Maintenance support system and program, and maintenance support method

Abstract

To efficiently support operators in a maintenance support system that supports operators.SOLUTION: A maintenance support system for supporting maintenance operation of an image forming apparatus is provided. The system stores a service manual including first statistical information of operation results linked to items of the service manual, generates second statistical information on the basis of operation results of maintenance operation of the image forming apparatus, compares the first statistical information with the second statistical information, determines whether to update the service manual on the basis of the difference between the rankings of results of coping with corresponding items included in the respective pieces of statistical information, and updates the service manual stored in storage means according to the result of the determination.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 8

Description

[Technical field]

[0001] The present invention relates to a maintenance support system, a program, and a maintenance support method for supporting the maintenance of an image forming apparatus. [Background technology]

[0002] In the commercial printing field, image forming equipment downtime directly translates into lost profits, so high operating rates are required for image forming equipment. When an error occurs in an image forming equipment or maintenance is required, a skilled operator on the customer's side first responds. However, if the operator is unable to respond, a maintenance worker from the manufacturer is dispatched to the location where the image forming equipment is installed to respond. In both cases, the operator and the maintenance worker are required to complete their work in a short time to minimize downtime.

[0003] To make these tasks more efficient, there are maintenance support systems that support maintenance work by displaying a worklist of errors and maintenance items that operators and maintenance workers (hereafter collectively referred to as workers) need to deal with in order of priority. Workers refer to this worklist and perform tasks in order of priority. Workers can make this task more efficient by being able to check a service manual that describes the work procedures for an item selected from the worklist. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0004] [Patent Document 1] JP 2020-199704 A Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0005] In a maintenance support system that uses such a worklist to show a countermeasure, there are cases where the countermeasure cannot be limited to one. Since there is not always one possible cause for an error that has occurred, multiple countermeasures may be presented. In that case, which countermeasure to select from the multiple countermeasures depends on the worker. It is difficult for an inexperienced worker to make the right choice. For this reason, Patent Document 1 proposes that the worker communicate with a fault diagnosis server at the dispatched location and receive support from the fault diagnosis server. The fault diagnosis server estimates the cause of the failure from various device information such as errors received from the image forming apparatus, narrows down the candidates for the cause, and presents the result to the worker. This proposal is based on the premise that the image forming apparatus and the fault diagnosis server communicate with each other.

[0006] However, the maintenance work environment must comply with the rules and restrictions of the dispatched environment, and there are cases where communication with the outside is not permitted. In such cases, it is not possible to obtain support using the diagnostic server of Patent Document 1.

[0007] The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and aims to provide a maintenance support system that can support a maintenance worker regardless of the maintenance work environment, and in particular, to provide a maintenance support system that can reduce the maintenance burden of a service manual and more efficiently support a maintenance worker. [Means for solving the problem]

[0008] In order to achieve the above object, the present invention has the following configuration. According to one aspect of the present invention, there is provided a maintenance support system for supporting a maintenance operation of an image forming apparatus, comprising: A storage means for storing the service manual including first statistical information on work results linked to each item in the service manual; a statistical information generating unit that generates second statistical information based on the results of the maintenance work of the image forming apparatus; a determination means for comparing the first statistical information with the second statistical information and determining whether or not to update the service manual based on a difference in ranking of handling results for corresponding items included in each statistical information; and updating means for updating the service manual stored in the storage means in accordance with a result of the determination by the determining means. A maintenance support system is provided.

[0009] According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a maintenance support method using a maintenance support system including a storage means, a statistical information generating means, a determining means, an updating means, and a terminal device, comprising the steps of: The storage means stores the service manual including first statistical information on work results linked to each item in the service manual; the statistical information generating means generates second statistical information based on the results of the maintenance work on the image forming apparatus; the determination means compares the first statistical information with the second statistical information, and determines whether or not to update the service manual based on a difference in ranking of handling records for corresponding items included in each statistical information; the update means updates the service manual stored in the storage means in accordance with a result of the determination by the determination means; There is provided a maintenance support method, characterized in that the terminal device downloads the service manual from the storage means when the service manual stored in the storage means has been updated in response to a user operation. Effect of the Invention

[0010] According to the present invention, a maintenance support system and a maintenance support system can be provided that can support maintenance workers regardless of the maintenance work environment, and in particular, the maintenance burden of service manuals can be reduced and support for maintenance workers can be more efficiently provided. [Brief description of the drawings]

[0011] [Figure 1]FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an entire maintenance support system according to a first embodiment. [Diagram 2] Block diagram of an information processing device and a maintenance service terminal in a first embodiment. [Diagram 3] Block diagram of a printing company system and a maintenance service terminal in a first embodiment. [Figure 4] Block diagram of a service manual management system and a service work record management system in the first embodiment. [Diagram 5] FIG. 13 is a diagram showing an example of a database of a service work record DB in the first embodiment; [Figure 6] FIG. 13 is a diagram showing an example of statistical information generated by a statistical information generating unit in the first embodiment; [Figure 7] Flowchart of the statistical information generating unit in the first embodiment [Figure 8] Flowchart of manual update in the first embodiment [Figure 9] FIG. 13 is a diagram showing an example of a work list screen of a service tool in the first embodiment. [Figure 10] FIG. 13 is a diagram showing an example of a service manual screen in the first embodiment; [Figure 11] Flowchart of manual update in the second embodiment [Figure 12] Example of change in statistical information in the second embodiment [Figure 13] Flowchart of manual update in the third embodiment [Figure 14] FIG. 13 is a diagram showing an example of a change in statistical information in the third embodiment. [Figure 15] Flowchart of manual update in the fourth embodiment [Figure 16] FIG. 23 is a diagram showing an example of a change in statistical information in the fourth embodiment. [Figure 17] FIG. 23 is a diagram showing an example of a database of a service work record DB in the fifth embodiment; [Figure 18] Flowchart of the statistical information generating unit in the fifth embodiment [Figure 19]Flowchart of double counting method in the fifth embodiment [Figure 20] FIG. 23 is a diagram showing an example of a filtering result for each part in the fifth embodiment; [Figure 21] FIG. 23 is a diagram showing an example of statistical information generated by a statistical information generating unit in the fifth embodiment; [Figure 22] Flowchart of manual update in the fifth embodiment [Diagram 23] Flowchart of manual update in the sixth embodiment [Figure 24] Flowchart of a process for displaying worklist and statistical information in a user interface [Diagram 25] Service manual download process flow chart DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0012] Hereinafter, the embodiments will be described in detail with reference to the attached drawings. Note that the following embodiments do not limit the invention according to the claims. Although the embodiments describe a number of features, not all of these features are essential to the invention, and the features may be combined in any manner. Furthermore, in the attached drawings, the same reference numbers are used for the same or similar configurations, and duplicated descriptions are omitted.

[0013] In this embodiment, past repair history is imported as statistical information from a database server into a terminal device, and a ranking (order) is assigned to the multiple countermeasures presented based on the statistical information. The ranking information and statistical information are then embedded in a service manual in advance. By having an operator work in the order of the ranking, even if the operator is inexperienced, the operator can work starting from the countermeasures with a high probability of successful repair. Since the statistical information is updated every day, the timing of updating the service manual is also every day. However, if the service manual is updated every day, a problem occurs in that the maintenance load of the service manual increases. The updated service manual is uploaded and accumulated in a database server for the manual. The operator accesses the database server to check the manual in the preparation stage before work. At that time, if there is an update to the manual, downloading begins every time, which puts a load on the network and reduces the work efficiency of the operator.

[0014] Therefore, in this embodiment, instead of periodically downloading the service manual, the service manual is updated when it is necessary, and if it has been updated, it is downloaded to the terminal. The necessity of updating is determined based on a number of criteria. For example, when there is a change in the ranking of the parts to be dealt with regarding the target error, or when there is a change in the ranking of the methods to be dealt with. Furthermore, even if the corresponding case exists, it may be determined exceptionally not to update. The details will be described below.

[0015] (First embodiment) ● Maintenance support system configuration FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the entire maintenance support system according to the present embodiment. The maintenance support system is broadly divided into a service manual management system 101, a service work record management system 102, a printer system 103, and a maintenance service terminal 107, which are connected to each other via the Internet 100. The service manual management system 101 and the service work record management system 102 may be software systems executed by servers, for example, a service manual management server and a service work record management server, respectively. The printer system 103 and the maintenance service terminal 107 are connected by a local connection 108 such as a local network or a USB connection. In addition, the connection 105 between the information processing device 104 and the image forming device 106 may be a local connection such as a local network or a USB connection, or may be a connection via the Internet.

[0016] The image forming apparatus 106 is controlled under the control of a group of programs running on the information processing apparatus 104, processes print data according to print settings, and produces a product. The maintenance service terminal 107 communicates with the printing company system 103 to acquire device status and operation information of the image forming apparatus 106. Then, a service tool installed in the maintenance service terminal 107 uses the information to provide a maintenance support service to a maintenance worker. The maintenance service terminal 107 is a terminal device such as a personal computer, and can download a service manual for a maintenance worker from the service manual management system 101 when displaying the service manual. The service work record management system 102 stores the work history of maintenance workers in the market and statistical information for each work, and is connected to the service manual management system 101 via the Internet 100. The maintenance service terminal 107 can acquire statistical information for each method of dealing with an error included in the service manual from the service work record management system 102.

