WO2013046750A1

WO2013046750A1 - Maintenance support system

Info

Publication number: WO2013046750A1
Application number: PCT/JP2012/055936
Authority: WO
Inventors: 峰幸田村
Original assignee: 株式会社日立システムズ
Priority date: 2011-09-26
Filing date: 2012-03-08
Publication date: 2013-04-04
Also published as: JP2013069239A; JP5917062B2

Abstract

Provided is a technique with which it is possible to achieve suitable and prompt maintenance support, as well as overall efficiency and load distribution of the maintenance support among a plurality of locations and a plurality of maintenance workers. A diagnostic unit in a server of the present system performs, on the basis of management information (DB) or the like, a process for the matching determination of a person in charge or a candidate maintenance worker at a location, from a plurality of maintenance workers at a plurality of locations, in order to provide maintenance support for a device of a customer to be supported. In this process: as a first condition (s3-1), maintenance workers having necessary skills appropriate for the state of the device of the customer to be supported are selected as first candidates; as a second condition (s3-2), maintenance workers at locations closest in distance to the device of the customer to be supported are selected from the first candidates as second candidates; and as a third condition (s3-3), a maintenance worker at a location with the smallest load is selected from the second candidates as a third candidate, such that the load of maintenance support tasks is distributed among the plurality of locations or the plurality of maintenance workers.

Description

Maintenance support system

The present invention relates to maintenance support for customer computer systems (computer equipment such as servers) and information processing systems (maintenance support systems) related to operations and services such as help desks (customer support). The present invention relates to information processing for determining maintenance personnel or the like (persons in charge).

Conventionally, as a typical configuration example of maintenance support systems related to customer computer system maintenance and operations and services such as help desks, when the status of the target device is monitored and a failure or error is detected A system in which the contents of maintenance such as necessary recovery work are determined, a maintenance person who performs maintenance is determined, and the maintenance support instruction information is notified to the maintenance staff.

As a prior art example, there is JP-A-2002-203064 (Patent Document 1). Patent Document 1 (“Maintenance Management System” and the like) describes, as a problem, efficient maintenance by appropriately utilizing maintenance personnel. Solutions include remote monitoring and control systems that monitor and notify device failures, systems that maintain maintenance personnel's location information, systems that maintain maintenance capability information of maintenance personnel, A system that holds information to be provided to maintenance personnel with maintenance capabilities and a wireless terminal carried by the maintenance personnel. When a failure is notified, maintenance close to the location of the failure is based on the location information of the maintenance personnel. It is described that an operator is selected (listing), the maintenance capability information of the selected maintenance worker is extracted, and the corresponding maintenance manual information is transmitted to the corresponding wireless terminal based on the extracted maintenance capability information of the maintenance worker. It is described that when a failure is notified, candidates are narrowed down according to the maintenance ability from maintenance personnel near the failure occurrence location, and corresponding maintenance / maintenance manual information is sent to the candidate. In addition, it is described that information is first extracted from maintenance personnel information having high maintenance capability information. In addition, it is described that information is transmitted to the next candidate maintenance staff when a response cannot be obtained from the destination wireless terminal.

JP 2002-203064 A

The above-mentioned conventional maintenance support system has the following problems.

In a conventional system, for example, when a failure state of a computer device such as a customer's server is detected by monitoring, a person in charge such as a maintenance staff is assigned to the site (the device Visit to the place where is installed and conduct maintenance. At that time, the maintenance staff is dispatched from the nearest base (maintenance base) to the site. The base is a place / facility or the like in which a maintenance staff is normally on standby for maintenance work. When the maintenance staff receives the instruction, the maintenance staff carries the maintenance parts necessary for the maintenance work from the nearest base, moves to the site, and performs the maintenance work.

However, if there is a shortage of maintenance personnel (maintenance personnel with appropriate skills for the required maintenance response) waiting at the above-mentioned bases, the required maintenance response may not be realized quickly. For example, there is a shortage of maintenance personnel waiting at some of the multiple locations, or the work is concentrated on some of the multiple maintenance personnel within the location. The load may be uneven. Conventional systems are insufficient in terms of work efficiency (maintenance support) and load distribution among a plurality of maintenance personnel and a plurality of bases.

In addition, it is preferable to have maintenance personnel with appropriate skills and languages in charge of appropriate maintenance of customer equipment. However, maintenance personnel with appropriate skills and languages are not always at the site. Therefore, there are cases where appropriate maintenance response and quick maintenance response cannot be realized. As for the skill, knowledge for recovery work of the target device (server, etc.) is required. As for language, communication (including conversation) with a customer may not be able to communicate well depending on the language (for example, different depending on the region) used by the customer.

Also, for example, in Patent Document 1, in determining the maintenance personnel who perform maintenance of equipment, the position and maintenance ability (skill level) of the maintenance personnel are considered as factors. As a result, the speed of maintenance response and the selection (in charge) of maintenance personnel appropriate in terms of capability are realized. However, considering these factors alone, the efficiency of work (maintenance correspondence) between a plurality of maintenance personnel and a plurality of bases, load distribution, and the like are insufficient.

