JPH11272749A - Development management system - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a development management system which enables a user to easily and properly make a plan of development stages, examine the plan again, and update it. SOLUTION: A means which accepts input of lower subjects obtained by dividing the subject of development into plural elements divisionally as resolved subjects 902 and unresolved subjects 903 and accepts input of information designating whether examination items required to resolve each unresolved should be extracted or not and repeats this information acquisition with respect to subjects for which it is indicated not to extract examination items, a means which accepts input of examination items 904 with respect to each of subjects 903 for which it is indicated to extract the examination items, a means where information acquired in this manner is stored together with link information indicating positional relations on a hierarchical structure, and an input/output means used for input and display of information are provided.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a system for supporting development process management in the development of new products and the research and development of new technologies. In particular, the development process is changed or added as the development progresses. The present invention relates to a system suitable for managing a project.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art There is a process management system that creates a process plan table such as a Gantt chart using a computer and manages the execution status of each process. Many of these systems use PE
A process planning technique called an RT / TIME method is employed. According to the PERT / TIME method, a rational process plan can be performed by accurately defining in advance a process plan, estimating the number of man-hours, and preceding / succeeding relationships between works.

[0003] However, in some actual development projects, it is difficult to properly extract all the work items when drafting a process plan. In particular, in projects such as new software development and system development, as the planned process is actually advanced, the subsequent work content and man-hours often become clearer.

As a system for managing such a project, there is a system described in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. Hei 7-325860. In this system, PERT /
At the planning stage, a trial calculation of the process is performed by the PERT / TIME method using a method that is an extension of the TIME method, and the execution status of the estimated process can be reflected in the plan.

[0005]

In a project in which specific work items (processes) and man-hours are gradually determined as the development work progresses, for example, as in a new product development project, unknown work items are unknown. There are many things, and the relationship between work items may be complicated. In such a case, it is necessary to add or update the work item so that the result of the work already performed or the like is appropriately reflected.

However, in the above-mentioned conventional system,
Since there is no function to support the determination of work items, if it is necessary to change or add a work item in the development plan as a result of performing a certain work item, position the work item in the overall development plan, The user must reconsider the purpose and the like. This is a troublesome operation for the user, and causes a delay in development.

[0007] In the above-mentioned conventional system, the degree to which the planning and the change of the development process are properly performed greatly changes depending on the experience and ability of the user. For this reason, a situation in which an inappropriate work item is determined and a lot of time is spent on useless work items is likely to occur.

It is an object of the present invention to provide a development management system that enables a user to easily and appropriately plan a development process and review and update a plan.

[0009]

In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, the present invention provides a development management system for managing a development process, wherein a lower-level problem in which a development problem is divided into a plurality of elements is provided. The obtained information is divided into the resolved issues and the unresolved issues, and the obtained information is obtained. For each unresolved issue, the information indicating whether the examination items necessary for solving the issues can be extracted or not. When there is an unresolved issue that cannot be obtained and an examination item cannot be extracted, an issue detailing unit for repeating the information acquisition for the issue, and for each issue from which an examination item can be extracted, to acquire information representing the examination item And the information obtained by the task detailing means and the task detailing means are shared with the link information indicating the hierarchical relationship from the higher level tasks to the lower level issues and study items. Storage means to be stored, the acquisition of information, and provides a development management system and having input and output means used to display information stored in said storage means.

[0010]

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

The present embodiment is an example in which the development management system according to the present invention is applied to process management of technology development of a new product. In the development of new products, after the technical issues necessary to realize the main specifications of the product, such as the functions, performance, size, cost, and reliability of the new products, are determined, then a technology development project is set up to solve the technical issues.

In the development management system according to the present invention, the management process of the entire development process is divided into three basic processes shown in FIG. 2, namely, a problem detailing process 121, a problem realizing process 122, and a study process 123. To help. First, in an issue detailing process 121 and an issue realization process 122, an initial plan for development is made, and a study operation according to the plan is started. Then, in the examination process 123, the examination work and the evaluation of the examination result are performed, and the processes 121 to 121 are performed according to the evaluation result.
Step 123 is repeated to change the plan. Then, by repeating the processes 121 to 123, the development proceeds.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the overall configuration of the development management system according to the present embodiment. As shown, the development management system 100 includes a computer 120, a display 110, a keyboard 111, and a mouse 112.
Having.

The computer 120 includes a processor (not shown), various memories, a disk storage device (for example, a magnetic storage device), and various interface circuits, and realizes a plurality of functions by program processing by the processor. The functions of the computer 120 can be used by another computer connected via a network.

