JP2020091805A - Business processing auxiliary device, storage medium and command generation method - Google Patents

Abstract

To provide a business processing auxiliary device, storage medium and command generation method that can lessen works of an initial setting when introducing a Robotic Process Automation (RPA) to a business system.SOLUTION: A business auxiliary device for automating business processing by a Robotic Process Automation (RPA) in a business system comprises: storage means that has a plurality of command groups for implementing RPA processing stored beforehand. The storage unit is configured to: comprise a RPA processing implementation unit that causes the business system to automatically implement the business processing on the basis of any of the plurality command groups; include a command group model form storage unit that has a plurality of model forms of preset command groups for coping with each of a plurality of business processing stored; and comprise a command editing processing unit that receives editing processing with respect to the selected one model form of the model forms of the plurality of command groups stored in the command group model form storage unit, and causes the post-edited command group to be stored as an implementation-scheduled command group.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 3

Description

The present invention relates to a business process assisting apparatus and a command generating method capable of reducing the initial setting labor when introducing an RPA into a business system.

BACKGROUND ART Conventionally, what is called ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning) (or ERP package) has been used as package software for building a core business system in a company.

As a system equipped with this ERP, it is possible to centrally manage information related to each business by linking core businesses such as sales management, purchasing management, inventory management, production management, financial accounting, and management accounting in real time. Is widely known. For example, Patent Document 1 discloses a technique for reducing the processing load required for updating and searching data in the ERP system.

Japanese Patent No. 5386639

By the way, RPA (Robotic Process Automation) is attracting attention as one of the means for improving the work efficiency in companies. By introducing RPA and automating a part of business in a company, effects such as cost reduction, work efficiency improvement, and work quality improvement are expected. In order to implement a tool for realizing such an RPA and automate a part of the work, it is necessary to set a command group for causing the RPA to execute the work. Since it is necessary to set this command group for each subdivided work, it may not be easy to maintain an automation environment. Since there are a wide variety of businesses that use the core business system described above, it is not easy to introduce RPA into all businesses that use the core business system, and conventionally, proposals for reducing the burden when applying RPA to the core business system. Did not exist.

Further, not only in the core business system, the labor for initial setting and the like when introducing the RPA in various businesses is very large, and thus it can be said that some companies are hesitant to introduce the RPA because of this. Therefore, there has been a demand for a mechanism for reducing the initial setting labor when introducing RPA in a company.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is an object of the present invention to solve the above-mentioned problems and provide a business processing assistance device, a recording medium, and a command generation method capable of reducing the initial setting labor when introducing an RPA into a business system.

A business assistance device according to the present invention is a business assistance device for automating a business process in a business system by RPA, comprising a storage unit that stores in advance a plurality of command groups for executing the RPA process, It is characterized by comprising an RPA process execution unit that causes the business system to execute a business process based on any one of a plurality of command groups.

Further, in the business assistance device according to the present invention, the storage unit includes a command group template storage unit that stores a plurality of command group templates preset to correspond to each of a plurality of business processes, A command group edit processing unit that accepts edit processing for one selected template of a plurality of command groups stored in the command group template storage unit and stores the edited command group as a scheduled execution command group It is characterized by including.

Further, in the business assistance device according to the present invention, the business system is a core business system, and templates of a plurality of command groups stored in the command group template storage unit are sales business programs in the core business system, It is characterized in that it includes a template of a command group for executing the RPA process for at least one of the purchasing business program, the inventory management program, the production management program, the financial accounting program and the management accounting program.

Further, the recording medium according to the present invention is a model of a command group for executing in a business auxiliary device for automating business processing in a core business system by RPA, and a sales business program, a purchasing business in the core business system. Characterized by recording a template of at least one command group for implementing RPA processing for at least one program among a program, an inventory management program, a production management program, a financial accounting program, and a management accounting program And

A command generation method according to the present invention is a method of generating a command group to be executed in a business auxiliary device for automating business processing in a business system by RPA, and a plurality of command processing methods corresponding to a plurality of business processings. A procedure for reading the template of any one of the command groups from the storage means in which the template of the command group is stored in advance, a procedure for accepting an editing process for the read template of the command group, and executing the edited command group. And a procedure of storing the command as a scheduled command group.

