JPH07182412A - Work flow management control system - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To process the work with no consciousness of the next group in charge by providing such a constitution where a person in charge who received a work processing request adds the necessary information, collects the received processing requests and their contents and processing results, and then produces an instruction through a specific subsystem. CONSTITUTION:When a work processing request event occurs, the receiver of the request event decides the contents of the event and records these decided contents by a recording medium 11. Thus an object generating means 12 generates an object to process the work based on the recorded information. Then a work control instructing means 31 of a work flow control part 30 issues the control information to point a person in charge who processes the generated object. A work processing person-in-charge deciding means 32 refers to the control information given from an information managing means 21 which manages the dynamic information on the corresponding relation, etc., of groups of work processing requests, persons in charge or system resources, etc., based on the contents corresponding to the sent object. Thus the means 32 decides a person in charge who can perform the object or the system resources and notifies them by a notifying means 32.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a business flow management control system, and particularly to a business flow of a request event received by a service in a field where order processing is performed by responding to a customer. The present invention relates to a business flow management control system that controls a processing flow by a computer, controls a business flow, and extracts and manages information handled in the business flow.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In the conventional business flow management system, in each organization, a responsibility is described for each business processing group as a unit, and the business is requested within the group in charge by referring to the described work allocation table. It manages information and processing results.

The assignment of work to the group in charge is
Performed by the person in charge or the manager who received the request within the group in charge.

FIG. 8 shows a conventional business management form. When a business department or the like in a company issues a business request, the business processing group in charge of the business takes over.
At this time, in the business processing charge group, the business staff in charge is assigned to the person in charge of the real work by subdividing the business processing or the like. Each person who took on the task,
Perform the work in cooperation with yourself, the persons in charge, or other departments. Further, in the work progress management, FIG.
As shown in (1), the progress status of the work undertaken by the person in charge a and a work completion report are reported to the work manager. The business manager is
Based on the report from each person in charge, grasp the progress of the work and the result of the work for each person in charge.

[0005]

However, the above-mentioned conventional management system divides the work according to the work sharing table and the ability of the person in charge judged by the manager and the performance status of the work, and reports from the person in charge. It only manages business, not management based on the first request event that triggered it.

[0006] Further, since the assignees and managers within the assigned group perform the distribution to the assigned group, there is a difference in the range and the ability to be processed by the assigned person, and as a result, the group can be processed. There is a problem that the range becomes unclear, it takes a long time to sort the work, and after sorting once, the same content is sent again to another group (working).

As described above, in the conventional business flow consisting of a plurality of charge groups, in order to grasp the progress of the work processing in units of request events, it is possible to individually grasp who processed what in each charge group, After that, it is necessary to re-arrange in units of requested events, and it is difficult for the persons in charge in each responsible group to recognize that one element event is coordinated and processed by multiple responsible groups. Is.

The present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned problems, and solves the above-mentioned problems of the prior art, starts a process based on a business flow with a request event as an object, and always processes the request event by the system. By tracking and managing the situation that exists, it is possible to clearly show the processing time for each business group in the business flow and the information in the business flow such as the actual person in charge in the business group for each request event. Notifying the request processing group automatically or by having a person with specialized knowledge give an instruction (semi-automatic) from an additional subsystem provided in the workflow so that the person in charge is aware of the next notification destination. The purpose is to provide a business flow management control system that enables notification to the next group.

[0009]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the principle of the present invention.

The business flow management control system of the present invention is
When the occurrence of a business process request event is detected in a business process that accepts a business process request and selects the person in charge or the system resource that performs the business process based on the business process request, the recipient determines the content of the event and makes a judgment. A request event receiving unit 10 having an event content recording means 11 for recording the content and an object generating means 12 for generating an object to be subjected to business processing based on the record information of the event content recording means 11, and for performing business processing. Business having information management means 21 for managing, as information, dynamic information such as correspondence between business processing requests and groups such as persons in charge or system resources, and preset static information such as a business repository. A flow information management unit 20 and for designating a person in charge of processing an object or a system resource The control information from the business control instruction means 31 for issuing control information and the content corresponding to the object sent from the request event reception portion, the control information from the information management means 21 of the business flow information management portion 20 or the business control instruction means 31. With reference to the person in charge of processing the object, or the person in charge of determining the system resource, the person in charge of business process determination 32 and the person in charge of determining the object generated by the object generation unit 12, And a business flow control unit 30 having a notifying unit 33 for notifying system resources.

