JP6458663B2 - Information processing system and program - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to an information processing system and a program.

  In an image forming apparatus such as a multifunction peripheral, the timing of maintenance work such as inspection of the image forming apparatus or replacement of parts is performed based on estimation results such as the degree of deterioration of parts and failure time.

  Further, a technique for creating a maintenance plan for an image forming apparatus based on the relationship between the number of operations of the image forming apparatus and the lifetime of consumables is known (for example, see Patent Document 1).

  Here, for example, in the case of an image forming apparatus to be maintained, if it is predicted that a failure with high severity will occur in the near future, a worker is quickly dispatched to the image forming apparatus to prevent the occurrence of the failure. Need to be prevented. On the other hand, for example, when it is predicted that a low-severity failure will occur after a certain number of days in the image forming apparatus, the worker may perform maintenance according to the maintenance plan.

  However, in the above prior art, there are cases where appropriate maintenance cannot be performed according to the predicted occurrence time and severity of a failure.

  One embodiment of the present invention has been made in view of the above points, and an object thereof is to support the determination of the contents of correspondence corresponding to a predicted failure.

  In order to achieve the above object, an embodiment of the present invention is an information processing system including one or more information processing apparatuses, and includes state information indicating a state of a device connected to the information processing system via a network. Based on the acquisition means acquired from the predetermined storage means, the status information acquired by the acquisition means, and the first model for predicting the occurrence of the failure of the equipment, Failure prediction means for generating failure prediction information including a period until a failure occurs with the probability and the severity of the failure, and the probability based on the failure prediction information generated by the failure prediction means According to the period and the severity, a determination unit that determines the content of the failure predicted to occur, and the response content determined by the determination unit And a notification means for performing knowledge.

  According to an embodiment of the present invention, it is possible to support the determination of the content of response according to the predicted failure.

It is a figure which shows an example of the apparatus management system of 1st embodiment. It is a figure which shows an example of the hardware constitutions of the computer of 1st embodiment. It is a figure which shows an example of the hardware constitutions of the apparatus of 1st embodiment. It is a figure which shows the function structure of an example of the management apparatus of 1st embodiment. It is a figure which shows an example of a corresponding | compatible determination model. It is a figure which shows an example of the cross section according to the severity of the correspondence determination model. It is a flowchart of an example of the determination process of the corresponding content of 1st embodiment. It is a figure which shows an example of apparatus status information. It is a figure which shows an example of failure prediction information. It is a figure which shows an example of apparatus management information. It is a figure which shows an example of an emergency arrangement screen. It is a figure which shows an example of a maintenance plan screen. It is a figure which shows the function structure of an example of the management apparatus of 2nd embodiment. It is a figure which shows an example of customer attribute information. It is a flowchart of an example of the determination process of the corresponding content of 2nd embodiment.

  Next, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail.

[First embodiment]
<System configuration>
First, the device management system 1 of the first embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating an example of a device management system according to the first embodiment.

  The device management system 1 of the present embodiment includes a management device 10, a plurality of devices 20, a service station terminal 30, and a call center terminal 40, which are communicably connected via a network N such as the Internet or a telephone line network. Yes.

  The management apparatus 10 predicts a failure that occurs in the device 20 based on information collected from the device 20 (device state information), and determines a response content for the predicted failure according to the prediction result. Then, the management device 10 notifies the corresponding content to the service station terminal 30 installed in the service station environment E3 or the call center terminal 40 installed in the call center environment E4.

  The management apparatus 10 illustrated in FIG. 1 is configured by one information processing apparatus (computer), but is not limited thereto, and may be configured by a plurality of information processing apparatuses.

  The device 20 is an image forming apparatus such as a multifunction machine or a printer installed in a customer environment E1 indicating a business office of a customer A who is a user or a customer environment E2 indicating a business office of a customer B. The device 20 transmits, for example, device state information including measurement values obtained by measuring various currents, voltages, temperatures, and the like of various components included in the device 20 to the management apparatus 10 at predetermined intervals.

  In the present embodiment, the device 20 is described as an image forming apparatus such as a multifunction peripheral, but the device 20 is not limited to an image forming apparatus. The device 20 may be various devices such as a projector, an electronic blackboard, a video conference terminal, and a digital signage device.

  The service station terminal 30 is installed in a service station environment E3 indicating a business office of a business such as a distributor or leaser of the device 20, and is used by a worker such as a customer engineer (CE) who maintains or repairs the device 20. PC (personal computer) or the like. The service station terminal 30 may be various information processing devices such as a tablet terminal and a smartphone.

  A worker such as a customer engineer (hereinafter referred to as “CE etc.”) can perform maintenance of the device 20 based on the correspondence content notified from the management apparatus 10 to the service station terminal 30.

  The call center terminal 40 is, for example, a PC or the like that is installed in a call center environment E4 indicating a call center of a business operator such as a seller or a leasing source of the device 20 and used by an operator or dispatcher who dispatches CE or the like to a customer. Note that the call center terminal 40 may be various information processing apparatuses such as a tablet terminal and a smartphone.

  An operator or a dispatcher (hereinafter, referred to as “operator or the like”) is a device 20 installed in the customer environment E1 or the customer environment E2 with respect to the CE or the like based on the correspondence content notified from the management device 10 to the call center terminal 40. The CE is dispatched to the customer.

