JP6421492B2 - Processing load index calculation device and program - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a processing load index calculation apparatus and program, and more particularly to a technique for calculating a processing load index related to processing time of print information.

  Patent Document 1 discloses an apparatus that outputs a warning to an operator when a specific process to be processed is scheduled to be performed at a date and time that is different from a preset date and time due to work delay or the like.

  Patent Document 2 discloses a method for planning the next production plan in consideration of the average value of the production speed stored for each process and the production speed calculated from the actual work. .

JP-A-5-290056 JP 2000-326182 A

  In the technology described in the above-mentioned patent document, it is assumed that the processing time of each process is predicted in advance, but in a printing system in which various types of print information (hereinafter also referred to as print jobs) are input irregularly. It is difficult to predict the processing time of a print job.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and an object thereof is to provide a processing load index calculating apparatus and program capable of calculating a processing load index related to processing time of print information.

  According to the first aspect of the present invention, a processing status acquisition unit that acquires processing status for each of a plurality of processing steps to be executed on print information, and the one print information based on the acquired processing status An individual processing load index calculating means for calculating an individual processing load index relating to a processing time for each of the plurality of processing steps; and a processing time of the entire processing process for the print information of the one based on the calculated individual processing load index. A processing load index calculating device including an overall processing load index calculating means for calculating an overall processing load index.

  The invention according to claim 2 is the invention according to claim 1, wherein the processing status acquisition unit acquires the processing status including a processing time measured for print information for which processing of the processing step has been completed immediately before. This is a processing load index calculation device.

  Further, the invention according to claim 3 is the processing load according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the processing status acquisition means acquires the processing status including the number of print information waiting for execution of the processing of the processing step. It is an index calculation device.

  According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, there is provided a plurality of predictions for print information to be processed in the processing step based on statistics of processing time measured for the print information for which the processing in the processing step has been completed. A prediction time acquisition unit that acquires a prediction processing time; and the individual processing load index calculation unit selects one of the plurality of acquired prediction processing times based on the acquired processing status. The processing load index calculating apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the individual processing load index is calculated.

  Further, in the invention according to claim 5, the individual processing load index calculation unit multiplies the number determined by the number of print information waiting for execution of the processing of the processing step by the selected predicted processing time, The processing load index calculating apparatus according to claim 4, wherein the individual processing load index is calculated.

  The invention according to claim 6 is the processing load index according to any one of claims 1 to 5, wherein the overall processing load index is a sum of the individual processing load indexes calculated for each processing step. It is a calculation device.

  According to a seventh aspect of the present invention, there is provided a processing status acquisition means for acquiring processing status for each of a plurality of processing steps executed for print information, and the one piece of print information based on the acquired processing status. An individual processing load index calculating means for calculating an individual processing load index related to processing time for each of the plurality of processing steps, and processing of the entire processing process for the one print information based on the calculated individual processing load index This is a program for causing a computer to function as an overall processing load index calculating means for calculating an overall processing load index related to time.

  According to the processing load index calculating apparatus of the first aspect, it is possible to calculate the processing load index related to the processing time of the print information.

  In addition, according to the processing load index calculating apparatus according to the second aspect, it is possible to calculate a processing load index with higher prediction accuracy than in the case of using a processing situation that does not include the immediately preceding processing time.

  In addition, according to the processing load index calculating apparatus according to the third aspect, a processing load index having a higher prediction accuracy can be obtained compared to the case of using a processing state that does not include the number of print information waiting to be processed in the processing step. Can be calculated.

  In addition, according to the processing load index calculation apparatus according to claim 4, it is possible to calculate a processing load index with higher prediction accuracy compared to the case of obtaining the predicted processing time without using the processing time statistics. it can.

  Further, according to the processing load index calculating apparatus according to the fifth aspect, it is possible to calculate a processing load index with higher prediction accuracy than when the predicted processing time is simply set as the individual processing load index.

  In addition, according to the processing load index calculating apparatus according to claim 6, the processing load index having higher prediction accuracy than the case where any one of a plurality of individual processing load indices is set as the overall processing load index. Can be calculated.

  According to the program of the seventh aspect, it is possible to calculate the processing load index related to the processing time of the print information using a computer.

