JP2002169941A - Work allocation method in work flow system, and work flow system - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To automatically allocate another worker to a work assigned to a worker in charge of the work in a work flow who is absent because of a sudden business trip in a work flow system in which works are processed by each worker in charge according to the defined work flow. SOLUTION: The work allocation method and the work flow system have a server and multiple clients that automatically recognize worker attendance and report to the server about the attendance data. The server regularly checks the states of the attendance and decides whether any worker is absent or not on the basis of the states of the attendance data. The server judges whether any work is allocated to an absent worker or not. If the server finds that there is a work allocated to an absent worker, it allocates another worker to the work assigned to the absent worker.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a work assignment method in a workflow system in which work is processed by each person in charge according to a defined work flow.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, for example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. H11-219393
As described in the official gazette, when a person assigned to work in a workflow system becomes absent due to a business trip or the like, a period during which the person is absent is set in advance, and a work whose processing deadline falls within that period is set as an agent. There was a technology to assign to.

[0003]

The prior art described above deals with a case where a person in charge consciously sets a scheduled absence period. It cannot be confirmed. Therefore, if the person in charge forgets to set the absence period or goes out of office unexpectedly (for example, when he / she cannot come to the office due to urgent business, or the business trip period is postponed, etc.), work will be performed until the processing deadline. May stay without being assigned to the. The prior art does not consider such a problem. In addition, the person in charge must cancel the setting of the absence period, and cancel the absence period setting when returning earlier than expected during the absence period, which is troublesome.

[0004] In view of the above-mentioned problems in the prior art, the object of the present invention is to eliminate the trouble of the person in charge of setting or canceling the absence period, and to forget to set the absence or to be unscheduled. An object of the present invention is to provide a work assignment method and a work flow system in a work flow in which work does not stay even in a case.

[0005]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In order to achieve the above object, the present invention relates to a work allocating method in a workflow system having a server and a plurality of clients connected to the server by communication means. Detecting the presence status of the person and notifying the server of the information on the presence status, and receiving the information on the presence status and managing the presence status of the person in charge based on the information. It is characterized by having.

The present invention also relates to a work allocating method in a workflow system having a server and a plurality of clients connected to the server by communication means, wherein the client detects the presence status of a person in charge, and sends the server to the server. A step of notifying information on the presence status; a step of periodically checking the information on the presence status in the server to determine whether there is an absentee person based on the information; If there is a worker, a step of determining whether there is any work assigned to the absent person, and if there is a work assigned to the absent person, the work is assigned to another person. And a step.

The present invention also relates to a work allocating method in a workflow system having a server and a plurality of clients connected to the server by communication means, wherein the client detects the presence status of a person in charge, and sends the request to the server. A step of notifying information on the presence status; a step of periodically checking the information on the presence status in the server to determine whether there is an absentee person based on the information; If there is a worker, a step of determining whether there is work assigned to the absent person, and if there is a work assigned to the absent person, the work is set to no person. Steps and steps to periodically check for unassigned work, and if there is unassigned work, assign the work to assignable assignees Characterized by comprising the steps.

Further, according to the present invention, in the work assignment method in the workflow system described above, when assigning the work assigned to the absent person to another person, or assigning the work without the person in charge, When assigning to a person, select a person with a small total work load / capability from among the persons in charge who are present, search for assignable persons, and if there is no assignable person among them Is characterized by selecting a person to whom a work having a lower priority than the work to be assigned is assigned, and determining whether the work to be assigned can be assigned instead of the work with a lower priority. And

Further, the present invention is a workflow system having a server and a plurality of clients connected to the server by a communication means, wherein the client detects the presence status of a person in charge, and sends the server to the server regarding the presence status. Means for notifying information, means for periodically checking the information on the presence status at the server, and determining whether or not a person is absent based on the information; Means for determining whether there is any work assigned to the absent person, and means for assigning the work to another person when there is a work assigned to the absent person. It is characterized by having.

[0010]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS One embodiment of the present invention will be described below in detail with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a diagram for explaining a configuration of a workflow system according to an embodiment of the present invention. The workflow system according to the present embodiment includes a server 1 connected via a LAN (local area network) 3.
And a plurality of clients 2 (2a, 2b, 2c).