According to the present invention, it is possible to significantly reduce the user's initial setting labor when introducing an RPA into a business system such as a core business system.

It is a block diagram which shows the structural example of the usage environment of the business process assistance apparatus which concerns on one embodiment of this invention. It is a block diagram showing an example of composition of a core business server as an example of a business system. It is a block diagram showing an example of composition of a work processing auxiliary device concerning one embodiment of the present invention. It is an explanatory view showing an example of a model of a command group to be stored in the storage means of the work processing auxiliary device. It is an explanatory view showing an example of a model of a command group to be stored in the storage means of the work processing auxiliary device. It is an explanatory view showing an example of composition of a model of a command group. It is a flowchart figure showing the flow of the registration processing of the command group to be executed. It is a flowchart figure showing the flow until execution of RPA processing.

Hereinafter, an example of an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration example of a usage environment of a business processing assistance device according to an embodiment of the present invention. In FIG. 1, 100 represents a core business system as an example of a business system. The core business system 100 includes a core business server 100a that provides a core business system service on the server, and a core business system terminal 100b that is installed and functions on the terminal. Hereinafter, when simply expressed as the core business system 100, both the core business server 100a and the core business system terminal 100b are included. Reference numeral 200 denotes a work processing auxiliary device for realizing a RPA (Robotic Process Automation) function to automate work processing. The business process auxiliary apparatus 200 includes a business auxiliary server 200a that provides an RPA function on the server, and a business process auxiliary apparatus 200b that is installed on a terminal and provides the RPA function. Hereinafter, the simple expression of the core business system 100 includes both the business processing auxiliary server 200a and the business processing auxiliary device 200b. Reference numeral 300 denotes a client terminal for giving an operation instruction to the core business server 100a and the business processing auxiliary server 200a. Reference numeral 400 denotes a communication network for the core business system 100, the business processing assistance device 200, the client terminal 300 and the like to communicate with each other. Reference numeral 500 denotes a template providing server for storing a template of a command group described later and providing it to the user.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a configuration example of a core business server as an example of a business system. Although the description will be given based on the core business server 100a, the structure of the core business system terminal 100b is similar to that of the core business server 100a. The core business server 100a is a server managed by an administrator of the core business system, and has various functions for managing process data, which is data indicating information in various business processes such as form information related to various businesses. The core business server 100a in this example is configured by a general information processing apparatus including an OS (Operating System) and a relational database (relational DB). Further, since the administrator of the core business system is also a user of the business processing assistance device 200b, it may be expressed as a user.

Here, the form is a general term for books and slips. Further, the book is a record of items related to cash and goods receipts and payments, and the voucher is data as a basis for preparing the book and is evidence of business transactions. Note that the core business server 100a may be configured to handle, for example, process data indicating only slip information used to create various slips.

Further, the core business server 100a in this example, as shown in FIG. 2, includes a business application program DB 110, a process flow DB 120, and various data necessary for realizing the function as a general core business server (for example, Other DB 130 for storing data used by various programs stored in the business application program DB 110. Note that the process flow DB 120 and the other DB 130 are portions that are not directly related to the present invention, and thus detailed description thereof will be omitted.

The business application program DB 110 is a storage medium that stores programs used for various businesses. The programs stored in the business application program DB 110 include a sales business management program, a purchasing business management program, an inventory management program, a production management program, a financial accounting management program, and a management accounting management program. Conventionally, the administrator directly operates to use such various programs, but in the present example, a process of using the various programs stored in the business application program DB 110 by the RPA by the business processing auxiliary device 200 is performed. To be realized.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing a configuration example of the business processing assistance device according to the embodiment of the present invention. Although the description will be given based on the business process auxiliary server 200a, the configuration of the business process auxiliary device 200b is the same as that of the business process auxiliary server 200a. As shown in FIG. 3, the work processing auxiliary server 200a includes a command edit processing unit 210, an execution scheduled command group storage unit 220, an RPA process execution unit 230, and a command group template storage unit 240. ..

