JP4262655B2 - Workflow system and workflow system management method - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a workflow system, and more particularly to a workflow system that advances an approval process of each process and a notification of completion in accordance with a defined order.

  Conventionally, a large number of persons in charge are usually involved in the progress of business in a company. Specifically, for example, one person in charge processes a predetermined process in a certain work, then hands over the work to the next person in charge, and the next person in charge processes the next process following the above process. To do. One operation is completed by repeating this. In addition, one work may be constituted by a plurality of operations.

A workflow system has been introduced as means for managing the progress of each process in such a predetermined work. A workflow system used for approval of a predetermined project is sometimes called groupware. For example, if a plan requires approval by the supervisor, the sales manager, section manager, department manager, and president are asked for approval using a circulation using a computer network. If there is no problem, the plan is approved (executed) ). In addition, when managing the progress of work, each person in charge handles the “part of work”, that is, the process, and when the process is delivered to the next person in charge Notification) etc. as the progress status. By this input, the next person in charge can process the next process, and the progress of the entire work is managed.
JP-A-9-138824

  The conventional workflow system is intended only for relatively simple work, but when the scale is large, complicated work, that is, work exists. Here, an operation constituted by a plurality of processes sequentially processed by a plurality of persons in charge is defined as work. Furthermore, it is defined that a plurality of operations including processes related to each other constitute a business. Here, “related to each other” means that a process constituting one work and a process constituting another work are related.

  An example of the above work is shown in FIG. The work 1301 includes a plurality of works (work 1 to work 4), and each work is performed in parallel by a plurality of persons in charge (persons A to I). The operation 1 includes a plurality of steps (steps 1A to 1C).

  In such a case, if approval (process) or work completion notification (process) is performed independently for each work in the workflow system, approval or waste of work may occur in some cases.

  That is, one task 1301 is approved as a task only after all persons in charge are approved or all tasks are completed. For example, there may be a case where the work 1 is not approved or completed by the person in charge G even though the work 1 is smoothly approved or completed by the persons in charge A to C. In such a case, the job 1301 is not approved as a result. Accordingly, there arises a problem that the approval process by the persons in charge A, B, C, D, E, F, H, and I or work that has not been completed is wasted.

  Specifically, for example, when a request for new product development (permission) and a request for shipment of the sample are made at the same time, the development of the new product is performed even though the processing for the sample shipment preparation has been completed. If not allowed, all work on the sample is wasted.

  The present invention has been proposed based on the above-described conventional circumstances, and an object of the present invention is to provide a workflow system and a management method for managing a progress situation without waste even in a task including a plurality of operations.

  The present invention employs the following means in order to achieve the above object. That is, the present invention is premised on a workflow system that manages the progress of work consisting of a plurality of processes that are sequentially processed by a plurality of persons in charge.

In such a workflow system, definition information storage means, the type of work, the respective steps constituting the work, a person in charge of processing the process, the pre-associated workflow definition information and the order of the steps Remember.

  By transmitting the input screen to the terminal of the person in charge and receiving the content input on the input screen, the request accepting means accepts a plurality of operations including processes related to each other as one business.

The person-in-charge determining means assigns a business identifier to one business accepted by the request accepting means, and defines the person in charge who processes each process of the work and the order of the relevant work for each work constituting the work. Decide based on information. Furthermore, the workflow information storage means includes a plurality of work received by the request accepting means and a person who processes each process of the work determined by the person-in-charge determination means and the order of the process based on the work identifier and the work Is stored as workflow information, which is information in which a plurality of tasks constituting the task are associated with the current process state of each task and the current person in charge. Further, the process accepting means receives the contents of the process when the person in charge processes the process constituting one work, and also stores the work stored in the workflow information storage means based on the received contents. Update the current process status. Then, the process permission means permits the process of each process by updating the current process state and the current person in charge of each work stored in the workflow information storage means.

Subsequently, when the content of the process of the process constituting one work is received by the process accepting means, the determination means, based on the workflow definition information and the workflow information, another work having the same work identifier as the work. It is determined whether or not the other processes associated with the same order as the processed processes have already been completed. Furthermore, the order of each process memorize | stored in the definition information memory | storage means is matched with the same order with the first process of all the operations. Then, when the processing content is received by the processing accepting means, the received processing content is the content indicating “completion” of the process, and in the same order as the process in which the determining means is processed. Only when it is determined that all other associated steps have been completed, the process permission means permits the processing of the steps associated with the next order for all the operations that constitute the task. When the processing content is received by the processing accepting means, and the received processing content indicates “uncontinuation” of the work to which the process belongs, the processing permitting means determines that the work to which the work belongs Stop all progress on.

