JP7063124B2 - Workflow management device and workflow management program - Google Patents

Description

The technique of the present invention relates to a workflow management device and a workflow management program.

Patent Document 1 describes a server that performs processing in cooperation with an image processing device, a transmission means for transmitting UI information to the image processing device, and an error that occurs when an error occurs during the processing. The device, the acquisition means for acquiring the cause of the error, and the device in which the error occurred are the image processing devices, and the processing request after the error occurs is issued from the image processing device, and the cause of the error. Is caused by the document processed by the image processing device, the processing flow is defined so that the document in which the error occurs is replaced on the condition that the image processing device has eliminated the cause of the error. When the processing request from the image processing apparatus is a processing request after the error occurs, the transmitting means obtains the device in which the error has occurred and the error. A server is disclosed, which comprises transmitting UI information for instructing a process of a process defined based on a cause to the image processing apparatus.

Patent Document 2 is a workflow management system that manages a work flow using a computer, and evaluates the work contents and work order of a plurality of tasks, the preconditions for processing each task, and the processing status of each task. The workflow definition that defines the evaluation formula is stored as data in the memory, and the work content of each task is an entity necessary for processing the work and an entity related to the work result, and has a variable state quantity. It is defined using an entity, and the evaluation formula defines a predetermined condition that the state quantity of the entity should satisfy, and is related to the task when processing any one of the plurality of tasks. The evaluation formula is extracted from the memory in order to monitor whether the state quantity of the entity to be used satisfies a predetermined condition, and the evaluation value of the state quantity of the entity is obtained using the evaluation formula to determine the suitability of the state quantity. Evaluation formula for determination When the state amount of the entity changes due to task processing or external notification, the state amount updating means for updating the state amount of the entity to the changed state amount, and the evaluation. The association between the expression and the entity is defined, the change in the state amount of the entity related to the evaluation expression extracted by the evaluation expression determination means is monitored, and when the state amount changes, the state amount after the change is described. The entity sensor means to be transmitted to the evaluation formula determination means and the evaluation formula determination means accept the suitability of the state quantity of the entity, and when the state quantity of the entity satisfies a predetermined condition, the processing of the next task is performed. A workflow management system with a flow control means to initiate is disclosed.

In Patent Document 3, in a workflow control program for controlling the processing of the first workflow and the second workflow, the computer monitors the processing of the first workflow, and the processing included in the first workflow. Among the processes included in the first workflow, when the first process is interrupted, a plurality of consecutive processes including two or more processes using the same resource and including the first process. The first process is specified from the above processes, the state of the resource is returned to the state before the start of the process of the first process, and the processes included in the second workflow are exclusive to the plurality of processes. Disclosed is a workflow control program characterized in that the process is started, the process of the second process using the resource is started, and the process is processed.

Japanese Patent No. 5368837 Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2010-39555 Japanese Patent No. 6064734

There is a workflow management device that manages the progress in units called tasks. The workflow can improve the throughput by designing it including the tasks processed in parallel in the section where the throughput is lowered. Since the same worker cannot be assigned to tasks that are processed in parallel, each worker may have strengths and weaknesses depending on the work content of the task or the type of processing target. In some cases, the same worker may repeatedly fail in the same task, resulting in a reduced workflow throughput.

An object of the present invention is to provide a workflow management device and a workflow management program that can improve the throughput when a processing failure occurs in a task, as compared with the case where the same worker is always reprocessed.

The invention according to claim 1 is in parallel with an acquisition unit that acquires a success rate of work for each worker who processes at least a part of the tasks in parallel in a workflow including tasks to be processed in parallel. When the processing for the processing target fails in any of the tasks to be processed, the processing is performed at a success rate higher than the success rate of the worker of the task whose processing failed in the success rate acquired by the acquisition unit. It is a workflow management device having a determination unit for determining a worker as a worker who reprocesses the processing target.

In the invention according to claim 2, the determination unit is described when there is a worker who processes the processing target with a success rate higher than a predetermined threshold value or higher than the success rate of the worker of the task whose processing has failed. When the worker who processes the processing target with a success rate higher than a predetermined threshold value is determined as the worker to be reprocessed and there is no worker who processes the processing target with a success rate higher than the predetermined threshold value, the above-mentioned The worker who failed the process is determined as the worker to be reprocessed.