  With the device management system 1 illustrated in FIG. 1, the CE or the like can appropriately maintain the device 20 in accordance with a failure predicted by the management device 10.

  That is, in this embodiment, for example, when a failure having a high severity is predicted, the operator or the like quickly dispatches a CE or the like to the device 20 where the failure is predicted, and performs an appropriate part replacement or the like. Request maintenance work. On the other hand, for example, when a failure having a high severity is predicted, the CE or the like performs maintenance work on the device 20 in which the failure is predicted in the maintenance plan. As described above, the device management system 1 according to the present embodiment supports the CE and the like so that appropriate maintenance can be performed according to the severity of the failure predicted to occur in the device 20.

<Hardware configuration>
Next, the hardware configuration of the management apparatus 10, the service station terminal 30, and the call center terminal 40 according to the first embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating an example of a hardware configuration of the computer according to the first embodiment.

  A computer 100 illustrated in FIG. 2 includes an input device 101, a display device 102, an external I / F 103, and a RAM (Random Access Memory) 104. The computer 100 also includes a ROM (Read Only Memory) 105, a CPU (Central Processing Unit) 106, a communication I / F 107, and an HDD 108. These hardware configurations are connected to each other by a bus B.

  The input device 101 includes a keyboard, a mouse, a touch panel, etc., and is used to input various signals to the computer 100. The display device 102 includes a display and displays various processing results. The management device 10 may be configured to use the input device 101 and / or the display device 102 by connecting to the bus B when necessary.

  The external I / F 103 is an interface with an external device. Examples of the external device include a recording medium such as a CD (Compact Disk), a DVD (Digital Versatile Disk), an SD memory card (SD memory card), and a USB memory (Universal Serial Bus memory). The computer 100 can read and / or write the recording medium via the external I / F 103.

  The RAM 104 is a volatile semiconductor memory (storage device) that temporarily stores programs and data. The ROM 105 is a nonvolatile semiconductor memory (storage device) that can retain data even when the power is turned off. The CPU 106 is an arithmetic device that reads programs and data from the HDD 108, the ROM 105, and the like onto the RAM 104 and executes various processes.

  The communication I / F 107 is an interface for connecting the computer 100 to the network N. The HDD 108 is a non-volatile memory (storage device) that stores programs and data. The programs and data stored in the HDD 108 include a program for realizing the present embodiment, an OS (Operating System) that is basic software for controlling the entire computer 100, and various application programs that operate on the OS. The computer 100 may use a nonvolatile memory (storage device) such as an SSD (Solid State Drive) instead of the HDD 108 or in combination with the HDD 108.

  The management apparatus 10, the service station terminal 30, and the call center terminal 40 according to the present embodiment can implement various processes to be described later using a computer 100 as illustrated in FIG. 2.

  Next, the hardware configuration of the device 20 of the first embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating an example of a hardware configuration of the device according to the first embodiment.

  The device 20 illustrated in FIG. 3 includes a controller 201, an operation panel 202, an external I / F 203, a communication I / F 204, a printer 205, and a scanner 206.

  The controller 201 includes a CPU 211, a RAM 212, a ROM 213, an NVRAM 214, and an HDD 215.

  The ROM 213 stores various programs and data. The RAM 212 temporarily stores programs and data. The NVRAM 214 stores setting information, for example. The HDD 215 stores various programs and data.

  The CPU 211 implements control and functions of the entire device 20 by reading programs, data, setting information, and the like from the ROM 213, the NVRAM 214, the HDD 215, and the like onto the RAM 212 and executing the processing.

  The operation panel 202 includes an input device that receives input from a user and a display device that performs display. The external I / F 203 is an interface with an external device. The external device includes a recording medium 203a. Accordingly, the device 20 can read and / or write the recording medium 203a via the external I / F 203. Examples of the recording medium 203a include an IC card, a flexible disk, a CD, a DVD, an SD memory card, and a USB memory.

  The communication I / F 204 is an interface for connecting the device 20 to the network N. Thereby, the device 20 can perform data communication via the communication I / F 204. The printer 205 is a printing device for printing print data on paper. The scanner 206 is a reading device for reading a document and generating image data (electronic data).

  The device 20 according to the present embodiment can realize various processes described later with the above hardware configuration.

<Functional configuration>
Next, the functional configuration of the management apparatus 10 included in the device management system 1 of the first embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating a functional configuration of an example of the management apparatus according to the first embodiment.

  The management apparatus 10 according to the present embodiment includes an information acquisition unit 11, a failure prediction unit 12, a correspondence determination unit 13, and a result notification unit 14. Each of these units is realized by processing executed by the CPU 106 by one or more programs installed in the management apparatus 10.

  The management apparatus 10 according to the present embodiment includes a device state information storage unit 15, a failure prediction model storage unit 16, a failure prediction information storage unit 17, a correspondence determination model storage unit 18, and a device management information storage unit 19. Each of these storage units can be realized by the HDD 108 or a storage device connected to the management apparatus 10 via the network N.

  The information acquisition unit 11 acquires device state information from a device state information storage unit 15 described later. Here, the device state information is information indicating the use state of the device 20, for example, measured values obtained by measuring various components such as current, voltage, temperature, etc. of the device 20 with various sensors, or printed by the printer 205. This is information including a counter value indicating the number of times data has been printed on paper.