  From the above, when a person in charge performs a process (judgment) that must interrupt the execution of a task in a certain process, other processes that become unnecessary as a result have been performed in advance. It becomes possible to prevent problems before they occur.

  In addition, as a configuration for granting permission, there is a configuration in which, in response to an inquiry from a person in charge, the process reception unit transmits a processing screen only when the process of the process corresponding to the inquiry is permitted. .

  In this configuration, the person in charge cannot obtain a screen of a process that is not permitted, and as a result, a process that is not permitted cannot be performed.

  If the process of the process by the person in charge is a process that prohibits the continuation of the work, the process permission unit stops all progress for the work, and the work itself ends.

  The process in the above process includes a work approval process, a work completion notification process, and the like. The work completion notification process includes a notification of completion of reception, reply, arrival, delivery, and the like.

  Here, the workflow system can be embodied using a computer. In that case, each means described above excluding the storage means is embodied by operating a program on a computer. Further, the storage means is embodied by an HDD (Hard Disk Drive) or various memories.

  In the workflow system according to the present invention, the person in charge of each process for each work and the order of the processes are determined, and when each process is processed, whether or not a process corresponding to another work has been performed. If it is not done, the progress of the work is stopped. As a result, when one person in charge performs a process (judgment) that must interrupt the execution of the work, the problem that other processes that become unnecessary as a result have been performed in advance has occurred. It becomes possible to prevent.

  Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings for understanding of the present invention. In addition, the following embodiment is an example which actualized this invention, Comprising: It is not the thing of the character which limits the technical scope of this invention. Further, in the workflow system according to the present invention, as shown in FIG. 1, a terminal 101, an application server 102, and a DB (database) server 103 are connected to each other via a network. For example, the application server 102 and the DB server 103 may be provided on the same computer.

(Embodiment 1)
Hereinafter, processing of the workflow system according to the first embodiment of the present invention will be described.

  FIG. 1 is a schematic functional block diagram of the terminal 101, the application server 102, and the DB server 103 constituting the workflow system 100. The processing of each unit will be described later.

  FIG. 2 is a schematic configuration diagram of an application server. A CPU (Central Processing Unit) 201, a RAM (Random Access Memory) 202, a ROM (Read Only Memory) 203, an HDD 204, and a network I / F (interface) 205 are included. They are connected via an internal bus 206. The CPU 201 operates as each unit shown in FIG. 1 by using, for example, the RAM 202 as a work area and executing a program stored in the ROM 203, the HDD 204, or the like. The network I / F 205 is connected to a network and can exchange data with other devices. Further, the configurations of the terminal 101 and the DB server 103 are the same as those of the application server 102, and different processes can be executed because the stored programs are different.

  FIG. 3 shows an example of the system configuration of the workflow system 100. A plurality of requester terminals 101 (person-in-charge terminals 113), an application server 102, and a DB server 103 can communicate with each other via a network such as the Internet 301 or an intranet 302. It is connected. Further, before the requester terminal 101 or the person-in-charge terminal 113 communicates with the application server 102, for example, the authentication system 303 authenticates a user (person in charge) who uses the person-in-charge terminal 113. Details are omitted because they are not related.

Next, processing in the workflow system 100 will be described. For the sake of understanding, the work processed below is specifically referred to as “work related to the next model of mobile phone”. In this business, a client who is in charge of sales registers the following four related operations, that is, four workflows as one business.
Work 1. Asked the Mobile Phone Division to develop a new mobile phone,
Work 2. Furthermore, the accounting department is requested to finalize the sales price of the mobile phone.
Work 3. In addition, request 3 sample products to be distributed to the customer.
Work 4. Also request one copy of the English version of the mobile phone manual and one copy of the Japanese version for distribution to the customer.

  First, as shown in FIG. 7, a requester who is a sales representative performs a request process for registering a business using the requester terminal 101. At this time, in the requester terminal 101, the requester activates a request input unit (request screen) installed in the terminal on the terminal or requests the request input unit from the application server 102 to acquire the request screen. (FIG. 7: S701). Here, it is assumed that it is acquired from the application server 102.

  In this case, the request accepting unit 105 uses, as a request input unit 104, a script that can be operated as a program, which is stored in advance in, for example, the workflow definition information storage unit 107 in the DB server 103 based on the requester's instruction. 101 (FIG. 7: S702 → S703). The request input unit 104 is executed by the client terminal 101, and a request input screen 900 shown in FIG. 9 is displayed on a display unit such as a display of the client terminal 101, for example.

  The request input screen 900 includes a requester name 901 that is the name of a user who uses the requester terminal 101 (here, “Ito”), and a requester code that can uniquely identify the requester. 902 and a work deadline 903 composed of a plurality of operations are displayed to be inputable.