The business flow information management unit 20 of the present invention
The information management means 21 performs, as the dynamic information, the time from the business request notification from the business flow control unit 30 to the acceptance, the time required to process the request notified of the business request, and the business processing corresponding to the request. Contains contact or system resource information.

Further, the work control instruction means 31 of the work flow control unit of the present invention includes a knowledge base 34 having information for the work processing charge determining means 32 to determine a person in charge or a system resource.

[0013]

The present invention is a subsystem in which the person in charge of accepting a request records the contents of a business processing request, adds information on the business in some cases, and combines the request, its content information and the processing result into one. To send to the subsystem that stores and manages the information about multiple groups in charge, instead of instructing and sending the next group of people in the business flow, and from that subsystem, either automatically or by using specialized knowledge. In this way, the person in charge of processing can be instructed surely in carrying out the job in a competent and situational manner, and by notifying from this subsystem that the request has arrived within the next group in charge, the person in charge of business processing can Eliminates the need to have knowledge of the next business process group. In addition, by managing the information from the responsible group and the notification to the next responsible group in this way, it becomes possible to grasp the processing status for each request in the business flow.

[0014]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 2 shows the configuration of a business flow management control system according to an embodiment of the present invention.

The business flow management control system 100 is the minimum unit that incorporates the functions that constitute this system. The system 200 is the same as the system 100, but 10
It is a minimum unit that manages a group in charge different from 0. The responsible group 300 indicates a responsible group that actually performs a task.

The business flow management control system 100 receives a request event and generates a business-related object, a request event reception section 111, a business flow control section 112 for controlling the flow of business in response to the received request event, and business flow control. Business flow control instruction unit 1 that passes control information for determining a business person to the unit 112
13, a business process group notification unit 114 for notifying other responsible groups of business related objects, a business flow management information storage unit 11 having business flow repository information
6 and a business flow information management unit 115 that manages the business flow management information storage unit 116.

The outline of the processing of this embodiment will be described below.

First, the request event receiving unit 111 detects the occurrence of a request event. Here, the information received by telephone or facsimile is input by the workstation, the content of the request is recorded in the storage means, the request and the request content are generated as one object, and the object is sent to the business flow control unit 112.

The business flow control unit 112 transfers the control information from the business flow control instruction unit 113 and the business flow information management unit 115 based on the content of the request object transferred from the request event reception unit 111. Using the business flow repository information of the business flow management information storage unit 116, the notification destination group of the request object is determined.

The business process group notification unit 1 sets the notification destination group and the objects determined by the business flow control unit 112 as the business process group notification unit 1.
Then, the business processing group notification unit 114 notifies the person in charge of the group or the processing system that the request object has arrived. Further, at this time, when the business flow control unit 112 finds that the request object is not the responsible group managed under the minimum unit 100, the request event receiving unit 111 of the other minimum unit 200 is notified. The request object is passed from the business flow control unit 112.

From the work flow control unit 112 to the work processing group notification unit 114 and other minimum units 200.
The request object notifications to the request are collected in the business flow information management unit 115 together with the history information indicating where and when the request was actually received, and are stored in the business flow management information storage unit 116. A database is used for the business flow management information management unit 116, and various kinds of information are accumulated according to the content of the business.

FIG. 3 is a flow chart for explaining the outline of the processing operation of the embodiment of the present invention.

