Work planning system and work planning method

Abstract

To make a work plan with less burden on a worker.SOLUTION: A work planning system assigns work to workers, and the work planning system comprises: a receiving unit that receives work information including the time required for work; an assignable time zone specification unit that refers to attendance date constraint information indicating an upper limit of a worker's continuous working hours and a lower limit of the interval from when the worker leaves work to when the worker goes to work on the next scheduled date, and determines an assignable worker who, when received work is assigned to the worker, does not exceed the upper limit of the continuous working hours and is not below the lower limit of the interval from when the worker leaves work to when the worker goes to work on the next scheduled date, and a working time zone; a work planning unit that registers a worker who can be assigned to the determined working time zone in the work plan; and an output unit that outputs the registered work plan.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

[Technical field]

[0001] The present invention relates to a work planning system and a work planning method for allocating work to people. [Background technology]

[0002] For on-site work in a variety of industries, such as production plans for factory line work in the manufacturing industry and mobile maintenance work plans in the facility maintenance industry, efforts are being made to increase work efficiency by determining in advance the time periods and workers to be assigned to each task as work plans on a specific cycle, such as once a week or once a month, so that as much work as possible can be completed in a limited period of time.

[0003] Prior art related to work plan development includes JP 2021-114023 (Patent Document 1).

[0004] Patent document 1 discloses a database that stores process information including fatigue and stress levels of multiple processes and worker information including the skills, fatigue resistance and stress resistance of multiple workers, a judgment unit that judges workers who are capable of working at each process based on the skills of the multiple workers, and a worker management system that preferentially assigns to each process workers who have fatigue resistance and stress resistance levels corresponding to the fatigue and stress levels of each process based on the judgment results of the judgment unit. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0005] [Patent Document 1] JP 2021-114023 A Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0006] In creating a work plan, the arrival and departure times of workers are necessary to specify the people to whom work can be assigned and the time periods during which it can be performed. In particular, in the case of work such as patrol maintenance, where the time periods during which work can be performed vary depending on the work site, it is important to be able to create a highly efficient work plan by changing the arrival and departure times of workers depending on the day.

[0007] However, it is difficult to derive in advance the arrival and departure times of employees that enable a highly efficient work plan to be created.

[0008] Patent Document 1 describes, as a condition related to working hours, the upper limit of the number of hours that a worker can work continuously, but makes no mention of setting the sunrise and sunset times of workers each day. Instead, plans are drawn up either by providing the sunrise and sunset times of workers each day as input, or by assuming that workers can work a specified number of hours at any time period each day.

[0009] However, in the former case, depending on how the arrival and departure times are set, it may result in an inefficient work plan, and in the latter case, it may result in a work plan with short intervals between shifts that places a heavy burden on workers, such as working nighttime one day and daytime the next day. In other words, the prior art lacks constraints regarding work shifts and is unable to create appropriate plans.

[0010] In consideration of the above problems, the objective of the present invention is to develop a work plan without determining the arrival and departure times of workers in advance, so that the arrival and departure times determined from the work plan are less of a burden on workers. [Means for solving the problem]

[0011] The above problem can be solved by a work planning system that assigns work to workers, the system comprising: a reception unit that accepts work information including the time required for the work; an allocable time slot determination unit that references attendance date and time constraint information that indicates an upper limit of a worker's continuous working time and a lower limit of the interval between the worker's time off and the worker's next time off, and determines an allocable worker and work slot that, when assigned to the received work, does not exceed the upper limit of continuous working time or fall below the lower limit of the interval between the worker's time off and the worker's next time off; a work plan creation unit that registers workers that can be assigned to the work slots for which the work plan is requested; and an output unit that outputs the registered work plan. Effect of the Invention

[0012] The present invention makes it possible to formulate a work plan that places less of a burden on the worker. [Brief description of the drawings]