It is a figure which shows an example of the apparatus structure of a printing system. It is a figure which shows an example of the some process in a process control apparatus. It is a figure which shows an example of the some process in a process control apparatus. It is a functional block diagram which shows an example of a functional structure of a process load index calculation apparatus. It is a figure which shows an example of the job processing time memorize | stored in a job processing time memory | storage part. FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating an example of the number of waiting jobs stored in a waiting job number storage unit. It is a figure which shows an example of the prediction processing time acquired by the prediction processing time acquisition part. It is a figure which shows the individual processing load index calculated by the individual processing load index calculation part and the whole processing load index calculation part. It is a flowchart which shows an example of the process performed in a processing load index calculation apparatus. It is a flowchart which shows an example of the process performed in a processing load index calculation apparatus. It is a flowchart which shows an example of an individual process load index | exponent calculation process.

  Hereinafter, examples of modes for carrying out the present invention (hereinafter referred to as embodiments) will be described with reference to the drawings. In addition, in each figure of this specification, the same code | symbol is attached | subjected to the element similar to what was mentioned above regarding the previous figure, and detailed description may be abbreviate | omitted suitably.

[1. System configuration]
FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating an example of a device configuration of a printing system 10 according to the present embodiment. As shown in the figure, a printing system 10 includes a processing load index calculation device 1 according to an embodiment of the present invention, a client device 2 used by a user, and a processing control device that controls execution of processing in various devices. 3, a printing device 4 that prints the contents of a print job on a medium such as printing paper, a bookbinding device 5 that processes the printed medium to produce a book or a booklet, and the book or booklet that is produced And a packing device 6 to be used. The processing load index calculation device 1, the client device 2, and the processing control device 3 are connected via a network such as a bus, a local area network, and the Internet, and can exchange data with each other. Further, the processing control device 3 is connected to each of the printing device 4, the bookbinding device 5, and the packing device 6 through the network, and can exchange data with each other.

  The processing load index calculation device 1 is, for example, a server computer, and includes a control unit such as a microprocessor, a storage unit such as a RAM and a hard disk drive, a communication interface, and the like. Here, the storage unit of the processing load index calculating apparatus 1 stores a program for performing processing such as calculation of a processing load index related to processing time for a print job, and various data necessary for this processing. Further, the control unit of the processing load index calculation device 1 executes a process of calculating the processing load index according to a program stored in the processing load index calculation device 1.

  The client device 2 is, for example, a personal computer, a tablet terminal, or a mobile phone. Like the processing load index calculation device 1, the client device 2 includes a control unit, a storage unit, a communication interface, and a mouse or keyboard that accepts user input. And an input unit such as a touch panel and a display unit such as a display. Here, the storage unit of the client apparatus 2 stores a program for executing various information processing, a print job that the user desires to print, and the like. The number of client devices 2 constituting the printing system 10 may be one or plural.

  The processing control device 3 is, for example, a server computer similar to the processing load index calculation device 1, and includes a control unit, a storage unit, a communication interface, and the like. Here, the storage unit of the processing control device 3 stores a program for controlling various processes performed by the printing device 4, the bookbinding device 5, and the packing device 6.

  The program stored in each of the processing load index calculation device 1, the client device 2, and the processing control device 3 is stored in an information storage medium such as a flash memory or a telecommunication network such as the Internet. It may be supplied to the apparatus.

  Further, the printing system 10 may include a plurality of printing apparatuses 4. More specifically, a plurality of printing devices 4 may be connected to one processing control device 3, and the processing control device 3 may control a plurality of printing devices 4 connected thereto. The same applies to the bookbinding device 5 and the packing device 6.

  In the present embodiment, it is assumed that the processing control device 3 performs processing of a plurality of processing steps (hereinafter also simply referred to as steps) on the received print job, and outputs the processed processing to each device such as the printing device 4. Hereinafter, each process in the process control apparatus 3 is demonstrated.

[2. Processing steps in processing control device]
2A and 2B are diagrams illustrating an example of a plurality of steps in the process control device 3. FIG. As shown in FIG. 2A, the processing control apparatus 3 according to the present embodiment performs processing of each process from “process A” to “process E” for one print job. Each step here is a step of changing the data format of the print job, a step of arranging a plurality of information included in the print job on one page, a step of inserting page numbers, and printing on a medium such as printing paper. It is assumed that this is a process of performing data processing for a print job, such as a process of arranging a plurality of pages in a region of an image to be printed (a process of performing an imposition process) and a process of inserting a barcode.

  Here, since the processing time of each process for one print job is different for each process, a waiting job 20 (see FIG. 2A), which is a print job waiting for execution of the process, is generated in each process. For example, in “Process D”, a process that takes more time than other processes is performed. Therefore, in “Process D”, a waiting job 20 tends to occur.

