Maintenance support system and maintenance support program

Abstract

To achieve a system capable of reducing laber required for repair work by a repair work organization at a low cost.SOLUTION: A maintenance support system includes: a database that stores a trouble cause, repair part information, repair cost information and repair technical information in association with a model and a trouble event; an extraction unit that acquires a new repair order from a maintenance management system, and extracts a model and a trouble event for an apparatus to be repaired and address information of a repair client, which are included in the acquired repair order; and a notification unit that refers to the database to acquire the trouble cause, the repair part information, the repair cost information and the repair technical information corresponding to at least one of the model and the trouble event of the apparatus to be repaired, and notifies a repair work organization corresponding to the address information of the repair client of them.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

[Technical field]

[0001] The present invention relates to a maintenance support system and a maintenance support program. [Background technology]

[0002] 2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, when a malfunction occurs in a device to be repaired, a system for supporting a countermeasure against the malfunction is known (for example, see Patent Documents 1 and 2). [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0003] [Patent Document 1] Patent Publication No. 2021-89549 [Patent Document 2] JP 2022-33094 A Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0004] As described in Patent Documents 1 and 2, there has been a demand for a technology that reduces the labor required by repair work organizations to carry out repair work. However, when an order-receiving system that receives repair requests from customers and places orders with repair companies already exists, it is extremely expensive to change the specifications of the existing order-receiving system. This has made it difficult to realize a mechanism for reducing the labor required for repair work. An object of the present invention is to realize a mechanism that enables a repair work organization to reduce the labor required for repair work at low cost. [Means for solving the problem]

[0005] The maintenance support system for achieving the above-mentioned objective comprises a database that stores the cause of the malfunction, repair part information, repair cost information, and repair technique information in correspondence with the model and malfunction event, an extraction unit that acquires a new repair order from the maintenance management system and extracts the model of the equipment to be repaired, the malfunction event, and the address information of the repair requester contained in the acquired repair order, and a notification unit that refers to the database and acquires the cause of the malfunction, repair part information, repair cost information, and repair technique information corresponding to at least one of the model of the equipment to be repaired and the malfunction event, and notifies the repair work organization corresponding to the address information of the repair requester.

[0006] That is, the maintenance support system acquires a new repair order from the maintenance management system, and extracts from the repair order the model of the device to be repaired, the malfunction, and the address information of the repair requester. The maintenance support system includes a database that stores malfunction causes, repair part information, repair cost information, and repair technique information corresponding to at least one of the model and the malfunction. The maintenance support system refers to the database and acquires malfunction causes, repair part information, repair cost information, and repair technique information corresponding to at least one of the model and the malfunction indicated in the repair order. Then, the maintenance support system notifies the repair work organization corresponding to the address information included in the repair order of the acquired information. The notification may be sent at any timing, and may be sent to the repair work organization in response to a request for information from the repair work organization when the request is made, or may be sent to the repair work organization regardless of the presence or absence of the request.

[0007] By providing the maintenance support system with such a configuration, the above-mentioned information can be provided to the repair work organization in charge of the actual repair work related to the repair order. Since the configuration of the maintenance management system is not changed, the effect of reducing the labor required by the repair work organization to perform the repair work based on the repair order can be achieved at a lower cost than when the configuration of the maintenance management system is changed. In addition, in terms of reducing the labor, for example, by notifying information on the cause of a malfunction or repair parts assumed according to the model and malfunction phenomenon, the time required for a repair worker (especially an inexperienced worker) to identify the cause can be shortened compared to when this information is not available. In addition, by notifying repair cost information, the time required for the repair worker to calculate the estimated amount and the billing amount to be presented to the client can be shortened compared to when the repair cost information is not available. In addition, by notifying repair technique information, the time required for the repair worker to understand the repair method can be shortened compared to when the repair technique information is not available. [Brief description of the drawings]

[0008] [Figure 1] FIG. 1 is a block diagram of the entire system including the maintenance support system. [Diagram 2] FIG. 11 is a sequence diagram showing an example of a flow from a repair request to completion of the repair. [Diagram 3] FIG. 13 is a diagram showing an example of the configuration of a defect cause database. [Figure 4] FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an example of the configuration of a repair part database and a repair cost database. [Diagram 5] FIG. 5A is a diagram showing an example of the configuration of a technical manual database, and FIG. 5B is a diagram showing an example of the configuration of a video manual database. [Figure 6] 11 is a flowchart showing a repair order analysis process. [Figure 7] 13 is a flowchart showing a completion report analysis process. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0009] Here, the embodiments of the present invention will be described in the following order. (1) Overall configuration: (2) Maintenance support system configuration: (3) Maintenance support processing: (3-1) Repair order analysis processing: (3-2) Work support: (3-3) Completion report analysis processing: (3-4) Summary of malfunctions: (4) Other embodiments:

[0010] (1) Overall configuration: FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an overall configuration including a maintenance support system 10 according to an embodiment of the present invention. The maintenance support system 10 has a function of cooperating with an existing maintenance management system 100 and supporting a repair worker (repair work organization) who performs repairs in response to a repair request for equipment to be repaired. The maintenance management system 100 is an existing system that operates regardless of the presence or absence of the maintenance support system 10. The maintenance support system 10 is a new system provided separately from the maintenance management system 100. In this embodiment, various gas-related equipment such as water heaters and gas stoves are assumed as equipment to be repaired, but in other embodiments, various equipment may be assumed without being limited to gas-related equipment.

[0011] The maintenance support system 10 exchanges various information with the maintenance management system 100, a requester terminal 200, a receiver terminal 300, a work organization terminal 400, and a technician terminal 500 via a communication network. In Fig. 1, one each of the requester terminal 200, the receiver terminal 300, the work organization terminal 400, and the technician terminal 500 is illustrated, but there is no limit to the number of each and there may be more than one of each. Furthermore, the maintenance management system 100 may be composed of more than one computer. The maintenance support system 10 may also be composed of more than one computer.

[0012] (Requester's terminal) The requester terminal 200 is a terminal operated by a requester who requests repair of a device to be repaired. The requester terminal 200 may be, for example, a smartphone, a tablet terminal, or a personal computer. The requester operates the requester terminal 200 to display a website for accepting repair requests (repair request acceptance site), and inputs information for identifying the customer, such as a customer ID and address, information such as the type and model of the device for which repair is requested, a desired date and time of visit, and the like. The maintenance management system 100 acquires the input information and creates a repair order. The requester can also request a repair by telephone.