The computer 120 has, as functional blocks, an issue detailing section 101 which mainly supports the management of the management detailing process 121, an issue detailing section 102 which mainly supports the management of the issue detailing process 122, and mainly studies. Process 1
A study result acquisition unit 103, an assignment-related generation unit 104, an assignment-related display unit 105, a process plan generation unit 106, a process information display unit 107, an assignment configuration database 108, and a process information database 109 that support management of the 23 are realized. .

The databases 108 and 109 have a function of recording and reading data using a disk storage device in the computer 120. Assignment detailing unit 101, assignment specification unit 102, examination result acquisition unit 10
3. Task related display unit 105 and process information display unit 1
07 is a graphic user interface (GUI)
And acquires and displays data using various input / output devices 110 to 112. In obtaining data, the user operates the keyboard 111 on the display screen of the display 110.
The input data is captured using. Further, information on a position, a range, and a button designated by the user using the mouse 112 on the display screen is captured.

Each function of the development management system 100 will be described.

The task detailing section 101 is a section for acquiring information representing a technical task determined in a development project from a user. The technical tasks are sequentially detailed from the tasks (main tasks) of the entire development project to the tasks (sub tasks) at lower levels, and are acquired as information having a hierarchical structure (tree structure). Sub-tasks are acquired separately for those that have been resolved and those that have not been resolved. Then, for the unresolved sub-tasks that can be refined, the refinement is repeated. The information acquired by the task detailing unit 101 further includes information such as a target specification to be achieved in a study on the task.

The task embodying unit 102 is a section for acquiring information representing specific examination items necessary for solving an unsolved sub-task from a user. The information to be acquired includes information such as a study name, a study item (and a study condition), a study person in charge, and a study deadline.

The examination result acquisition unit 103 is a part for acquiring information representing the examination result from the user after the work on the examination item. The acquired result information includes information such as a study result, a study on the study result, and a work end date.

The task-related generating section 104 includes the task detailing section 1
01, the task embodying unit 102, and the examination result obtaining unit 1
This is a part for generating assignment-related data in which the various pieces of information acquired in step 03 are associated with each other. The generated task-related data has a hierarchical structure and is registered in the task information database 108. The assignment-related data is displayed by the assignment-related display unit 105.

The process plan generation section 106 is a section for generating process management data based on information included in the task-related data in the task information database 108. The process management data includes information such as a deadline of the development work, a preceding / succeeding relationship between the development works, and an operator assigned to the development work.
The generated process management data is stored in the process information database 1
09 is registered. Further, the process management data is displayed by the process information display unit 107.

Hereinafter, the operation of the development management system 100 will be described.

FIG. 3 shows an outline of a processing flow of the development management system 100. In the development management system 100, first, the task detailing unit 101 and the task realizing unit 102
The user is urged to refine and embody the technical issues of the project, and information on various issues and study items is acquired (step 401: issue information acquisition processing). Next, based on the acquired information, the task-related generating unit 104 generates hierarchically-related task-related data, and registers the hierarchically-related data in the task information database 108 (Step 402: task-related generation processing). The assignment-related data is displayed by the assignment-related display unit 105 when there is a request from the user. Next, the process plan generation unit 106 generates process management data based on the task-related data in the problem information database 108 and registers the process management data in the process information database 109 (step 403: process plan generation process). The registered information is displayed in a table format by the process information display unit 107 (step 404: process information display processing). Next, the examination result acquisition unit 103 acquires the examination result and the information of the evaluation, additionally registers the information in the assignment information database 108, and performs processing corresponding to the evaluation information (step 405: examination result acquisition processing). In this process, if all the problems have been solved, the process ends. If the assignment needs to be changed or added, the process returns to step 401, and a process for refining the assignment or realizing the assignment is newly performed. Then, the above processes (401 to 405) are repeated as the development progresses, whereby examination items suitable for the project are extracted, and development proceeds efficiently.

Each of the above processes will be described in detail using an example of a display screen.

FIG. 4 shows a detailed flow of the task information acquisition processing (401).

In the task information acquisition process (401), first,
The task name input screen of the form shown in FIG. 5 is displayed, and the main task name 201 is obtained from the user (step 501). Next, the task materialization confirmation screen shown in FIG. 6 is displayed, and instruction information as to whether or not materialization is performed is obtained from the user (step 502). Then, the process is switched in accordance with the instruction information (step 503), and when it is instructed to perform the materialization, the process proceeds to the problem materializing process (step 504), and in other cases, the problem detailed process (step 510). Proceed to). Note that other information such as the name of the person in charge of the project may be acquired on the assignment name input screen.