  By the way, the processing time of each process for one print job differs depending on the data format and data size of the print job and information (for example, the number of colors, output resolution, number of pages, etc.) indicated by the print job. . For example, when the number of pages of a print job is large, the processing time for each process is relatively long.

  In addition, a large number of waiting jobs 20 are generated when a large number of print jobs are input within a limited time (see FIG. 2B), compared to a quiet time (see FIG. 2A). In such a situation where the number of waiting jobs 20 is large, it is considered that there is a high possibility that these waiting jobs 20 include print jobs that require a long time for processing.

  Therefore, the processing load index calculation apparatus 1 according to the present embodiment calculates a processing load index related to the processing time of the print job in accordance with the processing status of the processing control apparatus 3 during normal times or during congestion. Hereinafter, various functions provided in the processing load index calculation device 1 will be described.

[3. Function block]
FIG. 3 is a functional block diagram illustrating an example of a functional configuration of the processing load index calculation device 1. As shown in the figure, the processing load index calculation device 1 functionally includes a job processing time measuring unit 101, a waiting job number measuring unit 102, a job processing time storage unit 103, and a waiting job number storage unit 104. A predicted processing time acquisition unit 105, a processing status acquisition unit 106, an individual processing load index calculation unit 107, an overall processing load index calculation unit 108, a processing load index output unit 109, a print job reception unit 110, A print job transmission unit 111. These functions are realized by the control unit of the processing load index calculating apparatus 1 executing a program stored in the storage unit of the processing load index calculating apparatus 1.

[3-1. Job processing time measurement unit]
The job processing time measuring unit 101 measures the processing time in a process for a print job that has been processed in the process. The processing time here is the time from the start of the process to the completion of the process. Hereinafter, the processing time for each of the plurality of steps measured by the job processing time measuring unit 101 is also referred to as job processing time.

  As shown in FIG. 3, the job processing time measurement unit 101 includes a start date / time measurement unit 101a and a completion date / time measurement unit 101b. Details of each unit included in the job processing time measuring unit 101 will be described below.

  The start date and time measuring unit 101a measures the start time of each process for a plurality of processes to be executed for a print job. The start date / time measuring unit 101 receives, for example, a notification indicating that processing of each process is started (or started) from the process control device 3 and measures the received date / time to thereby process each process. Measure the start date and time. In addition, for example, the start date / time measuring unit 101a may receive information including the start date / time of the process of each process from the process control device 3 and measure the start date / time.

  The completion date and time measuring unit 101b measures the completion date and time of processing of each process for a plurality of processes executed for the print job. The completion date / time measuring unit 101b receives, for example, a notification indicating that the processing of each process is completed (or completed) and information including the completion date / time from the process control device 3 in the same manner as the start date / time measuring unit 101a. Then, the completion date and time of each process is measured.

  The job processing time measurement unit 101 measures, as the job processing time, the time difference between the process start date and time measured by the start date and time measurement unit 101a and the process end time measured by the completion date and time measurement unit 101b for each process. To do. Further, the job processing time measuring unit 101 records the job processing time measured in this way in a job processing time storage unit 103 described later.

[3-2. Waiting job count measurement unit]
The waiting job number measuring unit 102 measures the number of waiting jobs, which is the number of print jobs waiting to be executed for each process, for a plurality of processes in the processing control apparatus 3. Here, the number of waiting jobs may be the number of print jobs for which the process of the process has not yet started, or may include the number of print jobs that are being processed.

  The waiting job number measuring unit 102 measures the number of waiting jobs in each process by receiving information including the number of waiting jobs in each process from the processing control device 3, for example. In addition, the waiting job number measuring unit 102 records the number of waiting jobs measured in this way in the waiting job number storage unit 104 described later.

[3-3. Job processing time storage section]
The job processing time storage unit 103 stores job processing times for each of a plurality of processes measured by the job processing time measuring unit 101. Note that the job processing time storage unit 103 may be realized including the storage unit of the processing load index calculation device 1.

  FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating an example of the job processing time stored in the job processing time storage unit 103. As shown in the figure, for each process, the job processing time storage unit 103 includes a job processing time immediately before the latest measurement time, a “fastest” job processing time, and a “latest” job processing time. , And the “center” job processing time obtained by taking the median of the “fastest” and “latest” job processing times. In addition, the job processing time storage unit 103 may store an average time of measured job processing times as a “center” job processing time.

