Maintenance work planning system and maintenance work planning method

Abstract

To provide a maintenance work planning system capable of drafting a maintenance plan based on a resource usage planning considering resource delivery period.SOLUTION: A maintenance work planning system 101 includes: a resource usage planning unit 110 that drafts a resource usage planning with constraints that the delivery period for transferring resources used for equipment maintenance work between organizations to which maintenance personnel belong; and a maintenance planning unit 111 that drafts a patrol route based on information on the site where the equipment is installed and creates a maintenance plan that the total travel time of maintenance personnel patrolling the patrol route is short and the number of facilities to which resources have not been assigned is small.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 2

Description

[Technical Field]

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

[0002] When building facilities such as elevators, public structures such as tunnels, and social infrastructure such as power lines break down, the damage and human suffering can be significant. To prevent these breakdowns, maintenance work such as checking for equipment deterioration and replacing parts is mandatory. Based on maintenance contracts with customers, maintenance companies dispatch maintenance personnel to the work site where the equipment is installed to carry out maintenance work.

[0003] Generally, maintenance companies have maintenance contracts with multiple customers. In order to perform as many maintenance tasks as possible within a limited time, the maintenance company prepares a maintenance plan in advance that allocates the work sites to each maintenance worker and the routes to visit the work sites.

[0004] In addition, when maintenance companies carry out maintenance work, they need to arrange resources such as transportation to visit the work site and tools required for the work.For this reason, when formulating a maintenance plan, it is important to also plan the allocation of resources to be used by each maintenance worker.

[0005] Patent Document 1 discloses a technology for formulating a maintenance plan including resource allocation. It states, "By referencing tool information associated with maintenance work information, each tool used in each maintenance work is identified, and a combination of multiple different maintenance works that share common tools is determined." It also states, "Based on the locations of each of the multiple buildings, the maintenance work content indicated by the maintenance work information, the weather forecast indicated by the weather forecast information, and the geographical conditions indicated by the geographical condition information, a work schedule is created that indicates the work dates for performing maintenance work at each of the multiple buildings and the transportation tools that workers will use to travel to each of the multiple buildings." [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0006] [Patent Document 1] Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2013-242774 Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0007] Generally, maintenance companies have departments in each region, and maintenance workers assigned to departments located near the work site are responsible for maintenance work. However, due to cost reasons, it is difficult for maintenance companies to maintain sufficient resources, such as transportation means such as cars and motorcycles, and specialized tools such as X-ray flaw detection equipment. As a result, these resources are shared among multiple departments. However, when these resources are shared between departments located in geographically distant locations, a transfer period (e.g., one day) occurs during which the resources are handed over between departments. During this transfer period, the resources are unavailable to maintenance workers from any department.

[0008] The technology in Patent Document 1 does not take into account the resource handover period and creates a maintenance plan under the assumption that each resource will be available for immediate use by all maintenance personnel after use. Therefore, if a maintenance plan for multiple departments located in geographically distant locations is created using the technology in Patent Document 1, there is a risk that work will not be carried out as planned because the handover of resources has not been completed.

[0009] Therefore, in order to create a maintenance plan that includes resource allocation for multiple departments located in geographically distant locations, the challenge is to create a resource usage schedule for each department taking into account the delivery period, and then allocate resources to maintenance personnel based on the resource usage schedule and create a maintenance plan.

[0010] The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and has as its object to create a maintenance plan that takes into account the resource handover period. [Means for solving the problem]

[0011] The maintenance work planning system of the present invention includes a resource usage planning unit that plans a resource usage plan for maintenance personnel to use resources in an organization, with the resources used for equipment maintenance work being handed over between organizations to which the maintenance personnel performing the maintenance work belong as a constraint; and a maintenance planning unit that plans a patrol route for the maintenance personnel to patrol the site based on the planned resource usage plan and information about the site where the equipment is installed, and plans a maintenance plan that shortens the total travel time of the maintenance personnel patrolling the patrol route and reduces the number of pieces of equipment to which resources are not assigned. [Effects of the Invention]

[0012] According to the present invention, it is possible to formulate a maintenance plan that takes into account the resource handover period. Problems, configurations, and effects other than those described above will become apparent from the following description of the embodiments. [Brief explanation of the drawings]

[0013] [Figure 1] FIG. 1 is an explanatory diagram illustrating an overview of processing of a maintenance work planning system according to an embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 2] 1 is a system configuration diagram showing an example of the overall configuration of a maintenance work planning system according to an embodiment of the present invention; [Figure 3] 3 is a table configuration diagram showing an example of the configuration of a maintenance target facility information storage unit according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. [Figure 4] FIG. 2 is a table configuration diagram showing an example of the configuration of a maintenance personnel information storage unit according to an embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 5] FIG. 2 is a table configuration diagram showing an example of the configuration of a resource information storage unit according to an embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 6]FIG. 2 is a table configuration diagram showing an example of the configuration of a department information storage unit according to an embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 7] FIG. 3 is a table configuration diagram showing an example of the configuration of a travel time information storage unit according to an embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 8] FIG. 2 is a table configuration diagram showing an example of the configuration of a delivery period information storage unit according to an embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 9] 1 is a block diagram illustrating an example of a hardware configuration of a computer according to an embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 10] 10 is a flowchart illustrating an example of the overall processing of a control unit according to an embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 11] FIG. 1 is an explanatory diagram showing how a resource usage plan is created according to an embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 12] FIG. 10 is a diagram showing an example of a screen displayed on a result display unit according to an embodiment of the present invention. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0014] Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings. In this specification and drawings, components having substantially the same functions or configurations are designated by the same reference numerals, and redundant description will be omitted.

[0015] [One embodiment] <Overview of Maintenance Work Planning System Processing> First, an overview of the processing of a maintenance work planning system 101 (see FIG. 2, which will be described later) according to an embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 1 is an explanatory diagram showing an overview of the processing of the maintenance work planning system 101. As shown in FIG.

