Apparatus, method, and program for maintaining equipment

Abstract

To provide an apparatus, method and program for maintaining a facility.SOLUTION: An apparatus includes: a report acquisition unit configured to acquire a report of an anomaly having occurred in a facility; a work plan output unit configured to output a work plan for handling an anomaly indicated as anomaly information in the report; an evaluation acquisition unit configured to acquire an evaluation of work according to the work plan output from the work plan output unit; and an update unit configured to update the content of the work plan output by the work plan output unit, using the evaluation acquired by the evaluation acquisition unit.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

[Technical Field]

[0001] The present invention relates to an apparatus, a method, and a program for maintaining equipment. [Background technology]

[0002] Patent Document 1 states that "When proposing a long-term equipment maintenance plan for a plant to a customer, it is necessary to provide update information and maintenance information at the appropriate update timing for each piece of equipment. In other words, it is necessary to propose a long-term equipment maintenance plan that is appropriately customized for each piece of plant equipment owned by the customer" (paragraph 0005), and that "the present invention has been made in consideration of the above-mentioned problems with conventional plant maintenance management systems, and aims to provide a new and improved plant equipment maintenance plan proposal support system that is capable of reflecting information from similar plants and customizing the optimal maintenance timing for each piece of equipment" (paragraph 0008). [Prior art document] [Patent documents] [Patent Document 1] JP 2014-139774 A Summary of the Invention

[0003] In a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided an apparatus including a report acquisition unit that acquires reports of abnormalities that have occurred in equipment, a work plan output unit that outputs a work plan to deal with abnormalities indicated as abnormality information in the report, an evaluation acquisition unit that acquires an evaluation of work according to the work plan output from the work plan output unit, and an update unit that updates the content of the work plan output by the work plan output unit using the evaluation acquired by the evaluation acquisition unit.

[0004] The apparatus may further include a database connection unit connected to a database that stores a plurality of sets each including anomaly information and an operation plan for dealing with the anomaly. The operation plan output unit may include a similarity calculation unit that calculates a similarity between the anomaly information in the report and the anomaly information included in each of the plurality of sets, and a selection unit that selects candidate operation plans for dealing with the anomaly indicated in the report based on the similarity calculated by the similarity calculation unit.

[0005] In any of the above devices, the selection unit may preferentially select, as a candidate work plan for dealing with the abnormality indicated in the report, a work plan associated with the abnormality information included in each of the multiple sets that has a higher similarity calculated by the similarity calculation unit.

[0006] In any of the above devices, the selection unit may select a candidate work plan for dealing with the abnormality indicated in the report based on the similarity between the abnormality information in the report and the abnormality information included in each of the multiple sets, and the evaluation included in each of the multiple sets.

[0007] The apparatus may further include a work record acquisition unit that acquires anomaly information about an anomaly that has occurred in the equipment and a work record for dealing with the anomaly. The update unit may add the anomaly information and the work record acquired by the work record acquisition unit to the database as a pair of the anomaly information and the work plan.

[0008] In any of the above devices, each of the plurality of sets may further include an evaluation of the work plan included in the set. The update unit may use the evaluation acquired by the evaluation acquisition unit to update the evaluation stored in the database in association with the work plan candidate selected by the selection unit.

[0009] In any of the above devices, the database may store, for each of the plurality of pairs, device information that identifies the device in which the abnormality has occurred and abnormality information that includes details of the abnormality.

[0010] In any of the above devices, the similarity calculation unit may calculate a similarity of the anomaly information between the anomaly information being reported and the anomaly information included in each of the multiple sets, based on a similarity of the device information and a similarity of the text recorded as the anomaly content.

[0011] In any of the above devices, the database may store, for each of the plurality of sets, a work plan including a maintenance work and a maintenance preparation work to be performed before the maintenance work.

[0012] In a second aspect of the present invention, a method is provided, including: a computer obtaining a report of an abnormality that has occurred in equipment; the computer outputting a work plan to address the abnormality indicated as abnormality information in the report; the computer obtaining an evaluation of the work according to the output work plan; and the computer using the obtained evaluation to update the output content of the work plan to be output.

[0013] In a third aspect of the present invention, there is provided a program that is executed by a computer and causes the computer to function as a report acquisition unit that acquires reports of abnormalities that have occurred in equipment, a work plan output unit that outputs a work plan to deal with abnormalities indicated as abnormality information in the report, an evaluation acquisition unit that acquires an evaluation of work according to the work plan output from the work plan output unit, and an update unit that updates the content of the work plan output by the work plan output unit using the evaluation acquired by the evaluation acquisition unit.

[0014] The above summary of the invention does not list all of the features of the present invention, and subcombinations of these features may also be inventions. [Brief explanation of the drawings]

[0015] [Figure 1] The configuration of the device 100 according to this embodiment is shown together with equipment 10 and the like. [Figure 2] An example of the data structure of DB 130 is shown below. [Figure 3] 1 shows an operation flow of the device 100 according to this embodiment. [Figure 4] 10 shows an example of a display by the device 100 according to the present embodiment. [Figure 5] 22 illustrates an example computer 2200 in which aspects of the present invention may be embodied, in whole or in part. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0016] The present invention will be described below through embodiments of the invention, but the following embodiments do not limit the scope of the invention according to the claims. Furthermore, not all of the combinations of features described in the embodiments are necessarily essential to the solution of the invention.