The examples of FIGS. 5 and 6 relate to the development of a technique for polishing a plurality of components at once, and “Development of Component Batch High-Precision Polishing Technology” is acquired as the main subject name 201. Further, at this stage, since a specific examination item for the main task cannot be listed, the “No” button 802 is selected by the mouse 112, and the process proceeds to a task detailing process (510).

In the task detailing process (510), first, a task detailing screen in the form shown in FIG. 7 is displayed (step 5).
05). Then, on the display screen, a resolved sub-task name 301 and an unresolved sub-task name 302 are obtained from the user (steps 506 and 507). Here, the solved issues include issues that do not require new development work, such as issues that have been solved by past technology development and issues that have been solved by introducing technology from outside. Also,
In the task detailing process (510), link information for positioning information acquired on the task detailing screen as lower-level information of the main task 504 is generated.

In the example shown in FIG.
As “302” and “302,” “development of component cutting technology” and “reduction of non-uniform polishing amount” are acquired. Here, "development of a component cutting technique" is considered to be a solved problem because it can be handled by a conventional cutting technique. Since the polishing area increases in the batch polishing, the in-plane polishing amount of each component becomes non-uniform. “Reduction of non-uniform polishing amount”, which indicates the problem, is an unsolved sub-problem because it is not a conventional problem.

When the task detailing processing (510) or the task detailing processing (504) is completed, it is determined whether or not the task realization processing (504) has been performed on the unresolved sub-tasks obtained in the processing so far. A determination is made (step 508).
If the result of the determination is that the task realization processing (504) has been completed for all unresolved sub-tasks, the task information acquisition processing (401) ends. If there is an unresolved sub-task that has not been subjected to the task embodying process (504), the process returns to step 502, and the task refining process (510) and the task embodying process (504) are performed.

In the example of FIG. 7, since the task embodying process (504) for the unresolved sub-task “reducing uneven polishing amount” has not been performed yet, the processing returns from step 508 to step 502, and the task name 803. Is displayed as “Reduce uneven polishing amount” (FIG. 6).
Here, since specific examination items can be listed for the problem “reduction of nonuniform polishing amount”, the “Yes” button 801 is selected, and the process proceeds to the problem realization process (504).

FIG. 8 shows a detailed flow of the task embodying process (504). In the task realization process, first, the task realization screen shown in FIG. 9 is displayed (step 601). At this time, the main task name 704 and the target specification 707 display those acquired in the previous process. Next, on the task realization screen, a study name 705 and a study item 701 indicating an experiment or simulation condition and a measurement object necessary for solving the task are acquired from the user (step 602). Next, the information of the deadline 702 and the person in charge 703 of this examination item is acquired (step 603). On the issue specification screen, the scheduled start date and end date of the development, the name of the equipment required for development,
Information such as the leading / succeeding relationship with the work of other examination items is also acquired. Instead of the study deadline 702, an input of study man-hour may be required. In addition, the task embodying process (5
In 04), link information for positioning the information acquired on the task realization screen as information below the main task name 704 is generated.

In the example of FIG. 9, “Research on the relationship between the material of the component presser and the unevenness of the polishing amount” is acquired as the study name 705, and the “component presser” to be examined and the material name ( "Silicon rubber") is acquired.

Next, the task related generation processing (402 in FIG. 3)
Will be described.

In the assignment related generation processing (402), based on the information and link information acquired in the assignment information acquisition processing (401) and the examination result acquisition processing (405) described later,
The task-related data having a hierarchical structure is generated and registered in the task information database 108. Here, the task-related data is managed on a project basis. That is, all information that leads to the main task is managed as one group.
The task-related data can be referred to from another computer connected via a network.

FIG. 10 schematically shows the data structure and display form of the task-related data. In the figure, each data block 9
Each of 01 to 906 corresponds to the information acquired in the assignment information acquisition process (401). Among them, blocks 901-9
Each of 03 corresponds to information on an individual task obtained in the task detailing process (510). Each of the blocks 904 to 906 corresponds to information of an individual examination item obtained in the task embodying process (504). The assignment-related data includes assignment information acquisition processing (401) and examination result acquisition processing (4) described later.
05) is included. Information not shown in FIG. 10 is included as non-display information. For example, the deadline 702, the person in charge 703, and the like acquired on the assignment specifying screen in FIG. 9 are recorded as non-display information of the data block 904.

