Method, apparatus, system, and program for outputting information on interruption of printing

Abstract

To provide a technique for supporting grasping the tendency of the occurrence of interruption processing for every interruption factor in print processing.SOLUTION: A method for outputting a plurality of pieces of information on interruption for every interruption factor in print processing includes the steps of: acquiring a log including pieces of information 351, 352, 353 on interruption from one or more image forming apparatuses; accumulating the plurality of pieces of acquired information 351, 352, 353 on interruption for every interruption factor 320; and outputting the plurality of pieces of information 351, 352, 353 on interruption accumulated for every interruption factor 320.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 3

Description

[Technical field]

[0001] The present disclosure relates to a technique for outputting information related to a print interruption, and more particularly to a technique for outputting information classified by cause of the print interruption. [Background technology]

[0002] When producing printed matter using an image forming apparatus, the printing process may be interrupted due to various factors such as running out of paper, paper jamming, etc. Conventionally, there is known a technique for notifying an interruption of the printing process when the printing process is interrupted.

[0003] Regarding technology for notifying an interruption of a printing process, for example, JP 2019-202450 A (Patent Document 1) discloses a technology for notifying an operator of a request to handle an error when a printing process is interrupted. This technology "in the event that an error that causes printing to be interrupted occurs, a mobile terminal to be requested to handle the error is selected from among the mobile terminals owned by multiple operators as the operator, and a handling request is sent. Furthermore, a notification of the occurrence of the error is sent to the remaining mobile terminals. Furthermore, if a rejection response is received from the operator who made the handling request, another operator who can handle the error is searched for and a handling request is sent" (see [Summary]). [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0004] [Patent Document 1] JP 2019-202450 A Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0005] According to the technology disclosed in Patent Document 1, an operator who receives an error response notification may be able to respond to each interruption of printing process. However, since the operator cannot obtain information such as the cause of frequent interruptions of printing process, he or she cannot take permanent action. Therefore, there is a need for a technology that can help operators understand the tendency of interruption for each cause of interruption of printing process.

[0006] The present disclosure has been made in consideration of the above-described background, and in one aspect, an object is to provide a technology for assisting in understanding the tendency of interruption processing to occur for each cause of interruption of printing processing. [Means for solving the problem]

[0007] According to one embodiment, there is provided a method for outputting information on interruptions of a plurality of print processes for each interruption cause, the method including the steps of acquiring a log including information on the interruptions from one or more image forming apparatuses, aggregating the acquired information on the interruptions for each interruption cause, and outputting the information on the interruptions aggregated for each interruption cause.

[0008] In one aspect, the information regarding the interruption includes a time period during which the printing process was interrupted. In one aspect, the interruption time is the time from when the print process is interrupted due to any of the interruption causes to when the print process is resumed.

[0009] In one aspect, the step of outputting information related to the interruption for each interruption cause includes the step of outputting a cumulative total of interruption time in a certain period for each interruption cause.

[0010] In one aspect, the step of outputting information about the interruption for each interruption cause includes the step of outputting an average value of interruption time for each interruption cause per fixed period.

[0011] In one aspect, the information regarding the interruption includes the number of interruptions of the printing process. In one aspect, the step of outputting information related to the interruption for each interruption cause includes the step of outputting a cumulative number of interruptions in a certain period for each interruption cause.

[0012] In one aspect, the step of outputting information related to the interruption for each interruption cause includes the step of outputting an average value of the number of interruptions per fixed period for each interruption cause.

[0013] In one aspect, the step of outputting information related to the interruption for each interruption cause includes the step of outputting information related to the interruption that is compiled for each interruption cause and divided into a certain period of time.

[0014] In one aspect, the log includes identification information of the image forming device and / or identification information of an operator who operates the image forming device. The step of outputting information related to the interruption for each interruption cause includes a step of outputting information related to the interruption for each interruption cause in each image forming device, or a step of outputting information related to the interruption for each interruption cause in each operator.

[0015] In one aspect, the step of outputting information about the interruption for each interruption cause includes the step of displaying the information about the interruption in a matrix based on the first element and the second element.

[0016] In one aspect, the step of outputting information relating to the interruption includes the step of highlighting information relating to one or more interruptions that satisfy a predetermined condition, from among the pieces of information relating to the interruption displayed on the output screen.

[0017] In one aspect, the step of highlighting information regarding one or more interruptions that satisfy a predetermined condition among information regarding multiple interruptions displayed on the output screen includes a step of highlighting information regarding an interruption having a value that exceeds a predetermined threshold.

[0018] In one aspect, the step of highlighting information regarding one or more interruptions that satisfy a predetermined condition from among the information regarding multiple interruptions displayed on the output screen includes the step of highlighting information regarding interruptions that have a value up to a specified rank as a criterion for extracting interruption causes that cause the most interruptions from among the information regarding interruptions displayed on the output screen.

[0019] In one aspect, the step of highlighting information regarding the interruption having a value up to the ranking among the information regarding the interruption displayed on the output screen includes a step of gradually changing the highlighting depending on the value or ranking of the information regarding the interruption.

[0020] According to another embodiment, there is provided a method for outputting a screen of information regarding interruption for each interruption cause of a plurality of print processes, the method including the steps of analyzing logs collected from each of one or more image forming devices, aggregating information regarding interruption for each interruption cause, generating a layout of a screen for aggregating the aggregated information regarding interruption for each of one or more image forming devices or for each operator who operates one or more image forming devices, and outputting the screen.

[0021] In one aspect, generating a layout of the screen includes receiving a layout setting input from a user and generating a layout of the screen based on the setting input. The screen includes a display of information regarding interruptions aggregated by two or more of the following elements: one or more image forming devices, operators of the one or more image forming devices, and a period of time set by the user.

[0022] According to another embodiment, there is provided a program for causing a computer to execute any one of the above methods.

[0023] Furthermore, according to another embodiment, there is provided an apparatus comprising a memory unit storing the above-mentioned program, and one or more processors for executing the program. Effect of the Invention

[0024] According to an embodiment, it is possible to assist in grasping the tendency of occurrence of interruption processing for each cause of interruption of printing processing.

[0025] The above and other objects, features, aspects and advantages of the present disclosure will become apparent from the following detailed description of the disclosure taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. [Brief description of the drawings]

[0026] [Figure 1] FIG. 1 illustrates an example of a system 10 according to an embodiment. [Diagram 2] FIG. 1 illustrates an example of an image forming apparatus 130 according to an embodiment. [Diagram 3] 13 is a diagram showing a first example of a screen showing a compilation result of information on interruptions classified by interruption cause output by the system 10. FIG. [Figure 4] FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an example of a hardware configuration of a device 400 that can be used as the information processing device 100. [Diagram 5] FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating an example of functional blocks of the information processing device 100. [Figure 6] 13 is a diagram showing a second example of a screen showing a compilation result of information on interruptions classified by interruption cause output by the system 10. FIG. [Figure 7] 13 is a diagram showing a third example of a screen showing a compilation result of information related to interruptions classified by interruption cause output by the system 10. FIG. [Figure 8] 13 is a diagram showing a fourth example of a screen showing a compilation result of information related to interruptions classified by interruption cause output by the system 10. FIG. [Figure 9] 13 is a diagram showing a fifth example of a screen showing a compilation result of information related to interruptions classified by interruption cause output by the system 10. FIG. [Figure 10] 13 is a diagram showing a sixth example of a screen showing a compilation result of information related to interruptions classified by interruption cause output by the system 10. FIG. [Figure 11] 13 is a diagram showing a seventh example of a screen showing the results of compiling information on interruptions classified by interruption cause, output by the system 10. FIG. [Figure 12] It is a flowchart showing an example of the procedure of the internal processing of the information processing apparatus 100.