[3-4. Waiting job count storage section]
The waiting job number storage unit 104 stores the number of waiting jobs for each of a plurality of processes measured by the waiting job number measurement unit 102. Note that the waiting job number storage unit 104 may be realized by including the storage unit of the processing load index calculation device 1.

  FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating an example of the number of waiting jobs stored in the waiting job number storage unit 104. As shown in the figure, the waiting job number storage unit 104 stores, for example, the number of waiting jobs measured over the past S times (S is a natural number of 2 or more) among the number of waiting jobs measured for each of a plurality of processes. The representative value obtained by taking the median value, average value, mode value, etc. is stored.

[3-5. Prediction processing time acquisition unit]
The predicted processing time acquisition unit 105, for a plurality of processes in the process control device 3, based on a job processing time statistic measured for a print job for which the process of the process has been completed, A plurality of predicted processing times to be predicted are acquired. Here, the predicted processing time is a time that is predicted as a plurality of processing times from the start to the completion of processing for a print job that is input to each process.

  FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating an example of the prediction processing time acquired by the prediction processing time acquisition unit 105. As shown in the figure, the predicted processing time acquisition unit 105 uses, for example, three types of job processing times “fastest”, “center”, and “latest” stored in the job initial time storage unit 103 to predict each process. Get as processing time.

  Further, the predicted processing time acquisition unit 105 acquires a plurality of predicted processing times in association with processing condition conditions. Here, the conditions of the processing status are the job processing time (see FIG. 4) stored in the job processing time storage unit 103 and the number of waiting jobs stored in the waiting job number storage unit 104 (FIG. 5) for each process. (See below). More specifically, the processing status condition is a condition in which the “middle” job processing time and the representative value of the number of waiting jobs are set as threshold values, respectively.

  For example, if the job processing time of the process measured immediately before is shorter than the threshold and the number of waiting jobs is smaller than the threshold, the processing time to be performed in the process is expected to be short. Therefore, the predicted processing time acquisition unit 105 acquires the “fastest” predicted processing time in association with a condition that both the immediately preceding job processing time and the immediately preceding waiting job number are less than the threshold.

  Also, for example, if the job processing time of the process measured immediately before is long, the processing time to be performed in that process is expected to be long, and if there are many waiting jobs, the processing time is included in these waiting jobs. There is concern about the inclusion of long ones. For this reason, the predicted processing time acquisition unit 105 acquires the “center” predicted processing time in association with the condition that one of the immediately preceding job processing time and the immediately preceding waiting job number is equal to or greater than a threshold, Is associated with a condition that both the immediately preceding job processing time and the immediately preceding waiting job number are equal to or greater than a threshold value.

  For example, the central job processing time of “Process A” is “30 seconds” (see FIG. 4), and the representative value of the number of waiting jobs of “Process A” is stored as “4” (see FIG. 5). The predicted processing time acquisition unit 105 determines that “the job processing time is less than 30 seconds and the number of waiting jobs is less than 4”, “the job processing time is less than 30 seconds (or more than 30 seconds), and the number of waiting jobs is 4 More than 15 (or less than 4) ”“ Job processing time is 30 seconds or more and the number of waiting jobs is less than 4 or more ”, the predicted processing time of“ fastest ”is 15 seconds and“ center ” 30 seconds as the predicted processing time and 45 seconds as the “latest” predicted processing time. The predicted processing time acquisition unit 105 similarly acquires a plurality of predicted processing times for “process B” to “process E”.

[3-6. Processing status acquisition section]
The processing status acquisition unit 106 acquires the processing status for each of a plurality of processes in the processing control device 3. More specifically, for each process, the processing status acquisition unit 106 completes the process of the job immediately before the job processing time stored in the job processing time storage unit 103 (that is, immediately before the processing status acquisition process is performed). Processing time measured for a print job) and the number of waiting jobs immediately before being stored in the waiting job number storage unit 104 (that is, the number of waiting jobs for each process measured immediately before processing status acquisition processing is performed) Get the processing status immediately before including.

[3-7. Individual processing load index calculation unit]
The individual processing load index calculation unit 107 calculates an individual processing load index related to an estimated time from when a print job is input to one process until the process of the process is completed. More specifically, the individual processing load index calculation unit 107 calculates an individual processing load index related to the processing time for each of a plurality of processes for one print job based on the processing status immediately before acquired by the processing status acquisition unit 106. calculate.