[0013] [Figure 1] FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating an example of a system configuration according to an embodiment of the present invention. [Diagram 2] 4 is an example of worker information according to an embodiment of the present invention. [Diagram 3] 4 is an example of work information according to an embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 4] 10 is an example of work arrival / departure date and time constraint information according to an embodiment of the present invention. [Diagram 5] 10 is an example of working time slot information according to an embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 6] 13 is an example of work time frame constraint information according to an embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 7] 4 is an example of plan information according to an embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 8] 1 is an example of a flowchart of a work planning system according to an embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 9] This is an example of a Gantt chart showing a work plan for daytime shifts. [Figure 10] This is an example of a Gantt chart showing a work plan that includes night shifts. [Figure 11]13 is an example of an output screen in the embodiment of the present invention. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0014] Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. In each drawing for explaining the embodiments, the same components are given the same names and reference numerals as much as possible, and repeated description will be omitted.

[0015] The present invention is not limited to the following examples, and includes various modifications and equivalent configurations within the spirit of the appended claims. For example, the above-mentioned examples have been described in detail to clearly explain the present invention, and the present invention is not necessarily limited to those including all of the described configurations.

[0016] In addition, the processing units and processing modules described in the embodiments may be realized in part or in whole in hardware, for example by designing them as integrated circuits, or may be realized in software by a processor interpreting and executing a program that realizes each function.

[0017] The information explained in the embodiment may be a table, a database (DB), or data stored in the main memory. EXAMPLES

[0018] 1 is a diagram showing an example of a system configuration according to an embodiment of the present invention. The present invention can be used to give work instructions to workers in various businesses such as the manufacturing industry and the facility maintenance industry.

[0019] The work planning system 101 of the present invention can be realized by a computer equipped with a CPU (Central Processing Unit) 102 , a main memory device 115 , an external memory device 103 , and an input / output unit 114 .

[0020] In this embodiment, an example is described in which the system is realized using a stand-alone computer, but the system may also be realized using a cloud system that provides computer resources.

[0021] The main memory device 115 stores a reception unit 110 that receives data input by a user, an allocable time slot specification unit 111, a work time slot condition determination unit 112, and a work plan creation unit 113 as software modules.

[0022] The external storage device 103 stores work information 104 , worker information 105 , arrival and departure date constraint information 106 , work time frame information 107 , work time frame constraint information 108 , and work plan information 109 .

[0023] The software modules stored in the main memory device 115 refer to the information stored in the external memory device 103 and are executed by the CPU 102 .

[0024] In the following, each component of the work planning system 101 will be described in detail.

[0025] The work information 104 is information about the work to be planned.

[0026] FIG. 2 is an example of worker information in an embodiment of the present invention.

[0027] It has a task number 201 for identifying the task, a task time (minutes) 202 required for the task, an available work time zone 203, and an allocation status 204 indicating whether the task has been allocated to a worker.

[0028] The work time 202 may include travel time, but since the location from which the work will be moved is not determined, a fixed time such as 60 minutes may be added. Furthermore, in the case of maintenance work on an elevator or the like, the available work time slots 203 must be scheduled during the available work time slots, since elevators installed in department stores cannot be stopped during daytime business hours to perform maintenance work, and so the work may be requested to be performed between 6:00 a.m. and 8:00 a.m., as in work 1.

[0029] FIG. 3 is an example of worker information in the embodiment of the present invention.

[0030] The table includes a worker name 301 for identifying the worker, and available working days 302 .

[0031] FIG. 4 shows an example of work arrival / departure date and time constraint information in the embodiment of the present invention.

[0032] It has an upper limit 401 of the time that a person can work continuously, and a lower limit 402 of the work time interval that indicates the lower limit of the interval that must be allowed between the time the person clocks out and the time the person clocks in next.

[0033] In this embodiment, it is assumed that all workers work with the same upper limit of continuous work hours and the same lower limit of work intervals. However, if these differ for each worker, it is necessary to make a judgment based on conditions that correspond to each worker.