[0017] FIG. 1 shows the configuration of an apparatus 100 according to this embodiment, together with equipment 10 and the like. The equipment 10 is installed in a plant or the like. Such a plant may be, for example, an industrial plant for chemicals or metals, a plant that manages and controls wellheads or surrounding areas of gas or oil fields, a plant that manages and controls hydroelectric, thermal, or nuclear power generation, a plant that manages and controls energy generation such as solar or wind power, or a plant that manages and controls water supply and sewage systems or dams. The equipment 10 may also be installed in buildings, various factories, transportation facilities, or the like. Such equipment 10 may include one or more process devices, one or more power generation devices, and one or more other devices, such as one or more equipment devices 20-1 to 20-N (also referred to as "equipment devices 20").

[0018] Each of the one or more facility devices 20 may include a field device. The field device may be, for example, a sensor device such as a pressure gauge, flow meter, or temperature sensor; a valve device such as a flow control valve or an on-off valve; an actuator device such as a fan or motor; an imaging device such as a camera or video camera that captures the status of a plant or an object of the facility; an audio device such as a microphone or speaker that collects abnormal sounds from the plant or facility or emits alarm sounds; a position detection device that outputs position information of devices in the facility 10; or other devices. Each of the one or more facility devices 20 may be provided with one or more sensors that function as sensor devices, imaging devices, audio devices, or the like that monitor the status of the facility devices.

[0019] One or more inspectors 30 inspect each piece of equipment 20 in the facility 10. When an abnormality occurs in the facility 10, the inspector 30 provides a report of the abnormality that has occurred in the facility 10 to the device 100.

[0020] In response to receiving a report of an abnormality, the device 100 outputs a work plan to address the abnormality. The device 100 may be realized by a computer such as a PC (personal computer), a tablet computer, a smartphone, a workstation, a server computer, or a general-purpose computer, or may be realized by a computer system in which multiple computers are connected. Such a computer system is also considered a computer in the broad sense. The device 100 may be a dedicated computer designed for monitoring the facility 10, or may be dedicated hardware realized by dedicated circuits.

[0021] The display device 110 is connected to the device 100 by wire or wirelessly. The display device 110 displays the work plan output by the device 100. The display device 110 may be a computer used by the worker 40, such as a PC (personal computer). Alternatively, the display device 110 may be a computer such as a tablet computer or smartphone that the worker 40 can carry with him or her.

[0022] One or more workers 40 prepare for maintenance work on the equipment 10 (maintenance preparation work) and maintain the equipment 10 (maintenance work) in accordance with the work plan displayed on the display device 110. In this way, the workers 40 solve the abnormality reported by the inspector 30.

[0023] The device 100 according to this embodiment includes a report acquisition unit 120, a database 130 (DB130), a DB connection unit 140, a work plan output unit 150, a display processing unit 165, a work record acquisition unit 170, an evaluation acquisition unit 175, and an update unit 180. The report acquisition unit 120 acquires a report of an abnormality that has occurred in the equipment 10. The report acquisition unit 120 according to this embodiment receives the report input to a computer such as a PC, tablet computer, or smartphone used by an inspector 30 via wired or wireless communication. The report acquisition unit 120 may receive a notification of an abnormality detected by a sensor provided in one or more facility devices 20 from a monitoring device or the like that monitors the equipment 10 as the abnormality report.

[0024] The DB 130 is an external storage device of the apparatus 100, such as a semiconductor memory or a hard disk. Alternatively, the DB 130 may be a cloud storage or a network-attached storage (NAS) external to the apparatus 100 and connected to the apparatus 100 via a wired or wireless network. The DB 130 stores, for each of a plurality of types of anomalies, a work plan for dealing with the anomaly. Specifically, the DB 130 stores a plurality of pairs each including anomaly information related to the anomaly and a work plan for dealing with the anomaly. In this embodiment, the DB 130 stores, as pairs of anomaly information and a work plan, pairs of anomaly information related to an anomaly that occurred in the past and work records for dealing with the anomaly. The DB 130 may also store, as pairs of anomaly information and a work plan, pairs of anomaly information and a work plan planned in the event of the anomaly, for various anomalies that are predefined as being capable of occurring in the facility 10. In this embodiment, the DB 130 stores, for each of the plurality of pairs, an evaluation of the work plan included in the pair.

[0025] The DB connection unit 140 is connected to the DB 130. The DB connection unit 140 accesses the DB 130 in response to a request from each component in the device 100.

[0026] The work plan output unit 150 is connected to the report acquisition unit 120 and the DB connection unit 140. The work plan output unit 150 outputs a work plan to deal with an abnormality indicated as anomaly information in the report acquired by the report acquisition unit 120. In this embodiment, the work plan output unit 150 searches for and outputs a work plan for an abnormality similar to the abnormality indicated in the report from among the work plans for each abnormality stored in the DB 130. Here, the work plan output unit 150 may output an evaluation stored in the DB 130 in association with the work plan, along with the work plan. The evaluation stored in the DB 130 in association with the work plan is also referred to as the "current evaluation" of the work plan.