[0016] The maintenance work planning system 101 mainly prepares three plans when planning maintenance work. (1) Resource usage plan development The upper left part of FIG. 1 shows how a resource usage plan 11 is created by the maintenance work planning system 101. Here, the resource usage plan 11 is created taking into consideration the transfer periods of resources such as tools and transportation means. As shown in FIG. 6, which will be described later, crews 1 and 2 belong to the same sales office 1. Therefore, there is no transfer period for transferring tools between crews 1 and 2. On the other hand, as shown in FIG. 6, which will be described later, crews 1 and 3 belong to different sales offices. In this case, a transfer period for transferring tools between crews 1 and 3 occurs.

[0017] In the lower left of FIG. 1, the number 12 of means of transportation owned as a resource is managed. The number 12 of means of transportation owned manages the type and number of means of transportation owned by each team. For example, it is shown that teams 1 and 2 belonging to the same sales office 1 share one bicycle and one car. It is also shown that team 3 belonging to sales office 2 owns one bicycle and one car. Therefore, the maintenance work planning system 101 creates a resource usage plan that takes into account the delivery period and the number of means of transportation (resources) owned.

[0018] (2) Planning of route and transportation allocation plans The central part of Fig. 1 shows how an allocation plan 13 is created by the maintenance work planning system 101, which allocates patrol routes and means of travel for each day and for each team. Here, the upper central part of Fig. 1 shows an example of an allocation plan for Team 1 for April 1st to 3rd. On April 1st, along with the patrol route that Team 1 will take when patrolling the site, it is shown that the travel time for Team 1 to move around the site is 2 hours, and there are no tool shortages.

[0019] On the other hand, looking at the allocation plan for Team 2 on April 1st, we can see that there is a lack of tools at one site and therefore work cannot be carried out. In this case, it is shown that there is one case of tool shortage for Team 2's work. Therefore, Team 2 cannot carry out maintenance work on April 1st due to a lack of tools.

[0020] (3) Evaluation of travel time and resource shortages The upper right part of Figure 1 shows an example of an evaluation result 14 in which travel time and resource shortages are evaluated by the maintenance work planning system 101. The evaluation result 14 shows the total travel time, which is the sum of the travel times of all maintenance personnel on a certain work day, and the total number of tool shortages. In this example, it is assumed that the total travel time is evaluated to be 40 hours and the total number of tool shortages is 2. Therefore, the maintenance work planning system 101 creates multiple resource usage plans and travel route / travel means allocation plans. The maintenance work planning system 101 then automatically creates maintenance work plans that shorten the total travel time and reduce the total number of tool shortages to zero, and repeatedly evaluates the plans to obtain the optimal plan.

[0021] The processes (1) to (3) shown in FIG. 1 take a significant amount of time. Therefore, the maintenance work planning system 101 sets a certain time limit, and if the processes (1) to (3) exceed the time limit, the processes (1) to (3) are terminated. In this case, the maintenance work planning system 101 presents the maintenance worker with the optimal plan evaluated within the time limit. However, if the processes (1) to (3) are terminated midway, there is a possibility that some maintenance work plans remain that do not result in a total of zero tool shortages. In this case, each department may purchase additional tools, bring in tools from other departments, or the like, so that the maintenance work planning system 101 can re-create a work plan that results in a total of zero tool shortages.

[0022] <Example of overall configuration of maintenance work planning system> 2 is a system configuration diagram showing an example of the overall configuration of the maintenance work planning system 101. The maintenance work planning system 101 can be used, for example, in the maintenance business of elevators and the like, to plan maintenance work and issue work instructions to maintenance personnel.

[0023] The maintenance work planning system 101 includes an information storage unit 102 , a control unit 109 , and a planning result display unit 113 . The information storage unit 102 includes a maintenance target facility information storage unit 103, a maintenance personnel information storage unit 104, a resource information storage unit 105, a department information storage unit 106, a travel time information storage unit 107, and a delivery period information storage unit 108. The control unit 109 also includes a resource usage planning unit 110 , a maintenance planning unit 111 , and a plan evaluation unit 112 .

[0024] The resource usage plan creation unit 110 of the control unit 109 creates a resource usage plan for the use of resources by maintenance personnel in an organization, with the transfer period for transferring resources used in equipment maintenance work between organizations to which the maintenance personnel who will perform the maintenance work belong as a constraint. By taking into account the transfer period between multiple departments, it is possible to create a resource usage plan that is in line with the actual usage situation. In this case, the resource usage plan creation unit 110 creates a usage plan for tools used as resources in the maintenance work, using information about the organization that owns the resources and information about the organization to which the maintenance personnel belong.

[0025] The maintenance plan creation unit 111 creates a route for a maintenance worker to patrol the site based on the created resource usage plan and information about the site where the equipment is installed, and creates a maintenance plan that shortens the total travel time of the maintenance worker traveling along the route and reduces the number of pieces of equipment to which resources are not assigned. Therefore, the maintenance plan creation unit 111 can create a maintenance plan that reduces the travel burden on the maintenance worker and reduces the number of pieces of equipment for which maintenance work can be performed.

[0026] When formulating a maintenance plan, the maintenance plan formulating unit 111 formulates a maintenance plan that allocates a tour route and a means of transportation that the maintenance personnel will use to travel along the tour route, based on a tool usage plan, information on the equipment where maintenance work will be performed, information on the organization that owns the resource, information on the means of transportation that the maintenance personnel will use to travel to the site as a resource, and information on the maintenance personnel.Since the maintenance plan is formulated using this information, the allocation of the tour route and the means of transportation becomes clear.

[0027] The plan evaluation unit 112 evaluates the tool use plan and the maintenance plan, and highly evaluates a maintenance plan that reduces the total travel time of the maintenance personnel. Here, the resource use plan formulation unit 110 formulates multiple resource use plans for each resource used in the organization. Furthermore, the maintenance plan formulation unit 111 formulates multiple maintenance plans for each formulated resource use plan. Then, the plan evaluation unit 112 highly evaluates a maintenance plan that reduces the total travel time of the maintenance personnel from the formulated multiple maintenance plans. Such a highly evaluated maintenance plan can reduce the travel burden of the maintenance personnel.