[0013] (Receptionist terminal) The receiver terminal 300 is a terminal operated by a receiver who receives a call from a client requesting repair. The receiver terminal 300 is composed of, for example, a personal computer. The receiver communicates with the client over the phone, inputs information for identifying the customer obtained from the client, information such as the type and model of the device requested to be repaired, the desired date and time of visit, etc., into the receiver terminal 300, and performs an operation to transmit the information to the maintenance management system 100.

[0014] (Work organization terminal) The work organization terminal 400 is a terminal operated by a repair worker (also simply called a worker) belonging to the repair work organization or other personnel. The work organization terminal 400 may include a terminal owned by an individual worker. The work organization terminal 400 is, for example, a tablet terminal or a smartphone.

[0015] A worker or other person in charge of the repair work organization can operate the work organization terminal 400 to refer to the repair orders associated with their own organization stored in the repair order database 130b of the maintenance management system 100. It is also possible to refer to repair orders associated with other organizations.

[0016] Furthermore, the worker operates the work organization terminal 400 to check the state of the equipment to be repaired by referring to the cause of the malfunction provided by the maintenance support system 10, and to identify the cause of the malfunction. The worker can create an estimate using the estimated cost information provided by the maintenance support system 10. The worker can also print out the created estimate on a printer and present it to the client. The maintenance support system 10 also provides the repair work organization with an ordering site for ordering parts (details will be described later). The worker selects repair parts for eliminating the cause of the malfunction of the equipment to be repaired from the ordering site based on the repair part information provided by the maintenance support system 10, and issues an ordering instruction.

[0017] When the worker completes the repair of the device to be repaired indicated in the repair order, the worker operates the work organization terminal 400 to create a completion report corresponding to the repair order and transmits it to the maintenance management system 100 .

[0018] (Engineer's terminal) The technician terminal 500 is a terminal operated by a technician of the manufacturer that developed the device to be repaired, a manager or supervisor of the repair work, etc., and is, for example, a personal computer, tablet terminal, smartphone, etc. The technician registers his / her contact information in advance in the maintenance support system 10 so that he / she will be notified if a malfunction occurs in a specific model of the device to be repaired. Specifically, the technician registers information indicating the specific model and, for example, an email address as a contact information, and the maintenance support system 10 stores this information in a specific model database 30a described later.

[0019] (Maintenance Management System) The maintenance management system 100 is a computer having a function of accumulating information related to repairs of equipment to be maintained and providing the information to a repair work organization or the like. The maintenance management system 100 includes a control unit 120, a recording medium 130, and a communication unit 140. The control unit 120 includes a CPU, RAM, ROM, etc. The control unit 120 can execute a program (not shown) recorded in the ROM or recording medium 130.

[0020] The recording medium 130 stores a customer database 130a, a repair order database 130b, and a work organization database 130c, and the control unit 120 can refer to the data in these databases and update the data. The customer database 130a is a database that stores various information about customers for each customer ID. In the customer database 130a, the equipment owned by the customer identified by the customer ID, the customer's address, telephone number, email address, etc. are stored in association with the customer ID.

[0021] The repair order database 130b is a database that stores repair orders. A repair order is information indicating the contents of a repair request that is created when a customer requests that a malfunction that has occurred in the equipment to be repaired be dealt with. A customer who requests that a malfunction be dealt with is also referred to as a repair requester (or simply a requester). A repair order includes information such as an order number, the model of the equipment to be repaired, the malfunction phenomenon, the address information of the repair requester, and information indicating the date and time of visit. A repair order may be generated based on the contents entered by the requester via a repair request reception site, or may be generated based on the contents entered by a receptionist who spoke with the requester over the phone.

[0022] In addition, in the repair order database 130b, a completion report corresponding to a repair order for which repair work has been completed is stored in association with the repair order. The completion report includes information indicating the cause of the defect identified by the worker, the repair parts, and the billing amount. The completion report may also include the time required for the work (visit date and time, number of visits, etc.), identification information of the worker, etc. If repair work is performed on equipment owned by the requester other than the equipment to be repaired, information to that effect may also be included.

[0023] The work organization database 130c is a database that stores information about each repair work organization. In the work organization database 130c, the repair work organization is stored in association with the area that the repair work organization is responsible for. In addition, the work organization database 130c stores the address, contact email address, etc. for each repair work organization. Furthermore, the email addresses of the individual workers who actually perform work in the work organization may be stored.

[0024] The communication unit 140 includes an interface for communicating with other devices. When a new repair order is created, the control unit 120 identifies a repair work organization responsible for an area including the address of the requester based on the work organization database 130c, and stores the repair order in the repair order database 130b in association with the identified repair work organization. A repair worker (or other person) belonging to the repair work organization can refer to the repair order stored in the repair order database 130b in association with his / her own organization. That is, when the control unit 120 receives a request to refer to a repair order associated with his / her own organization from the work organization terminal 400 via the communication unit 140, it retrieves the repair order corresponding to the organization from the repair order database 130b and returns it to the work organization terminal 400.

[0025] Furthermore, when the worker completes the repair of the device to be repaired indicated in the repair order, the control unit 120 acquires a completion report corresponding to the repair order from the work organization terminal 400. The control unit 120 stores the completion report acquired from the work organization terminal 400 in the repair order database 130b in association with the repair order.

[0026] FIG. 2 shows an example of a flow from receipt and placement of a repair order through a worker's visit to the completion of repair. When a requester calls the call center to request repair (step S100), the receiver confirms with the requester the requester's name, customer ID, address, model of the device in which the malfunction has occurred, the malfunction phenomenon, and the visit date and time, and inputs this information into the receiver terminal 300. The receiver terminal 300 accepts the input information and transmits it to the maintenance management system 100 (step S105). The maintenance management system 100 creates a repair order based on the information received from the receiver terminal 300, and stores it in association with the repair work organization in charge of the address shown in the repair order (step S110). As described above, a repair request can be made by inputting the above information into a repair request reception site for receiving repair requests, in addition to making a request by phone.