Here, a data block located further to the left in the figure represents a higher-order problem or a study item. The data blocks are sequentially generated from higher-order ones located at the upper left to lower-order ones located at the lower right as the detailing and embodying progress. Where, for example,
Based on the block 904 corresponding to the study item, the task on the first hierarchy is block 903, the task on the second hierarchy is block 901, and the study items of the same rank are blocks 905 and 9
06 respectively.

The lines connecting the data blocks indicate the hierarchical relationship between the data blocks, and are separately registered as link information. For example, as the link information of the block 903 in FIG. 10, the upper block 901, the peer block 902, and the lower blocks 904 to 906
Each head address in the assignment information database 108 is included. From this link information, the positional relationship in the hierarchical structure of all data blocks in the task-related data can be known.

Next, display processing of the task-related data will be described.

The task-related display unit 105 receives a display request from the user at each processing point in FIG. 3, and displays the task-related data in the task information database 108 in a manner shown in FIG. 10 according to a predetermined rule. . In particular,
On the memory, the upper task (901) is changed to the lower task (9).
02, 903), examination items (904), examination results (90
Through 7), while changing the display coordinates, each data block is sequentially developed into graphic data, and link lines connecting lower-level and same-level data blocks are added.
Display the result. The display coordinates are determined such that the lower the data block is, the lower the right is on the display screen. The display request is made by a display button (not shown) provided on each screen.
Is made by the selection of

Similar displays are made on other computers that refer to the task-related data. Here, the hierarchical relationship is represented by the display coordinates and the link lines, but the hierarchical relationship may be represented by another element such as a display color.

By displaying the task-related data, the user can:
How the issues were refined, what issues each item was determined on, the relationship between the items, and what results were obtained , Can be easily known at any stage.

Next, the process plan generation process (403) will be described.

In the process plan generation process (403), process management data is generated, and the generated process management data is displayed. The process management data can be referred to from another computer connected via a network.

FIG. 11 shows an outline of the structure and display form of the process management data generated by the process plan generation process (403). The process management data includes a plurality of summary task information (1401 and 1402) and a plurality of task information (1402). These pieces of information also have a hierarchical structure, and the information located on the left side in the figure corresponds to a higher-level problem or a study item. Each of the summary task information and the task information includes a task name 1410, a scheduled work start date 1
411, a scheduled end date 1412, a person in charge 1413, an actual end date 1414, which is a date when the work has been completed, and a progress 1415 of the development work. The progress 1415 is a value indicating the degree of progress of the work, and becomes 100% at the end of the work.

The task information 1403 is information that enables the contents of the work to be performed for each examination item to be recognized, and is extracted from the task-related data obtained in the task embodying process (504) (block in FIG. 10). 904-906). In the task information 1403, a task name 1410 is a study name in the task-related data. The scheduled start date 1411, the scheduled end date 1412, and the person in charge 1413 are data acquired on the assignment specific screen (FIG. 9). Progress 14
15 is input by the user on a display screen of a process information display process (404) described later. The scheduled start date is 14
11, the scheduled end date 1412, and the person in charge 1413 may also be acquired from the display screen.

The summary task information is heading information that makes it possible to recognize the group of work to be performed, and is extracted from data obtained in the task detailing process (510) (FIG. 1).
0 blocks 901-903). In the summary task information, the task name is the task name of the task-related data.
The scheduled start date is the latest date among the scheduled start dates included in all the subtask information, and the scheduled end date is the latest date among the scheduled end dates included in all the subtask information. The name of the person in charge is data acquired on the assignment detail screen (FIG. 7). The name of the person in charge may be obtained from the user on the display screen. The actual end date has no value in the early stage of development, but is the date and time at the end. Progress 141
5 is the average value of the progress in all the corresponding subtask information.

Next, the process information display processing (404) will be described.

The process information display process (404) displays the process management data registered in the process information database 109 in the form shown in FIG. Specifically, similarly to the display of the task-related data described above, the process control data is expanded into graphic data from the upper hierarchy to the lower hierarchy while changing the display coordinates on the memory.
The developer in charge performs development work such as desk study, simulation, experiment, and trial production in accordance with the displayed deadline. Then, according to the progress of the development work, the progress 1415 is set and updated on the display screen of the process management data. When data is updated on the display screen, the corresponding data in the process information database 109 is updated. Similar displays are made on other computers that refer to the process management data.

The display of the process management data may be displayed as a Gantt chart style diagram. As a result, the user can easily grasp the scheduled start date, the scheduled end date, and the preceding / succeeding relationship of each study item and the assignment. The display target (process) of the Gantt chart is selected from issues and individual examination items. At this time, all the study items having the leading / succeeding relationship of the development are selected, and the other items are selected from the higher-ranking issues. This allows
A chart display with organized contents is made. The value of the progress 1415 may be displayed in association with the chart.