The client 2 includes a workflow management unit 108 for processing the work assigned to each person in charge and an attendance status notification unit 109 for notifying the status of the person in charge.
The presence status notifying unit 109 is the presence status acquisition unit 1 of the server 1.
A program for notifying the presence status in the machine start / end processing is automatically executed for the machine 04, so that the presence is notified at the time of startup and the absence is notified at the time of termination. This is because, in general, the client machine used by each person in charge of business starts up when the person in charge enters the company (not only turning on the power of the machine, but also the person in charge of his / her ID and password). (Including when entering and logging in)
This is based on the fact that it ends when you leave the company. Also, the presence status notification unit 109 may use a method of detecting presence / absence by entering and leaving a room in cooperation with a room management system using an ID card.

The server 1 includes a workflow management unit 101,
The system includes a presence status monitoring unit 102, a work monitoring unit 103, a presence status acquisition unit 104, a work assignment unit 105, a person management table 106, and a work management table 107. The workflow management unit 101 manages the state transition of each process (work) of a workflow. Presence monitoring unit 1
02 periodically monitors the presence of the person in charge. The work monitoring unit 103 periodically monitors work to which no person is assigned. The presence status acquisition unit 104 transmits the presence / absence notification received from the presence status notification unit 109 of the client 2 to the presence status 20 in the person management table 106 described later.
The absence count 206 is set to 0 when the user is present. The work assignment unit 105 assigns a person in charge to the work. The clerk management table 106 is a table for storing the presence status and the work amount information of each clerk who performs the work of the workflow. The work management table 107 is a table for storing information on work currently flowing in the workflow.

FIG. 2 shows the person in charge management table 106 shown in FIG.
Is shown. The person in charge management table 106 indicates the person in charge 2
01, presence status 202, ability value 203, total work amount 20
4, remaining capacity 205, and absence count 206 fields. In the person in charge 201, information for specifying the person in charge is set. The presence status 202 stores whether the person in charge is present or absent. It is assumed that the information on the presence status 202 is acquired by the presence status acquisition unit 104, and the initial value is absent. In the ability value 203, the maximum value of the work amount (time amount) that can be allocated to the person in charge is set in advance. The total work amount 204 is set to a value obtained by adding the work amounts of the work currently assigned to the person in charge. For example, if the person in charge is C, the total work amount of the person in charge C is 20 + 10 = 30 in FIG. The remaining capacity 205 includes a capacity value 203 and a total work amount 204.
Set the difference with. The absence count 206 is set with a count value obtained by counting the number of times the presence status monitoring unit 102 has confirmed absence. The initial value of the absence count 206 is 0
It is.

FIG. 3 shows the configuration of the work management table 107 of FIG. The work management table 107 stores the work name 30
1. Work volume 302, priority 303, and person in charge 304
Field. The work name 301 stores a work name assigned to each work. The workload 302
Set the average work time for the work. As the priority 303, a level indicating how much priority the work should be performed is set. The priority 303 is represented by a number from 1 to 5, and the lower the number, the higher the level (that is, the higher the priority). The person in charge 304 stores the person in charge when the work assignment unit 105 determines a person in charge of the work. The person in charge 304 includes the work assignment unit 10
If the person in charge could not be determined in step 5, "No person in charge" is stored.

FIG. 4 shows the presence status monitoring unit 102 of the server 1.
6 is a flowchart showing the processing procedure of FIG.

When the process starts (step 400), first, time monitoring is performed to determine whether or not the current time has reached a set time of an arbitrary set monitoring interval (step 401). If the set time of the set arbitrary monitoring interval has not been reached (step 402), the process returns to step 401. When the set time is reached (step 402), the person in charge management table 1
It is checked whether there is an absentee from the presence status 202 of step 06 (step 403). For example, if the set time of the monitoring interval is set to 2 hours, step 40 is executed every two hours.
The process proceeds from step 2 to step 403, where the presence status of the person-in-charge management table 106 is checked. If there is no absentee, the process returns to step 401. If there is an absentee, it is checked whether or not the total amount of work of the absentee is 0 in order to confirm whether or not the work of the absentee has already been assigned to another person in charge (step 404). If the total work amount is 0, it means that there is no work assigned to the absentee,
It returns to step 401. If the total work amount is not 0, the absence count 206 of the person in charge is incremented by 1 (step 40).
5). For example, the person in charge C shown at 207 in FIG.
At 1, the absence count 206 becomes 1. This makes it possible to know how many times the absence of the person in charge has been confirmed.