  The failure prediction unit 12 predicts a failure occurring in the device 20 based on the device state information acquired by the information acquisition unit 11 and a failure prediction model stored in a failure prediction model storage unit 16 described later, Generate failure prediction information. Then, the failure prediction unit 12 stores the generated failure prediction information in the failure prediction information storage unit 17.

  Here, the failure prediction information is information related to a failure that is predicted to occur in the device 20, and includes the probability that a failure will occur, the time until the failure occurs, the severity of the failure that is predicted to occur, and the like.

  The correspondence determination unit 13 detects a failure that has been predicted to occur based on the failure prediction information stored in the failure prediction information storage unit 17 and the correspondence determination model stored in the response determination model storage unit 18 (hereinafter referred to as “prediction”). (Also referred to as “failure”).

  Here, in the present embodiment, the correspondence contents are, for example, “emergency arrangement”, “inspection (within 3 days)”, “inspection (within 7 days)”, “information provision” according to the urgency of the predicted failure. There are four categories. That is, the correspondence contents in the present embodiment are divided into four categories of “urgent arrangement”, “inspection (within 3 days)”, “inspection (within 7 days)”, and “information provision” in descending order of urgency. Shall.

  The response content “emergency arrangement” refers to a case where a CE or the like is dispatched promptly to the device 20 in which a predicted failure has occurred, and maintenance work such as parts replacement is required. Correspondence content “inspection (within 3 days)” is a case where the CE or the like needs to inspect the device 20 in which the predicted failure has occurred within 3 days. Correspondence content “inspection (within 7 days)” is a case where the CE or the like needs to inspect the device 20 in which the predicted failure has occurred within 7 days. Correspondence content “information provision” means that a predicted failure has occurred but it is not always necessary to respond at this time.

  Thus, in the present embodiment, the response content corresponding to the urgency is determined for the predicted failure of the device 20. As a result, for a predicted failure whose response content is “emergency arrangement”, a CE or the like can be dispatched quickly to prevent the occurrence of the failure. On the other hand, for a predicted failure whose response is “inspection (within 3 days)” or “inspection (within 7 days)”, the CE or the like incorporates the device 20 in which the predicted failure has occurred into the maintenance plan. Thus, maintenance work can be performed in a normal maintenance plan.

  The result notifying unit 14 notifies the service station terminal 30 or the call center terminal 40 that a failure has been predicted in the device 20 according to the correspondence content determined by the correspondence determining unit 13.

  More specifically, when the response content determined by the response determination unit 13 is “emergency arrangement”, the result notification unit 14 notifies the call center terminal 40 of CE or the like for the device 20 in which the predicted failure has occurred. Notify that it is necessary to dispatch immediately. At this time, the result notification unit 14 refers to the device management information stored in the device management information storage unit 19 to be described later, and notifies the contact information such as the CE in charge of the device 20 in which the predicted failure has occurred.

  On the other hand, when the response content determined by the response determination unit 13 is “inspection (within 3 days)” or “inspection (within 7 days)”, the result notification unit 14 Notify that maintenance work needs to be performed as a maintenance plan. At this time, the result notification unit 14 refers to the device management information stored in the device management information storage unit 19 and sends the notification to the service station terminal 30 such as the CE in charge of the device 20 in which the predicted failure has occurred. Do.

  In addition, the result notifying unit 14 determines that the response content determined by the response determination unit 13 is “information provision”, and the response content is “inspection (within 3 days)” or “inspection (within 7 days)”. Similarly, the service station terminal 30 is notified that a failure has been predicted.

  The device state information storage unit 15 stores device state information 151. The failure prediction information storage unit 17 stores failure prediction information 171. The device management information storage unit 19 stores device management information 191. Details of the device status information 151, the failure prediction information 171 and the device management information 191 will be described later.

  The failure prediction model storage unit 16 stores a failure prediction model for predicting the occurrence of a failure in the device 20 based on the device state information 151. The failure prediction model is data obtained by modeling a measured value or a counter value pattern when a failure occurs, and exists for each failure type (failure type). For example, the failure prediction model storage unit 16 stores a failure prediction model A for predicting the occurrence of the failure A, a failure prediction model B for predicting the occurrence of the failure B, and a failure prediction for predicting the occurrence of the failure C. Model C and the like are stored.

  The correspondence determination model storage unit 18 stores a correspondence determination model 181 for determining the content of correspondence based on the failure prediction information 171.

  Here, the correspondence determination model 181 stored in the correspondence determination model storage unit 18 will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating an example of the correspondence determination model.

  As shown in FIG. 5, the correspondence determination model 181 is three-dimensional data represented by three variables: a probability p at which a failure occurs, a time t until the failure occurs, and a severity r. Then, the correspondence determination model 181 is divided into four regions: a region D1, a region D2, a region D3, and a region D4. The above-described correspondence determination unit 13 determines the correspondence contents according to whether the failure prediction information 171 including the probability p, the time t, and the severity r belongs to any of the regions D1 to D4 in the correspondence determination model 181. judge.