[0027] The work plan output unit 150 includes a similarity calculation unit 155 and a selection unit 160. The similarity calculation unit 155 accesses the DB 130 via the DB connection unit 140 and calculates the similarity between the anomaly information in the report acquired by the report acquisition unit 120 and the anomaly information included in each of the multiple sets stored in the DB 130. The selection unit 160 selects candidate work plans for dealing with the anomaly indicated in the report based on the similarity calculated by the similarity calculation unit 155. Here, the selection unit 160 may preferentially select, as candidate work plans for dealing with the anomaly indicated in the report, work plans associated with anomaly information having a higher similarity calculated by the similarity calculation unit 155 among the anomaly information included in each of the multiple sets stored in the DB 130. This allows the selection unit 160 to select, as candidate work plans for dealing with an anomaly similar to the current anomaly.

[0028] The display processing unit 165 is connected to the work plan output unit 150. The display processing unit 165 performs display processing to display one or more candidate work plans output by the work plan output unit 150 on the display device 110. The display processing unit 165 may generate a display screen to be displayed on the display device 110 and transmit it to the display device 110, or may generate display data for a web page and make it accessible from the display device 110. This allows the display processing unit 165 to propose candidate work plans to the worker 40, and the worker 40 can select a work plan to address the current abnormality from the candidate work plans. Alternatively, the worker 40 may determine a work plan to address the current abnormality by adding or changing some tasks, with reference to the candidate work plans displayed on the display device 110. If the display processing unit 165 includes a current evaluation of the candidate work plans on the display screen, the worker 40 may determine a work plan to address the current abnormality by taking the current evaluation of the candidate work plans into consideration.

[0029] The work record acquisition unit 170 is connected to the work plan output unit 150. The work record acquisition unit 170 acquires abnormality information about an abnormality that has occurred in the equipment 10 from the report acquisition unit 120 via the work plan output unit 150. The work record acquisition unit 170 also acquires a work record from the worker 40 that describes how the abnormality that has occurred in the equipment 10 was dealt with. The evaluation acquisition unit 175 acquires an evaluation of the work performed in accordance with the work plan output from the work plan output unit 150. Note that the evaluation newly acquired by the evaluation acquisition unit 175 for the work that was actually performed in accordance with the work plan output from the work plan output unit 150 is also referred to as a "new evaluation."

[0030] The update unit 180 is connected to the work record acquisition unit 170 and the evaluation acquisition unit 175. The update unit 180 updates the content of the work plan output by the work plan output unit 150, using the evaluation (new evaluation) acquired by the evaluation acquisition unit 175. In this embodiment, the update unit 180 uses the new evaluation acquired by the evaluation acquisition unit 175 to update the evaluation (current evaluation) stored in DB 130 in association with the work plan candidate selected by the selection unit 160. Furthermore, in response to the acquisition of a work record that is at least partially different from the work plan candidate, the update unit 180 may add the anomaly information and work record acquired by the work record acquisition unit 170 to DB 130 as a pair of anomaly information and work plan.

[0031] 2 shows an example of the data structure of the DB 130. The DB 130 according to this embodiment includes, for each of a plurality of sets (records), information relating to an abnormal state ID, registration date and time, abnormality information, work plan, and evaluation.

[0032] The abnormal condition ID is abnormality identification information that identifies the abnormality indicated by the abnormality information in the record. Each time the report acquisition unit 120 receives a report of an abnormality that has occurred in the equipment 10, it assigns an abnormal condition ID to the reported abnormality. The update unit 180 associates the abnormality information and the work record with the abnormality condition ID assigned to the abnormality indicated by the abnormality information, and adds them to the DB 130. The registration date and time indicates the date and time when the record was registered in the DB 130.

[0033] The anomaly information indicates details of the anomaly indicated in the report. The anomaly information includes equipment information that identifies the equipment 20 in which the anomaly has occurred and the details of the anomaly. The equipment information includes information on one or more items related to the equipment 20 in which the anomaly has occurred, such as at least one of the product name, product identification information, type (e.g., pump, reactor, power supply), specifications, installation location, and installation status.

[0034] The abnormality details indicate the details of the abnormality that has occurred in the facility device 20 indicated in the device information. The abnormality details may include information indicating whether or not each abnormality, such as at least one of a liquid leak, abnormal vibration, abnormal noise, or fire, has occurred (e.g., check by the inspector 30). The abnormality details may also include, for example, information specifying the type of abnormality or a specialized department or team that should handle the abnormality. The abnormality details may also include information indicating the priority of measures to be taken against the abnormality. The abnormality details may also include a detailed text description of the abnormality entered by the inspector 30.

[0035] The work plan indicates information related to a work plan for dealing with the abnormality indicated by the abnormality information. DB 130 may store, for each of a plurality of sets, a work plan including a maintenance work and a maintenance preparation work to be performed before the maintenance work.

[0036] The information related to the maintenance preparation plan may include information indicating the necessity of each preparation item, such as at least one of the following: whether various tools are required, whether safety equipment is required, whether scaffolding is required, whether a notification is required, etc. Furthermore, the maintenance preparation work information may include numerical information related to the maintenance preparation work, such as at least one of the number of workers required for the maintenance preparation work, work time, and cost.