[0028] The planning result display unit 113 (an example of a display unit) displays the maintenance work Resources used for The display device 55 (see FIG. 9 described later) outputs and displays the resource usage plan with the fewest number of pieces of equipment to which the maintenance work could not be allocated, and the resource usage plan and maintenance plan with the shortest total travel time for the maintenance personnel among the combinations of maintenance plans formulated based on the resource usage plan. This allows users of the maintenance work planning system 101 to visually check the maintenance plans. Display examples of the resource usage plan and maintenance plan are shown in FIGS. 11 and 12 described later.

[0029] The maintenance work planning system 101, the resource reservation device 114, and the maintenance work instruction device 116 can send and receive information via a network 115. Then, based on the maintenance work plan drawn up by the maintenance work planning system 101, arrangements for transportation means and tools required for maintenance work are made through the resource reservation device 114. Also, work instructions to maintenance personnel (instructions on required tools, instructions on travel routes, etc.) are made through the maintenance work instruction device 116.

[0030] Hereinafter, the detailed functions of the components of the maintenance work planning system 101 will be described with reference to FIG. 2 and subsequent drawings as appropriate. The maintenance target facility information storage unit 103 stores information on facilities for which maintenance personnel should be dispatched to the site and maintenance work should be performed.

[0031] FIG. 3 is a table configuration diagram showing an example of the configuration of the maintenance target facility information storage unit 103. As shown in FIG. The maintenance target equipment information storage unit 103 has the following fields: equipment number 301, site number 302, responsible department number 303, work time 304, customer-specified start date and time 305, customer-specified end date and time 306, and tools used 307. The maintenance target equipment information storage unit 103 identifies information such as the responsible department at the site where the maintenance target equipment is installed, and the tools required for the maintenance target equipment.

[0032] The facility number 301 stores a facility number for identifying the facility. The site number 302 stores the site number indicating the location where the equipment is located. The responsible department number 303 stores the responsible department number indicating the department in charge of maintaining the facility. The work time 304 stores the work time (minutes) required for the maintenance work. The customer-specified start date and time 305 stores the customer-specified start date and time (MM / DD hh:mm) that indicates the start time of maintenance work within the workable time period desired by the customer who has signed the maintenance contract. The customer-specified date and time end 306 stores the customer-specified date and time end (MM / DD hh:mm) that indicates the end time of the maintenance work in the time period when the customer can perform the work. The tools required for the maintenance work of the equipment are stored in the Tools Used 307. If no tools are required, no information about the tools used is stored in this field.

[0033] Returning to Figure 2, we continue the explanation. The maintenance personnel information storage unit 104 stores information about the maintenance personnel who will perform the maintenance work.

[0034] FIG. 4 is a table configuration diagram showing an example of the configuration of the maintenance staff information storage unit 104. As shown in FIG. The maintenance staff information storage unit 104 has fields for a maintenance staff number 401 and a department number 402. The maintenance staff information storage unit 104 identifies a department or the like as an organization to which the maintenance staff belongs. The maintenance staff number 401 stores a maintenance staff number for identifying the maintenance staff. The department number 402 stores the department number indicating the department (an example of an organization) to which the maintenance staff belongs.

[0035] When the maintenance work planning system 101 creates a maintenance plan, it assigns a certain piece of maintenance target equipment (equipment that is the target of maintenance work identified by equipment number 301 in FIG. 3 ) stored in the maintenance target equipment information storage unit 103 to a maintenance worker. At this time, the maintenance work planning system 101 can refer to the maintenance target equipment information storage unit 103 and assign the maintenance target equipment to a maintenance worker who belongs to a department that matches the department number 303 responsible for the maintenance target equipment. For example, the maintenance target equipment information storage unit 103 shown in FIG. 3 shows that the department responsible for equipment 1 is team 1. Then, the maintenance worker information storage unit 104 shown in FIG. 4 shows that the maintenance workers belonging to team 1 are maintenance worker 1 and maintenance worker 2. Therefore, the maintenance plan creation unit 111 can assign equipment 1 as the maintenance target equipment only to maintenance worker 1 and maintenance worker 2.

[0036] Returning to Figure 2, we continue the explanation. The resource information storage unit 105 stores information on the means of transportation used to travel to the work site and the number of tools required for performing maintenance work held by each department.

[0037] FIG. 5 is a table configuration diagram showing an example of the configuration of the resource information storage unit 105. As shown in FIG. The resource information storage unit 105 has the following items: resource number 501, shared department number 502, and number of resources held 503. The resource information storage unit 105 identifies the range within which resources such as tools and means of transportation are shared. The resource number 501 stores a resource number for identifying a resource. The sharing department number 502 stores a sharing department number indicating the department that shares the resource. The number of resources held 503 stores the number of resources held by the relevant department.

[0038] Returning to Figure 2, we continue the explanation. The department information storage unit 106 stores the relationships between the departments stored in the maintenance staff information storage unit 104 and the resource information storage unit 105 .

[0039] FIG. 6 is a table diagram showing an example of the structure of the department information storage unit 106. As shown in FIG. The department information storage unit 106 has items of department number 601 and parent department number 602. The department information storage unit 106 specifies the affiliation of each department specified by the shared department number 502 shown in FIG. The department number 601 stores a department number that identifies a department. The parent department number 602 stores a parent department number that identifies the higher-level department to which the department in question belongs.

[0040] In the example of Figure 6, Team 1 and Team 2 belong to Sales Office 1, and Team 3 belongs to Sales Office 2. Furthermore, Sales Office 1 and Sales Office 2 belong to Branch Office 1. Therefore, in Figure 5, one tool 2 owned by Sales Office 1 is shared by Teams 1 and 2 who belong to Sales Office 1. Furthermore, one tool 1 owned by Branch Office 1 is shared by Teams 1 to 3 who belong to Branch Office 1.

[0041] Returning to Figure 2, we continue the explanation. The travel time information storage unit 107 stores the travel time between two points used to calculate the travel time of a route in a maintenance plan.

