those consumers who have bought a product belonging to just the consignment in question.
  • the topmost section of Figure 2 illustrates a number of cash terminals 201, which are typically located at the cash counters of a retail store.
  • Each cash terminal is provided with a product identifier reader 202 (e.g. barcode scanner, 2D barcode reader, or reader of RFID identifier, in which RFID comes from the words Radio Frequency IDentifier) and a customer identifier reader 203 (e.g. magnetic stripe or smartcard reader).
  • the cash terminal also includes other user interface functions 204, such as a display and keyboard. The operation of the cash terminal is controlled by the terminal software 205 installed in it.
  • the customer information system of a store or a chain of stores includes one or several server computers, which in this example is called the store server 211. It manages large information storages, of which the customer information database 212 and purchase database 213 are shown in the Figure.
  • each consumer's identifier code e.g. customer number
  • consumer's information relating to this code such as name, address, telephone number, e-mail address, gender, reported hobbies or other interests, etc.
  • a so-called customer profile is generated from the information recorded of the consumer.
  • Information on the consumers' product acquisitions supplied by cash terminals are recorded to the purchase database 213, i.e. information on which products a consumer identified by a certain identifier code bought, from where, when and at which price.
  • the operation of the store server is controlled by the server software 214 installed in it.
  • the customer information system of a store or a chain of stores also includes one or several management workstations 221, which can be located at the same or a different place as the store server 211.
  • the operation of the customer information system is administered through these.
  • the management workstation has the user interface 222 (typically a keyboard and display), and its operation is controlled by the workstation software 223.
  • Information transfer between the cash terminals 201 , store server 211 , and management workstation 221 occurs through the data transmission network 231.
  • the network is here shown only generally, and it is not significant for the present invention how it has been realised in practice or what types of data transmission methods or combinations of these are used in the customer information system of stores or chains of stores. Parts above the line 232 in Figure 2 could, for the operation described above, also be parts of a known, state-of-the-art customer information system.
  • monitoring terminals 231 which can be, for example, reader devices of the type that have been known to be used for the monitoring of products and consignments according to the PackAgent solution.
  • PackAgent is a software-based authentication and monitoring solution, public information on which is at the moment of this text's writing available at the addresses www.packagent.com and www.storaenso.com/consumerboard.
  • the monitoring terminal 241 is typically a programmable device, which is provided with the merchandise and/or consignment identifier reader 242.
  • identifiers In the monitoring system, many kinds of identifiers, most preferably electronically readable ones, can be used as merchandise and consignment identifiers, such as barcodes, 2D barcodes, RFID identifiers, touch-read tags, optically readable character strings, perforations, etc.
  • merchandise and/or consignment identifier reader 242 has to be configured to read the identifiers in question and to convey the read identifiers in electronic form to the monitoring terminal 241.
  • the monitoring terminal can also include other user interface type functions 243, such as a keyboard, display, microphone, loudspeaker, positioning function or interface, special buttons or switches, etc.
  • the operation of the monitoring terminal is controlled by the terminal software 244 installed in it.
  • monitoring terminals 241 are typically located in several places along the merchandise's travel route. Some possible locations for monitoring terminals are the manufacturing line, packing plant, manufacturer's shipping room, means of transportation used by the forwarder and wholesaler, entrances and exits of the forwarder and wholesaler, distribution vans and other means of transportation used by retail trade, entrances for merchandise deliveries at retail stores, retail store's storage, retail store's sales counter, and even exit door used by consumers visiting the retail store.
  • the locations for the monitoring terminals are in each case selected according to how accurately it is possible and appropriate to monitor the travel or merchandises and consignments.
  • each monitoring terminal depends on the role and location of the monitoring terminal in question on the travel route of the merchandise. For example, on a manufacturing line, in a packing plant, or at a sales counter of a retail store, the monitoring terminal can be configured to read even identifiers of individual merchandises, when again, for example, a monitoring terminal located in wholesale or in transport steps can be configured to read only identifiers relating to packing boxes, pallets, roller cages, or other packages containing several individual merchandises.
  • the monitoring system includes one or several server computers, which in Figure 2 has been called the manufacturer's server 251. It manages information storages, of which the logistic database 252 and the consignment database 253 are shown in the Figure.
  • the logistic database 252 contains information on the type of the processing route on which the merchandise or consignment to be monitored should travel. Because monitoring at its simplest takes place by entering in the system successive reading transactions of merchandise and/or consignment identifiers, the logistic database 252 contains at its simplest definitions on the reading transactions, which must come true for a certain merchandise and/or consignment so that it is considered to have followed a correct route from the manufacturer to the consumer.
  • More complicated implementations can be built by defining to the logistic database 252 different rules, for example, about that the time elapsing between certain reading transactions must fit within certain limits, or that in a certain wholesale processing step some alternative reading transactions are accepted, if the realised alternative is afterwards followed by a predetermined reading transaction within the retail domain.
  • Possible more versatile rules are also represented by, for example, dynamically changing rules, the conditions set by which change according to which reading transactions have been previously recorded or left unrecorded. If a transport step belonging to the delivery chain contains a real-time position monitoring, the logistic database 252 can also contain rules about which route the transport has to follow and on which schedule.
  • the consignment database 253 is configured to receive and record information on the merchandises and consignments to be monitored, especially the records representing actual realised reading transactions. Thus, all reading transactions are entered in the ⁇ consignment database 253 irrespective of whether they followed the rules recorded to the logistic database 252 or not. In this case, the purpose naturally is that also deliveries that proceeded in a deviating manner can be monitored and their realisation can be tracked afterwards. Even if no consignment-specific identifiers at all were used in the monitoring system but only merchandise-specific identifiers, consignments can be formed of the merchandises (also afterwards) that are identifiable in the consignment database by defining some conditions which the merchandise has to fulfil in order to belong to a certain consignment.
  • the operation of the manufacturer's server 251 is controlled by the server software 254 installed in it.
  • the monitoring system also includes the monitoring workstation 261 , by means of which the operation of the monitoring system can be managed and controlled, for example, by generating new processing rules to the logistic database 252 or identifiers for new merchandises and consignments to the consignment database 253.
  • the monitoring workstation has the user interface 262, and its operation is controlled by the workstation software 263 installed in it.
