JP2017117287A - Management system and management method - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a management system that can prioritize maintenance work to be performed on image forming apparatuses requiring the maintenance work.SOLUTION: A management server 10 comprises: a first communication part 15 that can communicate with image forming apparatuses; a storage part 17 that stores a printing amount history DB storing the amount of printing reported from each of the image forming apparatuses; an information acquisition part 11a that stores, in the print amount history DB, the amount of printing reported from each of the image forming apparatuses as a history; a caution required list creation part 11b that creates a caution required list by registering, from the image forming apparatuses, image forming apparatuses requiring maintenance; and a first prioritizing part 11d that determines the priority of the maintenance to be performed on the image forming apparatuses registered in the caution required list on the basis of the history of the amount of printing stored in the printing amount history DB, creates a prioritized caution required list, and presents the list to a user. Each of the image forming apparatuses include a second communication part that can communicate with the management server and a printing amount reporting part that reports the amount of printing of the apparatus to the management server.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 2

Description

  The present invention relates to a management system and a management method for handling a failure of an image forming apparatus (MFP, Multifunction Peripheral) installed at a customer site.

  Conventionally, various ideas have been made to cope with the occurrence of a failure in an image forming apparatus installed at a customer site.

  For example, in the technique of Patent Document 1, it is determined whether there is a need to perform maintenance work on an image forming apparatus from the occurrence probability of a failure in the image forming apparatus and a set threshold value.

  Further, for example, in the technique of Patent Document 2, a feature amount of the image forming apparatus is calculated from monitoring parameters such as a charging voltage, a developing bias, a laser light quantity, and a toner density, and a failure occurs based on a distribution of occurrence frequency of the feature amount. Probability is calculated.

  Further, for example, in the technique of Patent Document 3 or Patent Document 4, analysis is performed based on a jam alarm that is raised from a large number of image forming apparatuses under management to the management apparatus, and failure prediction and serviceman visit necessity prediction are performed. Is going.

Japanese Patent Laying-Open No. 2015-36808 JP 2013-109483 A JP 2003-215986 A Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 08-195849

  As described in each of the above-described patent documents, a management apparatus that manages an image forming apparatus installed at a customer site determines whether maintenance work is necessary based on information collected from the image forming apparatus.

  However, as a practical matter, since there are limited resources for providing maintenance services, such as the number of service personnel performing maintenance work, the priority of maintenance work should be set for image forming apparatuses that are predicted to fail. You have to respond.

  In view of the circumstances as described above, an object of the present invention is to provide a management system and a management method capable of prioritizing maintenance work for an image forming apparatus that requires maintenance work.

  To achieve the above object, a management system according to an aspect of the present invention includes a network-connected management server and one or more image forming apparatuses managed by the management server, wherein the management server includes the management server A first communication unit capable of communicating with one or more image forming apparatuses; a storage unit storing a print amount history database in which a print amount reported from each of the one or more image forming devices is stored as a history; An information collection unit that stores the print amount reported from each of the one or more image forming apparatuses as a history in the print amount history database, and among the one or more image forming apparatuses, an image forming apparatus that requires maintenance is registered. A caution list creation unit for creating a caution list and a priority order of maintenance for the image forming apparatuses registered in the caution list in the print amount history database. A first prioritization unit that determines a priority order attention list based on the stored print amount history and presents it to a user, and each of the one or more image forming apparatuses includes the management server A second communication unit capable of communication; and a print amount report unit that reports a print amount of the apparatus itself to the management server. Therefore, it is possible to prioritize maintenance work for an image forming apparatus that requires maintenance work.

  To achieve the above object, in the management system according to one aspect of the present invention, the management server calculates a print amount prediction value based on the print amount history stored in the print amount history database. A value calculating unit, wherein the first prioritizing unit includes the predicted print amount calculated by the predicted print amount calculating unit among the image forming apparatuses registered in the attention list. The image forming apparatus having an average printing amount lower than the average printing amount of the apparatus may be configured to create the priority order caution list by increasing the priority order.