  FIG. 7 is a diagram showing individual and overall processing load indexes calculated by the individual processing load index calculation unit 107 and the overall processing load index calculation unit 108 described later. The individual processing load index calculation unit 107 first calculates any one of a plurality of predicted processing times acquired by the predicted processing time acquisition unit 105 based on the processing status immediately before acquired by the processing status acquisition unit 106. select.

  More specifically, for each process, when a plurality of predicted processing times of “fastest”, “center”, and “latest” associated with the condition of the processing status are acquired, the individual processing load index calculation unit 107 The predicted processing time associated with the processing status condition that satisfies the processing status is acquired.

  For example, as illustrated in FIG. 7, the individual processing load index calculation unit 107 sets the processing status of “Process A” as “40 seconds” as the immediately preceding job processing time (see FIG. 4), When “8” (see FIG. 5) is acquired, the “latest” prediction process associated with the condition of the processing status where the job processing time is “30 seconds or more” and the number of waiting jobs is “4 or more”. The time “45 seconds” (see FIG. 6) is selected. The individual processing load index calculation unit 107 similarly selects the predicted processing time from “process B” to “process E”.

  Also, the individual processing load index calculation unit 107 calculates the individual processing load index by multiplying the number determined based on the number of waiting jobs in each process by the selected predicted processing time. Here, the number determined based on the number of waiting jobs may be the number of waiting jobs for each process itself, or the number of print jobs newly input to each process (for example, 1) as the number of waiting jobs. It may be an added number.

  For example, as illustrated in FIG. 7, the individual processing load index calculation unit 107 selects “9” that is a number obtained by adding 1 to “8” that is the number of waiting jobs immediately before “Process A”. The individual processing load index of “Process A” is calculated as “405” by multiplying by “45 seconds” that is the predicted processing time. The individual processing load index calculation unit 107 similarly calculates the individual processing load index from “process B” to “process E”.

[3-8. Overall processing load index calculation unit]
Based on the individual processing load index calculated by the individual processing load index calculation unit 107, the total processing load index calculation unit 108 calculates an overall processing load index related to the processing time of the entire processing process for one print job. More specifically, the total processing load index calculation unit 108 calculates the sum of the individual processing load indexes calculated for each process as the total processing load index.

  For example, as shown in FIG. 7, when the individual process load index of each process from “process A” to “process E” is calculated as {405, 80, 3, 990, 16}, the total process load index is calculated. The unit 108 calculates “1494” as a total processing load index indicating the total processing time in the processing control apparatus 3 from the sum of the plurality of individual processing load indexes.

[3-9. Processing load index output section]
The processing load index output unit 109 outputs the individual processing load index calculated by the individual processing load index calculation unit 107 and the total processing load index calculated by the total processing load index calculation unit 108 to the client device 2. .

  Here, the control unit of the client device 2 displays a screen (for example, a screen displayed as 27 minutes later) indicating the estimated time from when a new print job is input until the processing of the entire process is completed. It is good also as displaying on 2 display parts. In this way, the printing system 10 can inform the user of the predicted time that varies depending on the number of print jobs that are input within a certain time.

  In addition, the control unit of the client device 2 displays a screen (for example, a screen displayed as 9 minutes later → 2 minutes later. It is good also as displaying on the display part of the client apparatus 2. FIG. In this way, the printing system 10 can notify the user of a bottleneck that occurs when a large number of print jobs are input.

  In addition to this, the control unit of the client device 2 may cause the speaker of the client device 2 to output audio information for notifying the estimated time, or cause the printing device connected to the client device 2 to output the estimated time. It is also possible to print an image or text representing

  In addition, the client device 2 may output information regarding the predicted time as described above, and may wait for a user's selection operation as to whether or not to newly submit a print job. Here, when a selection operation for submitting a new print job is received, the client apparatus 2 transmits the print job stored in the storage unit of the client apparatus 2 to the processing load index calculation apparatus 1. It is good to do.

[3-10. Print job reception section]
The print job reception unit 110 receives a print job requested to be executed by a user. For example, the print job reception unit 110 receives a print job by receiving a print job transmitted from the client device 2.

[3-11. Print job transmission section]
The print job transmission unit 111 transmits the print job received by the print job reception unit 110 to the processing control device 3. Then, in each process of the processing control apparatus 3, after the processing for the preceding waiting job 20 is completed, the processing for the transmitted print job is executed.