  In addition, an item of a work type 905 that is a work constituting the business is provided. Here, the work type 905 includes a sample 906, technical data 907, price approval 908, and new product development 909, and the requester can select a plurality of work types desired to be requested.

  Here, the sample 906 is a request for sending a predetermined sample to a predetermined location. When the sample 906 is selected, the lower “sample request” item can be input. In the “sample request” item, for example, a sample name 910, a sample product number 911, a quantity 912, a specified delivery date 913 that is a delivery date of the sample, a shipping destination 914 of the sample, and the like can be input (selected). This processing corresponds to the above “operation 3.”.

  The technical document 907 is a request for sending the technical document to the client, for example. When the technical document 907 is selected, the “technical document” item in the lower row can be input. In the “technical data” item, for example, technical data name 920, technical data No. It is possible to input (select) the number 921, English document quantity 922, Japanese document quantity 923, and the like. This processing corresponds to the above “operation 4.”.

  Further, the price approval 908 is a request to a department in charge of product approval, for example. When the price approval 908 is selected, the lower “price approval” item can be input. In the “price approval” item, for example, the department 930 in charge, the product name 931, the cost 932 of the product, the delivery number 933, and the like can be input (selected). This processing corresponds to the above “operation 2.”.

  Furthermore, the new product development 909 is, for example, a request for permission to develop a new product. When the new product development 909 is selected, the lower “new product development” item can be input. In the “new product development” item, for example, the request department 940 and the request details 941 can be input (selected). This processing corresponds to the above “operation 1.”.

  Note that the work types and the contents of each item are merely examples, and the work types and items to be managed by the workflow system may be provided by the system. In the present invention, it is possible to mix a plurality of work types in one job.

  In the present embodiment, as shown in the request input screen 900, the client name 901: “Ito”, the client code 902: “IT0045”, and the business deadline 903: “2004/12/10” are input. It is assumed that the sample 906, the technical data 907, the price decision 908, and the new product development 909 are all selected as the work type 905.

  Further, the “sample request” item includes sample name 910: “mobile phone”, sample product number 911: “MBP228”, quantity 912: “3”, designated delivery date 913: “2005/2/1”, and shipping destination 914: It is assumed that “Sales Section 2” has been entered.

  Also, in the “technical data” item, the technical data name 920: “mobile phone manual”, technical data No. 921: “MBPEXP228”, quantity (English) 922: “1”, quantity (Japanese) 923: “1” are input.

  Furthermore, in the “price approval” item, the department in charge 930: “Accounting Department”, product name 931: “mobile phone”, cost 932: “10000 yen”, delivery quantity 933: “2000” are entered. And

  Furthermore, in the “new product development” item, the request department 940: “mobile phone division” and the request details 941: “request for development permission of a small mobile phone of 120 g or less.” To do.

  The requester inputs the above items as necessary, and the requester presses the input button 950, so that the request content is received by the request receiving means 105 (FIG. 7: S705 → S706).

  When the request accepting means 105 receives the request content, the person-in-charge determining means 106 assigns the work No. to the received work. (Here, for example, “A00101”), and based on the workflow definition information stored in the workflow definition information storage means 107, each work constituting the business (sample, technical data, price decision, new product development) Then, the person in charge who performs the process of each process constituting the work and the order of the process are determined (FIG. 7: S707).

  Here, the details of the processing of the person-in-charge determining means 106 will be specifically described. An example of the workflow definition information is shown in FIG. In the workflow definition information 401 illustrated in FIG. 4, a work type 402, additional information 406, a process 403, an order 404, and a person in charge 405 are stored.

  The work type 402 is an item that clearly indicates what kind of work, and corresponds to the work type 905 described above. The work types shown here are examples, and various work types are prepared according to the work.

  The additional information 406 stores information that can identify the department in charge of the corresponding work type. For example, even if the work type is “sample”, the department in charge (management department) varies depending on the type of sample. For example, which work type is “sample” based on the input request content and the additional information 406. It is specified. In other words, the sample 411 and the sample 415 have completely different persons in charge described later. Therefore, even if the work types constituting the business are the same, the workflow flow control is completely different.

  For example, the sample 411 is selected from the sample name 910: “mobile phone” and the sample product number 911: “MBP228”. Similarly, technical data 412, new product development 413, and price approval 414 are selected based on the contents of the request.

  The process 403 describes the contents of the process that is performed when the work type is selected. For example, the process contents corresponding to “sample” are “reception”, “answer”, “arrival”, “shipment”. However, this is not always necessary when the workflow system manages only a single type of processing.

  The order 404 indicates the order in which the above processing contents are performed. The person in charge 405 is the name of the person in charge who performs the above process.

  In the above example, the person-in-charge determination unit 106 automatically determines the work type based on the workflow definition information 401 and the contents of the request input. For example, the request reception unit 105 requests the workflow definition information 401 as a list. The requester terminal 101 may directly transmit the work type to the requester terminal 101.