[0017] A service manual is service manual information organized into a database, as described later, and is also called an electronic manual. Each record includes model information such as model name, the reason for the work such as an error code, the part to be worked on, and the method of dealing with each part to be dealt with. Furthermore, a probability of dealing with the part to be dealt with is associated with each part to be dealt with. Furthermore, a method of dealing with the part is associated with procedure information such as text showing the procedure of the method of dealing with the part, and a rank showing the order in which the method of dealing with the part was selected by the worker. Although a record is referred to here, this is a logical record, and in an actual database, it may be divided into multiple tables. In the following description, service manual information may be referred to as a service manual. Furthermore, the probability of dealing with the part may be referred to as a dealing rate or a dealing implementation rate, since it indicates the ratio at which the method of dealing with the part was implemented.

[0018] 2 is a block diagram showing the configurations of the information processing device 104 and the maintenance service terminal 107. Furthermore, each server realizing the service manual management system 101 and the service work record management system 102 may have a similar configuration.

[0019] In FIG. 2, the CPU 201 executes the OS or general application programs stored in the program ROM of the ROM 203 or loaded from the HDD 210 to the RAM 202. The ROM 203 has a font ROM and a data ROM. The RAM 202 functions as the main memory, work area, etc. of the CPU 201. The keyboard controller (KBC) 205 controls input from a keyboard (KB) 208 or a pointing device (not shown). The display controller 206 controls display on a display unit 209. The disk controller (DKC) 207 controls access to the HDD 210 that stores the boot program, various applications, font data, etc. The network controller (NIC) 211 is connected to a network and executes communication control processing with other devices connected to the network. The bus 204 connects the CPU 201 to the RAM 202, the ROM 203, various controllers, etc., and transfers data signals and control signals.

[0020] In addition, when the maintenance service terminal 107 is a mobile phone, the configuration may include a touch panel controller or the like instead of the keyboard controller (KBC) 205. Also, it may be equipped with a large-capacity storage device instead of the HDD 210. Furthermore, the network controller (NIC) 212 has a different internal configuration depending on whether the device is a wired LAN, a wireless LAN, or both. However, these differences due to the internal configuration are hidden inside the network controller (NIC) 212, and it is configured to be capable of controlling the system as equivalents to the other modules shown in the same figure.

[0021] Printer system and maintenance service terminal function blocks 3 is a block diagram of the print shop system 103 and the maintenance service terminal 107 that constitute the maintenance support system according to this embodiment. First, the functional blocks installed in the information processing device 104 of the print shop system 103 will be described.

[0022] The image processing application 300 is an application program for controlling the image forming apparatus 106. It communicates with the image forming apparatus 106 via the connection 105. When the image processing application 300 receives a print execution instruction for a print job, the image processing unit 301 converts the print data into image data, and transfers the image data to the image forming apparatus 106 together with a print execution command.

[0023] A device information database (DB) 302 holds device information and operation information of the image forming apparatus 106, such as the history of print jobs performed by the image forming apparatus 106 and the history of errors that have occurred.

[0024] Next, functional blocks mounted on the maintenance service terminal 107 will be described. An application program called a service tool 303 is installed on the maintenance service terminal 107. The service tool 303 provides a maintenance worker with functions and a service manual required for maintenance and inspection of the image forming apparatus 106, and recommended work (recommended measures) for maintenance and inspection. Note that, although the maintenance service terminal 107 has the service tool 303 in this embodiment, the information processing device 104 may have the service tool 303, or the image forming apparatus 106 may have a built-in configuration.

[0025] The service tool 303 has a device information acquisition unit 304, a work list specification unit 305, a work list display unit 306, a service manual storage unit 307, and a service manual downloader 308. The device information acquisition unit 304 communicates with the information processing device 104 and acquires the history of device information and operation information stored in the device information DB 302. The work list specification unit 305 specifies errors and maintenance items to be dealt with based on the information acquired by the device information acquisition unit 304. The work list display unit 306 displays the errors and maintenance items to be dealt with that are specified by the work list specification unit 305 on the service tool 303. The work list display unit 306 also has a function of displaying a service manual corresponding to the errors and maintenance items to be dealt with. As the service manual to be displayed on the work list display unit 306, a service manual (or a part thereof) downloaded to the service manual storage unit 307 in the maintenance service terminal 107 is used.

[0026] The service manual downloader 308 acquires the service manual data from the service manual management system 101 via the Internet 100, and stores it in the service manual storage unit 307. The Internet 100 may not always be available in the environment of the dispatched destination. For this reason, the maintenance worker connects the maintenance service terminal 107 to the Internet 100 in advance, downloads the service manual data using the service manual downloader 308, and then visits the dispatched destination.

[0027] ●Function blocks of the service manual management system and the service work record management system FIG. 4 is a block diagram of the service manual management system 101 and the service work record management system 102 that constitute the maintenance support system according to this embodiment.

[0028] First, the functional blocks mounted on the service work record management system 102 will be described. The service work record management system 102 is composed of a service work record DB 401 (hereinafter, sometimes referred to as a work record DB), a statistical information generation unit 402, and a statistical information storage unit 403. The work record DB 401 stores maintenance work performed by a maintenance worker and the results thereof. The registration method may be a method in which the maintenance worker inputs the information from the maintenance service terminal 107, or a method in which the information processing device 104 automatically registers the information from the information processing device 104 via the Internet 100. The statistical information generation unit 402 generates statistical information on the work records performed for each model of the image forming device 106 and further for errors occurring in the model and each maintenance inspection item from the service work record DB 401 at a fixed time every day, for example, at 6:00 a.m. The statistical information storage unit 403 stores the statistical information generated by the statistical information generation unit 402 by date every day. The statistical information may be generated according to a predetermined schedule. In this case, the statistical information may be generated every few days instead of at a fixed time every day, or multiple times a day. Also, instead of at a fixed time, the statistical information may be generated periodically. Even in these cases, the statistical information may be stored by date. Furthermore, the time of generation may be associated with the statistical information and stored, especially when the statistical information is generated multiple times on the same day.

[0029] Next, the functional blocks mounted on the service manual management system 101 will be described. The service manual content generation unit 407 collects content data including related parts information and countermeasure information for each model of the image forming apparatus 106 and for each error and maintenance inspection item that occurs in that model, and generates intermediate data of the service manual. In addition to the original data of the service manual, this intermediate data of the service manual also includes a list of errors and maintenance items that may occur for each model. The generated intermediate data of the service manual is stored in the service manual content intermediate DB 408. The intermediate data is stored, for example, as data in XML format.

[0030] The statistical information comparison unit 404 periodically or at a fixed time, for example, at a fixed time every day (for example, 7:00 a.m.), compares the latest statistical information stored in the statistical information storage unit 403 with the statistical information associated with the date of generation reflected in the service manual DB 410. The service manual update determination unit 405 determines whether or not to update the service manual based on the comparison result of the statistical information comparison unit 404. When the service manual update determination unit 405 determines to update the service manual, the market performance information generation unit 406 converts the statistical information into, for example, an XML format so that the latest statistical information acquired from the statistical information storage unit 403 can be reflected in the manual. Then, the intermediate data of the service manual in which the statistical information is to be embedded is acquired from the service manual content intermediate DB 408, and the statistical information converted into the XML format is added to the content. The service manual update unit 409 updates the service manual DB 410 with the content of the service manual to which the statistical information in the XML format generated by the market performance information generation unit 406 has been added. The statistical information generated thereby is reflected in the service manual DB 410. The service manual downloader 308 in FIG. 3 acquires the service manual stored in the service manual DB 410.

[0031] The service manual management system and the service work record management system may be provided by a single server, in which case each function is realized by executing a predetermined program by one information processing device.

[0032] Database example Fig. 5 shows an example of data of work performance information stored in the service work performance DB 401 of Fig. 4. Work performance information 500 is made up of five columns.

[0033] The model column 501 stores the name of the model for which maintenance work was performed. The work reason column 502 stores the error or maintenance item that was the reason for performing the maintenance work. The treated parts column 503 stores information on the parts (also called related parts) for which work was performed. In this embodiment, the part name is stored, but a part ID indicating the part may also be stored. The treatment column 504 stores the classification of the treatment method performed for the treated parts column 503. In this embodiment, one of the treatment methods selected from the three classifications of "replacement," "cleaning," and "adjustment" is stored. The work result column 505 stores the results of the maintenance work, such as whether the error was or was not resolved after the maintenance work, and whether the maintenance work for the maintenance item was or was not completed.

[0034] Fig. 6 shows an example of statistical information data stored in statistical information storage unit 403 of service work performance management system 102 of Fig. 4. Statistical information 600 is composed of seven columns. Statistical information 600 stores the results of aggregation performed by statistical information generation unit 402 on data in service work performance DB 401.

[0035] The model column 601 stores the model name of the image forming apparatus 106 for which the maintenance work was performed. This corresponds to the model column 501 of the work result information 500. The work reason column 602 stores the error or maintenance item that was the reason for performing the maintenance work. This corresponds to the work reason column 502 of the work result information 500. The dealt with part column 603 stores information on the part for which the work was performed. This corresponds to the model column 503 of the work result information 500. In this embodiment, the part name is stored, but a part ID indicating the part may be stored. The dealt with probability column 604 stores the ratio of the dealt with results performed for the dealt with part column 603 based on the results tallied by the statistical information generating unit 402. The dealt with content replacement column 605 stores the rank of the dealt with results for which the dealt with column 504 of the work result information 500 belongs to "replacement" based on the results tallied by the statistical information generating unit 402. The rank is determined according to the percentage of "replacements" out of the total number of parts treated for the target, with a percentage of 50% or more being A, 20% or more but less than 50% being B, and less than 20% being C.