[4. flowchart]
Below, an example of the process performed in the processing load index | exponent calculation apparatus 1 which concerns on this embodiment is demonstrated based on the flowchart shown to FIGS.

[4-1. Overall processing (1)]
8 and 9 are flowcharts showing an example of processing executed in the processing load index calculating apparatus 1 according to the present embodiment. First, as shown in FIG. 8, for one process in the process control device 3 (hereinafter referred to as “process X” for convenience), the job processing time measuring unit 101 starts the process of “process X”. When the processing time (ie, job processing time) from the start to the completion is measured (step S01: Y), the job processing time measuring unit 101 performs the job processing of “process X” stored in the job processing time storage unit 103. The time is updated (step S02).

  For example, the job processing time measurement unit 101 updates the job processing time of “process X” that is one of “process A” to “process E” in the job processing time shown in FIG. More specifically, the most recent job processing time of “Process X” is updated to the job processing time measured for “Process X”. If the measured job processing time is shorter than the “fastest” job processing time, the “fastest” job processing time is updated to the measured job processing time, and the measured job processing time is updated. If it is longer than the “latest” job processing time, the “latest” job processing time is updated to the measured job processing time. When the “fastest” or “latest” job processing time is updated, the “central” job processing time obtained by taking the median of these job processing times is also updated.

  When the waiting job number measuring unit 102 measures the number of waiting jobs in “process X” (step S03: Y), the waiting job number measuring unit 102 stores “process X” stored in the waiting job number storage unit 104. The number of waiting jobs is updated (step S04).

  For example, the waiting job number measuring unit 102 updates the number of waiting jobs immediately before “Process X” among the waiting jobs shown in FIG. 5 to the number of waiting jobs measured for “Process X”. In this case, the number of waiting jobs one time before “Process X” is updated to the value stored as the number of waiting jobs immediately before “Process X”, and S times from the second time before “Process X”. The number of waiting jobs up to the previous (S is a natural number of 2 or more) is updated to the value stored as the number of waiting jobs from the previous one to the previous S-1 times. Here, the process proceeds to the flowchart shown in FIG.

  Proceeding to FIG. 9, when the processing load index calculation device 1 calculates the processing load index (for example, when a processing load index calculation request is received from the client device 2 or when a predetermined timing arrives) (steps) S05: Y), the predicted processing time acquisition unit 105 acquires a plurality of predicted processing times for each of the plurality of processes in the process control device 3 (step S06).

  For example, as illustrated in FIG. 6, the predicted processing time acquisition unit 105 sets the job processing times of “fastest”, “center”, and “latest” stored in the job processing time storage unit 103 to the processing condition conditions (specifically Are acquired as a plurality of predicted processing times of “process A” in association with a “center” job processing time and a condition using a representative value of the number of waiting jobs as a threshold.

  The processing status acquisition unit 106 acquires a processing status for each process. (Step S07). More specifically, the processing status acquisition unit 106 determines the job processing time immediately before being stored in the job processing time storage unit 103 and the number of waiting jobs immediately before being stored in the waiting job number storage unit 104 as Get as the processing status of.

  The individual processing load index calculation unit 107 executes a processing load index calculation process (step S08). Details of the processing executed in step S08 will be described below based on the flowchart shown in FIG.

[4-2. Individual processing load index calculation processing]
FIG. 10 is a flowchart illustrating an example of an individual processing load index calculation process. As shown in the figure, the individual processing load index calculation unit 107 substitutes 1 for a variable i (step S21), and selects the predicted processing time of the i-th process (step S22). More specifically, the individual processing load index calculation unit 107 determines the processing status immediately before being acquired in step S07 out of the predicted processing times (see FIG. 6) acquired for each process by the predicted processing time acquisition unit 105. The prediction processing time associated with the condition that satisfies is selected.

  The individual processing load index calculation unit 107 calculates the individual processing load index of the i-th process based on the predicted processing time selected in step S22 (step S23). More specifically, the individual processing load index calculation unit 107 multiplies the obtained estimated processing time by the number of jobs waiting for the i-th process or a number obtained by adding a specified number (for example, 1) to the waiting time. Calculate the individual processing load index.

  The individual process load index calculation unit 107 ends the process if the i-th process is the last process (step S24: Y), and adds 1 to i if it is not the last process (step S24: N). (Step S25), the process of obtaining the predicted processing time of the next process and calculating the individual processing load index is repeated (Steps S22 to S23). For example, as illustrated in FIG. 7, the individual processing load index calculation unit 107 calculates an individual processing load index for each of a plurality of processes from “process A” to “process E”. Here, the description will be continued returning to the flowchart shown in FIG.