  That is, when the failure prediction information 171 belongs to the region D1, the correspondence determination unit 13 determines that the correspondence content is “information provision”. When the failure prediction information 171 belongs to the area D2, the correspondence determination unit 13 determines that the correspondence content is “inspection (within 7 days)”.

  When the failure prediction information 171 belongs to the region D3, the correspondence determination unit 13 determines that the correspondence content is “inspection (within 3 days)”. Similarly, when the failure prediction information 171 belongs to the area D4, the response determination unit 13 determines that the response content is “emergency arrangement”.

  Here, in the present embodiment, the severity of the predicted failure is divided into five categories of “S”, “A”, “B”, “C”, and “D”.

  The predictive failure of severity “S” is, for example, a failure in which safety becomes a problem when a predictive failure actually occurs.

  The predictive failure with the severity “A” is, for example, a failure in which the device 20 becomes unusable when there is actually no predictive failure but there is no safety problem.

  Predictive failure with severity “B” means, for example, a failure that requires a long repair time until the device 20 can be used when the predicted failure actually occurs, or the device 20 can be used. It is a failure that requires a lot of repair costs (parts costs).

  The predictive failure of severity “C” is, for example, a failure that can be recovered by changing the installation value or updating the software, etc., although the device 20 becomes unusable when a predictive failure actually occurs.

  The predictive failure of severity “D” is a failure that allows the use of the device 20 to be continued by an alternative means even when a predictive failure actually occurs, for example.

  That is, the severity is defined as “S” to “D” in order of increasing severity when a predicted failure actually occurs.

  Here, FIG. 6 shows correspondence determination models 1811 to 1815 in which the correspondence determination model 181 shown in FIG. 5 is represented as two-dimensional data of the probability p and the time t according to the severity r. FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating an example of a cross section corresponding to the severity of the correspondence determination model. In the present embodiment, the description will be made assuming that the time t can take a value from 0 (day) to 14 (day).

  A correspondence determination model 1811 shown in FIG. 6A shows two-dimensional data of probability p and time t in the severity “D” of the correspondence determination model 181. Therefore, when the severity included in the failure prediction information 171 is “D”, the failure prediction information 171 belongs to the region D1 when the probability that a prediction failure occurs is less than 50%. On the other hand, when the probability that a predicted failure occurs is 50% or more, the failure prediction information 171 belongs to the region D2.

  A correspondence determination model 1812 shown in FIG. 6B shows two-dimensional data of probability p and time t in the severity “C” of the correspondence determination model 181. Therefore, similarly to the above, it belongs to one of the regions D1 to D4 according to the probability p and the value of the time t included in the failure prediction information 171.

  A correspondence determination model 1813 shown in FIG. 6C shows two-dimensional data of probability p and time t in the severity “B” of the correspondence determination model 181. Therefore, similarly to the above, it belongs to any one of the region D1, the region D3, or the region D4 according to the value of the probability p and the time t included in the failure prediction information 171.

  A correspondence determination model 1814 shown in FIG. 6D shows two-dimensional data of probability p and time t in the severity “A” of the correspondence determination model 181. Therefore, similarly to the above, it belongs to either the region D3 or the region D4 according to the probability p and the value of the time t included in the failure prediction information 171.

  A correspondence determination model 1815 shown in FIG. 6E shows two-dimensional data of probability p and time t in the severity “S” of the correspondence determination model 181. Therefore, in this case, the failure prediction information 171 belongs to the region D4.

  Note that, for example, the administrator of the device management system 1 may be able to change the boundary of each region of the correspondence determination model 181. For example, in the correspondence determination model 181 shown in FIG. 6A, the value indicating the boundary between the region D1 and the region D2 is indicated by the probability p = 50 (%), but the value indicating the boundary can be changed. Also good. Thereby, for example, the administrator of the device management system 1 can adjust the correspondence content determined according to the predicted failure.

  In the correspondence determination model 181 illustrated in FIG. 5, an example in which the region is divided into four regions D1 to D4 has been described. However, the present invention is not limited thereto, and the correspondence determination model 181 is divided into an arbitrary number of regions. Also good. That is, for example, the correspondence determination model 181 is divided into five regions D1 to D5, the region D1 is determined as the corresponding content “information provision”, and the region D2 is defined as the corresponding content “inspection (within 14 days)”. The determined region, the region D3 is determined as the corresponding content “inspection (within 7 days)”, the region D4 is determined as the corresponding content “inspection (within 3 days)”, and the region D5 is determined as the corresponding content “ The area may be determined as “emergency arrangement”.

  Thereby, for example, the administrator of the device management system 1 can set the corresponding content according to the number of areas. At this time, for example, the administrator of the device management system 1 may be able to arbitrarily set a time limit until the inspection is performed. That is, for example, the administrator or the like may arbitrarily set the value of N in “inspection (within N days)”.

<Details of processing>
Next, details of the processing of the device management system 1 of the first embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 7 is a flowchart of an example of the content determination process according to the first embodiment.

  First, the information acquisition unit 11 of the management apparatus 10 acquires the device state information 151 of one device 20 from the device state information storage unit 15 (step S701).

  Here, the device state information 151 stored in the device state information storage unit 15 will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 8 is a diagram illustrating an example of the device state information.