Next, the absence count 206 is compared with a set count in which the number of times the absence is confirmed and the work is assigned to another person is set (step 406). If the value of the absence count 206 is not equal to or greater than the set count, the process returns to step 401. This prevents the work of the absentee from being assigned to another person in charge until the absentee count 206 becomes equal to the set count. For example, when a person in charge comes to work late by flex or goes on a business trip for a few hours, the work of the absentee can be prevented from being assigned to another person in charge. If the value of the absent count 206 is equal to or greater than the set count in step 406, the person 304 in charge of the work assigned to the absentee in the work management table 107 is set to no person in charge (step 407). In the case of the person in charge 207 in FIG. 2, the person in charge of the work with the work names S5 and S6 in 305 and 306 in FIG. Next, 0 is set to the total work amount 204 of the absentee in the person in charge
05 is stored with the value of the ability value (step 408). In the case of the person in charge 207 in FIG. 2, 0 is stored in the total work amount 204 and 110 is stored in the remaining capacity 205. next,
A work assignment process (FIG. 5) is performed (step 406), and the process returns to step 401.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing a processing procedure of the work assignment unit 105.

When the process is started (step 500), the work management table 107 first searches for a work in which the person in charge 304 has no person in charge (step 501). For example, since the operation S9 of 307 in FIG. 3 is an operation without a person in charge,
This operation is searched. If there is no work without a person,
If there is an operation of the person in charge dummy, there is no person in charge (step 507). For example, as shown in S10 of 308 in FIG.
Change from mmy to no person in charge.

If there is work without a person in charge at step 501, the total work amount / capacity value (the total work amount for the capacity Then, the remaining capacity 205 of the retrieved occupant is compared with the workload 302 of the work without the person in charge (step 502). By confirming whether or not the work can be allocated from the occupants whose total work amount / capacity value is small, when the absentee whose total work amount is 0 returns, the work can be preferentially allocated. Step 50
As a result of the comparison of 2, if the remaining capacity 205 of the person in charge is equal to the work amount 302 or the remaining capacity 205 is larger, the work is assigned to the person in charge and the work management table 10 is assigned.
7, the person 304 in charge of the work is updated (step 50).
4). Next, the total work amount 204 and the remaining capacity 205 of the person in charge in the person in charge management table 106 are updated (step 505).

For example, in the case of the work S9 without the person in charge at 307 in FIG. 3, the total work amount / capacity value of the occupants A and B in FIG. Check whether assignment is possible. The value of the remaining capacity 205 of the person in charge A is “5
0 ", which is larger than the value" 10 "of the work amount 302 of the work S9.
Update 4 to A. Then, the person in charge management table 106
The value of the total work amount 204 of the person A in charge is 90 + 10 = 100
And the value of the remaining capacity 205 is updated to 140−100 = 40.

If no work is assigned to any of the occupants in step 502 in comparison with the remaining capacity, the occupant management table 106 is searched from the occupants with the smaller total work amount / capability value, and the search is performed. Of tasks assigned to the assigned assignee are lower in priority than unassigned assignees,
A value obtained by adding the work amount 302 of the work and the remaining capacity 205 of the person in charge is compared with the work amount 302 of the work without a person in charge (step 503). This is to confirm whether the person in charge is able to assign the task without the person in charge who is currently trying to assign by removing the work having a lower priority than the task without person in charge currently being assigned. If the result of the comparison in step 503 indicates that assignment is possible, the operator is assigned the unassigned work,
Steps 504 and 505 are performed. In this case, a process of removing a low-priority work to be removed from the person in charge is also performed. If there is no assignable person in step 503, du is assigned as a temporary person in the work assignment process.
mmy is assigned (step 505).