First, when the request event receiving unit 11 receives the request event (step 1), the request event receiving unit 111 records the request content (step 2) and generates a request object (step 3). The business flow control unit 112 determines whether the destination of the request object is a management target group or not (step 4). If it is another group, the business flow information management unit 115 executes the business. The request object is sent to the next business flow management control system 200 according to the business flow repository stored in advance in the flow management information storage unit 116 (step 5).

On the other hand, in the case of a management target group, it is checked whether the destination of the request object can be determined from the contents inside the request object and the repository information in the preset work flow management information (step 6). ,
If it is insufficient, the control information is secondarily obtained from the business flow control instruction unit 113 (step 7) and the destination of the request object is determined.

In response to this, the business processing group notification unit 1
14 notifies the target group in charge that the request object has arrived (step 8), and waits for a notification of acceptance from the person in charge of the group or the processing system within a certain time. When a business request acceptance notification arrives after a certain time from the person in charge (step 9), the elapsed time from the notification of the request object to the acceptance of the request object, and the information such as the group or person in charge who actually received the work flow. The information management unit 115 is notified,
It is stored in the business flow management information storage unit 116 (step 10).

A specific example will be described below.

As an example, a response work flow management control system applied to a customer order reception and inquiry work will be described with reference to FIG. 4, the same components as those in FIG. 2 are designated by the same reference numerals. In FIG. 4, a double line a indicates a bus for data communication, and a solid line b indicates a flow of data transmitted / received between the units.

The system of this embodiment is designed to receive orders from customers.
It is a system that manages and controls the response work flow, which consists of a primary receptionist that performs customer response and a secondary receptionist that is composed of multiple responsible groups that perform actual business processing in order to process inquiries. Reception reception terminal (request event reception unit) 111 used by the receptionist, business flow control unit 1
12, a business process group notification unit 114, a business flow information management unit 115, a business flow management unit 120 having an information flow management information storage unit 116, and a knowledge base 117 having expert knowledge by an expert system or the like.
The business flow control unit 112 of the business flow management unit 120 uses the command to additionally instruct flow control information for determining the person in charge, and the knowledge base 11 having expert knowledge by an expert system or the like.
7. The order entry order group terminal 310 in which each responsible group notifies receipt of the request object and completion of business processing,
It is composed of the inquiry processing group terminal 320.

FIG. 5 shows the configuration of the business flow management information storage unit 116 according to an embodiment of the present invention. The business flow management information accumulating unit 116 receives a customer management file 1160 for accumulating request events for customer orders and inquiries, a business item history, which has been processed in the past for each group in charge, from a business item, a business type, and a business request notification. Time to
Business processing history file 1161 for each group that manages processing time, name of person in charge, business reception / processed file 11 for managing information such as reception time and completion time for each business
62, and a person-in-charge information file 1163 for managing skills and achievements of each person in charge.

Next, the processing operation of this system of this embodiment will be described.

The primary receptionist who grasps the request by the access from the customer records the type of the request and the specific content of the request as the customer information from the reception terminal 111.
The primary receptionist sends this from the reception terminal 111 to the business flow management unit 120 as a request object.

Here, the editing of the request event performed by the recipient will be described.

FIG. 6 is a diagram for explaining editing of a request event according to an embodiment of the present invention. The example of the figure describes a case where a customer orders a company for a product.

First, the customer asks the receptionist for the customer's name,
Notify the customer number, telephone number, ordering item number, quantity, etc. The recipient creates a request object to be sent to the business flow management unit 120 based on these pieces of information. Since the request from the customer is an order for a product, the type is
In the example of the figure, it is set to "1" (order received). Further, it is set to "2" when the product is returned, "3" when the product is inquired, and "4" when the product is claimed. Further, a request object including information related to the request from the customer, such as the customer number, the ordered product number, the number of products, the reception date, the reception number, the recipient number, the planned delivery date, etc., is generated. This request object is sent to the business flow management unit 120.