  In order to achieve the above object, in the management system according to an aspect of the present invention, the first storage unit stores information on the configuration and attributes of the one or more image forming apparatuses. Further stores an image forming apparatus database stored in association with an identifiable identifier, and the management server stores the priority based on the information on the configuration and attributes stored in the image forming apparatus database. A second prioritizing unit for performing a correction to increase the priority in the priority order caution list when it is determined that the image forming apparatus described in the order caution list is a predetermined high-end machine; The structure provided may be sufficient.

  In order to achieve the above object, in the management system according to an aspect of the present invention, the second prioritization unit is configured to perform the priority based on information on the configuration and attributes stored in the image forming apparatus database. When it is determined that the image forming apparatus described in the order-required list is capable of color printing, correction may be performed to increase the priority in the order-required-required list.

  In order to achieve the above object, in the management system according to an aspect of the present invention, the second prioritization unit is configured to perform the priority based on information on the configuration and attributes stored in the image forming apparatus database. When it is determined that the image forming apparatus described in the order-required list is a multi-function peripheral, correction may be performed to increase the priority in the priority order-required list.

  In order to achieve the above object, in the management system according to an aspect of the present invention, the storage unit further stores a recommended print amount database storing recommended print amounts for each of the one or more image forming apparatuses, The caution list creating unit is a first processing unit that determines a difference between a current print amount and the recommended print amount acquired from the recommended print amount database among the one or more image forming apparatuses under management. An image forming apparatus having a threshold value or more may be registered in the caution list.

  In order to achieve the above object, in the management system according to an aspect of the present invention, the storage unit stores a failure history database in which a failure occurrence report reported from each of the one or more image forming apparatuses is stored as a history. Further, the information collection unit stores a failure occurrence report reported from each of the one or more image forming apparatuses as a history in the failure history database, and is reported from each of the one or more image forming apparatuses. The print amount history database stores the report of the operating time, and each of the one or more image forming apparatuses further includes a failure occurrence report unit that reports the occurrence of a failure in the own device to the management server. The department reports the operating time of its own apparatus to the information collecting section, and the caution list creating section is a rate at which the customer replaces the image forming apparatus with another manufacturer. The failure occurrence reference value is obtained from the failure occurrence rate and the operation time of the image forming apparatus, and the current failure occurrence rate exceeds the failure occurrence reference value among the one or more image forming apparatuses under management. The image forming apparatus may be registered in the caution list.

  In order to achieve the above object, in the management system according to an aspect of the present invention, the attention list creation unit is configured so that a current failure occurrence number is previously determined by a user among the one or more image forming apparatuses under management. The image forming apparatus that exceeds the set user setting threshold may be registered in the caution list.

  In order to achieve the above object, in the management method according to an aspect of the present invention, the information collection unit of the management server is under the management of the management server and is reported from each of the one or more image forming apparatuses connected to the network. The print amount history is stored in the print amount history database as a history, and the caution list creation unit of the management server registers an image formation device that requires maintenance among the one or more image forming devices and creates a caution list. The first priority ranking unit of the management server that is created and registered for the image forming apparatus registered in the caution list is based on the print amount history stored in the print amount history database. Create a priority list and present it to the user.

  As described above, according to the present invention, it is possible to prioritize maintenance work for an image forming apparatus that requires maintenance work.

1 is an overall configuration diagram of a management system 1 according to an embodiment of the present invention. It is a block diagram in case the management server 10 is comprised by a general computer. 1 is a configuration diagram schematically showing a configuration of an image forming apparatus 20. 4 is a flowchart for explaining an overall processing flow in the management system 1; It is a flowchart for demonstrating the detail of the preparation process of a attention list. It is a flowchart for demonstrating the detail of the prioritization process by PV history. It is a flowchart for demonstrating the detail of the correction process of the priority based on an attribute.

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.
[overall structure]
Initially, the whole structure of the management system which concerns on one Embodiment of this invention is demonstrated. FIG. 1 is an overall configuration diagram of a management system 1 according to an embodiment of the present invention.

  The management system 1 includes a management server 10, one or more image forming apparatuses 20, and one or more user terminals 30 connected via a network. The user terminal 30 may be a PC (Personal computer) or a portable terminal as long as it can communicate with the management server 10. In the following description, a mobile terminal will be described as an example of the user terminal 30.

  The user terminal 30 is used for a serviceman to access the management server 10 in order to acquire information on maintenance work.

