Work-procedure-information generation device and program

Abstract

According to one aspect of the present invention, operation-log information having recorded therein the history of an operation at a time when a business system is operated in a terminal is converted into information representing operation content that is necessary for executing an operation in the terminal, and information representing an operation procedure according to a business rule, which has been preset corresponding to the business system, is generated on the basis of the converted information representing the operation content and business document information in which the business rule is described. Next, after the information representing the operation procedure has been converted into operation information including a plurality of operations executable in the business system, operation states of the business system at a time when the plurality of operations included in the operation information are executed in the business system are acquired, and information in which the operations and the operation states are associated with each other is generated.

Description

Work Procedure Information Generation Device and Program

[0001] One aspect of this invention relates to a work procedure information generation device and a program that generate work procedures used when, for example, an operator in a company performs input operations or screen operations on data related to work.

[0002] In a company or the like, when an operator's operation deviates from the business rules or when the business document describing the business rules or the like does not correspond to the actual situation of the operation at the operation site, business analysis is necessary.

[0003] As a method for performing business analysis, for example, as described in Non-Patent Document 1, a similarity calculation technique that compares the operation log of the operator to be analyzed with the operation log of a veteran operator and extracts matching or non-matching parts, or, for example, as described in Non-Patent Document 2, a technique for visualizing and analyzing a plurality of operation logs obtained in the daily work of an operator has been proposed. By analyzing the business using these techniques and providing guidance to the operator or revising the business document, business improvement can be expected.

[0004] Ryosuke Uchida, Misa Fukai, Ikuko Takagi, Masashi Sakamoto, Shinji Ogawa, Haruo Oishi, Kimio Tsuchikawa, "Proposal of a Similarity Calculation Method for Operation Logs Focusing on Operation Co-occurrence", Institute of Electronics, Information and Communication Engineers, ICM2023-46, March 14, 2024; Yasutaka Wakase, Fumiaki Yokose, Ryosuke Uchida, Kimio Tsuchikawa, Haruo Oishi, Saya Yagi, Yuki Tobu, "Operation Process Classification Type Business Design Support Technology Contributing to DX Promotion", [online], Internet <URL: https: / / journal.ntt.co.jp / article / 18032>

[0005] However, the business analysis methods described in Non-Patent Documents 1 and 2 are both methods that analyze the business focusing only on the operation logs of the operator. Therefore, they had the following problems.

[0006] In other words, when comparing operation logs, the procedures of experienced operators do not necessarily conform to the established work rules. Therefore, operation logs of experienced operators may not be suitable for comparison. Furthermore, in order to compare operation logs for a specific task, preparatory work is required, such as extracting or selectively recording only the operation logs related to that specific task. As a result, creating operation logs for comparison requires time and effort, leading to extra work.

[0007] Furthermore, business documents outlining operational rules are created to account for a variety of scenarios. Therefore, it's necessary to review all aspects of the work and consider error-free procedures, a process that relies heavily on manual labor and is inherently inefficient.

[0008] This invention was made in view of the above circumstances and aims to provide a technology that enables the efficient generation of work procedure information in accordance with business rules.

[0009] To solve the above problems, one aspect of the work procedure information generation device according to the present invention comprises: a first processing unit that converts operation log information, which records the history of operations when a business system is operated on a terminal, into information representing the content of operations necessary for executing operations on the terminal; a second processing unit that generates information representing an operation procedure in accordance with the business rules, based on the information representing the content of operations and business document information that describes business rules set in advance in accordance with the business system; a third processing unit that converts the information representing the operation procedure into operation information that includes a plurality of operations that can be executed on the business system; and a fourth processing unit that acquires the operating state of the business system when the plurality of operations included in the operation information are executed on the business system, and generates information that associates the operations with the operating state.

[0010] In other words, operation log information is converted into information representing the operation content, and by combining this information representing the operation content with business documents, operation procedures are generated according to the business rules defined in the business documents. These generated operation procedures are then converted into operation information that can be executed in the business system and executed by the business system, thereby generating information that associates each operation in the operation information with the state of the business system.