  • the monitoring workstation 261 can also be used for the presentation of information on how the processing of a certain monitored merchandise or consignment has progressed.
  • the arrangement has a certain processing part for the combining.
  • this is configured to receive information on the product acquisitions by consumers from the customer information system of a store or a chain of stores.
  • the processing part is configured to combine information in the consignment database with the information received from the customer information system to generate combined information.
  • Combined information depicts consumers' acquisitions of merchandises belonging to certain consignments identifiable in the consignment database.
  • the functions of the processing part can also be spread into two or several physical devices, for example so that part of the combining of information is done in the server controlled by the server software, but the rest of the processing and especially the presentation of results to the user is done in a workstation communicating with the server and controlled by the workstation software.
  • one advantageous use of the present invention is to make targeted recalls, which is a function especially desired by the manufacturer, and because it is preferable to do the combining and processing of large amounts of information in the server, one possible choice is that the combining of information is done in the manufacturer's server 251.
  • the processing part then consists of the server's processor/-s, which is/are configured to run such a computer program saved in the server or within its reach, which contains instructions controlling the combining of information. Combining the information could respectively be done in any computer with the necessary data transmission connections to the customer information system and monitoring system.
  • FIG. 3 illustrates an exemplary way of how the collection and combining of information progresses.
  • the user interface for the processing part, the actual processing part, the consignment database and the customer information system.
  • the consignment database has previously received and saved reading transactions (step 301) and the customer information system has received and saved customer transactions (step 302).
  • the user provides the processing part with instructions on the type of desired combined information through the user interface. For example, the user can define that he wants a list of contact information on such consumers who have bought the product X, which was manufactured between 21.10.2007 and 3.11.2007.
  • the consignment is thus defined according to the manufacturing dates.
  • step 304 the processing part examines what kinds of consignment and/or merchandise specific identifiers have been used according to the monitoring system in the consignment the user chose in step 303.
  • one monitoring terminal of the monitoring system is arranged in contact with the manufacture so that a record of every reading transaction made by it is saved into the consignment database, the record containing the merchandise and/or consignment identifier and the time of the reading transaction.
  • step 305 the processing part thus requests the consignment database to list the identifiers of the reading transactions that have been received from the manufacture's monitoring terminal and that have the date and time within the limits set by the user.
  • the listing of identifiers would change respectively: for example, if the consignment referred to the merchandises that were shipped from the manufacturer's factory in a certain transport vehicle, the listing would be directed to the identifiers, the reading transactions corresponding to which would have been made with the monitoring terminal of the transport vehicle in question.
  • the consignment database collects in step 306 all the reading transactions in which identifiers belonging to said consignment occur. In step 307, the consignment database transmits the information concerning the found reading transactions to the processing part.
  • the processing part concludes in step 308 what kind of information relating to customer transactions it should ask from the customer information system. Let us again take an imagined exemplary case illustrating the character of this conclusion. Let it be assumed that said consignment originally contained merchandises in the amount of two wholesale packages. On the basis of reading transactions saved in the consignment database, the wholesale package A has not yet been dispatched from the wholesale storage, but the wholesale package B was delivered to the retail store K at 12.35 on 4.11.2007. Two conclusions can be made from these reading transactions. First of all, only transaction information concerning the merchandises in the wholesale package B needs to be inquired from the customer information database, because the merchandises in the wholesale package A have not yet ended up for sale and thus, customer transactions concerning these have not yet happened.
  • the processing part forms a transaction query in step 309, in this exemplary case it would request the customer information system to deliver information on the consumers who according to the customer information system have acquired the product X from the retail store K later than at 12.35 on 4.11.2007.
  • the processing part transmits a transaction query to the customer information system in step 310.
  • This query is a very straightforward database query. For example, it can request the customer information system to deliver the names and addresses of the consumers whose customer number occurs in the saved transactions according to the definition.
  • the customer information system searches all customer transactions fitting the given limits ("product X acquired at the retail store K later than at 12.35 on 4.11.2007) and collects from them the information requested by the query or such information on the basis of which the information requested by the query can be found.
  • the customer information database can, for example, pick customer numbers from the customer transactions recorded by the purchase database and convert them into plain consumer names and addresses by means of the customer information database. In step 312, it returns the requested information to the processing part.
  • step 313 the processing part performs the actual combining of information, i.e. it forms, for example, a list from the introduction of which it becomes apparent that on it there are listed the known consumers who according to information have got at least one merchandise of the previously defined consignment.
  • the actual list contains the name and contact information on each consumer, and possibly (originating from the customer information system) a more exact time when the consumer has acquired the merchandise in question.
  • the processing part gives the combined information through the user interface to be used by the user.
  • Combined information can also contain different kinds of further conclusions. It can, for example, state if all merchandises that possibly ended up for sale have been tracked up to the consumers (i.e. if information has been obtained about as many transactions from the customer information database as there were merchandises in the consignment to be tracked).
  • FIG 3 there is shown one possible further step in which on the basis of commands given in step 315 through the user interface, a message is formed in the processing part or by the processing part concerning certain merchandise in step 316.
  • the message is sent to the consumer, who on the basis of the combined information has acquired the merchandise in question, by using the contact information obtained from the customer information system as said consumer's contact information.
  • the processing part can exchange much more information with the user interface so that the user can monitor the progress of searching the information and influence, for example, the forming of the transaction query before its transmission into the customer information system.
  • the mutual order and contents of various operations can vary considerably.
  • the collection of information may start so that the processing part requests from the customer information system all information on all such customer transactions, in which product X occurs. In this case, the further processing of information and choosing the correct information would take place in the processing part by eliminating from the original information and not by targeted questions as in the case in Figure 3.
  • Figure 4 illustrates some exemplary ways, by which the monitoring system can obtain direct or indirect information on when certain merchandise has (possibly) been sold to a consumer.
  • the retail store 401 there is the storage 402 and the store 403.
  • Consignments are transported to the retail store by transport vehicles 404 in wholesale packages, for example, roller cages which also operate as storage racks in the storage 402. From the storage they are transferred to the racks in the store 403 in retail packages.
  • Customer transactions (purchase transactions) are recorded by the cash terminal 405.
  • the transport vehicle 404 or its driver can have the monitoring terminal 411.