  The management server 10 receives a report of information relating to the print amount (hereinafter referred to as PV (Print volume)) and failure occurrence information from the image forming apparatus 20 under management, and manages them as a history in a database or the like. .

  The management server 10 generates a failure based on the failure occurrence information and PV information of the image forming apparatus 20 under management and the attributes of the image forming apparatus 20 when requested by a service person who is a user or periodically. A list of likely image forming apparatuses 20 (a caution list) is created, and the image forming apparatuses 20 included in the created list are sorted in order of priority of maintenance work and provided to a service person as a priority order caution list. .

  The service person can perform maintenance from the image forming apparatus 20 having a high priority of maintenance work with reference to the priority order caution list, and can increase customer satisfaction. The rate of replacement with a manufacturer's image forming apparatus can be reduced.

  The image forming apparatus 20 is installed for each customer site that uses the image forming apparatus 20, and a plurality of types may be connected to the network. The image forming apparatus 20 is under the management of the management server 10.

  The overall configuration of the management system 1 according to an embodiment of the present invention has been described above.

[Management Server Configuration]
Next, the configuration of the management server 10 will be described. The management server 10 may be configured by dedicated hardware or software, or may be configured by a general computer. FIG. 2 shows a configuration diagram when the management server 10 is configured by a general computer.

  As shown in FIG. 1, the management server 10 includes a CPU (Central Processing Unit) 11, a ROM (Read Only Memory) 12, a RAM (Random Access Memory) 13, an operation input unit 14, a communication unit 15 (first communication unit). ), A display unit 16, and a storage unit 17, and these blocks are connected via a bus 18.

  The ROM 12 stores a plurality of programs and data such as firmware for executing various processes. The RAM 13 is used as a work area for the CPU 11 and temporarily holds an OS (Operating System), various applications being executed, and various data being processed.

  The storage unit 17 is, for example, an HDD (Hard Disk Drive), a flash memory, or other nonvolatile memory. The storage unit 17 includes an OS, various applications, various data, an image forming apparatus DB (Database) 17a (image forming apparatus database), a recommended PV value DB 17b (recommended printing amount database), a failure history DB 17c (failure history database), PV A history DB 17d (print amount history database), a user setting threshold value 17e, a caution list 17f, and a priority order caution list 17g are stored.

  The image forming apparatus DB 17a is a database in which information regarding the configuration and attributes of the image forming apparatus 20 under the management of the management server 10 is stored. The information is stored in association with an identifier that can uniquely identify the image forming apparatus 20 under management.

  Specifically, information such as whether a specific image forming apparatus 20 is a multifunction peripheral (MFP) or a printer, whether color printing is possible or only monochrome printing, and whether it is a high-end machine is stored. Has been.

  The recommended PV value DB 17b is a database in which recommended PV values in specifications in the image forming apparatus 20 under management are stored. This database may be a database that stores only recommended PV values of each image forming apparatus 20, or may be constructed as a database that stores general specification information of the product catalog.

  The failure history DB 17c is a database in which the history of failure occurrence information reported from the image forming apparatus 20 under management is stored.

  The PV history DB 17d is a database in which the history of PV values reported from the image forming apparatus 20 under management is stored.

  The user setting threshold value 17e is set by a user (serviceman) used when extracting the image forming apparatus 20 that is expected to require maintenance in order to create the above-described attention list 17f. It is a threshold.

  The user setting threshold value 17e is a parameter for taking into account the possibility that the failure occurrence rate fluctuates due to a special factor for each region or customer where the image forming apparatus 20 is installed. If there is no special factor for each region or customer to be considered in determining whether or not a failure has occurred (creation of a caution list), the user setting threshold value 17e may not be set.

  The attention list 17f is a list created by extracting the image forming apparatus 20 to be maintained by the management server 10.

  The priority order caution list 17g is a list in which maintenance priority is assigned to the image forming apparatus 20 registered in the caution list 17f. This list is finally presented to the service person, and the service person performs maintenance from the image forming apparatus 20 having a high priority.

  The communication unit 15 is connected to a network for exchanging information with the image forming apparatus 20 and the user terminal 30.

