JP5881951B2 - Workflow management system - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a technique for allowing a user to flexibly define a workflow in a workflow management system.

  The workflow management system defines and executes a routine work flow in order to realize an efficient production system or work organization. Therefore, in the design and development of a conventional workflow management system, a method of first defining the work flow and personnel organization considered to be the best at the time of development and then constructing a system reflecting this was adopted. However, since an efficient production system and work organization are improved through trial and error, it is desirable that the definition of the work flow can be flexibly changed so that the improvement can be immediately reflected. Therefore, Patent Document 1 stores department names, job titles, and user information corresponding to the current organizational environment, and can be operated even when the organizational environment differs between the past and the present due to organizational changes such as personnel changes. Propose a workflow system.

JP2001-195468

  Since the workflow management system is not limited to document circulation and approval management within the organization, its application scope is diverse, such as management of manufacturing processes, management of IT support operations compliant with ITIL, and information security management system. It is desirable to have versatility that can be used for applications. Although the workflow system of Patent Document 1 can flexibly cope with a change in human organization, it does not have versatility enough to deal with these various operation modes. The problem to be solved by the present invention is to provide a versatile workflow management system that can cope with these various modes of operation.

  Moreover, in the conventional workflow management system, a method is generally used in which a system user formulates a system specification based on the workflow and constructs a system conforming to the specification by programming. Therefore, an important change occurs in the workflow. In such a case, it was necessary to respond by changing the program. Another problem to be solved by the present invention is to provide a workflow management system that can flexibly change the definition of a workflow without changing the program even when the workflow is changed.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above problems.

  The inventor of the present invention has solved the above problem by the following method.

  First, the workflow management system of the prior art was designed as one workflow corresponding to the entire human organization and the entire manufacturing process as a group, whereas in the present invention the work flow is divided into multiple processes. Subdivided, a workflow is defined as an aggregate of these multiple processes organically linked. Thus, by defining a workflow as a combination of many different processes, any workflow can be freely designed and changed.

  Second, in the present invention, one process state is selected to express the progress of work in the process, and an authorized user executes a defined action according to the progress of the process. The process state transitions. By adopting such a configuration, it becomes possible to easily manage authority when a process is advanced.

  Third, in the present invention, when defining an action for transitioning a process, the user can define an action by freely combining a plurality of action elements. With such a configuration, the user can freely define transitions between states and linkages between processes without modifying the system.

  The first invention relates to a workflow management system that employs all the above-described configurations.

  The second invention further relates to the workflow management system of the first invention, wherein the plurality of action elements include at least an action element for transitioning a process state.

  The third invention further relates to a workflow management system, wherein the plurality of action elements include action elements for newly generating related processes and defining a relation between the processes.

  The fourth invention further relates to a workflow management system, wherein the plurality of action elements further include an action element for transmitting / receiving a command to / from an associated external system.

  The fifth invention further relates to a workflow management system capable of holding business information related to a process in association with the process and reading the business information in the process.

According to the present invention, a general-purpose workflow management system corresponding to various usage purposes and usage methods is provided.

FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating a concept of workflow definition based on a process chain, which is one of the features of the workflow management system according to the first embodiment. The figure showing a mode that the state of one process changes. The figure showing the structure for defining one process. 1 is a functional block diagram of a workflow management system according to a first embodiment. Specific examples of action elements. An example of the interface for an action definition reception part to receive selection of an action element from a user. 1 is a hardware configuration diagram of a workflow management system according to a first embodiment. FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating an actual usage mode of the workflow management system according to the first embodiment. FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing a process flow when an action is defined in the workflow management system according to the first embodiment. FIG. 3 is a flowchart illustrating a process flow when an action is performed in the workflow management system according to the first embodiment. The figure showing the concept of the workflow management system of Example 3.

  The first embodiment relates to the first invention according to claim 1 and the second invention according to claim 2. The second embodiment relates to the third aspect of the present invention. The third embodiment relates to the fourth aspect of the present invention. The fourth embodiment relates to the fifth aspect of the present invention.