  • the driver of the transport vehicle typically reads the identifier of a full wholesale package (roller cage), when he delivers it to the retail store in question.
  • the driver of the transport vehicle reads the identifier of an empty wholesale package, as he picks it along to be delivered back to the manufacturer or wholesaler. It can be seen from the reading transactions made with the monitoring terminal in the transport vehicle when the merchandises in the particular wholesale package can have ended up for sale at the earliest (i.e. when the wholesale package was delivered to the storage 402) and when they all have probably been sold (when the empty wholesale package is collected or when the next wholesale package is delivered, plus the typical shelf time for a retail package).
  • the monitoring terminal 411 can be the last one on the merchandise's route towards the consumer, especially if the manufacturer does not want to include the store in the management of the monitoring system.
  • monitoring terminals also inside the store.
  • the monitoring terminal 412 on the border of the stor- age 402 and the store 403, the reading transactions carried out by which show the transfer of the merchandises actually to sale, and the monitoring terminal 413 near the cash terminal, with which even such reading transactions can be done, the timing and merchandise processing step of which correspond fully to the customer transaction to be recorded with the cash terminal 405.
  • the monitoring terminal 413 near the cash terminal can, on the basis of the time of the reading transaction, tell which merchandise has been sold from the retail store in question at the particular time.
  • the monitoring terminals 411 and 412 do not process individual merchandises or at least their delivery to the consumer, but if the time of the purchase transaction is known, it can be stated from their reading transactions which merchandises of which consignment have been at the retail store in question at the particular time.
  • FIG. 5 illustrates the arrangement according to an embodiment of the invention. At the same time, it illustrates the concepts "processing part” and "computer program product” of an example.
  • the arrangement has a processing part, which can be called the processor 501. Its communication to the direction of the user has been arranged in a conventional manner by the user interface controllers 502 and physical user interface, such as keyboard and display 503. Also suitable data communications controllers 504 and physical data communications connections 505 are available for the processor 501. By means of these and a suitable program controlling the communications, the processor 501 is configured to receive information on product acquisitions made by consumers from the consumer information system of a store or a chain of stores.
  • the processor 501 has at its use the data memory 510, one part of which is the consignment database 511.
  • the consignment database 511 is configured to receive and save information on the processing steps of consignments as they travel from the manufacturer through distribution and store towards the consumer.
  • the data memory 510 also includes the working memory 512, which the processor 501 uses as a temporary saving place for information.
  • the program memory 520 is available for the processor, to which the necessary computer program products have been saved, i.e. a number of machine- readable commands that, installed in a computer, make the computer to perform the steps according to an embodiment of the invention.
  • the arrangement receives and saves information on the processing steps of consignments as they travel from the manufacturer through distribution and store towards the consumer, and receives information on product acquisitions made by consumers from the customer information system of a store or a chain of stores.
  • the arrangement collects the parts in accordance with the search criteria valid at the given time from the received and saved information.
  • the arrangement Controlled by commands contained in the combining part 524 for information, the arrangement combines information received on the processing steps of consignments with information received from the customer information system and generates combined information, which describes consumers' acquisitions of merchandises that belong to such consignments, on the processing steps of which on their route from the manufacturer through distribution and store towards the consumer information has been received and saved. Controlled by commands contained in the user interface implementation part 525, the arrangement generates the content offered by the user interfaces and communicates with the user.
  • a computer program product according to the invention can occur as such on a storage medium, which can be read by a computer.
  • the manufacturer (or more generally the user of the monitoring system) wants to get well identified consumer-specific information from the consumer information system, such as names and addresses.
  • information can also be of a more anonymous nature, without customer identifiers.
  • a situation can be assumed, in which there are monitoring terminals of the monitoring system at the manufacturer and wholesaler, but not any more at the distribution level, which delivers the merchandises from the wholesale storage to retail stores. In this case it can be seen from the monitoring system, when certain merchandise or consignment has left the wholesale level, but not necessarily any more, at which retail store or stores it finally has arrived to be sold.
  • the processing part of the monitoring system can request from the customer information system general distribution information on how big amounts of the product in question have been sold in which retail store within a particular time period. Combining this information with the information on when the consignment was dispatched for distribution can at least give a good starting point for targeting the consumer communications so that it most likely reaches just the correct consumers.

Abstract

For combining information on consumer merchandises, the arrangement has a consignment database (253), which receives and saves information on the processing steps (112) of consignments on their route from a manufacturer through distribution and store towards a consumer. A processing part (251 ) receives information on consumers' product acquisitions (103) from the customer information system (251 ) of a store or a chain of stores. The processing part (251 ) combines information in the consignment database (253) with information received from the customer information system (101 ) to generate combined information, which describes consumers' acquisitions of certain merchandises belonging to consignments identifiable in the consignment database (253).

Description

Arrangement, information system and method for monitoring the deliveries of consumer merchandises
The invention relates to an arrangement, information system, and method and computer program product for combining information on consumer merchandises so that the deliveries of consumer merchandises can be monitored in a new way.
The concepts product, merchandise and consignment are used in this text. A product refers generally to consumer goods, which are intended to be sold or distributed in retail stores and provided with an (most preferably an electronically readable) identifier. The product identifier reveals at least the type of the product and preferably also the packaging size, but generally the product identifier remains the same from one consignment to another. A typical product is, for example, a medicine package, whose identifier read as bar code corresponds to the plain information "a 10 tablet package of medicine X". Because the product concept does not identify a certain single physical object, it is possible and even usual to say that all consumers in a certain consumer group bought a certain product (where the product concept is in singular form).
Merchandise refers here to a single physical occurrence of the product concept that the consumer actually acquires. Certain merchandise could be determined, for example, by saying "that 10 tablet package of medicine X which I bought from the pharmacy Y yesterday and the corner of which was slightly crushed as it hit the cash counter".
A consignment contains several merchandises of the same quality. It may be a concrete consignment to be handled in one place ("all the 10 tablet packages of medicine X in this roller cage"), or its definition can be based on limitations expressed in some other way ("the 10 tablet packages of medicine X that were manufactured between the times A and B").
In several countries, the manufacturers of consumer merchandises are legally responsible for that the product matches the description given of it. Now and then there are cases in which the manufacturer notices that a manufactured consignment contains defective merchandises. This can be especially dangerous, for example, in food or medical industry, because wrong properties of the merchandise can cause sick- ness, poisonings, allergic reactions or even deaths. Even in milder cases the consumer is at least annoyed if the quality of the merchandise bought does not meet expectations.