[0027] A worker of the repair work organization refers to the repair order associated with his / her own organization from the work organization terminal 400 via a repair order management site provided by the maintenance management system 100, and visits the client at the visit date and time desired by the client to check the status of the defect. After checking, the worker creates an estimate on the work organization terminal 400 (step S115) and presents the estimated amount to the client. The worker may print out the estimate on a printer and hand it to the client, or may send it to the client terminal 200 in the form of electronic data.

[0028] If a part needs to be replaced to resolve the problem, but the part is not on hand, the worker confirms the requester's preference and determines the date and time of the second visit. The worker issues an order for the part that needs to be replaced (step S120). The worker determines the date and time of the next visit so that it is after the expected date of availability of the ordered part.

[0029] The worker visits the client on the second visit date and time, and performs work such as replacing parts and checking operation. If the repair work organization has the parts in stock and brings the parts with them during the first visit, step S120 and the second visit are omitted. In either case, when the defect is resolved through the repair work performed by the worker, the worker operates the work organization terminal 400 to create an invoice (step S125). The worker may print out the invoice on a printer and hand it to the client, or may send it to the client terminal 200 in electronic data format.

[0030] After completing the repair work, the worker operates the work organization terminal 400 to input the repair work results to a repair order management site provided by the maintenance management system 100 (step S130) and transmits them to the maintenance management system 100. The maintenance management system 100 generates a completion report based on the information transmitted from the work organization terminal 400 and stores it in association with the repair order (step S135). In this embodiment, the maintenance management system 100 is an existing system that is already in operation, and if specifications are changed or functions are added to the maintenance management system 100, huge costs are required. Therefore, there is a problem in that it is difficult to change the existing mechanism or add new functions.

[0031] (2) Maintenance support system configuration: The maintenance support system 10 is a system for supporting repair work in a repair work organization in the basic repair order flow shown in Fig. 2, and for realizing a support function of providing information to each place involved in repair. As shown in Fig. 1, in this embodiment, the maintenance support system 10 is configured as a server equipped with a control unit 20, a recording medium 30, and a communication unit 40. The control unit 20 is equipped with a CPU, RAM, ROM, etc., and can execute various programs recorded in the ROM or recording medium 30.

[0032] The recording medium 30 stores databases such as a specific model database 30a, a defect cause database 30b, a technical manual database 30c, a repair cost database 30d, a repair parts database 30e, and a video manual database 30f.

[0033] More specifically, as shown in FIG. 3, the malfunction cause database 30b is a database that stores model and assumed malfunction causes (types of malfunction causes and weighting coefficients) according to malfunction events. The model is indicated by the type of device, the manufacturer, and the model of the device. Malfunction events may be indicated by an error code displayed on the device, or symptoms may be expressed in language when the error code is unknown. There may be multiple malfunction causes for the same malfunction event of the same model. For example, in the case of a malfunction event of "no hot water coming out" of a water heater of model "A11***" made by company A, six assumed malfunction causes, for example (A) to (F), are stored in association with each other. Also, for example, in the case of a malfunction event indicated by error code "112" of a water heater of model "A11***" made by company A, three assumed malfunction causes, for example (D) to (F), are stored in association with each other. The weighting coefficient indicates the frequency (number) of malfunction causes corresponding to the model and malfunction event.

[0034] The repair part database 30e is a database that stores repair part information corresponding to a model, a malfunction event, and a malfunction cause, as shown in FIG. 3 and FIG. 4. Due to space limitations, FIG. 4 omits the description of the type of malfunction cause and the weighting factor (see FIG. 3) and describes alphabets indicating the malfunction cause (for example, (A), (B), etc.). The repair part information includes the name of the part, the weighting factor, the model number, the part cost, and the on-site labor cost. The number of repair parts associated with each combination of the model, the malfunction event, and the malfunction cause may be 0 (no need to replace the part), 1, or 2 or more. For example, as in the malfunction cause (C) in FIG. 4, when two parts (c1, c2) are associated with the malfunction cause (C), it indicates that only the part c1 needs to be replaced, only the part c2 needs to be replaced, or both parts need to be replaced. The weighting factor is a value indicating the frequency (number) of replacement of each part. When only one part is associated with one defect cause, the weighting coefficient of the defect cause and the weighting coefficient of the repair part information will be the same value, as shown in Figures 3 and 4. When multiple parts are associated with one defect cause, a weighting coefficient is stored for each part. The on-site labor cost is a standard cost (for reference) estimated in advance for work such as replacing the corresponding part, but the actual on-site labor cost may vary depending on the actual work content, required time, etc.

[0035] The repair cost information includes the estimated repair cost and the weighting factor for each combination of the model, the malfunction, and the malfunction cause. The repair cost includes the cost of parts and the on-site labor cost. As shown in FIG. 3 and FIG. 4, the repair cost database 30d stores the lower limit, the upper limit, and the average value as the estimated repair cost for each combination of the model, the malfunction, and the malfunction cause. The weighting factor is a numerical value (corresponding to the number of cases) that is held to update the average repair cost according to a new completion report. For example, for the cost corresponding to the model and the malfunction cause enclosed in the dashed rectangle in FIG. 4, the weighting factor is stored to consider the total amount of the repair so far as the average value multiplied by the weighting factor. Therefore, for example, for the model and the malfunction cause enclosed in the dashed rectangle, if the billing amount is 4800 yen in the new completion report, the estimated cost is updated as follows. That is, the average value is updated to (5000 yen x 80 + 4800 yen) ÷ (80 + 1) ≒ 4998 yen, and the weighting factor is updated to 81.

[0036] The repair technical information includes reference information (information indicating the storage location and file name) of the manual corresponding to the model of the equipment to be repaired, and reference information (information indicating the storage location and file name) of the video manual corresponding to the repair part information. Specifically, as shown in FIG. 5A, the technical manual database 30c is a database that stores reference information of the technical manual of the model in association with the type, manufacturer, and model indicating the model of the equipment to be repaired. The reference information of the technical manual may be the URL of the technical manual published on the website operated by each manufacturer, or, of course, if the technical manual is stored in the recording medium 30 of the maintenance support system 10, it may be information indicating the storage location and file name of the technical manual in the recording medium 30. The technical manual is assumed to be a manual for repair workers, but may also include a user guide for general users.

