Enterprise production management of a print shop
First Claim
1. In a multistage process where work items are moved through a sequence of work areas, a computer controlled system including software means for displaying on a console associated with said computer a visual presentation of the real time progress of said work items in said areas, said means including:
- means for receiving and storing a profile of the resources that can be employed in each of said work areas;
means for consulting said profile to determine the availability of said resources to perform an item of work;
means for scheduling said work items for said resources determined to be available;
means controlled by said scheduling means for assigning said work items to queues for said resources; and
means for displaying the status of said queues at said console.
1 Assignment
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Accused Products
Abstract
A system for managing a multistage production enterprise, that includes one or more print-for-pay or franchised print centers, provides an interface display designed to accommodate managers who may be unfamiliar with the use of computers. The top half of the display contains “radio” buttons accompanied by icons that identify principal work areas subject to control, while the bottom half provides a status summary of the principal operations including the completion status of work, whether or not the work is proceeding on schedule and projected future work load. The selection of an icon brings up a further display, again divided in two, the upper half containing an array of addressable icons that address more detailed aspects of the selected operation and the bottom half providing more detailed status information and control. To keep the user aware of which operations are being addressed, each ensuing display repeats the originally selected icon in its upper right-hand corner as a trail-marker.
25 Citations
31 Claims
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1. In a multistage process where work items are moved through a sequence of work areas, a computer controlled system including software means for displaying on a console associated with said computer a visual presentation of the real time progress of said work items in said areas, said means including:
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means for receiving and storing a profile of the resources that can be employed in each of said work areas;
means for consulting said profile to determine the availability of said resources to perform an item of work;
means for scheduling said work items for said resources determined to be available;
means controlled by said scheduling means for assigning said work items to queues for said resources; and
means for displaying the status of said queues at said console. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11)
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12. A system for managing a multistage production enterprise where work items are moved through a sequence of work areas, a computer-controlled system comprising:
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an interface having a screen displaying a plurality of workbench icons identifying principal resources for controlling said stages of work;
said screen including a status board showing in summary fashion whether each item of work is proceeding on schedule, said status board being displayed in a portion of said screen separate from, but simultaneously with, said display of said workbench icons. - View Dependent Claims (13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18)
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19. A computer-controlled printing facility having a plurality of on-premises resources including printers and design stations for processing jobs, comprising:
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a console display having a plurality of icons representing each of said plurality of said resources;
a profile register for storing the detailed attributes of each of said resources;
means for receiving jobs to be processed by said resources according to a schedule;
a queue for storing said jobs until said resources are ready to process said jobs; and
means responsive to said jobs receiving means for consulting said profile register to assign said jobs to appropriate ones of said queues. - View Dependent Claims (20, 21, 22, 23, 24)
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25. In a multistage process where work items are moved through a sequence of production areas, the improvement comprising:
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a computer control system including software means for displaying on a monitor associated with said computer a visual presentation of the real time progress of said work items in said areas, said system being programmed to;
check the status of each of said production areas periodically, determine the instantaneous progress of each of said work items in said production areas, and move a visual representation of one of said work items a distance corresponding to said instantaneous progress. - View Dependent Claims (26, 27, 28)
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29. A multistage process where work items are moved through a sequence of production queues, the improvement comprising:
a computer control system including software means for displaying on a monitor associated with said computer a visual presentation of the real time progress of said work items in said queues, said system having;
a profile register for storing the detailed attributes of resources at each of said production queues;
means for receiving jobs to be processed by said resources according to a schedule; and
means responsive to said jobs receiving means for consulting said profile register to assign said jobs to appropriate ones of said production queues. - View Dependent Claims (30, 31)
Specification