  The person-in-charge and the order of steps determined by the person-in-charge determining means 106 are stored in the workflow master information storage means 108 of the DB server 103 as, for example, the workflow master information 500 shown in FIG. 5A (FIG. 7: S708). At this time, in addition to the above, each item input on the request input screen 900 is stored in the workflow master information 500. Although it is stored as workflow master information for explanation, it is not necessarily stored as workflow master information. For example, when workflow definition information is referred to each time workflow information described later is updated, the workflow master information is It is unnecessary.

  Further, for the sake of understanding, an image of the workflow master information shown in FIG. 5A is shown in FIG. 5B. As shown in the image, the work (A00101) 501 is composed of operations “sample”, “technical data”, “new product development”, and “price approval”, and at least one person for each process constituting each operation. The person in charge is registered. For example, the person in charge of each process of the sample has the process “reception” in the order “1” as “Tanaka”, the process “answer” in the order “4” as “Suzuki”, the process “arrival” in the order “5”, and the order “ The process “issue” of “7” is both “Kobayashi”. Naturally, this content corresponds to the sample 411 of the workflow definition information 401. In addition, the number attached | subjected before each process means the order of a process. The “-” sign means that there is no person in charge.

  As can be seen from FIG. 5B above, in the present embodiment, each selected work is “accepted” for each work, and then “answer” and “approval” for “new product development” are performed. Is called. After the approval of “new product development”, the work of “sample” and “technical document” is performed in parallel, and the “price approval” “ Assume that the “response” needs to be done. Such a condition is determined based on the order 404 of the workflow definition information 401.

  Furthermore, the person-in-charge determining means 106 creates the workflow information A shown in FIG. 6 and stores it in the workflow information storage means 109 in the DB server 103 (FIG. 7: S709 → S710). The workflow information A is created based on the workflow master information or the information transmitted from the request input unit 104. FIG. 6 is an example, and processing by the determination unit 111 described later is possible. Any form may be used.

  When the workflow master information 500 described above is stored, the request accepting unit 105 notifies the requester terminal 101 that the job input by the requester has been registered normally, and the requester terminal 101 notifies the above notification. It is displayed (FIG. 7: S711 → S712).

  With the above processing, the business request (registration) processing is completed.

  Next, a procedure for each person in charge to input the completion of the process and the approval / disapproval regarding the work he / she is responsible for will be described.

  The person in charge of each process accesses the process reception means 110 of the application server 102 from the person in charge terminal 113 when he / she wants to process (input) the process he / she is in charge of (FIG. 8: S801). The person-in-charge terminal 113 has the same configuration as the client terminal 104.

  When accessing the process accepting unit 110, the process accepting unit 110 can know who is accessing because the above-described authentication system is interposed.

  Here, it is assumed that the person in charge is “Yamashita”. When Yamashita accesses, the process accepting means 110 refers to the workflow information and searches for “Yamashita” in the “person in charge” item. Currently, the workflow information is in the state of workflow information A, and there is no work whose person-in-charge item is “Yamashita”. Therefore, the process accepting unit 110 stores information indicating that “there is no current work in charge” in the script described as the program, and transmits the information to the person-in-charge terminal 113 as the person-in-charge work display unit 114 (FIG. 8: S802). ). Here, since there is no work of the person in charge “Yamashita”, the person in charge finishes the process without inputting (confirming) the work (FIG. 8: S802 → End).

  With the above processing, even if work related to the person in charge is registered in the job, it is not displayed in the “person in charge” of the workflow information. For this reason, for example, when “new product development” is not approved, a person in charge cannot start the work for a process that may be wasted if the work is performed.

  Even if there is no person in charge in the workflow information, the process accepting unit 110 may once display the workflow main screen. An example of the workflow main screen is shown in FIG. The workflow main screen 1000 displays the name of the person in charge 1001 who is currently using the workflow system, new arrival information 1002 regarding the workflow, and a workflow list 1003. A specific example of the workflow main screen and details of each item will be described in the following “Goto” example.

  The “person in charge” and “state” of the workflow information A are updated based on information transmitted by each person in charge via the request input means 104. For example, when the completion of the “acceptance” process of the work type “sample” is input by “Tanaka”, the process accepting unit 110 described later sets “status” corresponding to “sample” of the workflow information A to “waiting for acceptance”. To "complete". In addition, when other tasks are processed in parallel by another person in charge, and completion of the “acceptance” step of the work type “technical data” is input by “Watanabe”, similarly, the workflow information A The “status” corresponding to the “technical document” is updated from “waiting for reception” to “completed”. Similarly, when the completion of the “acceptance” process of the work “price approval” is input by “Hayashi”, the “status” corresponding to the “price approval” of the workflow information A is updated from “waiting for reception” to “completed” To do.