When it is noticed that a defective consignment has got into distribution, the manufacturer usually wants to do a so-called recall, i.e., both the distribution network and the consumers who have already acquired the product are asked to return the product in question. In case of consumer merchandises, the recall is usually done by publishing announcements in widely-sold media, informing of the defective consignment and requesting to return products already purchased back to the store. In the announcements consumers are given instructions how they can make sure if their merchandise is part of the defective consignment by examining the dates or other identification information printed on the package.
The message diffused by the recall is contradictory. On the one hand, consumers are satisfied that a responsible manufacturer honestly admits what has happened and promises to compensate damages. On the other hand, consumers tend to overreact and start to reject also other products of the same manufacturer than the ones that belong to the same consignment on the basis of package information. The image loss suffered by the manufacturer is biggest with products the target groups of which comprise very small children or other such consumer groups whose well-being the buyers making the purchase decisions find especially important.
An object of the present invention is to present an arrangement, information system and method for monitoring deliveries in such a way that makes possible an efficient recall in a well targeted manner. It is also an object of the invention to improve the manufacturers' possibilities to communicate with the end user purchasing the product in a targeted and efficient manner.
The objects of the invention are achieved by combining information from the manufacturer's distribution control system monitoring the merchandise deliveries with retail stores' customer information systems.
The arrangement of the invention is characterised in that
- the arrangement has a processing part, which is configured to receive information on consumers' product acquisitions from the customer information system of a store or a chain of stores; - the processing part is configured to combine information in a certain consignment database with information received from the customer information system to generate combined information, which depicts consumers' acquisition of merchandises belonging to certain identifiable consignments in the consignment database.
The invention also relates to an information system which is characterised in that the information system's server is configured to receive information on consumers' product acquisitions from the consumer information system of a store or a chain of stores and to combine the information received from said reader equipment with information received from the customer information system to generate combined information, which depicts consumers' acquisitions of merchandises belonging to such consignments on the reading transaction relating to which the server has received information.
The invention further relates to a method, which is characterised in that
- information is received and recorded on the processing steps of consignments as they travel from the manufacturer and through distribution and stores towards the consumer,
- information is received from the customer information system of a store or a chain of stores on product acquisitions made by consumers, and
- information received on the processing stages of consignments is combined with information received from the customer information system and combined information is generated, depicting consumers' acquisitions of merchandises belonging to such consignments, on which information has been received and recorded concerning their route from the manufacturer and through distribution and store towards the consumer.
The invention also relates to a computer program product, which is characterised in that it contains machine-readable commands that, when installed in a computer, make the computer to perform steps, in which
- information is received and recorded on the processing steps of consignments as they travel from the manufacturer and through distribution and stores towards the consumer,
- information is received from the customer information system of a store or a chain of stores on product acquisitions made by consumers, and
- information received on the processing steps of consignments is combined with information received from the customer information system and combined information is generated, depicting consumers' acquisitions of merchandises belonging to such consignments, on which information has been received and recorded concerning their route from the manufacturer and through distribution and store towards the consumer.
Retail stores and chains of stores have successfully adopted loyal customer systems, in which the consumer has an electronically readable identifier, such as a magnetic stripe card. The store's cash terminal reads the information on the identifier electronically at the same time as the consumer pays their shopping. The cash terminal also records exact information on what the consumer has bought at any given time. Of this information, a register making possible very detailed customer monitoring is formed for the store, indicating unambiguously who bought, when and which products. Nevertheless, the register is not as such suitable for a data source for targeted recalls, because it does not contain any information on as to which consignment a certain sold product belonged. The cash terminal usually identifies a sold product by reading the bar code or some other code printed on the product or on its retail package, which is always the same for a certain product, irrespective of the consignment.
On the other hand, monitoring systems have been recently developed that are especially intended for the use of manufacturers, in which electronically readable identifiers are attached to the merchandises and/or their retail and wholesale packages. Checkpoints can be placed on the delivery route of the merchandise from the manufacture through the wholesale step to retail, in which points these identifiers are read electronically. The monitoring system is typically designed to produce and maintain information on whether the amounts, delivery routes and delivery schedules of merchandise follow the instructions given about them. The purpose of the monitoring systems is to prevent loss and to make sure of the authenticity of products delivered to retail stores. The monitoring typically takes place with an accuracy of at least such a consignment, which could come into question in a situation of recall.
By combining information from the monitoring system and the store's customer information system it is possible to conclude very accurately, to which consignment the merchandise bought by each consumer at a given time belonged. If there now arises the need to convey information on a certain consignment to consumers, it can be done in a targeted manner so that it is studied from the combined information, which consumers have bought merchandises belonging to the consignment in question. The store's customer information system typically contains detailed contact information, by means of which these consumers can be reached personally. The information to be conveyed to consumers does not necessarily concern a recall only, but the same system can be applied, for example, to the needs of various marketing or communication campaigns so that the manufacturer obtains a direct and targeted channel to the consumers who with their own purchasing behaviour have already indicated that they are interested in certain products. Such targeted communication is advantageous from the point of view of all parties. Among other things, it helps to prevent the printing and distribution of unnecessary communications material, thus saving energy and environment. In addition, it reduces irritation that consumers feel when they receive advertising mail concerning products they are not at all interested in.
The invention is next explained in more detail, referring to advantageous embodiments shown as examples and to the enclosed drawings, in which Figure 1 illustrates a principle and method for combining information from the customer information system and monitoring system;
Figure 2 illustrates an information system according to an embodiment of the invention;
Figure 3 illustrates a method according to an embodiment of the invention; Figure 4 illustrates a possible placing of the monitoring terminals; and Figure 5 illustrates an arrangement and computer program product according to an embodiment of the invention.
Figure 1 illustrates generally the customer information system 101 of a retail store or a chain of stores, to which information is recorded at least when consumers disclose their basic information to be entered in the system (step 102) and when consumers buy products from the store (step 103). Information that is collected to the customer information system 101 essentially contains information on which products each consumer who has given their information to the system has bought, when and where.
