Program, method, and image formation system

Abstract

To present data that can be led to appropriate measures to an operator by more easily grasping a cause about visualization of a situation of printing interruption in an image forming apparatus.SOLUTION: A program acquires a log from an image forming apparatus, determines whether each printing interruption time exceeds a reference time on the basis of the acquired log, and displays a ratio of each printing interruption time determined to exceed the reference time in a recognizable display form. Consequently, for example, a production manager can instruct appropriate measures to an operator of the image forming apparatus.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 6

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to a program, a method, and an image forming system. In particular, the present invention relates to a technique for visualizing the situation of print interruption in an image forming apparatus.

Background Art

[0002] When an error occurs during printing on a printing machine, the printing is interrupted, the cause of the interruption is notified to the operator, and the printing is resumed by the operator removing this cause of interruption.

[0003] Although countermeasures are taken each time an error occurs, if the errors occur frequently, it takes a long time to deal with the errors, or the errors are left unattended, the print interruption time will become long, and the productivity of printed materials will decrease. Therefore, in a printing company, the owned image forming apparatuses are monitored, and the number of errors and the interruption time, etc. at each image forming apparatus are totaled and displayed, thereby visualizing the situation of print interruption. By visualizing the situation of print interruption, it becomes easy to grasp the cause and lead to countermeasures.

[0004] Patent Document 1 describes a technique for totaling and displaying the number of interruptions and the interruption time for each cause of print interruption in an image forming apparatus.

Prior Art Documents

Patent Documents

[0005]

Patent Document 1

Summary of the Invention

Problems to be Solved by the Invention

[0006] However, in the technique described in Patent Document 1, there is still room for further improvement in grasping the cause and leading to countermeasures from the total results for each cause of print interruption.

[0007] In view of this point, an object of the present invention is to provide a program, a method, and an image forming system that can more easily identify the cause of a printing interruption situation and present information that can lead to appropriate countermeasures for visualization of the printing interruption situation.

Means for Solving the Problem

[0008] The program of the present invention is a program for causing a computer to execute, an acquisition step of acquiring a log from an image forming apparatus, a determination step of determining whether or not a printing interruption time per occurrence exceeds a reference time based on the log acquired in the acquisition step, a display data creation step of creating display data in a recognizable display form of a ratio of the printing interruption time per occurrence determined to exceed the reference time in the determination step, and an output step of outputting the display data created in the display data creation step.

[0009] Further, the method of the present invention includes an acquisition step of acquiring a log from an image forming apparatus, a determination step of determining whether or not a printing interruption time per occurrence exceeds a reference time based on the log acquired in the acquisition step, a display data creation step of creating display data in a recognizable display form of a ratio of the printing interruption time per occurrence determined to exceed the reference time in the determination step, and an output step of outputting the display data created in the display data creation step.

[0010] Further, the image forming system of the present invention includes an image forming apparatus, an information processing apparatus, and a display apparatus. The information processing apparatus has an acquisition means for acquiring a log from the image forming apparatus, a determination means for determining whether or not a printing interruption time per occurrence exceeds a reference time based on the log acquired by the acquisition means, a display data creation means for creating display data in a recognizable display form of a ratio of the printing interruption time per occurrence determined to exceed the reference time by the determination means, and an output means for outputting the display data created by the display data creation means. The display apparatus displays the display data output from the information processing apparatus.

Effect of the Invention

[0011] According to the present invention, regarding the visualization of the printing interruption situation, it becomes possible to present information that can more easily identify the cause and lead to countermeasures. As a result, the printing interruption time can be reduced and productivity can be improved.

Brief Description of the Drawings

[0012]

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Embodiments for Carrying Out the Invention

[0013] Hereinafter, an embodiment of the present invention (hereinafter referred to as "this example") will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings. [Configuration of Image Forming System] FIG. 1 shows the configuration of the image forming system of this example. The image forming system in this example is an image forming system constructed, for example, in a printing company, and a plurality of image forming apparatuses 11, 12, 13 are connected to a server 100 via a network. A terminal (computer) 20 for displaying the operating status of each image forming apparatus 11, 12, 13, the printing status of jobs, etc. is connected to the server 100 via a network. In FIG. 1, three image forming apparatuses 11 to 13 are shown, but more image forming apparatuses may be connected to the server 100. Also, the server 100 may be installed (so-called on-premises) within the printing company or may be installed in an external cloud.