Embodiments for Carrying Out the Invention

[0027] Hereinafter, embodiments of the technical idea according to the present disclosure will be described with reference to the drawings. In the following description, the same parts are denoted by the same reference numerals. Their names and functions are also the same. Therefore, detailed descriptions thereof will not be repeated.

[0028] <A. Application Example> FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an example of a system 10 according to the present embodiment. With reference to FIG. 1, an application example of the technology of the present disclosure will be described. As an example, the technology of the present disclosure can be provided as a system 10 that collects logs (mainly logs related to interruptions in printing processing) of one or more image forming apparatuses.

[0029] The system 10, as an example, analyzes the collected logs, aggregates information related to interruptions such as the interruption time or the number of interruptions of the printing process by interruption factor, and based on a plurality of conditions such as the image forming apparatus, the operator, and time (minutes / hours / days / weeks / months / years, etc.), can output a screen 300 (see FIG. 3) or the like that represents the aggregation result of the interruption factors in a matrix form. Further, the system 10 can highlight the aggregation result of the interruption factor that satisfies a specific condition. Details of the screen provided by the system 10 and the conditions for highlighting display will be described later. The system 10 operates as, for example, a web application and can distribute (output) the screen 300 or the like to the user's terminal.

[0030] In this specification, the “image forming apparatus” includes an MFP (Multifunction Peripheral), a business printer, a production printer, a home printer, or any other apparatus having a printing function. The image forming apparatus can print an image on any medium other than paper. In the present disclosure, the printing process means a printing process on any medium such as paper, film, cloth, etc.

[0031] In this specification, an "operator" refers to a person who operates an image forming device such as a large production printer used by a printing company or the like. Usually, an operator logs into an image forming device to use the image forming device. Therefore, an operator who operates an image forming device can also be said to be an operator who is logged into the image forming device.

[0032] In this specification, a "log" is any record generated by an image forming device. As an example, the log may be a log related to the interruption of a printing job, in which case the log may include a timestamp, an identifier of the image forming device that generated the log, an identifier (login information) of the operator operating the image forming device, the cause of the interruption of the printing process, and information related to the interruption. Note that a log output by an image forming device that does not require login when in use may not include an operator identifier (login information).

[0033] In this specification, the term "interruption cause" includes any cause that interrupts the printing process of the image forming apparatus. As an example, the interruption cause includes any cause such as running out of paper, paper jam, tray full, running out of toner, running out of ink, etc. In the following description, the image forming apparatus is described as printing paper, but application examples of the technology disclosed herein are not limited to image forming apparatuses that print paper. The terms "paper, paper, paper output" hereinafter may be replaced with any medium. A tray full refers to a state in which the output tray is filled with paper and the image forming apparatus cannot output any more paper.

[0034] In this specification, "information regarding interruptions" includes the number of interruptions of printing process and the interruption time of printing process (the period from the start of printing interruption to the resumption of printing work). Hereinafter, the number of interruptions of printing process and the interruption time of printing process will be simply referred to as the number of interruptions and the interruption time. Information regarding interruptions may also mean the cumulative number of interruptions in a certain period (minutes / hours / days / weeks / months / years, etc.), the average number of interruptions per period (minutes / hours / days / weeks / months / years, etc.), the cumulative interruption time in a certain period (minutes / hours / days / weeks / months / years, etc.), and the average interruption time per period (minutes / hours / days / weeks / months / years, etc.).

[0035] In this specification, the term "system" encompasses a configuration consisting of one or more devices, and a service, a virtual machine, an instance, a container, etc., built on a cloud environment. Furthermore, the term "system" encompasses a combination of a configuration consisting of one or more devices, and a service, a virtual machine, an instance, a container, etc., built on a cloud environment, and an image forming device.

[0036] In this specification, the term "user" refers to any person who uses the system 10. The user includes an operator who operates the image forming device, a supervisor at the manufacturing site, an administrator of the system 10, a maintenance person for the image forming device, a person in charge of the company that manufactures the image forming device, and the like.

[0037] The configuration of the system 10 will be described. The system 10 mainly includes an information processing device 100, a log collecting device 120, and an image forming device 130. In one aspect, the system 10 may include the information processing device 100 and the log collecting device 120, but may not include the image forming device 130. In this case, the system 10 communicates with the external image forming device 130. In another aspect, the system 10 may include the information processing device 100, but may not include the log collecting device 120 and the image forming device 130. In this case, the system 10 communicates with the external log collecting device 120 and / or the image forming device 130.

[0038] Information processing device 100 analyzes logs of one or more image forming devices 130, generates a screen (such as screen 300) showing the results of tallying information about interruptions by interruption cause, and distributes the generated screen. In one aspect, information processing device 100 may acquire logs of each image forming device 130 via log collection device 120. In another aspect, information processing device 100 may directly receive logs from each image forming device 130. Information processing device 100 includes a web application 101 and a log DB (Database) 102.

[0039] Web application 101 analyzes the logs stored in log DB 102, and transmits a screen showing the results of the analysis that summarizes information about interruptions classified by interruption cause to user terminal 140 or image forming device 130. By referring to the screen displayed on the display of terminal 140 or image forming device 130, the user can understand the main reason why the print process of image forming device 130 was interrupted.

[0040] The log DB 102 stores logs of one or more image forming apparatuses 130. The information processing device 100 stores the received logs in the log DB 102. In one aspect, the image forming apparatus 130 may include a plurality of DBs 102. In this case, each of the plurality of DBs 102 may store logs of an individual image forming apparatus 130, or may store logs of the image forming apparatuses 130 in any unit such as an office or a manufacturing site. In another aspect, the image forming apparatus 130 may include a single DB 102. In this case, the DB 102 stores logs of all the image forming apparatuses 130.

[0041] Log collection device 120 receives logs from one or more image forming devices 130 and transfers the logs to information processing device 100. As an example, log collection device 120 may be placed in an office or a manufacturing site and function as a gateway. In this case, log collection device 120 may transfer logs received via an internal network to information processing device 100 via a public network.

[0042] The image forming device 130 is a device having any printing function, and transmits a log related to print interruption to the log collection device 120 or the information processing device 100 periodically or when a failure occurs. The log related to print interruption may include a timestamp, an identifier of the image forming device 130 that generated the log, an identifier (login information) of the operator operating the image forming device 130, the cause of the interruption of the print process, and information related to the interruption.

[0043] As described above, system 10 collects logs related to print interruptions from one or more image forming devices 130, generates a screen (such as screen 300) showing the results of tallying information related to interruptions by interruption cause, and distributes the generated screen. By referring to the screen distributed by system 10, a user can understand the main cause of interruption of the print process of image forming device 130 and consider remedial measures for frequent interruption causes, thereby enabling a permanent response to the failure, reducing downtime (interruption time) and improving the productivity of printing operations.

[0044] 2 is a diagram showing an example of an image forming apparatus 130 according to the present embodiment. Image forming apparatus 130 mainly includes a paper feed tray 210, an image forming section 220, a paper transport path 230, and a paper discharge tray 240.