[0036] The number of measures may be calculated in the following manner. For example, the work performance information 500 is referenced, and the number of records in which the model column 501, work reason column 502, measure part 504, and measure column 504 are the same is counted for records in which the work result column 505 is "resolved". The number counted is then the number of measures for the corresponding parts that were dealt with for the corresponding error that occurred in the corresponding model. The rank of the measures performance may be determined according to the value obtained by dividing this number by a parameter. The parameter may be the total number counted, that is, the number of records in which the work result column 505 is "resolved". This is a statistical value for errors, but the same may be done for maintenance, and in that case, records in which the work result column 505 is "completed" may also be included. However, the rank determination method of this embodiment is merely an example, and is not limited to this, and a percentage value [%] may be stored instead of a rank. Similarly, cleaning column 606 and adjustment column 607 of the action content store the rank of the action record where action column 504 of database 500 belongs to “cleaning” and “adjustment” from the results tallied by statistical information generating unit 402 .

[0037] Instead of recounting the number of records each time the rank is updated, the number of records for each method of handling that is the basis of the rank and the total number of records that is the base number can be saved, and the added records can be counted as described above to update the ratio, and the rank can be determined based on the ratio.

[0038] The service manual DB 410 and the service manual downloaded to the service manual storage unit 307 may have the same configuration, and may have a configuration in which text, images, videos, etc. showing a countermeasure are linked to the work reason 602 shown in Fig. 6. This makes it possible to provide countermeasures for each model and each work reason.

[0039] Processing procedure by the statistical processor Fig. 7 is a flowchart showing the flow of processing by the statistical information generating unit 402 in Fig. 4. By this processing, statistical information is generated based on the work performance information 500 in the service work actual trend DB 401. However, the processing method of this embodiment is just an example, and is not limited to this. Each step of the processing in Fig. 7 is executed by the CPU 201 of the information processing device that realizes the service work performance management system 102. This flowchart is started according to a predetermined schedule, for example, at a specified time, for example, 6:00 a.m. every day.

[0040] First, in S701, the statistical information generating unit 402 finds the number of occurrences of each work reason in the work reason column 502 for each value in the model column 501 stored in the work result information 500 in the service work result database 401, that is, for each model. Next, in S702, the statistical information generating unit 402 performs filtering to limit the items whose value in the work result column 505 is "resolved." Next, in S703, the statistical information generation unit 402 obtains the number of occurrences of each countermeasure part in the countermeasure parts column 503 for each work reason. Then, using the number of occurrences of each work reason obtained in S701 as a parameter, the ratio of countermeasure parts for each work reason is calculated from the number of occurrences of each countermeasure part obtained earlier. In other words, the ratio of countermeasure parts by model and by work reason is obtained. This result is stored in the countermeasure probability column 604 of the statistical information 600. In S704, the statistical information generating unit 402 further obtains the number of occurrences of each of the action contents "replacement," "cleaning," and "adjustment" in the action column 504 for each action part. Then, using the number of occurrences of each action part obtained in S703 as a parameter, the proportion of the action contents is calculated from the number of occurrences of each action content obtained earlier. In other words, the proportion of the action contents "replacement," "cleaning," and "adjustment" is obtained by model, work reason, and action part. The calculated proportions are then converted into ranks by the method described in FIG. 6, and the results are stored in the action content replacement column 605, cleaning column 606, and adjustment column 607 of the statistical information 600, respectively. In S705, the statistical information 600 generated by S701 to S704 is stored in the statistical information storage unit 403. At this time, since the process of this flowchart is executed according to a schedule, for example, every day, the results are stored in association with a date so that they can be distinguished.

[0041] ● Service manual update procedure Fig. 8 is a flowchart showing the flow of manual updating in the service manual management system 101 of Fig. 4. Each step of the processing in Fig. 8 is executed by the CPU 201 of the information processing device that realizes the service manual management system 101. In explaining Fig. 8, the flow will be explained with the functional blocks in Fig. 4 as the subject of the processing.

[0042] First, in S801, the statistical information comparison unit 404 acquires model information of the service manual update target designated by the service manual update unit 409, and sets the target model for the service manual update. The model information acquired here is shared with other functional blocks of the service manual management system 101 through the processing in Fig. 8. Moreover, the model information of the update target is called the target model. Next, in S802, the statistical information comparison unit 404 acquires a list of errors and maintenance items that may occur for the target model from the intermediate service manual content DB 408.

[0043] Next, in S803, the statistical information comparison unit 404 acquires statistical information 600 for the error or maintenance item of the target model from the statistical information storage unit 403. Specifically, the model name acquired in S801 matches the model column 601 in FIG. 6, and the contents (values) of the countermeasure parts 603, countermeasure probability 604, and countermeasure contents 605, 606, and 607 that match the work reason column 602 in FIG. 6 with the error or maintenance item acquired (or focused on) in S802 are acquired. The statistical information 600 acquired at this time simultaneously acquires two pieces of statistical information: the latest statistical information stored in the statistical information storage unit 403, and statistical information reflected in the current service manual. In S803, statistical information of the errors or maintenance items included in the list acquired in S802 may be acquired all at once, or one error or maintenance item in the list acquired in S802 may be focused on, and the statistical information of the focused error or maintenance item may be acquired. In the former case, each time S803 is repeatedly executed, attention is paid to a new error or maintenance item in the list acquired in S802, and its statistical information is acquired. In the latter case, each time S803 is repeatedly executed, attention is paid to a new error or maintenance item in the list acquired in S802, and its statistical information is acquired from the statistical information storage unit 403. Note that in this embodiment, an error or maintenance item may simply be called an item.

[0044] Next, in S804, the statistical information comparison unit 404 compares the rankings of the treatment parts 603 of the two pieces of acquired statistical information 600. Here, the ranking means the ranking of the treatment results (treatment probability 604) of the treatment parts 603 in Fig. 6 (descending order of treatment probability 604). For example, in Fig. 6, when the model 601 is "Model A" and the work reason 602 is "sensor A error", the ranking of the treatment results of the treatment parts 603 is "sensor A" (treatment probability 70.0%), which is the highest ranking, and the second place is "sensor A driver board" (treatment probability 33.0%).

[0045] The data in the service work performance DB 401 is updated according to a schedule, for example, daily, so the handling probability fluctuates in the latest statistical information. Therefore, in the latest statistical information, it may happen that the handling probability of the second or lower ranking parts for the same item (reason for work) in the statistical information reflected in the current service manual exceeds the handling probability of the first ranking part. For example, assume that the handling probability of the second ranking part "sensor A driver board" becomes 60.0% and the handling probability of the first ranking part "sensor A" becomes 50.0%. In that case, the ranking of handling performance of the handling parts changes to "sensor A driver board" in first place and "sensor A" in second place. In this case, the ranking of handling probability, i.e., the ranking of handling performance, has changed.

[0046] In S804, the names of the troubleshooting parts in the ranking results (for example, first and second places) of the latest statistical information 600 stored in the statistical information storage unit 403 and the statistical information 600 reflected in the current service manual are compared.

[0047] Then, in S805, the statistical information comparison unit 404 judges whether there is a change in the ranking of the error and maintenance item focused on in S803, i.e., the focused work reason 602, i.e., whether there is a difference in the ranking of both the handling records. If there is no change in the ranking of the handling records, the process proceeds to S807. If there is a change in the ranking, the statistical information comparison unit 404 sets a flag in S806 so that it is known that the manual needs to be updated. This flag can be set, for example, by changing the value of a flag variable prepared in advance in a flag information storage unit (not shown) in the statistical information comparison unit 404 from 0 to 1. In S807, it is confirmed whether the statistical information comparison process from S803 to S806 has been performed for all the error and maintenance item lists obtained in S802. If not completed, the process returns to S803, and the statistical information comparison process is repeated focusing on new errors and maintenance items. If completed, the process proceeds to S808.

[0048] In S808, the service manual update determination unit 405 determines whether or not the manual needs to be updated based on the flag in S806. Whether or not the manual needs to be updated can also be rephrased as whether or not the manual needs to be updated. If the flag is not set, it means that there has been no change in the ranking of the countermeasure parts 603 in all the statistical information. In that case, the process ends without updating the service manual. If the flag is set, it means that there has been a change in the ranking of the countermeasure parts 603 in some of the statistical information. In that case, the process proceeds to S809. In S809, the market performance information generation unit 406 acquires the service manual related to the flagged statistical information from the service manual content intermediate DB 408, and embeds the latest statistical information in the acquired service manual. That is, the service manual is updated based on the judgment result in S808. When embedding the statistical information, the parts are rearranged in descending order of the handling probability 604 so that the maintenance worker can easily check the order of performance. The service manual related to the flagged statistical information may be a service manual related to the work reason determined to have a change in ranking in S805.

[0049] Finally, in S810, the service manual update unit 409 reflects the service manual in which the latest statistical information was embedded in S809 in the service manual DB 410. Reflecting means updating the corresponding portion of the service manual DB 410 with the portion of the service manual in which the latest statistical information was embedded in S809. Through the above processing procedure, the statistical information for each model and work reason included in the service manual DB 410 can be updated to the latest value. Also, the rank of the corresponding part can be updated accordingly.

[0050] When setting the flag in S806, the error and maintenance item being focused on at that time or information indicating them may be saved. The saved error and maintenance item being focused on or information indicating them is referenced to identify the service manual to be obtained and updated in S809 and S810.