For example, in the case of the operation S11 of 309 in FIG. 3, since there is no assigned person in the comparison of the remaining capacity in FIG. 2, the operation S4 of the person A having a priority lower than 3 is searched in FIG. Is done. Then, the work amount 302 of the work S4
2 and the value “5” of the remaining capacity 205 of the person in charge A in FIG.
Since the result of adding “0” is larger than the value “60” of the work amount 302 of the operation S11, the person in charge of the operation S4 is updated to “A” without the person in charge. Then, the value of the total work amount 204 of the person in charge A in FIG.
= 100, and the value of the remaining capacity 205 is updated to “40”.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing a processing procedure of the work monitoring unit 103.

When the process starts (step 600), first, time monitoring is performed to determine whether or not the current time has reached a set time of an arbitrary set monitoring interval (step 601). When the set time of the set arbitrary monitoring interval has not been reached (step 602), the process returns to step 601. When the set time is reached (step 602), the work management table 10
It is checked whether there is any work without a person in charge at step 7 (step 603). If there is a work without a person in charge, the work is assigned to the work (FIG. 5) (step 60).
4). If there is no operation without a person in charge, the process returns to step 601. For example, the work 307 in FIG. 3 has no person in charge, and therefore, a work assignment process is performed.

[0027]

As described above, according to the present invention,
Conventionally, there is no need to set up or cancel the absence period when a person in charge is on a business trip, etc., and there is no need to set up the absence period. It is possible to respond by monitoring the presence status, so that there is an effect that the work does not stay.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating a configuration of a workflow system according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a diagram for explaining a configuration of a staff management table.

FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating a configuration of a work management table.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart for explaining a presence status monitoring unit;

FIG. 5 is a flowchart for explaining a work assignment unit.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart for explaining a work monitoring unit.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Server 2 ... Client 3 ... LAN 101 ... Workflow management unit 102 ... Attendance status monitoring unit 103 ... Work monitoring unit 104 ... Attendance status acquisition unit 105 ... Work assignment unit 106: person in charge management table 107: work management table 108: workflow management unit 109: presence status notification unit

 ──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continuing on the front page (72) Inventor Bungo Shichinohe 5030 Totsuka-cho, Totsuka-ku, Yokohama-shi, Kanagawa Prefecture F-term in the Software Division, Hitachi, Ltd. 5B049 CC21 CC33

Claims (5)

[Claims] 1. A work assignment method in a workflow system having a server and a plurality of clients connected to the server by a communication means, wherein the client detects the presence status of a person in charge, and sends the status to the server. A work assignment method in a workflow system, comprising: a step of notifying information on the presence status; and a step of receiving the information on the presence status and managing the presence status of the person in charge based on the information. 2. A work assignment method in a workflow system having a server and a plurality of clients connected to the server by a communication means, wherein the client detects the presence status of a person in charge, and sends the status to the server. A step of notifying information about the presence status at the server and determining whether or not there is an absentee person based on the information; and In the case, there is a step of determining whether or not there is a work assigned to the absent person, and if there is a work assigned to the absent person,
Allocating the work to another person in charge. 3. A work assignment method in a workflow system having a server and a plurality of clients connected to the server by communication means, wherein the client detects the presence status of a person in charge, and sends the server to the server. A step of notifying information about the presence status at the server and determining whether or not there is an absentee person based on the information; and In the case, there is a step of determining whether or not there is a work assigned to the absent person, and if there is a work assigned to the absent person,
A step for setting the work without a person in charge, a step for periodically checking for work without a person in charge, and, if there is work without a person in charge, the person in charge who can assign the work. Allocating to a workflow system. 4. The work assignment method in a workflow system according to claim 1, wherein the work assigned to the absent person is assigned to another person or the person in charge. When assigning a work with no work to an assignable person, a person with a small total workload / capacity value is selected from among the persons present to search for the assignable person. If there is no assignable person, select a person to whom a task with a lower priority than the task to be assigned is assigned, and assign the task to be assigned instead of the task with the lower priority. A work assignment method in a workflow system, characterized in that it is determined whether the work is possible. 5. A workflow system having a server and a plurality of clients connected to the server by communication means, wherein the client detects the presence status of a person in charge and notifies the server of information on the presence status. Means for periodically checking the information on the presence status at the server, and determining whether or not there is a person who is absent based on the information. Means for determining whether there is any work assigned to the person in charge, and if there is a work assigned to the person in absence,
Means for allocating the work to another person in charge.