From the display of the process management data, the user can easily know the progress of the entire project at the present time. In addition, this makes it possible to prevent a major problem from occurring in the project by increasing the number of workers in charge of the delayed examination items or by reviewing the examination items.

Next, the examination result acquisition processing (405) will be described. In the examination result acquisition process (405), the results of experiments and trial production obtained by the development work are acquired.

FIG. 12 shows a processing flow of the examination result acquisition processing (405). In the examination result acquisition process (405),
First, a designation of a study item is received from a user, and data relating to the designated study item is stored in the assignment information database 1.
08. Then, the examination result input screen in the form shown in FIG. 13 is displayed (step 1001). On this occasion,
Examination name 1101 and target specification 11 in the examination result input screen
02, an examination item 1103 displays an item extracted from the development problem data.

Subsequently, in the examination result acquisition processing (405), the examination result 1104, the examination 1105, and the evaluation 1
106 is obtained from the user (step 10).
02). Here, the examination result 1104 is data indicating the relationship between examination items and values obtained as a result of experiments and simulations. The consideration 1105 is data indicating the result of the examination of the examination result by the user. The evaluation result 1106 is an evaluation result such as whether the problem can be solved, and one of the four evaluation result items “1.” to “4.” is selected.

The information acquired on the examination result input screen is passed to the assignment-related generating section 104 together with link information that positions the information as information below the examination name 1101. In the assignment-related generating unit 104, the passed acquired information is
It is additionally registered in the assignment information database 108 together with the link information.

The item “1.” of the evaluation result 1106 is selected when the problem is solved. For item “2.”, sufficient measurement results could not be obtained due to, for example, lack of numerical range in the experiment.
It is selected when it is necessary to change the value. Item “3.” is selected when there is an effect of an item other than the concrete examination item. Item "4." is selected when the target specification cannot be achieved and it is considered impossible to solve the problem.

Subsequently, in the examination result acquisition process (405), the acquired data is passed to the assignment-related generation unit 104, and
Additional registration is made in the assignment information database 108 (block 907 in FIG. 10), and the process branches according to the selected item of the examination result evaluation 1106 (step 1003).

When the item "1." is selected, a review end process (step 1004) is performed. In this examination end processing, information indicating that the issue of this examination item has been solved is registered in the process information database 109, and if all the registered issues have been solved, the technical development of the project is stopped. A message indicating completion is displayed, and the process ends. If an unsolved problem remains, the process proceeds to a process information display process (404). As a result, the process management data is displayed, and the user proceeds to the next development work. At this time, the progress 1415 of the completed examination work is automatically set to 100%, and the end actual date 1414 is set to the current date.

When item "2." is selected, the value of the examination item is changed to continue the examination work. For this reason, the process is shifted to the task embodying process (504) in FIG.
The task embodying screen (FIG. 9) for the task one level higher from which the study item was refined is displayed, and the study item 70 is displayed.
A change in condition (value) 1 is requested (step 1005).
Thereby, the examination process 123 shown in FIG. 2 is redone. At this time, a message requesting a change in the condition (value) of the examination item 701 may be displayed on the assignment specifying screen.

When item "3." is selected, it is considered that there was insufficient detail in this study item due to the problem of one level higher. Therefore, the task detailing process (510) in FIG.
Then, the process is moved to and the task detail screen (FIG. 7) for the task one level higher is displayed, and the addition of the unsolved sub-task 302 is requested (step 1006). This will cause the embodiment process 122 of FIG. 2 to be redone.

When the item “4.” is selected, it is difficult to solve the upper problem of the present examination item. Is thought to have been lacking. For this reason, the process is shifted to the task detailing process (510) to display a task materializing screen for the task in the second hierarchy, and request the user to add an unresolved sub-task (step 1007). This will cause the detailing process 121 of FIG. 2 to be redone.

In the example of FIG. 13, it is determined that there are not enough items to be considered in the implementation of the study name “reduction of the unevenness in the amount of polishing” from the problem “reduction of unevenness in the amount of polishing” to the “examination of the relationship between the material of the component holder and the unevenness in the amount of polishing”. , Item “3.” is selected. As a result, the task specific screen shown in FIG. 14 is displayed, and the user inputs a new study name 1305 and study item 1301.

By the above-described examination result acquisition process (405), the input screen of the process to be re-examined is automatically displayed, and the user is prompted to input or update necessary information. Additions and changes can be made appropriately and easily.

