METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR WORKFORCE MANAGEMENT

• US 20120078388A1
• Filed: 09/28/2010
• Published: 03/29/2012
• Est. Priority Date: 09/28/2010
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Symbol Technologies, LLC (Zebra Technologies Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Motorola, Inc. (Motorola Solutions, Inc.)
• Inventors: Collins, Timothy J., Buhrke, Eric R., Massey, Noel S.
• Granted Patent: US 10,032,120 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 700/19
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/06 Resources, workflows, human or project management; Enterprise or organisation planning; Enterprise or organisation modelling

Abstract

A communication system for workforce management is formed of a system controller managing a plurality of badges associated with workplace devices and employees within the workplace. The controller receives event indicators from the badges. These event indicators are analyzed by the controller to determine whether a task should be created and performed by at least one of the workplace devices and/or at least one of the employees. Task lists and device assignments are dynamically updated in response to current workplace conditions.

Claims

1. A method for workforce management, comprising

providing a plurality of badges, each badge associated with a workplace device;

communicating with the plurality of badges via a system controller;

detecting, at the system controller, an event occurrence from a first badge of the plurality of badges;

determining, at the controller, whether a task should be created for a first workplace device associated with the first badge based on the detected event occurrence; and

sending a command to the first badge to have the first workplace device execute the task in response to determining that the task should be created.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein detecting an event occurrence comprises at least one of:

receiving an alert at the controller from the first badge;

receiving resource-status report at the controller from the first badge; and

receiving a request for a task at the controller from the first badge.

3. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

disabling the first workplace device associated with the first badge in response to determining that the task should not be created; and

reassigning the task to a second badge associated with a second workplace device in response to determining that the task should be created but not performed by the first workplace device.

4. The method of claim 1, further comprising in response to determining that the task should not be created:

reassigning a user of the first workplace device to a different location.

5. The method of claim 1 further comprising in response to determining that the task should not be created:

adjusting the task to a new task.

6. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

determining whether performing the task by the first workplace device will inhibit achieving predetermined workplace performance goals; and

in response to determining that workplace performance goals will be inhibited, performing at least one of;

reassigning the task to a second badge associated with a second workplace device; and

disabling the first workplace device.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein detecting an event occurrence comprises one or more of:

providing indicator alerts at the first badge;

sending resource status reports from the first badge; and

generating requests for workplace device changes and task changes from the first badge; and

interpreting, at the controller, the indicator alerts, resource status reports, and requests.

8. The method of claim 2, wherein a resource-status report is selected from the group consisting of:

a battery-status an ink-status, temperature status, humidity status, noise status, pollution status, motion status, RF noise, energy usage (gas, coal, wind).

9. The method of claim 2, wherein the resource-status reports are received in response to requesting, by the controller, resource-status reports.

10. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

calculating and storing an estimated resource status for the first badge; and

updating the estimated resource status at the controller based, at least in part, on a resource-status report received from the first badge.

11. The method of claim 10, wherein sending the first command to the first badge is based, at least in part, on the estimated resource status of the first badge.

12. The method of claim 1, wherein determining whether a task should be created is based, at least in part, on workforce management and operations applications within the controller.

13. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

determining, by the system controller, workplace device efficiency and user efficiency; and

assigning and re-assigning tasks based on at least one of the determined workplace device efficiency and user efficiency.

14. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

operating a plurality of non-badge workplace devices within the workplace;

receiving, at the system controller, an event indicator from at least one badge of the plurality of badges; and

conveying the event indicator to at least one of the non-badge workplace devices.

15. The method of claim 14, further comprising:

receiving, at the system controller, an event indicator from at least one non-badge workplace device; and

conveying the event indicator to at least one badge associated with a workplace device.