<Concept of Example 1>

  FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating a concept of workflow definition based on a process chain, which is one of the features of the workflow management system according to the first embodiment. Each circle in the figure represents a process, and the numbers in the circles are process numbers for explanation. Arrows between processes indicate the progress direction of the workflow. For example, there is a route that progresses from the third process to the fourth process and the fifth process, and there is also a route that cancels the matter. In this way, one process may progress to a plurality of processes simultaneously. Further, the transition between processes may be not only the progress of the workflow but also the return to a process that has already passed, such as a transition from the fourth process to the first process. Such transition between processes is realized by an authorized person executing an action.

  As described above, the workflow management system of the present invention subdivides the work flow into a plurality of processes, and the workflow is defined as an aggregate in which the plurality of processes are organically linked. By defining a workflow as a combination of many different processes in this way, any workflow can be freely designed and changed.

  FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating a state transition of one process. In the process, one state is always selected, and in the example shown in the figure, the state transitions as “new” → “in progress” → “supported” → “completed”. Each transition is realized by an authorized person executing an action. There are two types of transitions based on actions: one that changes its state within the process as shown in FIG. 2 and one that changes from one process to another as indicated by the arrows in FIG. There is something to do at the same time.

  FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating a configuration for defining one process. The figure shows the definition of “action” and “role” when the process state is “in response”. Actions and roles are defined for each state, and they change as the process state changes. Among the actions in the figure, the action “confirm correspondence and assume correspondence” is an action that causes the transition of the state in the process as described in FIG. Further, the action “escalate to secondary correspondence” is an action accompanied by a transition from one process described in FIG. 1 to another process. The action “cancel” is an action that causes the cancellation of the matter described in FIG.

  FIG. 3 also shows that only “Mr. A” can execute the “confirm response and make it compatible” and “cancel” actions, “escalate to secondary response” and “correct contents”. The action can be executed only by Mr. B, and the “hold” action indicates that only Mr. C can be executed. In this way, it is possible to define a person who has execution authority for each action. Of course, a plurality of persons who can execute one action may be defined.

  An action “escalate to secondary response” is an action that transits to another process. For example, this process corresponds to a case where the process is a primary response of customer complaint processing by a call center and a secondary response of a service person dispatched locally is requested. This action can only be executed by Mr. B.

When a certain action is executed, a plurality of classified processes that are repeatedly executed may be performed simultaneously. For example, in the “escalate to secondary response” action, the process of creating a new secondary process and transitioning the workflow to the secondary process is performed, and at the same time the status of the primary process is set to “supported” May be. In this way, a typed process that becomes an element constituting an action is referred to as an “action element”. The present invention is characterized in that an action can be defined by a user freely combining a plurality of action elements.
<Configuration of Example 1>

  FIG. 4 is a functional block diagram of the workflow management system according to the first embodiment. The workflow management system 0401 according to the first embodiment includes a user identification information holding unit 0402, a process definition holding unit 0403, an action element holding unit 0404, an action definition receiving unit 0405, and an action execution unit 0406. User information 0420 is held in the user identification information holding unit, and status 0411, action 0412 and role 0413 are held in the process definition holding unit. By performing these holdings, the process 0410 is substantially defined and held. One or more action elements 0430 are held in the action element holding unit.

  The workflow management system according to the first embodiment is a “workflow management system in which a workflow including one or more processes is advanced by an authorized user changing a process from one state to another state”. The workflow includes one or more processes in FIG. 1, and the process state transition has already been described in FIG.

  The “user identification information holding unit” holds user identification information for identifying a user. The user identification information typically indicates a login ID, a password, or the like, and is information used when determining the action execution authority described with reference to FIG.

  The “process definition holding unit” holds “state”, “action”, and “role”. The process state has been described with reference to FIG. The action is “an operation associated with the state”, and the “role” is “a condition that the user identification information should satisfy in order to obtain the right to execute the action.” These have been described with reference to FIG. State, action, and role are maintained for each process. The definition of the workflow is constructed by holding such a definition for many processes.

  In order to define a workflow in this way, a number of processes for configuring the workflow are defined. Such a process definition defines a stylized business type, but in an actual business, a large number of matters are processed for the same process and registered as instances in the system. In order to identify such an instance, the process definition holding unit may further hold an instance identification number.