  The detailed processing contents of the processing accepting means 110 will also be described in the following “Goto” example.

The workflow information A is updated to the workflow information B in FIG. 6 based on the input of each of the persons in charge “Tanaka”, “Watanabe”, and “Hayashi”. The workflow information B indicates that the status of the work type “sample”, “technical data”, and “price approval” is “completed”, and the status of the work type “new product development” is “awaiting reception”. Next, for example, it is assumed that the person in charge “Goto” has accessed in the same manner. Upon receiving the access, the process accepting unit 110 extracts all the tasks having “Goto” in the item of the person in charge of the workflow information and displays them on the work list 1003 of the workflow main screen 1000. Here, based on the management NO “A00101” of the workflow information A and the work type “new product development”, the corresponding process item is acquired from the workflow master information 500 stored in the workflow master information storage unit 108. As an item to be acquired, for example, work No. 1005, business deadline 903, requester name 901, requester code 902, work type 905, and process 1006. Here, business no. Reference numeral 1005 denotes a work number assigned at the time of request registration by the request receiving means 105. ("A00101" here). In addition, the business deadline 903, the requester name 901, the requester code 902, and the work type 905 are information that has already been input on the request input screen and information determined by the person-in-charge determination means 106. When acquired from the workflow information, “not yet” is written in the state 1004. Further, it is also possible to extract all information that is included in the workflow master information and includes “Goto” instead of the workflow information and is not included in the workflow information. In this case, as shown in the work list 1003, it is possible to extract a status 1004 that is “completed” or a status that corresponds to a process but cannot be processed yet (status 1004 = “planned”).

  The process accepting unit 110 that acquired the item creates a workflow main screen 1000 based on the acquired item, and transmits it to the person-in-charge terminal 113 as the work input unit 115 (FIG. 8: S802).

  Subsequently, when the person in charge “Goto” selects the unprocessed process 1007 from the workflow main screen 1000, the status 1004 is “not yet”, that is, the selection is transmitted to the process accepting unit 110. .

  Receiving the notice, the process accepting unit 110 acquires a predetermined item from the workflow master information based on the work number 1005 “A00101”. Specifically, the work type “new product development” corresponding to the work number “A00101” and the person in charge “Goto”, the processing content “reception”, and the “mobile phone corresponding to the request department 940 entered at the time of the request. "Request for permission to develop a small mobile phone of 120 g or less" corresponding to the request details 941.

  Next, the process accepting unit 110 creates, for example, a process processing screen 1100 shown in FIG. 11 on the basis of the acquired item, and transmits it as the work input unit 115 to the person-in-charge terminal 113, whereby the person-in-charge terminal 113. Displayed on the display device.

  On the process processing screen 1100, the above-described work No. 1005, work type 1101, process type 1102, requester name 901, and requester code 903 are displayed. In addition, the content details 1103 requests the “mobile phone business division” corresponding to the request department 940 and the development permission of the “120 g or less” small size mobile phone corresponding to the request details 941 entered at the time of the request. "Is displayed.

  In addition to the above display, an input item 1103 and an auxiliary input item 1104 that can be input by the person in charge are added to the process processing screen 1100. The input item 1103 includes a “response” 1105 indicating OK for the process “acceptance”, a “response rejection” 1106 indicating NG, a “response hold” 1107 indicating a corresponding hold, and “ Other transmission items "1108 are provided. Further, the auxiliary input item 1104 is provided with items that can be selected / input based on each correspondence.

  Now, when the process process screen 1100 is displayed, the person in charge “Goto” makes necessary inputs according to the process (FIG. 8: S803). Here, for example, it is assumed that “response” which is an input indicating completion of the process “acceptance” is selected. When the input is performed and the input button 1110 is pressed, the input information is transmitted to the process accepting unit 110 (FIG. 8: S804).

  When the process receiving means 110 receives input information indicating completion of the process, the “status” corresponding to “new product development” in the workflow information A is changed from “waiting for reception” to “completed” (not shown). (FIG. 8: S806 → S807).

  When the change of the workflow information by the processing accepting unit 110 is completed, the determining unit 111 then performs the other work “sample”, “technical document”, “price approval” corresponding to the order “1” performed by “Goto”. It is determined whether or not all the steps corresponding to the order “1” have been performed (FIG. 8: S808). Here, the corresponding steps are steps having the same order 404. That is, the same order is assigned to processes that do not have a problem even if they are processed in parallel. In other words, a priority order can be used.