[0051] Alternatively, the flag set in S806 may be provided for each item of interest (an error of interest and a maintenance item or a reason for a task of interest) and set (set) for each item of interest. In this case, in S806, a flag provided for the error and maintenance item (i.e., the reason for the task) acquired (or focused) in S803 is set. In this case, in S808, a flag may be tested for each reason for the task being focused on. If at least one flag for an error and maintenance item is set in S808, the process proceeds to S809 to acquire a service manual for the flagged error and maintenance item, and the statistical information may be updated in S801. In addition, when the service manual is updated, information indicating that it has been updated is recorded. For example, the version number is updated, or the update date and time is recorded. The version number or the update date and time may be recorded for each unit of update. If the update is performed for each item (reason for the task), the version number or the update date and time is also recorded for each item. If the update is performed for each model, the version number or the update date and time may be recorded for each model.

[0052] ● Download the service manual Fig. 25 shows the procedure for downloading a service manual to the maintenance service terminal 107 by the service manual downloader 308. The downloaded service manual is stored in the service manual storage unit 307. This process is executed by the CPU 201 of the maintenance service terminal 107, but the following description will focus on the service manual downloader 308 that is realized by the CPU 201 executing a program. Also, while the process in Fig. 25 is for downloading a service manual for a specified model, the entire database may be targeted. Alternatively, not only the model but also the reason for the work may be specified, and a service manual for the specified model and the specified reason for the work may be downloaded.

[0053] A user such as a maintenance worker connects the maintenance service terminal 107 to the service manual management system 101 and executes the service tool 303. When the user performs an operation to check whether the service manual registered in the service manual DB 410 has been updated or performs an operation to update the service manual, the process of FIG. 25 is started. First, the service manual downloader 308 accepts the area-specific information of the target model specified by the worker (S2501). Next, the service manual downloader 308 acquires the last update date and time or the version of the service manual of the target model from the service manual DB 410 (S2502). The service manual downloader 308 also acquires the last update date and time or the version of the service manual of the target model from the service manual storage unit 307 (S2503). Then, the service manual downloader 308 compares the last update date acquired in S2502 with the last update date acquired in S2503, or the version acquired in S2502 with the version acquired in S2503, and determines whether they are different (S2504). If it is determined that there is a difference, the service manual downloader 308 downloads the service manual for the specified model from the service manual DB 410 and stores it in the service manual storage unit 307 (S2505). At this time, the version or update date and time of the downloaded service manual is also stored.

[0054] This procedure allows the service manual of the target model to be downloaded only if it has been updated. If the order of the parts to be dealt with regarding the reason for the work has not changed according to the procedure in FIG. 8, the service manual DB 410 has not been updated, and as a result, the service manual is not downloaded for models in which the order of the parts to be dealt with has not changed. This allows efficient maintenance work, including responding to errors. If the model is not specified, S2501 is not necessary, and all models are the target in the other steps. If the target parts are also specified, the parts to be dealt with can be further specified in S2501, and the specified parts to be dealt with for the specified model can be the target in the other steps.

[0055] ●Screen example Fig. 9 is an example of a screen of the work list display unit 306 in Fig. 3. At the dispatched site, the maintenance worker connects the printing company system 103 to the maintenance service terminal 107 and starts up the service tool 303. The service tool 303 has a work list display unit 306, and can confirm a work list of errors and maintenance items that the maintenance worker must address, identified by a work list identification unit 305 based on information acquired by a device information acquisition unit 304.

[0056] Screen 900 is a screen displayed on work list display unit 306, and displays work list 901 of maintenance work to be performed by a maintenance worker. Furthermore, work list 901 includes work list 902 for errors and work list 903 for maintenance items. However, the screen configuration of this embodiment is merely an example, and is not limited to this. For example, a configuration in which work list 902 for errors and work list 903 for maintenance items are integrated and displayed as one work list, or a configuration in which information related to maintenance work is added to work list 900 other than work list 901, is also conceivable. Work list 902 may be, for example, a list of types and names corresponding to error codes acquired by device information acquisition unit 304.

[0057] The worklist 902 for errors includes a code column 904 , a type column 905 , and a name column 906 . A code column 904 displays a unique code assigned to each error, and a name column 906 displays the name of the error. The type column 905 displays type information indicating the level of the error, and by referring to this type information, the seriousness of the error and the required level of maintenance personnel can be known. The work list 902 is displayed in order according to the error type information, with more serious errors displayed at the top. The work list 902 is included in the service manual storage unit DB 405, and may be information included in the service manual storage unit 307 downloaded to the maintenance service terminal 107 by the service manual downloader 308. Furthermore, the displayed information may be based on information held by the work list specifying unit 305, or may be information received from the information processing device 104.

[0058] Links 907 and 908 are embedded with links for opening the service manual corresponding to the selected error, and when the maintenance worker selects one of them, the service manual screen shown in FIG. 10, which will be described later, opens for reference.

[0059] The worklist 903 for maintenance items includes a code column 909 , a name column 910 , and an estimated number of days remaining column 911 . A code column 909 displays a unique code assigned to each maintenance item, and a name column 910 displays the name of that maintenance item. The number of days remaining until the deadline for the maintenance work is displayed in the estimated remaining days column 911. The work list 903 is displayed in order according to the estimated remaining days, with the maintenance items with the nearest deadline being displayed at the top. Links 912 and 913 are embedded with links for opening the service manual corresponding to the selected maintenance item, and when the maintenance worker selects one of these, the service manual screen shown in FIG. 10, which will be described later, opens for reference.

[0060] The work list 903 corresponding to the maintenance items may be displayed for the maintenance items designated regardless of the error. Alternatively, a work list for the maintenance items related to the information acquired by the device information acquisition unit 304 may be displayed. This relationship may be, for example, commonality of parts to be dealt with. The work list 903 may be information included in the service manual DB 405 and downloaded to the maintenance service terminal 107, or may be based on information held by the work list specification unit 305.

[0061] ● Display of service manual 24 shows a procedure for displaying a service manual on the maintenance service terminal 107. This process is executed by the CPU 102 of the maintenance service terminal 107.

[0062] First, the service tool 303 is executed on the maintenance service terminal 107 connected to the information processing device 104. In response to this or in response to an instruction from an operator, the device information acquisition unit 304 of the CPU 102 acquires information on an error that has occurred in the image forming device 106, such as device information such as an error code, from the information processing device 104 (S2401). Next, the work list identification unit 305 of the CPU 102 identifies a work list corresponding to the device information (S2402). If the error code is one of the items that serve as an index of the service manual database, a combination of model information and an error code may be used as information for identifying the work list. The CPU 102 acquires a record of the identified work list from the service manual database stored in the service manual storage unit 307 (S2403). Finally, the CPU 102 displays the values ​​of each field included in the acquired record on the display unit 209 of the maintenance service terminal 107 in a predetermined format (S2404).

[0063] Fig. 10 shows an example of a service manual that is displayed when the service manual stored in the service manual storage unit 307 of the maintenance service terminal 107 is opened from a link 907 in a work list 902. Note that the statistical information 600 and the statistical information included in the service manual DB downloaded to the service manual storage unit 307 of the maintenance service terminal 107 may be in the same format or in a corresponding format. Therefore, in the explanation of Fig. 10, the reference numbers of the statistical information 600 in Fig. 6 are used even when referring to the statistical information included in the service manual DB.

[0064] The service manual 1000 is made up of related parts 1001, countermeasures 1002, and statistical information 1003. The related parts 1001 and countermeasures 1002 are generated by the service manual content generation unit 407, and the statistical information 1003 is generated by the market performance information generation unit 406. The related parts 1001 is a list of parts related to an error or maintenance item. In other words, they can be considered as parts that may be causing an error. The related parts 1001 can be obtained from the countermeasure parts 1503 in the service manual DB downloaded to the service manual storage unit 307 of the maintenance service terminal 107.

[0065] The countermeasure method 1002 describes a procedure for dealing with an error or maintenance item, and when there are multiple causes of an error or multiple maintenance tasks, multiple countermeasure methods are described, such as 1004, 1005, 1006, and 1007. In this embodiment, the procedure is described only in text, but the procedure may be shown by including an image or video in the countermeasure method. The countermeasure method 1002 can be obtained from a service manual DB downloaded to the service manual storage unit 307 of the maintenance service terminal 107.

[0066] The statistical information 1003 is composed of a part name column 1008, a countermeasure probability column 1009, a countermeasure "replacement" column 1010, a countermeasure "cleaning" column 1011, and a countermeasure "adjustment" column 1012. These columns display the respective statistical information reflected in the service manual DB 410 as a result of the flowchart in Fig. 8. In the example of Fig. 10, the statistical information reflected in the service manual DB 410 for "Sensor A Error" of "Model A" is displayed.

[0067] A parts name column 1008 displays information corresponding to the treated parts column 603 of the statistical information 600. Similarly, a treatment probability column 1009 displays information corresponding to the treatment probability column 604, a "replacement" treatment content column 1010 displays information corresponding to the "replacement" column 605, a "cleaning" treatment content column 1011 displays information corresponding to the "cleaning" column 606, and a "adjustment" treatment content column 1012 displays information corresponding to the "adjustment" column 607. Also, as described above, in S809, the parts are rearranged in descending order of treatment probability 604 and the statistical information 600 is embedded in the service manual, so that the order of part names displayed in the statistical information 1003 is displayed in descending order of treatment probability 1009 values.