The work flow information management unit 115 of the work flow management unit 120 receives the received customer information,
It is registered in the customer management file 1160 of the business flow management information storage unit 116 as a customer currently staying in the business flow. The business flow control unit 112 is the business flow information management unit 1
The customer management information 1160 in the business flow management information storage unit 116 is referred to via 15 to determine the responsible group to process the request object.

At this time, in the work flow control unit 112, when sufficient judgment information cannot be obtained from the work flow information management unit 115, a person in charge having specialized knowledge or knowledge is acquired via the work flow control instruction unit 113. Base 117
Etc., the flow control information is obtained to determine the destination of the request object.

The work flow control unit 112 notifies via the work processing group notification unit 114 via the respective work group terminal 310 or 320 that the request object has reached each work charge group. When the notification of acceptance from the group in charge 310 or 320 does not return to the business flow management system 320 after a certain period of time, the business flow control unit 112 repeatedly sends a notification about the object via the group terminal 310 or 320. Send to.

In the group in charge, when the person in charge or the processing system sends a request notification acceptance or processing completion notification to the business flow management unit 120 via the group terminal 310 or 320, the business flow management unit 120 , A business process history file 1161 for each group, a business reception / processed file 1162, and a person information file 116 for the business flow management information storage unit 116.
3) etc. together with the customer request information that triggered the request object charge group from the notification to the charge group, the elapsed time until the completion of the business process, and the information in the business flow of the charge group, the person in charge, etc. Control to manage storage.

In the case where the customer information staying in the business flow from the reception of the request object to the completion of the business processing is finally managed in the customer management file 1160, and then the system for the purpose of managing the history information is external. Provide information to the system.

Now, the process of referring to the information of each file stored in the business flow management information storage unit 116 by the business flow control unit 112 and determining the group terminal to be processed will be described. FIG. 7 is a flowchart of the processing group determination process of the business flow control unit according to the embodiment of the present invention.

The business flow control unit 112 has the business flow management information storage unit 115 via the business flow information management unit 115.
The request event is acquired from the customer management file 1160 of No. 6 (step 101). Based on the request event, history information corresponding to the content of the request event is searched from the group-specific business process history file 1161 of the business flow management information storage unit 116. Specifically, a code is assigned in advance to each request event and each event of the group-specific business process history file 1161. If this event code exists in the file, the process proceeds to step 107 (step 102, 103).

If there is no event code that matches the history information, the work flow control unit 112 makes a control instruction request to the work flow control instruction unit 113. From the knowledge base 117, the business flow control instruction unit 113
Information such as a processing condition of the event content and a processing process is acquired, and the information is passed to the business flow control unit 112 as flow control information (step 104).

The business flow control unit 112 searches the file information in the business flow information storage unit 116 via the business flow information management unit 115 based on the flow control information obtained from the business flow control instruction unit 113, and Obtain information corresponding to the control information. If the corresponding information cannot be retrieved, the process proceeds to step 104 again (step 106).

Based on the obtained business processing information, a group for carrying out business processing corresponding to the event is determined (step 107). The business processing group notification unit 114 orders a business order for the determined group (step 108).

Here, a specific operation will be described based on the request event shown in FIG.

When the request object having the content shown in FIG. 6 is input from the reception terminal 111 to the business flow control unit 112 of the business flow management unit 120, the request type of the customer information is "1" from the business process history file 1161 for each group. Search for the person in charge of product ordering business that performs the task. As a result, if the file 1161 contains an order-accepting order input group that performs an order-accepting operation, the order-accepting order input group terminal 3 via the operation processing group notification unit 114.
Issue a notification to 10.

The order entry submission group terminal 310 that has received the notification notifies the business flow control unit 112 that the business request has been accepted. Further, when the processing of this business is completed, a business completion notification is issued to the business flow control unit 112 as well.