The structure of the examination result input screen and the obtained information are not limited to the contents described above. For example, in the example of FIG. 13, the examination result 1104 is obtained from the input column in the form of a table. However, values such as the component height and the polishing time may be obtained from the input column in the form of a graph. For example, a bar graph whose length changes with the movement of the mouse 112 is displayed, and a value represented by the length is obtained.
Further, the information of the consideration 1105 may be obtained in a form in which graphics and sentences are mixed. This makes the contents of the examination result easier to understand.

As described above, according to the development management system 100, a user can easily plan a development process because the development issues are detailed and acquired and managed in hierarchically structured data. Will be able to do it. In addition, the examination items and examination results are acquired and managed so that the hierarchical relationship with the issues can be understood, so the position of each examination item in the project and the correspondence relationship with other issues and examination items become clear, and the user Examination when a problem occurs can be easily performed. In addition, since the acquired data is arranged into the task-related data and displayed in a hierarchical manner, the user can easily check the details, the details, and the contents of the examination result. In addition, since the acquired data is organized into process management data and displayed in a hierarchical chart, the user can easily manage the progress of the entire project.

As described above, according to the development management system 100, the entire management cycle such as the planning of the development process, the execution of the plan, and the update of the plan based on the execution result can be managed, so that the planning and the update of the plan are appropriately performed. Can help.

Further, since it is possible to access the task-related data from another computer connected to the development management system 100 via the network, the participants of the development project examine from various viewpoints, It becomes possible to make the assignment details and the subject matter appropriate.

Next, another embodiment of the present invention will be described.

The development management system 10 according to this embodiment
0 is, in addition to the above-described configuration, an assignment detailing check unit for improving the reliability of the assignment detailing work, an assignment related search unit for effectively using assignment related data of another past or current project, An issue interference check unit is provided to allow the user to confirm the influence of the changed / added issues and the examination items (not shown). Since these parts function individually, any one of them may be provided. According to this embodiment, even a user with little experience in project management can easily and appropriately detail and embody an issue.

First, the detail checking section will be described.

The task refining operation using the task refining unit 101 is an important task for efficiently developing.
The detailing check unit presents the user with a question message generated based on the task-related data in the task information database 108 in order to improve the reliability of the task detailing work,
Based on the response, the reliability of the task detailing work is checked.

As shown in FIG. 15, the task detailing check section classifies the reliability of task detailing into levels 1 to 3.
Here, the reliability is lowest at level 0 and highest at level 3.

Level 0 (L0) is a state in which even the range of the object to be examined necessary for examining the problem is not known, and what to do is not known.

Level 1 (L1) is a state in which the range to be studied is known, but the combination of components to be studied to solve the problem is not known. For example, it is simply unclear whether it is sufficient to simply improve the performance of the battery and the motor in order to achieve the high-speed performance improvement of the electric vehicle.

Level 2 (L2) is a state in which the constituent elements are known, but the basic relationship between the elements is not known. For example, when realizing high-speed processing in a certain calculation program, it is known that the amount of data processing increases when the amount of data increases, but it is difficult to tell whether it increases in proportion or exponentially. It is a state of state. Mathematically speaking, it has not been formulated yet.

Level 3 (L3) is a state in which the form of the equation is known, but the coefficient of the equation is unknown. For example,
Between the performance y of a certain product and the dimension x of the product, y = ax
Although it is known that there is a relationship of + b, it is not clear what values the coefficients a and b should be set.

The question for determining the reliability level is generated by combining information extracted from the task-related data. Then, the level is determined based on the answer to the question (“Yes”, “No”). The extraction of the information used for the question is performed sequentially from the upper level to the lower level in the hierarchy in the task related data. The more positive answers are obtained from the upper abstract question to the lower specific question, the higher the reliability is determined.

For example, when checking the refinement performed on the problem refinement screen of FIG. 7, based on the data blocks 901, 902, and 903 of FIG. Is it possible to achieve by realizing the development of the part cutting technology and the reduction of the non-uniform polishing amount? ", Which is displayed on the same display screen as in FIG. On the other hand, if "Yes" is selected, it is determined that the level is 1 or more (L1 to L3), and if "No" is selected, it is determined that the level is 0. Next, a question is displayed, "Do you understand the relationship between component height and polishing time in order to reduce non-uniform polishing amount?", And if "Yes", level 2 or higher Is determined, and if “No”, it is determined that the level is 1. In addition, the following question is displayed, "Do you know the relational expression between component height and polishing time in order to reduce non-uniform polishing amount?", And if "Yes", level 3, " If no, it is determined to be level 2.