[0037] The information on the maintenance plan may include information indicating the necessity of each work item, such as the necessity of various maintenance work processes (such as line shutdown, repair, replacement, cleaning, and adjustment). Furthermore, the maintenance work information may include numerical information on the maintenance work, such as at least one of the number of workers required for the maintenance work, the required skills of the workers, work time, and cost.

[0038] The information on the evaluation (current evaluation) is an index showing how well the work (maintenance preparation work, maintenance work) according to the work plan in the record was suited to addressing the reported anomaly (or how well it was related to addressing the anomaly). In this embodiment, the information on the current evaluation is expressed as a score value, where the more appropriate the work according to the work plan is (or the more related it is to addressing the anomaly), the higher the score. Alternatively, the information on the current evaluation may be expressed as a set of scores (also referred to as "item evaluations") for multiple evaluation items (also referred to as KPIs: Key Performance Indicators). Such KPIs may include, for example, whether or not there is a shortage of a process, whether or not rework is required, the difference between the planned number of workers and the actual number of workers, the difference between the planned work time and the actual work time, the difference between the planned cost and the actual cost, etc.

[0039] 3 shows an operational flow of the device 100 according to this embodiment. The device 100 executes the operational flow shown in this figure every time it receives a report of an abnormality. In S300 (step 300), the report acquisition unit 120 acquires a report of an abnormality that has occurred in the equipment 10.

[0040] In S310, the similarity calculation unit 155 calculates the similarity between the anomaly information in the report acquired by the report acquisition unit 120 and the anomaly information included in each of the multiple sets stored in the DB 130. In this embodiment, when the value of each item of the anomaly information (device information and anomaly details) in the report matches (or is included in) the value of the corresponding item in the anomaly information to be compared, the similarity calculation unit 155 assigns a higher similarity score than when there is no match. Then, the similarity calculation unit 155 calculates the sum of the similarity scores for each item, or otherwise combines them to determine the similarity.

[0041] When the anomaly information includes anomaly content described in text, the similarity calculation unit 155 may calculate the similarity of the anomaly information between the anomaly information being reported and the anomaly information included in each of the multiple sets based on the similarity of the device information and the similarity of the text recorded as the anomaly content. For example, for an item entered as text, such as a detailed description of the anomaly, the similarity calculation unit 155 may convert the text into a feature vector using whether each of multiple words (e.g., predetermined registered words) appears in the text or the frequency of each of the multiple words, and calculate the similarity between the feature vectors (e.g., the inner product of unit vectors). Here, the similarity calculation unit 155 may calculate the similarity between the text included in the anomaly information being reported and the text included in the anomaly information being compared using the feature vector including the TF-IDF for each of the multiple words. The similarity calculation unit 155 may calculate the similarity between the anomaly information being reported and the anomaly information stored in the DB 130 by combining the similarity of the non-text portion of the anomaly information and the similarity of the text portion by, for example, adding or calculating the sum of squares.

[0042] In S320, the selection unit 160 selects candidate work plans for dealing with the anomaly indicated in the report based on the similarity calculated by the similarity calculation unit 155. The selection unit 160 according to this embodiment preferentially selects work plans associated with anomaly information having a higher similarity to the anomaly information being reported. The selection unit 160 may select, from each set stored in the DB 130, k work plans associated with a predetermined k number of pieces of anomaly information (k is an integer of 1 or 2 or more) selected in descending order of similarity calculated by the similarity calculation unit 155, as work plan candidates (k-nearest neighbor method).

[0043] Here, "selecting with higher priority" means that, when other conditions are the same, the necessary number of work plans are selected in descending order of priority, but when other conditions are different, it is possible that a work plan with a lower priority will be selected instead of a work plan with a higher priority. For example, when probability is used in selecting a work plan, the selector 160 may select a candidate work plan with a higher probability the higher the similarity calculated by the similarity calculator 155.

[0044] The selection unit 160 may select candidate work plans for dealing with the anomaly indicated in the report based on the similarity between the anomaly information in the report and the anomaly information included in each of the plurality of pairs, and the evaluation (current evaluation) included in each of the plurality of pairs. For example, the selection unit 160 may select, as candidate work plans, work plans for k pairs selected in descending order of the overall value obtained by calculating the sum or weighted sum of the similarity of the anomaly information and the current evaluation for each of the plurality of pairs stored in DB 130. Furthermore, the selection unit 160 may select candidate work plans from among the plurality of pairs whose current evaluation exceeds a predetermined threshold, based on the similarity of the anomaly information.

[0045] At S330, the display processing unit 165 performs display processing to display one or more candidate work plans generated at S310 and S320 on the display device 110. At S340, the work record acquisition unit 170 acquires a work record of the work performed by the worker 40, referring to the candidate work plans displayed on the display device 110. The evaluation acquisition unit 175 acquires an evaluation (new evaluation) of the work according to the work plan (candidate work plan) displayed on the display device 110. This new evaluation may include evaluation values ​​(item evaluation values) for one or more evaluation items (KPIs). Alternatively, this new evaluation may be expressed as a single score value.