[0045] The paper feed tray 210 stores paper for printing. If the paper stored in the paper feed tray 210 runs out during printing, the image forming device 130 interrupts the printing process. In this case, the interruption occurs because the paper has run out. When the image forming device 130 runs out of paper, it transmits a log including information about the interruption cause "out of paper" to the log collection device 120 or the information processing device 100.

[0046] The image forming unit 220 forms an image on a sheet. In one aspect, the image forming unit 220 may be an image forming unit that uses toner. When the toner runs out during the printing process, the image forming device 130 interrupts the printing process. In this case, the interruption cause is the toner running out. When the toner runs out, the image forming device 130 transmits a log including information on the interruption cause "out of toner" to the log collecting device 120 or the information processing device 100. In another aspect, the image forming unit 220 may be an image forming unit that uses ink. When the ink runs out during the printing process, the image forming device 130 interrupts the printing process. In this case, the interruption cause is the ink running out. When the ink runs out, the image forming device 130 transmits a log including information on the interruption cause "out of ink" to the log collecting device 120 or the information processing device 100.

[0047] Paper transport path 230 is a path along which paper (medium) used for printing is transported. Paper transport path 230 connects paper feed tray 210 to paper output tray 240. If paper becomes jammed on paper transport path 230 during printing, image forming device 130 interrupts the printing process. In this case, the cause of interruption is the paper jam. When a paper jam occurs, image forming device 130 transmits a log including information on the cause of interruption, "paper jam," to log collection device 120 or information processing device 100.

[0048] The paper output tray 240 is a tray onto which printed paper is output. If the paper output tray 240 becomes filled with paper during printing processing and the image forming device 130 is unable to output any more paper, the image forming device 130 interrupts the printing processing. The interruption cause in this case is a tray full. When a tray full condition occurs, the image forming device 130 transmits a log including information on the interruption cause "tray full" to the log collecting device 120 or the information processing device 100.

[0049] FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a first example of a screen showing a result of tallying information on interruptions by interruption cause output by the system 10. The system 10 acquires logs including information on interruptions from each of one or more image forming apparatuses 130, classifies and tally the acquired information on interruptions by interruption cause, and outputs the information on interruptions classified and tallying by interruption cause, for example, as shown in a screen 300. The screen 300 displays information on faults that have been tallying by interruption cause for each image forming apparatus 130 in a matrix format, divided by day. The information on faults on the screen 300 is interruption time, and the unit 310 is "minutes." The system 10 may display information on faults that have been tallying by interruption cause, divided by any period (day, week, month, year, etc.). In one aspect, the information processing apparatus 100 may classify and tally the logs. In another aspect, the image forming apparatus 130 may classify the logs. In this case, the information processing apparatus 100 tallys up the classified logs. In another aspect, image forming apparatus 130 may execute part of a log aggregation process, such as aggregating logs for an arbitrary period (day, month, etc.).

[0050] The vertical axis 320 of the matrix indicates a list of interruption causes for each image forming device 130. In the example shown in FIG. 3, the vertical axis 320 of the matrix includes the interruption causes of machine 1, "out of paper, tray full, paper jam, out of toner," and the interruption causes of machine 2, "out of paper, tray full, paper jam, out of toner." "Machine 1, Machine 2" are names of the image forming devices 130, and can be arbitrarily specified by the user. In a certain aspect, the system 10 may accept in advance input of the names of each image forming device 130 from the user via a setting screen. In this case, the system 10 manages the names of each image forming device 130 by linking them with the identifiers of each image forming device 130.

[0051] The horizontal axis 330 of the matrix indicates the period (days). In the example shown in Fig. 3, the horizontal axis 330 of the matrix includes the items "3 / 6 (Sun)", "3 / 7 (Mon)", "3 / 8 (Tues)", "3 / 9 (Wed)", "3 / 10 (Thu)", "3 / 11 (Fri)", "3 / 6 (Sat)", and the weekly total (of interruption time).

[0052] The information related to the fault shown on screen 300 will be explained using the first column 340 of the matrix as an example. The first column 340 indicates that a total of "151 minutes" of print interruptions occurred on machine 1 during the period "3 / 6 (Sun)". The first column 340 also indicates that of the total print interruption time "151 minutes" on machine 1, the interruption time caused by the interruption cause "out of paper" was "23 minutes", the interruption time caused by the interruption cause "tray full" was "128 minutes", the interruption time caused by the interruption cause "paper jam" was "0 minutes", and the interruption time caused by the interruption cause "out of toner" was "0 minutes".

[0053] Similarly, the first column 340 indicates that during the period "3 / 6 (Sun)", print interruptions occurred for a total of "66 minutes" in machine 2. The first column 340 also indicates that, of the total print interruption time of "66 minutes" in machine 2, the interruption time caused by the interruption cause "out of paper" was "32 minutes", the interruption time caused by the interruption cause "tray full" was "34 minutes", the interruption time caused by the interruption cause "paper jam" was "0 minutes", and the interruption time caused by the interruption cause "out of toner" was "0 minutes".

[0054] The system 10 may highlight information about interruptions that meets a predetermined condition among the information about interruptions displayed on the screen. In the example of the screen 300, the interruption time of "144 minutes" (interruption information 351) caused by the interruption cause "out of paper" on machine 1 on "Friday, March 11" is highlighted. In addition, the interruption time of "141 minutes" (interruption information 352) caused by the interruption cause "out of paper" on machine 1 on "Wednesday, March 9" is highlighted. In addition, the interruption time of "128 minutes" (interruption information 53) caused by the interruption cause "tray full" on machine 1 on "Sunday, March 6" is highlighted.

[0055] In one aspect, the system 10 may determine that information on interruptions (interruption time, interruption count) exceeding a predetermined threshold satisfies a predetermined condition. Taking the screen 300 as an example, for example, the predetermined threshold may be "120 minutes". In another aspect, the system 10 may determine that information on interruptions up to a predetermined rank (for example, up to the top N: N is a predetermined integer) among all information on interruptions displayed on the screen satisfies a predetermined condition. Taking the screen 300 as an example, for example, information on interruptions up to the top three (information on interruptions 351, 352, 353) are highlighted. The system 10 may also change the degree of highlighting of information on each interruption in stages based on the value or rank of the information on each interruption.

[0056] By referring to the delivered screen 300 etc., the user can understand what the main cause of the interruption of the print process of the image forming device was, and by considering measures to remedy the frequent interruption causes, a permanent response to the failure can be taken, reducing downtime (interruption time) and improving the productivity of the printing business. Using screen 300 as an example, the user can understand that the main cause of the printing interruption is "out of paper, tray full." Based on this result, the user can consider permanent responses to the failure, such as improving the business flow or developing an application to notify "out of paper, tray full."

[0057] As described above, the system 10 can also provide the user with a summary of interruption times. In printing operations, reducing interruption times (downtime) is extremely important for improving productivity. By analyzing the summary of interruption times, the user can identify bottlenecks in the printing process and take measures to improve the productivity of the printing operation.

[0058] In one aspect, the system 10 may receive an input from a user regarding display settings of a screen (screen 300, screens 600 to 1100, etc.) showing a compilation result of information related to interruptions by interruption cause. In this case, the system 10 may change the display of the screen showing a compilation result of information related to interruptions by interruption cause based on the user's input.