The result of the judgment by the detailing check section is additionally registered in the assignment information database 108. When the task-related data is displayed, this determination result is displayed at a corresponding position. For example, when the reliability is determined to be level 2 in the example of FIG. 7 described above, “L2” indicating level 2 is displayed beside the link line connected to the block 904 in FIG.

As described above, according to the detailing check section, displaying the question message prompts the user to reconfirm the details of the task detailing. Can be. As a result, if the problem is corrected to a more appropriate one, the reliability of the detailing work is improved. Also, by displaying the reliability level of the task detailing together with the task-related data, the user can know where the problem detailing work in question is located.

Next, the task related search section will be described.

The registration of the task information database 108
The problem-related data of another development project in the past and the problem-related data of another development project currently being executed in parallel are registered. In order to effectively use the past or current assignment data of another project, the assignment related search unit searches the assignment information database 108 for data having contents similar to the various data acquired in the assignment information acquisition process (401). Then, a message indicating the search result is displayed. The search is started in response to a search request of the user. A search button (FIG. 5) for a search request is displayed on the assignment name input screen (FIG. 5), the assignment detail screen (FIG. 7), the assignment specific screen (FIG. 9), and the assignment-related data display screen (FIG. 10). (Not shown).

At the time of search, the user selects a character string to be searched on each display screen using the mouse 112 and clicks a search button. In response, the assignment-related search unit:
The assignment information database 108 detects assignment-related data including a character string that partially matches the search target character string. Then, when there is a partially matching character string, a message (for example, a project name, an assignment name, or the like) that allows the location of the assignment-related data including the character string to be specified is displayed. The user can use this message display to
The corresponding task-related data is displayed in the form of FIG. 10 and used as reference data.

[0086] By using the problem related search unit, the user checks whether the set problem or the examination item is set in another project. For example, when the same content is set in another project, On the other hand, it is possible to easily know what kind of task refinement or materialization was performed in other projects and what kind of examination results were obtained. This makes it possible to efficiently refine and detail issues with reference to the issue-related data of other projects, and to be able to know in advance the issues of the set issues and study items. Become.

Next, the problem interference check unit will be described.

In the example of FIG. 10, “Development of component cutting technology”
For “reduction of non-uniform polishing amount”, which is the same problem as the above, “part holding material” and “polishing time” are set as examination items. In the manufacturing process of this example, since the cutting process is started after the component polishing process, the state of the component after the polishing process affects the cutting process. For example, if the component pressing material used in the polishing process has viscosity and adheres to the component after polishing, the size of the component at the time of cutting increases due to the adhered substance, and the cutting accuracy tends to decrease. . Such an influence is often noticed for the first time when the operation of the production line is actually started, and causes a delay in the start of mass production.
As described above, when changing the material of the “component holding member”, it is necessary to consider the influence on the component cutting.

In order to allow the user to confirm this effect, the task interference checking unit returns to the task detail screen (FIG. 7) when the process is returned from the examination result acquisition processing (405) to the task information acquisition processing (401). On the assignment materialization screen (FIG. 9), it is detected that the assignment or the examination item (examination condition) has been changed or added. When the detection is performed, an interference warning message including the name of the problem that may interfere with the changed or added problem or the examination item is displayed on the same screen to prompt the user to confirm. Here, the problem that may cause interference is information that is not originally displayed on the problem detail screen or the problem specific screen, and is, for example, a problem that has been changed or a problem that is at the same rank as a higher-ranking problem in the study item. . It should be noted that the higher-ranked tasks include one-level tasks and two-level tasks.

In the example shown in FIG. 10, when the content of the “part holding member” is changed or added, the content of the problem “reducing the non-uniform polishing amount” is on the same level as the problem “reducing the non-uniform polishing amount”. The problem "development of component cutting technology" is extracted, and an interference warning message including the problem is displayed, for example, "a component presser interferes with the development of component cutting technology."

The problem interference check section allows the user to easily know what kind of problem the new change or addition made to the problem or the examination item interferes with. As a result, problems or examination items (examination conditions) that adversely affect other developments are less likely to be set.

[0091]

As described above, according to the present invention, there is provided a development management system which enables a user to easily and appropriately plan a development process, and review and update a plan. be able to.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an overall configuration of a development management system according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating a development process according to the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing an overall processing flow of a development management system.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a processing flow of a task information acquisition processing.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing an example of an assignment name input screen.

FIG. 6 is a diagram showing an example of an assignment confirmation screen.

FIG. 7 is a diagram illustrating an example of a task detailing screen.