[0011] Therefore, according to one aspect of this invention, no new work is required due to preparatory work such as extracting or selectively recording operation logs related to specific tasks, and there is no need to review the content of all tasks and consider error-free operations as part of the procedure. As a result, manual work is reduced. Consequently, it becomes possible to generate appropriate work procedure information that conforms to business rules and serves as a reference point without requiring new work or manpower.

[0012] In other words, according to one aspect of this invention, it is possible to provide a technology that enables the efficient generation of work procedure information in accordance with business rules.

[0013] Figure 1 is a diagram showing an example of the overall configuration of a system equipped with a work procedure information generation device according to one embodiment of the present invention. Figure 2 is a block diagram showing an example of the hardware configuration of a work procedure information generation device according to one embodiment of the present invention. Figure 3 is a block diagram showing an example of the software configuration of a work procedure information generation device according to one embodiment of the present invention. Figure 4 is a flowchart showing an example of a series of processing procedures and processing contents executed by the control unit of the work procedure information generation device shown in Figure 3. Figure 5 is a flowchart showing an example of the procedure and processing contents of the operation procedure generation process among the processing procedures shown in Figure 4. Figure 6 is a flowchart showing an example of the procedure and processing contents of the operation procedure conversion process among the processing procedures shown in Figure 4. Figure 7 is a flowchart showing an example of the procedure and processing contents of the state generation process among the processing procedures shown in Figure 4. Figure 8 is a diagram showing an example of an operation log.

[0014] Embodiments of this invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

[0015] [One Embodiment] (Configuration Example) (1) System diagram 1 is a diagram showing an example of the overall configuration of a business analysis system according to one embodiment of the present invention.

[0016] One embodiment of the business analysis system comprises, for example, a business system WS configured by a server computer, terminal devices TM such as personal computers used by operators, a business document management device DBW, an operation log management device DBL, and a work procedure information generation device CS. These business system WS, terminal devices TM, business document management device DBW, operation log management device DBL, and work procedure information generation device CS are interconnected via a network NW, enabling the transmission of information data.

[0017] The business document management device DBW manages business document information that describes business rules or manuals for operators to use the above-mentioned business system WS.

[0018] The operation log management device DBL collects and manages operation logs that record the operation history when an operator operates the business system WS using the terminal device TM. The operation logs include, for example, the operation history when the operator operates input devices such as the mouse and keyboard of the terminal device TM, the operation history when the operator operates the displayed captured image or active window, and the operation history when the operator operates GUI (Graphical User Interface) components on the display screen.

[0019] A network (NW) consists of, for example, a wide-area network such as the Internet, and an access network for accessing this wide-area network. Access networks include wired or wireless LANs (Local Area Networks), optical transmission networks, and mobile communication networks employing 4G or 5G standards. However, the types and configurations of networks are not limited to the examples above.

[0020] (2) Work procedure information generation device CS Figures 2 and 3 are block diagrams showing examples of the hardware configuration and software configuration of the work procedure information generation device CS, respectively.

[0021] The work procedure information generation device CS is provided as one of the functions of a server computer located, for example, on the web or in the cloud.

[0022] The work procedure information generation device CS includes a control unit 1 having a hardware processor, and a storage unit having a program storage unit 2 and a data storage unit 3, and a communication I / F unit 4 are connected to this control unit 1 via a bus 5.

[0023] The communication interface unit 4 transmits and receives information data between the terminal device TM, the business document management device DBW, and the operation log management device DBL, respectively, in accordance with communication protocols such as TCP / IP (Transmission Control Protocol / Internet Protocol) defined in the network NW.

[0024] The program storage unit 2, for example, combines a non-volatile memory that can be written to and read at any time, such as an HDD (Hard Disk Drive) or SSD (Solid State Drive), as a storage medium, with another non-volatile memory such as ROM (Read Only Memory). In addition to middleware such as an OS (Operating System), it stores application programs necessary to execute various processes according to one embodiment of this invention.