  The CPU 11 develops a program corresponding to an instruction given from the operation input unit 14 among the plurality of programs stored in the ROM 12 or the storage unit 17 in the RAM 13, and the display unit 16 and the storage unit according to the expanded program. 17 is appropriately controlled.

  The operation input unit 14 is, for example, a pointing device such as a mouse, a keyboard, a touch panel, and other operation devices.

  The display unit 16 is, for example, a liquid crystal display, an EL (Electro-Luminescence) display, a plasma display, or the like.

  Next, functional blocks realized by executing a program in the CPU 11 will be described.

  The functional blocks implemented in the CPU 11 of the management server 10 include an information acquisition unit 11a, a caution list creation unit 11b, a PV prediction value calculation unit 11c (print amount prediction value calculation unit), a first prioritization unit 11d, and The second prioritizing unit 11e.

  The information acquisition unit 11a sends the failure occurrence report or the PV value report sent from the image forming apparatus 20 under the management of the management server 10 together with the failure history DB 17c or the PV together with an identifier capable of uniquely identifying the image forming apparatus 20. Store in the history DB 17d.

  The caution list creating unit 11b extracts the image forming apparatuses 20 that require maintenance from the image forming apparatuses 20 under the management of the management server 10 and creates a caution list.

  The PV predicted value calculation unit 11c calculates a PV predicted value used for assigning a priority for maintaining the image forming apparatus 20 registered in the caution list. The PV predicted value is calculated based on the PV history.

  For example, in predicting the PV value of an entire month at the beginning of the month, if the image forming apparatus 20 has a tendency that the printing amount increases only at the end of the month from the PV history, the predicted PV value of the month is calculated in consideration of that point. calculate.

  The first priority ranking unit 11d uses the PV predicted value and the PV average value calculated by the PV predicted value calculation unit 11c in order to give a priority level for maintaining the image forming apparatus 20 registered in the caution list. In comparison, the priority of maintenance work is increased as the PV predicted value is lower than the PV average value.

  If the PV predicted value is lower than the PV average value representing the normal usage, it means that a problem has occurred in the image forming apparatus 20, and measures such as repair or replacement are required immediately. This is because it is considered.

  The second prioritizing unit 11e corrects the priorities assigned by the first prioritizing unit 11d based on the attributes of the image forming apparatus 20. High-end machines, image forming devices 20 capable of color printing, multifunction machines, etc. are considered to have higher usage rates than low-end machines, monochrome printing machines, and simple printers. This is because if it is not increased, it will be replaced by another company's machine.

  The configuration of the management server 10 has been described above.

[Configuration of Image Forming Apparatus]
Next, the configuration of the image forming apparatus 20 will be described. FIG. 3 is a configuration diagram schematically showing the configuration of the image forming apparatus 20.

  The image forming apparatus 20 includes a control unit 21. The control unit 21 includes a CPU, a RAM, a ROM, a dedicated hardware circuit, and the like, and governs overall operation control of the image forming apparatus 20.

  The control unit 21 includes a document reading unit 22, an image processing unit 23, an image memory 24, an image forming unit 25, an operation unit 26, a display unit 26a, a facsimile communication unit 27, a communication unit 28 (second communication unit), and a storage unit. 29 and the like. The control unit 21 performs operation control of each of the above connected units, and transmission / reception of signals or data to / from each unit.

  The control unit 21 performs operation control on each function such as a scanner function, a print function, a copy function, and a facsimile transmission / reception function in accordance with a job execution instruction input from the user through the operation unit 26 or a network-connected PC. Controls the drive and processing of the mechanisms necessary to execute.

  The control unit 21 includes a failure occurrence report unit 21a and a PV report unit 21b (print amount report unit). The failure occurrence reporting unit 21a and the PV reporting unit 21b are functional blocks that are realized by a CPU executing a program loaded from a ROM or the like into the RAM.

  The failure occurrence reporting unit 21a reports a failure occurring in the own device to the management server 10 together with an identifier that can uniquely identify the own device.

  The PV reporting unit 21b reports the printing amount in the own device to the management server 10 together with an identifier that can uniquely identify the own device. The PV reporting unit 21b reports the PV value and also reports the operating time of the own device 20 to the management server 10.

  The document reading unit 22 reads an image from a document.