[0068] The maintenance worker refers to this statistical information 1003, and checks the replacement column 1010, cleaning column 1011, and adjustment column 1012 of the countermeasure content for the part that is displayed first and has the highest value in the countermeasure probability column 1009, to confirm the countermeasure content with the highest rank in the countermeasure performance. Then, the maintenance worker searches for a specific procedure of the countermeasure content in the countermeasure method 1002, and performs a repair work or maintenance work for the error according to the procedure. Note that the countermeasure method 1002 may also display text or the like corresponding to the countermeasure content in an order according to the countermeasure probability and the rank of the countermeasure content. Alternatively, for example, a link may be set to the text of the corresponding countermeasure method for each rank (A, B, C, etc.) indicated in the countermeasure content, and when the rank of the countermeasure content corresponding to the countermeasure part is specified, the linked text may be displayed or highlighted.

[0069] According to the above procedure, in the example of FIG. 10, the worker refers to the statistical information 1003, and refers to the countermeasure for sensor A, which has the highest probability of being dealt with in response to a sensor A error in model A. This allows the worker to confirm from the display that the countermeasure with the highest rank (rank A) is "cleaning" of sensor A. The worker can also refer to the countermeasure method 1002 and learn the specific method for cleaning sensor A, which is written at the beginning of the countermeasure method.

[0070] As described above, according to this embodiment, the service manual is downloaded to the maintenance service terminal, so that the maintenance worker can be supported without depending on the environment of the maintenance work. Furthermore, the service manual is updated when there is a change in the order of the parts to be dealt with, and is not updated if there is no change in the order of the parts to be dealt with. This reduces the frequency of updates, i.e., downloads, of the service manual downloaded to the terminal, and improves the efficiency of the maintenance work. Furthermore, by setting the condition for updating the service manual to be a change in the order of the parts to be dealt with, even if the service manual is not updated, the quality of its contents, particularly the quality and quantity of information that the maintenance worker obtains from the service manual, can be maintained.

[0071] Second embodiment In the first embodiment, the service manual is updated when there is a change in the ranking of the parts to be dealt with 603 in the latest statistical information compared to the current ranking. However, even if there is a change in the ranking, if there is not much difference in the probability of dealing with the parts whose ranking has changed, updating the service manual does not bring much benefit to the user. Rather, it only increases the effort of downloading the service manual. Therefore, in the second embodiment, an embodiment will be described in which the service manual is not updated when there is not much difference in the probability of dealing with the parts even if the ranking has changed.

[0072] Fig. 11 is a flowchart of manual updating in the second embodiment. The difference from Fig. 8 is that when it is determined in S805 that there has been a change in ranking, the step of S811 is added immediately thereafter. The rest is the same as Fig. 8. In S804, the rankings of the handling parts 603 of the two pieces of acquired statistical information are compared. One of the two pieces of acquired statistical information is the latest statistical information acquired from the statistical information storage unit 403, and the other is the statistical information embedded in the service manual acquired from the service manual DB 410. Then, in S805, it is determined whether there is a change in the ranking, and if there is no change in the ranking, the process proceeds to S807. If there is a change in the ranking, the process proceeds to S811. In S811, the statistical information comparison unit 404 compares the handling probabilities of the handling parts with higher handling probabilities, for example, the handling probabilities of the first and second places. The higher may be a predetermined order, and is not limited to the first and second places. For example, the first and second places, or the second and third places may be targets. The comparison target may be the latest statistical information acquired from the statistical information storage unit 403. If the difference in the handling probabilities of the corresponding handling parts is not a certain value or more (a predetermined value or more), for example, if there is no difference of 3% or more (if less than 3%), the service manual is not updated, so the process proceeds to S807. If it is 3% or more, the process proceeds to S806, where a flag is set and the service manual is updated. Note that instead of setting a flag and updating the service manual when the difference in the handling probability is a predetermined value or more, a flag may be set and the service manual may be updated when the difference in the handling probability is greater than a predetermined value.

[0073] Fig. 12 is an example of changes in statistical information in the second embodiment. Note that Fig. 12 shows the changes diagrammatically with arrows, and the statistical information shown in Fig. 12 is not actually generated. Part name column 1008, action probability 1009, action content "replacement" column 1010, action content "cleaning" column 1011, and action content "adjustment" column 1012 in Fig. 12 are the same as those in Fig. 10.

[0074] For the top two ranked parts, assume that the treatment probability 1009 for the first-ranked "sensor A" changes from 33.0% to 32.0%, and the second-ranked "sensor A driver board" changes from 32.0% to 33.0%, as shown in FIG. 12. In this case, the rankings are switched, so the service manual is updated in the first embodiment. In this embodiment, the difference in treatment probability 1009 between the first and second-ranked parts after the change in statistical information is 1.0%, and the difference in treatment probability is less than a predetermined value, for example, 3%, so the service manual is not updated.

[0075] As described above, according to this embodiment, the same effects as those of the first embodiment are achieved. In addition, the service manual is not updated simply because there is a change in the ranking of the parts to be dealt with, but the service manual is updated when there is a change in the ranking and the difference in the probability of dealt with is equal to or greater than a predetermined value. As a result, the updated service manual is downloaded to the maintenance service terminal 107. This makes it possible to further reduce the frequency of updating and downloading the service manual while suppressing the impact on maintenance work, thereby improving work efficiency.

[0076] Note that the change in ranking is not limited to an exchange between adjacent rankings. For example, the first-ranked coping part and the third-ranked coping part may be exchanged, the rankings from first to third may change, or the first and third places may be exchanged. Therefore, in S811, the difference between the coping probability of the coping part with the highest ranking after the change among the coping parts whose rankings have changed and the coping probability of the coping part with the next ranking may be compared with a predetermined value. In this case, the "coping part with the next ranking" may be the coping part with the second ranking among the coping parts whose rankings have changed.

[0077] Alternatively, if the ranking of three or more response parts changes, or if the rankings of response parts that are not adjacent to each other are swapped, the service manual may be updated regardless of the difference in response probability.

[0078] (Third embodiment) In the first embodiment, the rankings of the parts 603 to be dealt with in the two pieces of acquired statistical information are compared to determine whether or not to update the service manual, and the service manual is updated if there is a change in the ranking. However, even if there is no change in the ranking, if the probability of dealing with a part with a high ranking changes significantly, it is desirable to update the service manual and show the user that the method of dealing is effective. Therefore, in the third embodiment, an embodiment will be described in which the service manual is updated if the value of the probability of dealing changes significantly even if the ranking does not change, that is, if there is a difference of a certain value or more in the probability of dealing.

[0079] Fig. 13 is a flowchart of manual updating in the third embodiment. The difference from Fig. 8 is that step S1301 is added immediately after it is determined in S805 that there is no change in the ranking. The rest is the same as Fig. 8.

[0080] In S804, the rankings of the countermeasure parts 603 in the two pieces of acquired statistical information are compared. This is the same as in the first embodiment. Then, in S805, it is determined whether there is a change in the ranking, and if there is a change in the ranking, the process proceeds to S806. If there is no change in the ranking, the process proceeds to S1301. In S1301, the statistical information comparison unit 404 compares the countermeasure probabilities of the countermeasure parts with the higher countermeasure probabilities, for example, the first and second countermeasure parts included in the statistical information obtained from the statistical information storage unit 403. The higher order may be a predetermined order, and is not limited to the first and second order. For example, only the first order may be targeted. If the difference in the countermeasure probabilities of the corresponding countermeasure parts is a certain value or more, for example, if there is a difference of 15% or more, the process proceeds to S806 to update the service manual, and if it is less than 15%, the process proceeds to S807 without updating the service manual.

[0081] Fig. 14 is an example of changes in statistical information in the third embodiment. Note that Fig. 14 shows the changes diagrammatically with arrows, and the statistical information shown in Fig. 14 is not actually generated. Part name column 1008, action probability 1009, action content replacement column 1010, action content cleaning column 1011, and action content adjustment column 1012 in Fig. 14 are the same as those in Fig. 10.

[0082] 14, the treatment probability 1009 for the top two ranked parts changes from 35.0% to 46.0% for the first-ranked "sensor A" and from 30.0% to 24.0% for the second-ranked "sensor A driver board." In this case, the rankings do not change, so the service manual is not updated in the first embodiment. In contrast, in this embodiment, the difference in treatment probability 1009 between the first and second-ranked parts after the change in statistical information is 22.0%, and the difference in treatment probability is 15% or more, so the service manual is updated.

[0083] In the above procedure, in S1301, the difference between the top handling probabilities of the handling parts, for example, the first and second handling probabilities, is obtained for the latest statistical information, and if the difference is equal to or greater than a predetermined reference value, the service manual is updated for the work reason including the above. In contrast, instead of the difference between the first and second handling probabilities, the amount of change in the difference may be compared with a predetermined reference value. For this purpose, for example, in S1301, the statistical information comparison unit 404 obtains the difference between the top handling probabilities of the handling parts for each of the latest statistical information obtained from the statistical information storage unit 401 and the statistical information obtained from the service manual DB 410. The top may be, for example, the first and second. Then, the difference between the differences in the respective handling probabilities is further obtained. In other words, the amount by which the difference has changed is obtained for the latest difference between the top handling probabilities. If the difference in the difference is equal to or greater than a predetermined reference value, for example, 15% or more, the process proceeds to S806 to update the service manual, and if it is less than 15%, the process proceeds to S807 without updating the service manual. Note that this reference value may be an absolute value. In this way, the service manual can be updated both when the conversion amount increases by a predetermined value or more and when the conversion amount decreases by a predetermined value or more.