In view of the above, the main objectives of the present invention are the appropriateness and speed of maintenance response (work), and the overall efficiency and load distribution of maintenance response (work) among multiple bases and multiple maintenance personnel. It is to provide technology that can be realized.

In order to achieve the above object, a representative form of the present invention is information processing related to operations and services such as maintenance support and help desk (customer support) for a customer computer system (computer equipment such as a server). A system (maintenance-compatible system), etc., having the following configuration.

This system has an information processing device having a function of determining a person in charge of maintenance of customer equipment from a plurality of maintenance personnel at a plurality of bases. The information processing apparatus includes a diagnosis unit and a DB that stores management information, and inputs maintenance request information from the outside, for example. Based on the management information or input information, the diagnosis unit diagnoses or confirms the state of the target customer's device, the contents and conditions of necessary maintenance, and the management information or input information. Based on the second process for diagnosing or confirming the latest status of a plurality of bases and a plurality of maintenance personnel, and the first and second processes, a plurality of A third process is performed for determining a matching of a person in charge or a candidate for a maintenance base from among a plurality of maintenance staff at the base. In the third process, as the first condition, as a necessary maintenance response condition, a maintenance person having necessary skills according to the state of the target customer's device is selected as the first candidate, and as the second condition, From one candidate, a maintenance worker at a location that is as close as possible to the target customer's equipment is selected as a second candidate, and as a third condition, maintenance work at a plurality of locations or a plurality of maintenance personnel is selected from the second candidate. In order to realize the load distribution, the maintenance staff at the site with the smallest possible load is selected as the third candidate.

According to a typical embodiment of the present invention, the appropriateness and speed of maintenance response (work), and the overall efficiency and load distribution of maintenance response (work) among a plurality of bases and maintenance personnel. realizable.

1 is a diagram showing an overall configuration of a system (maintenance support system) according to an embodiment of the present invention. It is a figure which shows the structural example of management information (DB) in the system of this Embodiment. It is a figure which shows the processing flow of a server (control part) in the system of this Embodiment. It is a figure which shows the processing flow of a diagnostic part in the system of this Embodiment. It is a figure which shows an example (image) of the relationship between a customer / equipment and a plurality of bases / maintenance personnel. (A), (b) is a figure which shows an example (image) of matching determination.

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. Note that components having the same function are denoted by the same reference symbols throughout the drawings for describing the embodiment, and the repetitive description thereof will be omitted. For the sake of explanation, symbols such as U: customer, C: equipment, K: base, H: maintenance personnel are used as appropriate.

<Summary>
The system of this embodiment (FIG. 1 and the like) has an efficient matching function including dynamic load distribution related to maintenance support (work). In this function, the maintenance personnel / bases in charge of maintenance of customer computer equipment are considered in consideration of factors such as maintenance staff skills and language, distance (position) to customer equipment, and overall load status. Match and decide. In particular, the determination is automatically made so that the work load is distributed among a plurality of maintenance personnel at a plurality of bases.

In this example, the target customer computer device is a fixed server, and an example of performing maintenance corresponding to a failure / error will be described.

[system]
FIG. 1 shows the overall configuration of the system according to the present embodiment. The entire system includes a center system 1, a customer system 2, a base (maintenance support base) 3, and a help desk system 4, which are

networks

5, 6 such as the Internet, a wireless network, or a dedicated line. It is connected.

(1) The center system 1 is a main control system part, and has a server 10 and management information (DB) 50. The server 10 includes a monitoring unit 11, a diagnosis unit 12, and an instruction unit 13 as processing units, and manages and reads / writes management information (DB) 50. Specifically, the diagnosis unit 12 includes a customer device diagnosis unit 12A, a base maintenance personnel diagnosis unit 12B, and a matching unit 12C. The management information (DB) 50 includes customer information 51, device information 52, base information 53, maintenance staff information 54, and maintenance correspondence information 55 in detail. A subsystem for managing each information (51 to 55) of the DB 50 may be provided (an existing subsystem may be used).

The monitoring unit 11 performs monitoring processing of the monitoring target device 21 in cooperation with the agent 22 of the monitoring target device 21 on the customer system 2 side. The monitoring unit 11 receives and records the monitoring information (a1) from the agent 22, and determines / detects a failure / error state or a load state of the device 21 from the contents of the monitoring information (a1).

The diagnosis unit 12 performs this characteristic diagnosis process (described later) based on the processing result of the monitoring unit 11 and the DB 50, and is in charge of maintenance for the target customer (U) / device 21 (C). Decide the base (K) and maintenance staff (H). The control content (such as an algorithm for matching determination) in the diagnosis unit 12 can be changed by setting (a4). For the setting (a4), for example, the setting person of the center system 1 selects an algorithm (determination method) on the setting Web page, and gives priority to parameter values (for example, distance (time), load distribution, etc., and a threshold for determination Etc.) is changed (described later).