[0059] As a first example, the system 10 may change the type and unit of information about interruptions based on a user's input. More specifically, the system 10 may switch the information about interruptions to either interruption time or interruption count. The system 10 may also change the unit of the information about interruptions, "interruption time," to "seconds, minutes, hours," or the like.

[0060] As a second example, the system 10 may change the period for tallying up information about interruptions (number of interruptions, duration of interruptions) based on a user input. Taking the screen 300 as an example, the system 10 may change the period of the horizontal axis 330 from "days" to any period such as "hours, weeks, months, years, etc."

[0061] As a third example, the system 10 may compile information related to interruption for each image forming device 130 based on user input, or may compile information related to interruption for all image forming devices 130 managed by the system 10, or may group the image forming devices 130 based on any criteria and compile information related to interruption for each group. Taking the screen 300 as an example, the system 10 may individually display the interruption time "23 minutes" for the interruption cause "out of paper" of the image forming device 130 "machine 1" and the interruption time "32 minutes" for the interruption cause "out of paper" of the image forming device 130 "machine 2". The system 10 may also display the total interruption time "55 minutes (23 minutes + 32 minutes)" for the interruption cause "out of paper" of the image forming devices 130 "machines 1, 2".

[0062] As a fourth example, the system 10 may tally up information on interruptions for each image forming apparatus 130, or may tally up information on interruptions for each operator, based on a user's input. By tallying up information on interruptions for each operator, the user can grasp the tendency of each operator's work mistakes, etc. Furthermore, as an example, the system 10 may obtain a cumulative total or average value of information on interruptions (interruption time, interruption count) for a certain period (seconds / minutes / hours / days / weeks / months / years, etc.) based on a user's input. Moreover, these cumulative totals and average values ​​may be cumulative totals and average values ​​of information on interruptions for each interruption cause for each image forming apparatus 130. Alternatively, these cumulative totals and average values ​​may be cumulative totals and average values ​​of information on interruptions for each interruption cause for each operator. For example, the system 10 may display a cumulative total value of information on interruptions (interruption time, interruption count) for a certain period, or an average value of information on interruptions for each certain period, on the screen 300, screens 600 to 1100, etc.

[0063] As a fifth example, the system 10 may change each of the horizontal and vertical axes of the matrix to any element based on the user's input. For example, the system 10 may set the vertical axis of the matrix to "interruption factors for each operator" and the horizontal axis to "period". The system 10 may also set the vertical axis of the matrix to "interruption factors for each image forming device 130" and the horizontal axis to "period". The system 10 may also set the vertical axis of the matrix to "interruption factors for each image forming device 130" and the horizontal axis to "operator". Furthermore, the system 10 may exchange the elements of the vertical axis and the horizontal axis of the matrix in the above example. Furthermore, the elements that can be set on each axis may include "image forming device", "operator", "period (seconds / minutes / hours / days / weeks / months / years, etc.)", "interruption factors", or a combination of these. That is, the system 10 may display information about interruptions in a matrix based on the first element (vertical axis) and the second element (horizontal axis).

[0064] As a sixth example, based on user input, the system 10 may change the display format of the interruption information to any format other than a matrix, such as a pie chart, a bar graph, a line graph, etc. The display format of the interruption information may be a combination of multiple formats.

[0065] As a seventh example, the system 10 may change the items to be highlighted based on a user input. For example, the system 10 may highlight information about interruptions that satisfy a predetermined condition (information about the top N interruptions, information about interruptions that exceed a predetermined threshold, etc.) for each image forming apparatus 130.

[0066] Further, the system 10 may highlight information regarding interruptions that meet predetermined conditions (information regarding interruptions up to the upper N bits, information regarding interruptions exceeding a predetermined threshold, etc.) in units of a group of the image forming apparatuses 130. Also, the system 10 may highlight information regarding interruptions that meet predetermined conditions (information regarding interruptions up to the upper N bits, information regarding interruptions exceeding a predetermined threshold, etc.) from among the aggregation results of all the image forming apparatuses 130 managed by the system 10.

[0067] Further, the system 10 may highlight information regarding interruptions that meet predetermined conditions (information regarding interruptions up to the upper N bits, information regarding interruptions exceeding a predetermined threshold, etc.) in units of an operator. Also, the system 10 may highlight information regarding interruptions that meet predetermined conditions (information regarding interruptions up to the upper N bits, information regarding interruptions exceeding a predetermined threshold, etc.) in units of a group of operators (such as the department to which they belong). Also, the system 10 may highlight information regarding interruptions that meet predetermined conditions (information regarding interruptions up to the upper N bits, information regarding interruptions exceeding a predetermined threshold, etc.) from among the aggregation results of all the operators managed by the system 10.

[0068] <B. Hardware Configuration and Software Configuration> Next, with reference to FIGS. 4 and 5, the hardware configuration and software configuration of the information processing apparatus 100, which is a main configuration of the system 10, will be described.

[0069] 4 is a diagram showing an example of a hardware configuration of a device 400 that can be used as the information processing device 100. In one aspect, the information processing device 100 may be realized by a combination of a plurality of devices 400 or some parts of the devices 400. In another aspect, the information processing device 100 may be a virtual machine, a container, or the like constructed on a data center (cloud environment) realized by a combination of a plurality of devices 400 or some parts of the devices 400. In another aspect, the log collection device 120 may also have the hardware configuration shown in FIG. 4.

[0070] The device 400 includes a CPU (Central Processing Unit) 1, a primary storage device 2, a secondary storage device 3, an external device interface 4, an input interface 5, an output interface 6, and a communication interface .

[0071] The CPU 1 may execute programs for implementing various functions of the device 400. The CPU 1 may be configured, for example, by at least one integrated circuit. The integrated circuit may be configured, for example, by at least one central processing unit (CPU), at least one graphics processing unit (GPU), at least one field programmable gate array (FPGA), at least one application specific integrated circuit (ASIC), or a combination thereof.

[0072] The primary storage device 2 stores programs executed by the CPU 1 and data referenced by the CPU 1. In one aspect, the primary storage device 2 may be realized by a dynamic random access memory (DRAM) or a static random access memory (SRAM), etc.

[0073] The secondary storage device 3 is a non-volatile memory, and may store programs executed by the CPU 1 and data referenced by the CPU 1. In this case, the CPU 1 executes programs read from the secondary storage device 3 to the primary storage device 2, and references data read from the secondary storage device 3 to the primary storage device 2. In one aspect, the secondary storage device 3 may be realized by a hard disk drive (HDD), a solid state drive (SSD), an erasable programmable read only memory (EPROM), an electrically erasable programmable read only memory (EEPROM), a flash memory, or the like.

[0074] The external device interface 4 can be connected to any external device such as a printer, a scanner, an external HDD, etc. In one aspect, the external device interface 4 may be realized by a USB (Universal Serial Bus) terminal or the like.

[0075] The input interface 5 may be connected to any input device such as a keyboard, a mouse, a touchpad, or a gamepad. In one aspect, the input interface 5 may be realized by a USB terminal, a PS / 2 terminal, a Bluetooth (registered trademark) module, or the like.