[0025] The data storage unit 3 combines, for example, a non-volatile memory such as an HDD or SSD that can be written to and read at any time with a volatile memory such as RAM (Random Access Memory). Its storage area includes an operation log storage unit 31, a business document storage unit 32, and a work procedure information storage unit 33.

[0026] The operation log storage unit 31 is used to store the operation logs of the operators to be analyzed, which are obtained from the operation log management device DBL.

[0027] The business document storage unit 32 is used to store business document information, which contains business rules or manuals for the business system WS, obtained from the business document management device DBW.

[0028] The work procedure information storage unit 33 is used to store information generated by the control unit 1 (described later) that associates an operation with the state of the screen of the business system WS when the operation is performed.

[0029] The control unit 1 includes, as processing functions necessary to realize one embodiment of this invention, an operation log acquisition processing unit 11, an operation log conversion processing unit 12, an operation procedure generation processing unit 13, an operation procedure conversion processing unit 14, a state generation processing unit 15, and a work procedure information output processing unit 16.

[0030] Each of the above-mentioned processing units 11 to 16 is implemented by having the hardware processor of the control unit 1 execute an application program stored in the program storage unit 2. Note that some or all of the above-mentioned processing units 11 to 16 may be implemented using hardware such as LSI (Large Scale Integration) or ASIC (Application Specific Integrated Circuit).

[0031] When a business analysis request is input, the operation log acquisition processing unit 11 receives the operation logs of the operators to be analyzed from the operation log management device DBL via the network NW using the communication I / F unit 4, and stores the received operation logs in the operation log storage unit 31.

[0032] The operation log conversion processing unit 12 converts the operation log stored in the operation log storage unit 31 into information that includes only the details of the operations performed by the terminal device TM on the business system WS.

[0033] The operation procedure generation processing unit 13 generates an operation procedure in accordance with the business rules described in the business document information, based on the business document information stored in the business document storage unit 32 and the information representing the operation content converted by the operation log conversion processing unit 12. An example of this operation procedure generation process will be explained in detail in the operation example.

[0034] The operation procedure conversion processing unit 14 converts the operation procedure generated by the operation procedure generation processing unit 13 into operation information that can be executed on the business system WS. An example of this conversion process into operation information will also be explained in the operation example.

[0035] The state generation processing unit 15 executes each of the multiple operations included in the operation information converted by the operation procedure conversion processing unit 14 in the actual business system WS environment, or in a simulation environment that mimics the environment of this business system. It then acquires information representing the state of the system screen reflecting the execution results, generates information that associates the operations with the state of the system screen, and stores it in the work procedure information storage unit 33.

[0036] The work procedure information output processing unit 16 reads information from the work procedure information storage unit 33 that associates the above operation with the state of the system screen, and transmits the read information from the communication I / F unit 4 to the terminal device TM used by the operator or system administrator.

[0037] (Example of operation) Next, an example of the operation of the work procedure information generation device CS configured as described above will be explained.

[0038] Figure 4 is a flowchart showing an example of the processing steps and processing contents of a series of work procedure information generation processes executed by the control unit 1 of the work procedure information generation device CS.

[0039] In this example, it is assumed that the business document storage unit 32 already stores business document information acquired from the business document management device DBW.

[0040] (1) Acquisition of operation logs For example, when an operator or a system administrator inputs a business analysis request from the terminal device TM, the control unit 1 of the work procedure information generation device CS detects the business analysis request in step S1 and starts the work procedure information generation process as follows.

[0041] That is, the control unit 1 of the work procedure information generation device CS first accesses the operation log management device DBL under the control of the operation log acquisition processing unit 11 in step S2, and acquires an operation log representing the history of each operation performed by the operator to be analyzed on the terminal device TM via the communication I / F unit 4. Then, the operation log acquisition processing unit 11 stores the acquired operation log in the operation log storage unit 31.