Based on the processing result of the diagnosis unit 12 (which maintenance staff at which base is the person in charge of maintenance), the instructing unit 13 sends the instruction (a2) related to maintenance to the target base 3 (31, 32). ) And a process of acquiring information such as the status of the base and the maintenance staff from the maintenance support facility (31) and the portable terminal 32 of the maintenance staff.

(2) The customer system 2 is an information processing system used by a customer (U), for example, a business system built in a customer company, and has at least a customer computer device 21 (abbreviated as “device”). . The device 21 is a server or the like to be monitored and maintained by the center system 1, and is fixedly installed in the customer system 2. Note that the customer system 2 (device 21) is not limited to the above-mentioned customer company system, and may use a data center or the like. In this case, the equipment in the data center is subject to monitoring and maintenance.

In the device 21, business processing and the like are performed, and the agent 21 is activated. The agent 22 is realized by software program processing, for example. The agent 22 monitors the operation / state of the device 21 in cooperation with the monitoring unit 11. For example, the agent 22 issues monitoring information (a1) indicating the operation / state of the device 21 based on the setting information, and transmits it to the server 10 (monitoring unit 11) via the network 5. The agent 22 may be realized by a device different from the device 21 or a program process thereof. The monitoring information a1 includes, for example, information such as the ID, state, and position of the device 21. The transmission of the position information of the device 21 is not necessary when the position information is registered and managed in advance on the center system 1 side.

(3) Each of the plurality of bases 3 (K) is a geographical base where the maintenance staff (H) is on standby for maintenance work, and includes a maintenance equipment 31 and maintenance parts 33 (stock). Each maintenance staff (H) possesses the portable terminal 32 for business for maintenance. The maintenance support facility 31 receives the instruction (a2) from the center system 1 (instruction unit 13), and sends maintenance support instruction information corresponding to the instruction (a2) to the maintenance staff (H) in the base 3. On the other hand, it outputs (list display, notification, information transmission to the portable terminal 32 of the maintenance staff, etc.). When the maintenance staff (H) at the base 3 receives an instruction for maintenance, the maintenance staff (H) goes to the equipment 21 of the customer system 2 of the target customer (U) while holding the portable terminal 32 and the necessary maintenance parts 33 and handles maintenance. (A3).

The portable terminal 32 includes a maintenance-compatible business application, and a maintenance-response instruction (for example, designation of date and time, customer (U), device 21 (C), etc.) or specific work for maintenance is displayed on the screen. Information of contents and the like (for example, error locations, recovery procedures, detailed information, etc.) is displayed. In addition, the maintenance staff (H) can input the status of maintenance support (for example, incomplete / completed) on the screen of the mobile terminal 32 and can communicate the status to the base 3 (31), the center system 1, and the like. As a result, the center system 1 and the like can grasp the status such as incomplete / completed of the work in response to the maintenance work instruction.

In addition, it can be set as the form which abbreviate | omits the equipment 31 for a maintenance, and the portable terminal 32. In the case of omitting the maintenance support facility 31, the instruction (a 2) may be transmitted directly from the center system 1 to the mobile terminal 32.

(4) The help desk system 4 is a well-known system, connected to each element (1, 2, 3), and responds to inquiries from customers (U) via telephone or the Web, etc. Provide customer support related to maintenance while cooperating with the center system 1 and the base 3. Note that this system may have a form in which the help desk system 4 is eliminated, or a form in which the help desk system 4 and the center system 1 are integrated.

(12) In the diagnosis unit 12, the customer device diagnosis unit 12A performs necessary maintenance corresponding to the state of the customer (U) / device 21 side based on information such as an error state detected by the monitoring unit 11. Diagnose or check the contents (such as recovery work). Note that 12A is not necessary if the monitoring unit 11 has already diagnosed.

When the monitoring unit 11 detects an error state or the like, the site maintenance worker diagnosis unit 12B is in a current (real-time) state (for example, whether or not the site is in the site). Diagnose or confirm whether maintenance support is acceptable. The confirmation may be performed at any time. In particular, from the viewpoint of speeding up the maintenance response, it is preferable to acquire information from each base 3 in advance, check the latest situation, and hold necessary information.

Based on the processing results of 12A and 12B (confirmation of basic preconditions for matching), the matching unit 12C sets this characteristic maintenance correspondence matching determination process (described later) with a predetermined algorithm (a4) Possible). As a result, in order to support maintenance of the device 21 (C) of the customer (U), it is matched (decided) which maintenance staff at which of the plurality of bases (K) and maintenance staff (H) is in charge. ) As a result, a suitable person in charge including the overall work load distribution is determined.

[Management Information]
FIG. 2 shows a configuration example of the management information (DB) 50 (51 to 55). The management of the following information elements may be integrated and separated as appropriate. FIG. 5 shows a specific example of the value of each ID (U, C, K, H, etc.).

(51) The customer information 51 includes information on (a) customer ID, (b) area / region ID, (c) language, and (d) state.

