JP2000132386A - Work flow management system - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To realize the connection processing and the integration processing of a matter without complicating the structure of job AP(application) in an electronic approval system applying a work flow managing system. SOLUTION: Work flow information 16 and an integrated matter constitution information 19 are separately arranged. The flow of a series of processings on a matter is divided in a unit and work flow information 16 and integrated matter constitution information 19 are managed for every unit. In work flow part AP 13, the connection or the integration of the matter is processed at every unit. In job processing part AP 15, integrated matter constitution information 19 is rewritten, based on information on the constitution elements of the connected matter or the integrated matter.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to computerization of office work, and more particularly to a workflow management system that automates the flow of business processes and electronically processes information created there.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A workflow management system is known as a technique related to the computerization of office work. This system automates the flow of business processes and electronically processes digitized documents (information) created there.

[0003] A specific example of a workflow management system is an electronic approval system. In this system, for example,
When the issuer issues a matter for purchasing goods (article purchase statement), the matter is passed to an approver and an approver according to a predetermined route, and the respective processors approve and approve the matter. . Then, at the stage where the final decision by the final decision-maker has been completed, the flow of a series of processing on the system ends.

[0004]

In the conventional system,
Since the workflow information required for workflow control and the configuration information, which is information necessary for work, are not completely separated and are handled in an integrated manner, the structure of the work AP (application) is complicated. Therefore, for example, a so-called consolidation process in which another case including new configuration information is created while inheriting information on constituent elements included in a case for which approval has been completed (hereinafter, configuration information), or a case or a case It has been impossible for business APs to manage an aggregation process or the like for integrating a part of the configuration information into a plurality of aggregation destination cases. Also, if this is to be realized, the structure of the business AP will be more complicated,
There was a problem that program creation became difficult.

[0005] It is an object of the present invention to provide a workflow management system capable of consolidating and consolidating matters without complicating the structure of a business AP.

[0006]

In order to achieve the above-mentioned object, the invention according to claim 1 comprises at least workflow information composed of information relating to the processing status of a case and information relating to a case and its constituent elements. Based on workflow information stored in the data storage means and storing the aggregated matter configuration information, based on the workflow information stored in the data storage means, executes a process related to issue, search, approval and approval of the case, and a series of processes related to the case The workflow part processing means for dividing the flow of the unit into units and executing the process of consolidating or consolidating the cases for each unit, and the data storage based on the information on the components of the connected case or the consolidated case. Business processing component processing means for rewriting the aggregated item configuration information stored in the means, the workflow component processing means and the business processing unit Managing processing means, characterized in that it comprises a work processing means for executing processing related matters.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the first aspect, the workflow component processing means connects the cases while taking over all the components included in each case, and assigns a new case number to the newly generated case. Is added.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the first aspect, the workflow component processing means aggregates one or a plurality of aggregation destinations for each component included in each of the cases, and adds a new It is characterized by adding a case number.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, in the first, second, or third aspect, the workflow information includes progress management information for managing the progress status of the case, a processor and a person in charge, and routing information for managing a transfer destination of the case. And unit information that manages information about cases that can be linked or aggregated, and aggregate information that manages whether or not the cases are being aggregated, as management information relating to the processing status of the case.

[0010]

Next, an embodiment in which a workflow management system according to the present invention is applied to an electronic approval system will be described.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the overall configuration of an electronic decision system according to this embodiment. The electronic approval system 10 shown in FIG. 1 includes a terminal A, a terminal B, a terminal X,
WWW (World Wide Web) server 1, W
It is composed of a WW server 2, a DB (database) server 3, and the like.

The terminals A, B and X are terminal devices operated by the users A, B and X, respectively. These terminals instruct the WWW server of the operation / instruction input by the user through the Web screen, and display the Web screen of the processing result from the WWW server.

The WWW server 1 and the WWW server 2 are servers that provide a system service of electronic approval to users A, B and X who operate the terminals A, B and X. Is connected to the DB server 3 through The WWW servers 1 and 2 store workflow information 1 stored in a DB server 3 described later.
5. Business APs 11 and 12 are provided as business processing means for searching the user management information 17 and the route information 18 / aggregated matter configuration information 19, and managing issues and searches related to the matter.

The business APs 11 and 12 issue a workflow control instruction request from a terminal (for example, an aggregated case information acquisition instruction,
For the aggregation destination matter information write instruction, etc.), the workflow part AP13 is used to issue the matter,
Executes processing such as matter consolidation. At this time, if the user management information 17 is required, the processing is performed using the user management component AP14. Similarly, if the route information 18 / aggregated matter configuration information 19 is required, the processing is performed using the business processing component AP15. The business AP also manages the case name of each case.