[0014] The terminal 20 includes a display unit 20a, is operated by the manager, production manager, or on-site operator of the printing company, and displays on the display unit 20a the operating status of each image forming apparatus 11, 12, 13, the printing status of jobs, etc. transmitted from the server 100. Thereby, error information and downtime factors that reduce productivity can be grasped, and it can be used to find improvement points in the production process of printed materials. Note that the operating status of each image forming apparatus 11, 12, 13, the printing status of jobs, etc. transmitted from the server 100 may be displayed on the display unit of each image forming apparatus 11, 12, 13.

[0015] Each image forming apparatus 11, 12, 13 transmits an operation log indicating the printing operation status to the server 100 at any time. In FIG. 1, the image forming apparatus 11 and the image forming apparatus 12 are apparatuses in the same group. The operation logs of these two image forming apparatuses 11, 12 are packetized and transmitted to the packet reception unit 120 of the server 100. Also, the operation log of the image forming apparatus 13 is packetized and transmitted to the packet reception unit 130 of the server 100.

[0016] The server 100 includes packet reception units 120, 130 and an operation log analysis unit 110. The operation log analysis unit 110 has a log storage unit 111 and an arithmetic processing unit 112. The packet receivers 120 and 130 receive the operation logs from the image forming apparatuses 11, 12, and 13 at any time. The operation logs include data indicating normal operation statuses such as print start, print end, and number of printed sheets. The operation logs also include data at the time of print interruption. Note that the provision of the two packet receivers 120 and 130 is just an example, and the server 100 may receive all data with one packet receiver.

[0017] The log storage unit 111 stores the operation logs sent from the respective image forming apparatuses 11, 12, and 13. The arithmetic processing unit 112 performs arithmetic processing to analyze the operation logs stored by the log storage unit 111. Based on the analysis of the operation logs, the arithmetic processing unit 112 creates display data on the occurrence status of print interruption in each of the image forming apparatuses 11, 12, and 13. That is, the arithmetic processing unit 112 performs processes such as print interruption time calculation processing, list creation processing, and list highlighting processing. Details of these processes will be described later.

[0018] The display data created by the arithmetic processing unit 112 is transmitted to the terminal 20. When receiving the display data, the terminal 20 performs a display on the display unit 20a based on the display data. For example, the terminal 20 accesses the server 100 using a WEB browser to receive the display data from the server 100. Note that the display data created by the arithmetic processing unit 112 may be transmitted to each of the image forming apparatuses 11, 12, and 13, and the display data may be displayed on the display units of the respective image forming apparatuses 11, 12, and 13.

[0019] The server 100 is composed of a computer which is an information processing apparatus. That is, as shown in FIG. 1, the server 100 includes a CPU (Central Processing Unit) 101, a memory 102, an input / output unit 103, and a communication interface 104 connected to a bus.

[0020] The CPU 101 is an arithmetic processing unit that reads and executes the program code of software that realizes the functions performed by the server 100 from the memory 102. By the CPU 101 reading the program code from the memory 102 and executing arithmetic processing in the work area of the memory 102, various processing functional units are configured in the memory 102. For example, the above-described operation log analysis unit 110 is configured in the memory 102. Note that the memory 102 stores operation logs and display data.

[0021] Data for giving various instructions to the server 100 is input to the input / output unit 103. Further, the input / output unit 103 outputs instruction results from the server 100 and the like. The communication interface 104 communicates with other devices via a network. For example, the communication interface 104 communicates with the terminal 20 which is a computer. Further, the communication interface 104 communicates with the image forming apparatuses 11, 12, 13 in order to receive operation logs and the like.

[0022] [Example of Processing Operation Logs by Server] FIG. 2 is a flowchart showing an example of the procedure for the server 100 to acquire and process operation logs. First, the operation log analysis unit 110 of the server 100 extracts print interruption data from the operation logs accumulated by the log accumulation unit 111 (step S11). The print interruption data is data indicating details when printing is stopped due to some error. The operation log analysis unit 110 classifies the extracted print interruption data according to the cause of interruption into the machine where it occurred, the time of occurrence, the operator in charge, the time of recovery from the interruption, the number of occurrences, and the like. Then, the operation log analysis unit 110 performs aggregation processing on the classification results of the extracted print interruption data (step S12).

[0023] Furthermore, the operation log analysis unit 110 performs a process of calculating the error resolution time per occurrence of the print interruption data obtained by the aggregation process (step S13). The error resolution time is the time from the error occurrence time to the error resolution time, and corresponds to the print interruption time of the present invention. The error resolution time per occurrence here includes the error resolution time of each individual error and the average error resolution time of the errors that occurred during a predetermined period. Then, the operation log analysis unit 110 performs a process of creating display data for the error resolution time per occurrence (step S14). Specific examples of the display data will be described after FIG. 3.