  The “action element holding unit” holds action elements that are a plurality of operations constituting the action. To repeat, the action element is a standardized process that becomes a unit element constituting the action. FIG. 5 is a specific example of the action element. As shown in the figure, multiple action elements are usually defined. Of these, the second “create related matter” is used to generate the secondary process described in “Escalate to secondary response” in FIG. The eighth “update state” is used to update the state described in the section “Check the correspondence and make it compatible” in FIG. 3, and the “Transition process state” action Is an element.

  The “action definition accepting unit” accepts selection of one or more action element combinations and holds them in the process definition holding unit in order to define an action using the action elements as constituent elements.

  FIG. 6 is an example of an interface for the action definition receiving unit to receive selection of an action element from the user. The interface 0600 shown in the figure defines an “escalate to secondary response” action that can be executed when the state of a process related to a complaint reception operation at a call center is being supported. Actions are always defined in relation to a specific state of a specific process. In the figure, a process name column 0601 is used to specify a process, a status column 0602 is used to specify a process status, and an action name column 0603 is used to specify an action name of the action.

  The action element list 0604 displays a list of action elements that have already been selected from all the action elements that can be selected as constituting the “escalate to secondary correspondence” action. As such a selection method, as shown in the figure, when the add button 0605 is depressed with a mouse pointer or the like, a list of selectable action elements as shown in FIG. 5 is displayed. A configuration such as adding to the action element list is conceivable.

  Although not shown in the figure, the order of executing each of the action elements included in the action element list may be specified.

  In the example shown in the figure, when "escalate to secondary response" is executed, first, a new process of dispatching a service person, for example, is created by the action element "Create Related Items". The “update state” action element changes the status of this process by the service center from “in progress” to “supported”. Third, the “create a comment” action element allows the person in charge to A comment such as “man is working on site” can be created. Fourthly, an action element “send mail” can send an email instructing the service person to respond on site. A set of these processes can be executed by one action.

  The role list 0606 defines the authority to execute the action. In the figure, a list of names of persons in charge with execution authority is shown, but instead of names, the titles and titles of persons with execution authority may be used.

  The “action execution unit” “executes the execution of the action from the user when the user is authorized to execute the action as a result of collating the role with the user identification information. When the action execution unit receives an instruction from the user regarding the execution of the action, the action execution unit first determines whether the user has authority to execute the action. Specifically, the user is identified by the login ID of the user, and if the role of the action is a list of authorized person names, whether the user's name is included in the list Is the title of an authorized person, it is determined whether the user has the title. If it is determined that the user has execution authority, the action elements constituting the action are executed in order or simultaneously.

  FIG. 7 is a hardware configuration diagram of the workflow management system according to the first embodiment. The workflow management system includes a CPU 0701 for performing various arithmetic processes and search processes, a hard disk drive device for holding programs and data, an external storage device 0702 such as a ROM, and a memory for temporarily storing and holding programs and data. 0703. A communication interface 0704 for performing communication via a communication line is also provided. These are connected to each other by a system bus 0705 which is a data communication path, and performs transmission / reception and processing of information.

  The program held in the external storage device is read into the memory as necessary, and the CPU executes various arithmetic processes by referring to the program in the memory. In addition, a plurality of addresses are assigned to each memory, and in the arithmetic processing of the CPU, it is possible to perform arithmetic processing using data by specifying the address and accessing the stored data. It has become.

  FIG. 8 is a diagram illustrating an actual usage mode of the workflow management system according to the first embodiment. The workflow management system 0801 is connected to a number of personal computers 0803 via a communication line 0802 such as the Internet or an in-house LAN. Each user in charge of a process constituting the workflow logs in to the workflow management system using each of these personal computers as an interface, and advances the workflow.

  Such hardware configuration and usage are the same in other embodiments.

  FIG. 9 is a flowchart showing the flow of processing when an action is defined in the workflow management system of the first embodiment. First, the action element holding unit holds action elements that are a plurality of operations constituting the action (step 0901). Second, the action definition accepting unit accepts selection of one or more combinations of action elements and retains them in the process definition retaining unit in order to define an action with the action element as a constituent element (step 0902). Finally, the process definition holding unit holds an action that is an operation associated with the state of the process (step 0903).