[0046] In S350, the update unit 180 updates the content of the work plan output by the work plan output unit 150, using the new evaluation acquired by the evaluation acquisition unit 175. The update unit 180 updates the current evaluation stored in DB 130 in association with the work plan candidate selected by the selection unit 160, using the new evaluation acquired by the evaluation acquisition unit 175. This allows the work plan output unit 150 to output the updated current evaluation associated with this work plan when outputting the same work plan later.

[0047] Furthermore, the updating unit 180 may add the anomaly information and work record acquired by the work record acquiring unit 170 to the DB 130 as a set of anomaly information and a work plan. The updating unit 180 may add the set of anomaly information and a work record to the DB 130 on the condition that the anomaly information and work record acquired by the work record acquiring unit 170 are at least partially different from the anomaly information and work plan of the set selected by the selecting unit 160.

[0048] The above-described device 100 can propose maintenance work or the like to deal with an abnormality in response to a report of the abnormality in the equipment 10. Here, the work plan output unit 150 can propose a candidate work plan for a suddenly occurring abnormality by using work records of past work that dealt with similar abnormalities, by using the history of work records stored in the DB 130. This allows the device 100 to quickly recover the equipment 10 from the abnormality using past work records, thereby improving the productivity or availability of the equipment 10.

[0049] Furthermore, device 100 can progress in learning so as to be able to output work plans for dealing with new types of abnormalities by accumulating work records of how abnormalities have been dealt with in DB 130. Furthermore, device 100 can improve the accuracy of the work plans to be output by acquiring new evaluations from workers 40 and updating the current evaluations of the work plans accumulated in DB 130.

[0050] The device 100 may be used as a maintenance management / maintenance activity proposal system integrated with a computerized maintenance management system (CMMS). The CMMS may have the functions of a work record acquisition unit 170 and an evaluation acquisition unit 175. In this case, the CMMS acquires work records for addressing abnormalities and extracts, from the work records, item evaluations for one or more evaluation items, such as the difference between the planned and actual work time or cost, or the accumulated overtime hours. The update unit 180 in the device 100 receives the work records entered into the CMMS from the CMMS, associates them with abnormality information, and stores them in the DB 130. The update unit 180 also calculates a new evaluation for the work content of the work records using each item evaluation extracted by the CMMS, and updates the current evaluation of the work records stored in the DB 130. This allows the device 100 to perform maintenance management in cooperation with the CMMS and propose work plans for addressing newly occurring abnormalities.

[0051] 4 shows an example of a display by device 100 according to this embodiment. Display processing unit 165 in device 100 may perform display processing to display a display screen 400 on the entire screen or in a window of display device 110 in response to a reported abnormality. Display screen 400 has an abnormality display field 410, a candidate display field 420, a work record field including a candidate selection field 430 and a work record input field 440, and an evaluation field including an evaluation input field 450.

[0052] 3, the display processing unit 165 displays the abnormality included in the report acquired by the report acquisition unit 120 in the abnormality display field 410. The abnormality display field 410 includes displays of the date the abnormality occurred, the abnormal state ID, and the abnormality information (device information and abnormality content).

[0053] 3, the display processing unit 165 displays one or more candidates for the work plan output by the work plan output unit 150 in the candidate display field 420. The candidate display field 420 includes displays of the candidate number, abnormal state ID, registration date, abnormality information (device information and abnormality details), work plan (maintenance preparation plan and maintenance plan), and evaluation (current evaluation) for each group selected by the selection unit 160 from among the multiple groups stored in the DB 130.

[0054] In S330 of FIG. 3, the display processing unit 165 displays, as a work record field, an input field for inputting work records of the maintenance preparation work and maintenance work performed to address the abnormality, in addition to the candidate display field 420. The work record acquisition unit 170 inputs the work record using the work record field in S340 of FIG. 3. The candidate selection field 430 is selected by the worker 40 when the same work as one of the work plan candidates displayed in the candidate display field 420 is performed. The candidate selection field 430 includes an input field for specifying, by candidate number or the like, the candidate used in the actual work from the work plan candidates displayed in the candidate display field 420. When the candidate selection field 430 is selected, the work record acquisition unit 170 determines that the same work as the candidate specified by the candidate number or the like has been performed in response to the reported abnormality.

[0055] The work record input field 440 is selected by the worker 40 when work is performed that is at least partially different from the work plan candidates displayed in the candidate display field 420 while referring to the candidates. When the work record input field 440 is selected and information about the maintenance preparation work and maintenance work that was actually performed is entered, the work record acquisition unit 170 determines that the entered work has been performed in response to the reported abnormality.

[0056] In S330 of FIG. 3, the display processing unit 165 displays an input field for inputting an evaluation (new evaluation) of the work record as an evaluation field in addition to the candidate display field 420. In S350 of FIG. 3, the evaluation acquisition unit 175 inputs a new evaluation using the evaluation field. The evaluation field includes an evaluation input field 450 for inputting scores for each of multiple evaluation items (KPIs). In S340 of FIG. 3, the evaluation acquisition unit 175 acquires the score (item evaluation) for each evaluation item input in the evaluation input field 450. For items expressed numerically, such as work hours, overtime hours, and costs, the evaluation acquisition unit 175 may input the numerical value of the item instead of the score. In this case, the update unit 180 may convert this numerical value into a score. For example, with regard to work hours, the update unit 180 calculates a lower score as the difference between the actual work time and the planned work time in the work plan increases.