In the invention according to claim 3, the threshold value is set for each work content of the task.

In the invention according to claim 4, the threshold value is set for each type of the processing target.

In the invention according to claim 5, the task includes a manual task manually processed by an operator and an automatic task automatically processed by a computer, and the determination unit fails in the automatic task. If so, the worker to be reprocessed from the immediately preceding manual task is determined.

In the invention according to claim 6, when the number of times the reprocessing is repeated exceeds a predetermined number of times, the determination unit determines a worker who reprocesses from the manual task before the immediately preceding manual task. ..

The invention according to claim 7 further has a state management table for managing the processing state in the automatic task.

In the invention according to claim 8, when there are a plurality of workers who process the processing target with a success rate higher than the success rate of the workers of the task whose processing has failed, the determination unit has a plurality of workers. Among them, the worker who has the smallest amount of the processing target on hand is determined as the worker to be reprocessed.

In the invention according to claim 9, the acquisition unit acquires the success rate for each type of the processing target.

In the invention according to claim 10, the type is the type of the processing target or the feature amount of the processing target.

In the invention according to claim 11, the worker to whom the processing target is first distributed is determined based on the attribute attached to the processing target and the success rate for each worker.

The invention according to claim 12 is an acquisition step for acquiring a success rate of work for each worker who processes at least a part of the tasks in parallel in a workflow designed including tasks to be processed in parallel. And, when the processing for the processing target fails in any of the tasks processed in parallel, the success rate of the worker of the task whose processing failed in the success rate acquired in the acquisition process is higher than the success rate. It is a workflow management program that causes a computer to process a decision process for determining a worker who processes with a high success rate to a worker who reprocesses the processing target.

According to the first aspect of the present invention, when a processing failure occurs in a task, the throughput can be improved as compared with the case where the same worker is always reprocessed.

According to the invention of claim 2, it is possible to guarantee that the success rate of reprocessing is high by the threshold value.

According to the invention of claim 3, the threshold value can be made variable according to the difficulty level of the work content.

According to the invention of claim 4, the threshold value can be made variable according to the type of the processing target.

According to the invention of claim 5, it is possible to reprocess from a manual task that causes a processing failure.

According to the invention of claim 6, when the failure is repeated, the process can be reviewed from the manual task before the immediately preceding manual task.

According to the invention of claim 7, the processing state of the automatic task can be managed in the same manner as the manual task.

According to the invention of claim 8, when there are a plurality of workers suitable for reprocessing, the load can be distributed and a decrease in throughput can be prevented.

According to the invention of claim 9, the reprocessing worker can be determined by the success rate of the worker for each type of the processing target.

According to the invention of claim 10, the success rate can be classified based on the type or feature amount of the processing target.

According to the eleventh aspect of the invention, the processing target can be distributed to the workers in consideration of the attributes attached to the processing target and the success rate of the worker.

According to the invention of claim 12, when a processing failure occurs in a task, the throughput can be improved as compared with the case where the same worker is always reprocessed.

It is a figure which shows the schematic structure of the workflow system which concerns on embodiment of the technique of this invention. It is a block diagram which shows the hardware composition of the workflow management apparatus. It is a block diagram which shows the example of the functional structure of the workflow management apparatus. It is a figure which shows an example of the table which shows the success rate of work for each worker. It is a figure which shows the part which is a part of a workflow, and the task is processed in parallel. It is a flowchart which shows the flow of the workflow management process by a workflow management apparatus. It is a figure which shows a part of a workflow. It is a figure which shows the table which manages the state of a manual task. It is a figure which shows the table which manages the state of a manual task and an automatic task.

Hereinafter, an example of an embodiment of the technique of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. The same reference numerals are given to the same or equivalent components and parts in each drawing. In addition, the dimensional ratios in the drawings are exaggerated for convenience of explanation and may differ from the actual ratios.

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a schematic configuration of a workflow system according to an embodiment of the technique of the present invention.