[0024] Here, the operation log analysis unit 110 performs a process of highlighting those that exceed a predetermined time among the error resolution times indicated by the generated display data (step S15). Furthermore, the operation log analysis unit 110 adds a table of the ratio of the error resolution time per occurrence that exceeds the predetermined time to the display data (step S16).

[0025] In this way, the display data regarding the print interruption data generated by the operation log analysis unit 110 is stored in the log storage unit 111. Then, the display data stored in the log storage unit 111 is transmitted to the terminal 20. Alternatively, the display data stored in the log storage unit 111 is transmitted to the image forming apparatuses 11, 12, 13. The transmitted display data is displayed on the display unit 20a of the terminal 20 and the like.

[0026] [Display Example] Next, an example of the display on the display unit 20a of the terminal 20 and the like will be described. Note that the display in each of the following examples changes to the display form of another example when, for example, an operator who is checking the display gives a display switching instruction to the server 100. Alternatively, the server 100 may send the display data of each display form to the terminal 20 in a batch, and each display unit 20a may select and display from the received display data. FIG. 3 shows a display example (Example 1) of the analysis result of a specific one image forming apparatus. The example in FIG. 3 shows the number of occurrences of each error item and the average error resolution time per occurrence when some error occurs in the corresponding image forming apparatus and printing is interrupted. The number of occurrences of each error item is the number of occurrences during a predetermined period such as one week or one month.

[0027] As error items, paper out, tray full, paper jam, toner out, service call, and other conveyance errors are shown. Tray full indicates a state where the output tray is full of printed paper. Toner out indicates ink out in the case of an inkjet system. Service call indicates the number of occurrences of an error code in the image forming apparatus. The error codes include the number of times when it was necessary to contact a company that performs maintenance inspection. This service call may include the number of times when the image forming apparatus detected an error and automatically made a contact.

[0028] For error items other than service call, the average error resolution time per occurrence is displayed. Also, when the average error resolution time exceeds a predetermined time, it is highlighted in color or the like to indicate that it takes a longer time than the standard to resolve the error and to prompt attention. The predetermined time corresponds to the reference time of the present invention. For example, when the average error resolution time exceeds 2 minutes, it is displayed in yellow, and when it further exceeds 5 minutes, it is displayed in red to prompt attention to the operator of the terminal 20. In the example of FIG. 3, the items of paper out and tray full exceed 5 minutes, and the background color of the hatched area in FIG. 3 is changed to prompt attention. Note that the operator may set arbitrary values for the predetermined times of 2 minutes and 5 minutes. When the operator sets a predetermined time, the data indicating the predetermined time is transmitted to the server 100 and reflected during error analysis in the server 100.

[0029] Note that the display shown in FIG. 3 is the analysis result for one image forming apparatus. On the other hand, when a plurality of image forming apparatuses are installed at one site, the total number of error occurrences and the average error resolution time of the plurality of image forming apparatuses may be displayed. In the display shown in FIG. 3, in addition to the average error resolution time, the longest error resolution time or the like may be displayed.

[0030] FIG. 4 shows an example (Example 2) of the display of the analysis results of a specific image forming apparatus. In FIG. 4, the analysis results of two image forming apparatuses, “Col.1” and “Col.2”, are shown. In the example of FIG. 4, when a certain error occurs in the corresponding image forming apparatus and printing is interrupted, the total printing interruption time (minutes) for each apparatus and each error item is shown. More specifically, the example of FIG. 4 shows the total printing interruption time of all errors per day and the printing interruption time of each error item for one week. Also, the example of FIG. 4 shows the total printing interruption time of all errors in one week and the total printing interruption time of each error item in one week. Furthermore, the example of FIG. 4 shows the average printing interruption time of all errors in one week and the average printing interruption time of each error item in one week.

[0031] And in the example of FIG. 4, the background colors of the printing interruption times that took the most time, the second most time, and the third most time are changed. That is, the example of FIG. 4 performs a display where the first, second, and third can be recognized by hatching in the background or the like. In the example of FIG. 4, although the background color of the printing interruption time is changed, the character color may be changed instead of the background color. Also, on the display screen, it shows which background color (character color) is the first, second, and third.

[0032] FIG. 5 shows an example (Example 3) of the display of the analysis results of a specific image forming apparatus. The example of FIG. 5 is a display showing the details at the time of each error occurrence for the error item of paper out. That is, it displays the time of each error occurrence, the error resolution time, the error resolution time, the machine, the job, the paper tray, the paper size, the paper type, and the basis weight (weight of the paper). The error resolution time is the time from the error occurrence time to the error resolution time, and corresponds to the printing interruption time of the present invention. The error resolution time is calculated by the server 100. The paper type is indicated by a symbol, but the name of the detailed paper type may be displayed.