  Here, the work having the process corresponding to the order “1” in FIG. 5B includes “sample”, “technical data”, and “price approval”. When the workflow information B is viewed, the state of the other work is “completed”. " Therefore, all the processes corresponding to the order “1” are completed for the other operations. Accordingly, the determination by the determination unit 111 is determined as “all completed” (FIG. 8: S808 Yes → S809).

  If the determination unit 111 determines that “all is completed”, the process permission unit 112 permits the next person in charge to process all work related to “A00101”. Specifically, based on the order “2” (502) of the workflow master information 500, the person in charge of “new product development” of the workflow information B is “Goto”, and the status is “based on the processing content“ answer ”. Change to “Waiting for answers”. At this time, since there is no person in charge for the other work “sample”, “technical data”, and “price approval” corresponding to the order “2” (502) of the workflow master information 500, the item of each person in charge is “− "And the status is" pending ". As a result, the workflow information B is updated to the workflow information C shown in FIG. 6 (FIG. 8: S809).

  After the workflow information B is updated by the process permission unit 112, the process reception unit 110 transmits a (reception) process completion message to the person-in-charge terminal 113 and is displayed on the person-in-charge terminal 113 (FIG. 8: S809). → S810). Even if the workflow information B has not been updated, the process reception means 110 transmits a (reception) process completion message to the person-in-charge terminal 113 and displays it on the person-in-charge terminal 113 (FIG. 8: S808 No → S810).

  When “Goto” continues to perform the process “answer” using the person-in-charge terminal in the same manner, the determination unit 111 similarly completes all the processes corresponding to the order “2” for the other work. Judge whether or not. Here, the only person in charge registered in the work corresponding to the order “2” in FIG. 5B is “Goto”, and the other person in the workflow information C (however, “waiting for an answer” has been changed to “completed”). The work status is “pending”. Here, assuming that “hold” is the same as “complete”, all the processes for the order “2” for the other work are completed. Thereby, the determination unit 111 determines that all the processes corresponding to the order “2” are completed, and the workflow information C is updated as the workflow information D shown in FIG.

  Next, when the person in charge “Koizumi” of the process “approval” of the work “new product development” performs the process in the same manner, the determination unit 111 similarly performs all the processes for the order “3” for the other work. Judge that it is completed. The workflow information D is updated like the workflow information E shown in FIG. Here, the person in charge corresponding to “sample” is updated to “Suzuki”, the state is “waiting for answer”, the person in charge corresponding to “technical data” is updated to “Yamashita”, and the state is updated to “waiting for answer”. For the operation “price approval”, since there is no process corresponding to the order “4”, the state remains as it is.

  The state of “new product development” may be updated to “completed”, but here, it is updated to “end of work”. Note that the end of work is determined by the determining means 111 in the same manner as “completed”.

  As described above, in this example, after accepting all work for the first time, first, response processing and approval processing of “new product development” is performed, and only after the processing is completed, “sample” and “ “Answer” processing for “technical data” can be performed. As a result, after “answer” processing for “sample” or “technical document” is performed, the “new product development” request is denied, and as a result, all other operations related to the new product, for example, “sample” It is possible to prevent such a situation that the “answer” processing of “technical data” is wasted.

  On the contrary, each work waits for the response process and approval process of the “new product development” request after the acceptance process is completed, so after the “new product development” request is approved, it immediately proceeds to the subsequent process. You can get started.

  For example, when a “sample” request relating to an existing product is made independently, it is possible to proceed to the next process as soon as each process is completed.

  The processing of the determination means 111 in the cases of “Goto” and “Koizumi” is the same. For example, when “Suzuki” performs response processing following “Koizumi”, the workflow information E is shown in FIG. Like the workflow information F shown, the “state” corresponding to “sample” is updated to “completed”. In this state, the determination unit 111 determines whether or not all the processes corresponding to the order “4” have been completed for other work that is not “sample”. Here, as shown in the workflow information F, the “status” corresponding to the “technical document” is “waiting for answer”. That is, “Yamashita” does not perform the process (answer) for which it is in charge, and the determination means 111 has completed the process corresponding to the order “4” for the other work (here, the technical document). No judgment.

  Therefore, the process permission unit 112 does not perform “update for permitting the process of the next person in charge” (FIG. 8: S809), which is the permission of the process of the next person in charge, for the workflow information F. . Therefore, “Kobayashi”, “Nakamura” and the like corresponding to “arrival” in the order “5”, which is the next process, cannot process their processes at the person-in-charge terminal 113.

  In such a state, for example, if “Yamashita” who is in charge of “4. When the selection is made, the task (A00101) does not proceed. In other words, each process “5. Incoming” “6. Outgoing” of the technical data that became unnecessary after the processing of “Yamashita”, each process “5. Incoming” “7. Outgoing” of the sample, “6” of the price approval The process of “reply” is not performed. Further, when attention is paid to two operations that can be processed independently in parallel, that is, the sample and the technical data in FIG. 5B, the present invention checks each other for each process. As a result, if the process is not permitted by the technical data receptionist “Watanabe”, the sample will not proceed to the process after “Answer”. Is rejected, and it is possible to prevent the processing for each step of the sample from being wasted.