FIG. 8 is a diagram showing a processing flow of a task specificification processing;

FIG. 9 is a diagram showing an example of a task specific screen.

FIG. 10 is a diagram showing an example of a data structure and display form of assignment-related data.

FIG. 11 is a diagram showing an example of a data structure and a display form of process management data.

FIG. 12 is a diagram illustrating a process flow of a study result acquisition process.

FIG. 13 is a diagram showing an example of an examination result input screen.

FIG. 14 is a diagram showing an example of a task specifying screen.

FIG. 15 is a diagram showing a reliability level of the task detailing determined by the detailing checking unit.

[Explanation of symbols]

 101 Assignment Detailing Unit 102 Assignment Materialization Unit 103 Examination Result Acquisition Unit 104 Assignment-Related Generation Unit 105 Assignment-Related Display Unit 106 Step Plan Generation Unit 107 Step Information Display Unit 108 Assignment Configuration Database 109 Step Information Database 110 Display 111 Keyboard 112 Mouse

Claims (10)

[Claims] In a development management system for managing a development process, an input of information representing a lower-level problem, which is a result of dividing a development problem into a plurality of elements, is performed by using a solved problem and an unsolved problem. Generates link information that accepts input issues and assigns input issues to higher-level issues. For each unresolved issue,
Task detailing for accepting input of information instructing whether or not to extract study items necessary to solve the problem, and repeating the acceptance of the input for a task instructed not to extract study items For the means and for each task that was instructed to extract considerations,
An input of information representing an examination item is accepted, and the task materializing means for generating link information for associating the input study item with the task, and information input by the task detailing means and the task materializing means, Development comprising: storage means for storing together with link information indicating a hierarchical positional relationship; and input / output means for inputting information and displaying information stored in the storage means. Management system. 2. The development management system according to claim 1, wherein information representing the examination result of each examination item acquired by the task embodying means and information representing the evaluation of the examination result are received and input. Further comprising a study result acquiring means for generating link information for associating the obtained information with the study item, wherein the storage means further stores information acquired by the study result acquiring means in a hierarchical structure. A development management system stored with link information indicating a positional relationship. 3. The development management system according to claim 2, wherein the information on the evaluation of the examination result is information selectively indicating one of a plurality of predetermined evaluation levels. Further determines, based on the hierarchical structure position of the input information and the evaluation level, a hierarchical structure position at which a new input is to be accepted, and assigns a corresponding task detailing means or task materializing means. A development management system characterized by shifting processing to a means. 4. The development management system according to claim 1, wherein the information stored in said storage means is hierarchically stored in accordance with a predetermined rule corresponding to a positional relationship in a hierarchical structure and a display mode. A development management system further comprising means for displaying. 5. The development management system according to claim 1, wherein the task embodying unit further receives an input of information indicating a work period of each study item, and based on the information stored in the storage unit. The development management method further comprises means for hierarchically displaying the work periods of the respective tasks and study items in accordance with a predetermined correspondence rule between the positional relationship in the hierarchical structure and the display mode. system. 6. The development management system according to claim 1, wherein information having a predetermined link relationship in a hierarchical structure is sequentially extracted from the storage means, and the task refining is performed using the extracted information. Means for displaying a question message that prompts the user to confirm the validity of the information input by the means and the task embodying means; and acquiring response information to the question message; Means for determining the reliability of the input information. 7. The development management system according to claim 1, wherein the storage unit stores one or more groups of information that are linked by the link information. Means for searching the information stored in the storage means for information assumed to be similar to the information input by the specification means according to a predetermined rule; and location of similar information obtained by the search. A development management system further comprising: means for displaying a message that allows the user to specify a message. 8. The development management system according to claim 1, wherein when a new input is received by the task detailing means or the task specifying means, the position of the input information in the hierarchical structure is determined in advance. Means for extracting the information of the task at the position determined by the determined rule from the storage means, and displaying an interference warning message including the extracted information,
A development management system, further comprising: 9. A recording medium used in a development management system for supporting management of a development process, wherein a problem in development is divided into a high-order problem and a low-order problem in which the problem is divided into a plurality of elements. A plurality of pieces of information expressed hierarchically, information indicating whether or not each of the issues has been solved, information indicating a study item necessary for solving an unresolved issue, and A recording medium in which link information indicating a positional relationship in a hierarchical structure is recorded. 10. The recording medium according to claim 9, wherein information representing the examination result of each examination item, information representing an evaluation of the examination result, and link information representing a positional relationship of the information in a hierarchical structure. Is further recorded.