FIG. 10 is a flowchart illustrating a process flow when an action is executed in the workflow management system according to the first embodiment. First, the user identification information holding unit holds user identification information for identifying the user (step 1001), and the process definition holding unit satisfies the user identification information in order to obtain the right to execute the action. A roll which is a power condition is held (step 1002). Second, the action execution unit collates the role with the user identification information, and determines whether the user has the authority to execute the action (step 1003). If it is determined in step 1003 that the user has the authority to execute the action, the action execution unit accepts and executes the action (step 1004).
<Effect of Example 1>

  According to the workflow management system of the first embodiment, a general-purpose workflow management system corresponding to various usage purposes and usage methods is provided. That is, according to the workflow management system, a workflow can be freely designed by linking processes organically without restriction. In addition, by combining action elements prepared in advance, it is possible to freely define the process at the time of state transition in the process and the relationship between the processes without changing the program. As described above, according to the workflow management system of the first embodiment, it is not necessary to introduce a different workflow management system for each purpose of use, and one system can cope with various purposes and methods of use.

<Concept of Example 2>

  The workflow management system of the first embodiment is capable of transition from one process to another as shown in FIG. Such transitions between processes are important in defining a complex workflow. For example, ITIL (Information Technology Infrastructure Library) service management, which is a standard specification as a best practice in the field of IT service operations, includes “incident management”, “problem management”, “configuration management”, “change management” and “ Although it is composed of five processes of “release management”, when using a workflow management system, it is required to be able to transition between the processes. Such transition between processes can be freely defined by combining action elements as described above, and specifically, from one process like the “escalate to secondary response” action in FIG. Realized by creating another process.

  However, in actual operation, a secondary process is generated from the primary process and the primary process is rarely terminated as it is, and it is not uncommon for the workflow to return to the primary process after the secondary process is completed. For example, in the ITIL service management described above, incidents that occur during incident management, which is the primary process, are quickly recovered so that the impact on business activities is minimized, and at the same time, problem management, which is the secondary process, is performed. Investigate the cause of the incident and formulate preventive measures. In the case of problem management, which is a secondary process, when the cause is elucidated and the countermeasures are formulated quickly, the countermeasures may be immediately used for incident management in the primary process.

Thus, in order to enable the workflow to be regressed from the secondary process to the primary process, it is necessary to associate both processes when generating the secondary process from the primary process. The workflow management system according to the second embodiment is a workflow management system that facilitates progress / regression of processes between processes by linking related processes in this way.
<Configuration of Example 2>

  Since the functional block diagram of the workflow management system of the second embodiment is common to many parts of the workflow management system of the first embodiment described in FIG. The difference is that “related information” is included in addition to the state 0411, the action 0412 and the role 0413 as information defining the process 0410, and the action element 0430 specifically includes (1) a new related process. And (2) an action element for recording related information for defining a relation with a newly generated process in the process definition holding unit. is there. Hereinafter, a configuration unique to the workflow management system of the second embodiment will be described.

  The “process definition holding unit” further holds related information that is related to other processes. “Related information” is information indicating a relation with another process. For example, in the above-mentioned ITIL example, “problem management” is generated as a secondary process from “incident management” which is the primary process. In this case, as the related information of the incident management instance, the instance identification number of the generated problem management instance is held.

  The “plurality of action elements” is an action for recording an action element for newly generating a related process and related information for defining a relation between the newly generated process in the process definition holding unit. Elements.

The “action element for newly generating a related process” is, for example, the “create related matter” action element described in FIG. For example, the action element for recording the relation information for defining the relation with the newly generated process in the process definition holding unit is, for example, the secondary process newly created in the above-mentioned ITIL example. An action element that records the instance identification number of the instance in the relevant information of the instance of the primary process of the generation source. In this case, the instance identification number of the instance of the primary process of the generation source may be simultaneously recorded as the related information of the instance of the secondary process.
<Effect of Example 2>

  According to the workflow management system of the second embodiment, transition between related processes can be freely performed.

<Concept of Example 3>

  FIG. 11 is a diagram illustrating the concept of the workflow management system according to the third embodiment. The workflow management system 1101 can realize more efficient business execution by cooperating with other systems. Other systems include a portal site 1105 for transmitting information from a company, a network monitoring system 1106 for monitoring network security, a mail system 1107 for sending and receiving e-mails, and management of IT assets. Asset management system 1108, a sales support system 1109 responsible for a customer database function for supporting sales activities, and the like. The workflow management system according to the third embodiment can use an action element 1103 for transmitting and receiving a command 1104 for cooperating with these other systems, and can define an action 1102 incorporating such an action element. it can.