[0042] FIG. 7 is a table configuration diagram showing an example of the configuration of the travel time information storage unit 107. The travel time information storage unit 107 has the following items: departure point 701, arrival point 702, transportation means 703, and travel time 704. The travel time information storage unit 107 specifies the transportation means, travel time, etc., used by the maintenance worker from the departure point to each site. The starting point 701 stores the starting point of the maintenance worker. The arrival point 702 stores the arrival point of the maintenance worker. The transportation means 703 stores the transportation means used when traveling between the points. Travel time 704 is the travel time (minutes) when traveling between the points by the means of transportation. is stored. As shown in FIG. 7, the travel time information storage unit 107 stores the travel time between work sites as well as the travel time between the base where the maintenance personnel are stationed and the work site.

[0043] Returning to Figure 2, we continue the explanation. The transfer period information storage unit 108 stores the period required for transferring resources stored in the resource information storage unit 105 and shared by a plurality of departments between the departments.

[0044] FIG. 8 is a table configuration diagram showing an example of the configuration of the delivery period information storage unit 108. The delivery period information storage unit 108 has the following fields: delivery source department number 801, delivery destination department number 802, and delivery period 803. The delivery period information storage unit 108 specifies the delivery period required by the resource delivery source and destination. The transfer source department number 801 stores the department number of the resource transfer source. The destination department number 802 stores the department number of the destination of the resource. The delivery period 803 stores the resource delivery period (days).

[0045] In the example of Figure 8, it takes one day to transfer a resource from sales office 1 to 2, so it takes one day to transfer tool 2 shared by branch office 1 in the example of resource information storage unit 105 shown in Figure 5 from team 1 to team 3, or from team 2 to team 3.

[0046] On the other hand, since Team 1 and Team 2 are located in the same sales office 1, it takes 0 days for the tool to be handed over from Team 1 to Team 2. However, in this embodiment, the handover period is merely set to 0 days. For example, depending on the settings of the handover period information storage unit 108, it is possible to leave a gap between handover periods even within the same sales office. The reason for leaving a gap between handover periods is that, for example, it is anticipated that maintenance after using a tool may take time. Therefore, by setting the handover period for tool 1 held at sales office 1 in the example of the resource information storage unit 105 shown in FIG. 5 to 1 day, tool 1 used by a maintenance worker belonging to Team 1 may be usable by a maintenance worker from Team 2 after the handover period has elapsed.

[0047] Next, the hardware configuration of the computer 50 that constitutes each device of the maintenance work planning system 101 will be described. 9 is a block diagram showing an example of the hardware configuration of the calculator 50. The calculator 50 is an example of hardware used as a computer that can operate as the maintenance work planning system 101 according to this embodiment. The maintenance work planning system 101 according to this embodiment realizes a method for planning maintenance work performed by the respective functional blocks shown in FIG. 2 in cooperation with each other by the calculator 50 (computer) executing a program.

[0048] The computer 50 includes a CPU (Central Processing Unit) 51, a ROM (Read Only Memory) 52, and a RAM (Random Access Memory) 53, each connected to a bus 54. The computer 50 further includes a display device 55, an input device 56, a non-volatile storage 57, and a network interface 58.

[0049] The CPU 51 reads out program code of software that realizes each function according to this embodiment from the ROM 52, loads it into the RAM 53, and executes it. Variables, parameters, etc. generated during the calculation process of the CPU 51 are temporarily written to the RAM 53, and these variables, parameters, etc. are read out by the CPU 51 as appropriate. However, an MPU (Micro Processing Unit) may be used instead of the CPU 51. Each function of the control unit 109 shown in FIG. 2 is realized by the CPU 51 executing the program code.

[0050] The display device 55 is, for example, a liquid crystal display monitor, and displays the results of processing performed by the computer 50 to the maintenance personnel. The input device 56 is, for example, a keyboard, a mouse, etc., and allows the maintenance personnel to input predetermined operations and give instructions. The plan result display unit 113 shown in FIG. 2 has a function for displaying the plan results on the display device 55.

[0051] The nonvolatile storage 57 may be, for example, a hard disk drive (HDD), a solid state drive (SSD), a flexible disk, an optical disk, a magneto-optical disk, a CD-ROM, a CD-R, a magnetic tape, or a nonvolatile memory. The nonvolatile storage 57 stores an operating system (OS), various parameters, and programs for operating the computer 50. The ROM 52 and the nonvolatile storage 57 store programs and data necessary for the CPU 51 to operate, and are used as examples of computer-readable, non-transitory storage media that store programs executed by the computer 50. The information storage unit 102 in FIG. 2 is configured in the nonvolatile storage 57, and is written to the RAM 53 as appropriate when the CPU 51 executes a program.

[0052] The network interface 58 may be, for example, a NIC (Network Interface Card), and various data can be transmitted and received between devices via a LAN (Local Area Network), dedicated line, etc. connected to the terminal of the NIC.

[0053] Next, a process executed by the control unit 109 shown in FIG. 2 when formulating a resource usage plan and a maintenance plan will be described. 10 is a flowchart showing an example of the overall processing of the control unit 109. Here, an example of processing will be described in which the control unit 109 formulates a maintenance work plan including a tool usage plan, which is an example of a resource usage plan, as well as a patrol route and a transportation means allocation plan, and evaluates this maintenance work plan.

[0054] First, the control unit 109 reads each piece of information stored in the maintenance target equipment information storage unit 103, the maintenance personnel information storage unit 104, the resource information storage unit 105, the department information storage unit 106, the travel time information storage unit 107, and the delivery period information storage unit 108, all of which are stored in the information storage unit 102 (S1).

[0055] Next, the resource usage plan formulation unit 110 formulates a tool usage plan using the information (maintenance target equipment information, tool information, department information, and delivery period) read from each storage unit (S2). The tool information is information related to tools among the resource information that can be read from the resource information storage unit 105. An example of the formulated tool usage plan will be described with reference to FIG. 11.