[0037] As shown in FIG. 5B, the video manual database 30f is a database that stores reference information (storage location and file name) of video manuals for each part used in the model of the equipment to be repaired (shown by type, manufacturer, and model). For example, reference information for a video manual for an ignition device, which is a repair part when the cause of the malfunction of a water heater of model "A11***" of Company A, shown in the repair part information in FIG. 4, is (D), can be acquired by the video manual database 30f shown in FIG. 5B. The video manual is a file in video format. It is assumed that the video manual is a video that explains the procedures and precautions for repairing or replacing parts.

[0038] The specific model database 30a is a database that stores contact information (e.g., email address) of a technician to be contacted when a malfunction occurs with a specific model, in association with information indicating the specific model (e.g., type of device, manufacturer, and model).

[0039] In order to realize the above-mentioned support function, the control unit 20 executes a maintenance support program 21. By executing the maintenance support program 21, the control unit 20 functions as an extraction unit 21a, a counting unit 21b, a notification unit 21c, and an ordering unit 21d, and executes a maintenance support process described below.

[0040] (3) Maintenance support processing: (3-1) Repair order analysis processing: First, a description will be given of the repair order analysis process, which is one of the maintenance support processes. The repair order analysis process is a process that is periodically performed on the repair orders stored in the repair order database 130b of the maintenance management system 100. The repair orders are stored in step S110 shown in FIG.

[0041] 6 is a flowchart showing the repair order analysis process. The repair order analysis process is repeatedly executed every certain period (e.g., 5 minutes, 10 minutes, etc.). That is, in this embodiment, it is assumed that the repair order process is executed asynchronously with the creation of a new repair order, but the repair order analysis process is executed within a certain period after the new creation.

[0042] The repair orders are stored in association with the repair work organizations, and in the repair order analysis process, the presence or absence of new repair orders is confirmed for each repair work organization. Steps S200 to S245 are loop processes executed for each repair work organization, and one by one, a repair work organization is selected as a processing target from among all repair work organizations and executed. Steps S205 to S240 are processes executed for one repair work organization to be processed, and first, the control unit 20 judges whether or not a new repair order exists in the repair work organization to be processed (step S205). A new repair order is a repair order for which the extraction process (S215) has not yet been performed by the extraction unit 21a. For example, the control unit 20 may be configured to store the order number of a repair order that has already been extracted in the recording medium 30, and to regard the repair order as a new repair order when a repair order with an order number not stored in the recording medium 30 is recorded in the repair order database 130b in association with the repair work organization to be processed. If it is determined in step S205 that there is no new repair order, the control unit 20 proceeds to step S245.

[0043] If it is determined in step S205 that there is a new repair order, the control unit 20 executes the loop process of steps S210 to S240 until all new repair orders in the repair work organization to be processed have been confirmed. Steps S215 to S235 (or S230) are processes executed for one repair order (new) to be processed, and first, the control unit 20 extracts address information, model, and malfunction from the new repair order by the function of the extraction unit 21a (step S215). If the repair order is stored in the repair order database 130b in text format, the control unit 20 extracts a character string indicating the model to be repaired, a character string indicating the malfunction occurring in the device to be repaired, and a character string indicating the address information of the repair requester. If the repair order is stored in image format, the control unit 20 performs character recognition processing on the repair order and then extracts character strings corresponding to the above-mentioned items.

[0044] Next, the control unit 20 uses the function of the notification unit 21c to create an e-mail including the cause of the defect, repair part information, repair cost information, and repair technique information corresponding to at least one of the model and the defect event, and sends it to the repair work organization corresponding to the address information (step S220). That is, the control unit 20 refers to the defect cause database 30b to acquire the defect cause (type of defect cause and weighting coefficient) corresponding to the model and the defect event. The control unit 20 also refers to the repair part database 30e to acquire repair part information corresponding to the model, the defect event, and the defect cause.

[0045] The control unit 20 may also be configured to refer to the repair cost database 30d and obtain the estimated repair cost (upper limit, lower limit, average value) according to the model, the malfunction, and the malfunction cause. The control unit 20 may be configured to insert the numerical values ​​included in the estimated repair cost into a document template of a pre-stored estimate to generate an estimate file. If there are multiple malfunction causes, estimate files showing the estimated cost may be generated for each malfunction cause, or one estimate file may contain the estimated cost for each malfunction cause. The estimate may be generated including the upper limit, lower limit, and average value as the estimated repair cost. Alternatively, the control unit 20 may be configured to refer to the repair part database 30e and obtain the price and on-site labor cost of the repair part according to the model, the malfunction, and the malfunction cause, insert the numerical values ​​into a document template of a pre-stored estimate to generate an estimate file. The control unit 20 may also be configured to refer to the technical manual database 30c and obtain reference information of the technical manual corresponding to the model. The control unit 20 may also be configured to refer to the video manual database 30f and obtain reference information of the video manual of the repair part corresponding to the model and the malfunction cause.

[0046] The control unit 20 sends an email with this information in the text or an email with a file containing this information attached to the repair organization to be processed. In this embodiment, since the repair order is stored in association with the repair organization responsible for the area of ​​the address information included in the repair order, the repair organization to be processed is the repair organization that corresponds to the address information included in the repair order.

[0047] The email sent to the repair work organization includes the causes of the malfunction in order of weighting coefficient, a list of repair parts for each cause of the malfunction (in order of weighting coefficient), reference information for a website for ordering parts, reference information for video manuals for each part, an estimate of the repair cost for each cause of the malfunction, and reference information for the technical manual for the model.

[0048] Specifically, the e-mail includes the failure causes stored in the failure cause database 30b in association with the model and failure events of the equipment to be repaired included in the repair order, in descending order of weighting coefficient values. Also, the e-mail includes the repair parts corresponding to the failure causes stored in the repair parts database 30e in association with the model and failure events of the equipment to be repaired included in the repair order, in descending order of weighting coefficient values. That is, the failure causes are listed in descending order of weighting coefficients of the failure causes, and further, the repair parts for each failure cause are listed in descending order of weighting coefficients of the repair parts. The reference information of the ordering site for the parts is the reference information of the ordering site provided for selecting the parts to be actually ordered from the listed repair parts and issuing an ordering instruction. The reference information of the video manual for each part is the reference information of the video showing the replacement method of the parts included in the listed repair parts. Also, the e-mail includes the estimated repair cost (upper limit, lower limit, average value) for each failure cause stored in the repair cost database 30d in association with the model and failure events of the equipment to be repaired included in the repair order. The reference information of the technical manual for the model is the reference information of the technical manual for the equipment to be repaired. An email containing this information is sent to the repair organization in step S220.