As shown in FIG. 1, the workflow system 1 includes a workflow management device 10 and a user terminal 20. The workflow management device 10 is a device that manages a workflow designed by connecting in order of processing a process called a task. In the workflow of the present embodiment, the workflow is designed so that at least a part of the tasks is processed in parallel by a plurality of workers.

FIG. 1 shows how a plurality of workers A to N process tasks in parallel. In the present embodiment, the workers A to N process the task according to the workflow by using the user terminals 20 individually given. For example, a form such as a document to be processed is sequentially distributed to each user terminal 20 according to the workflow flow. Each worker A to N acquires image data from the received form by a scanner or the like, and further processes the image based on the image data on the display of the user terminal 20. The process applied to the image is, for example, an area setting process for setting a desired area on the image. The progress of the task in the user terminal 20 is managed by the workflow management device 10.

As will be described in detail later, in the present embodiment, the tasks include a manual task manually performed by the workers A to N and an automatic task automatically performed by a computer such as the user terminal 20. After the area setting process is manually performed as described above, the image cropping process for cropping the image of the area and the character recognition process for recognizing the characters in the cropped image may be automatically performed. In this case, the workflow management device 10 also manages the progress of the automatic task.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a hardware configuration of the workflow management device.

As shown in FIG. 2, the workflow management device 10 includes a CPU (Central Processing Unit) 11, a ROM (Read Only Memory) 12, a RAM (Random Access Memory) 13, a storage 14, an input unit 15, a display unit 16, and a communication interface. It has each of the 17 configurations. The configurations are connected to each other via a bus 19 so as to be communicable with each other.

The CPU 11 is a central arithmetic processing unit that executes various programs and controls each unit. That is, the CPU 11 reads the program from the ROM 12 or the storage 14, and executes the program using the RAM 13 as a work area. The CPU 11 controls each of the above configurations and performs various arithmetic processes according to the program recorded in the ROM 12 or the storage 14. In the present embodiment, the ROM 12 or the storage 14 stores a workflow management program for managing the workflow.

The ROM 12 stores various programs and various data. The RAM 13 temporarily stores a program or data as a work area. The storage 14 is composed of an HDD (Hard Disk Drive) or an SSD (Solid State Drive), and stores various programs including an operating system and various data.

The input unit 15 includes a pointing device such as a mouse and a keyboard, and is used for performing various inputs.

The display unit 16 is, for example, a liquid crystal display and displays various types of information. The display unit 16 may adopt a touch panel method and function as an input unit 15.

The communication interface 17 is an interface for communicating with other devices such as the user terminal 20, and for example, standards such as Ethernet (registered trademark), FDDI, and Wi-Fi (registered trademark) are used.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing an example of the functional configuration of the workflow management device. FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an example of a table showing the success rate of work for each worker.

As shown in FIG. 3, the workflow management device 10 has an allocation unit 101, an acquisition unit 102, a storage unit 103, and a determination unit 104 as functional configurations. Each functional configuration is realized by the CPU 11 reading the workflow management program stored in the ROM 12 or the storage 14, expanding it into the RAM 13, and executing the workflow management program.

The allocation unit 101 allocates the form to be processed to the worker. Here, when the allocation unit 101 allocates a form to a worker of a task to be processed in parallel, the allocation unit 101 is based on the number of unprocessed forms in the worker's hand or the success rate of the worker's processing. You may adjust the amount of forms to be allocated. Alternatively, the allocation unit 101 may allocate an equal amount of forms to the workers of the tasks processed in parallel.

The acquisition unit 102 acquires the success rate of the work for each worker who processes the tasks in parallel. The success rate for each worker is obtained, for example, in the form of the table shown in FIG. As shown in FIG. 4, the success rate is given for each worker and for each work content such as "area setting" and each type of form such as "type X". In the example shown in FIG. 4, the success rate is represented as a numerical value of 1 or less. For example, when the worker A performs the manual task of area setting for the form of the type X, the success rate is 0.92. This numerical value indicates the probability that if the worker A performs the process 100 times, it succeeds 92 times and fails 8 times. The type of form is, for example, the type of form. The types of forms are classified according to the purpose for which the form was created, the role played by the form, and the like. More specifically, the types of forms may include, for example, quotations, invoices, minutes and contracts. Alternatively, the type of form may be, for example, a feature amount of the form. The feature amount of the form is the character size or character spacing described in the form.