[0042] The operation log includes an operation history when operating a browser, an operation history of a mouse and a keyboard, a captured image of the display screen, an operation history for an active window, an operation history for GUI components displayed on the display screen, and the like.

[0043] FIG. 8 shows an example of an operation log recording an operation history on a browser. As shown in this example, the operation log represents information indicating the operation content as a set of a plurality of attribute values (items).

[0044] Specifically, the operation log has the following attribute values set: "operation date and time", "operation type", "application", "URL", "title", "tagName", "id", "name", "left", "top", "width", "height". Among these, "operation date and time" is represented by time information. Also, "operation type", "application", "URL", "title", "tagName", "id", and "name" are all represented by character strings, and "left", "top", "width", and "height" are represented by numerical values. Note that the items representing the attribute values can be arbitrarily increased or decreased according to the type of operation.

[0045] (2) Conversion Process of Operation Log When the above operation log is acquired, the control unit 1 of the work procedure information generation device CS then reads the operation log from the operation log storage unit 31 under the control of the operation log conversion processing unit 12 in step S3. Then, the read operation log is converted into information including only the information necessary for executing the operation on the terminal device TM.

[0046] For example, the operation log conversion processing unit 12 deletes items such as "operation date and time" and "name" from among the plurality of items included in the operation log, and extracts only the items necessary for executing the operation on the terminal device.

[0047] Note that in the above operation log conversion process, the data forms of the operation log and the converted information are not limited. For example, it is not limited to conversion from text to text, and may be converted from text to image, or from image to image. Also, when the operation log is a captured image, a process such as cutting out the periphery of the operated item may be performed.

[0048] Further, the operation log conversion processing unit 12 may convert the extracted information into information representing the operation content on the terminal described in, for example, natural language. When the extracted information is converted into natural language, an improvement in the generation accuracy of the operation procedure by the Large Language Model (LLM) can be expected when the LLM is used in the operation procedure generation process performed in the next step.

[0049] (3) Generation of Operation Procedure According to Business Rules The control unit 1 of the work procedure information generation device CS then executes the process of generating an operation procedure according to the business rules under the control of the operation procedure generation processing unit 13 in step S4 as follows.

[0050] FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing an example of the processing procedure and processing content when the operation procedure generation processing unit 13 performs the operation procedure generation process using the LLM.

[0051] The operation procedure generation processing unit 13 first reads the business document information from the business document storage unit 32 in step S41, and further sets the instruction information for instructing the content of the processing for the LLM in step S42.

[0052] The instruction information is set as a natural language command statement, such as "Please output the operating procedure for XX." The instruction information may be selectively used from those previously stored in the business document storage unit 32. It is also possible to use the output information of the operation log conversion processing unit 12 when creating the instruction information.

[0053] In step S43, the operation procedure generation processing unit 13 generates a prompt consisting of the information converted by the operation log conversion processing unit 12 to the content necessary for executing an operation on the terminal device TM, the business document information, and the instruction information. Then, in step S44, the operation procedure generation processing unit 13 inputs the generated prompt to the LLM and obtains from the LLM information representing the operation procedure generated by the LLM in response to the prompt.

[0054] In addition to using LLM, other methods such as rule-based systems and supervised machine learning models can be used to generate operating procedures.

[0055] (4) Operation Procedure Conversion Work Procedure Information Generation Device CS then in step S5, under the control of the operation procedure conversion processing unit 14, the control unit 1 of the operation procedure is to convert the operation procedure generated by the operation procedure generation processing unit 13 into operation information that can be executed on the business system WS, as follows:

[0056] Figure 6 is a flowchart showing an example of the processing procedure and processing content when the operation procedure conversion processing unit 14 performs operation procedure conversion processing using a rule base.

[0057] The operation procedure conversion processing unit 14 first sets the conversion rule in step S51. For example, in the case of an input operation, it is set as "click on text box" + "press key".