The DB server 3 includes a workflow information 16 composed of information on a case, a workflow component AP13 as a workflow component processing means for managing the workflow information 16, and a user management component AP14 for managing the user management information 17. And a business process component AP15 as a business process component processing means for managing the route information 18 / aggregated case configuration information 19.

The workflow component AP13 is a business application AP1.
The following processing is executed according to the instructions from 1, 12.

Case search: A case that has arrived at the person in charge / person in charge is searched.

Issue of case: A route pattern set in advance is selected for a newly created case and a completed case, and the case is sent to the next person in charge.

Approval of a case: When approval of a case that has arrived at one's own and one's own is performed, the case is sent to the next person in charge / next person.

Case decision: When a decision has been made on a case that has arrived at itself and is in charge of itself, the case is terminated or the case is put into a state of waiting for consolidation / aggregation.

Case consolidation: A case that has been settled and is waiting for consolidation / consolidation is connected by taking over all the constituent elements included in each case, resulting in one case (consolidation destination case). And a new case number (slip number) is added to the newly generated connection destination case.

Case consolidation: Consolidated and waiting for consolidation / consolidation are consolidated into one or more cases for each configuration information contained in each case, and a new case (consolidation destination case) And add a new case number to the newly created aggregation destination case.

Release of aggregation: Releases the aggregation of the aggregation destination matter generated as a result of performing the above aggregation of the aggregation, and aggregates the aggregated matter (aggregated matter) and the configuration information attributes included in the aggregation destination matter. Change to the original matter number.

Among the processes of case connection, case consolidation, and consolidation release, a series of processes from issue to approval to approval are divided into units, and the workflow information 16 and the aggregated item configuration information are divided for each unit. 1
By managing No. 9, the processes of consolidation, aggregation, and aggregation release of the matter are executed.

The workflow information 16 managed by the workflow component AP13 includes progress management information, routing information, unit information, and aggregate information. Hereinafter, each information will be described.

Progress management information: Information for managing how far the matter has progressed and who is the actual processor / person in charge.
This information is updated in the issuing process, the approval / decision process, and is referred to in the case search.

Routing information: Information for managing where to proceed to the next case. This information is set by the issuer in the issuing process, and is referred to in the approval / decision process.

Unit information: Information on a case between units, that is, a case that has been settled and has not been consolidated or consolidated (a case that can be issued). When there are a plurality of cases that have been approved and can be consolidated or aggregated, information on those cases is retained as unit information. The unit information includes, for example, information on the case number, the sender in the previous unit, the authorizer and the sender of the aggregation destination.

Aggregation information: management information indicating whether or not cases are being aggregated.

The workflow component AP 13 registers the ID and role code of the approver / approver in the routing information of the workflow information 16 when issuing a case. Also,
At the time of approval / decision processing, the routing information of the workflow information 16 is obtained, and whether the processing is approval processing (processing of a person in the middle) or approval processing (processing of the last person) is determined. In order to keep a history of the approval process,
Write to progress management information.

The user management component AP14 is a business AP1.
The following processing is executed according to the instructions from 1, 12.

User management: Registration, change, deletion, etc. of personal information and role information (role information) managed by the user management information 17 are performed based on information specified by the terminal.

Agent registration: Register the agent designated by the terminal.

Takeover registration: Temporarily register the takeover of the operator specified from the terminal.

Acceptance of succession: The operator designated by the terminal is registered as the successor.

The user management component AP14 is a business AP1.
According to the instructions from 1 and 12, role information is searched.
The role information search includes, in addition to the normal role information search, proxy role information acquisition for searching for role information at the time of proxy. The user management information 17 managed by the user management component AP18 is information that manages personal information and role information, and is composed of information on individuals to be processed.

Information managed by the business process component AP 15 includes route information 18 and aggregated item configuration information 19. Hereinafter, each information will be described.

The route information 18 is information used when the issuer of a certain unit issues a case. For example, for each internal rule, the combination of the ID and role of the approver (0 to person), the authorizer (one person) The execution order in the unit, such as the combination of the ID and the role, is defined.

The aggregated item configuration information 19 includes information for managing the relationship between the aggregated items and the configuration information.

Next, a specific example of the case connection processing and the case aggregation processing by the electronic approval system 10 configured as described above will be described. In the following description, FIG.
It is assumed that the WWW server 1 is used.