The storage unit 103 stores a table of success rates for each worker as shown in FIG. 4, which is acquired by the acquisition unit 102. Further, the storage unit 103 may store the processing result of the task such as during processing (Running), processing success (Completed), or processing failure (Failed).

When the processing for the processing target fails in any of the tasks processed in parallel, the determination unit 104 processes the worker who processes the worker with a success rate higher than the success rate of the worker of the task whose processing failed. Determine the worker to reprocess the target. The determination unit 104 can determine another worker who has a success rate of 0.01 points as shown in FIG. 4 as a worker to be reprocessed as compared with the worker who has failed in the work.

Alternatively, if there is a worker who processes the processing target with a success rate higher than a predetermined threshold value by the success rate of the worker of the task whose processing has failed, the determination unit 104 processes with a success rate higher than the predetermined threshold value. The worker who processes the target may be determined as the worker who reprocesses. When there is no worker who processes the processing target with a success rate higher than a predetermined threshold value, the determination unit 104 determines the worker who failed in the processing as the worker to be reprocessed. In the following embodiment, a case where 0.05 is applied as a predetermined threshold value will be described.

Next, a part of the workflow will be described in more detail.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing a part of a workflow in which tasks are processed in parallel.

When tasks are processed in parallel, the workflow branches into multiple columns. For example, as shown in FIG. 5, the workflow branches into N columns. Each column is lined with tasks. In the example shown in FIG. 5, the manual tasks 201A to 201N of "area setting", the automatic tasks 202A to 202N of "image clipping", and the automatic tasks 203A to 203N of "character recognition" are arranged in this order. However, depending on the workflow flow, the task can be switched to various other tasks. For example, instead of the tasks of "area setting", "image cropping" and "character recognition", tasks such as "separation insertion", "image correction" and "form recognition" may be processed. When switching from one task to another, all columns are switched at the same time so that all columns are processed in the same way. Note that the "separation insertion" is a process of inserting a delimiter paper into a form in order to indicate a specific paper included in the form, and is a manual task. The image of the form with the delimiter inserted is read by scanning. "Image correction" is a process of correcting an image on the paper before or after the dividing paper, and is an automatic task. Form recognition is a process of recognizing a predetermined form from a corrected image, and is an automatic task.

Not limited to the tasks exemplified above, any task may be arranged in each branched column. When the tasks in each column are completed, the workflows merge into one flow.

Workers A to N are in charge of each branching column. Workers A to N process manual tasks among the tasks in the column to which they belong. The automatic task is automatically processed by the user terminals 20 of the workers A to N.

In the workflow as shown in FIG. 5, the workflow management device 10 returns the process to the manual task when a process failure (error) occurs in a certain task.

Next, the operation of the workflow management device 10 when a processing failure occurs in the task will be described.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing the flow of the workflow management process by the workflow management device. The workflow management process is performed by the CPU 11 reading the workflow management program from the ROM 12 or the storage 14, expanding it into the RAM 13, and executing the program. In the description of FIG. 6, the flow in which the workflow management device 10 manages the task will be described by paying attention to a part of the workflow shown in FIG.

The CPU 11 acquires the processing content of the task processed in each of the branched columns (step S101). The processing content of the task is planned in advance in the workflow and may differ depending on the date and time and the like.

The CPU 11 acquires the type of the processing target to be processed by the task in each branched column (step S102).

The CPU 11 acquires a table as shown in FIG. 4 as the acquisition unit 102, specifies the work content and the type of the processing target in the table, and the success rate when the workers A to N perform the task in each of the branched columns. (Step S103).

The CPU 11 determines whether or not the process has failed in any of the tasks in each of the branched columns (step S104). Here, the CPU 11 determines whether or not the processing has failed not only for the manual tasks 201A to 201N manually performed by the workers A to N, but also for the automatic tasks 202A to 202N and 203A to 203N automatically performed by the computer. Whether or not the process has failed may be determined by whether or not an error has occurred by the computer.