[4-3. Overall processing (2)]
Returning to FIG. 9, the overall processing load index calculation unit 108 calculates an overall processing load index related to the processing time of the entire process for one print job (step S09). More specifically, the total processing load index calculation unit 108 calculates the sum of the individual processing load indexes for each of the plurality of processes as the total processing load index.

  The processing load index output unit 109 outputs the individual processing load index calculated in step S08 and the overall processing load index calculated in step S09 to the client device 2. (Step S10). Then, on the display unit of the client device 2, a screen showing an estimated time when a new print job is input is displayed.

  When the print job reception unit 110 receives a print job from the client device 2 (step S11: Y), the print job transmission unit 111 transmits the received print job to the processing control device 3 (step S12). Then, the process control device 3 executes a plurality of processes (for example, “process A” to “process E”) on the print job transmitted from the process load index calculating apparatus 1.

  When the process ends (for example, when the processing load index calculation apparatus 1 receives an instruction to end the process) (step S13: Y), the processing load index calculation apparatus 1 ends the process.

  The processing load index calculation device 1 described above selects one of the plurality of predicted processing times acquired for each step for a plurality of steps in the processing control device 3 based on the processing status of each step. With respect to the processing time of one print job, it is possible to calculate a processing load index with higher prediction accuracy than in the past.

[5. Modified example]
As mentioned above, although embodiment of this invention was described, this invention is not limited to the said embodiment. Hereinafter, a modified example, which is a modified example of the embodiment of the present invention, will be described.

  (1) In the embodiment, a case has been described in which each process in the processing control apparatus 3 is a process for performing data processing on a print job, but each process is not limited thereto. For example, each process may be a process related to control of an apparatus connected to the processing control apparatus 3 such as a process of printing by the printing apparatus 4, a process of binding by the bookbinding apparatus 5, and a process of packing by the packing apparatus 6.

  (2) In the embodiment, the job processing time storage unit 103 of the processing load index calculation apparatus 1 stores the immediately preceding job processing time for each of a plurality of processes, and the processing status acquisition unit 106 stores the immediately preceding job processing time. Although the case of acquisition has been described, the job processing time storage unit 103 may store up to the latest T job processing times (T is a natural number of 2 or more) for one process. The acquisition unit 106 may acquire the average value or median value of the T job processing times as the latest job processing time.

  (3) In the embodiment, the case where the waiting job number measuring unit 102 receives information including the number of waiting jobs in each process from the processing control apparatus 3 and measures the number of waiting jobs in each process has been described. However, the waiting job number measuring unit 102 measures the number of waiting jobs at the timing when the processing of each unit included in the processing load index calculating apparatus 1 is performed, and waits for each process stored in the waiting job number storage unit 104. The number may be updated.

  For example, when the completion date and time of the process “process A” is measured by the completion date and time measurement unit 101b, the process control apparatus 3 executes the process “process B” that is the next process. The measurement unit 102 subtracts 1 from the number of waiting jobs in “Process A”, adds 1 to the number of waiting jobs in “Process B”, and updates the number of waiting jobs stored in the waiting job number storage unit 104. It is good as well.

  For example, when the print job reception unit 110 newly receives a print job and the print job transmission unit 111 transmits the print job to the processing control device 3, the processing control device 3 responds to the new print job. Since the process of “process A” that is the first process is executed, the waiting job number measurement unit 102 may update the number of waiting jobs by adding 1 to the number of waiting jobs of “process A”. .

  (4) In the embodiment, the individual processing load index calculation unit 107 calculates the individual processing load index by multiplying the predicted processing time of each process by the number corresponding to the number of waiting jobs. The individual processing load index calculation unit 107 may calculate the individual processing load index from the sum of the predicted processing times selected for the waiting job of each process and the print job to be input.

  For example, the storage unit of the processing load index calculation device 1 temporarily stores the predicted processing time selected for the waiting job 20 in which the process of the process is not yet completed in the period until the process of the process is completed. In addition, the individual processing load index calculation unit 107 may calculate the sum of predicted processing times stored for each process as an individual processing load index for each process.

  In addition, for example, when the individual processing load index calculation unit 107 calculates the individual processing load index, the individual processing load index calculation unit 107 selects the predicted processing time of each waiting job 20 and calculates the sum of the selected predicted processing times for each process. It may be calculated as a processing load index.