[0056] 11 is an explanatory diagram showing how the resource usage planning unit 110 creates a tool usage plan. Here, an example of a graph is shown that the resource usage planning unit 110 uses when creating a tool usage plan for tool 1 from April 1 onwards. As described above, tool 1 is shared by sales office 1 to which teams 1 and 2 belong, and branch office 1 to which sales office 2 to which team 3 belongs. The tool usage planning screen W1 for creating the tool usage plan shown in FIG. 11 is displayed by the planning result display unit 113 shown in FIG. 2.

[0057] The tool usage plan is created by the resource usage plan creation unit 110 using the tool information in the resource information storage unit 105, the various pieces of information in the department information storage unit 106, and the various pieces of information in the delivery period information storage unit 108 as input. The legend at the bottom of the figure shows circles representing the tool possession status of each team and squares representing the tool delivery period. A screen is configured for each tool. Tool display can be switched by, for example, a maintenance worker selecting a tab displaying the tool name. FIG. 11 shows an example of the possession status and delivery period of tool 1 as an example of a resource.

[0058] The tool usage plan shown in FIG. 11 is created for each tool. For a certain tool, a vertex (circle shown in the figure) is set to indicate that each department owns the tool on a certain date, and a vertex (square shown in the figure) is set to indicate that the tool is being transferred between departments on a certain date. The resource usage plan creation unit 110 then creates a graph in which edges are connected between pairs of these vertices according to the transfer period. Note that there are two tabs for tool 2 at the top of FIG. 11 because tool 2 is shared by two departments, sales offices 1 and 2, according to the resource information storage unit 105 shown in FIG. 6, and therefore tool usage plans created for each of sales offices 1 and 2 can be selected.

[0059] The resource information storage unit 105 shown in Fig. 6 indicates that tool 1 is shared by branch office 1. The department information storage unit 106 shown in Fig. 7 indicates that sales offices 1 and 2 belong to branch office 1, that sales office 1 includes teams 1 and 2, and that sales office 2 includes team 3. In other words, tool 1 can be owned by teams 1 to 3, and so the graph shown in Fig. 11 has vertices 21, 31, etc., which indicate that team 1 to 3 can own tool 1 on each day from April 1 onwards.

[0060] However, the delivery period information storage unit 108 shown in Fig. 9 indicates that it takes time for different teams to deliver tools. For this reason, there is a vertex 32 which indicates that a tool is being delivered from sales office 2 to sales office 1 on each day after April 1st, and a vertex 34 which indicates that a tool is being delivered from sales office 1 to sales office 2 on each day after April 1st.

[0061] In the delivery period information storage unit 108 shown in FIG. 9, the delivery period for tool 1 between team 1 and team 2 is defined as 0 days. Therefore, it is possible for one team to deliver tool 1 to the other team on the same day that the other team uses tool 1, and for the other team to use tool 1 the following day. For this reason, the graph has a branch extending from vertex 21, which represents that team 1 and team 2 possess tool 1 on April 1st, to vertex 22, which represents that team 1 and team 2 possess tool 1 the following day. Then, branches are extended to vertices 23 and 24. In this way, the tool usage plan is expressed by the branches extended to vertices 21 to 24.

[0062] On the other hand, it takes one day for Tool 1 to be delivered between Sales Office 1, to which Teams 1 and 2 belong, and Sales Office 2, to which Team 3 belongs. For this reason, a branch is extended from vertex 31, which represents that Team 3 holds Tool 1 on April 1st, to vertex 32, which represents that Tool 1 is being delivered from Sales Office 2 to Sales Office 1 on April 2nd. At the same time, a branch is extended from vertex 32, which represents that Tool 1 is being delivered from Sales Office 2 to Sales Office 1 on April 2nd, to vertex 33, which represents that Team 1 holds Tool 1 on April 3rd.

[0063] Here, the resource usage planning unit 110 selects a path as follows, starting from a certain vertex on April 1st, for example. (1) The resource usage planning unit 110 repeats the operation of "selecting one of the branches extending from the vertex and moving to the vertex at the end of the branch" until the branch reaches the vertex on the last day of the period for which maintenance work is planned. (2) The resource usage planning unit 110 creates a list of the vertices passed through in the process of (1) above, arranged in the order in which the edges passed through them. The list of vertices obtained by the above operation (2) corresponds to the path.

[0064] The operation of changing the path corresponds to removing N vertices from the end of the path selected at a certain point and selecting a new path. This operation can be performed using classical search algorithms such as breadth-first search and depth-first search.

[0065] In this graph, one path from a certain vertex on April 1 to a certain vertex on the final day for which the resource usage plan creation unit 110 creates a tool usage plan corresponds to one proposed tool usage plan. For example, in the graph of Fig. 11, the path connecting the vertices indicated by the bold frame is a plan in which Team 1 possesses Tool 1 on April 1, Team 2 possesses Tool 1 on April 2, Tool 1 is handed over from Sales Office 1 to Sales Office 2 on April 3, and Team 3 possesses Tool 1 on April 4.

[0066] Therefore, the resource use plan formulation unit 110 can formulate one tool use plan by creating graphs for all tools and selecting paths one by one from each graph. Also, the resource use plan formulation unit 110 can formulate multiple tool use plans by changing the paths.

[0067] Returning to FIG. 10, the explanation will be continued. After processing step S2, the maintenance plan creation unit 111 creates a plan to allocate patrol routes and means of transportation based on the tool usage plan, information on equipment to be maintained, department information, information on transportation means, and information on maintenance personnel (S3). When creating this maintenance plan, the maintenance plan creation unit 111 uses the information read by the control unit 109 in step S1 and the tool usage plan created by the resource usage plan creation unit 110 in step S2. For example, the maintenance plan creation unit 111 creates a plan to allocate patrol routes that prioritize sites close to the location of a sales office, sites with equipment where maintenance work can be performed using tools available at the sales office, and sites with equipment whose maintenance deadline is approaching, and to allocate means of transportation that can allow maintenance personnel to travel along this patrol route.