If the processing has not failed in any of the tasks (step S104: NO), the CPU 11 proceeds to the processing in step S114. When processing fails in any task (step S104: YES), the CPU 11 increments the number of repeated failures i in which processing failures are repeated for the same processing target by 1 (step S105). 0 is assigned as the initial value for the number of repetition failures i, and when the processing fails for the first time for the processing target, i = 0 + 1 and the number of repetition failures is one.

The CPU 11 determines whether or not the number of repeated failures i is larger than the predetermined number (step S106). The predetermined number of times causes the failure to be retroactively upstream from the manual task 201A or the like immediately before the automatic task 202A or the like in which the processing has failed, or the manual task 201A or the like in which the processing has failed, when the processing failure is repeated. Set to explore. This is because when the failure is repeated, the cause may not be the processing of the manual task performed by the worker in the branch where the failure occurs, but the processing of the manual task upstream. However, for example, when the number of repeat failures i is only one, it is too early to search for deficiencies in the upstream manual task. Therefore, it is preferable that at least a predetermined number of times is set to 2 or more. The predetermined number of times is, for example, three times. With this setting, when the number of repetition failures i becomes 4, it is determined to be YES in step S106.

When the repeat failure count i is larger than the predetermined number (step S106: YES), the CPU 11 returns the process to the manual task before the immediately preceding manual task 201A or the like (step S107), and sets the repeat failure count i to 0. Reset to (step S108). In addition, when the failure is repeated in the manual task 201A or the like, the CPU 11 regards the immediately preceding manual task as the manual task 201A or the like, and returns the processing to the manual task before the manual task 201A. The CPU 11 proceeds to the process of step S114.

When the number of repeated failures i is not larger than the predetermined number (step S106: NO), the CPU 11 determines whether or not there is another worker whose success rate is higher than the threshold value of the worker of the failed task as the determination unit 104. Determine (step S109). Here, the CPU 11 refers to a table as shown in FIG. As a specific example, for example, in the workflow shown in FIG. 5, it is assumed that the process fails in the automatic task 203A of the column in which the worker A is arranged. Further, it is assumed that the type of the form is X. In this example, in the table of FIG. 4, the CPU 11 specifies that the success rate of the worker A is 0.92 when the work content is "area setting" and the form type is X. Then, assuming that the threshold value is 0.05, the CPU 11 determines whether or not there is another worker with a success rate of 0.92 + 0.05 = 0.97 or more. Under the same conditions, the success rate of the worker N is 0.98> 0.97, so the worker N is specified as another worker whose success rate is higher than the threshold value. On the other hand, when the type of the form in the above specific example is Y instead of X, the success rate of the worker A is 0.93. Adding the threshold of 0.05 to 0.93 gives 0.98, and no other worker has a higher success rate than 0.98. In this case, the CPU 11 determines that there is no other worker whose success rate is higher than the threshold value.

When there is another worker whose success rate is higher than the threshold value (step S109: YES), the CPU 11 determines the worker to reprocess the other worker (step S110). Then, the CPU 11 returns the processing to the immediately preceding manual task as the allocation unit 101, and allocates the processing target for which the processing has failed to another worker (step S111). In the example shown in FIG. 5, the CPU 11 returns the form whose processing has failed from the automatic task 203A to the manual task 201N, and causes the worker N to reprocess the task. The CPU 11 proceeds to the process of step S114.

When there is no other worker whose success rate is higher than the threshold value (step S109: NO), the CPU 11 determines as the worker who reprocesses the same worker who processed the manual task of the column related to the task whose processing failed (step S109: NO). Step S112). The CPU 11 returns the processing to the immediately preceding manual task as the allocation unit 101, and allocates the processing target for which the processing has failed to the same worker (step S113). In the example shown in FIG. 5, the CPU 11 returns the form for which processing has failed from the automatic task 203A to the manual task 201A, and causes the worker A to reprocess the task. The CPU 11 proceeds to the process of step S114.

