PRODUCT FIX-EFFECTIVENESS TRACKING AND NOTIFICATION SYSTEM AND METHOD

• US 20100318553A1
• Filed: 06/11/2009
• Published: 12/16/2010
• Est. Priority Date: 06/11/2009
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Honeywell International Inc.
• Original Assignee: Honeywell International Inc.
• Inventors: Lall, Nitesh, Baliga, Sandeep, Subrahmanya, Amarnath, Subramani, Somesh, Subramonian, Prakash, Sethu, Ramji, Pirtle, Randall
• Granted Patent: US 8,266,171 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 707/769
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/06 Resources, workflows, human or project management; Enterprise or organisation planning; Enterprise or organisation modelling

Abstract

Methods and apparatus are provided for tracking the effectiveness of a modification that has been installed into a product in response to an issued modification notice. A product removal database having removal data stored therein that are associated with one or more products is periodically accessed at a user-specified periodicity. One or more user-selected fix-effectiveness algorithms are executed to determine if at least a portion of the periodically accessed removal data matches one or more user-specified keywords that correlate to the modification. If it is determined that at least a portion of the periodically accessed removal data matches the one or more user-specified keywords, then an alert is transmitted to a preset destination.

Claims

1. A method of tracking the effectiveness of a product modification, the method comprising the steps of:

incorporating a modification into a product in response to an issued modification notice;

periodically accessing, at a user-selected periodicity, removal data stored in a product removal database, the removal data associated with the product into which the modification was incorporated;

executing one or more user-selected fix-effectiveness algorithms to determine if at least a portion of the periodically accessed removal data matches one or more user-specified keywords that correlate to the modification; and

transmitting an alert to a preset destination if it is determined that at least a portion of the periodically accessed removal data matches the one or more user-specified keywords.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein:

the step of transmitting an alert comprises generating and transmitting an electronic mail (e-mail) message to the preset destination; and

the preset destination comprises a preset e-mail address.

3. The method of claim 2, further comprising:

generating and transmitting the e-mail message to a plurality of preset e-mail addresses.

4. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

displaying a graphical user interface (GUI) that includes a plurality of user interface fields for receiving input data from a user via a user interface device.

5. A system for tracking product reliability, comprising:

a product removal database having removal data stored therein, the removal data associated with a product; and

a processor in operable communication with the display device and the product removal database, the processor configured to;

periodically access, at a user-selected periodicity, removal data stored in the product removal database, the removal data associated with a product into which the modification was incorporated,

execute one or more user-selected fix-effectiveness algorithms to determine if at least a portion of the periodically accessed removal data matches one or more user-specified keywords that correlate to the modification, and

transmit an alert to a preset destination if it is determined that at least a portion of the periodically accessed removal data matches the one or more user-specified keywords.

6. The system of claim 5, wherein the processor is further configured to automatically generate one or more reports for the product line.

7. The system of claim 5, further comprising:

a display device in operable communication with the processor and responsive to image rendering display commands to render one or more images;

wherein the processor is further configured to supply image rendering display commands to the display device that cause the display device to render images representative of at least portions of the one or more reports.

8. The system of claim 5, wherein:

the preset destination is a preset electronic mail (e-mail) address; and

the processor is further configured to generate and transmit an e-mail message to the preset e-mail address.