Examples of such collaboration with other systems include automatically changing the person in charge of the sales support system when a customer is reassigned in connection with the workflow process of personnel changes, or lending from a customer. This is the process of automatically recording the change of the lending status in the asset management system of the lending IT asset in relation to the workflow of lending IT asset replacement processing when receiving complaints about IT asset defects.
<Configuration of Example 3>

The plurality of action elements of the workflow management system according to the third embodiment further include an action element for transmitting / receiving a command to / from an associated external system. Referring to FIG. 4, the action element 0430 held in the action element holding unit 0404 includes an action element for transmitting / receiving a command to / from a related external system, and the action definition receiving unit 0405 The action 0412 can be defined by accepting such an action element selection, and the action execution unit 0406 executes such an action, thereby realizing cooperation with other systems. Other configurations are the same as those of the workflow management system of the first and second embodiments.
<Effect of Example 3>

  According to the workflow management system of the third embodiment, it is possible to realize efficient workflow processing in cooperation with other systems.

<Concept of Example 4>

In workflow processing, there are many cases where some standardized processing is possible. For example, in operations that accept inquiries from customers, there are similar types of inquiries (FAQs) that are frequently received from customers. For FAQs, model responses are prepared in advance and used repeatedly to improve the efficiency of operations. Can be realized. As described above, business information that is frequently used in a specific process can be read at any time, so that the efficiency of the business can be dramatically improved. The workflow management system according to the fourth embodiment is a workflow management system that holds such business information in association with a process and can immediately read out the process information.
<Configuration of Example 4>

  The workflow management system according to the fourth embodiment includes a business information holding unit and a business information reading unit in addition to the configuration shown in FIG. The “business information holding unit” holds business information related to a process in association with the process. Examples of “process-related business information” include server asset list information related to server lending business, customer list information related to call center business, contract list information related to contract management business, etc. .

  As a method of holding, it is good also as a structure which preserve | saves the business information used in the said action automatically or by selection when performing the action relevant to a process. For example, when a call center receives an address change request from a customer, if the action element that updates the customer list information is included in the action in the address change process, the customer list information is automatically updated by the business information holding unit. Is done. By configuring in this way, the business is made more efficient, and the management of customer information is further ensured.

The “business information reading unit” reads business information related to the process. Conveniently, the business information held in association with the process can be always read in the process. For example, in the call center business process, the customer list information can be immediately read out, so that an efficient response can be made.
<Effect of Example 4>

  The workflow management system according to the fourth embodiment is a workflow management system capable of realizing business efficiency by holding business information such as frequently used typed documents and processing methods and enabling immediate reading. It is.

Claims (5)

A workflow management system in which a workflow including one or more processes proceeds by an authorized user transitioning a process from one state to another,
A user identification information holding unit for holding user identification information for identifying a user;
A process definition holding unit for holding the state of the process, an action that is an operation associated with the state, and a role that is a condition that user identification information should satisfy in order to obtain the right to execute the action; ,
An action element holding unit for holding an action element that is a plurality of stylized processes constituting the action;
In order to define an action using the action element as a constituent element, an action definition accepting unit that accepts selection of a combination of one or more action elements and causes the process definition holding unit to associate and hold the process state
A workflow having an action execution unit that accepts and executes execution of the action from the user when the user is authorized to execute the action as a result of collating the role with the user identification information Management system.   The workflow management system according to claim 1, wherein the plurality of action elements include at least an action element for transitioning a process state. The process definition holding unit further holds related information that is related to another process,
The plurality of action elements include an action element for newly generating a related process and an action element for recording related information for defining a relation between the newly generated process in the process definition holding unit. The workflow management system according to claim 1 or 2, characterized by comprising:   The workflow management system according to claim 3, wherein the plurality of action elements further include an action element for transmitting / receiving a command to / from an associated external system. A business information storage unit for storing business information related to the process in association with the process;
The workflow management system according to claim 1, further comprising: a business information reading unit for reading business information related to the process.

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