Enterprise Workflow Management System with Guided Procedures
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional business systems hinder productivity due to difficulties in accessing necessary information and tools, and inefficient collaboration among team members, especially when multiple participants need to complete tasks that involve multiple tools and information sources.
Innovation Solution
A system that provides a user interface for displaying work items linked with guided procedures, allowing users to trigger predefined or customizable procedures based on metadata, enabling mandatory or optional selection of procedures and facilitating communication across functional applications.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If conventional business systems are used, then information and tools are stored in documents or in the head of users, but users find it difficult to access necessary information and tools to perform tasks
Solution Approach 1:
The system segments work items and associated procedures into discrete, manageable units. Each work item is broken down into specific tasks with defined procedures, making information and tools more accessible and easier to manage individually rather than as undifferentiated content.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces a procedural workflow system as an intermediary between users and information/tools. This mediator organizes and structures the access to documents, tools, and knowledge, transforming chaotic information retrieval into a guided, procedure-driven process that improves both ease of operation and productivity.
2Adaptability or versatility
If multiple participants need to complete tasks involving multiple tools and information sources, then collaboration is required, but conventional systems have only one owner for each tool and process
Solution Approach 1:
The workflow system serves multiple functions simultaneously: it manages tasks, coordinates collaborators, tracks progress, and integrates various tools and information sources. This universal system replaces multiple separate mechanisms, enabling collaborative work across different participants and tools without proportionally increasing complexity.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent merges task management, collaboration coordination, and tool integration into a single unified workflow system. By combining these previously separate functions into one coherent structure, the system enables multi-participant collaboration while actually reducing overall system complexity rather than increasing it.
3Reliability
If tasks need to be completed in a specific sequence and/or combination, then procedure coordination is needed, but tracking completion of collaborative activities is difficult
Solution Approach 1:
The system implements continuous feedback mechanisms that automatically track and report the completion status of tasks and procedures. This feedback loop provides real-time information about workflow progress, eliminating the need for manual tracking and ensuring reliable procedure coordination without consuming additional time.
Solution Approach 2:
The workflow procedures are pre-defined and structured in advance with clear sequences and dependencies. By establishing the correct order of operations beforehand, the system ensures reliable procedure coordination and automatic tracking, eliminating the need for time-consuming manual monitoring during execution.
Data Source
AI summary
Systems and techniques to manage work related procedures. In general, in one implementation, the techniques include providing a user-interface with a user-selectable list of work-items, each work-item having metadata describing a predefined user-selectable list of guided procedures associated with the work-item, receiving a response that includes a selected work-item and selected guided procedures, and triggering the selected guided procedures associated with the selected work-item.