1. Matter Consolidation Processing In the matter consolidation processing, the matters are linked by referring to the unit information using the function of the workflow part AP13 for linking the matters. FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram showing a specific example of a case of linking cases. In this system, a series of processes from issue to approval to approval are divided into units, and all the configuration information included in each case is taken over, the cases are linked, and a new issue-approval to approval process is performed. Generate an Item. In FIG. 2, the case A of unit 2 and the case B of unit 2 for which approval has been completed are connected, and a case C of unit 2 is added as the issuer α. At this time, a new case number serving as a key when searching for a case is newly generated for the case C of unit #. In FIG. 2, the case number 1 of case A of unit 1
00, and from the case number 101 of case B of unit #,
A case number 200 is newly added as the case number of the case C of the unit. In FIG. 2, the direction in which the cases are linked is indicated by a bold arrow, and the direction in which the linked cases are released is indicated by a thin arrow.

As described above, the flow of a series of processes is divided into units, and the process of connecting a plurality of units is performed by the DB.
By performing the process in the workflow component AP13 on the server 3, the connection processing of the cases can be performed without complicating the structure of the business AP11. According to this, for example, while taking over all the configuration information included in each case that has been settled,
Since it becomes possible to create another matter including new configuration information, highly flexible workflow management becomes possible. Further, the routing and the case number for each unit can be changed for each unit.

2. Case Consolidation Process In the case consolidation process, the case consolidation function of the workflow component AP13 is used, and the cases are consolidated by referring to the unit information and the consolidation information. At that time, the aggregated item configuration information 19 is referenced using the business process component AP15. FIG.
It is an explanatory view showing a specific example in the case of consolidating cases. Here, a series of processes from issuing to approval to approval is divided into units, and a part of the configuration information included in each case is aggregated into a plurality of aggregation destination cases to generate a new case.

In FIG. 3, the case A (10
0) and the composition information included in the case B (101) of the XX unit, "Penpatsu" and "Eraser"
A new case is generated as the case C (200) of the △△ unit, and “clips” respectively included in the case A (100) of the XX unit and the case B (101) of the XX unit are collectively put into the △ unit. A new case is generated as the case D (300). Here, a new case number 200 is added for case C of unit #, and a new case number 300 is added for case D of unit #. In FIG. 3, the direction in which the cases are consolidated is indicated by a bold arrow, and the direction in which the consolidated cases are released is indicated by a thin arrow.

As described above, the flow of a series of processes is divided into units, and the process of aggregating or canceling the aggregation for each configuration information of the case is performed by the workflow component AP13 and the business process component AP15 on the DB server 3 side. By
Aggregation processing of cases can be performed without complicating the structure of the business AP 11. In addition, by managing the aggregation status of the configuration information of a matter, it is possible to perform the aggregation processing of the next unit into the matter in the unit of the configuration information of the matter. As described above, it is possible to perform a process of aggregating a part of the configuration information of a case into a plurality of aggregation destination cases, so that a highly flexible workflow management can be performed.

In addition, since it is possible to select an aggregation destination case according to the type of configuration information of the aggregation source case, for example,
It is possible to unify the configuration information of the aggregation target matter into items such as pencils and clips. Further, the routing and the case number for each unit can be changed for each unit. In addition, by aggregating the items in the configuration information unit of the case, it is possible to perform a transshipment process of an item represented by, for example, an accounting business.

Next, a procedure for the case aggregation processing will be described with reference to an operation sequence diagram of FIG. In FIG. 4, the reference numerals of the functional blocks shown in FIG. 1 are omitted.

When the issuer operates the terminal and issues an aggregated matter information acquisition instruction to aggregate the determined matters,
The business AP 11 instructs the workflow component AP 13 to search for a case that can be consolidated by using the case aggregation function. The workflow component AP13 follows the instruction from the business AP11,
The unit information of the workflow information 16 is searched, and the result is returned to the business application AP11. The business AP 11 refers to the aggregated case information received as a result of the search, and if there is a case that can be aggregated, acquires the configuration information of the case by using the business processing component AP15. The business processing component AP15 is the business AP1
In accordance with the instruction from 1, predetermined configuration information is searched from the aggregated case configuration information 19, and the result is returned to the business AP 11. Business A
P11 displays the result sent from the business processing component AP15 on the terminal as aggregated case information.