[0049] Next, the control unit 20 creates an e-mail including the cause of the defect and the estimated repair cost by using the function of the notification unit 21c, and sends it to the repair requester (step S225). That is, the control unit 20 refers to the repair cost database 30d and acquires the estimated repair cost (upper limit, lower limit, average value) according to the model, the defect event, and the cause of the defect. The control unit 20 sends the repair requester an e-mail containing the cause of the defect and the estimated repair cost in the body of the e-mail, or an e-mail with a file containing this information attached. The e-mail contains the upper limit, lower limit, and average value of the repair cost for each cause of the defect. Therefore, the requester can recognize the expected cause of the defect and the estimated repair cost for each cause of the defect before the worker visits. Note that step S225 is executed when the requester has registered his / her own e-mail address in the maintenance management system 100.

[0050] Next, the control unit 20 determines whether the repair order to be processed is a repair order for a specific model by using the function of the notification unit 21c (step S230). That is, the control unit 20 refers to the specific model database 30a and determines whether the model of the device to be repaired extracted from the repair order to be processed is a specific model recorded in the specific model database 30a.

[0051] If it is determined in step S230 that the specific model is the specific model, the control unit 20 uses the function of the notification unit 21c to create an e-mail including a notice that a defect has occurred in the specific model, the address information of the repair requester, and the scheduled repair visit date and time, and sends the e-mail to the technician previously associated with the specific model (step S235). That is, the e-mail is sent to the e-mail address of the technician associated with the specific model in the specific model database 30a. In this way, the technician who wants to know information about the defect of the specific model can immediately receive the information. This enables the technician to promptly give individual, specific instructions to the worker regarding how to deal with the specific model with the defect. In addition, by transmitting the scheduled visit date and time to the technician, the technician can visit the client together with the technician and check the status of the specific model with the defect.

[0052] If it is not determined in step S230 that the repair order is a specific model, or after executing step S235, the control unit 20 determines whether all new repair orders in the repair work organization being processed have been confirmed (step S240), and if not, returns to step S215. If it is determined in step S240 that the repair orders have been confirmed, the control unit 20 determines whether all repair work organizations have been confirmed (step S245). If not, the control unit 20 returns to step S205, and if confirmed, ends the repair order analysis process.

[0053] (3-2) Work support: The new repair order is analyzed by the above-mentioned repair order analysis process (FIG. 6), and an e-mail is sent to the worker. As shown in FIG. 2, the worker can refer to the repair order stored in the maintenance management system 100 by accessing the repair order management site from the work organization terminal 400. Therefore, the worker can obtain the new repair order itself and an e-mail containing the above-mentioned support information regarding the work related to the repair order. The worker can refer to this information to visit the requester, check the status of the equipment to be repaired, and identify the cause of the defect. Since the worker can refer to not only the repair order itself but also the above-mentioned support information contained in the e-mail sent from the maintenance support system 10, the time required for the repair worker (especially an inexperienced worker) to identify the cause can be shortened compared to the case where the support information is not available at the time of the repair work.

[0054] In addition, since the causes of malfunctions are notified in a list in descending order of weighting coefficient value, the worker can verify the malfunction causes in descending order of likelihood when there are multiple malfunction causes for the same model and malfunction phenomenon.In addition, when there is a possibility that multiple parts need to be repaired for the same model, malfunction phenomenon, and malfunction cause, the worker can verify whether or not the parts need to be repaired (replaced) in descending order of weighting coefficient value.

[0055] When the cause of the defect is determined, as shown in step S115 of FIG. 2, the worker operates the work organization terminal 400 to create an estimate based on the actual parts cost and on-site work cost while referring to the repair cost information contained in the email received from the maintenance support system 10. By using the repair cost information, the time required for the repair worker to calculate the estimate to be presented to the client and to create the estimate document can be reduced compared to when the repair cost information is not available. The estimated repair cost is a value that is updated based on the repair cost required for the actual repair by the completion report analysis process described later, so the worker can calculate the estimate while referring to a likely value.

[0056] 2, the worker operates the work organization terminal 400 to instruct ordering parts (replacement parts, etc.) necessary for repairing the equipment to be repaired. The maintenance support system 10 provides the repair work organization with an ordering site for ordering parts.

[0057] Specifically, when a worker selects the reference information of the ordering site included in the e-mail and accesses the ordering site, a display request for the site is sent from the work organization terminal 400 to the maintenance support system 10. The reference information of the ordering site included in the e-mail is reference information for a page including a repair parts list for each defect cause corresponding to the model and defect event of the equipment to be repaired indicated by the repair order. In response to such a display request to the ordering site, the control unit 20 generates a parts list for each defect cause corresponding to the repair order by using the function of the ordering unit 21d, and returns the display data to the work organization terminal 400. The work organization terminal 400 displays a page including the parts list based on the display data. When a worker selects a part to be ordered from the parts list and inputs an ordering instruction, the work organization terminal 400 transmits an ordering instruction for the selected part to the maintenance support system 10. The control unit 20 uses the function of the ordering unit 21d to order the part for which an ordering instruction has been issued in accordance with the ordering method of the manufacturer of the part.

[0058] The manufacturers of the equipment to be repaired are various, and the parts used in the equipment are also various. In addition, the ordering method (for example, ordering to the manufacturer by fax, ordering on the manufacturer's website, ordering on a general EC site, etc.) may differ depending on the parts manufacturer. The control unit 20 stores the ordering method for each parts manufacturer (or for each part) in the recording medium 30. The control unit 20 refers to the recording medium 30 to acquire the ordering method for the parts selected and instructed to be ordered by the worker, and orders the parts according to the acquired ordering method. At that time, the control unit 20 places the order by setting the delivery destination of the parts to the address of the repair work organization associated with the repair order. In this way, by issuing an ordering instruction via the ordering site in this embodiment, the worker can order parts from various manufacturers in the same procedure. This reduces the burden on the worker and shortens the time required for ordering.

[0059] When the ordered parts arrive at the repair organization, the worker visits the client and repairs the equipment to be repaired by replacing the parts, etc. At this time, the worker can view technical manuals and video manuals and use them as reference when performing the work. This reduces the time it takes for the worker at the repair organization to understand how to respond.