[0068] The maintenance planning unit 111 then plans an allocation of maintenance target equipment for which each maintenance worker will perform maintenance work each day, a patrol route for the site where the assigned maintenance target equipment is located, and an allocation of tools to be used. The route planning is performed as follows. For example, the maintenance plan planning unit 111 plans a route for a maintenance worker to depart from a starting point (such as a sales office) of the organization to which the maintenance worker belongs, visit designated sites, perform maintenance work, and then return to the original location. Therefore, the maintenance work planning system 101, for example, randomly selects one site and plans a route that allows the maintenance worker to travel between the starting point and the site. The maintenance work planning system 101 then adds other sites close to the initially selected site and plans a route that allows the maintenance worker to visit the starting point, sites on the already planned route, and the added site. The maintenance work planning system 101 then plans a route each time the number of sites is gradually increased. In this way, the maintenance work planning system 101 can plan a route that allows the maintenance worker to visit multiple sites.

[0069] In addition, the number of tools that can be used each day in each department is fixed. Therefore, the maintenance work planning system 101 uses the number of available tools as a constraint condition to plan the allocation of equipment to be maintained by maintenance personnel, the patrol route of the work site, and the allocation of tools to be used.

[0070] However, if the maintenance work planning system 101 reverses the execution order of steps S2 and S3 and attempts to create a tool transfer usage plan after determining the patrol route, it may not be possible to allocate the tools to the maintenance personnel. This is because it is not yet decided how much of each tool each department can use each day. Therefore, the control unit 109 creates a tool usage plan, and then creates a patrol route and transportation means allocation plan.

[0071] Furthermore, regarding the planning procedure for the work site patrol route, it is possible to use known examples for the delivery planning problem. For example, a method is known in which a site where a tool is used is selected with priority and assigned to a maintenance worker, and then sites where the same tool is used or nearby sites are assigned with priority to the same maintenance worker.

[0072] Next, the plan evaluation unit 112 calculates the total travel time of the planned route for all teams and all maintenance personnel using the route planned in step S3, the proposed allocation of means of transportation to be used for the patrol, the maintenance target equipment information, and the travel time information stored in the travel time information storage unit 107. Then, the plan evaluation unit 112 evaluates the total travel time of the planned route for all teams and all maintenance personnel and the number of tasks for which tools are insufficient (S4). For example, the plan evaluation unit 112 compares the allocation information of maintenance target equipment obtained from the route planned in step S3 with the information of maintenance target equipment stored in the maintenance target equipment information storage unit 103, and calculates the number of maintenance target equipment for which maintenance work could not be assigned due to a lack of tools (also referred to as the "number of unallocated equipment").

[0073] Next, the plan evaluation unit 112 compares the number of pieces of equipment to be maintained for which maintenance work is to be performed (the number of pieces of unallocated equipment) that have the fewest number of shortages of tools that the maintenance plan creation unit 111 was unable to allocate with the tentative solution read out from the RAM 53 shown in Fig. 9 (S5). The tentative solution is a plan created in the loop of this process, and is "a plan in which the travel time of all maintenance personnel is minimized among the work plans that have the smallest number of pieces of unallocated equipment." Specifically, various information shown in Fig. 12, such as the departure and arrival times of each maintenance personnel at the site, the means of transportation to be used, and the tools carried by the maintenance personnel, is saved in the RAM 53 or the like. In this way, the plan evaluation unit 112 saves the maintenance plan that has the least total travel time of the maintenance personnel as the tentative solution, and saves the tentative solution as the maintenance work plan. Resources used for is assigned stomach The provisional solution is updated with a maintenance plan in which the number of missing pieces of equipment is less than the number of pieces of equipment in the provisional solution. Resources used for is assigned stomach The system will be updated to a provisional solution with fewer missing facilities.

[0074] However, when this process is executed for the first time, a tentative solution has not been obtained. When a tentative solution has not been obtained, the maintenance work planning system 101 initializes the tentative value of the number of unallocated facilities to a sufficiently large value. Therefore, when this process is executed for the first time, the plan evaluation unit 112 always determines YES in step S5.

[0075] In step S5, if the plan evaluation unit 112 determines that the number of pieces of maintenance target equipment that the maintenance plan creation unit 111 was unable to assign is less than the tentative solution (YES in S5), the plan evaluation unit 112 saves the tentative solution in the RAM 53 or the like shown in Fig. 9 and updates the tentative solution (S6: first update method of the tentative solution). The tentative solution here includes the tool usage plan obtained in steps S2 and S3, the assignment of maintenance target equipment for which each maintenance worker will perform maintenance work each day, the patrol route of the work site where the assigned maintenance target equipment is located, and information on the means of transportation to be used for patrol.

[0076] On the other hand, in step S5, if the plan evaluation unit 112 determines that the number of maintenance target facilities that the maintenance plan formulation unit 111 was unable to assign is the same as or greater than the tentative solution (NO in S5), it determines whether the number of maintenance target facilities that was unable to assign is the same as the tentative solution and whether the total travel time of the maintenance personnel is shorter (S7). If the plan evaluation unit 112 determines that the total travel time is shorter than the tentative solution (YES in S7), it saves the tentative solution in RAM 53 (S6). At this time, the total travel time that is shorter than the tentative solution compared in step S7 is saved in RAM 53 as a new tentative solution.

[0077] In this way, the plan evaluation unit 112 Resources used for is assigned stomach The tentative solution is updated with a maintenance plan in which the number of pieces of equipment that do not meet the tentative solution is the same as that of the tentative solution and the total travel time of maintenance personnel is shorter than the total travel time of the tentative solution (second update method for the tentative solution). Therefore, every time a YES determination is made in step S7, the tentative solution is updated with a maintenance plan in which the total travel time is shorter than that of the tentative solution.

[0078] In step S7, if the number of maintenance target equipment items that the maintenance plan creation unit 111 was unable to assign is the same as the tentative solution, the plan evaluation unit 112 compares the total travel time of all maintenance personnel's patrol routes with the tentative solution. For example, a plan in which the travel time of a specific maintenance personnel's patrol route is shortest but the travel times of other maintenance personnel's patrol routes are long cannot be considered efficient. Therefore, in step S7, the "total travel time of all maintenance personnel's patrol routes" is compared with the tentative solution with the aim of minimizing the total time from the perspective of overall optimization. For example, even if a maintenance plan is created with two tool shortages, if two maintenance plans with total travel times of 50 minutes and 60 minutes are created, the maintenance plan with the shorter total travel time of 50 minutes will be saved as the tentative solution. It is also possible to save a maintenance plan designed to shorten the travel time of the maintenance personnel with the longest travel time as the tentative solution.