  The image processing unit 23 performs image processing on the image data of the image read by the document reading unit 22 as necessary. For example, the image processing unit 23 performs image processing such as shading correction in order to improve the quality after the image read by the document reading unit 22 is formed.

  The image memory 24 is an area for temporarily storing data of a document image obtained by reading by the document reading unit 22 and temporarily storing data to be printed by the image forming unit 25.

  The image forming unit 25 forms an image such as the image data read by the document reading unit 22.

  The operation unit 26 includes a touch panel unit and operation key units that receive instructions from the user regarding various operations and processes that can be executed by the image forming apparatus 20. The touch panel unit includes a display unit 26a such as an LCD (Liquid Crystal Display) provided with a touch panel.

  The facsimile communication unit 27 includes an encoding / decoding unit, a modulation / demodulation unit, and an NCU (Network Control Unit) (not shown), and performs facsimile transmission using a public telephone line network.

  The communication unit 28 includes a communication module such as a LAN board, and transmits / receives various data to / from the management server 10 and a device (such as a PC) in the local area via the LAN connected to the communication unit 28.

  The storage unit 29 stores a document image read by the document reading unit 22. The storage unit 29 is a large-capacity storage device such as an HDD.

  The configuration of the image forming apparatus 20 has been described above.

[Processing flow (overall)]
Next, the overall processing flow in the management system 1 will be described. FIG. 4 is a flowchart for explaining the overall processing flow in the management system 1.

  First, the information collection unit 11a of the management server 10 collects failures and PV values from the failure occurrence report unit 21a and the PV report unit 21b of the image forming apparatus 20 under management, and constructs a failure history DB 17c and a PV history DB 17d. (Step S0).

  Next, the caution list creation unit 11b of the management server 10 creates a caution list (step S1).

  Next, the first prioritizing unit 11d prioritizes the image forming apparatuses 20 in the caution list based on the PV history (step S2).

  Next, the second prioritizing unit 11e corrects the priority given in step S2 based on the attribute of the image forming apparatus 20 in the caution list, and creates a priority order caution list (step). S3).

  Next, the second prioritizing unit 11e presents the created priority order caution list to the user via the display unit 16 or the user terminal 30 (step S4). If the priority order caution list is not corrected, the priority order caution list created by the first prioritization unit 11 d may be presented to the user via the display unit 16 or the user terminal 30.

  The overall process flow in the management system 1 has been described above.

[Process flow (Creating a watch list)]
Next, details of the above-described attention list creation processing will be described. FIG. 5 is a flowchart for explaining details of the attention list creation process.

  First, the caution list creating unit 11b obtains a difference between the current PV value and the recommended PV value of the image forming apparatus 20 to be considered for inclusion in the caution list (step S10).

  Next, the watch list creation unit 11b determines whether or not the difference is equal to or greater than a predetermined first threshold value (step S11).

  When the difference is equal to or larger than the first threshold (Y in Step S11), the attention list creation unit 11b registers the image forming apparatus 20 under consideration in the attention list (Step S15).

  When the difference is less than the first threshold value (N in Step S11), the watch list creation unit 11b obtains a failure occurrence reference value from the failure occurrence rate with a high separation rate and the operation time of the image forming apparatus 20. (Step S12).

  Next, the caution list creating unit 11b determines whether or not the current failure occurrence rate exceeds the failure occurrence reference value (step S13).

  When the current failure occurrence rate exceeds the failure occurrence reference value (Y in step S13), the attention list creation unit 11b registers the image forming apparatus 20 under consideration in the attention list (step S15).

  When the current failure occurrence rate does not exceed the failure occurrence reference value (N in Step S13), the caution list creation unit 11b determines whether or not the current failure occurrence count exceeds the user set threshold value 17e. (Step S14).

  When the current number of failure occurrences exceeds the user set threshold value 17e (Y in step S14), the attention list creation unit 11b registers the image forming apparatus 20 under consideration in the attention list (step S15). .

  If the current number of failure occurrences is less than the user-set threshold value 17e (N in step S14), there is no problem with the image forming apparatus 20 under consideration, and thus it is not registered in the watch list.

  The details of the attention list creation process have been described above.