[0058] The operation procedure conversion processing unit 14 then inputs an operation procedure in step S52. For example, it inputs "Yamada Hanako" for "Customer Name". Next, in step S53, the operation procedure conversion processing unit 14 applies the above operation procedure to the conversion rule set in step S51, thereby generating operation information that can be executed on the business system WS.

[0059] In addition to rule-based methods, other methods such as LLM or supervised machine learning models may also be used as means for converting operation procedures.

[0060] (5) The control unit 1 of the system screen state generation procedure information generation device CS then, in step S6, under the control of the state generation processing unit 15, executes the following process to generate the state of the system screen in the business system WS based on the operation information converted by the operation procedure conversion processing unit 14.

[0061] Figure 7 is a flowchart showing an example of the processing procedure and processing content of the state generation process executed by the state generation processing unit 15.

[0062] In other words, the state generation processing unit 15 first selects one operation from the operation information output from the operation procedure conversion processing unit 14 in step S61. The state generation processing unit 15 then executes the selected operation in the actual business system WS environment or in a simulation environment that mimics the business system WS environment in step S62. Then, in step S63, the state generation processing unit 15 obtains the state of the system screen as a result of the above execution, and associates the obtained state of the system screen with the operation in step S64.

[0063] Once the execution of one of the above operations is complete, the state generation processing unit 15 determines in step S65 whether or not all operations included in the operation information have been selected. If, as a result of this determination, there are still operations that have not been selected, the state generation processing unit 15 returns to step S61 to select the next unselected operation and executes the system screen state acquisition process in steps S62 to S64. Thereafter, the system screen state acquisition process is repeatedly executed for each operation included in the operation information in the same manner.

[0064] Then, once the process of acquiring the system screen state for all operations is complete, the state generation processing unit 15 stores in the work procedure information storage unit 33 information that associates the system screen state with each operation in the operation information in step S66.

[0065] (6) Output of work procedure information The control unit 1 of the work procedure information generation device CS reads information from the work procedure information storage unit 33 in step S7, under the control of the work procedure information output processing unit 16, which associates the state of the system screen with each operation of the operation information. The work procedure information output processing unit 16 then transmits the read information from the communication I / F unit 4 to a terminal device TM used by, for example, the requesting operator or system administrator.

[0066] The operator or system administrator can use the above-mentioned terminal device™ to detect correspondences between each operation and the system screen state in real time during the operator's operation by, for example, comparing the system screen state. This makes it possible to determine in real time whether the work content conforms to the work rules shown in the manual, i.e., to identify discrepancies, and to make improvements such as converting the relevant pages of the manual into a format that can be compared to the operation.

[0067] Furthermore, for example, the associated operations and states can be interpreted as "operations that should be performed on a given state (system screen)," and this information can be used to create automated operation scenarios for RPA, or as training data for machine learning.

[0068] (7) Processing completion determination work procedure information generation device CS repeatedly executes a series of processes in steps S2 to S7 based on the operation logs of each operator designated as the target of analysis. When processing for the operation logs of all operators to be analyzed is completed and this is detected in step S8, it returns to the standby state.

[0069] (Effects) As described above, in the work procedure information generation device CS according to one embodiment, the operator's operation log is converted into operation information that includes only the information necessary to execute terminal operations, and a prompt consisting of the converted operation information, pre-stored business document information, and instruction information is generated and input to the LLM to generate information representing an operation procedure in accordance with business rules. Then, after converting the generated operation procedure into operation information that can be executed on the business system WS, each operation included in this operation information is executed on the system environment, the state of the system screen corresponding to each operation is acquired, and information is generated and output that associates the acquired state of each system screen with the corresponding operation.

[0070] In other words, the operation log is converted into information representing the operation content, and by combining this information representing the operation content with business document information, an operation procedure is generated that follows the business rules defined in the business document information. This generated operation procedure is then converted into operation information that can be executed in the business system and executed by the business system WS, thereby generating information representing the work procedure associated with the business system WS.