The CPU 11 determines whether all the tasks in the workflow have been completed, that is, whether or not the processing of the tasks for all the processing targets has been completed (step S114).

If all the tasks have not been completed (step S114: NO), the CPU 11 repeats the process from step S104. When all the tasks are completed (step S114: YES), the CPU 11 ends the workflow management process.

Next, the update of the success rate for each worker will be described. Here, how to specifically update the success rate of each worker will be described using the example shown in FIG.
For example, when the processing fails in the automatic task 203A of FIG. 5, it is considered that there is a problem in the work of the "area setting" of the manual task 201A, and the "working target of the type 1 of the worker A who performed the manual task 201A" is ". Increase the number of failures of the work content of "Area setting" by one. As a result, the number of failures increases by 1 in the total number of processes of the "area setting" for the process target of type 1, and the success rate decreases accordingly. In this way, when the processing fails in the automatic task 203A or the like, the success rate of the immediately preceding manual task 201A or the like is first lowered. When failures are repeated in the same automatic task 203A, the number of failures is counted by the number of repeated failures, and as a result, the ratio of the number of successes to the total number of processes is lowered, and the success rate is lowered.

On the other hand, when the number of repeated failures in the same automatic task 203A or the like exceeds a predetermined number (step S106: YES in FIG. 6), the process is returned to the manual task further upstream from the immediately preceding manual task 201A or the like (FIG. 6). Step S107 of step 6). In this case, even if the automatic task 203A repeatedly fails, the cause of the failure is considered to be an upstream automatic task, a line design error, or a processing target (form) that is not supported. Therefore, the number of failures counted as a cause of the upstream manual task 201A or the like by the time the number of failures reaches a predetermined number is retroactively invalidated. As a result, the success rate of the manual task 201 and the like, which has been lowered due to the increase in the number of failures, is restored as if there were no failures.

As described above, the success rate of the manual task 201A or the like can be updated in real time at the timing when the processing failure occurs in the automatic task 203A or the like and the automatic task 203A or the like ends, or at the timing when the processing failure occurs. However, as described above, when the number of repeated failures exceeds a predetermined number and the process returns to the upstream manual task, the number of failures counted in the manual task 201A or the like becomes invalid retroactively, and the success rate. May be undone.

The success rate update timing may be the timing at which the process including a series of tasks 201A to 203A is completed. At the end of the process, you will also know which manual task had the problem, so you don't have to retroactively disable (reset) the number of failures as described above.

Alternatively, the update timing of the success rate may be a specific timing such as at night. When the success rate is updated in real time as described above, the update timing of the success rate occurs frequently and the load becomes large. When the load becomes large and the calculation is delayed, it may be necessary to adjust the process start timing or the task start timing after the success rate update is completed. If the success rate is updated at a timing when the load is small, such as at night, there is no problem such as an increase in the load as described above.

The present invention is not limited to the above embodiment. Various improvements and modifications are possible.

For example, in the above embodiment, the case where the processing target is a form which is a document is described. However, it is not limited to this. The present invention may be applied to documents other than forms. Further, the present invention may be applied to a processing target other than a document.

Further, in the above embodiment, an example in which the threshold value in step S109 is uniformly 0.05 has been described. However, the threshold is not limited to 0.05. The threshold value may be set to a different value as appropriate for each work content of the above task, for example. When setting a different threshold value for each task work content, for example, the threshold value can be changed based on the difficulty level of the task work content. The higher the difficulty level of the task content, the greater the variation in the success rate of the worker depending on the skill level of the worker. On the contrary, the lower the difficulty level of the work content of the task, the higher the probability that the worker will succeed from the beginning, and as a result, the variation in the success rate of the worker will be smaller. Therefore, the higher the difficulty level of the task content, the larger the threshold value may be set. The threshold value may be, for example, a value obtained by subtracting the success rate of the lowest worker from the average value of the success rate. By setting the threshold in this way, if the task processing fails, the task will be assigned to another worker with at least a higher success rate than the average.