[0034] FIG. 5 is an example of working time slot information in an embodiment of the present invention.

[0035] Each work time slot has a work time slot name 501 for identifying the work time slot, an earliest start date and time 502, and a latest leave date and time 503.

[0036] FIG. 6 is an example of working time frame constraint information in an embodiment of the present invention.

[0037] It has a constraint type 601 and a setting value 602. In Fig. 6, when the work time slots for the working days of the workers are determined from the work plan, it is permitted to assign a night shift work time slot to the working day following a working day to which a day shift work time slot has been assigned, but a work plan in which a day shift work time slot is assigned to the working day following a working day to which a night shift work time slot has been assigned is not permitted.

[0038] Additionally, the system is set up to not allow work plans that switch between day and night shifts more than three times.

[0039] 7 is an example of plan information in an embodiment of the present invention. The work plan information 109 is information on a work plan created by the work plan creation unit 113. It has a worker name 701, a work number 702, a work start date and time 703, a work end date and time 704, a worker's start date and time 705, a worker's end date and time 706, and a working time frame 707.

[0040] In this example, Worker 1 is scheduled to perform Task 1 from 11:00 to 11:40 on 4 / 1, then perform Task 3 from 12:00 to 12:20 on 4 / 1, and perform Task 4 from 15:00 to 16:00 on 4 / 1. Therefore, the arrival time on 4 / 1 is 11:00 and the departure time is 16:00. In reality, it is conceivable that work hours may be extended or work may be canceled due to work delays or other troubles, but this embodiment will be described on the assumption that such changes in work hours will not occur.

[0041] FIG. 8 is an example of a flowchart of a work planning system according to an embodiment of the present invention.

[0042] The main storage device 115 reads the task information 104, worker information 105, arrival / leave date constraint information 106, working time frame information 107, working time frame constraint information 108, and work plan information 109 stored in the external storage device 103 (step S101).

[0043] The work plan information 109 may contain a partial work plan that has been manually set, or may contain an empty work plan.

[0044] Based on the information in the work information 104, the work plan formulation unit 113 arbitrarily selects one work from among the works whose allocation status is "unallocated" (step S102).

[0045] The allocable time slot identifying unit 111 identifies a worker and a time slot to which the work selected in S102 can be assigned (step S103). A method for identifying a worker and a time slot to which the work can be assigned will be described with reference to FIG.

[0046] Figure 9 is an example of a Gantt chart showing a work plan for daytime shifts.

[0047] Worker 1 is assigned task 1 from 10:00 to 12:00 on April 1st, task 3 from 8:00 to 10:00 on April 2nd, and worker 2 is assigned task 2 from 18:00 to 22:00 on April 1st.

[0048] At this time, the time period to which work can be assigned is specified based on the upper limit 401 of the continuous working time contained in the work arrival / departure date and time constraint information 106, and the lower limit 402 of the working time interval that indicates the lower limit of the interval that must be allowed between the departure time and the next arrival time.

[0049] Here, a method for identifying an allocable time period for worker 1 will be described, assuming that the upper limit of continuous work time is 480 minutes and the lower limit of the work time interval is 720 minutes.

[0050] Worker 1 is assigned work from 10:00 to 12:00 on April 1st, as shown in box 901.

[0051] Since the maximum working hours is 480 minutes, if work is assigned before 4:00 or after 18:00 on April 1st, the time from the start of the first task to the end of the last task will exceed 480 minutes.

[0052] Therefore, if the work is to be done during the same shift as Task 1 on April 1st, the available time slots for assignment are between 4:00 and 18:00, as indicated by the white arrow 912, which combines the time slots indicated by the solid arrows of 905 and 906.

[0053] Similarly, since task 3 shown in box 903 is assigned from 8:00 to 10:00 on April 2nd, it can be seen that the period from 2:00 to 16:00, as shown by white arrow 913, which combines the time period indicated by the solid arrows of 907 and 908, is the same working hours as task 3 and can be assigned to that period.