[0076] The output interface 6 can be connected to any output device such as a cathode ray tube display, a liquid crystal display, an organic EL (Electro-Luminescence) display, etc. In one aspect, the output interface 6 may be realized by a USB terminal, a D-sub terminal, a DVI (Digital Visual Interface) terminal, an HDMI (registered trademark) (High-Definition Multimedia Interface) terminal, etc.

[0077] The communication interface 7 is connected to a wired or wireless network device. In one aspect, the communication interface 7 may be realized by a wired LAN (Local Area Network) port, a Wi-Fi (registered trademark) (Wireless Fidelity) module, or the like. In another aspect, the communication interface 7 may transmit and receive data using a communication protocol such as TCP / IP (Transmission Control Protocol / Internet Protocol) or UDP (User Datagram Protocol).

[0078] Fig. 5 is a diagram showing an example of functional blocks of information processing device 100. In a certain aspect, each functional block shown in Fig. 5 may be realized as software. In this case, CPU 1 may realize each functional block shown in Fig. 5 by executing a program read from secondary storage device 3 to primary storage device 2. Also, each functional block shown in Fig. 5 can be said to be a program module constituting web application 101.

[0079] The information processing device 100 includes, as main functional blocks, a log acquisition unit 501, a log analysis unit 502, an input unit 503, a UI (User Interface) generation unit 504, an output unit 505, and a storage unit 506. The storage unit 506 includes one or more log DBs 102.

[0080] Log acquisition unit 501 acquires logs from log collection device 120 or image forming device 130, and stores the logs in log DB 102. Furthermore, log acquisition unit 501 refers to the logs stored in log DB 102 based on a request from another functional block, and outputs the acquired logs to the functional block that has made the request. In a certain aspect, the other functional block may have a function of referring to the logs stored in log DB 102.

[0081] The log analysis unit 502 refers to the logs stored in the log DB 102 via the log acquisition unit 501 or directly. Then, the log analysis unit 502 analyzes the logs to generate a compilation result of information related to interruptions (number of interruptions, interruption time) for each interruption cause. For example, the log analysis unit 502 may generate a compilation result of the number of interruptions or interruption time of the print process for each cause such as "out of paper, full tray, paper jam, out of toner (ink)". The log analysis unit 502 may also divide the compilation result of information related to interruptions (number of interruptions, interruption time) for each interruption cause by image forming apparatus 130, by operator, or by period. The compilation result calculated by the log analysis unit 502 is output to the UI generation unit 504.

[0082] The input unit 503 acquires various inputs from the user. As a part of the web application, the input unit 503 may acquire various inputs from the user via a screen provided on the user's terminal 140. As an example, the various inputs from the user may include a request for a summary screen by interruption cause, a classification of a screen (screen 300, screens 600 to 1100, etc.) showing the summary result of information on interruption by interruption cause or a selection of summary information (selection by image forming device 130, by operator, period, etc.), and a selection of the layout of the summary result screen (elements on the horizontal axis, elements on the vertical axis, graph display, matrix display, highlighting setting, etc.). The information processing device 100 reflects the various inputs from the user in its internal processing.

[0083] The UI generation unit 504 generates various screens to be delivered to the user's terminal 140 or the image forming apparatus 130, etc. The UI generation unit 504 may generate various setting screens for the system 10, a screen showing the results of compiling information on interruptions by interruption cause, etc. In some aspects, the UI generation unit 504 may generate a screen using HTML (Hyper Text Markup Language), CSS (Cascading Style Sheets), Javascript (registered trademark), etc. The UI generation unit 504 outputs the generated screen to the output unit 505.

[0084] The output unit 505 transmits the screen generated by the UI generation unit 504 to the user's terminal 140 or the image forming apparatus 130. The user can refer to the distributed screen from the display of the terminal 140 or the display of the image forming apparatus 130.

[0085] The storage unit 506 is a storage area for logs and setting information of the system 10, etc. In a certain aspect, the storage unit 506 may have a function as a DBMS (Database Management System). In another aspect, the storage unit 506 may be a storage area for storing other arbitrary forms of data.

[0086] <C. Screen Example> Next, with reference to FIGS. 6 to 11, variations of the screen of the aggregation result of information on interruptions by interruption cause provided by the system 10 will be described.

[0087] FIG. 6 is a diagram showing a second example of the screen of the aggregation result of information on interruptions by interruption cause output by the system 10. The screen 600 displays the information on failures aggregated by interruption cause for each image forming apparatus 130 in a matrix form separated by day. The information on failures in the screen 600 is the number of interruptions, and the unit 610 is "times". The vertical axis 620 of the matrix is the interruption cause for each image forming apparatus 130, and the horizontal axis 630 of the matrix is the period (day).

[0088] That is, unlike the screen 300 that displays the aggregation result of the "interruption time" by interruption cause for each image forming apparatus 130 separated by day, the screen 600 displays the aggregation result of the "number of interruptions" by interruption cause for each image forming apparatus 130 separated by day.

[0089] The information related to the faults shown on screen 600 will be explained using the first column 640 of the matrix as an example. The first column 640 indicates that a total of "266" print interruptions occurred in machine 1 during the period "3 / 20 (Sun)." The first column 640 also indicates that of the total number of "266" print interruptions in machine 1, the number of interruptions due to the interruption cause "out of paper" was "148," the number of interruptions due to the interruption cause "tray full" was "118," the number of interruptions due to the interruption cause "paper jam" was "0," and the number of interruptions due to the interruption cause "out of toner" was "0."

[0090] Similarly, the first column 640 indicates that during the period "3 / 20 (Sun)", a total of "69" print interruptions occurred in machine 2. The first column 640 also indicates that of the total number of "69" print interruptions in machine 2, the number of interruptions due to the interruption cause "out of paper" was "34," the number of interruptions due to the interruption cause "tray full" was "35," the number of interruptions due to the interruption cause "paper jam" was "0," and the number of interruptions due to the interruption cause "out of toner" was "0."

[0091] Furthermore, the system 10 may highlight information about interruptions that meets a predetermined condition among the information about interruptions displayed on the screen. In the example of the screen 600, the number of interruptions caused by the interruption cause "out of paper" on machine 1 on "Sunday, March 20th" (148 times) (information about interruptions 651) is highlighted. Furthermore, the number of interruptions caused by the interruption cause "tray full" on machine 1 on "Monday, March 21st" (146 times) (information about interruptions 652) is highlighted. Furthermore, the number of interruptions caused by the interruption cause "out of paper" on machine 1 on "Tuesday, March 22nd" (137 times) (information about interruptions 653) is highlighted.

[0092] By referring to the screen 600, the user can grasp the causes of print processing interruptions that occur frequently for each image forming apparatus 130.

[0093] 7 is a diagram showing a third example of a screen showing the results of compiling information on interruptions classified by interruption cause output by the system 10. Screen 700 displays information on faults compiled for each image forming device 130 classified by interruption cause in a matrix divided into weekly units. The information on faults on screen 700 is interruption time, and the unit 710 is "minutes." The vertical axis 720 of the matrix is ​​the interruption cause for each image forming device 130, and the horizontal axis 730 of the matrix is ​​the period (weeks).

[0094] In other words, unlike screen 300 which displays the aggregated results of interruption times for each interruption cause for each image forming device 130 in "day units", screen 700 displays the aggregated results of interruption times for each interruption cause for each image forming device 130 in "weekly units".