[0079] After processing step S6, or when determining that the total travel time is equal to or greater than the tentative solution (NO in S7), the plan evaluation unit 112 determines whether the termination condition for this processing flow is met (S8). The termination condition may be, for example, when the elapsed time from the start of this processing exceeds a specified time. When the elapsed time from the start of this processing exceeds the specified time, it is assumed that the processing is looping. For this reason, the elapsed time of this processing is used as an example of a condition for terminating the loop. As another termination condition, for example, the plan evaluation unit 112 may terminate the processing when the number of assigned facilities exceeds a threshold value. Alternatively, the processing may be terminated when the number of sites that could not be assigned falls below a specified number.

[0080] If the plan evaluation unit 112 determines in step S8 that the termination condition is not met (NO in S8), it returns to step S2 and repeats the subsequent processes. If a maintenance plan with one tool shortage is created after the processing of step S2, this maintenance plan is considered to be a better plan than the maintenance plan with two tool shortages saved as a tentative solution, even if the total travel time of the maintenance personnel in this maintenance plan is longer. Therefore, the plan evaluation unit 112 saves the maintenance plan with one tool shortage as a tentative solution.

[0081] On the other hand, if the plan evaluation unit 112 determines in step S8 that the termination condition is satisfied (YES in S8), it outputs the tentative solution in RAM 53 to the plan result display unit 113 (S9), and ends this processing. At this time, the tool usage plan stored as the tentative solution in RAM 53, the allocation of maintenance target equipment for which each maintenance worker will perform maintenance work each day, the patrol route of the work site where the assigned maintenance target equipment is located, and information on the means of transportation to be used for patrol are output to the plan result display unit 113.

[0082] Next, an example of a screen displayed on the planning result display unit 113 will be described. FIG. 12 is a diagram showing an example of the screens W2 and W3 displayed on the planning result display unit 113.

[0083] An example of the display of the maintenance plan creation result screen W2 is shown in the upper part of Fig. 12. A user of the maintenance work planning system 101 (for example, a maintenance personnel manager) can check the results of the maintenance plan created by the maintenance work planning system 101 through the maintenance plan creation result screen W2.

[0084] The maintenance plan creation result screen W2 is composed of a resource use schedule display section 901, an allocation result display section 902, and a tour route display section 903. Here, it is assumed that a usage plan for tools and transportation means as resources has been created by the process shown in FIG.

[0085] The resource usage schedule display unit 901 displays the usage schedule for each day and each department (team) of resources such as tools and transportation required for maintenance work and site patrols. For example, when focusing on tool 1, it can be seen that tool 1 will be used by team 1 on April 1st and 2nd, and that tool 1 will be used by team 2 on April 3rd. As shown in the department information storage unit 106 in Fig. 6 and the delivery period information storage unit 108 in Fig. 8, teams 1 and 2 belong to the same sales office 1, and the delivery period is 0 days, so there is no delivery period for tool 1 from April 2nd to 3rd.

[0086] On the other hand, tool 4 is handed over from team 2 to team 3, which belong to different sales offices 1 and 2. The delivery period between sales offices 1 and 2 is one day. Therefore, April 2nd is set as the delivery date for tool 4. Similarly, the means of transportation planned for each group will be displayed.

[0087] The allocation result display section 902 displays the allocation results of the work sites to be visited by each maintenance technician by day. For example, it shows that a maintenance technician with the maintenance technician number of maintenance technician 1 will be assigned sites 1 to 3 on April 1, sites 4 and 5 on April 2, and sites 6 and 7 on April 3. Note that for sites to which maintenance work was not assigned due to a shortage of tools, information about the site and the missing tools is displayed as an alert on the maintenance plan creation result screen W2 (not shown). In this case, the maintenance technician's manager can consider ways to resolve the tool shortage (such as purchasing new tools) and instruct the maintenance work planning system 101 to create a new maintenance plan.

[0088] The patrol route display section 903 displays the route each maintenance worker takes to visit sites (called the "patrol route") and the means of transportation and tools they use for each day. For example, the patrol route shown is one in which a maintenance worker whose maintenance worker number is maintenance worker 1 starts from his current location (represented by a black square) whose parent department number is sales office 1, and visits sites 1, 2, and 3 in that order. It also shows that the available resources assigned to this maintenance worker are tool 1 and vehicle 1.

[0089] When the maintenance worker presses the schedule confirmation button at the bottom of the patrol route display section 903, a patrol schedule confirmation screen W3 pops up. The patrol schedule confirmation screen W3 has a patrol schedule display section 904. The patrol schedule display section 904 displays the scheduled arrival time at each site on the patrol route displayed in the patrol route display section 903 (indicated as "Arrival Time" in the figure) and the scheduled departure time from each site (indicated as "Departure Time" in the figure). A maintenance worker or the maintenance worker's manager can display the patrol schedule confirmation screen W3 and estimate the order in which to patrol each site and the work time required at each site.

[0090] The maintenance work planning system 101 according to the embodiment described above can create a resource allocation plan taking into account the handover period of resources used jointly by multiple departments or maintenance personnel. Furthermore, unlike conventional resource usage plans that are created for each department, the work plan according to this embodiment plans resource allocation so that each department and each maintenance personnel can use the resources they need, even when resources used by multiple departments are shared. In this way, resources used by all departments are managed, and then a usage plan is created taking into account the handover period of resources. Therefore, resource duplication and resource shortages for the same maintenance personnel on the same day do not occur.