Next, the user operates the terminal to operate the business AP1.
When instructing 1 to write the aggregation destination matter information,
P11 instructs the business process component AP15 to write the aggregation destination case configuration information. The business processing component AP15 writes the aggregation destination case configuration information in the aggregation case configuration information 19, and returns the result to the business AP11. When canceling the aggregation of the cases, the business AP 11 is instructed to delete the aggregation destination case information. When the business AP 11 instructs the business processing component AP 15 to delete the aggregation destination case configuration information, the business processing component AP 1
5 deletes the aggregation destination case configuration information of the aggregation case configuration information 19 and returns the result to the business AP 11.

When the writing of the aggregation destination case configuration information is completed, the business AP 11 instructs the workflow component AP 13 to write the aggregation status. The workflow component AP13 is
In the aggregate information of the workflow information 16, a write indicating that the previous matter is in the aggregated state (aggregating) is performed, and the result is returned to the workflow component AP 13.

In the aggregation processing, not only a part of the configuration information included in the case but also all the configuration information can be aggregated as shown in the example of FIG. In this way, when all the configuration information included in the matter is aggregated,
The business AP 11 instructs the workflow component AP 13 to write the aggregation end information. The workflow component AP13 is
In the aggregate information of the workflow information 16, a write indicating that the case has been completed is written, and the result is returned to the workflow component AP 13. This result is displayed on the terminal through the business AP 11. As a result of this processing, the case in which all the configuration information has been aggregated will not be searched even if the next workflow component AP13 searches for the aggregated item.

Note that the case connection process is performed by the same procedure as in the case where all the configuration information is aggregated in the aggregation process.

The electronic approval system 1 of this embodiment
5, the procedure of the case search process is shown in the operation sequence diagram of FIG. 5, the case decision process is shown in the operation sequence diagram of FIG. 6, and the case issue process is shown in the operation sequence diagram of FIG. .

[0054]

As described above, in the workflow management system according to the present invention, the workflow information and the configuration information are separated, and the workflow information and the aggregated item configuration information are separated using the workflow component processing means or the business processing component processing means. Is managed, so that it is possible to perform the consolidation processing and the aggregation processing of the matters without complicating the structure of the business AP.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is an exemplary block diagram showing the overall configuration of an electronic decision system according to an embodiment.

FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram showing a specific example in the case of linking cases.

FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram showing a specific example of a case where items are consolidated.

FIG. 4 is an operation sequence diagram showing a procedure in a case where the cases are consolidated.

FIG. 5 is an operation sequence diagram showing a procedure in a case where a case is searched.

FIG. 6 is an operation sequence diagram showing a procedure in a case where a case is determined.

FIG. 7 is an operation sequence diagram showing a procedure for issuing a case.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1, 2 WWW server 3 DB server 11, 12 Business AP 13 Workflow component AP 14 User management component AP 15 Business process component AP 16 Workflow information 17 User management information 18 Route information 19 Aggregated matter configuration information

Continuing from the front page (72) Inventor Kazuyoshi Iku 9-1-1, Konan, Minato-ku, Tokyo NTT Communications Wear Co., Ltd. (72) Inventor Akihiro Mori Konan 1-chome, Minato-ku, Tokyo No. 9-1 NTT Communicationware Co., Ltd. F-term in the company (reference) 5B049 CC21 DD05 EE05 FF03 FF04 FF09 GG04 GG07 5B076 DD05 DD10

Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. A data storage means for storing at least workflow information composed of information on the processing status of a case, and aggregated matter configuration information composed of information on a matter and its constituent elements; Based on the stored workflow information, issues related to issue, search, approval / approval are executed, and a series of process flow related to issues is divided into units, and consolidation or aggregation of issues is performed for each unit. Workflow component processing means for executing the above, business processing component processing means for rewriting aggregated matter configuration information stored in the data storage means based on information on the constituent elements of the linked or aggregated matter, and the workflow A business processing unit that manages the component processing unit and the business processing component processing unit and executes a process related to the matter; A workflow management system characterized by 2. The method according to claim 1, wherein the workflow component processing unit connects the cases while taking over all the constituent elements included in each case, and adds a new case number to a newly generated case. 1. The workflow management system according to 1. 3. The method according to claim 1, wherein the workflow component processing means aggregates one or a plurality of aggregation destinations for each component included in each case, and adds a new case number to a newly generated case. The workflow management system according to claim 1. 4. The workflow information is a unit for managing progress information for managing the progress status of a matter, a processor and a person in charge, routing information for managing a transfer destination of the matter, and information relating to a matter that can be connected or aggregated. 4. The workflow management system according to claim 1, wherein information and integrated information for managing whether or not the case is being integrated are management information relating to the processing status of the case.