[0060] When the repair is completed, the worker operates the work organization terminal 400 to create an invoice, as shown in step S125 of FIG. 2. The worker identifies the part cost of the part actually ordered from the repair part information contained in the email. The worker adds the part cost and the on-site labor fee to determine the invoice amount, enters this into an invoice template prepared in advance, and creates an invoice document. The worker can print out the invoice on a printer and hand it to the requester.

[0061] 2, the worker operates the work organization terminal 400 to input the repair work results, such as the cause of the defect specified by the worker, the repair parts, and the billing amount, into a repair order management site provided by the maintenance management system 100, and transmits the repair work results from the work organization terminal 400 to the maintenance management system 100. The maintenance management system 100 creates a completion report from the transmitted repair work results and stores it in association with the repair order.

[0062] (3-3) Completion report analysis processing: The completion report analysis process is a process that is periodically performed on the completion reports stored in the repair order database 130b. The completion reports are stored in step S135 of FIG. 2. FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing the completion report analysis process. The completion report analysis process is repeatedly executed every fixed period (for example, 5 minutes, 10 minutes, etc.). Steps S300 to S335 are loop processes that are executed for each repair work organization, and one by one, a repair work organization is selected as a processing target from among all repair work organizations and executed. Steps S305 to S330 are processes that are executed for one repair work organization to be processed, and first, the control unit 20 determines whether or not there is a new completion report for the repair work organization to be processed (step S305). A new completion report is a completion report for which the extraction process (S315) has not yet been performed by the extraction unit 21a. For example, when storing the order number of the repair order in the recording medium 30 as a repair order for which extraction processing has been completed (see the processing of S205 in FIG. 6), the control unit 20 stores the completion report corresponding to the repair order as one for which extraction processing has not been performed. When a completion report corresponding to the repair order is stored in the repair order database 130b and there is a completion report for which extraction processing has not been performed, the control unit 20 regards the completion report as a new completion report. Note that information indicating "performed" is associated with the completion report for which extraction processing has been performed in S315. If it is not determined in step S305 that there is a new completion report, the control unit 20 proceeds to step S335.

[0063] If it is determined in step S305 that there is a new completion report, the control unit 20 executes the loop process of steps S310 to S330 until all new completion reports in the repair work organization being processed have been confirmed. Steps S315 to S325 are processes executed for one completion report (new) being processed, and first, the control unit 20 extracts the cause of the defect, the repair cost, and the repair parts from the completion report being processed by using the function of the extraction unit 21a (step S315). If the completion report is stored in text format in the repair order database 130b, the control unit 20 extracts a character string indicating the cause of the defect, a character string indicating the repair parts, a character string indicating the billing amount, and the like. If the completion report is stored in image format, the control unit 20 performs character recognition processing on the completion report and then extracts the character strings corresponding to the above-mentioned items. Since the completion report is associated with a repair order, the cause of the malfunction, repair parts, and invoice amount extracted from the completion report are the cause of the malfunction, repair parts, and invoice amount (repair cost) corresponding to the model of the equipment to be repaired and the malfunction incident indicated in the repair order corresponding to the completion report.

[0064] Next, the control unit 20 uses the function of the tallying unit 21b to tally up the defect causes, repair costs, and repair parts to update the database (step S320). That is, the control unit 20 updates the weighting coefficients of the defect causes stored in the defect cause database 30b in association with the model and defect events of the equipment to be repaired, using the defect causes extracted from the completion report. Specifically, the control unit 20 increases the weighting coefficient of the defect cause in the model and defect events of the equipment to be repaired indicated in the repair order corresponding to the completion report by 1. Note that a default value is set for the weighting coefficient (number of occurrences) at the start of operation of the maintenance support system 10. When multiple defect causes are possible for the same model and the same defect event, the default value is set to a larger value for a defect cause that is more likely based on past statistics, etc. Therefore, even immediately after the start of operation, the order of the most likely defects that is assumed based on past statistics, etc. can be guided to the worker.

[0065] The control unit 20 also updates the weighting coefficient for each repair part stored in the repair part database 30e in association with the model, malfunction, and malfunction cause of the equipment to be repaired, using the repair parts extracted from the completion report. Specifically, the control unit 20 increases by 1 the weighting coefficient for the repair part corresponding to the model, malfunction, and malfunction cause of the equipment to be repaired indicated in the repair order corresponding to the completion report. Note that a default value is set for the weighting coefficient at the start of operation of the maintenance support system 10. The default value is larger for parts that are more likely to be repaired for the same model and the same malfunction cause based on past statistics, etc. Therefore, even immediately after the start of operation, parts can be introduced to the worker in order of likelihood.

[0066] Furthermore, the control unit 20 updates the estimated repair cost stored in the repair cost database 30d in association with the model of the device to be repaired, the malfunction event, and the malfunction cause, using the billing amount extracted from the completion report. The control unit 20 compares the upper limit and lower limit (see FIG. 4) corresponding to the model of the device to be repaired, the malfunction event, and the malfunction cause with the billing amount indicated in the completion report, and if the billing amount is greater than the upper limit, it updates the upper limit with the billing amount, and if the billing amount is less than the lower limit, it updates the lower limit with the billing amount. The control unit 20 also updates the average value with a value calculated by the formula (average value x weighting coefficient + billing amount) ÷ (weighting coefficient + 1). At the start of operation of the maintenance support system 10, the upper limit, lower limit, and average value assumed based on past statistics are set as default values.

[0067] Next, the control unit 20 creates an e-mail and sends it to the repair requester (step S325). The e-mail may include various information to be communicated to the repair requester when the repair is completed. For example, if a point system is operated in the maintenance support system 10 or another system and is operated to give points to the repair requester when repair costs are incurred, it is possible to assume a configuration in which the e-mail sent in step S325 includes the number of points to be given.

[0068] After executing step S325, the control unit 20 judges whether or not all new completion reports in the repair work organization being processed have been confirmed (step S330), and if not, returns to step S315. If it is judged in step S330 that the completion reports have been confirmed, the control unit 20 judges whether or not all repair work organizations have been confirmed (step S335). If not, the control unit 20 returns to step S305, and if confirmed, ends the completion report analysis process.