[0095] The information related to the fault shown on screen 700 will be explained using the first column 740 of the matrix as an example. The first column 740 indicates that printing interruptions occurred for a total of "1504 minutes" on machine 1 during the period "2 / 27-3 / 5." The first column 740 also indicates that of the total printing interruption time "1504 minutes" on machine 1, the interruption time caused by the interruption cause "out of paper" was "645 minutes," the interruption time caused by the interruption cause "tray full" was "529 minutes," the interruption time caused by the interruption cause "paper jam" was "330 minutes," and the interruption time caused by the interruption cause "out of toner" was "0 minutes."

[0096] Similarly, the first column 740 indicates that during the period "2 / 27-3 / 5", print interruptions occurred for a total of "570 minutes" in machine 2. Furthermore, the first column 740 indicates that of the total print interruption time of "570 minutes" in machine 2, the interruption time caused by the interruption cause "out of paper" was "243 minutes", the interruption time caused by the interruption cause "tray full" was "20 minutes", the interruption time caused by the interruption cause "paper jam" was "237 minutes", and the interruption time caused by the interruption cause "out of toner" was "70 minutes".

[0097] Furthermore, the system 10 may highlight information about interruptions that meets a predetermined condition among the information about interruptions displayed on the screen. In the example of the screen 700, the interruption time of "688 minutes" (information about interruptions 751) caused by the interruption cause "out of paper" in machine 1 from "3 / 27 to 4 / 2" is highlighted. Also, the interruption time of "677 minutes" (information about interruptions 752) caused by the interruption cause "paper jam" in machine 2 from "3 / 27 to 4 / 2" is highlighted. Also, the interruption time of "657 minutes" (information about interruptions 753) caused by the interruption cause "out of paper" in machine 1 from "3 / 20 to 3 / 26" is highlighted.

[0098] By referring to screen 700, the user can grasp the causes of print processing interruptions that occur frequently over a long span such as one week for each image forming device 130. Furthermore, for example, by comparing screens 600 and 700, if the total interruption time for a particular image forming device 130 per week is large and there is variation in the interruption time for each individual date for the particular image forming device 130, the user can infer the main cause of print interruptions, such as the proficiency of the operator who operates image forming device 130 on a particular day of the week or the content of the job.

[0099] 8 is a diagram showing a fourth example of a screen showing the results of compiling information on interruptions by interruption cause output by system 10. Screen 800 displays information on faults compiled by interruption cause for each operator in a matrix divided into one-week units. The information on faults on screen 800 is interruption time, and the unit 810 is "minutes." The vertical axis 820 of the matrix is ​​the interruption cause for each operator, and the horizontal axis 830 of the matrix is ​​the period (weeks).

[0100] In other words, unlike screen 700 which displays the aggregated results of interruption times by interruption cause for each "image forming device 130" in units of one week, screen 800 displays the aggregated results of interruption times by interruption cause for each "operator" in units of one week.

[0101] The information on the fault shown on the screen 800 will be described using the first column 840 of the matrix as an example. The first column 840 indicates that a total of "1504 minutes" of print interruptions occurred in the image forming device 130 operated by the operator A during the period "2 / 27-3 / 5". If the operator A operated multiple image forming devices 130 during the period "2 / 27-3 / 5", the total "1504 minutes" indicates the total time of interruptions that occurred in the multiple image forming devices 130 operated by the operator A. The first column 840 also indicates that, of the total print interruption time "1504 minutes" in the image forming device 130 operated by the operator A, the interruption time caused by the interruption cause "out of paper" is "645 minutes", the interruption time caused by the interruption cause "tray full" is "529 minutes", the interruption time caused by the interruption cause "paper jam" is "330 minutes", and the interruption time caused by the interruption cause "out of toner" is "0 minutes".

[0102] Similarly, the first column 840 indicates that during the period "2 / 27-3 / 5", print interruptions occurred for a total of "570 minutes" in the image forming device 130 operated by operator B. Furthermore, the first column 840 indicates that of the total print interruption time of "570 minutes" in the image forming device 130 operated by operator B, the interruption time caused by the interruption cause "out of paper" was "243 minutes", the interruption time caused by the interruption cause "tray full" was "20 minutes", the interruption time caused by the interruption cause "paper jam" was "237 minutes", and the interruption time caused by the interruption cause "out of toner" was "70 minutes".

[0103] Furthermore, the system 10 may highlight information about interruption that satisfies a predetermined condition among the information about interruption displayed on the screen. In the example of the screen 800, the interruption time "688 minutes" (information about interruption 851) caused by the interruption cause "out of paper" in the image forming device 130 operated by the operator A from "3 / 27 to 4 / 2" is highlighted. Also, the interruption time "677 times" (information about interruption 852) caused by the interruption cause "paper jam" in the image forming device 130 operated by the operator B from "3 / 27 to 4 / 2" is highlighted. Also, the interruption time "657 minutes" (information about interruption 853) caused by the interruption cause "out of paper" in the image forming device 130 operated by the operator A from "3 / 20 to 3 / 26" is highlighted.

[0104] By referring to screen 800, the user can understand the most frequent causes of print processing interruptions for each operator. In other words, the user can understand the proficiency of each operator, the types of print processing interruptions that are likely to occur, and other tendencies.

[0105] 9 is a diagram showing a fifth example of a screen showing the results of compiling information on interruptions by interruption cause output by system 10. Screen 900 displays information on faults compiled by interruption cause for each image forming device 130 in a matrix, separated by one week, in association with the operator who used image forming device 130. The information on faults in screen 900 is interruption time, and unit 910 is "minutes." Vertical axis 920 of the matrix is ​​the interruption cause for each image forming device 130, and horizontal axis 930 of the matrix is ​​the period (weeks) and operator.

[0106] The information related to the fault shown on screen 900 will be explained using the first column 940 of the matrix as an example. The first column 940 indicates that when the user of machine 1 was "Operator A" during the period "2 / 27-3 / 5", printing interruptions occurred in machine 1 for a total of "1504 minutes". The first column 940 also indicates that of the total printing interruption time "1504 minutes" in machine 1, the interruption time caused by the interruption cause "out of paper" was "645 minutes", the interruption time caused by the interruption cause "tray full" was "529 minutes", the interruption time caused by the interruption cause "paper jam" was "330 minutes", and the interruption time caused by the interruption cause "out of toner" was "0 minutes".

[0107] Similarly, the first column 940 indicates that when the user of Machine 2 was "Operator B" during the period "2 / 27-3 / 5", printing interruptions occurred for a total of "1050 minutes" on Machine 2. The first column 940 also indicates that, of the total printing interruption time of "1050 minutes" on Machine 2, the interruption time caused by the interruption cause "out of paper" was "343 minutes", the interruption time caused by the interruption cause "tray full" was "200 minutes", the interruption time caused by the interruption cause "paper jam" was "437 minutes", and the interruption time caused by the interruption cause "out of toner" was "70 minutes".

[0108] Furthermore, the system 10 may highlight information about interruptions that meets a predetermined condition among the information about interruptions displayed on the screen. In the example of the screen 900, for the machine 1, the interruption time "688 minutes" (information about interruptions 951A) caused by the interruption cause "paper jam" in the period "3 / 27-4 / 2" and the user "Operator B" of the machine 1 is highlighted. Also, the interruption time "657 times" (information about interruptions 952A) caused by the interruption cause "out of paper" in the period "3 / 20-3 / 26" and the user "Operator A" of the machine 1 is highlighted. Also, the interruption time "645 minutes" (information about interruptions 953A) caused by the interruption cause "out of paper" in the period "2 / 27-3 / 5" and the user "Operator A" of the machine 1 is highlighted.