  As illustrated in FIG. 8, the device state information 151 is stored in the device state information storage unit 15 for each device ID that uniquely identifies the device 20. That is, the device state information storage unit 15 stores device state information 151 of the device ID “MFP001”, device state information 151 of the device ID “MFP001”, and the like.

  The device status information 151 includes data items such as acquisition date and time, sensor A measurement value, sensor B measurement value, and counter value. That is, the device status information 151 includes a measured value obtained by measuring current, voltage, temperature, and the like of components included in the device 20 with various sensors, a counter value indicating the number of times printed by the printer 205, and the like. And the counter value are associated with the date and time acquired from the device 20. As described above, the device state information 151 is information indicating a history of measurement values and counter values in the device 20 every predetermined time.

  Next, the failure prediction unit 12 of the management apparatus 10 predicts the occurrence of a failure in the device 20 based on the device state information 151 and the failure prediction model stored in the failure prediction model storage unit 16 to predict failure. Information 171 is generated (step S702).

  That is, for example, when the device state information 151 of the device ID “MFP001” is acquired in step S701, the failure prediction unit 12 includes the device state information 151 and the failure prediction model A for predicting the occurrence of the failure A. Based on the above, the occurrence of the failure A is predicted. Similarly, the failure prediction unit 12 predicts the occurrence of the failure B based on the device state information 151 and the failure prediction model B for predicting the occurrence of the failure B. Thus, the failure prediction unit 12 predicts the occurrence of a failure corresponding to the failure prediction model for each failure prediction model stored in the failure prediction model storage unit 16. Then, the failure prediction unit 12 generates failure prediction information 171 based on these prediction results.

  Next, the failure prediction unit 12 of the management apparatus 10 stores the failure prediction information 171 generated in step S702 in the failure prediction information storage unit 17 (step S703).

  Here, the failure prediction information 171 stored (stored) in the failure prediction information storage unit 17 will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 9 is a diagram illustrating an example of failure prediction information.

  As illustrated in FIG. 9, the failure prediction information 171 includes a failure type, a probability, a time, and a severity as data items. The failure type is a type of failure corresponding to the failure prediction model. Probability is the probability that a predictive failure will occur. The time is the time (period) until a predicted failure occurs. Severity is the severity of the predicted failure.

  For example, the first failure prediction information 171 stored in the failure prediction information storage unit 17 has a failure type “XX wear”, a probability “40%”, a time “10 days”, and a severity level. “D”. This failure prediction information 171 is a prediction result of a failure prediction model for predicting the occurrence of a failure of the failure type “XX component wear”, and the failure “XX component wear” of severity “D” is It shows that it occurs with a probability of “40%” after “10 days”.

  Similarly, for example, the second failure prediction information 171 stored in the failure prediction information storage unit 17 has a failure type of “Ox failure”, a probability of “5%”, a time of “5 days”, severe The degree is “A”. This failure prediction information 171 is a prediction result of a failure prediction model for predicting the occurrence of a failure of failure type “Ox failure”, and failure “Ox failure” of severity “A” is “5”. It shows that it occurs with a probability of “5%” after “day”.

  Next, the correspondence determination unit 13 of the management device 10 acquires one piece of failure prediction information 171 from the failure prediction information storage unit 17 (step S704).

  Next, the correspondence determination unit 13 of the management device 10 acquires the probability, time, and severity from the acquired failure prediction information 171 (step S705).

  Next, the correspondence determination unit 13 of the management device 10 determines the content of the response to the predicted failure based on the acquired probability, time, severity, and the correspondence determination model 181 (step S706).

  That is, the correspondence determination unit 13 specifies a model corresponding to the severity from the correspondence determination model 1811 illustrated in FIG. 6A to the correspondence determination model 1815 illustrated in FIG. . And the correspondence determination part 13 specifies the area | region where the said failure prediction information 171 belongs in the model specified from the probability and time, and determines the corresponding content corresponding to the specified area | region.

  For example, when the first failure prediction information 171 is acquired from the failure prediction information storage unit 17 in step S704, the correspondence determination unit 13 specifies the correspondence determination model 1811 having the severity “D”. Then, the correspondence determination unit 13 identifies the region to which the failure prediction information 171 belongs as the region D1 in the correspondence determination model 1811 from the probability “40%” and the time “10 days”. Therefore, in this case, the correspondence determination unit 13 determines the correspondence content as “information provision”.

  Similarly, for example, when the second failure prediction information 171 is acquired from the failure prediction information storage unit 17 in step S704, the correspondence determination unit 13 specifies the correspondence determination model 1814 having the severity “A”. Then, the correspondence determination unit 13 specifies the region to which the failure prediction information 171 belongs as the region D3 in the correspondence determination model 1814 from the probability “5%” and the time “5 days”. Therefore, in this case, the response determination unit 13 determines the response content as “inspection (within 3 days)”.

  Similarly, for example, when the third failure prediction information 171 is acquired from the failure prediction information storage unit 17 in step S704, the correspondence determination unit 13 specifies the correspondence determination model 1813 having the severity “B”. Then, the correspondence determination unit 13 identifies the region to which the failure prediction information 171 belongs as the region D4 in the correspondence determination model 1813 from the probability “90%” and the time “2 days”. Therefore, in this case, the response determination unit 13 determines the response content as “emergency arrangement”.