The command edit processing unit 210 has a function of inputting a command included in an existing RPA tool to generate a command group, and also selects from a template of a plurality of command groups stored in a command group template storage unit 240 described later. It has a function of accepting an editing process for one created template from an administrator (user) and storing the edited command group as an execution scheduled command group. Here, the command group refers to a set of commands capable of executing a predetermined process by combining a plurality of commands usable in the RPA tool. The command group includes not only a command group for executing all the series of business processes but also a command group for executing a part of the series of business processes. A series of business processes is, for example, a process of executing a single purpose business from the start to the completion, such as a registration process of an order receipt slip for domestic inventory sales. If a part of the series of business processes is, for example, an order slip registration process is a series of business processes, the login process to the core business system corresponds to a part of the processes.

The planned execution command group storage unit 220 has a function of storing a command group edited into an executable state as a matter planned command group. The execution-scheduled command group stored in the execution-scheduled command group storage unit 220 is read and executed by the RPA process execution unit 230 described later when a predetermined execution condition is satisfied. The predetermined execution condition may be, for example, a case where an execution command from the user is received, a case where the date and time reserved in advance as the execution time is reached, or the like.

The RPA process execution unit 230 has a function of causing the core business system 100 to automatically execute a business process based on a command group. The command group to be executed by the RPA process execution unit 230 may be a command group assembled from the user like an existing RPA tool, but a command group edited by the user based on a template is used. By registering as an execution scheduled command group, it is possible to reduce the initial setting labor when introducing RPA for business processing.

The command group template storage unit 240 has a function of storing a plurality of command group templates that have been set in advance to correspond to a plurality of business processes. Here, the command group template is a command group template for executing all of a series of business processes or a command group template for executing a part of the series of business processes. Shall be included. For example, the entire series of business processing such as order slip registration processing may be stored as a command group template, or some processing such as login processing to the core business system may be stored as a command group template. Good.

As shown in FIG. 3, the command group template storage unit 240 in this example includes a sales business template DB (abbreviation of database. The same applies hereinafter) 241, a purchasing business template DB 242, and an inventory management template. A DB 243, a production management template DB 244, a financial accounting template DB 245, and a management accounting template DB 246 are provided. These databases are included in the sales application management program, the purchasing operation management program, the inventory management program, the production management program, the financial accounting management program, and the management accounting management program stored in the business application program DB 110 of the core business server 100a. This is for creating a model of a command group in advance, classifying it, and storing it so that it can be applied to business processing. Templates of these command groups are prepared in advance by the service provider and stored in the command group template storage unit 240. As a result, the user can reduce the effort of initial setting when introducing RPA for business processing. The service provider may be, for example, a company that provides the RPA tool, or a company that performs a consultant business related to the core business system or the RPA tool.

In the example of FIG. 3, the business process auxiliary server 200a has been described as including the command group template storage unit 240. However, if the business process auxiliary server 200a can access and use the command group template storage unit 240, this configuration is adopted. It is not limited. For example, as shown in FIG. 1, a template providing server 500 as a storage unit may be provided, and the template providing server 500 may have the configuration of the command group template storage unit 240. In such a configuration, when the task processing auxiliary server 200a needs a template of a command group, the template providing server 500 is accessed via the communication network to obtain the target template. It may be downloaded to 200a and used.

FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram showing an example of a model of a command group to be stored in the storage means of the work processing auxiliary device. FIG. 4 shows an example of some of the templates stored in the sales business template DB 241, the purchasing business template DB 242, and the inventory management template DB 243.