[0057] 3, the update unit 180 may calculate a new evaluation (overall evaluation) for the work record by taking an average or weighted average using the scores for each evaluation item. The update unit 180 uses the new evaluation (overall evaluation) calculated in accordance with the evaluations acquired by the evaluation acquisition unit 175 to update the current evaluation stored in DB 130 in association with the work plan candidate selected by the selection unit 160. As an example, the update unit 180 updates the current evaluation stored in DB 130 using the method shown below.

[0058] (1) Update the current evaluation of the candidates used in the actual work. In response to the designation of a candidate work plan used in the actual work in the candidate selection field 430, the update unit 180 updates the current evaluation in the DB 130 corresponding to the designated work plan. Here, the DB 130 may store, as the current evaluation for each work plan, the average or moving average of one or more evaluations (new evaluations) received so far for that work plan, and the update unit 180 may update the average or moving average of the new evaluations received so far in the DB 130 to an average or moving average that reflects the current new evaluation. To achieve this, the DB 130 may store, in association with each work plan, the number of new evaluations received so far, etc., that are required for calculating the average. Furthermore, the DB 130 may store, in association with each work plan, for example, a predetermined number of the most recent new evaluations that are required for calculating the moving average. Here, the update unit 180 may calculate the updated current evaluation using a weighted average or weighted moving average that weights more recent evaluations more highly.

[0059] Furthermore, in order to reduce the amount of data stored in DB 130, the current rating may be updated to the weighted sum by calculating a weighted sum of the current rating stored in DB 130 and the current new rating. If the current rating is E and the new rating is e, the weighted sum E' can be expressed as E' = (1 - α)E + αe (where 0 < α < 1), for example. By using such smoothing, the update unit 180 can calculate an approximation of the average or moving average of the most recent new ratings, even if the number of ratings (new ratings) up to now is not stored in DB 130.

[0060] (2) Update the ratings for each of two or more candidates. The update unit 180 may update the current ratings in DB 130 corresponding to two or more or all of the candidates for the work plan output by the work plan output unit 150. The update unit 180 may update the current ratings of each candidate in the same manner as in (1).

[0061] The update unit 180 may reflect the new evaluation with a higher weighting on a candidate work plan that is closer to the work plan used in the actual work. For example, the update unit 180 may calculate the similarity between the work record entered in the work record input field 440 and each candidate work plan, and increase the coefficient α in the weighted sum E'=(1-α)E+αe shown in (1) as the similarity increases.

[0062] According to the update unit 180 described above, the accuracy of the evaluation (current evaluation) can be improved by repeatedly updating the current evaluation (new evaluation) using the current evaluation, which is stored in DB 130 in association with the candidate work plan output by the work plan output unit 150. This allows the device 100 to select a work plan that is more appropriate for the abnormality, and enables the facility 10 to quickly recover from the abnormality.

[0063] In the example shown in the figure, the display processing unit 165 generates a display screen that displays, in the same window, an abnormality display field 410, a candidate display field 420, a work record field including a candidate selection field 430 and a work record input field 440, and an evaluation field including an evaluation input field 450. Alternatively, the display processing unit 165 may display these fields in separate windows.

[0064] Various embodiments of the present invention may be described with reference to flowcharts and block diagrams, where the blocks may represent (1) stages of a process in which operations are performed or (2) sections of an apparatus responsible for performing the operations. Particular stages and sections may be implemented by dedicated circuitry, programmable circuitry provided with computer-readable instructions stored on a computer-readable medium, and / or a processor provided with computer-readable instructions stored on a computer-readable medium. Dedicated circuitry may include digital and / or analog hardware circuitry, and may include integrated circuits (ICs) and / or discrete circuits. Programmable circuitry may include reconfigurable hardware circuitry, including logical AND, OR, XOR, NAND, NOR, and other logical operations, flip-flops, registers, memory elements such as field programmable gate arrays (FPGAs), programmable logic arrays (PLAs), and the like.

[0065] A computer-readable medium may include any tangible device capable of storing instructions that are executed by an appropriate device, such that the computer-readable medium having instructions stored thereon comprises an article of manufacture containing instructions that can be executed to create means for performing the operations specified in the flowcharts or block diagrams. Examples of computer-readable media may include electronic, magnetic, optical, electromagnetic, and semiconductor storage media. More specific examples of computer-readable media may include floppy disks, diskettes, hard disks, random access memory (RAM), read-only memory (ROM), erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM or flash memory), electrically erasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM), static random access memory (SRAM), compact disc read-only memory (CD-ROM), digital versatile disc (DVD), Blu-ray disc, memory stick, integrated circuit card, and the like.