[0109] Similarly, in the example of screen 900, for machine 2, the period "3 / 27-4 / 2" and interruption time "677 minutes" (interruption-related information 951B) due to interruption cause "paper jam" in machine 2 for user "Operator B" are highlighted. Also, the period "3 / 27-4 / 2" and interruption time "660 times" (interruption-related information 952B) due to interruption cause "tray full" in machine 2 for user "Operator B" are highlighted. Also, the period "3 / 6-3 / 12" and interruption time "640 minutes" (interruption-related information 953B) due to interruption cause "paper jam" in machine 2 for user "Operator B" are highlighted.

[0110] By referring to screen 900, the user can understand the compatibility between each image forming device 130 and each operator, etc. This allows the user to take measures such as having each operator concentrate on using an image forming device 130 that is compatible with them, or having each operator practice operating an image forming device 130 that is difficult for them.

[0111] 10 is a diagram showing a sixth example of a screen showing the results of tabulating information about interruptions classified by interruption cause output by the system 10. Screen 1000 displays information about faults tabulated by interruption cause in a matrix, separated by image forming apparatus. The information about faults on screen 1000 is interruption time, and unit 1010 is "minutes."

[0112] Screen 1000 displays the results of tallying up interruption times for each interruption cause detected within an arbitrary period (one month, one year, etc.) set by the user, separated by "units of image forming devices 130." The vertical axis 1020 of the matrix represents the interruption causes, and the horizontal axis 1030 of the matrix represents the image forming devices 130.

[0113] The information regarding the faults shown on screen 1000 will be explained using the first column 1040 of the matrix as an example. The first column 1040 shows a summary of interruption times by interruption cause that occurred on "machine 1" during a certain period. More specifically, the first column 1040 shows that on "machine 1," interruption time caused by interruption cause "out of paper" occurred for "611 minutes," interruption time caused by interruption cause "tray full" occurred for "404 minutes," no interruption time caused by interruption cause "paper jam" occurred ("0 minutes"), and no interruption time caused by interruption cause "out of toner" occurred ("0 minutes").

[0114] Furthermore, the system 10 may highlight information about interruptions that meets a predetermined condition among the information about interruptions displayed on the screen. In the example of the screen 1000, the interruption time of "611 minutes" (interruption information 1051) caused by the interruption cause "out of paper" in "machine 1" is highlighted. Also, the interruption time of "404 minutes" (interruption information 1052) caused by the interruption cause "tray full" in "machine 1" is highlighted. Also, the interruption time of "400 minutes" (interruption information 1053) caused by the interruption cause "tray full" in "machine 5" is highlighted.

[0115] By referring to screen 1000, the user can, for example, grasp the occurrence status of print interruptions over a long period of time for each image forming apparatus 130. Then, the user can identify the image forming apparatus 130 that is causing problems (having many print interruptions).

[0116] 11 is a diagram showing a seventh example of a screen showing the results of tabulating information about interruptions by interruption cause output by the system 10. Screen 1100 displays information about faults tabulated by interruption cause in a matrix, separated by operator. For example, the column for "Operator A" shows the total interruption time by interruption cause that occurred in all image forming devices 130 used by operator A during a certain period. The information about faults on screen 1100 is interruption time, and the unit 1010 is "minutes."

[0117] Screen 1100 displays the results of tallying interruption times by interruption cause detected within an arbitrary period (one month, one year, etc.) set by the user, separated by "operator unit." The vertical axis 1120 of the matrix represents interruption causes, and the horizontal axis 1130 of the matrix represents operators.

[0118] The information related to the faults shown on screen 1100 will be explained using first column 1140 of the matrix as an example. First column 1140 indicates a compilation of interruption times by interruption cause that occurred during a certain period of time while "operator A" was operating image forming device 130. More specifically, first column 1140 indicates that while operator A was operating image forming device 130, interruption times due to interruption cause "out of paper" occurred for "645 minutes," interruption times due to interruption cause "tray full" occurred for "220 minutes," interruption times due to interruption cause "paper jam" occurred for "100 minutes," and no interruption times due to interruption cause "out of toner" occurred ("0 minutes").

[0119] Furthermore, the system 10 may highlight information about interruptions that meets a predetermined condition among the information about interruptions displayed on the screen. In the example of the screen 1100, the interruption time of "1365 minutes" (information about interruptions 1151) caused by the interruption cause "paper jam" that occurred while the operator B was operating the image forming device 130 is highlighted. Also, the interruption time of "800 minutes" (information about interruptions 1152) caused by the interruption cause "tray full" that occurred while the operator C was operating the image forming device 130 is highlighted. Also, the interruption time of "645 minutes" (information about interruptions 1153) caused by the interruption cause "out of paper" that occurred while the operator A was operating the image forming device 130 is highlighted.

[0120] By referring to screen 1100, the user can, for example, understand the tendencies of each operator over a long period of time (what types of print processing interruptions are likely to occur). Based on this, the user can take measures such as reviewing the operation details of each operator.

[0121] <D.フローチャート> Fig. 12 is a flowchart showing an example of the procedure of internal processing of information processing device 100. The internal processing of information processing device 100 will be described with reference to Fig. 12. In one aspect, CPU 1 may load a program for performing the processing of Fig. 12 from secondary storage device 3 to primary storage device 2, and execute the program. In another aspect, some or all of the processing may be realized as a combination of circuit elements configured to perform the processing.

[0122] In step S1210, information processing device 100 collects logs from one or more image forming apparatuses 130. In one aspect, information processing device 100 may collect logs from image forming apparatuses 130 via log collection device 120. In another aspect, information processing device 100 may collect logs directly from image forming apparatuses 130.

[0123] In step S1220, information processing device 100 classifies and aggregates the collected logs according to interruption cause (out of paper, tray full, paper jam, out of toner (ink), etc.). In one aspect, information processing device 100 may classify and aggregate the logs based on information indicating the interruption cause included in the log (such as an identifier of the interruption cause).

[0124] In step S1230, the information processing device 100 collects information related to interruption (interruption duration, number of occurrences, etc.) for each interruption cause.

[0125] In step S1240, the information processing device 100 accepts an operation related to display from the user. The display here refers to a screen (such as the screen 300, screen 600 to screen 1100) showing the results of the compilation of information related to interruption, and the user may set display items (such as elements of the vertical and horizontal axes of a matrix or graph) and layout (such as a matrix or graph) of the screen showing the results of the compilation of information related to interruption. In another aspect, the information processing device 100 may deliver a setting screen related to display to the user's terminal 140. In this case, the user may input settings such as display items and layout of the screen showing the results of the compilation of information related to interruption to the delivered setting screen. The layout setting may include, for example, a setting to classify, collect, and display information related to interruption by any two or more elements of one or more image forming devices 130, operators of one or more image forming devices 130, and a period set by the user. The information processing device 100 may generate a screen layout based on the setting input. Note that the processing of this step may be executed at any timing such as before step S1210.