In the sales business model DB 241, for example, direct delivery sales, domestic inventory sales, overseas inventory sales, immediate shipment orders, order reference registration, inventory allocation, order quotation, order contracts, cost sales, etc. Consignment sales (delivery), consignment sales (sales), consignment sales (collection), service provision (intangible product sales), consignment sales, sales returns, sales discounts/increases, sales rebates, set product sales For business processing such as sales data cancellation correction, shipping block, customer master registration, customer master change, SD price master registration, SD price master change, credit management master registration, credit management master change, export cross accounts registration It is possible that the template is stored. Further, as a model of the data check system, for example, a model for business processing such as abnormal value check, order delivery, omission of bills, backlog, credit management, etc. may be stored. The level of versatility of the template can be set as appropriate. For example, it may be stored in a versatile form as a template that can be used for all abnormal value checks. More detailed models such as value check, billing slip amount abnormal value check, and order slip quantity abnormal value check may be prepared and stored. The application of the template in this example is merely an example.

In the purchasing business model DB 242, for example, domestic inventory purchase, overseas inventory purchase, order reference registration, free purchase, stocking hold, purchase request, processing business (material free supply) as a data update system template. , Processing business (material free supply_scrap processing), processing business (material payment), ordering contract, order quotation, consignment purchase, expense purchase, return of purchase (without reference to original transaction), return of purchase ( Source transaction reference), purchase discount/purchase price increase, purchase data cancellation correction, fixed asset purchase (unused account), fixed asset purchase (use in-progress account), item master registration, item master change, Store template for business processing such as vendor master registration, vendor master change, purchasing information master registration, purchasing information master change, MM price master registration, MM price master change, import lot registration Can be considered. Further, as a model of the data check system, for example, it is conceivable to store a model for business processing such as abnormal value check, undelivered after delivery, omission of invoice verification.

The inventory management template DB 243, as a data update template, for example, transfers between plants/storage locations (1 STEP), transfers between plants/storage locations (2 STEP), inventory transfer orders, expense delivery, disposal processing , Templates for business processing such as inventory quantity adjustment, item transfer, special inventory transfer, inventory type transfer, valuation type transfer, lot transfer, inventory, material cost change, goods receipt/issue cancellation, storage location registration, storage location change, etc. It may be stored. Further, as a model of the data check system, for example, a template for business processing such as abnormal value check, expired inventory, stay inventory, allocable inventory, company-wide inventory, etc. may be stored.

FIG. 5 is an explanatory diagram showing an example of a model of a command group to be stored in the storage means of the work processing auxiliary device. In FIG. 5, an example of a part of the templates stored in the production management template DB 244, the financial accounting template DB 245, and the management accounting template DB 246 is shown.

In the production management template DB 244, for example, product forecast production plan, semi-product forecast production plan, build-to-order production plan (repeat product), material procurement/MRP, material procurement/OP, material procurement -It is conceivable that templates for business processing such as manual ordering, subcontracting ordering, performance record, material return, remanufactured item, rework, and prototype will be stored. Further, as a model of the data check system, for example, it is conceivable to store a model for business processing such as abnormal value check and unreported record.

In the financial accounting template DB 245, templates for data processing, such as fixed asset management, debt management, bond management, general account, master management, and the like may be stored. Be done. Fixed asset management, debt management, bond management, general account, and master management may each be a more detailed template. For example, for fixed asset management, acquisition, depreciation (monthly processing), removal (removal), removal (sale), asset transfer, impairment processing, reduction book (direct reduction method), reduction book (reserve fund method) , In-house assets, leased assets (accounting), leased assets (payment to lease end), year-end processing, depreciable asset declaration, etc., create and store a template for each more detailed fixed asset management process You may do so. Further, as a model of the data check system, for example, it is conceivable to store a model for business processing such as abnormal value check and unreported record.

It is conceivable that the management accounting template DB 246 stores, for example, templates for business processing such as budget registration and performance allocation as templates for data updating. Further, as a model of the data check system, for example, a model for business processing such as abnormal value check, allocation result abnormal amount of money, management accounting report creation, etc. may be stored.