[0066] The computer readable instructions may include either assembler instructions, Instruction Set Architecture (ISA) instructions, machine instructions, machine-dependent instructions, microcode, firmware instructions, state-setting data, or source or object code written in any combination of one or more programming languages, including object-oriented programming languages ​​such as Smalltalk®, JAVA®, C++, etc., and conventional procedural programming languages ​​such as the “C” programming language or similar programming languages.

[0067] The computer-readable instructions may be provided to a processor or programmable circuitry of a programmable data processing apparatus, such as a general-purpose computer, special-purpose computer, or other computer, either locally or over a wide-area network (WAN) such as a local area network (LAN), the Internet, etc., which executes the computer-readable instructions to create means for performing the operations specified in the flowcharts or block diagrams. Examples of processors include computer processors, processing units, microprocessors, digital signal processors, controllers, microcontrollers, etc.

[0068] 5 illustrates an example of a computer 2200 in which aspects of the present invention may be embodied, in whole or in part. Programs installed on the computer 2200 may cause the computer 2200 to function as or perform operations associated with an apparatus or one or more sections of the apparatus according to embodiments of the present invention, and / or to perform a process or steps of a process according to embodiments of the present invention. Such programs may be executed by the CPU 2212 to cause the computer 2200 to perform specific operations associated with some or all of the blocks of the flowcharts and block diagrams described herein.

[0069] A computer 2200 according to this embodiment includes a CPU 2212, a RAM 2214, a graphics controller 2216, and a display device 2218, which are interconnected by a host controller 2210. The computer 2200 also includes input / output units such as a communication interface 2222, a hard disk drive 2224, a DVD-ROM drive 2226, and an IC card drive, which are connected to the host controller 2210 via an input / output controller 2220. The computer also includes legacy input / output units such as a ROM 2230 and a keyboard 2242, which are connected to the input / output controller 2220 via an input / output chip 2240.

[0070] The CPU 2212 operates according to programs stored in the ROM 2230 and RAM 2214, thereby controlling each unit. The graphics controller 2216 acquires image data generated by the CPU 2212 into a frame buffer or the like provided in the RAM 2214 or into the graphics controller 2216 itself, and causes the image data to be displayed on the display device 2218.

[0071] The communications interface 2222 communicates with other electronic devices via a network. The hard disk drive 2224 stores programs and data used by the CPU 2212 in the computer 2200. The DVD-ROM drive 2226 reads programs or data from the DVD-ROM 2201 and provides the programs or data to the hard disk drive 2224 via the RAM 2214. The IC card drive reads programs and data from an IC card and / or writes programs and data to an IC card.

[0072] The ROM 2230 stores therein a boot program or the like that is executed by the computer 2200 upon activation, and / or programs that depend on the hardware of the computer 2200. The input / output chip 2240 may also connect various input / output units to the input / output controller 2220 via a parallel port, a serial port, a keyboard port, a mouse port, etc.

[0073] The programs are provided by a computer-readable medium such as a DVD-ROM 2201 or an IC card. The programs are read from the computer-readable medium, installed in the hard disk drive 2224, RAM 2214, or ROM 2230, which are also examples of computer-readable media, and executed by the CPU 2212. Information processing described in these programs is read by the computer 2200, and brings about cooperation between the programs and the various types of hardware resources described above. An apparatus or method may be configured by realizing information manipulation or processing in accordance with the use of the computer 2200.

[0074] For example, when communication is performed between the computer 2200 and an external device, the CPU 2212 may execute a communication program loaded into the RAM 2214 and instruct the communication interface 2222 to perform communication processing based on the processing described in the communication program. Under the control of the CPU 2212, the communication interface 2222 reads transmission data stored in a transmission buffer processing area provided in the RAM 2214, the hard disk drive 2224, the DVD-ROM 2201, or a recording medium such as an IC card, and transmits the read transmission data to the network, or writes reception data received from the network to a reception buffer processing area or the like provided on the recording medium.

[0075] The CPU 2212 may also cause all or a necessary portion of a file or database stored on an external recording medium such as the hard disk drive 2224, the DVD-ROM drive 2226 (DVD-ROM 2201), an IC card, etc. to be read into the RAM 2214, and perform various types of processing on the data on the RAM 2214. The CPU 2212 then writes back the processed data to the external recording medium.

[0076] Various types of information, such as various types of programs, data, tables, and databases, may be stored on the recording medium and may undergo information processing. The CPU 2212 may perform various types of processing on data read from the RAM 2214, including various types of operations, information processing, conditional judgment, conditional branching, unconditional branching, information search / replacement, etc., as described throughout this disclosure and specified by the instruction sequences of the programs, and write the results back to the RAM 2214. The CPU 2212 may also search for information in a file, database, etc. on the recording medium. For example, if multiple entries each having an attribute value of a first attribute associated with an attribute value of a second attribute are stored on the recording medium, the CPU 2212 may search for an entry that matches a condition specified by the attribute value of the first attribute from among the multiple entries, read the attribute value of the second attribute stored in the entry, and thereby obtain the attribute value of the second attribute associated with the first attribute that satisfies a predetermined condition.

[0077] The above-described programs or software modules may be stored in a computer-readable medium on or near the computer 2200. A recording medium such as a hard disk or RAM provided in a server system connected to a dedicated communication network or the Internet can also be used as a computer-readable medium, thereby providing the programs to the computer 2200 via the network.