[0091] In addition, while conventional maintenance personnel patrol plans emphasize tool utilization efficiency, such plans often require long patrol routes and multiple means of transportation (e.g., automobiles). On the other hand, when transportation utilization efficiency is emphasized, one department or one maintenance personnel may monopolize tools for multiple days, potentially resulting in a shortage of tools needed by other departments. Furthermore, when one department or one maintenance personnel monopolizes multiple means of transportation, other maintenance personnel cannot use the occupied means of transportation, resulting in extra travel time. Therefore, the maintenance work planning system 101 according to this embodiment not only creates resource usage plans that take into account delivery periods, but also simultaneously creates patrol route and transportation allocation plans that simultaneously eliminate tool shortages by improving tool utilization efficiency and minimize travel time by improving transportation utilization efficiency. This allows each maintenance personnel to travel to the site reliably using transportation, and minimizes each maintenance personnel's travel time, thereby reducing the maintenance personnel's travel burden.

[0092] In addition, the system automatically plans the routes and dates / times for maintenance personnel to visit the sites. This reduces the burden of creating maintenance plans, which previously required a great deal of time. Even for wide-area patrols, the system plans routes using resources held by sales offices, branch offices, etc. located in each region. This eliminates the need for each sales office, etc. to hold extra resources, reducing resource storage costs, maintenance costs, etc.

[0093] The present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment, and it goes without saying that various other applications and modifications are possible without departing from the gist of the present invention as set forth in the claims. For example, the above-described embodiment has described the system configuration in detail and specifically in order to clearly explain the present invention, and is not necessarily limited to a system having all of the described configurations. Furthermore, it is also possible to add, delete, or replace part of the configuration of the present embodiment with other configurations. In addition, the control lines and information lines shown are those that are considered necessary for the explanation, and do not necessarily show all the control lines and information lines in the product. In reality, it can be assumed that almost all components are interconnected. [Explanation of symbols]

[0094] 101...maintenance work planning system, 102...information storage unit, 103...maintenance target equipment information storage unit, 104...maintenance worker information storage unit, 105...resource information storage unit, 106...department information storage unit, 107...travel time information storage unit, 108...handover period information storage unit, 109...control unit, 110...resource use plan formulation unit, 111...maintenance plan formulation unit, 112...plan evaluation unit, 113...plan result display unit, 114...resource reservation device, 115...network, 116...maintenance work instruction device

Claims

1. a resource usage plan creation unit that creates a resource usage plan for use of resources used in equipment maintenance work by maintenance personnel in an organization, with a transfer period for transferring the resources between organizations to which maintenance personnel who perform the maintenance work belong as a constraint; a maintenance plan creation unit that creates a route for the maintenance personnel to visit the site based on the created resource usage plan and information about the site where the equipment is installed, and creates a maintenance plan that shortens the total travel time of the maintenance personnel who visits the route and that has a small number of pieces of equipment to which the resources are not assigned. Maintenance work planning system.

2. the resource usage plan formulation unit formulates a usage plan for a tool to be used as the resource in the maintenance work by using information on an organization that owns the resource and information on an organization to which the maintenance worker belongs; The maintenance plan creation unit creates the maintenance plan in which the patrol route and the means of transportation used by the maintenance personnel to travel along the patrol route are assigned, based on a plan for using the tool, information on the facility on which the maintenance work is performed, information on an organization that owns the resource, information on a means of transportation used to move the maintenance personnel to the site as the resource, and information on the maintenance personnel. The maintenance work planning system according to claim 1 .

3. The system further includes a plan evaluation unit that evaluates the tool usage plan and the maintenance plan, and highly evaluates the maintenance plan that reduces the total travel time of the maintenance personnel. The maintenance work planning system according to claim 2 .

4. the resource usage planning unit creates a plurality of resource usage plans for each of the resources used in the organization; the maintenance plan creation unit creates a plurality of the maintenance plans for each of the created resource usage plans; The plan evaluation unit highly evaluates the maintenance plan that reduces the total travel time of the maintenance personnel from among the plurality of maintenance plans. The maintenance work planning system according to claim 3 .

5. The plan evaluation unit saves the maintenance plan with the shortest total travel time of the maintenance personnel as a tentative solution, updates the tentative solution with a maintenance plan with a smaller number of pieces of equipment to which the resources used for the maintenance work are not allocated than the number of pieces of equipment in the tentative solution, and outputs the updated tentative solution to a display unit when it determines that termination conditions for the process of formulating the resource usage plan and the process of formulating the maintenance plan have been satisfied. The maintenance work planning system according to claim 4 .

6. The plan evaluation unit updates the tentative solution with the maintenance plan in which the number of pieces of equipment to which the resources used for the maintenance work are not assigned is the same as that of the tentative solution and the total travel time of the maintenance personnel is shorter than the total travel time of the tentative solution. The maintenance work planning system according to claim 5 .

7. a display unit that displays the resource usage plan with the smallest number of pieces of equipment to which the resources used for the maintenance work could not be allocated, and the resource usage plan and the maintenance plan of a set with the shortest total travel time for the maintenance personnel among the set of maintenance plans formulated based on the resource usage plan; The maintenance work planning system according to any one of claims 1 to 4.

8. The display unit displays and outputs the resource usage plan and the maintenance plan of the set that has the shortest total travel time for the maintenance workers among the set of the resource usage plan that has the fewest number of pieces of equipment to which the resources used for maintenance work could not be allocated and the maintenance plan that has been formulated based on the resource usage plan and is the tentative solution updated by the plan evaluation unit. The maintenance work planning system according to claim 5 or 6.

9. A maintenance work planning method used by a maintenance work planning system including a resource usage planning unit and a maintenance plan planning unit, a process in which the resource usage planning unit creates a resource usage plan for the use of resources by maintenance personnel in an organization, with a constraint being a transfer period for transferring resources used in maintenance work on equipment between organizations to which maintenance personnel who will perform the maintenance work belong; the maintenance plan planning unit plans a route for the maintenance personnel to visit the site based on the planned resource usage plan and information on the site where the equipment is installed, and plans a maintenance plan in which the total travel time of the maintenance personnel visiting the route is short and the number of pieces of equipment to which the resources are not assigned is small. Maintenance work planning methods.

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