[0054] It can also be seen that Task 1 and Task 3 are independent shifts, and that dashed arrow 909 indicating the time (720 minutes) from the completion of Task 1 during which no new task can be assigned overlaps with dashed arrow 910 indicating the time (720 minutes) during which no task can be assigned until the start of Task 3.

[0055] Therefore, additional work cannot be assigned with a gap of more than 720 minutes between the shift period in which Task 1 is performed and the shift period in which Task 3 is performed.

[0056] On the other hand, if a shift is added after the working hours of Task 3, the shift can be assigned after 10 p.m. on April 2nd, which is after the dotted arrow 911 indicating the time (720 minutes) after the end of Task 3 during which no new work can be assigned.

[0057] Therefore, the time periods that can be assigned to worker 1 are from 4:00 to 18:00 on April 1st, from 2:00 to 16:00 on April 2nd, and after 22:00 on April 2nd, as indicated by white arrows 912, 913, and 914.

[0058] Similarly, for worker 2, the allocable time periods indicated by white arrows 918 and 919 are from 14:00 on April 1st to 2:00 on April 2nd, and from 10:00 on April 2nd.

[0059] Furthermore, the allocation time slot identification unit can identify assigned tasks that can be performed by the same worker during the same shift based on information about the lower limit of the work time interval.

[0060] For example, if Worker 1 is assigned Task 4 from 8:00 to 10:00 on April 1st, Task 4 and Task 1 are in consecutive time slots and can therefore be determined to be possible to perform as part of the same shift, whereas Task 1 and Task 3 are determined to be different shifts because the time interval between them is equal to or greater than the lower limit of the shift interval, and can therefore be assigned.

[0061] Returning to FIG. 8, it is determined whether there are any workers and time periods available to assign the work (step S108), and if there are no workers or time periods, an assignment error is output to a memory unit (not shown) along with the work location (address, building name), work content (regular inspection, part replacement, etc.), and work time for the work that could not be assigned.

[0062] After the processing of the task is completed, a determination is made in S106 as to whether or not there is another task.

[0063] If there are workers and time periods that can be assigned, the work frame condition determination unit 112 determines whether or not an assignment that complies with the work frame constraints is possible for each of the workers and time periods that can be assigned identified in S103 (step S104).

[0064] Furthermore, the work plan formulation unit 113 may determine whether or not the work plan involves switching between day shift and night shift work time slots more than three times.

[0065] Figure 10 shows a Gantt chart of a work plan that includes night shifts.

[0066] Worker 1 is assigned task 1 shown in box 930 from 10:00 to 12:00 on April 1st, task 3 shown in box 932 from 8:00 to 10:00 on April 2nd, and task 2 shown in box 931 from 18:00 to 22:00 on April 1st.

[0067] In addition, the allocable time period determination unit has given the following allocable time periods for worker 1: from 4:00 to 18:00 on April 1st, as indicated by solid arrow 933, from 2:00 to 16:00 on April 2nd, as indicated by solid arrow 934, and from 22:00 on April 2nd, as indicated by solid arrow 935; and for worker 2: from 14:00 on April 1st to 2:00 on April 2nd, as indicated by solid arrow 940, and from 10:00 on April 2nd, as indicated by solid arrow 941.

[0068] At this time, the working time frame condition determination unit 112 determines whether the allocatable time period complies with the working time frame constraints based on the working time frame information 107 and the working time frame constraint information 108.

[0069] Here, a method for determining whether the allocatable time period of worker 2 complies with the work time frame constraints will be described in the following case: the work time frame information is determined as daytime work from 6:00 to 20:00 and nighttime work from 18:00 to 8:00 the following day, as shown in FIG. 5; and the work time frame constraint information is determined as shown in FIG. 6, where it is possible to work nighttime work the day after a daytime shift, but not daytime work the day after a night shift, and the number of times that nighttime work and daytime work can be switched between is limited to three times.