  (5) The processing load index calculation device 1 may include a display unit and an input unit similar to those of the client device 2. In this case, the display unit of the processing load index calculation device 1 may display a screen indicating the estimated processing time when a new print job is input, and the print job transmission unit of the processing load index calculation device 1 111 receives an input operation by a user via the input unit of the processing load index calculation device 1 and transmits a print job stored in advance in the storage unit of the processing load index calculation device 1 to the processing control device 3. It is good. That is, each function included in the printing system 10 may be realized by two devices, the processing load index calculation device 1 and the processing control device 3, or a single device that integrates these functions.

  1 processing load index calculation device, 2 client device, 3 processing control device, 4 printing device, 5 bookbinding device, 6 packing device, 10 printing system, 20 waiting job, 101 job processing time measuring unit, 101a start date and time measuring unit, 101b Completion date / time measuring unit, 102 Waiting job number measuring unit, 103 Job processing time storage unit, 104 Waiting job number storage unit, 105 Predictive processing time acquisition unit, 106 Processing status acquisition unit, 107 Individual processing load index calculation unit, 108 Overall processing A load index calculation unit, 109 a processing load index output unit, 110 a print job reception unit, and a 111 print job transmission unit.

Claims (7)

Processing status acquisition means for acquiring processing status for each of a plurality of processing steps executed for one print job ;
For each of the plurality of processing steps, based on the statistics of processing time measured for the print information for which the processing of the one processing step has been completed, a plurality of predictions for a print job in which the processing of the one processing step will be performed from now on. Prediction time acquisition means for acquiring the prediction processing time of
For each of the plurality of processing steps, one of the plurality of predicted processing times acquired for the one processing step is selected based on the processing status acquired for the one processing step, and the 1 Individual processing load index calculating means for calculating an individual processing load index related to the processing time of the one processing step for the print job ;
An overall processing load index calculating means for calculating an overall processing load index related to the processing time of the entire processing process for the one print job based on the calculated individual processing load index;
Processing load index calculation device including The processing status acquisition means acquires the processing status including a processing time measured for a print job for which processing of the processing step has been completed immediately before;
The processing load index calculation device according to claim 1. The processing status acquisition means acquires the processing status including the number of print jobs waiting to be executed in the processing step;
The processing load index calculation device according to claim 1 or 2. The individual processing load index calculating unit calculates the individual processing load index by multiplying the number determined based on the number of print jobs waiting to be processed in the processing step by the selected predicted processing time.
The processing load index calculation apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 3. Processing status acquisition means for acquiring processing status for each of a plurality of processing steps executed for one print job ;
For each of the plurality of processing steps, based on the statistics of processing time measured for the print information for which the processing of the one processing step has been completed, a plurality of predictions for a print job in which the processing of the one processing step will be performed Prediction time acquisition means for acquiring the prediction processing time of
For each of the plurality of processing steps, one of the plurality of predicted processing times acquired for the one processing step is selected based on the processing status acquired for the one processing step, and the 1 Individual processing load index calculating means for calculating an individual processing load index related to the processing time of the one processing step for the print job , and
A program for causing a computer to function as an overall processing load index calculating unit that calculates an overall processing load index related to the processing time of the entire processing process for the one print job based on the calculated individual processing load index. Processing status acquisition means for acquiring processing status for each of a plurality of processing steps executed for one print job ;
For each of the plurality of processing steps, a predicted processing time that is predicted for a print job in which the processing of the one processing step is to be performed is set to a number determined based on the number of print jobs waiting for execution of the processing of the one processing step. And an individual processing load index calculating means for calculating an individual processing load index related to the processing time of the one processing step for the one print job ,
An overall processing load index calculating means for calculating an overall processing load index related to the processing time of the entire processing process for the one print job based on the calculated individual processing load index;
Processing load index calculation device including Processing status acquisition means for acquiring processing status for each of a plurality of processing steps executed for one print job ;
For each of the plurality of processing steps, a predicted processing time that is predicted for a print job in which the processing of the one processing step is to be performed is set to a number determined based on the number of print jobs waiting for execution of the processing of the one processing step. And an individual processing load index calculating means for calculating an individual processing load index related to the processing time of the one processing step for the one print job , and
A program for causing a computer to function as an overall processing load index calculating unit that calculates an overall processing load index related to the processing time of the entire processing process for the one print job based on the calculated individual processing load index.

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