(A) Customer ID is information for identifying the customer (U) or the customer system 2. For example, it is indicated by Ux. (B) Area / region ID is information for identifying an area / region where the customer system 2 (device 21) exists. For example, it is indicated by Rx. (C) The language is information for identifying a language (Japanese, English, etc.) used by the customer (U) or the customer system 2. For example, it is indicated by Wx. (D) The status indicates, for example, the presence or absence of a request for maintenance as the status of the customer (U).

(52) The device information 52 includes (a) device ID, (b) position, (c) configuration information / attribute information, (d) state, and information.

(A) The device ID is identification information of the device 21. For example, it is indicated by Cx. (B) The position is position information of the device 21 (for example, by GPS). For example, it is indicated by Lx. Note that the 51 b area (R) information and the 52 b position (L) information correspond to each other and may be replaced, or only one of them may be managed. The position information of b may be set in advance, or may be acquired as needed by the monitoring information (a1).

(C) Configuration information / attribute information is information indicating the configuration and attributes of the device 21 and includes, for example, information indicating that the type is a server, component component identification information, and the like. (D) The status includes a code indicating the normal state, failure / error, etc. of the device 21, information indicating the load status, information indicating whether maintenance support is necessary, and the like.

(53) The base information 53 includes information on (a) base ID, (b) area / region, (c) position, (d) maintenance personnel ID, and (e) status.

(A) The base ID is information for identifying the base 3. For example, it is indicated by K1. (B) Area / region ID is identification information of an area / region where the base 3 exists. Indicated by R1 and the like. (C) The position is position information (by GPS or the like) of the position where the base 3 exists. As described above, only one of R and L may be managed.

(D) Maintenance personnel ID is identification information of the maintenance personnel (H) related to the base 3 (K). For example, it is indicated by H1-1, H1-2, etc. In the present embodiment, (d) maintenance personnel ID indicates a plurality of maintenance personnel (H) belonging to the base 3 (basically waiting). (E) The status includes information such as the ID list of maintenance personnel (H) who are currently waiting at the base 3 and the number of people (m) waiting as the status of the base 3.

(54) The maintenance staff information 54 includes information on (a) maintenance staff ID, (b) skill, (c) language, (d) status, (e) charge, and (f) load. In addition, the position information (L) is included in the case where the position of the maintenance staff (mobile terminal 32) is managed by GPS or the like.

(A) The maintenance worker ID is identification information of the maintenance worker (H). For example, it is indicated by H1-1. (B) Skill is information indicating a skill set (ability) related to the maintenance response of the maintenance staff. For example, it is indicated by Sa. For example, the type of the equipment 21 that can be maintained, the knowledge of the equipment 21 and the skills related to the recovery work are shown. (C) The language indicates the language (Japanese, English, etc.) used by the maintenance staff. For example, it is indicated by Wa.

(D) The status is the latest status of the maintenance staff, whether the maintenance staff is waiting in the base (K) to which the maintenance staff belongs or is out of the base (K) (is at the nearest base or not) It is the information which shows the states. Alternatively, it is information indicating a state such as whether the maintenance staff currently has time for maintenance support (whether a new job can be accepted), whether the job is absent, or the like.

It should be noted that the relationship between the maintenance staff (H) and the base (K) basically belongs to a specific base, but a certain maintenance staff can stop (wait) at a plurality of bases. In that case, the information may be managed including which base (K) is waiting.

(E) The person in charge is information regarding the maintenance work (the unit managed in 55) that the maintenance staff is currently in charge of, and is indicated by a maintenance correspondence ID (P1 etc.).

(F) The load is a kind of state, but is information indicating the magnitude of the work load of the maintenance staff. For example, the load information may be managed by a level value such as large / medium / small, the number and amount of maintenance work (units managed by 55) handled by the maintenance staff, You may express by the number of times you are in charge.

The situation for each base (K) and the overall situation including a plurality of bases (K) can be understood by referring to the base information 53 and maintenance staff information 54.

(55) The maintenance support information 55 is information for managing individual maintenance support work, (a) maintenance support ID, (b) customer ID, (c) device ID, (d) status code, (e) Each item includes information on work contents, (f) necessary conditions, (g) charge, and (h) state. In addition, time information such as work due dates may be managed.

(A) The maintenance correspondence ID is information for identifying the maintenance correspondence job. For example, it is indicated by P1. (B) The customer ID is identification information indicating the customer (U) who is the target of the maintenance correspondence (P). (C) The device ID is identification information of the device 21 (C) that is a work target of the maintenance correspondence (P). (D) The status code is a code indicating a status such as a failure / error of the device 21 (C), and corresponds to the status d of 52. (E) The work content is information indicating the work content of the maintenance correspondence (P), for example, information indicating a work procedure such as recovery according to the status code of d. The information is provided to the portable terminal 32 of the maintenance staff (H) and used as guide information.