As described above, the command group templates that may be stored in the command group template storage unit 240 are expected to be very diverse, and it is extremely difficult for the user to set these by themselves. There is a great need to create and provide a command group in advance. Needless to say, the templates illustrated are merely examples, and the invention is not limited to these templates.

Further, the model of the command group stored in the command group model storage unit 240 is not limited to the model of the series of business processes illustrated in FIGS. 4 and 5, but a part of the series of business processes. By storing the template of, if the user wants to generate the command group of a series of business processing by himself, it is possible to create it by combining some of the processing templates. It is possible to reduce labor as compared with the case.

FIG. 6 is an explanatory diagram showing an example of the configuration of a model of a command group. FIG. 6 shows an example of a command group for slip registration processing. As an example of a template for automatically starting and ending the slip registration process, the commands for executing C01 to C16 in FIG. 6 are combined to form a template. Specifically, the template shown in FIG. 6 is the START→command group template for the slip registration process, which is the acquisition of the current day's date (for determining the backup file/log file name) (C01)→the registration data file. Read (C02) → Save the registered data as backup data and store it in the backup folder (C03) → Delete the backup data that is more than one week old in the backup folder (C04) → Login information to the core business system as a login file Get from (C05) → Log in to core business system (Send mail if login error) (C06) → Transition to target registration screen (C07) → Enter slip header information (C08) → Enter slip detail information (C09) → C8 Or, if an error occurs during the processing of C9, save the message (C10) → save the slip (if the save could not be saved, get the error message above) (C101) → get the saved slip number (C12) → Write an error message or registration slip number in the log file and store it in the log folder (C13) → delete the log file that is more than one week old in the log folder (C14) → delete the registration data file (C15) → mail the log file It is a combination of each command of C01 to C16 such as "Attach to" and send to the person in charge (C16)→END. The commands C01 to C16 are also strictly a command group. This is because even if one process of logging in to the core business system of C06 is taken, the contents cannot be executed unless a plurality of commands usable in the RPA tool are combined. Each of C01 to C16 may be separately stored as a model of parts.

The command group template may be created as it is, but in this example, the user edits and uses the command group template as shown in FIG. It is supposed to do. For example, when the C02 process of reading a file of registration data is executed, it is necessary to perform editing for customization according to the user's environment, such as which folder to extract and read the file of which name. Probability is high. In this way, a command group that has been made executable under the user's environment by performing editing according to the user's environment is registered and stored in the scheduled execution command group storage unit 220 as a scheduled execution command group. To do. Such editing work can significantly reduce the work load compared to the user creating a command group from scratch.

FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing the flow of registration processing of a command group to be executed. FIG. 7 illustrates the flow of registration processing of the execution scheduled command group when the template is used as a base in the business process auxiliary server 200a. As shown in FIG. 7, the execution schedule command group registration processing is started by accepting the selection of the template by the user in the work processing auxiliary server 200a (step S101). Next, the job processing auxiliary server 200a inquires of the user whether or not the selected template needs to be edited (step S102). When the user's intention of editing is confirmed (or the editing operation input by the user is received) (S102-Y), the work processing auxiliary server 200a accepts the editing process for the template (step S103). Then, the business process assistance server 200a determines whether the editing process is completed (step S104). As long as the edit process is continued (S104-N), the business process auxiliary server 200a accepts the edit process in step S103, and when the edit process is completed (S104-Y), the business process auxiliary server 200a concerned. The edited command group is registered as an execution scheduled command group (step S105), and the process ends. When the user determines that the selected template does not need to be edited (S102-N), the work processing auxiliary server 200a registers the template as it is as the execution scheduled command group (step S105), and executes the process. To finish.

FIG. 8 is a flowchart showing the flow up to the execution of RPA processing. As shown in FIG. 8, the execution of the RPA process in the RPA process execution unit 230 of the business process auxiliary server 200a is started by extracting the execution condition for the execution scheduled command group (step S201). Next, the RPA process execution unit 230 determines whether or not the execution condition is satisfied (step S202). When the execution condition is not satisfied (S202-N), the process returns to step S201. When the execution condition is satisfied (S202-Y), the RPA process execution unit 230 reads the execution scheduled command group (step S203). Then, the RPA process execution unit 230 executes the RPA process based on the read scheduled execution command group (step S204), completes the execution up to the end of the scheduled execution command group, and then ends the process.