Figure 1 also illustrates generally the monitoring system 111 intended for the authentication of merchandises and the monitoring of the delivery of consignments. The manufacture, packing, transport and storage of merchandises intended for retail are generally processing of merchandises and consignments (step 112), as the result of which the monitoring system 111 is provided with information on how each merchandise or consignment has travelled on its route from the manufacturer towards the consumer. If this monitoring is extended to the same retail store, in which customer transactions were recorded at step 103, the monitoring system 111 at least provides information on which consignment was for sale in the retail store in question at that particular time. If the last checkpoint of the monitoring system is at the same counter where the purchase transaction was entered in the customer information system, the monitoring system can tell even with the accuracy of single merchandise, which individually identifiable merchandise was sold to each consumer.
Combining information in step 131 provides information on which merchandises belonging to a certain consignment each consumer bought in each recorded consumer transaction. If the manufacturer or some other interested party wishes to communicate in a targeted manner with consumers who have bought products of a certain consignment (step 141), this is conveniently done by using this combined information. As an example, the manufacturer can perform a targeted recall by sending information on the defective consignment and operating instructions to only those consumers who have bought a product belonging to just the consignment in question.
The topmost section of Figure 2 illustrates a number of cash terminals 201, which are typically located at the cash counters of a retail store. Each cash terminal is provided with a product identifier reader 202 (e.g. barcode scanner, 2D barcode reader, or reader of RFID identifier, in which RFID comes from the words Radio Frequency IDentifier) and a customer identifier reader 203 (e.g. magnetic stripe or smartcard reader). The cash terminal also includes other user interface functions 204, such as a display and keyboard. The operation of the cash terminal is controlled by the terminal software 205 installed in it.
The customer information system of a store or a chain of stores includes one or several server computers, which in this example is called the store server 211. It manages large information storages, of which the customer information database 212 and purchase database 213 are shown in the Figure. With the consent of consumers, each consumer's identifier code (e.g. customer number) and consumer's information relating to this code, such as name, address, telephone number, e-mail address, gender, reported hobbies or other interests, etc. have been recorded to the customer information database 212. A so-called customer profile is generated from the information recorded of the consumer. Information on the consumers' product acquisitions supplied by cash terminals are recorded to the purchase database 213, i.e. information on which products a consumer identified by a certain identifier code bought, from where, when and at which price. The operation of the store server is controlled by the server software 214 installed in it.
The customer information system of a store or a chain of stores also includes one or several management workstations 221, which can be located at the same or a different place as the store server 211. The operation of the customer information system is administered through these. The management workstation has the user interface 222 (typically a keyboard and display), and its operation is controlled by the workstation software 223. Information transfer between the cash terminals 201 , store server 211 , and management workstation 221 occurs through the data transmission network 231. The network is here shown only generally, and it is not significant for the present invention how it has been realised in practice or what types of data transmission methods or combinations of these are used in the customer information system of stores or chains of stores. Parts above the line 232 in Figure 2 could, for the operation described above, also be parts of a known, state-of-the-art customer information system.
Uppermost below the line 232 there is shown a number of monitoring terminals 231 , which can be, for example, reader devices of the type that have been known to be used for the monitoring of products and consignments according to the PackAgent solution. PackAgent is a software-based authentication and monitoring solution, public information on which is at the moment of this text's writing available at the addresses www.packagent.com and www.storaenso.com/consumerboard. The monitoring terminal 241 is typically a programmable device, which is provided with the merchandise and/or consignment identifier reader 242. In the monitoring system, many kinds of identifiers, most preferably electronically readable ones, can be used as merchandise and consignment identifiers, such as barcodes, 2D barcodes, RFID identifiers, touch-read tags, optically readable character strings, perforations, etc. Respectively, the merchandise and/or consignment identifier reader 242 has to be configured to read the identifiers in question and to convey the read identifiers in electronic form to the monitoring terminal 241. The monitoring terminal can also include other user interface type functions 243, such as a keyboard, display, microphone, loudspeaker, positioning function or interface, special buttons or switches, etc. The operation of the monitoring terminal is controlled by the terminal software 244 installed in it. Because the purpose of the monitoring system is to make possible the following of a merchandise or consignment from the manufacturer to consumer, monitoring terminals 241 are typically located in several places along the merchandise's travel route. Some possible locations for monitoring terminals are the manufacturing line, packing plant, manufacturer's shipping room, means of transportation used by the forwarder and wholesaler, entrances and exits of the forwarder and wholesaler, distribution vans and other means of transportation used by retail trade, entrances for merchandise deliveries at retail stores, retail store's storage, retail store's sales counter, and even exit door used by consumers visiting the retail store. The locations for the monitoring terminals are in each case selected according to how accurately it is possible and appropriate to monitor the travel or merchandises and consignments. Which identifier is read by each monitoring terminal depends on the role and location of the monitoring terminal in question on the travel route of the merchandise. For example, on a manufacturing line, in a packing plant, or at a sales counter of a retail store, the monitoring terminal can be configured to read even identifiers of individual merchandises, when again, for example, a monitoring terminal located in wholesale or in transport steps can be configured to read only identifiers relating to packing boxes, pallets, roller cages, or other packages containing several individual merchandises.
The monitoring system includes one or several server computers, which in Figure 2 has been called the manufacturer's server 251. It manages information storages, of which the logistic database 252 and the consignment database 253 are shown in the Figure. The logistic database 252 contains information on the type of the processing route on which the merchandise or consignment to be monitored should travel. Because monitoring at its simplest takes place by entering in the system successive reading transactions of merchandise and/or consignment identifiers, the logistic database 252 contains at its simplest definitions on the reading transactions, which must come true for a certain merchandise and/or consignment so that it is considered to have followed a correct route from the manufacturer to the consumer. More complicated implementations can be built by defining to the logistic database 252 different rules, for example, about that the time elapsing between certain reading transactions must fit within certain limits, or that in a certain wholesale processing step some alternative reading transactions are accepted, if the realised alternative is afterwards followed by a predetermined reading transaction within the retail domain. Possible more versatile rules are also represented by, for example, dynamically changing rules, the conditions set by which change according to which reading transactions have been previously recorded or left unrecorded. If a transport step belonging to the delivery chain contains a real-time position monitoring, the logistic database 252 can also contain rules about which route the transport has to follow and on which schedule.