[0071] Therefore, it becomes possible to generate appropriate, business-rule-compliant work procedure information without requiring additional work such as preparatory tasks like extracting or selectively recording operation logs related to specific tasks, and without requiring manual work such as reviewing the contents of business documents and considering the operation procedures.

[0072] [Other Embodiments] (1) In one embodiment, the function of the work procedure information generation device CS was described as being provided on a server computer located on the Web or the cloud. However, it is not limited to this, and the processing function of the work procedure information generation device CS may be provided on a terminal device TM such as a personal computer used by an operator or system administrator. Alternatively, the function of the work procedure information generation device CS may be distributed across multiple information processing devices such as server computers and personal computers.

[0073] (2) In one embodiment, the case in which the operation log is obtained from an operation log management device DBL that centrally manages the operation logs of multiple terminal devices was described as an example. However, if the terminal device TM has a function to manage operation logs, the operation log may be obtained directly from the terminal device TM.

[0074] (3) In one embodiment, the case in which information relating the operating state of the business system WS when each operation included in the operation information is executed on the business system WS is transmitted to the terminal device TM was described as an example. However, the information relating the operating state of the business system WS and the operations does not necessarily need to be transmitted to an external device, and may be stored in the work procedure information storage unit 33 and read out and used as needed. Furthermore, the use of this information is also arbitrary.

[0075] (4) In addition, the means for realizing each processing function of the work procedure information generation device CS, its processing procedures and content, the types and content of work, the types of operations, etc., can be modified in various ways without departing from the spirit of this invention.

[0076] Although embodiments of this invention have been described in detail above, the above description is merely illustrative in all respects. It goes without saying that various improvements and modifications can be made without departing from the scope of this invention. In other words, when implementing this invention, specific configurations may be adopted as appropriate depending on the embodiment.

[0077] In short, this invention is not limited to the embodiments described above, and in the implementation stage, the components can be modified and materialized without departing from the gist of the invention. Furthermore, various inventions can be formed by appropriately combining the multiple components disclosed in the embodiments. For example, some components may be deleted from all the components shown in the embodiments. Moreover, components from different embodiments may be appropriately combined.

[0078] CS: Work procedure information generation device WS: Business system TM: Terminal device DBW: Business document management device DBL: Operation log management device NW: Network 1: Control unit 2: Program storage unit 3: Data storage unit 4: Communication I / F unit 5: Bus 11: Operation log acquisition processing unit 12: Operation log conversion processing unit 13: Operation procedure generation processing unit 14: Operation procedure conversion processing unit 15: State generation processing unit 16: Work procedure information output processing unit 31: Operation log storage unit 32: Business document storage unit 33: Work procedure information storage unit

Claims

1. A work procedure information generation device comprising: a first processing unit that converts operation log information, which records the history of operations when a business system is operated on a terminal, into information representing the operation content necessary for executing an operation on the terminal; a second processing unit that generates information representing an operation procedure in accordance with the business rules, based on the information representing the operation content and business document information that describes business rules set in advance in accordance with the business system; a third processing unit that converts the information representing the operation procedure into operation information that includes a plurality of operations that can be executed on the business system; and a fourth processing unit that acquires the operating state of the business system when the plurality of operations included in the operation information are executed on the business system, and generates information that associates the operations with the operating states.

2. The work procedure information generation device according to claim 1, wherein the first processing unit extracts information representing the operation content necessary for executing the operation on the terminal from the operation log information, converts the extracted information representing the operation content into information expressed in natural language, and the second processing unit generates a prompt including the information representing the operation content converted into natural language, the business document information, and information instructing the processing content, and generates information representing the operation procedure in accordance with the business rules by inputting the generated prompt into a large-scale language model.

3. The work procedure information generation device according to claim 1, wherein the third processing unit sets rule-based conversion rules to correspond to the business system and generates the operation information by applying the information representing the operation procedure to the conversion rules.

4. A program that causes a processor in a work procedure information generating device to execute at least one of the processes performed by the first to fourth processing units in a work procedure information generating device according to any one of claims 1 to 3.

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