As described above, according to the business assistance device of the present invention, it is a business assistance device for automating the business processing in the business system by RPA, and stores a plurality of command groups for executing the RPA processing in advance. And a RPA process execution unit that causes a business system to automatically execute a business process based on any one of a plurality of command groups. The storage unit is provided for each of the plurality of business processes. A command group template storage unit that stores a plurality of command group template presets for correspondence is provided, and one selected template of the plurality of command groups stored in the command group template storage unit Since the command edit processing unit that receives the edit processing for the template and stores the edited command group as the execution scheduled command group is provided, the user's initial setting labor when introducing the RPA into the business system is reduced. It is possible to significantly reduce it.

In the above embodiment, the description has been made assuming that the template of a plurality of command groups for executing the RPA process is stored in advance in the job assistant device for automating the job process in the job system by the RPA. Any means may be used for storing a plurality of templates in the device. That is, a service provider that realizes a service that creates and provides a plurality of command groups for causing the business assistance device to execute RPA processing is a method of downloading a template from the template providing server 500, an optical disk, a USB memory, Providing templates to users by various methods such as storing templates in various recording media such as hard disks, providing databases storing templates, sending by attaching to email, etc. You can

In the above embodiments, the case where RPA is applied to the core business system has been described as an example, but the present invention is not limited to this. It is applicable to various business systems as well as the core business system. For example, by applying the business assistance device of the present invention to a business system for electronic commerce, so-called e-commerce (Electronic Commerce), the labor of initial setting of the user when introducing the RPA is greatly increased. Can be reduced.

100 core business system 100a core business server 100b core business system terminal 110 business application program DB
120 process flow DB
130 Other DB
200 Business Process Auxiliary Device 200a Business Process Auxiliary Server 200b Business Process Auxiliary Device 210 Command Edit Processing Unit 220 Execution Schedule Command Group Storage Unit 230 RPA Process Execution Unit 240 Command Group Template Storage Unit 241 Sales Business Template DB
242 Model DB for purchasing
243 Inventory management template DB
244 Production management template DB
245 Financial Accounting Template DB
246 Management accounting template DB
300 client terminal 400 communication network 500 template providing server

Claims (5)

A business assistance device for automating business processing in a business system by RPA,
A storage unit that stores in advance a plurality of command groups for executing the RPA process,
A business assistance device comprising: an RPA process execution unit that causes the business system to automatically execute a business process based on any one of the plurality of command groups. The storage unit includes a command group template storage unit that stores a plurality of command group templates that are preset to correspond to a plurality of business processes,
A command edit processing unit that accepts edit processing for one selected template of a plurality of command groups stored in the command group template storage unit and stores the edited command group as an execution scheduled command group The business assistance device according to claim 1. The business system is a core business system,
The template of the plurality of command groups stored in the command group template storage unit is one of the sales business program, purchasing business program, inventory management program, production management program, financial accounting program and management accounting program in the core business system. The business assistance device according to claim 2, comprising a template of a command group for executing RPA processing for at least one or more programs. A template of a command group for executing in a business auxiliary device for automating business processing in a core business system by RPA,
At least one command for implementing RPA processing for at least one program of the sales business program, purchasing business program, inventory management program, production management program, financial accounting program, and management accounting program in the core business system A recording medium that records a group template. A method for generating a command group to be executed in a business auxiliary device for automating business processing in a business system by RPA, comprising:
A procedure of reading out a template of any one of the command groups from a storage unit in which template models of a plurality of command groups corresponding to a plurality of business processes are stored in advance;
A procedure for accepting an editing process for the read template of the command group,
A method of generating a command group including a procedure of storing the edited command group as a scheduled execution command group.

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