[0084] As described above, according to this embodiment, the same effect as that of the first embodiment is achieved. In addition, in addition to when there is a change in the ranking of the parts to be dealt with, when the difference in the handling probability of the top parts is equal to or greater than a predetermined value even if the ranking is unchanged, the corresponding service manual is updated. Alternatively, when the change in the difference in the handling probability of the top parts is equal to or greater than a predetermined value even if the ranking is unchanged, the corresponding service manual is updated. As a result, the updated service manual is downloaded to the maintenance service terminal 107. As a result, the frequency of updating and downloading the service manual can be further reduced while suppressing the influence on the maintenance work, and the work efficiency can be improved. In particular, when the difference in the handling probability of the top parts is large even if the ranking has not changed, or when the change in the difference in the handling probability of the top parts is large, the service manual is updated and downloaded. As a result, the information required by the worker can be provided accurately.

[0085] (Fourth embodiment) In the first embodiment, the rankings of the countermeasure parts 603 in the two pieces of acquired statistical information are compared to determine whether to update the service manual, and the service manual is updated if there is a change in the ranking. However, even if there is no change in the ranking of the countermeasure parts 603, if the rank of the countermeasure contents of the parts with higher rankings changes, it is desirable to update the service manual and show the user that the countermeasure method with the higher rank is effective. Note that the rank of the countermeasure contents is the rank of the countermeasure contents for each countermeasure record described in FIG. 6. Therefore, in the fourth embodiment, an embodiment will be described in which the service manual is updated if the rank of the countermeasure contents of the parts with higher rankings changes, even if the ranking of the countermeasure records of the countermeasure parts does not change.

[0086] Fig. 15 is a flowchart of manual updating in the fourth embodiment. The difference from Fig. 8 is that step S1501 is added immediately after it is determined in S805 that there is no change in the ranking. The rest is the same as Fig. 8.

[0087] In S804, the rankings of the countermeasure parts 603 in the two pieces of acquired statistical information are compared. Then, in S805, it is determined whether there has been a change in the rankings, and if there has been a change in the rankings, the process proceeds to S806. If there has been no change in the rankings, the process proceeds to S1501. In S1501, the statistical information comparison unit 404 determines whether there has been a change in the ranks of the countermeasure contents of the countermeasure parts with the highest countermeasure probability, for example, the first and second place countermeasure parts. The higher ranks may be a predetermined rank, and are not necessarily first and second place. For example, only the first place may be targeted. If there has been a change in the rank of the countermeasure contents of the corresponding countermeasure part, the process proceeds to S806 to update the service manual, and if there has been no change, the process proceeds to S807 without updating the service manual.

[0088] Fig. 16 is an example of changes in statistical information in the fourth embodiment. A part name column 1008, a treatment probability 1009, a treatment content "replacement" column 1010, a treatment content "cleaning" column 1011, and a treatment content "adjustment" column 1012 in Fig. 16 are the same as those in Fig. 10.

[0089] Assume that the ranks of the treatment probability 1009 and the treatment contents 1010, 1011, and 1012 for the top two ranked parts have changed as shown in FIG. 16. In this case, the value of the treatment probability 1009 after the change remains such that the treatment probability of the first-ranked "sensor A" is greater than the treatment probability of the second-ranked "sensor A driver board," so the rankings of the treatment results of the treated parts do not change. Therefore, in the first embodiment, the service manual is not updated. However, in this embodiment, the rank of "adjustment" of the treatment contents for "sensor A" has changed from "C" to "B." Therefore, in FIG. 15, the process branches from S1501 to S806, and the service manual is updated.

[0090] As described above, according to this embodiment, the same effect as that of the first embodiment is achieved. In addition, in addition to when the ranking of the countermeasure parts changes, when the difference in the countermeasure probability of the top is equal to or greater than a predetermined value even if the ranking is unchanged, the corresponding service manual is updated. Alternatively, when the ranking is unchanged but the rank of the countermeasure content for the countermeasure parts with high rankings has changed, the corresponding service manual is updated. As a result, the updated service manual is downloaded to the maintenance service terminal 107. As a result, the frequency of updating and downloading the service manual can be reduced while suppressing the influence on the maintenance work, and the work efficiency can be improved. In particular, when the ranking has not changed but the rank of the countermeasure method for the countermeasure parts with high rankings has changed, the service manual is updated and downloaded. As a result, the information required by the worker can be provided accurately.

[0091] Fifth embodiment In the first embodiment, the rankings of the countermeasure parts 603 in the two pieces of acquired statistical information are compared to determine whether or not to update the service manual, and the service manual is updated if there is a change in the ranking. However, even if there is a change in the ranking, if the data in the service work results DB 401 contains a certain percentage or more of double counts, it is considered that the data is distorted. Therefore, in the fifth embodiment, a case will be described in which the service manual is not updated if the rankings have changed but the data contains a certain percentage or more of double counts.

[0092] First, double counting will be described. Double counting means that the customer's operator and the manufacturer's maintenance worker perform work on the same part with the same serial number of the same model for the same work reason without any time between them, and register the work results in the service work results DB 401. When an error or maintenance work occurs, the customer's operator deals with it and registers the work results in the service work results DB 401 after the work is done. However, depending on the work content, the same error or maintenance work may occur a while after the customer's operator's work. In that case, the customer's operator cannot deal with it, so the manufacturer's maintenance worker is asked to do the work. This happens often, especially in image adjustment. Therefore, double counting is limited to the case where the action column is "adjustment". In other words, when the action content is "adjustment", if the customer's operator and the manufacturer's maintenance worker register work results on the same part with the same serial number of the same model for the same work reason, they are considered to be duplicate work for one error or maintenance work. Such work results are judged to be double counting. Therefore, double counting is also called duplicate registration. However, if the interval is long, even though the same error occurred in the same place, it will be considered as separate errors and will not be double-counted.

[0093] In order to extract the number of double counts from the service work record DB 401 in FIG. 4, the items "serial number," "worker," and "work date and time" are added to the service work record DB 401 and registered.

[0094] FIG. 17 is an example of data stored in the service work record DB 401 in the fifth embodiment. The data is registered by the worker after the work. The database 1700 is composed of eight columns. The model column 1701 stores the model name on which the maintenance work was performed. The serial number column 1702 stores the serial number of the image forming apparatus on which the maintenance work was performed. The work reason column 1703 stores the error or maintenance item that was the reason for performing the maintenance work. The treated part column 1704 stores information on the part on which the work was performed. In this embodiment, the part name is stored, but any identification information may be used, and a part ID indicating the part may be stored. The treatment column 1705 stores the classification of the treatment method (treatment content) performed for the treated part column 1704. In this embodiment, the classification is selected from three categories: "replacement", "cleaning", and "adjustment". The work result column 1706 stores the maintenance work result, such as whether the error was resolved after the maintenance work and whether the maintenance item was completed. The worker column 1707 stores the worker who performed the maintenance work. In this embodiment, two categories are selected: "customer's operator" and "manufacturer's maintenance worker." Work date and time column 1708 stores the date and time when the maintenance work was performed. The difference between FIG. 17 and FIG. 5 is that three columns, a serial number column 1702, a worker column 1707, and a work date and time column 1708, have been added.

[0095] In FIG. 17, two pieces of data are registered with the model "Model A", serial number "123456", reason for work "image maintenance", part treated "transfer drum", and treatment "adjustment". For the first piece of data, the worker is the "customer's operator" and the work date and time is "20230130". For the second piece of data, the worker is the "manufacturer's maintenance worker" and the work date and time is "20230215". After the work was performed by the "customer's operator", the "manufacturer's maintenance worker" performed the work within a specified period close to the work date and time, for example within one month, so this set of data is double-counted and counted as 1.

[0096] Fig. 18 is a flowchart of a process for generating statistical information by the statistical information generating unit 402 in the fifth embodiment. The executing entity on the hardware side is the CPU 201 of the service work performance management system 102. The difference from Fig. 7 is that S1801 is added after S704. In S1801, the number of double counts is counted for data for which the action column 1705 of the database 1700 in Fig. 17 is set to "adjustment".

[0097] Fig. 19 is a flowchart showing a method for counting the number of double counts in the fifth embodiment. Fig. 19 shows details of S1801 in Fig. 18. First, in S1901, filtering is performed on database 1700 of service work record DB 401 to limit items whose work results 1706 are "resolved." Next, in S1902, cross-tabulation is performed on [Model]-[Serial No.]-[Reason for work]-[Remedy part]-[Remedy (adjustment)]. Next, in S1903, the filtering results are extracted for each part. 20 is an example of a filtering result 2000 when a "transfer drum" is selected as a part from the database 1700 of this embodiment. The filtering result 2000 is composed of eight columns. A model column 2001, a serial number column 2002, a reason for work column 2003, a dealt with part column 2004, a work column 2005, a work result column 2006, a worker column 2007, and a work date and time column 2008 are each the same as the columns in FIG. 17.

[0098] Next, in S1904, the data (record) extracted in S1903 is checked to see if there is data (record) of "customer's operator" in the operator column 2007 of the filtering result 2000. If there is no corresponding data, the process proceeds to S1909 to check the next part. If there is corresponding data, the process proceeds to S1905. In S1905, the operation date and time of the "customer's operator" is acquired. Next, in S1906, the record extracted in S1903 is checked to see if there is a record of "manufacturer's maintenance worker" in the operator column 2007 within a certain period from the acquired operation date and time, for example, within one month. If there is no corresponding record, the process proceeds to S1909 to check the next part. If there is a corresponding record, in S1907, the double count count is incremented by one. This count value may be stored in association with the model, serial number, operation reason, and handled part of the record corresponding to the double count. That is, double counts may be counted and stored for each individual image forming apparatus, by work reason and corresponding part.