  In addition, as another example of the process process, a “shipment” process corresponding to “Nakamura” in the technical data will be described. In the work flow of the technical material, the work is accepted by “Watanabe” at “reception”, and whether or not the technical material can be disclosed is determined as “Yamashita” at “answer”. When “response” is given here, Nakamura performs “incoming” and “out” of the technical data (actually “ordering” and “shipping”). The “shipping” process is performed on, for example, a process processing screen 1200 shown in FIG. Specifically, the process type screen 1200 displays a work type 1201: technical data and a process type 1202: delivery. Also, the content details 1203 include technical document name 920: “mobile phone manual”, technical document No. 921: “MBPEXP228”, English document quantity 922: “1”, Japanese document quantity 923: “1”. Is displayed. Other items are the same as those in FIG.

  In such a state, when Nakamura sends technical data, for example, it is possible to send electronic data technical data. In this case, for example, the date of delivery of technical data 1204 is input, for example, “2004/9/10”, and the data attached 1205 is attached with two technical data such as electronic data “MBPEXP228ENG.doc” and “MBPEXP228JPN.doc”. By doing so, “response” can be selected for the first time. In other words, “response” cannot be selected unless some electronic data is attached.

  In this way, the system checks whether or not there are documents or the like that are necessary for proceeding with the work, and if there is no problem (if attached), the work can proceed to the next process for the first time. As a result, it is possible to control not only the cooperation between each work (here, sample, technical material, price decision, new product development) but also the progress within one work (here, for example, technical material). The documents that are necessarily required vary depending on the tasks managed by the workflow, and examples include quotes, requests, financial statements, and medical certificates.

  Now, when all the persons in charge, including “Yamashita” and “Nakamura”, have processed the processes that they are in charge of, they are updated as the workflow information H via the workflow information G in FIG.

  As described above, the person in charge of each process and the order of the processes are determined for each work constituting the business, and when each process is processed, it is determined whether or not a corresponding process has been performed for another work. If it is not determined, the progress of the work is stopped. As a result, when one person in charge performs a process (judgment) that he must suspend the execution of his / her work, the problem is that other processes that are unnecessary as a result have been performed in advance. Can be prevented in advance.

  The workflow system according to the present invention can prevent a problem that other processes that are unnecessary as a result have been performed in advance, so that a plurality of persons in charge are sequentially processed. This is useful as a workflow system for managing the processing status of work consisting of the above operations.

1 is a schematic functional block diagram of a terminal, an application server, and a DB server that constitute a workflow system. The schematic block diagram of an application server. The figure which shows the system configuration example of a workflow system. The figure which shows an example of workflow definition information. An example of workflow master information and a business image diagram. Diagram showing the state transition of workflow information The flowchart of a request process. The flowchart of the process of each operation | work. The figure which shows an example of a request input screen. The figure which shows an example of a workflow main screen. The figure which shows an example of a process process screen. The figure which shows the other example of a process processing screen. The figure explaining the transition of the work in the conventional workflow system.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 100 Workflow system 101 Requester terminal 102 Application server 103 DB server 104 Request input means 105 Request reception means 106 Person-in-charge determination means 107 Workflow definition information storage means 108 Workflow master information storage means 109 Workflow information storage means 110 Process reception means 111 Determination means 112 processing permission means 113 person-in-charge terminal 114 work-in-charge display means 115 work input means

Claims (3)