[0033] When creating the display data in Fig. 5, Server 100 highlights the items whose error resolution time exceeds the preset time by changing the background color. In Fig. 5, the hatched areas are the highlighted parts. In the example of Fig. 5, those exceeding 2 minutes (the first set time) and those exceeding 5 minutes (the second set time) are displayed in a distinguishable manner. The first set time corresponds to the first reference time of the present invention, and the second set time corresponds to the second reference time of the present invention. Instead of changing the background color, or simultaneously with changing the background color, Server 100 may change the color of the text. In the example of Fig. 5, only the background color etc. of the column of the error resolution time is changed, but for the items whose error resolution time exceeds the predetermined time, Server 100 may change the background color and text at all locations of the item.

[0034] Note that each display item can be selected and sorted in the display range by an operator's operation on the display screen. For example, regarding the paper tray, paper size, paper type, or basis weight, only the errors of a specific paper tray, paper size, paper type, or basis weight may be displayed. Also, regarding the error resolution time, it may be sorted and displayed in ascending or descending order of the error resolution time. When sorted in ascending or descending order of the error resolution time, the ratio of the error resolution time exceeding the predetermined time (2 minutes, 5 minutes) can be grasped more easily. In this case, it is not always necessary to change the background color and text color.

[0035] As shown in Fig. 5, by highlighting or sorting the display in the error details list (error list), the rough ratio of the operations with a long error resolution time compared to the reference time can be grasped. By giving such a visual impact, for example, the production manager can encourage the on-site operator to improve the operation.

[0036] Fig. 6 shows an example of the display of the analysis results of a specific image forming apparatus (Example 4). The example of Fig. 6 calculates the number of error occurrences, the number and ratio of those exceeding 2 minutes (the first predetermined time) and 5 minutes (the second predetermined time) of the error resolution time during a predetermined period based on the data of the example of Fig. 5. Although the example in FIG. 6 shows only the error items of out-of-paper, other error items may also be displayed together. In addition, each image forming apparatus may change the character color or the background color when the ratio exceeding the first predetermined time or the ratio exceeding the second predetermined time exceeds a preset threshold value. By performing the display shown in this FIG. 6, it can be shown to the operator that there is a need for improvement at a glance more than in FIG. 5.

[0037] FIG. 7 shows an example display (Example 5) of the analysis result of a specific image forming apparatus. The example in FIG. 7 shows the ratio of the error resolution time exceeding 5 minutes for each time zone. Specifically, the error occurrence time zones are shown divided into 12:00 - 13:00, 17:00 - 18:00, 22:00 - 3:00, and 6:00 - 9:00. That is, in the example of FIG. 7, the lunch break time zone, the time zone after regular working hours, the late night time zone, and the early morning time zone are shown. However, the time zone division in FIG. 7 is just an example, and all time zones may be displayed. Also in this example, for the time zones with a high ratio exceeding 5 minutes, the character color or the background color may be changed to prompt attention. By performing the display shown in this FIG. 7, improvements such as changes in the working hours or work shifts of on-site operators can be promoted.

[0038] FIG. 8 shows an example display (Example 6) of the analysis result of a specific image forming apparatus. The example in FIG. 8 shows the ratio of the data with a print interruption time exceeding 5 minutes that was left unattended for 5 minutes without any operation, and the ratio of the data with an operation within 5 minutes but taking a long time for error resolution processing. In the example of FIG. 8, 80% of the error resolution time exceeds 5 minutes, among which 67% is the ratio of being left unattended for 5 minutes without any operation, and 13% is the ratio of having an operation within 5 minutes but taking a long time for error resolution processing. According to the display shown in this FIG. 8, it can be seen that the ratio of the operator leaving the error unattended for some reason is high. Therefore, by performing the display shown in FIG. 8, it becomes clear that there is a problem with the operator's operation.

[0039] FIG. 9 shows an example (Example 7) of the display of the analysis results of an image forming apparatus of a specific model. The example of FIG. 9 graphically shows the transition of the average error resolution time per occurrence during a predetermined period (here, one week). Taking the transition every week is just an example, and the transition of the average error resolution time per day, per month, etc. may also be displayed. Alternatively, the transition of the maximum error resolution time in each period may be shown. As shown in this FIG. 9, by visualizing the transition of the error resolution time per occurrence for each predetermined period, the tendency of the operator's operation changes can be grasped. For example, the production manager can identify the period in which a problem occurred, review the operator's operation during that period, and improve the problem points to improve productivity.