[0099] Next, in S1908, it is determined whether data checks for all "customer-side operators" in the worker column 2007 have been completed. If not, the process returns to S1905 to continue counting double counts included in the filtering results 2000 for that part. If completed, the process proceeds to S1909. In S1909, it is determined whether checks for all parts have been completed. If not, the process returns to S1903 to continue the process of extracting the filtering results 2000 for the next part. If completed, the process ends.

[0100] FIG. 21 shows an example of statistical information 2100 generated by the statistical information generating unit 402 and stored in the statistical information storing unit 403 in the fifth embodiment. The statistical information 2100 is made up of 12 columns. The results of the aggregation performed by the statistical information generating unit 402 on the data in the service work results DB 401 are stored. The model column 2101 is the same as the model column 601 in Fig. 6. The work reason column 2102 is the same as the work reason column 602 in Fig. 6. The treated parts column 2103 is the same as the treated parts column 603 in Fig. 6. The treatment probability column 2104 is the same as the treatment probability column 604 in Fig. 6. The "replacement" column 2105, "cleaning" column 2106 and "adjustment" column 2107 for the treatment details are the same as the "replacement" column 605, "cleaning" column 606 and "adjustment" column 607 in Fig. 6, respectively.

[0101] The differences from FIG. 6 are that a “replacement” column 2109 for the number of records 2108, a “cleaning” column 2110, an “adjustment” column 2111, and a total column 2112 have been added, and that an “adjustment” column 2114 for the number of double counts 2113 has been added. The "replacement" column 2109 of the number of records 2108 stores the number of records used when calculating the rank of the "replacement" column 2105 of the action content. The "cleaning" column 2110 of the number of records 2108 stores the number of records used when calculating the rank of the "cleaning" column 2106 of the action content. The "adjustment" column 2111 of the number of records 2108 stores the number of records used when calculating the rank of the "adjustment" column 2107 of the action content. The total action content column 2112 stores the total number of records in the "replacement" column 2109, the "cleaning" column 2110, and the "adjustment" column 2111.

[0102] The number of double counts counted in the flowchart of FIG. 19 is stored in the “adjustment” column 2114 of the double count number 2113 .

[0103] Fig. 22 is a flowchart of manual updating in the fifth embodiment. The difference from Fig. 8 is that step S2201 is added, and that the statistical information acquired from the statistical information storage unit 403 in S804 is the statistical information 2100. The rest is the same as Fig. 8.

[0104] In S804, the rankings of the countermeasure parts 2103 of the two pieces of statistical information 2100 obtained are compared. Then, in S805, it is determined whether there is a change in the ranking, and if there is no change in the ranking, the process proceeds to S807. If there is a change in the ranking, the process proceeds to S2201. In S2201, for the latest piece of statistical information out of the two pieces of statistical information obtained, the ratio of the value of the "adjustment" column 2114 of the double count number 2113 to the value of the "adjustment" column 2111 of the number of records 2108 is calculated. Then, if the ratio is a certain ratio or more, for example, 25% or more, it is determined that the number of records 2111 of "adjustment" contains too many double count numbers 2114 of adjustment, and the process proceeds to S807. If the ratio is less than 25%, it is determined that the adjustment records do not contain too many double counts, and the process proceeds to S806.

[0105] This procedure achieves the same effect as the first embodiment. In addition, if the ratio (ratio) of the double-counted performance value to the performance value of a specific action content (in this example, "adjustment") is equal to or greater than a predetermined value, it is determined that the action probability and the ranking of the action content do not correctly reflect the original performance. In that case, the service manual for the corresponding work reason of the corresponding model is not updated. As a result, the service manual is not updated because it is considered that updating it is not very meaningful, and as a result, the service manual is not downloaded. This makes it possible to perform maintenance work more efficiently.

[0106] Sixth embodiment In the fifth embodiment, the decision as to whether to update the service manual is made as follows: First, the rankings of the countermeasure parts 2103 in the two pieces of acquired statistical information are compared. Then, even if there is a change in the ranking, if the number of double counts in the data of the service work results DB 401 is equal to or exceeds a certain percentage, the service manual is not updated.

[0107] In this embodiment, when the data in the service work performance DB 401 contains a certain percentage or more of double counts, the ranking is recalculated using the number of records obtained by subtracting the number of double counts from the number of records of the corresponding treated parts, i.e., the number of records obtained by subtracting the number of duplicate registrations. If there is no change in the recalculated ranking, it is determined that the service manual should not be updated, and the service manual is not updated. If there is a change in the recalculated ranking, it is determined that the service manual should be updated, and the service manual is updated. That is, in this embodiment, the performance value is corrected based on the double count, and the ranking is calculated based on the corrected performance value. The sixth embodiment will be described below.

[0108] Fig. 23 is a flowchart of a manual update in the sixth embodiment. The difference from Fig. 22 is that two steps, S2301 and S2302, are added. The rest is the same as Fig. 22. In S804, the rankings of the countermeasure parts 2103 of the two acquired statistical information 2100 are compared. Then, in S805, it is determined whether there has been a change in the ranking, and if there has been no change in the ranking, the process proceeds to S807. If there has been a change in the ranking, the process proceeds to S2201.

[0109] In S2201, for the most recent of the two pieces of statistical information obtained, the ratio of the value in the "adjustment" column 2114 of the double count number 2113 to the value in the "adjustment" column 2111 of the record number 2108 is calculated. Then, if the ratio is below a certain percentage, for example less than 25%, it is determined that there is not much double counting in the adjustment record, and the process proceeds to S806. If the ratio is 25% or more, the process proceeds to S2301.

[0110] In S2301, the ranking is recalculated using the number of records obtained by subtracting the number of double counts 2114 of "adjustment" from the number of records 2111 of "adjustment" of the corresponding treated part. That is, among the number of records 2108, only the "adjustment" column 2111 is changed to a value obtained by subtracting the value of the "adjustment" column 2114 of the number of double counts 2113 from that value. Then, the value of the total column 2112 is recalculated again with the value of the "adjustment" column 2111 after subtraction (after correction). Then, the ratio of the value of the total column 2112 of each treated part to the sum of the values ​​of the total column 2112 of each treated part related to the item of interest after correction is calculated and saved as the treatment probability 2104 of each item. In this way, the treatment probability 2104 of each treated part is recalculated from the total column 2112 of the number of records 2108 of each treated part after recalculation. Similarly, the ranks of the "replacement" column 2105, "cleaning" column 2106, and "adjustment" column 2107 for the action content are recalculated based on the ratio of the values ​​of the "replacement" column 2109, "cleaning" column 2110, and "adjustment" column 2111 in the number of records 2108 to the value in the total column 2112 after recalculation, and these values ​​are also rewritten.

[0111] In S2302, it is determined whether there is a change in the ranking of the performance of the parts that have been dealt with. At this time, the ranking is compared with the ranking of the performance of the parts that have been dealt with after recalculation in S2301 and the ranking of the performance of the parts that have been dealt with currently reflected in the service manual DB 410. If there is no change in the ranking of the performance of the parts that have been dealt with, the process proceeds to S807. This means that as a result of correcting the calculation using the number of double counts and removing the effect of double counting, there is actually no change in the ranking, so the manual is not updated. If there is a change in the ranking, the process proceeds to S806. This means that even though the calculation was corrected using the number of double counts and the effect of double counting was removed, there is actually a change in the ranking, so the manual is updated.

[0112] By the above procedure, this embodiment achieves the same effects as the first embodiment. In addition, when the ratio (ratio) of the double-counted performance value to the performance value of a specific action content ("adjustment" in this example) is equal to or greater than a predetermined value, the action probability and the ranking of the action content are recalculated taking double counting into consideration. This makes it possible to more accurately determine whether the service manual needs to be updated, and as a result, the download of the service manual is more accurately determined and implemented. This allows maintenance work to be performed more efficiently, and the quality of the content of the service manual is not reduced.

[0113] In the procedure of FIG. 23, S2201 and S2302 may be omitted, and S2301 may be executed between S803 and S804. In this way, the probability of handling is corrected taking double counting into consideration, and the rank of the target content is corrected before the judgment in S805. Therefore, the change in ranking judged in S805 takes double counting into consideration, so that the decision to update the service manual and download it to the terminal can be made with higher accuracy. As a result, the maintenance work can be performed more efficiently, and the quality of the contents of the service manual is not reduced. Furthermore, such a configuration can be combined with the configurations of the second to fifth embodiments.

[0114] [Other Examples] The present invention can also be realized by a process in which a program for implementing one or more of the functions of the above-described embodiments is supplied to a system or device via a network or a storage medium, and one or more processors in a computer of the system or device read and execute the program. The present invention can also be realized by a circuit (e.g., ASIC) that implements one or more of the functions.