[0126] In step S1250, the information processing device 100 classifies, tabulates, and outputs information about interruption for each interruption cause based on various conditions (machine where the interruption occurred, operator in charge of the job, date, etc.). The various conditions can be used as the first element (vertical axis) and the second element (horizontal axis) of a matrix. In one aspect, the various conditions may include only the first element, or may include three or more elements (image forming device, operator, period, etc.) like the screen 900. The information processing device 100 may generate a screen based on the conditions. As an example, the information processing device 100 outputs the screen 300, the screen 600 to the screen 1100, etc. The information processing device 100 may deliver the generated screen to the user's terminal 140. In this case, the screen 300, the screen 600 to the screen 1100, etc. are displayed on the display of the terminal 140. In one aspect, the information processing device 100 may accept input of various conditions to be used in this step in step S1240. As an example, information processing device 100 analyzes logs collected from one or more image forming devices 130, and collects information related to interruption for each interruption cause included in the log. Then, information processing device 100 generates a layout of a screen (screen 1000, screen 1100, etc.) that classifies and collects the collected information related to interruption for each one or more image forming devices, or for each operator who operates one or more image forming devices.

[0127] In step S1260, information processing device 100 highlights the "interruption-related information" associated with the frequently occurring "interruption cause." The highlighting corresponds to the highlighting on screen 300, screens 600 to 1100, for example. In one aspect, information processing device 100 may highlight the "interruption-related information" by any means including making the "interruption-related information" bold, coloring it, changing the font, changing the character size, changing the background color, providing a ruled line, or a combination of these.

[0128] As described above, the system 10 according to the present embodiment collects logs from one or more image forming apparatuses 130, classifies and aggregates the logs, and calculates the aggregated results of information related to interruptions by interruption cause. Furthermore, the system 10 can output a screen that classifies or divides the aggregated results of information related to interruptions according to any condition (per image forming apparatus 130, per operator, per fixed period) or any combination of conditions.

[0129] The user can understand the main cause of the interruption of the print process of the image forming device by referring to the compilation result of the interruption information provided by the system 10. Furthermore, the user can study remedial measures for frequent interruption factors based on the identified causes, thereby enabling a permanent response to the failure, reducing downtime (interruption time) and improving the productivity of printing operations.

[0130] The embodiments disclosed herein should be considered to be illustrative and not restrictive in all respects. The scope of the present disclosure is indicated by the claims, not by the above description, and is intended to include all modifications within the meaning and scope of the claims. In addition, the disclosure contents described in the embodiments and each modified example are intended to be implemented, as far as possible, either alone or in combination. [Explanation of symbols]

[0131] 1 CPU, 2 primary storage device, 3 secondary storage device, 4 external device interface, 5 input interface, 6 output interface, 7 communication interface, 10 system, 100 information processing device, 101 web application, 102 log DB, 120 log collection device, 130 image forming device, 140 terminal, 210 paper feed tray, 220 image forming section, 230 paper transport path, 240 paper output tray, 300, 600, 700, 800, 900, 1000, 1100 screen, 310, 610, 710, 810, 1010 unit, 320, 720, 820, 920, 1020, 1120 vertical axis, 330, 730, 830, 930, 1030, 1130 Horizontal axis, 340, 640, 740, 840, 940, 1040, 1140 First column, 351, 352, 353, 651, 652, 653, 751, 752, 753, 851, 852, 853, 951A, 951B, 952A, 952B, 953A, 953B, 1051, 1052, 1053, 1151, 1152, 1153 Information regarding interruption, 400 device, 501 log acquisition unit, 502 log analysis unit, 503 input unit, 504 UI ​​generation unit, 505 output unit, 506 memory unit.

Claims

1. A method for outputting information regarding interruption of a plurality of print processes for each interruption cause, comprising: obtaining a log from one or more image forming devices, the log including information regarding the interruption; a step of aggregating the acquired information about the plurality of interruptions for each interruption cause; and outputting information about the interruptions aggregated for each interruption cause.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the information regarding the interruption includes a time of interruption of the printing process.

3. The method according to claim 2 , wherein the interruption time is a time from when the printing process is interrupted due to any of the interruption causes to when the printing process is resumed.

4. The method according to claim 3 , wherein the step of outputting information related to the interruption for each interruption cause includes the step of outputting a cumulative total of the interruption time in a certain period for each interruption cause.

5. The method according to claim 3 , wherein the step of outputting information related to the interruption for each interruption cause includes the step of outputting an average value of the interruption time for each interruption cause for a certain period of time.

6. The method of claim 1 , wherein the information regarding interruptions includes a number of interruptions to the printing process.

7. The method according to claim 6 , wherein the step of outputting information related to the interruption for each interruption cause includes the step of outputting a cumulative total of the number of interruptions in a certain period for each interruption cause.

8. The method according to claim 6 , wherein the step of outputting information related to the interruption for each interruption cause includes the step of outputting an average value of the number of interruptions per fixed period for each interruption cause.

9. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the step of outputting information related to the interruption for each interruption cause includes the step of outputting information related to the interruption that is collected for each interruption cause and divided into a certain period of time.

10. the log includes identification information of the image forming apparatus and / or identification information of an operator who operates the image forming apparatus, The step of outputting information regarding the interruption for each interruption cause includes: outputting information about the interruption for each of the interruption causes in each of the image forming apparatuses; or The method of claim 1 , further comprising the step of outputting information regarding the interruption for each of the interruption causes for each of the operators.

11. The method according to claim 10 , wherein the step of outputting information about the interruption for each interruption cause includes the step of displaying the information about the interruption in a matrix based on a first element and a second element.

12. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the step of outputting the information regarding the interruption includes a step of highlighting one or more pieces of information regarding the interruption that satisfy a predetermined condition among the pieces of information regarding the interruption included in the output screen.

13. The method according to claim 12, wherein the step of highlighting information regarding one or more of the interruptions that satisfy the predetermined condition among the multiple pieces of information regarding the interruptions included in the output screen includes a step of highlighting information regarding the interruption that has a value exceeding a predetermined threshold.

14. The method according to claim 12, wherein the step of highlighting one or more pieces of information relating to the interruption that satisfy the predetermined condition among the pieces of information relating to the interruption displayed on the output screen includes a step of highlighting, among the pieces of information relating to the interruption displayed on the output screen, pieces of information relating to the interruption that have a value up to a rank specified as a criterion for extracting interruption causes that cause a lot of interruptions.

15. The method according to claim 14, wherein the step of highlighting information regarding the interruption having a value up to the ranking among the information regarding the interruption displayed on the output screen includes a step of gradually changing the highlighting depending on the value or ranking of the information regarding the interruption.

16. A method for outputting a screen of information regarding interruption of a plurality of print processes for each interruption cause, comprising: analyzing the logs collected from each of the one or more image forming apparatuses and aggregating information related to the interruption for each of the interruption causes; generating a layout of the screen for tallying up the aggregated information on interruption for each of the one or more image forming devices or for each operator who operates the one or more image forming devices; and outputting the screen.

17. The step of generating the layout of the screen includes: receiving a setting input of the layout from a user; generating the layout of the screen based on the setting input; The screen is:

17. The method of claim 16, further comprising displaying information about the interruptions aggregated by any two or more of the following: the one or more image forming devices, the operator of the one or more image forming devices, and a time period set by the user.

18. A program for causing a computer to execute the method according to any one of claims 1 to 17.

19. A storage unit storing the program according to claim 18; and one or more processors for executing the program.

Images