[Processing flow (prioritization based on PV history)]
Next, the details of the above-described prioritization processing based on the PV history will be described. FIG. 6 is a flowchart for explaining the details of the prioritization processing based on the PV history.

  First, the PV predicted value calculation unit 11c calculates a PV predicted value from the past PV history using the PV history DB 17d for the image forming apparatus 20 in the caution list (step S20).

  Next, the first prioritizing unit 11d needs to increase the priority of maintenance work in the order in which the PV predicted value calculated in step S20 is significantly lower than the PV average value of the image forming apparatus 20. The list is sorted (step S21).

  Here, the attention list is sorted in descending or ascending order to arrange the image forming apparatuses 20 in the attention list in the order in which the maintenance work is prioritized. However, the present invention is not limited to this configuration. The format may be added to the watch list.

  The details of the prioritization processing based on the PV history have been described above.

[Flow of processing (priority correction based on attributes)]
Next, details of the above-described priority correction processing based on attributes will be described. FIG. 7 is a flowchart for explaining details of the priority order correction processing based on attributes.

  First, the second prioritizing unit 11e determines whether the image forming apparatus 20 in the caution list is a high-end machine using the image forming apparatus DB 17a (step 30).

  Only when the image forming apparatus 20 is a high-end machine (Y in step S30), the priority of the image forming apparatus 20 is increased by +1 (step S31). Note that the process of increasing by +1 here is an example, and it is only necessary to increase the priority by a predetermined amount (the same applies hereinafter).

  Next, the second prioritizing unit 11e determines whether the image forming apparatus 20 in the caution list is capable of color printing using the image forming apparatus DB 17a (step 32).

  Only when the image forming apparatus 20 can perform color printing (Y in step S32), the priority of the image forming apparatus 20 is increased by +1 (step S33).

  Next, the second prioritizing unit 11e determines whether or not the image forming apparatus 20 in the caution list is a multifunction peripheral using the image forming apparatus DB 17a (step 34).

  Only when the image forming apparatus 20 is a multifunction machine (Y in step S34), the priority of the image forming apparatus 20 is incremented by +1 (step S35).

  The details of the priority order correction processing based on attributes have been described above.

[Additional notes]
As described above, the management system 1 according to an embodiment of the present invention includes the management server 10 and one or more image forming apparatuses 20 managed by the management server 10 connected to the network, and the management server 1 Reference numeral 10 denotes a first communication unit 15 capable of communicating with the one or more image forming apparatuses 20, and a print amount history database 17d in which print amounts reported from the one or more image forming apparatuses 20 are stored as histories. , The information collecting unit 11a that stores the print amount reported from each of the one or more image forming apparatuses 20 as a history in the print amount history database 17d, and the one or more image forming apparatuses. 20, a caution list creating unit 11b that registers the image forming apparatus 20 requiring maintenance and creates a caution list 17f, and the caution list 17f. A priority order of maintenance for the recorded image forming apparatus 20 is determined based on the print amount history stored in the print amount history database 17d, and a priority order caution list 17g is created and presented to the user. Each of the one or more image forming apparatuses 20 includes a second communication unit 28 that can communicate with the management server 10 and the print amount of the own apparatus 20 to the management server 10. A printing amount reporting unit 21b for reporting.

  In addition, this invention is not limited only to the above-mentioned embodiment, Of course, various changes can be added within the range which does not deviate from the summary of this invention.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Management system 10 ... Management server 11 ... CPU
11a ... Analysis unit 11b ... Print program acquisition unit 11c ... Printable data creation unit 11d ... Print instruction unit 11e ... Support version confirmation unit 12 ... ROM
13 ... RAM
DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 14 ... Operation input part 15 ... Communication part 16 ... Display part 17 ... Memory | storage part 17a ... External Web site address 18 ... Bus 20 ... Image forming apparatus 21 ... Control part 21a ... Holding function management part 22 ... Document reading part 23 ... Image processing Section 24 ... Image memory 25 ... Image forming section 26 ... Operation section 26a ... Display section 27 ... Facsimile communication section 28 ... Communication section 29 ... Storage section 29a ... Holding function information 30 ... User terminal

Claims (9)