[0115] Summary of embodiments The above embodiments can be summarized as follows: (Item 1) A maintenance support system for supporting maintenance work of an image forming apparatus, comprising: A storage means for storing the service manual including first statistical information on work results linked to each item in the service manual; a statistical information generating unit that generates second statistical information based on the results of the maintenance work of the image forming apparatus; a determination means for comparing the first statistical information with the second statistical information and determining whether or not to update the service manual based on a difference in ranking of handling results for corresponding items included in each statistical information; and updating means for updating the service manual stored in the storage means in accordance with a result of the determination by the determining means. A maintenance support system comprising: (Item 2) The maintenance support system according to item 1, The determining means determines that the service manual should be updated when the rankings of the handling results for the corresponding items included in the first statistical information and the second statistical information are different from each other. A maintenance support system comprising: (Item 3) The maintenance support system according to item 1, The determination means determines that the service manual should be updated when the rankings of the handling results for the corresponding items included in the first statistical information and the second statistical information are different and the difference between the handling results of a predetermined ranking included in the second statistical information is smaller than a reference value. A maintenance support system comprising: (Item 4) Item 3. A maintenance support system according to the present invention, The predetermined ranking includes first and second place. A maintenance support system comprising: (Item 5) The maintenance support system according to item 1, The determination means determines that the service manual should be updated if the rankings of the handling records for the corresponding items included in the first statistical information and the second statistical information are different, or if an amount of change in the handling records for the corresponding items included in the first statistical information and the second statistical information is equal to or greater than a predetermined value. A maintenance support system comprising: (Item 6) Item 5. A maintenance support system according to item 5, The amount of change in the response performance is the difference between the response performances of the predetermined ranks for the corresponding items included in the second statistical information. A maintenance support system comprising: (Item 7) Item 5. A maintenance support system according to item 5, The change amount of the response record is a difference between a difference between the response records of a predetermined rank for the corresponding item included in the first statistical information and a difference between the response records of the predetermined rank for the corresponding item included in the second statistical information. A maintenance support system comprising: (Item 8) The maintenance support system according to item 1, The determining means determines that the service manual needs to be updated when the rankings of the handling results for the corresponding items included in the first statistical information and the second statistical information are different, or when the ranks of the handling contents for each of the handling results for the corresponding items included in the first statistical information and the second statistical information are different. A maintenance support system comprising: (Item 9) The maintenance support system according to item 8, The measures include replacement, cleaning, and adjustment, and the rank of the measures is based on the rate at which each measure is implemented. A maintenance support system comprising: (Item 10) The maintenance support system according to item 1, The determination means determines that the service manual should be updated when the rankings of the handling records for the corresponding items included in the first statistical information and the second statistical information are different and a rate of duplicate registration included in the work records on which the handling records for the items included in the second statistical information are based is smaller than a predetermined value. A maintenance support system comprising: (Item 11) The maintenance support system according to item 1, When the rankings of the handling records for the corresponding items included in the first statistical information and the second statistical information are different, the determination means recalculates the handling records by subtracting the number of duplicate registrations included in the work records that are the basis of the handling records for the items included in the second statistical information, and determines that the service manual should be updated when the recalculated rankings of the handling records are different. A maintenance support system comprising: (Item 12) A maintenance support system according to any one of items 1 to 10, The method further includes a recalculation means for recalculating the handling record by subtracting the number of duplicate registrations included in the work record on which the handling record for the item is based, the duplicate registrations being included in the second statistical information, The determination means compares the first statistical information with the recalculated second statistical information, and determines whether or not to update the service manual based on a difference in ranking of handling results for corresponding items included in each statistical information. A maintenance support system comprising: (Item 13) Item 11 or 12. A maintenance support system according to item 11 or 12, The duplicate registration is a work record registered as a work performed by different workers to deal with the same action for the same item within a predetermined period for a specific image forming apparatus. A maintenance support system comprising: (Item 14) Item 14. The maintenance support system according to item 13, The same action is adjustment. A maintenance support system comprising: (Item 15) A maintenance support system according to any one of items 1 to 12, Further comprising a terminal device that can be connected to the maintenance support system; The terminal device downloads the service manual from the storage means of the maintenance support system in response to an operation by a user when the service manual stored in the storage means of the maintenance support system has been updated. A maintenance support system comprising: (Item 16) Item 16. The maintenance support system according to item 15, the update means records information indicating that the service manual has been updated when the service manual is updated; The terminal device downloads the service manual based on information indicating that the service manual has been updated. A maintenance support system comprising: (Item 17) 17. A program for causing a computer to function as the maintenance support system according to any one of items 1 to 16. (Item 18) A maintenance support method using a maintenance support system including a storage means, a statistical information generating means, a determining means, an updating means, and a terminal device, comprising: The storage means stores the service manual including first statistical information on work results linked to each item in the service manual; the statistical information generating means generates second statistical information based on the results of the maintenance work on the image forming apparatus; the determination means compares the first statistical information with the second statistical information, and determines whether or not to update the service manual based on a difference in ranking of handling records for corresponding items included in each statistical information; the update means updates the service manual stored in the storage means in accordance with a result of the determination by the determination means; When the service manual stored in the storage means is updated in response to an operation by a user, the terminal device downloads the service manual from the storage means. A maintenance support method comprising:

[0116] The present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments, and various modifications and variations are possible without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention. Therefore, the following claims are appended to apprise the public of the scope of the invention. [Explanation of symbols]

[0117] 100 network, 101 service manual management system, 102 service record management system, 106 image forming apparatus, 107 maintenance service terminal

Claims

1. A maintenance support system for supporting maintenance work of an image forming apparatus, comprising: a storage means for storing the service manual including first statistical information on work results linked to each item in the service manual; a statistical information generating unit that generates second statistical information based on the results of maintenance work on the image forming apparatus; a determination means for comparing the first statistical information with the second statistical information and determining whether or not to update the service manual based on a difference in ranking of handling results for corresponding items included in each statistical information; and updating means for updating the service manual stored in the storage means in accordance with a result of the determination by the determining means. A maintenance support system comprising:

2. The maintenance support system according to claim 1, The determining means determines that the service manual needs to be updated when the rankings of the handling results for the corresponding items included in the first statistical information and the second statistical information are different from each other. A maintenance support system comprising:

3. The maintenance support system according to claim 1, The determination means determines that the service manual should be updated when the rankings of the handling results for the corresponding items included in the first statistical information and the second statistical information are different and the difference between the handling results of a predetermined ranking included in the second statistical information is smaller than a reference value. A maintenance support system comprising:

4. The maintenance support system according to claim 3, The predetermined ranking includes first and second place. A maintenance support system comprising:

5. The maintenance support system according to claim 1, The determination means determines that the service manual should be updated when the rankings of the handling results for the corresponding items included in the first statistical information and the second statistical information are different, or when an amount of change in the handling results for the corresponding items included in the first statistical information and the second statistical information is equal to or greater than a predetermined value. A maintenance support system comprising:

6. The maintenance support system according to claim 5, The amount of change in the response performance is the difference between the response performances of the predetermined ranks for the corresponding items included in the second statistical information. A maintenance support system comprising:

7. The maintenance support system according to claim 5, The change amount of the response record is a difference between a difference between the response records of a predetermined rank for the corresponding item included in the first statistical information and a difference between the response records of the predetermined rank for the corresponding item included in the second statistical information. A maintenance support system comprising:

8. The maintenance support system according to claim 1, The determining means determines that the service manual needs to be updated when the rankings of the handling results for the corresponding items included in the first statistical information and the second statistical information are different, or when the ranks of the handling contents for each of the handling results for the corresponding items included in the first statistical information and the second statistical information are different. A maintenance support system comprising:

9. The maintenance support system according to claim 8, The measures include replacement, cleaning, and adjustment, and the rank of the measures is based on the rate at which each measure is implemented. A maintenance support system comprising:

10. The maintenance support system according to claim 1, The determination means determines that the service manual should be updated when the rankings of the handling records for the corresponding items included in the first statistical information and the second statistical information are different and a rate of duplicate registration included in the work records on which the handling records for the items included in the second statistical information are based is smaller than a predetermined value. A maintenance support system comprising:

11. The maintenance support system according to claim 1, When the rankings of the handling records for the corresponding items included in the first statistical information and the second statistical information are different, the determination means recalculates the handling records by subtracting the number of duplicate registrations included in the work records that are the basis of the handling records for the items included in the second statistical information, and determines that the service manual should be updated when the recalculated rankings of the handling records are different. A maintenance support system comprising:

12. The maintenance support system according to claim 1, a recalculation means for recalculating the handling record by subtracting the number of duplicate registrations included in the work record on which the handling record for the item is based, the duplicate registrations being included in the second statistical information; The determining means compares the first statistical information with the recalculated second statistical information, and determines whether or not to update the service manual based on a difference in ranking of handling results for corresponding items included in each statistical information. A maintenance support system comprising:

13. The maintenance support system according to claim 11 or 12, The duplicate registration is a work record registered as a work performed by different workers to deal with the same action for the same item within a predetermined period for a specific image forming apparatus. A maintenance support system comprising:

14. The maintenance support system according to claim 13, The same action is adjustment. A maintenance support system comprising:

15. The maintenance support system according to any one of claims 1 to 12, Further comprising a terminal device that can be connected to the maintenance support system; The terminal device downloads the service manual from the storage means of the maintenance support system in response to an operation by a user when the service manual stored in the storage means of the maintenance support system has been updated. A maintenance support system comprising:

16. The maintenance support system according to claim 15, the update means records information indicating that the service manual has been updated when the service manual is updated; The terminal device downloads the service manual based on information indicating that the service manual has been updated. A maintenance support system comprising:

17. A program for causing a computer to function as the maintenance support system according to any one of claims 1 to 12.

18. A maintenance support method using a maintenance support system including a storage means, a statistical information generating means, a determining means, an updating means, and a terminal device, comprising: the storage means stores the service manual including first statistical information on work results linked to each item in the service manual; the statistical information generating means generates second statistical information based on the results of the maintenance work on the image forming apparatus; the determination means compares the first statistical information with the second statistical information, and determines whether or not to update the service manual based on a difference in ranking of handling records for corresponding items included in each statistical information; the update means updates the service manual stored in the storage means in accordance with a result of the determination by the determination means; When the service manual stored in the storage means is updated in response to an operation by a user, the terminal device downloads the service manual from the storage means. A maintenance support method comprising:

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