(F) Necessary conditions indicate necessary conditions related to the maintenance correspondence (P), and include, for example, necessary maintenance parts (such as b1), necessary skills (such as Sa), and necessary languages (such as Wa). . The necessary maintenance parts (b1 and the like) are replacement parts necessary for the maintenance correspondence (P), and the maintenance parts 33 provided in the base 3 are used. The necessary skill (Sa or the like) indicates the skill of the maintenance staff (H) required for the maintenance response (P). The necessary language (Wa or the like) indicates a language required for communication with the customer (U) or operation of the device 21 in the maintenance correspondence (P). Note that the language (W) may be a recommended condition instead of a necessary condition. The language (W) may be managed by being included in the concept of the skill (S).

(G) The person in charge is the identification information (K1, H1-1, etc.) of the base (K) and the maintenance person (H) who is in charge of the maintenance response (P). (H) The status includes incomplete / completed as the status of the maintenance response (P).

[Concrete example]
FIG. 5 shows an example of the relationship between a customer (U) / device (C) and a plurality of bases (K) / maintenance personnel (H). In the area Rx (position Lx), there is the customer system 2 / device 21 (Cx) of the target customer Ux. For the maintenance response (P1) related to the error state (001) of the device Cx, the necessary part is b1, the necessary skill is Sa, and the usage language (necessary language) of the customer Ux is Wa.

As a plurality of bases 3 (K), for example, there are K1, K2, and K3, and areas R (positions L) are R1 (L1), R2 (L2), and R3 (L3), respectively. The distances (referred to as E) to the area Rx (Lx) on the customer Ux / device Cx side are defined as E1, E2, and E3.

The base K1 has H1-1, H1-2, etc. as the maintenance personnel to which it belongs. For example, the H1-1 is on standby, the H1-2 is out, and the standby number (m) in K1 is 1. is there. The base K2 has H2-1, H2-2, etc. as maintenance personnel to which it belongs, for example, all are on standby, and the number of standby persons (m) in K2 is 2. The base K3 has H3-1, H3-2, H3-3, etc. as maintenance personnel to which it belongs, for example, all of them are on standby, and the number of people waiting in K3 (m) is 3.

[Process (1)]
FIG. 3 shows a processing example of the server (control unit) 10 in this system (s1 and the like indicate processing steps).

(S0) First, as a premise (trigger), as described above, the monitoring unit 11 determines and detects the state of failure / error of the target customer (U) side device 21 (C) from the monitoring information a1, The information is reflected in the customer information 51 and the device information 52 of the DB 50. Alternatively, a maintenance request is received from the help desk system 4 as another trigger.

(S1) The customer device diagnosis unit 12A uses the information from the monitoring unit 11 of s0 (eg, customer ID, device ID, error status code, etc.) and DB50 (51, 52) as the target customer ( U)-Diagnose or confirm the state of the device (C), the required maintenance (P) work contents and necessary conditions (required maintenance parts, required skills, required language, etc.) according to the state, and check the DB50 ( The maintenance information 55 etc. is reflected. For example, 55 values a to f are stored.

(S2) The site maintenance staff diagnosis unit 12B, based on the information from the monitoring unit 11 of s0 and the DB 50 (53, 54), each of the target (candidate) sites (K) and maintenance personnel (H) The current (latest) state (whether waiting in the base 3 or whether maintenance support can be accepted, etc.) is diagnosed or confirmed, and processing to reflect in the DB 50 (53, 54) is performed.

(S3) Based on the result information (DB50) of s1 and s2, the matching unit 12C performs maintenance on the customer (U) / equipment (C) side and the base (K) / maintenance staff (H) side (P ) Matching determination process (FIG. 4).

(S4) The diagnosis unit 12 selects and determines a predetermined number (for example, one person) of bases (K) and maintenance staff (H) who actually take charge of the maintenance response (P) from the candidate results of s3, Processing to reflect in DB50 (55 etc.) is performed. For example, 55 g values are stored. When selecting a predetermined number of people in s4, an appropriate method such as random or round robin can be used. Note that if the result of s3 has already been narrowed down to one candidate, s4 may be unnecessary. It should be noted that the number of persons in charge can be set to a plurality of persons instead of one according to the target job (P).

(S5) The instruction unit 13 includes the work contents of maintenance correspondence (P) to the corresponding base (K) / maintenance staff (H) (corresponding equipment 31 and portable terminal 32) according to the result of s4 (DB50). Processing to transmit the instruction (a2) is performed. Thereby, maintenance correspondence (a3) is implemented by the person in charge according to the instruction (a2).

[Process (2)]
FIG. 4 shows a processing example of the matching unit 12C (s3 in FIG. 3) of the diagnosis unit 12. Based on the processing result information (DB50) of 12A and 12B in FIG. 3, the matching unit 12C performs maintenance support on the customer (U) / equipment (C) side and the base (K) / maintenance staff (H) side. Matching determination processing is performed by a predetermined algorithm (based on setting a4). This determination is roughly divided into a first condition determination (s3-1), a second condition determination (s3-2), and a third condition determination (s3-3). Thereby, for maintenance support (P) of the device 21 (C) of the target customer (U), which maintenance staff (K) of which base (K) among the plurality of bases (K) and maintenance staff (H) ( H) is determined whether or not to be in charge (candidate), and the determined information is reflected in the DB 50 (e in 54, g in 55, etc.).