In a workflow system that manages the progress of work consisting of multiple processes that are sequentially processed by multiple personnel,
The type of work, the respective steps constituting the work, a person in charge of processing the process, the definition information storage means for storing in advance correspondence workflow definition information and the order of the steps,
Request accepting means for accepting a plurality of operations including processes related to each other as one business;
With imparting business identifier for one business received in previous SL request receiving means, each task constituting the work, the person in charge and order the previous SL workflow definition information of the process to handle each step of the work A person-in-charge determination means for making a determination based on
Based on a plurality of work received by the request receiving means and a person in charge of processing each process of the work determined by the person-in-charge determination means and a sequence of the processes, a plurality of work identifiers and a plurality of parts constituting the work Workflow information storage means for storing workflow information, which is information in which a work is associated with the current process state of each work and the current person in charge;
When a process constituting one work is processed by the person in charge, the contents of the process are received, and the current process state of the work stored in the workflow information storage unit based on the received contents is received. A process acceptance means for updating;
Processing permission means for permitting the processing of each process by updating the current process status and the current person in charge of each work stored in the workflow information storage means;
Upon receiving the contents of processing steps constituting one working by the process accepting unit, based on the workflow definition information and workflow information, in the step of forming another work with the same business identifier and the work there are, and determining means already whether completed for other steps that are associated with the treated process the same order as,
With
The order of each process stored in the definition information storage means is as follows:
The same sequence is associated with the first step of all operations,
The processing permission means includes
When the process content is received by the process accepting unit, the received process content is a content indicating “completion” of the process, and the determination unit has the same order as the processed process. Only when it is determined that all other processes associated with the process have been completed, the process of the process associated with the next order is permitted for all the operations constituting the task,
When the processing content is received by the processing accepting means and the received processing content indicates “uncontinuable” of the work to which the process belongs, all the progress of the work to which the work belongs is displayed. A workflow system characterized by stopping . A workflow system management method for supporting a workflow system for managing the progress of work consisting of a plurality of processes sequentially processed by a plurality of persons in charge by a computer ,
Definition in which the computer receives workflow input and stores in advance workflow definition information in which the type of work, each process constituting the work, a person in charge of the process, and the order of the process are associated with each other An information storage step;
A request receiving step in which the computer receives a plurality of operations including processes related to each other as one business;
The computer, as well as imparting business identifier for one business received in previous SL request receiving step, for each task constituting the work, before the order of the person and the step of processing each step of the work The person-in-charge determination step that is determined based on the workflow definition information,
The computer receives a task identifier and the task based on a plurality of tasks received in the request receiving step and a person in charge of each step of the task determined in the person-in-charge determination step and the order of the steps. A workflow information storage step for receiving workflow information, which is information that associates a plurality of tasks to be configured with the current process status of each task and the current person in charge;
When the process that constitutes one work is processed by the person in charge, the computer receives the contents of the process and the current work stored in the workflow information storage step based on the received contents A process acceptance step for updating the state of the process;
A process permission step for allowing the process of each process by updating the current process state and the current person in charge of each work stored in the workflow information storage step by the computer;
When the computer receives the contents of the process of the process constituting one work by the process accepting step, another work having the same work identifier as the work is based on the workflow definition information and the workflow information. a process constitutes, and the already judgment step of judging whether or not completed for other processes associated with the same order as the treated process,
With
The order of each process stored in the definition information storing step is as follows:
The same sequence is associated with the first step of all operations,
When the content of the process is received by the process reception step, the received process content is the content indicating “completion” of the process, and is the same as the process processed in the determination step Only when it is determined that all other processes associated with the order have been completed , the computer performs the process of the process associated with the next order for all the operations constituting the business. A step to allow,
When the processing content is received by the processing reception step, and the received processing content indicates “uncontinuable” of the work to which the process belongs, the computer is responsible for the work to which the work belongs. Steps to stop all progress,
A workflow system management method comprising: To a computer that manages the progress of work consisting of multiple processes that are sequentially processed by multiple personnel,
A definition information storage step for receiving, in response to a user input, storing workflow definition information in which a type of work, each process constituting the work, a person in charge of processing the process, and an order of the process are associated with each other; ,
A request acceptance step for accepting a plurality of operations including processes related to each other as one business;
With imparting business identifier for one business received in previous SL request receiving step, for each task constituting the work, the person in charge and order the previous SL workflow definition information of the process to handle each step of the work The person-in-charge determination step to make a decision based on
Based on a plurality of work received in the request receiving step and a person in charge of each process of the work determined in the person-in-charge determination step and a sequence of the process, a plurality of work identifiers and a plurality of parts constituting the work A workflow information storage step for storing workflow information, which is information in which a task is associated with the current process state of each task and the current person in charge, in response to user input;
When a process constituting one work is processed by the person in charge, the contents of the process are received, and the current process state of the work stored in the workflow information storage step based on the received contents is received. A process acceptance step to update;
A process permission step for permitting the processing of each process by updating the current process state and the current person in charge of each work stored in the workflow information storage step;
Upon receiving the contents of processing steps constituting one working by the process accepting step, based on the workflow definition information and workflow information, in the step of forming another work with the same business identifier and the work there are, and the already judgment step of judging whether or not completed for other processes associated with the same order as the treated process,
With
The order of each process stored in the definition information storing step is as follows:
The same sequence is associated with the first step of all operations,
When the content of the process is received by the process reception step, the received process content is the content indicating “completion” of the process, and is the same as the process processed in the determination step Only when it is determined that all other processes associated with the order have been completed , the computer performs the process of the process associated with the next order for all the operations constituting the business. A step to allow,
When the processing content is received by the processing reception step, and the received processing content indicates “uncontinuable” of the work to which the process belongs, the computer is responsible for the work to which the work belongs. Steps to stop all progress,
A program that executes

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