A network-connected management server, and one or more image forming apparatuses managed by the management server,
The management server is
A first communication unit capable of communicating with the one or more image forming apparatuses;
A storage unit storing a print amount history database in which the print amount reported from each of the one or more image forming apparatuses is stored as a history;
An information collection unit that stores the printing amount reported from each of the one or more image forming apparatuses as a history in the printing amount history database;
Of the one or more image forming apparatuses, a caution list creating unit for registering an image forming apparatus that requires maintenance and creating a caution list;
A priority order of maintenance for the image forming apparatuses registered in the caution list is determined based on the print amount history stored in the print amount history database, and a priority order caution list is created and presented to the user. A first prioritization unit, and
Each of the one or more image forming apparatuses includes:
A second communication unit capable of communicating with the management server;
A management system comprising: a printing amount reporting unit that reports the printing amount of the own device to the management server. The management system according to claim 1,
The management server is
A print amount prediction value calculating unit that calculates a print amount prediction value based on the print amount history stored in the print amount history database;
The first prioritization unit includes:
Among the image forming apparatuses registered in the attention list, an image forming apparatus whose print amount predicted value calculated by the print amount predicted value calculation unit is lower than the average print amount of the image forming apparatus is given higher priority and the priority is increased. A management system that creates a priority list. The management system according to claim 1 or 2,
The first storage unit
Further storing an image forming apparatus database in which information on the configuration and attributes of the one or more image forming apparatuses is stored in association with an identifier capable of identifying each of the one or more image forming apparatuses;
The management server is
When it is determined that the image forming apparatus described in the priority order caution list is a predetermined high-end machine based on the information on the configuration and attributes stored in the image forming apparatus database, the priority order A management system further comprising a second prioritization unit for performing correction to increase the priority in the watch list. The management system according to any one of claims 1 to 3,
The second prioritization unit includes:
When it is determined that the image forming apparatus described in the priority order caution list is capable of color printing based on the information regarding the configuration and attributes stored in the image forming apparatus database, the priority order caution list A management system that performs corrections that increase the priority within the system. The management system according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein
The second prioritization unit includes:
When it is determined that the image forming apparatus described in the priority order caution list is a multifunction peripheral based on the information on the configuration and attributes stored in the image forming apparatus database, the priority order caution list includes Management system that performs correction to raise the priority in A management system according to any one of claims 1 to 5,
The storage unit
A recommended print amount database storing recommended print amounts for each of the one or more image forming apparatuses;
The attention list creation unit
Image formation in which the difference between the current print amount and the recommended print amount acquired from the recommended print amount database among the one or more image forming apparatuses under management is equal to or greater than a predetermined first threshold value A management system for registering a device in the watch list. The management system according to any one of claims 1 to 6,
The storage unit
Further storing a failure history database in which a failure occurrence report reported from each of the one or more image forming apparatuses is stored as a history;
The information collecting unit
Storing a failure occurrence report reported from each of the one or more image forming apparatuses as a history in the failure history database;
A report of the operation time reported from each of the one or more image forming apparatuses is stored in the print amount history database;
Each of the one or more image forming apparatuses includes:
A failure occurrence reporting unit for reporting a failure occurrence in the own device to the management server;
The printing amount report unit
Report the operating time of its own device to the information collection unit,
The attention list creation unit
Obtain the failure occurrence reference value from the failure occurrence rate that increases the separation rate, which is the rate at which the customer replaces the image forming device with another manufacturer, and the operation time of the image forming device,
A management system for registering an image forming apparatus in which a current failure occurrence rate exceeds the failure occurrence reference value among the one or more image forming apparatuses under management in the caution list. The management system according to any one of claims 1 to 7,
The attention list creation unit
A management system for registering, in the list of cautions, an image forming apparatus in which the number of current fault occurrences exceeds a user setting threshold set in advance by a user among the one or more image forming apparatuses under management. An information collection unit of the management server is under the management of the management server and stores the print amount reported from each of the one or more image forming apparatuses connected to the network as a history in the print amount history database;
The caution list creation unit of the management server creates an caution list by registering image forming apparatuses that require maintenance among the one or more image forming apparatuses,
The first prioritizing unit of the management server determines the priority of maintenance to be performed on the image forming apparatuses registered in the caution list based on the print amount history stored in the print amount history database. A management method that creates a priority order list and presents it to the user.

Images