  Next, the correspondence determination unit 13 of the management apparatus 10 determines that the correspondence content determined in step S706 is “emergency arrangement”, “inspection (within 3 days)”, “inspection (within 7 days)”, or “information provision”. Is determined (step S707).

  In step S707, when the response determination unit 13 determines that the response content is “emergency arrangement”, the result notification unit 14 of the management apparatus 10 provides the response content “emergency arrangement” to the call center terminal 40. Notification that a predictive failure has occurred (step S708). At this time, the result notification unit 14 includes the name of the customer in which the device 20 in which the predicted failure has occurred is installed from the device management information 191 stored in the device management information storage unit 19 and the responsible CE in charge of maintenance of the device 20, Obtain information such as the telephone number of the CE in charge.

  Here, the device management information 191 stored in the device management information storage unit 19 will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating an example of device management information.

  As illustrated in FIG. 10, the device management information 191 includes a device ID, a customer name, a responsible CE, and a telephone number as data items. Thus, the customer name of the customer environment of the installation destination where the device 20 indicated by the device ID is installed, the CE in charge of maintenance of the device 20, and the telephone number of the CE in charge are managed. Note that a plurality of CEs or the like may be set as the responsible CE, or a secondary responsible CE may be set in addition to the responsible CE.

  As described above, the call center terminal 40 that has received the notification from the result notification unit 14 of the management apparatus 10 in step S708 displays the emergency arrangement screen 1000 as shown in FIG. 11, for example. FIG. 11 is a diagram illustrating an example of an emergency arrangement screen.

  In the emergency arrangement screen 1000 shown in FIG. 11, the display area 1001 displays the customer name, device ID, the CE in charge of the device 20, the telephone number of the CE in charge, etc. Yes. Further, on the emergency arrangement screen 1000 shown in FIG. 11, the content of the predicted failure is displayed in the display area 1002. As a result, the call center operator or the like can instruct the responsible CE displayed in the display area 1001 to promptly perform maintenance work on the customer side.

  Further, when an operator or the like presses the work content button 1003 on the emergency arrangement screen 1000 shown in FIG. On the work content screen, information such as parts necessary for dealing with the predicted failure is displayed. Thereby, the operator or the like can present information such as parts necessary for maintenance work to the responsible CE.

  In step S <b> 707, when the response determination unit 13 determines that the response content is “inspection (within 3 days)” or “inspection (within 7 days)”, the result notification unit 14 notifies the corresponding service station terminal 30. It notifies the occurrence of a predictive failure (step S709). That is, the result notifying unit 14 refers to the device management information 191 and the response content is “inspection (within 3 days)” for the service station terminal 30 of the CE in charge of the device 20 in which the failure is predicted to occur. Notify that a predicted failure of “inspection (within 7 days)” has occurred.

  As described above, the service station terminal 30 that has received the notification from the result notification unit 14 of the management apparatus 10 in step S709 displays the maintenance plan screen.

  Here, FIG. 12 shows an example of a maintenance plan screen displayed on the service station terminal 30 when a predictive failure having a response content of “inspection (within 3 days)” has occurred. FIG. 12 is a diagram illustrating an example of a maintenance plan screen.

  In the maintenance plan screen 2000 shown in FIG. 12, the customer name and device ID in which the device 20 predicted to fail is installed are displayed in the display area 2001. In the maintenance plan screen 2000 shown in FIG. 12, the contents of the maintenance plan are displayed in the display area 2002. Thereby, the CE or the like can perform maintenance work on the maintenance target device 20 in accordance with the content displayed on the maintenance plan screen 2000.

  Further, when the CE or the like presses the work content button 2003 on the maintenance plan screen 2000 shown in FIG. 12, the screen may transition to a work content screen for maintenance work for a predicted failure. On the work content screen, information such as parts necessary for dealing with the predicted failure is displayed. Thereby, CE etc. can know information on parts etc. necessary for maintenance work.

  In step S707, when the correspondence determination unit 13 determines that the correspondence content is “information provision”, the result notification unit 14 notifies the corresponding service station terminal 30 that a predicted failure has occurred ( Step S710). That is, the result notifying unit 14 refers to the device management information 191 and the predicted failure whose response content is “information provision” for the service station terminal 30 of the CE in charge of the device 20 in which the occurrence of the failure is predicted. Notify that it has occurred.

  Here, the content notified to the service station terminal 30 as “information provision” includes, for example, the content of the maintenance work for preventing the occurrence of the predicted failure and the estimation of the maintenance work in addition to the occurrence of the predicted failure. Work time etc. may be included. As a result, the responsible CE can determine whether or not to perform maintenance work in view of the probability that a predicted failure will occur and the working time for preventing the occurrence of the predicted failure. That is, for example, the CE in charge performs maintenance work in view of the time and cost required when a predicted failure actually occurs and the time and cost required for maintenance work to prevent the occurrence of a predicted failure. It can be determined whether or not it should be.

  In step S710, the result notification unit 14 may not perform the notification. That is, the result notification unit 14 may not notify the CE in charge of information related to a predicted failure that does not need to be handled. As a result, the information on the predicted failure that does not necessarily have to be dealt with is not displayed on the service station terminal 30 of the responsible CE.

  Next, the correspondence determination unit 13 of the management device 10 determines whether or not the next failure prediction information 171 is in the failure prediction information storage unit 17 (step S711).