(S3-1) First condition determination: First, as a basic condition (necessary condition), the maintenance-ready work is currently in a state where it can be accepted, and a skill that can deal with an error or the like of the target device (C) ( S), and the first candidate is extracted from the viewpoint of using the same language (W) as the target customer (U).

(S401) In s401, the matching unit 12C has the necessary skill (S) and the necessary language (W) for the target maintenance work (P) as the first condition, and has a base (K) instead of a holiday. From the DB 50, the maintenance personnel (H) and the corresponding bases (K) satisfying the first condition, which are in a waiting state, etc., are in a state where there is a time vacancy for the job (P) at that time and can be accepted from the DB 50. This is extracted by searching, and this is set as the first candidate.

(S3-2) Second condition determination: Next, in s3-2, determination is made from the viewpoint of distance (in other words, time), and the second candidate is narrowed down from the first candidate. Those satisfying the second condition that the distance (E) between the device (C) of the target customer (U) and the base (K) of the maintenance staff (H) are as close as possible are set as second candidates. That is, the time required for the maintenance person (H) to move to the site is selected to be short.

(S402) In s402, it is determined whether the first candidate maintenance staff (H) as a result of s401 is a maintenance staff related to the same base (K). If it is the same site (s402-Y), the determination of s403 is unnecessary, so that the maintenance staff is set as the second candidate and the process proceeds to s3-3.

(S403) In s403, the area R (or position L) of the plurality of bases (K) related to the plurality of maintenance personnel (H) of the first candidate, and the device 21 (C) of the target customer (U) Area R (or position L) is confirmed (information on area R or position L of 51 to 54 in DB 50 may be referred to). Here, the determination is made in area R.

Then, for each candidate, the distance E between the areas R of the customer (U) / equipment (C) side and the base (K) / maintenance staff (H) side is determined. Here, the distance E is determined by a range F divided by a predetermined length (for example, every 5 km). Then, the base (K) with the closest distance E (range F) and the corresponding maintenance staff (H) are extracted (selected) and set as the second candidate.

(S3-3) Third Condition Judgment: Next, in s3-3, work for maintenance in the whole range including multiple bases (K) and multiple maintenance personnel (H) managed by the center system 1 From the viewpoint of efficiency and load distribution, the second candidate is narrowed down to be the third candidate. The number of waiting persons is secured in each base (K) and work is not concentrated on specific maintenance personnel (H).

(S404) In s404, it is determined whether the work (P) load state at the second candidate site (K) / maintenance staff (H) as a result of s3-2 is substantially the same. When the load state is substantially the same (s404-Y), the determination after s405 is unnecessary, and the maintenance personnel is set as the third candidate, and the process proceeds to the end of s3-3.

(S405) In s405, for each one (optional) maintenance staff (referred to as Hi) in the second candidate maintenance staff (H), the number of standby persons (referred to as Ki) corresponding to the maintenance staff Hi (referred to as Ki) Check m). That is, assuming that the maintenance staff Hi is in charge of maintenance support (P), the number of persons (m−1) obtained by subtracting the maintenance staff Hi from the current waiting number (m) of the base Ki is seen. It is determined whether or not the assumed number of standby persons is secured by a predetermined number (for example, 1) or more. This is because, from the viewpoint of efficiency and load distribution, it is desirable to secure a standby number of persons equal to or greater than a predetermined number in order to receive maintenance work at the base Ki. If the above cannot be secured (s405-N), the maintenance staff Hi is excluded from candidates in s406.

(S407) In s407, it is confirmed for each maintenance candidate (Hi) of the second candidate whether the work load for maintenance is too large. That is, when it is assumed that the maintenance worker Hi is in charge of this maintenance work (P), the maintenance worker Hi is too concentrated, or the maintenance worker Hi receives the work continuously several times. For example, a state where the load is large is determined as an undesirable state. For example, referring to the load information (54 f) of the maintenance staff in the DB 50, the load level and the like are compared with a threshold value for determination. When the load is high (s407-Y), the maintenance staff Hi is excluded from candidates in s408. A state in which the load of some maintenance personnel is large as described above is not desirable from the viewpoint of overall efficiency and load distribution, and is excluded here.

(S409) In s409, the load distribution of the maintenance work at the second candidate site (K) / maintenance staff (H) (a state where the number of waiting persons is sufficiently secured and the load is not too high) is determined. For example, a base (K) / maintenance worker (H) having the smallest load is selected from a plurality of candidates, and this is set as the third candidate. Since the person in charge is finally determined in s4, a plurality of candidates may be selected.

For example, when there is a plurality of bases K included in the same range F (same distance E) as the determination of load distribution in units of bases K, the base K with the smallest load (corresponding maintenance staff H) among them. Select.

For example, when there are a plurality of maintenance personnel H in the same range F or base K as a determination of load distribution in units of maintenance personnel H, the maintenance personnel H having the smallest load is selected.