[0078] Although the present invention has been described above using embodiments, the technical scope of the present invention is not limited to the scope described in the above embodiments. It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that various modifications and improvements can be made to the above embodiments. It is clear from the claims that such modifications and improvements can also be included within the technical scope of the present invention.

[0079] It should be noted that the execution order of each process, such as operations, procedures, steps, and stages, in the devices, systems, programs, and methods shown in the claims, specifications, and drawings is not specifically stated as "before," "prior to," etc., and that the processes can be performed in any order unless the output of a previous process is used in a subsequent process. Even if the operational flow in the claims, specifications, and drawings is described using "first," "next," etc. for convenience, this does not mean that the processes must be performed in this order. [Explanation of symbols]

[0080] 10 Facility, 20 Facility equipment, 30 Inspector, 40 Worker, 100 Device, 110 Display device, 120 Report acquisition unit, 130 DB, 140 DB connection unit, 150 Work plan output unit, 155 Similarity calculation unit, 160 Selection unit, 165 Display processing unit, 170 Work record acquisition unit, 175 Evaluation acquisition unit, 180 Update unit, 400 Display screen, 410 Abnormality display column, 420 Candidate display column, 430 Candidate selection column, 440 Work record input column, 450 Evaluation input column, 2200 Computer, 2201 DVD-ROM, 2210 Host controller, 2212 CPU, 2214 RAM, 2216 Graphics controller, 2218 Display device, 2220 Input / output controller, 2222 Communication interface, 2224 Hard disk drive, 2226 DVD-ROM drive, 2230 ROM, 2240 input / output chip, 2242 keyboard

Claims

1. A database connection unit connected to a database that stores a plurality of sets each including abnormality information regarding an abnormality, a work plan for dealing with the abnormality, and an evaluation of the work plan; a report acquisition unit that acquires a report of an abnormality that has occurred in the equipment; a similarity calculation unit that calculates a similarity between the anomaly information in the report and the anomaly information included in each of the plurality of sets; a selection unit that selects a candidate work plan for dealing with the abnormality indicated in the report based on the similarity calculated by the similarity calculation unit; an evaluation acquisition unit that acquires an evaluation by a worker of the work according to the candidate work plan selected by the selection unit; an update unit that updates the evaluations stored in the database in association with the work plan candidates selected by the selection unit, using the evaluations acquired by the evaluation acquisition unit; An apparatus comprising:

2. 2. The device according to claim 1, wherein the selection unit selects, with higher priority, as a candidate work plan for dealing with the anomaly indicated in the report, an operation plan associated with anomaly information having a higher similarity calculated by the similarity calculation unit among the anomaly information included in each of the plurality of sets.

3. The device according to claim 1 , wherein the selection unit selects candidate work plans for dealing with the anomaly indicated in the report based on a similarity between the anomaly information in the report and the anomaly information included in each of the plurality of sets, and an evaluation included in each of the plurality of sets.

4. The system further includes a work record acquisition unit that acquires abnormality information about an abnormality that has occurred in the equipment and a work record for dealing with the abnormality, The update unit adds the abnormality information and the work record acquired by the work record acquisition unit to the database as a set of abnormality information and a work plan.

10. The apparatus of claim 1.

5. The apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the database stores, for each of the plurality of pairs, device information that identifies a device in which an abnormality has occurred and abnormality information that includes details of the abnormality.

6. The device according to claim 5 , wherein the similarity calculation unit calculates a similarity of the anomaly information between the anomaly information in the report and the anomaly information included in each of the plurality of sets based on a similarity of device information and a similarity of text recorded as anomaly content.

7. 7. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the database stores, for each of the plurality of sets, a work plan including a maintenance work and a maintenance preparation work to be performed before the maintenance work.

8. a computer connected to a database storing a plurality of sets each including anomaly information regarding an anomaly, an operation plan for dealing with the anomaly, and an evaluation of the operation plan; The computer acquires a report of an abnormality that has occurred in the equipment; The computer calculates a similarity between the anomaly information in the report and the anomaly information included in each of the plurality of sets; The computer selects a candidate work plan for addressing the anomaly indicated in the report based on the calculated similarity; The computer acquires an evaluation by a worker of the work according to the selected candidate work plan; the computer uses the obtained ratings to update the ratings stored in the database associated with the selected candidate work plan; A method comprising:

9. The program is executed by a computer, causing the computer to: a database connection unit connected to a database that stores a plurality of sets each including anomaly information related to an anomaly, an operation plan for dealing with the anomaly, and an evaluation of the operation plan; a report acquisition unit that acquires a report of an abnormality that has occurred in the equipment; a similarity calculation unit that calculates a similarity between the anomaly information in the report and the anomaly information included in each of the plurality of sets; a selection unit that selects a candidate work plan for dealing with the abnormality indicated in the report based on the similarity calculated by the similarity calculation unit; an evaluation acquisition unit that acquires an evaluation by a worker of the work according to the candidate work plan selected by the selection unit; an update unit that updates the evaluations stored in the database in association with the work plan candidates selected by the selection unit, using the evaluations acquired by the evaluation acquisition unit; A program that makes it work.

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