The consignment database 253 is configured to receive and record information on the merchandises and consignments to be monitored, especially the records representing actual realised reading transactions. Thus, all reading transactions are entered in the ^ consignment database 253 irrespective of whether they followed the rules recorded to the logistic database 252 or not. In this case, the purpose naturally is that also deliveries that proceeded in a deviating manner can be monitored and their realisation can be tracked afterwards. Even if no consignment-specific identifiers at all were used in the monitoring system but only merchandise-specific identifiers, consignments can be formed of the merchandises (also afterwards) that are identifiable in the consignment database by defining some conditions which the merchandise has to fulfil in order to belong to a certain consignment.
The operation of the manufacturer's server 251 is controlled by the server software 254 installed in it.
The monitoring system also includes the monitoring workstation 261 , by means of which the operation of the monitoring system can be managed and controlled, for example, by generating new processing rules to the logistic database 252 or identifiers for new merchandises and consignments to the consignment database 253. The monitoring workstation has the user interface 262, and its operation is controlled by the workstation software 263 installed in it. The monitoring workstation 261 can also be used for the presentation of information on how the processing of a certain monitored merchandise or consignment has progressed.
It is not very significant for the invention where the combining step 131 of information shown in Figure 1 is actually done. Generally it can be said that the arrangement has a certain processing part for the combining. For combining, this is configured to receive information on the product acquisitions by consumers from the customer information system of a store or a chain of stores. In addition, the processing part is configured to combine information in the consignment database with the information received from the customer information system to generate combined information. Combined information depicts consumers' acquisitions of merchandises belonging to certain consignments identifiable in the consignment database. The functions of the processing part can also be spread into two or several physical devices, for example so that part of the combining of information is done in the server controlled by the server software, but the rest of the processing and especially the presentation of results to the user is done in a workstation communicating with the server and controlled by the workstation software.
Because one advantageous use of the present invention is to make targeted recalls, which is a function especially desired by the manufacturer, and because it is preferable to do the combining and processing of large amounts of information in the server, one possible choice is that the combining of information is done in the manufacturer's server 251. The processing part then consists of the server's processor/-s, which is/are configured to run such a computer program saved in the server or within its reach, which contains instructions controlling the combining of information. Combining the information could respectively be done in any computer with the necessary data transmission connections to the customer information system and monitoring system.
Figure 3 illustrates an exemplary way of how the collection and combining of information progresses. In the Figure there is shown the user interface for the processing part, the actual processing part, the consignment database and the customer information system. Let it be assumed that the consignment database has previously received and saved reading transactions (step 301) and the customer information system has received and saved customer transactions (step 302). In step 303, the user provides the processing part with instructions on the type of desired combined information through the user interface. For example, the user can define that he wants a list of contact information on such consumers who have bought the product X, which was manufactured between 21.10.2007 and 3.11.2007. Here the consignment is thus defined according to the manufacturing dates.
In step 304, the processing part examines what kinds of consignment and/or merchandise specific identifiers have been used according to the monitoring system in the consignment the user chose in step 303. In the exemplary case it can be assumed that one monitoring terminal of the monitoring system is arranged in contact with the manufacture so that a record of every reading transaction made by it is saved into the consignment database, the record containing the merchandise and/or consignment identifier and the time of the reading transaction. In step 305, the processing part thus requests the consignment database to list the identifiers of the reading transactions that have been received from the manufacture's monitoring terminal and that have the date and time within the limits set by the user. Naturally, if the consignment had been determined in some other way, the listing of identifiers would change respectively: for example, if the consignment referred to the merchandises that were shipped from the manufacturer's factory in a certain transport vehicle, the listing would be directed to the identifiers, the reading transactions corresponding to which would have been made with the monitoring terminal of the transport vehicle in question.
In order to be able to monitor the travel of all merchandises in the consignment in question towards the consumer, the consignment database collects in step 306 all the reading transactions in which identifiers belonging to said consignment occur. In step 307, the consignment database transmits the information concerning the found reading transactions to the processing part.
On the basis of information it has received, the processing part concludes in step 308 what kind of information relating to customer transactions it should ask from the customer information system. Let us again take an imagined exemplary case illustrating the character of this conclusion. Let it be assumed that said consignment originally contained merchandises in the amount of two wholesale packages. On the basis of reading transactions saved in the consignment database, the wholesale package A has not yet been dispatched from the wholesale storage, but the wholesale package B was delivered to the retail store K at 12.35 on 4.11.2007. Two conclusions can be made from these reading transactions. First of all, only transaction information concerning the merchandises in the wholesale package B needs to be inquired from the customer information database, because the merchandises in the wholesale package A have not yet ended up for sale and thus, customer transactions concerning these have not yet happened. Secondly, it is known that merchandises in the wholesale package B can have been sold only at the retail store K and even there only after 12.35 on 4.11.2007. When the processing part forms a transaction query in step 309, in this exemplary case it would request the customer information system to deliver information on the consumers who according to the customer information system have acquired the product X from the retail store K later than at 12.35 on 4.11.2007. The processing part transmits a transaction query to the customer information system in step 310. This query is a very straightforward database query. For example, it can request the customer information system to deliver the names and addresses of the consumers whose customer number occurs in the saved transactions according to the definition. The customer information system searches all customer transactions fitting the given limits ("product X acquired at the retail store K later than at 12.35 on 4.11.2007) and collects from them the information requested by the query or such information on the basis of which the information requested by the query can be found. The customer information database can, for example, pick customer numbers from the customer transactions recorded by the purchase database and convert them into plain consumer names and addresses by means of the customer information database. In step 312, it returns the requested information to the processing part.
In step 313 the processing part performs the actual combining of information, i.e. it forms, for example, a list from the introduction of which it becomes apparent that on it there are listed the known consumers who according to information have got at least one merchandise of the previously defined consignment. The actual list contains the name and contact information on each consumer, and possibly (originating from the customer information system) a more exact time when the consumer has acquired the merchandise in question. In step 314, the processing part gives the combined information through the user interface to be used by the user. Combined information can also contain different kinds of further conclusions. It can, for example, state if all merchandises that possibly ended up for sale have been tracked up to the consumers (i.e. if information has been obtained about as many transactions from the customer information database as there were merchandises in the consignment to be tracked).