If there is no corresponding candidate in the third determination (s3-3) (s410-Y), for example, the process returns to the second determination (s3-2), and the next candidate (those with the next closest distance) is considered in terms of distance. ) And start over (repeat the same process).

The above-described matching determination algorithm (FIG. 4) is a case in which the charge (candidate) is determined in consideration of the distance (second condition) first and then the load distribution (third condition). is there. Not limited to this, it is also possible to reverse the priority order and determine the charge (candidate) in consideration of the load distribution (third condition) first and then the distance (second condition). is there. Furthermore, whether to assign priority (candidate) with priority given to distance (time) or load distribution viewpoints (conditions and effects) can be variably controlled by setting (a4), instruction input, state detection, or the like. Good. For example, when it is detected that the state of the target device 21 is serious, or when the customer (U) requests immediate help from the help desk (4), the distance is determined first. If this is not the case, it may be decided to prioritize load balancing.

[Judgment example]
FIG. 6 shows an example of matching determination by the diagnosis unit 12. The ID value in FIG. 6 corresponds to the example in FIG. FIG. 6A shows a first example, and FIG. 6B shows a second example. An asterisk indicates a candidate selected in the matching determination.

Each base K1, K2, K3 is a case where it becomes far from the area Rx (Lx) of the customer Ux (Cx) in the order of the above-mentioned distances E1, E2, E3. As a method for determining the distance E between the customer U side and the base K side, a method for determining the distance between the areas R is used, but a method for determining the distance between the positions L may be used. Furthermore, as a determination method of the distance E, a method of calculating the distance E in detail may be used. In the present embodiment, the distance E is divided into a predetermined range (F), and the distance division range F is a unit. A method for determining as follows is used.

In FIG. 6A, regarding the determination of the distance E, the bases K1 (E1) and K2 (E2) are included in the range F1, the base K3 (E3) is included in the range F2, and F1 (K1, K2) is closer than F2 (K3). As in FIG. 5, it is assumed that maintenance personnel H (H1-1 to H3-3) are present in each base K. Further, it is assumed that all of these maintenance personnel have a skill Sa and a language Wa for maintenance correspondence (P1) of the device Cx. Also, as the load state of each maintenance person H, H1-1 in K1, H2-2 in K2, and H3-3 in K3 are heavy, and H2-1 in K2, H3-1 in K3 , H3-2 is assumed to have a small load.

According to the control process described above (FIG. 4), in the first example of FIG. 6A, the first candidates are the six persons (H1-1 to H3-3) shown in the figure who have the necessary skills Sa and the like. The second candidates are three persons (H1-1, H2-1, H2-2) corresponding to F1 having a short distance E (range F). The third candidate is H2-1 (one person) corresponding to the condition with the smallest load state in F1.

If priority is given to the distance E rather than the load in the range F1 (up to the second determination), H1-1 in K1 is applicable, but if H1-1 is in charge, Since the number of waiting in K1 is 0, it is determined as NG (exclusion). Therefore, H2-1 in K2 is OK (third candidate) because the load is small.

In FIG. 6B, the state is almost the same as that in FIG. 6A, but both the loads H2-1 and H2-2 in K2 are in a large load state. Similarly, by the control process described above (FIG. 4), the first candidates are six persons (H1-1 to H3-3) shown in the figure. The second candidates are initially three persons (H1-1, H2-1, H2-2) corresponding to F1 having a short distance E (range F). However, since both of these load states are large, the second candidate is determined again as NG, and three persons (H3-1 to H3-3) corresponding to the next closest range F2 are obtained. The third candidates are H3-1 and H3-2 (two people) that meet the condition with the smallest load in the range F2. For example, H2-1 in K2 is close, but the load is large, so it is NG, and even if it is a little far away, H3-1 etc. with a small load is OK (third candidate). As described above, in the second example, an algorithm that prioritizes load distribution over distance is used.

[Effects]
As described above, according to the system of the present embodiment, skills (S) / languages (W), customers (U) / equipment (C) in a plurality of bases (K) / maintenance personnel (H) The ability to determine the matching of maintenance work (P) taking into account the distance (E) and dynamic load distribution, etc., the appropriateness and speed of maintenance work, and multiple locations (K) -Overall efficiency and load distribution among multiple maintenance personnel (H) can be realized.

As mentioned above, the invention made by the present inventor has been specifically described based on the embodiment. However, the present invention is not limited to the embodiment, and various modifications can be made without departing from the scope of the invention. Needless to say. The following is given as a modification of the embodiment.

(1) In the above processing example (FIG. 4), the distance is determined as the second condition and the load distribution is determined as the third condition. However, based on the setting (a4) and the like, only the first condition and the second condition are used. The candidate / charge may be determined, or the candidate / charge may be determined only by the first condition and the third condition.