[0070] The diagonal arrow indicates the daytime slot, and the solid arrow indicates the nighttime slot. Work must start and finish within one of these slots. Work cannot straddle a time period when only the daytime slot is permitted and a time period when only the nighttime slot is permitted.

[0071] First, regarding the allocable time slot from 14:00 on April 1st to 2:00 on April 2nd, indicated by solid arrow 940 for Worker 2, Work 2 is assigned to this time slot from 18:00 to 22:00. Since daytime work ends at 20:00, Worker 2 must work the night shift to carry out this work.

[0072] In this case, since the night shift starts at 6 p.m., the allocable time period indicated by the solid arrow 940 from 2 p.m. to 6 p.m. is determined to violate the work time frame constraint, while the time from 6 p.m. to 2 a.m. is determined to comply with the work time frame constraint.

[0073] Next, with regard to the allocable time slots from 10:00 on April 2nd onwards for Worker 2, as indicated by the solid arrow 941, from 10:00 to 18:00 on April 2nd is daytime work on April 2nd, from 18:00 to 20:00 is either daytime work or nighttime work, and from 20:00 onwards is nighttime work.

[0074] If the work is assigned from 10:00 to 18:00 on April 2, then Worker 2 will work a daytime shift the day after working a nighttime shift on April 1. This violates the condition set in the work time frame constraint that it is impossible to work a daytime shift the day after working a nighttime shift.

[0075] Therefore, the period from 10:00 to 18:00 on April 2nd is determined to violate the work time frame constraint conditions, and the period from 18:00 onwards is determined to comply with the work time frame constraint conditions.

[0076] Returning to FIG. 8, when it is determined that the identified worker and time period do not comply with the work time frame constraints (step S109), a constraint error is output to a memory unit (not shown) along with the work location (address, building name), work content (regular inspection, part replacement, etc.), work time, and worker for the work determined to not be complied with.

[0077] After the processing of the task is completed, a determination is made in S106 as to whether or not there is another task.

[0078] Once it has been determined that the worker and time slot do not comply with the work time frame constraints, information indicating the non-compliance and the worker who was determined to be non-compliant can be registered in the allocation status 204 of the work information 104, and when the worker and time slot are identified again in S03, another worker can be selected and the allocation work can be performed.

[0079] In this case, a check is made to see if the worker and time slots for all available workers comply with the work time slot constraints, and an allocation error occurs if it is determined that the constraints are not met for all available workers.

[0080] In addition, since tasks that are determined to not comply with the work time frame constraints for the worker and time period are often difficult to assign, an error indicating the difficulty of assignment can be output along with the task name to encourage manual assignment.

[0081] When it is determined that the identified worker and time period comply with the work time frame constraint (step S109), the work plan formulation unit 113 assigns the work selected in S102 to the worker and time period determined in S104 to comply with the work time frame constraint, and updates the work plan information (step S105).

[0082] The work plan formulation unit 113 repeats the processes from S102 to S106 until there are no more works whose allocation status is unallocated (step S106), and outputs the created work plan to the input / output unit 114 (step S107).

[0083] Finally, it is determined whether an allocation error or a constraint error has occurred, and if an allocation error has occurred, the task name, task location, and task content are output from a memory unit (not shown) to an error column 953, and if a constraint error has occurred, the worker name and constraint conditions are also output to the error column 953 (step S110).

[0084] A large number of allocation errors means that there are fewer workers compared to the amount of work, and a large number of constraint errors may indicate that work is concentrated on certain workers.

[0085] FIG. 11 is an example of an output screen in an embodiment of the present invention.

[0086] The output destination may be the screen of a personal computer (PC), tablet terminal, smartphone, etc. used by the system user, and may be output via a network.