The request event request type is "4".
In the case of (complaint), the business flow control unit 112
The job processing history file 1161 for each group is searched for the person in charge of the job whose request type of the customer information is “4”. However, at this time, if no corresponding person is found in the file of the business flow management information storage unit 116, a flow control information request is issued to the business flow control instruction unit 113. The business flow control instruction unit 113 searches the knowledge base 117 for knowledge information for selecting a person who can process complaints in response to a request from the business flow control unit 112, and the business flow control unit 112 receives the flow control information. Notify as Based on the flow control information, the business flow control unit 112 again sets the business flow management information storage unit 116.
Search for a group you can work with. As a result, when the inquiry processing group is found, the operation request is notified to the inquiry processing group terminal 320 via the operation processing group notification unit 120, for example.

Further, when the inquiry processing group terminal 320 cannot be dealt with the notification of the business request, the business flow control section 112 is notified again by notifying the business flow control section 112 of that fact. Process the decision of the person in charge of business.

At this time, when the business flow control unit 112 again requests flow control information from the business flow control instructing unit 113, the business flow control instructing unit 113 controls the search condition and searches the knowledge base 117 again. It is also possible to do so.

There are various methods for constructing the knowledge base 117, but any method may be used as long as it can retrieve skill information such as a processing method for a certain business process, knowledge necessary for processing, experience, and the like.

The contents of the file of the business flow management information accumulating unit 116 can be searched by the person who correctly processes the business according to the flow control information obtained by the knowledge base 117 and the received request event. ,
Needless to say, various information can be set without being limited to the above files as long as necessary information is set.

[0054]

As described above, according to the present invention, it is possible to grasp and clearly show the request unit caused by the processing status in the business flow caused by the occurrence of the request event. Even if a business process is processed by multiple groups, when a process passes through one responsible group and the process is passed to another group, the staff members belonging to each responsible group do not care about it. Processing can be performed.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a principle configuration diagram of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a configuration diagram of a business flow management control system according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing a processing operation of an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an example of a response business flow management control according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a configuration diagram of a business flow management information storage unit according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a diagram for explaining editing of a request event according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 7 is a flowchart of processing group determination processing of a business flow control unit according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 8 is a diagram showing a conventional business management form.

FIG. 9 is a diagram showing a conventional progress management mode.

[Explanation of symbols]

 10 request event receiving unit 11 event content recording unit 12 event combining unit 20 business flow control unit 21 business processing instruction unit 22 notification unit 30 business flow management unit 31 information management unit 100, 200 business flow management control system 111 request event reception 112 business Flow control unit 113 Business flow control instruction unit 114 Business processing group notification unit 115 Business flow information management unit 116 Business flow management information storage unit 117 Knowledge base 120 Business flow management unit 300 Group in charge 310 Order entry group terminal 320 Inquiry processing group terminal 1160 Customer management file 1161 Business process history file by group 1162 Business reception / processed file 1163 Person information file

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. In a business process of accepting a business process request and selecting a person in charge of performing the business process or a system resource based on the business process request, when the occurrence of the business process request event is detected, the recipient receives the event. A request event reception unit having an event content recording unit for determining the content of the event and recording the determination content, and an object creating unit for generating an object to be processed based on the record information of the event content recording unit; Information management for managing the business process request and dynamic information such as the correspondence between a person in charge or a group such as a system resource, and preset static information such as a business repository. A business flow information management unit having means, and for designating a person in charge of processing the object or a system resource From the work control instruction means for issuing control information and the contents corresponding to the object sent from the request event reception portion, the information management means in the work flow information management portion or the control from the work control instruction means By referring to the information, a person in charge of performing processing for the object or a business processing charge determining means for determining a system resource, and the object generated by the object generating means are determined by the business processing charge determining means. A business flow management control system comprising: a business flow control unit having a notification means for notifying a person in charge or a system resource. 2. The information management means of the business flow information management unit, as the dynamic information, is the time from the business request notification to the acceptance from the business flow control unit and the time required to process the request notified of the business request. Includes information about the time and the person or system resource who performed the business process corresponding to the request. 3. The business control instruction means of the business flow control section has a knowledge base having information for the business processing charge determining means to determine a person in charge or a system resource.