In Figure 3 there is shown one possible further step in which on the basis of commands given in step 315 through the user interface, a message is formed in the processing part or by the processing part concerning certain merchandise in step 316. The message is sent to the consumer, who on the basis of the combined information has acquired the merchandise in question, by using the contact information obtained from the customer information system as said consumer's contact information.
The operation shown in Figure 3 is naturally only an exemplary way to perform the desired search and combining of information. Many variations of the one shown here are possible. For example, the processing part can exchange much more information with the user interface so that the user can monitor the progress of searching the information and influence, for example, the forming of the transaction query before its transmission into the customer information system. The mutual order and contents of various operations can vary considerably. As one example, the collection of information may start so that the processing part requests from the customer information system all information on all such customer transactions, in which product X occurs. In this case, the further processing of information and choosing the correct information would take place in the processing part by eliminating from the original information and not by targeted questions as in the case in Figure 3.
Figure 4 illustrates some exemplary ways, by which the monitoring system can obtain direct or indirect information on when certain merchandise has (possibly) been sold to a consumer. In the retail store 401 there is the storage 402 and the store 403. Consignments are transported to the retail store by transport vehicles 404 in wholesale packages, for example, roller cages which also operate as storage racks in the storage 402. From the storage they are transferred to the racks in the store 403 in retail packages. Customer transactions (purchase transactions) are recorded by the cash terminal 405.
The transport vehicle 404 or its driver can have the monitoring terminal 411. In this case the driver of the transport vehicle typically reads the identifier of a full wholesale package (roller cage), when he delivers it to the retail store in question. Respectively, the driver of the transport vehicle reads the identifier of an empty wholesale package, as he picks it along to be delivered back to the manufacturer or wholesaler. It can be seen from the reading transactions made with the monitoring terminal in the transport vehicle when the merchandises in the particular wholesale package can have ended up for sale at the earliest (i.e. when the wholesale package was delivered to the storage 402) and when they all have probably been sold (when the empty wholesale package is collected or when the next wholesale package is delivered, plus the typical shelf time for a retail package). The monitoring terminal 411 can be the last one on the merchandise's route towards the consumer, especially if the manufacturer does not want to include the store in the management of the monitoring system.
If again the store participates in the monitoring of merchandises by means of the monitoring system, there may be monitoring terminals also inside the store. As examples there is shown in Figure 4 the monitoring terminal 412 on the border of the stor- age 402 and the store 403, the reading transactions carried out by which show the transfer of the merchandises actually to sale, and the monitoring terminal 413 near the cash terminal, with which even such reading transactions can be done, the timing and merchandise processing step of which correspond fully to the customer transaction to be recorded with the cash terminal 405. The monitoring terminal 413 near the cash terminal can, on the basis of the time of the reading transaction, tell which merchandise has been sold from the retail store in question at the particular time. The monitoring terminals 411 and 412 do not process individual merchandises or at least their delivery to the consumer, but if the time of the purchase transaction is known, it can be stated from their reading transactions which merchandises of which consignment have been at the retail store in question at the particular time.
Figure 5 illustrates the arrangement according to an embodiment of the invention. At the same time, it illustrates the concepts "processing part" and "computer program product" of an example. The arrangement has a processing part, which can be called the processor 501. Its communication to the direction of the user has been arranged in a conventional manner by the user interface controllers 502 and physical user interface, such as keyboard and display 503. Also suitable data communications controllers 504 and physical data communications connections 505 are available for the processor 501. By means of these and a suitable program controlling the communications, the processor 501 is configured to receive information on product acquisitions made by consumers from the consumer information system of a store or a chain of stores.
The processor 501 has at its use the data memory 510, one part of which is the consignment database 511. By means of the processor 501, data communications parts 504 and 505 and a suitable program controlling the communications, the consignment database 511 is configured to receive and save information on the processing steps of consignments as they travel from the manufacturer through distribution and store towards the consumer. In this example, the data memory 510 also includes the working memory 512, which the processor 501 uses as a temporary saving place for information.
In addition, the program memory 520 is available for the processor, to which the necessary computer program products have been saved, i.e. a number of machine- readable commands that, installed in a computer, make the computer to perform the steps according to an embodiment of the invention. Controlled by the commands contained in the generation part 521 for database queries and in the receiving and saving part 522 for information, the arrangement receives and saves information on the processing steps of consignments as they travel from the manufacturer through distribution and store towards the consumer, and receives information on product acquisitions made by consumers from the customer information system of a store or a chain of stores. Controlled by commands contained in the direct access part 523 for information, the arrangement collects the parts in accordance with the search criteria valid at the given time from the received and saved information. Controlled by commands contained in the combining part 524 for information, the arrangement combines information received on the processing steps of consignments with information received from the customer information system and generates combined information, which describes consumers' acquisitions of merchandises that belong to such consignments, on the processing steps of which on their route from the manufacturer through distribution and store towards the consumer information has been received and saved. Controlled by commands contained in the user interface implementation part 525, the arrangement generates the content offered by the user interfaces and communicates with the user.
A computer program product according to the invention can occur as such on a storage medium, which can be read by a computer.
Above it has been assumed that the manufacturer (or more generally the user of the monitoring system) wants to get well identified consumer-specific information from the consumer information system, such as names and addresses. This is not necessary for the invention, but information can also be of a more anonymous nature, without customer identifiers. For example, a situation can be assumed, in which there are monitoring terminals of the monitoring system at the manufacturer and wholesaler, but not any more at the distribution level, which delivers the merchandises from the wholesale storage to retail stores. In this case it can be seen from the monitoring system, when certain merchandise or consignment has left the wholesale level, but not necessarily any more, at which retail store or stores it finally has arrived to be sold. The processing part of the monitoring system can request from the customer information system general distribution information on how big amounts of the product in question have been sold in which retail store within a particular time period. Combining this information with the information on when the consignment was dispatched for distribution can at least give a good starting point for targeting the consumer communications so that it most likely reaches just the correct consumers.

Claims

Claims
1. An arrangement for combining information on consumer merchandises, the arrangement comprising
- a consignment database (253), which is configured to receive and save information on processing steps (112) of consignments on their route from a manufacturer through distribution and store towards a consumer, characterised in that
- the arrangement has a processing part (251 ), which is configured to receive information on product acquisitions (103) by consumers from a customer information system (101 ) of a store or a chain of stores,
- the processing part (251) is configured to combine information in the consignment database (253) with information received from the customer information system (101) to generate combined information, which describes consumers' acquisitions of merchandises that belong to identifiable consignments in the consignment database (253).