Alternatively, the threshold value may be appropriately set to a different value for each type of processing target. For example, when the processing target is a form, it can be set for each document of the form or for each feature amount of the form. For example, the finer the characters in the form, the narrower the character spacing in the form, and the closer the area to be cut out from the form is, the higher the difficulty of the work. The higher the difficulty level of the work, the larger the threshold value may be set for the same reason as described above.

Further, in the above embodiment, when there are a plurality of other workers whose success rate is higher than the threshold value in step S109, the workers to be reprocessed have no particular priority. However, when there are a plurality of other workers whose success rate is higher than the threshold value, the worker having the smallest amount of processing targets may be reprocessed. This is for uniform work. In this case, the workflow management device 10 needs to confirm the amount of the processing target that each worker has. Here, for example, when the processing target is a document such as a form, the workflow management device 10 can estimate the weight of the form assigned to each worker as the amount on hand. As for the weight of the form, for example, the weight of the tray on which the form is placed is measured for each worker, and the measured value can be input to the workflow management device 10.

Next, additional embodiments that can be added to the above embodiment will be described.

FIG. 7 is a diagram showing a part of the workflow. FIG. 8 is a diagram showing a table for managing the state of manual tasks. FIG. 9 is a diagram showing a table for managing the states of manual tasks and automatic tasks.

In a part of the workflow shown in FIG. 7, the manual task M1, the automatic task A1, the automatic task A2, the automatic task A3, and the manual task M2 are processed in order. Here, the automatic task A1, the automatic task A2, and the automatic task A3 surrounded by the dotted line are excluded from the management target by the workflow management device 10, and only the manual task M1 and the manual task M2 are within the management target.

In this case, as shown in FIG. 8, the workflow management device 10 manages only the states of the manual task M1 and the manual task M2. For example, even when the automatic task A2 of FIG. 7 is being processed, the workflow management device 10 is such that the manual task M1 is working as shown in FIG. 8 until the automatic task A3 is completed. Can only be managed. That is, even if the manual task M1 is actually completed, the processing does not move to the manual task M2, so that the status of the manual task M1 cannot be set to "completed". Further, when the processing fails in any of the automatic tasks A1 to A3, the workflow management device 10 cannot determine in which automatic task the processing failed. Since it is not known that the failure has occurred, for example, it is not possible to manage that the processing does not move to the manual task M2 even after the time required for the normal processing has passed, that is, that the processing has failed only due to a timeout. In this case, even if a processing failure occurs, it cannot be dealt with immediately, and as a result, the throughput deteriorates.

On the other hand, as shown in FIG. 9, when managing the states of both the manual task and the automatic task, the status can be managed as such if it is in the middle of the automatic task A2. By managing the automatic tasks in this way, when the processing fails in any of the automatic tasks A1 to A3, it is possible to immediately detect the processing failure and take measures such as reassigning the above-mentioned tasks. Therefore, it is preferable that the workflow management device 10 also manages the state of the automatic task. For example, when a commercially available workflow management device can manage only manual tasks, as an additional configuration, a server storing a table as shown in FIG. 9 may be prepared and automatic tasks may be managed separately. Of course, the states of both the manual task and the automatic task may be managed in one workflow management device 10.

In the above embodiment, in the workflow, a case where the processing target is distributed to another worker for reprocessing has been described. Next, a distribution method for first distributing the processing target when the workflow is branched as shown in FIG. 5 will be described.

The basic distribution method is a method of evenly distributing the processing target to the workers. Alternatively, in the workflow management device 10, the average processing time for processing the branched task by each worker may be measured, and the processing target may be distributed to each worker based on the amount inversely proportional to the average processing time.

Alternatively, the worker to whom the processing target is first distributed may be determined based on the attributes attached to the processing target and the success rate for each worker. The attributes attached to the processing target are stored in the workflow management device 10, and the workflow management device 10 considers the attributes when the processing target is distributed. The attribute is given only to a special processing target, for example, and is given to distinguish a "important" processing target or a "careful" processing target. The workflow management device 10 refers to the table shown in FIG. 4 and instructs the workers having a high success rate to preferentially distribute the processing targets to which the attributes are assigned. The instructions are displayed, for example, on a display installed at the site for confirmation by the distributor. The processing target may be automatically distributed mechanically.