  If it is determined in step S711 that the next failure prediction information 171 is present, the correspondence determination unit 13 returns to step S704. In this case, the correspondence determination unit 13 acquires the next failure prediction information 171 from the failure prediction information storage unit 17 in step S704.

  If it is determined in step S711 that the next failure prediction information 171 is not present, the information acquisition unit 11 determines whether or not the next device state information 151 (that is, the device state information 151 of the next device ID) exists. Determination is made (step S712).

  If it is determined in step S712 that there is the next device status information 151, the information acquisition unit 11 returns to step S701. In this case, the information acquisition unit 11 acquires the next device state information 151 from the device state information storage unit 15 in step S701.

  If it is determined in step S712 that there is no next device status information 151, the management apparatus 10 ends the process.

  As described above, in the device management system 1 according to the present embodiment, the response content for the predicted failure is determined according to the severity of the predicted failure in the device 20.

  Then, in the device management system 1 of the present embodiment, when it is necessary to promptly perform the corresponding contents (that is, in the case of “emergency arrangement”), the call center is notified and the responsible CE is dispatched to the device 20. As a result, in the device management system 1 according to the present embodiment, the CE or the like can quickly perform appropriate maintenance work, and prevent a situation in which a predicted failure with a high severity or a predicted failure with a high occurrence probability actually occurs. can do.

  Further, in the device management system 1 of the present embodiment, if it is not always necessary to quickly perform the corresponding contents (that is, “inspection (within 3 days)” or “inspection (within 7 days)”) The CE is notified that maintenance work needs to be performed as a maintenance plan. Thereby, in the equipment management system 1 of this embodiment, maintenance work can be performed in a normal maintenance plan for a predicted failure with low urgency.

[Second Embodiment]
Next, the device management system 1 according to the second embodiment will be described. In the description of the second embodiment, the differences from the first embodiment will be described, and the same reference numerals used in the description of the first embodiment will be used for portions having the same functional configuration as the first embodiment. The description is omitted.

  In the present embodiment, the correspondence content is adjusted (changed) in accordance with the attribute information of the customer who is the user of the device 20. Here, the customer attribute information is, for example, information such as the customer's business type, the customer's busy season, the base of the office, whether or not there is an alternative device when the device 20 fails, and the group to which the customer belongs. .

<Functional configuration>
Next, the functional configuration of the management apparatus 10 included in the device management system 1 according to the second embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 13 is a diagram illustrating a functional configuration of an example of the management apparatus according to the second embodiment.

  The management apparatus 10 according to the present embodiment includes a correspondence content adjustment unit 21. The correspondence content adjustment unit 21 is realized by a process that the CPU 106 causes one or more programs installed in the management apparatus 10 to execute.

  In addition, the management apparatus 10 according to the present embodiment includes a customer attribute information storage unit 22. The customer attribute information storage unit 22 can be realized by the HDD 108 or a storage device connected to the management device 10 via the network N.

  The correspondence content adjustment unit 21 adjusts (changes) the correspondence content determined by the correspondence determination unit 13 based on customer attribute information stored in a customer attribute information storage unit 22 described later.

  The customer attribute information storage unit 22 stores customer attribute information 221. Here, the customer attribute information 221 stored in the customer attribute information storage unit 22 will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 14 is a diagram illustrating an example of customer attribute information.

  As shown in FIG. 14, the customer attribute information 221 includes data items such as a customer name, a business type, a busy season, an alternative device, a base, and a group.

  The customer name is the name of the customer who is the user of the device 20. The type of business is the type of business operated by the customer. The busy season is a period when the customer's business activities are active. The alternative device indicates whether or not there is a device 20 that can be used as an alternative device when the device 20 installed in the customer environment of the customer fails. A base is an activity base for a business operated by a customer. The group is information for identifying a group when customers are classified into a plurality of groups according to a predetermined condition.

  In addition to the data items shown in FIG. 14, the customer attribute information 221 has various data items such as the business scale of the customer and the cumulative number of failures of the device 20 installed in the customer environment. Also good.

<Details of processing>
Next, details of processing of the device management system 1 of the second embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 15 is a flowchart of an example of the correspondence content determination process according to the second embodiment.

  The correspondence content adjustment unit 21 of the management apparatus 10 refers to the customer attribute information 221 stored in the customer attribute information storage unit 22 and adjusts the correspondence content determined by the correspondence determination unit 13 in step S706 (step S1501). .

  More specifically, the response content adjustment unit 21 is determined by the response determination unit 13 with reference to the customer attribute information 221 of the customer corresponding to the customer environment in which the device 20 in which the failure is predicted is installed. Adjust the correspondence. In the next step S707, the response determination unit 13 determines that the response content adjusted by the response content adjustment unit 21 is “emergency arrangement”, “inspection (within 3 days)”, “inspection (within 7 days)”, or It is determined whether it is “information provision”.

  Here, the correspondence content adjustment unit 21 performs, for example, the following adjustment on the correspondence content determined by the correspondence determination unit 13.