[0087] First, the worker whose work plan is to be displayed is selected in the worker column 950 and period column 951, and the work plan of the selected worker is displayed in the Gantt chart 952 in the other work assignment status column.

[0088] In the assignment display field, the tasks that have already been assigned to the worker are displayed in gray along with the task name. The white part is the time period during which the task can be assigned during the same shift as the assigned task.

[0089] The black parts are separate work from assigned work, but are available for assignment during certain time periods.

[0090] Using this screen, the system user can confirm and modify the plan that has been created.

[0091] Furthermore, tasks that cannot be assigned or tasks that do not satisfy the constraints are output to an error column 953, and by indicating that there is a task for which assignment has not been completed, it is possible to inform the user whether the assignment of all the target tasks has been completed.

[0092] This example shows that no worker could be found to assign task 8, a routine inspection task that takes 120 minutes to be carried out at the XX Building in Ochanomizu.

[0093] It also shows that an attempt was made to assign the 90-minute ZZZ part replacement task to worker 3 in the YY Building at Tokyo Station, but the assignment could not be made because it would exceed the constraint on the number of times the day shift and night shift can be switched.

[0094] Some tasks require specific qualifications or training, so if an error is output when there are constraints due to worker qualifications, then manual plans can be created for the relevant parts, enabling more effective worker deployment. [Explanation of symbols]

[0095] 101 work planning system, 102 CPU, 103 external storage device, 104 work information, 105 worker information, 106 arrival / departure date constraint information, 107 work time frame information, 108 work time frame constraint information, 109 work plan information, 110 reception unit, 111 allocatable time slot specification unit, 112 work time frame condition determination unit, 113 work plan planning unit, 114 input / output unit

Claims

1. A work planning system for allocating work to workers, comprising: A reception unit that receives work information including a time required for the work; an allocable time slot identifying unit that references work arrival / departure date and time constraint information indicating an upper limit of a continuous working time of a worker and a lower limit of an interval between the worker's leaving work and the worker's coming in to work the next time, and determines an allocable worker and a work slot that, when the accepted work is assigned, does not exceed the upper limit of the continuous working time or does not fall below the lower limit of the interval between the worker's leaving work and the worker's coming in to work the next time; a work plan creation unit that registers workers who can be assigned to a work time period requested in a work plan; A work planning system comprising an output unit that outputs a registered work plan.

2. The work planning system according to claim 1, a work time frame condition determination unit that determines whether the determined number of times the worker switches between day shift and night shift exceeds a predetermined number of times; A work planning system in which the work planning unit registers in the work plan when it is determined that the number of switching between day shift and night shift does not exceed a predetermined number.

3. The work planning system according to claim 1, a work time frame condition determination unit that determines whether the day shift-night shift switch of the determined worker is a night shift the day after a day shift or a day shift the day after a night shift, The work planning department is a work planning system that registers work plans when it is determined that the day after a day shift is a night shift.

4. The work planning system according to claim 2, When the assignable time slot specification unit is unable to assign the work to the worker, The output section is a work planning system that outputs the tasks that could not be assigned and the details of the tasks.

5. The work planning system according to claim 2, When the work cannot be assigned to the worker based on the judgment result of the work time frame condition judgment unit, The output section of the work planning system outputs the tasks that could not be assigned, the work contents, and the workers.

6. A work planning method for allocating work to workers, comprising the steps of: The reception unit receives work information including the time required for the work, the allocable time slot specification unit refers to the attendance date and time constraint information indicating an upper limit of the continuous working time of the worker and a lower limit of the interval between the worker's leaving work and the worker's coming in next, and determines an allocable worker and a work slot that, when the accepted work is assigned, does not exceed the upper limit of the continuous working time and does not fall below the lower limit of the interval between the worker's leaving work and the worker's coming in next, The work planning unit registers workers who can be assigned to the work time periods required by the work plan, A work planning method in which an output unit outputs a registered work plan.

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