Further, the workflow management device 10 may refer to the table of FIG. 4 when first distributing the processing target. In this case, the workflow management device 10 refers to the table of FIG. 4 and distributes the processing target of a favorite type to the workers. This is to improve work efficiency. On the contrary, the workflow management device 10 may refer to the table of FIG. 4 and distribute the processing target of a weak type to the workers. This is because it is training for workers.

The above processing can also be realized by a dedicated hardware circuit. In this case, it may be executed by one hardware or may be executed by a plurality of hardware.

Further, the program for operating the workflow management device 10 may be provided by a computer-readable recording medium such as a USB (Universal Serial Bus) memory, a flexible disk, or a CD-ROM (Compact Disk Read Only Memory), or may be provided by a computer-readable recording medium such as an Internet. It may be provided online via a network such as. In this case, the program recorded on the computer-readable recording medium is usually transferred to a memory, a storage, or the like and stored. Further, this program may be provided as a single application software, or may be incorporated into the software of each device as a function of the workflow management device 10.

1 Workflow system 10 Workflow management device 11 CPU
12 ROM
13 RAM
14 Storage 15 Input unit 16 Display unit 17 Communication interface 19 Bus 20 User terminal 101 Allocation unit 102 Acquisition unit 103 Storage unit 104 Determination unit 201A to 201N, M1, M2 Manual tasks 202A to 202N, 203A to 203N, A1 to A3 Automatic tasks A to N workers

Claims (12)

In a workflow including tasks to be processed in parallel, an acquisition unit for acquiring the success rate of work for each worker who processes at least a part of the tasks in parallel, and
When the processing for the processing target fails in any of the tasks processed in parallel, the success rate higher than the success rate of the worker of the task whose processing failed in the success rate acquired by the acquisition unit. A decision unit that determines the worker to be processed in the above as the worker to reprocess the processing target, and
Workflow management device with. When there is a worker who processes the processing target with a success rate higher than a predetermined threshold value by the success rate of the worker of the task whose processing has failed, the determination unit has a success rate higher than the predetermined threshold value. The worker who processes the processing target is determined as the worker to be reprocessed, and when there is no worker who processes the processing target with a success rate higher than the predetermined threshold value, the worker who failed the processing is re-processed. The workflow management device according to claim 1, which is determined by the worker to be processed. The workflow management device according to claim 2, wherein the threshold value is set for each work content of the task. The workflow management device according to claim 2 or 3, wherein the threshold value is set for each type of the processing target. The task includes a manual task manually processed by an operator and an automatic task automatically processed by a computer.
The workflow management device according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein the determination unit determines a worker to be reprocessed from the immediately preceding manual task when the processing fails in the automatic task. The workflow management device according to claim 5, wherein when the number of times the reprocessing is repeated exceeds a predetermined number of times, the determination unit determines a worker to reprocess from the manual task before the immediately preceding manual task. .. The workflow management device according to claim 5 or 6, further comprising a state management table for managing the processing state in the automatic task. When there are a plurality of workers who process the processing target with a success rate higher than the success rate of the worker of the task whose processing has failed, the determination unit has the processing target among the plurality of workers. The workflow management device according to any one of claims 1 to 7, wherein the worker having the smallest amount of the work is determined as the worker to be reprocessed. The workflow management device according to any one of claims 1 to 8, wherein the acquisition unit acquires the success rate for each type of the processing target. The workflow management device according to claim 4 or 9, wherein the type is the type of the processing target or the feature amount of the processing target. The workflow management according to any one of claims 1 to 10, wherein the worker to whom the processing target is first distributed is determined based on the attribute attached to the processing target and the success rate for each worker. Device. In a workflow designed to include tasks that are processed in parallel, an acquisition process that acquires the success rate of work for each worker who processes at least a part of the tasks in parallel, and
When the processing for the processing target fails in any of the tasks processed in parallel, the success rate is higher than the success rate of the worker of the task whose processing failed in the success rate acquired in the acquisition process. A decision process for determining a worker to be processed at a rate as a worker to reprocess the processing target, and
A workflow management program that lets a computer process.

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