  (1) With reference to the “business type” of the customer in the customer attribute information 221, if the predetermined business type is set in advance, the urgency of the corresponding content is increased. For example, if the response content determined by the response determination unit 13 is “inspection (within 7 days)” and the customer's business type is “service”, the response content adjustment unit 21 increases the urgency and responds. Adjust (change) the content to “Check (within 3 days)”.

  (2) With reference to the customer's “busy season” in the customer attribute information 221, if the customer falls into the busy season, the urgency of the response is increased. For example, assuming that the response content determined by the response determination unit 13 is “inspection (within 3 days)”, the response content adjustment unit 21 increases the urgency to increase the response content. Is adjusted to “emergency arrangement”.

  (3) With reference to the customer's “alternative machine” in the customer attribute information 221, the urgency of the response content is changed according to the presence or absence of the customer's alternative machine. For example, in the case of an alternative device “Yes”, the response content adjustment unit 21 reduces the urgency of the response content determined by the response determination unit 13, while in the case of an alternative device “No”, the response determination unit 13 determines. Increase the urgency of the response.

  (4) With reference to the “base” of the customer in the customer attribute information 221, if it is a predetermined base set in advance, the urgency of the correspondence content is increased.

  (5) The customer's “group” in the customer attribute information 221 is referred to, and when it falls under a predetermined group, the urgency of the corresponding content is changed. For example, when the customer belongs to the group “A”, the response content adjustment unit 21 increases the urgency of the response content determined by the response determination unit 13 while the customer belongs to the group “B”. The urgency of the response content determined by the determination unit 13 is reduced.

  As described above, in the device management system 1 of the present embodiment, the correspondence content is adjusted according to the attribute information of the customer who is the user of the device 20 where the occurrence of the failure is predicted. Thereby, in the device management system 1 of this embodiment, an appropriate maintenance operation according to the customer can be performed.

  For example, a group “A” is obtained by classifying customers who have signed a normal lease contract for the device 20 as a group “B” and customers who have signed a special maintenance contract in addition to a normal lease contract as a group “A”. For those customers, maintenance work can be performed with a more urgent response.

  Although the embodiments of the present invention have been described in detail above, the present invention is not limited to such specific embodiments, and various modifications are possible within the scope of the gist of the present invention described in the claims.・ Change is possible.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Device management system 10 Management apparatus 11 Information acquisition part 12 Failure prediction part 13 Correspondence determination part 14 Result notification part 15 Device state information storage part 16 Failure prediction model storage part 17 Failure prediction information storage part 18 Correspondence determination model storage part 19 Equipment management Information storage unit 20 Device 30 Service station terminal 40 Call center terminal

JP 2011-181073 A

Claims (7)

An information processing system including one or more information processing devices,
Obtaining means for obtaining state information indicating a state of a device connected to the information processing system via a network from a predetermined storage means;
Based on the status information acquired by the acquisition means and the first model for predicting the occurrence of a failure of the device, the probability that a failure will occur in the device, and the period until the failure occurs with the probability And failure prediction means for generating failure prediction information including the severity of the failure,
Based on the failure prediction information generated by the failure prediction unit, a determination unit that determines a response content for the failure predicted to occur according to the probability, the period, and the severity;
An information processing system comprising: notification means for performing notification according to the correspondence content determined by the determination means. The determination means includes
Using the second model including a plurality of regions, the values indicated by the probability, the period, and the severity included in the failure prediction information are the values of the plurality of regions of the second model. The information processing system according to claim 1, wherein the correspondence content is determined according to which of the areas belongs. According to the attribute information of the user of the device, it has a changing means for changing the correspondence content,
The changing means is
Corresponding content determined by the determining means according to any of the user's business type, the user's office base, the user's busy period information, or the group to which the user belongs, included in the attribute information. The information processing system according to claim 1 or 2, which is changed. The failure prediction means includes
The information according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the failure prediction information is generated for each failure to be predicted based on the state information and the first model for each failure to be predicted. Processing system. An information processing system including one or more information processing devices and a terminal device connected to the one or more information processing devices via a network,
Obtaining means for obtaining state information indicating a state of a device connected to the information processing system via a network from a predetermined storage means;
Based on the status information acquired by the acquisition means and the first model for predicting the occurrence of a failure of the device, the probability that a failure will occur in the device, and the period until the failure occurs with the probability And failure prediction means for generating failure prediction information including the severity of the failure,
Based on the failure prediction information generated by the failure prediction unit, a determination unit that determines a response content for the failure predicted to occur according to the probability, the period, and the severity;
An information processing system comprising: a notification unit that transmits a notification corresponding to the correspondence content determined by the determination unit to the terminal device. The notification means includes
6. The information processing system according to claim 5, wherein the notification is transmitted to any one of a first terminal device installed in a call center or a second terminal device installed in a service station according to the correspondence contents. . Information processing device
Acquisition means for acquiring state information indicating a state of a device connected to the information processing apparatus via a network from a predetermined storage means;
Based on the status information acquired by the acquisition means and the first model for predicting the occurrence of a failure of the device, the probability that a failure will occur in the device, and the period until the failure occurs with the probability And failure prediction means for generating failure prediction information including the severity of the failure,
Based on the failure prediction information generated by the failure prediction unit, a determination unit that determines a correspondence content for the failure predicted to occur according to the probability, the period, and the severity.
The program for functioning as a notification means which performs the notification according to the said correspondence content determined by the said determination means.

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