[0069] (3-4) Summary of malfunctions: In addition, the maintenance support system 10 has a function of notifying the repair order receiver, the technician associated with the model, and the repair work organization of the number of malfunction events for each model in which a malfunction has occurred during a predetermined period. The predetermined period is assumed to be, for example, one hour, one day, one week, etc., but of course it may be any other period. In order to perform such notification, the control unit 20 counts the number of malfunction events for each model that have occurred during the most recent predetermined period using the function of the counting unit 21b. Specifically, for example, the control unit 20 updates the number of malfunction events corresponding to the model and malfunction events indicated in the repair order in step S215 of FIG. 6, and obtains the number of malfunction events for each model and malfunction event every time a predetermined period has elapsed. Then, the control unit 20 uses the function of the notification unit 21c to select a predetermined number of malfunction events with the highest number of cases for each model and notify the repair order receiver, the technician associated with the model, and the repair work organization of the number of cases. Alternatively, the control unit 20 may select malfunction events with a number equal to or greater than a threshold for each model and notify the number of cases. The notification may be made by any means, and may be configured to be sent to each person by email, for example. The number of malfunction events for each model is cleared every time a predetermined period of time has elapsed.

[0070] In this way, by notifying the receiver of the trend of defect events in the most recent specified period, it is possible to increase the possibility that the receiver will be able to smoothly respond to the requester in the repair request reception work. Also, by notifying the worker of the defect trend in the most recent specified period, it is possible to increase the possibility that the worker will understand the trend and improve the quality of work. Also, by notifying the technician of the defect trend in the most recent specified period, it is possible to make the technician aware of the defect trend for each model. Note that when a technician belonging to a manufacturer is notified, the number of cases for each defect cause for the models of the manufacturer to which the technician belongs is notified. Technicians belonging to an organization that manages and supervises repair work are notified of the number of cases for each defect cause for models of all manufacturers.

[0071] Furthermore, by using the function of the notification unit 21c, the control unit 20 generates and publishes at least one of a web page, an e-mail magazine document, and an SNS document that shows the number of malfunction events for each model in which a malfunction occurred during a predetermined period. In this way, it is possible to provide information on what types of malfunction events occur frequently to general users other than the user who made the repair request. Therefore, for example, it is possible that the psychological hurdle of requesting repairs can be lowered for a user who is unsure whether to request repairs (or contact a support center) despite a worrying issue with his / her own device.

[0072] As described above, according to the maintenance support system 10 of this embodiment, a function of providing information for workers of a repair work organization to smoothly perform various tasks for repair orders can be realized without changing the configuration of the existing maintenance management system 100. Since changing the specifications and adding functions to the maintenance management system 100, which is an existing ordering system, requires huge costs, it has been difficult to realize and improve mechanisms for reducing the labor of repair work and various other functions. According to this embodiment, the above-mentioned functions can be realized at low cost compared to modifying the maintenance management system 100.

[0073] (4) Other embodiments: The above embodiment is an example for carrying out the present invention, and various other embodiments can be adopted. For example, in the maintenance support system, the repair order analysis process and the completion report analysis process may be executed by different computers.

[0074] In the above embodiment, the maintenance support system 10 actively notifies the repair work organization of information for supporting the repair work organization, but the above information may be provided in response to a request from the repair work organization corresponding to the address information of the repair client. For example, the maintenance support system 10 may be requested to provide information when the worker refers to the repair order in the maintenance management system 100, and the maintenance support system 10 may provide the requested information in response to the request. The timing at which the worker requests the maintenance support system 10 to provide information is arbitrary, and the request may be made before a repair business trip, at the business trip destination, or after the business trip.

[0075] The information provided to the worker by the notification unit 21c is not limited to that described in the above embodiment. For example, the notification unit 21c may be configured to identify the model of other owned equipment of the repair requester other than the repair target equipment for which the repair requester has requested repair, based on the customer database 130a that stores the model of the owned equipment of each user, which is included in the maintenance management system 100, and to notify the repair work organization of reference information for the manual corresponding to the model of the other owned equipment. The equipment for which the requester has requested repair is not necessarily an equipment that needs repair. For example, the cause of the malfunction of the equipment for which the requester feels a malfunction may be another equipment owned by the requester. Alternatively, a malfunction of the equipment for which the requester has requested repair may cause a malfunction in the other equipment owned by the requester. Therefore, by making the worker aware of the owned equipment other than the equipment for which the requester has requested repair, it is possible to anticipate in advance malfunctions that occur in a complex or chain reaction. In addition, by configuring to notify reference information for the manual of the other owned equipment, it is possible to shorten the time it takes for the worker to obtain technical information regarding the other owned equipment owned by the repair requester.

[0076] When a client owns a plurality of devices that are managed by the maintenance management system 100, there may be cases where a malfunction of a first device that the client recognizes as occurring is related to a malfunction of a second device. In such a case, the worker leaves a record in the completion report that the repair has been performed on other owned devices other than the repair target device for which the client has requested repair. In this way, when the completion report includes a record of repairs on other owned devices of the repair client other than the repair target device, the counting unit 21b may be configured to store the other owned devices, malfunction events, and malfunction causes in the database in association with the model and malfunction events of the repair target device. The notification unit 21c may be configured to notify the repair work organization of the malfunction events and malfunction causes of the other devices when the other devices, malfunction events, and malfunction causes are stored in the database in association with the model and malfunction events of the repair target device included in the new repair order and when the repair client of the new repair order owns other devices. By configuring the counting unit and the notification unit in this way, when malfunctions of other owned devices of the repair client are related to malfunctions of the repair target device, the time required to resolve these malfunctions as a whole can be shortened.

[0077] The reference information of the technical manual may be stored in the database in correspondence with the model and the malfunction of the device to be repaired. For example, a part (such as a page number) of the technical manual corresponding to the model that is related to the malfunction may be stored as the reference information of the technical manual.

[0078] In the above embodiment, the repair cost information (estimated repair cost and weighting coefficient, see FIG. 4) was stored in association with the model, malfunction, and malfunction cause, but the repair cost information may be stored according to the model, malfunction, malfunction cause, and repair part. For example, two parts are associated with the malfunction of "no hot water" and the malfunction cause (C) of a water heater of model "A11***" made by company A. In such a case, the estimated repair cost and weighting coefficient may be stored for each part.