(2) If the customer (U) / equipment (C) that is the subject of the maintenance correspondence (P) job is the same as the previous (past), the previous (past) ) May be determined to be the same person in charge. In this case, there is a possibility that the load on the maintenance staff who becomes the person in charge may increase, but for example, by distributing the load so that other maintenance staff is in charge of the subsequent work, the load on the maintenance staff is suppressed. . For example, the past processing information is stored as a history in the center system 1 (DB 50), and the above processing is realized by referring to the history information at the time of matching.

(3) Once the person in charge (maintenance personnel H, base K) is determined in the matching judgment, if the person in charge becomes inconvenient and the maintenance response cannot be implemented, repeat the procedure except for the maintenance personnel. It may be determined by performing a matching determination or selecting from other candidates held in order.

(4) The language (W) or the like may be determined as a recommended condition instead of being determined as an essential condition. For example, the candidate is determined with the skill S or the like as an indispensable condition or priority condition and the language W as a recommended condition (considering as much as possible the same as the language W of the customer U). If the candidate maintenance staff H is not the same as the language W of the customer U, for example, a plurality of persons in charge are determined so that another person who is the same as the language W of the customer U is accompanied. By setting (a4), not only distance priority and load distribution priority but also skill priority and language priority can be set similarly.

(5) Although it is a simplified form in terms of control, it is possible to decide a single base K to be assigned as a rough unit, rather than determining the maintenance person H who will be the individual person in charge. It is. After the assigned base K is determined, it is arbitrarily handled in the assigned base K (a plurality of maintenance personnel H).

(6) Regarding the determination of the distance of the second condition, the distance information and the time information may be related to each other and managed in the DB 50. In this case, the determination of the distance under the second condition is a time determination directly. In other words, the shortest travel time from the base K / maintenance staff H side to the customer U / equipment C side is the candidate.

The present invention can be used for a help desk system, an integrated monitoring system, and the like.

Claims

A maintenance system that performs information processing related to maintenance work for customer equipment,
An information processing apparatus having a function of determining a person in charge of maintenance of the customer's equipment from a plurality of maintenance staff at a plurality of bases;
The information processing apparatus includes a diagnosis unit and a DB that stores management information.
The information processing apparatus inputs the maintenance request information from the outside,
The diagnostic unit
A first process for diagnosing or confirming the state of the target customer's device, the contents and conditions of necessary maintenance, based on the management information or input information;
A second process for diagnosing or confirming the latest state of a plurality of bases and a plurality of maintenance personnel based on the management information or the input information;
Based on the first and second processes, in order to support maintenance of the target customer's equipment, a person in charge or a maintenance staff at a candidate site is selected from among a plurality of maintenance staff at the plurality of bases. And a third process for determining matching,
In the third process,
As a first condition, as a condition for the necessary maintenance, a maintenance person having a necessary skill according to the state of the target customer's equipment is selected as a first candidate,
As a second condition, from the first candidate, a maintenance staff at a base as close as possible to the target customer's device is selected as a second candidate,
As a third condition, from among the second candidates, a maintenance staff at a base with as little load as possible is selected as a third candidate so that the load distribution of maintenance work at a plurality of bases or a plurality of maintenance staff is realized. A maintenance support system characterized by
The maintenance support system according to claim 1,
In the third process of the diagnosis unit, as the first condition, a maintenance person having a necessary language corresponding to the language of the customer is selected as a first candidate as the necessary maintenance response condition. Maintenance compatible system.
The maintenance support system according to claim 1,
In the third process of the diagnostic unit, when determining the second condition, information on the area or position where the target customer's device exists and information on the area or position where the maintenance staff base exists And determining the distance between the two or the distance classification range.
The maintenance support system according to claim 1,
In the third process of the diagnosis unit, a maintenance support system is characterized in that, when the third condition is determined, a candidate whose number of standby persons at a base is not ensured more than a predetermined number is excluded from candidates.
The maintenance support system according to claim 1,
In the third process of the diagnosis unit, when determining the third condition, the maintenance support system is configured to determine a load state of the maintenance staff and to exclude a too heavy load from candidates. .
The maintenance support system according to claim 1,
Based on the setting or input, in the third process of the diagnosis unit, the person in charge or the person in charge of the second condition is prioritized by the distance of the second condition and the load distribution of the third condition. A maintenance support system characterized by determining candidates.
The maintenance support system according to claim 1,
Based on the setting or input, in the third process of the diagnostic unit, the person in charge or the person in charge of the load distribution of the third condition is prioritized by the distance of the second condition and the load distribution of the third condition. A maintenance support system characterized by determining the candidate.
The maintenance support system according to claim 1,
The information processing apparatus includes a monitoring unit and an instruction unit.
The monitoring unit monitors the state and position of the customer's equipment and performs a process of detecting a state requiring maintenance,
The instruction unit, based on the processing result of the diagnostic unit, a process of transmitting instruction information for maintenance to a facility of a maintenance staff base serving as the person in charge or a portable terminal of the maintenance staff, and the facility or mobile A maintenance-compatible system, characterized in that processing for acquiring the status of maintenance personnel at the base from a terminal is performed.