2. Arrangement according to claim 1 , characterised in that the processing part (251) is configured to receive from the customer information system (101) information on from which retail store and when a certain consumer has acquired a certain product.
3. Arrangement according to claim 2, characterised in that the processing part (251) is configured to combine information obtained from the customer information system (101) on from which retail store and when a certain consumer has acquired a certain product with information in the consignment database (253) on which merchandise has been delivered from said retail store at the particular time.
4. Arrangement according to claim 2, characterised in that the processing part (251) is configured to combine information on from which retail store and when a certain consumer has acquired a certain product with information in the consignment database on which merchandises of which consignment were at said retail store at the particular time.
5. Arrangement according to claim 1 , characterised in that the processing part (251) is configured to receive from the customer information system (101) information with no customer identifiers on from which retail store certain products have been acquired within a certain period of time.
6. An information system, which comprises:
- a number of reader devices (241, 242) for merchandise and/or consignment specific identifiers,
- a server (251), and
- a data communications connection (231) from said reader devices to said server, and in which the server (251) is configured to receive and save from said reader devices (241 , 242) information on reading transactions of merchandise and/or consignment specific identifiers, characterised in that said server (251) is configured to receive information on consumers' product acquisitions from a customer information system (101) of a store or a chain of store and to combine information received from said reader devices (241, 242) with information received from the customer information system (101 ) to generate combined information, which describes consumers' acquisitions of merchandises belonging to such consignments, on the reading transaction of the identifier of which the server (251) has received information.
7. Information system according to claim 6, characterised in that at least one of said reader devices (241 , 242) for merchandise and/or consignment specific identifiers is located in connection with the merchandise manufacturing line.
8. Information system according to claim 6 or 7, characterised in that at least one of said reader devices (241 , 242) for merchandise and/or consignment specific identifiers is located in a transport vehicle (404) intended for the distribution of consignments.
9. Information system according to one of the claims 6 - 8, characterised in that at least one of said reader devices (241 , 242) for merchandise and/or consignment specific identifiers is located in a wholesale storage intended for interim storage of consignments.
10. Information system according to one of the claims 6 - 9, characterised in that at least one of said reader devices (241 , 242) for merchandise and/or consignment specific identifiers is located at a retail store intended for the sale of merchandises.
11. A method for combining information on consumer merchandises, characterised in that in the method:
- information is received and saved (301 , 307) on processing steps of consignments on a route from a manufacturer through distribution and store towards a consumer,
- information is received (312) on consumers' product acquisitions from a customer information system of a store or a chain of stores, and
- information received on the processing steps of consignments is combined (313) with information received from the customer information system and combined information is generated, which describes consumers' acquisition of merchandises belonging to such consignments, on the processing steps of which on their route from the manufacturer through distribution and store towards the consumer information has been received and saved.
12. Method according to claim 11, characterised in that information is received (312) from the customer information system on from which retail store and when a certain consumer has acquired a certain product.
13. Method according to claim 12, characterised in that information received from the customer information system on from which retail store and when a certain consumer has acquired a certain product is combined (313) with received information on which merchandise has been delivered from the retail store in question at the particular time.
14. Method according to claim 12, characterised in that information received from the customer information system on from which retail store and when a certain consumer has acquired a certain product is combined (313) with received information on which merchandises of which consignment have been at said store at the particular time.
15. Method according to claim 11 , characterised in that information without customer identifiers is received (312) from the customer information system on from which retail store certain product has been acquired within a certain time period.
16. Method according to claim 11 , characterised in that a message concerning a certain merchandise is formed (316), and said message is sent to the consumer, who on the basis of the combined information has acquired the merchandise in question, by using as said consumer's contact information the contact information of the consumer in question obtained from the customer information system.
17. A computer program product, which contains machine-readable commands (521, 522, 523, 524), which when installed in a computer are configured to make the computer to perform steps, in which
- information is received and saved on processing steps of consignments on their route from a manufacturer through distribution and store towards a consumer,
- information is received on consumers' product acquisitions from a customer information system of a store or a chain of stores, and
- information received on the processing steps of consignments is combined with information received from the customer information system and combined information is generated, which describes consumers' acquisitions of merchandises belonging to such consignments, on the processing steps of which information has been received and saved on the route from the manufacturer through distribution and store towards the consumer.
PCT/FI2008/050787 2007-12-28 2008-12-23 Arrangement, information system and method for monitoring the deliveries of consumer merchandises WO2009083650A1 (en)

Applications Claiming Priority (2)

Application Number Priority Date Filing Date Title
FI20071022 2007-12-28
FI20071022A FI20071022L (en) 2007-12-28 2007-12-28 Arrangement, computer system and method for tracking deliveries of consumer goods

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EP1028386A2 (en) * 1999-02-10 2000-08-16 International Business Machines Corporation Network-based product information server
EP1195704A2 (en) * 2000-10-04 2002-04-10 Fujitsu Limited Method for managing product information and method for requesting repairs
US20020143626A1 (en) * 2001-03-29 2002-10-03 Voltmer Theodore S. System and method for networked loyalty program
US20040117383A1 (en) * 2001-04-04 2004-06-17 Andy Lee Method, system and program for customer service and support management
US20040267608A1 (en) * 2002-04-04 2004-12-30 Mansfield Jr. Richard B. Product recall using customer prior shopping history data

Patent Citations (5)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
EP1028386A2 (en) * 1999-02-10 2000-08-16 International Business Machines Corporation Network-based product information server
EP1195704A2 (en) * 2000-10-04 2002-04-10 Fujitsu Limited Method for managing product information and method for requesting repairs
US20020143626A1 (en) * 2001-03-29 2002-10-03 Voltmer Theodore S. System and method for networked loyalty program
US20040117383A1 (en) * 2001-04-04 2004-06-17 Andy Lee Method, system and program for customer service and support management
US20040267608A1 (en) * 2002-04-04 2004-12-30 Mansfield Jr. Richard B. Product recall using customer prior shopping history data

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