[0079] Furthermore, the present invention can be applied as a program or method executed by a computer. The above-mentioned system, program, and method may be realized as a single device or may be realized by using parts of multiple devices, and include various aspects. In addition, it can be modified as appropriate, such as being partly software and partly hardware. Furthermore, the invention can be established as a recording medium of a program that controls the system. Of course, the recording medium of the program may be a magnetic recording medium or a semiconductor memory, and any recording medium developed in the future can be considered in the same way. [Explanation of symbols]

[0080] 10...maintenance support system, 20...control unit, 21...maintenance support program, 21a...extraction unit, 21b...collection unit, 21c...notification unit, 21d...ordering unit, 30...recording medium, 30a...specific model database, 30b...defect cause database, 30c...technical manual database, 30d...repair cost database, 30e...repair parts database, 30f...video manual database, 40...communication unit, 100...maintenance management system, 120...control unit, 130...recording medium, 130a...customer database, 130b...repair order database, 130c...work organization database, 140...communication unit, 200...client terminal, 300...receptionist terminal, 400...work organization terminal, 500...engineer terminal

Claims

1. a database that stores the cause of a defect, repair part information, repair cost information, and repair technique information in association with the model and the defect event; An extraction unit that acquires a new repair order from the maintenance management system and extracts the model of the device to be repaired, the malfunction phenomenon, and the address information of the repair requester included in the acquired repair order; a notification unit that refers to the database, acquires information on the cause of the malfunction, repair part information, repair cost information, and repair technique information corresponding to at least one of the model of the device to be repaired and the malfunction phenomenon, and notifies the repair work organization corresponding to the address information of the repair requester; A maintenance support system comprising:

2. The repair technique information includes reference information for a manual corresponding to the model of the device to be repaired and reference information for a video manual corresponding to the repair part information; The maintenance support system according to claim 1 .

3. The repair cost information includes an estimated repair cost for each defect cause, The notification unit transmits an estimated repair cost corresponding to the cause of the defect to the repair work organization. The maintenance support system according to claim 1 .

4. an ordering unit that, when acquiring part information indicating a part for which an ordering instruction has been issued from the repair work organization, orders the part to a manufacturer of the part; The maintenance support system according to claim 1 .

5. The notification unit notifies the repair requester of a cause of the malfunction corresponding to the model and malfunction of the device to be repaired and an estimated repair cost. The maintenance support system according to claim 1 .

6. the notification unit, based on a customer database included in the maintenance management system, which stores the models of the owned devices of each user, identifies models of other owned devices of the repair requester other than the repair target device for which the repair requester has requested repair, and notifies the repair work organization of reference information for manuals corresponding to the models of the other owned devices; The maintenance support system according to claim 1 .

7. When the model of the device to be repaired is a specific model, the notification unit notifies a technician associated with the specific model in advance of the occurrence of a malfunction in the specific model, the address information of the repair requester, and the scheduled date and time of the repair visit. The maintenance support system according to claim 1 .

8. Equipped with a counting unit that counts the number of malfunctions for each model, The notification unit notifies at least one of a repair order receiver, a technician associated with the model, and a repair work organization of the number of malfunction events for each model in which a malfunction has occurred during a predetermined period. The maintenance support system according to claim 1 .

9. The notification unit generates and publishes at least one of a web page, an e-mail magazine document, and an SNS document showing the number of malfunction events for each model in which a malfunction has occurred during the specified period. The maintenance support system according to claim 8.

10. In the database, a weighting coefficient is stored for each cause of a defect in association with a model and a defect event; The notification unit notifies the repair work organization of the causes of the malfunctions stored in the database in association with the model of the device to be repaired and the malfunction events included in the repair order, in order of weighting coefficients; The extraction unit acquires a completion report for the repair order from the maintenance management system, and extracts a model of the device to be repaired and a malfunction cause corresponding to the malfunction event from the acquired completion report; the tabulation unit updates a weighting coefficient of the malfunction cause stored in the database in association with the model of the repair target device and the malfunction event, using the malfunction cause extracted from the completion report; The maintenance support system according to claim 8.

11. In the database, a weighting coefficient is stored for each repair part in association with a model, a malfunction event, and a malfunction cause; the notification unit notifies the repair work organization of repair parts corresponding to the cause of the malfunction stored in the database in association with the model of the device to be repaired and the malfunction event included in the repair order, in order of weighting coefficients; The extraction unit extracts, from the completion report, a model of the device to be repaired and a repair part corresponding to a malfunction event and a malfunction cause, the aggregation unit updates a weighting coefficient for each repair part stored in the database in association with the model of the device to be repaired, the malfunction event, and the malfunction cause, using the repair part extracted from the completion report; The maintenance support system according to claim 10.

12. In the database, an estimated repair cost is stored in association with the model, the malfunction, and the cause of the malfunction; The notification unit notifies the repair work organization of an estimated repair cost for each malfunction cause corresponding to the model of the device to be repaired and the malfunction event included in the repair order; The extraction unit extracts, from the completion report, a repair cost corresponding to a model of the device to be repaired, a malfunction event, and a cause of the malfunction, the tallying unit updates the estimated repair cost stored in the database in association with the model of the device to be repaired, the malfunction event, and the malfunction cause, using the repair cost extracted from the completion report; The maintenance support system according to claim 10.

13. When the completion report includes a record of repairs to other owned devices of the repair requester other than the repair target device, the tallying unit stores the other owned devices, the malfunction events, and the malfunction causes in the database in association with the model and malfunction events of the repair target device, When other equipment, a malfunction event, and a malfunction cause are stored in the database in association with the model and malfunction event of the equipment to be repaired included in the new repair order, and when the repair requester of the new repair order owns the other equipment, the notification unit notifies the repair work organization of the malfunction event and the malfunction cause of the other equipment. The maintenance support system according to claim 10.

14. Computer, A database that stores the cause of a defect, repair part information, repair cost information, and repair technique information in association with the model and defect event; an extraction unit that acquires a new repair order from the maintenance management system and extracts the model of the device to be repaired, the malfunction phenomenon, and the address information of the repair requester included in the acquired repair order; a notification unit that refers to the database, acquires information on a cause of the malfunction, repair parts information, repair cost information, and repair technique information corresponding to at least one of the model of the device to be repaired and the malfunction phenomenon, and notifies a repair work organization corresponding to the address information of the repair requester; This is a maintenance support program that functions as a

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