[0040] Note that the embodiments described so far are configured to display the occurrence status of print interruptions in one or a limited number of image forming apparatuses. On the other hand, for example, at a site where a large number of image forming apparatuses are in operation, the occurrence status of print interruptions in the image forming apparatuses divided into groups may be displayed. In addition, the display unit for displaying the interruption result is provided in a terminal connected to the server via a network, but it may also be displayed on the operation panel of the image forming apparatus. Also, a management department separate from the site, a maintenance company of the image forming apparatus, etc. may acquire and display the display data from the server. In addition, the program for causing the server 100 to execute the processing procedure shown in the flowchart of FIG. 2 can be stored in a recording medium such as various memories, IC cards, SD cards, optical disks, etc. In FIG. 1, the server 100 is shown as one computer. On the other hand, a plurality of servers (computers) may be prepared and the plurality of servers may perform distributed processing. For example, the server for accumulating the operation log and the server for executing the arithmetic processing may be different. Also, using a server is just an example. For instance, an operation log may be stored in an image forming apparatus, and the image forming apparatus may analyze the operation log. In this case, the result of the image forming apparatus analyzing the operation log can be directly displayed on the display unit of the image forming apparatus or the display unit of a terminal that manages the image forming apparatus. Also, even when displaying data acquired from the server 100 on an image forming apparatus or a terminal, some arithmetic processing may be executed by the image forming apparatus or the terminal.

Explanation of Signs

[0041] 11, 12, 13... Image forming apparatus, 20... Terminal (computer), 20a... Display unit, 100... Server, 101... CPU, 102... Memory, 103... Input / output unit, 104... Communication interface, 110... Operation log analysis unit, 111... Log storage unit, 112... Arithmetic processing unit, 120, 130... Packet reception unit

Claims

1. An acquisition step of acquiring a log from an image forming apparatus; A determination step of determining whether or not the printing interruption time per time exceeds a reference time based on the log acquired in the acquisition step; A display data creation step of creating display data in a recognizable display form of the ratio of the printing interruption time per time determined to exceed the reference time in the determination step; An output step of outputting the display data created in the display data creation step; A program for causing a computer to execute.

2. The display data creation step creates a list of the printing interruption times per time, and among the respective printing interruption times in the list, the data exceeding the reference time is displayed so as to be distinguishable from other data The program according to claim 1.

3. The display data creation step highlights the data exceeding the reference time The program according to claim 2.

4. The display data creation step sorts the data in the list in descending or ascending order of the printing interruption time The program according to claim 2.

5. It has a calculation step of calculating the ratio of the printing interruption time per time determined to exceed the reference time in the determination step, The display data creation step creates display data including the ratio calculated in the calculation step The program according to claim 1.

6. The calculation step calculates the ratio for each time zone, The display data creation step creates display data including the ratio for each time zone calculated in the calculation step The program according to claim 5.

7. The calculating step calculates the ratio of data exceeding the reference time due to no operation being performed in the image forming apparatus where the printing interruption occurred and the ratio of data exceeding the reference time in a state where an operation is performed in the image forming apparatus where the printing interruption occurred, The display data creating step creates display data including the ratio of data exceeding the reference time due to no operation being performed calculated by the calculating step and the ratio of data exceeding the reference time in a state where an operation is performed. The program according to claim 5.

8. The display data creating step creates display data including a temporal transition of the average printing interruption time per occurrence for each specified period. The program according to claim 1.

9. As the reference time, there is a first reference time and a second reference time longer than the first reference time, The determining step determines whether the printing interruption time per occurrence exceeds each of the first reference time and the second reference time, The display data creating step creates display data in a display form in which the ratio exceeding the first reference time and the ratio exceeding the second reference time are recognizable. The program according to claim 1.

10. An acquisition step of acquiring a log from an image forming apparatus, A determination step of determining whether the printing interruption time per occurrence exceeds a reference time based on the log acquired in the acquisition step, A display data creating step of creating display data in a display form in which the ratio of the printing interruption time per occurrence determined to exceed the reference time in the determination step is recognizable, An output step of outputting the display data created by the display data creating step, comprising a method. Claim 11 an image forming apparatus, an acquisition unit that acquires a log from the image forming apparatus, a determination unit that determines whether or not a print interruption time per print exceeds a reference time based on the log acquired by the acquisition unit, a display data creation unit that creates display data in a recognizable display form indicating a ratio of the print interruption times per print determined by the determination unit to exceed the reference time, and an output unit that outputs the display data created by the display data creation unit; a display device that displays the display data output from the information processing apparatus; and an image forming system.

Images