Business processing system employing a notice board business system database and method of processing the same

• US 6,275,809 B1
• Filed: 05/14/1997
• Issued: 08/14/2001
• Est. Priority Date: 05/15/1996
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Hitachi, Ltd.
• Original Assignee: Hitachi, Ltd.
• Inventors: Ogawa, Makoto, Takamatsu, Eiji, Tsusaka, Yuji, Tamaki, Masato, Nagayama, Akiko, Hosoda, Naofumi
• Primary Examiner(s): Millin, Vincent
• Assistant Examiner(s): KANOF, PEDRO R
• Application Number:
  US08/856,280
• Time in Patent Office: 1,553 Days
• Field of Search: 235/379, 395/700, 395/120, 395/704, 395/200, 364/401, 364/464, 364/492, 120/653.1, 340/739, 358/296, 358/403, 371/20, 705/7, 705/8, 705/9
• US Class Current: 705/7.13
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/06311 Scheduling, planning or task assignment for a person or group
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/06316 Sequencing of tasks or work
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/10 Office automation; Time management

Abstract

A notice board business system database stores therein collectively the contents of all the data heads relating to a series of business processes, and is held in common in the form of a notice board through clients by all the related persons in charge of the tasks. A status change rule sets the data head in which the data input should be completed with respect to each of the task processes. A status watcher refers to both the notice board business system database and the status change rule to make the task process change from the current task process to the next task process when the predetermined data input has been completed in the process in task so as to inform the related client of that the status change has occurred. In addition, the status watcher refers to a status change limit rule for setting the data input completion due date for each of the task processes so as to inform, when the processing due date is drawing near, the related client of that the processing due date is drawing near.

Claims

1. A business processing method, said method comprising the steps of:

storing in a first memory, a database which holds, through a work flow of a business processing including a sequence of a plurality of task processes, a plurality of data items which are inputted in the course of the business processing through terminal units by persons in charge of said plurality of task processes, said database being a notice board type database open to the persons in charge of said plurality of task processes;

storing in a second memory a status change rule which defines input conditions of said plurality of data items necessary for each of said plurality of task processes to be allowed to change to another task process;

accessing said first memory and said second memory by an information processor;

receiving, in said information processor, a data input request for inputting a data item from a terminal unit to said database;

updating, by said information processor, in response to said data input request, the corresponding data item in said database; and

judging, by said information processor, on the basis of said input conditions of said data items in said status change rule, whether or not a change of a current task process to another task process is possible.

3. A business processing method according to claim 1, wherein said notice board business system database further holds an identifier of the currently executed task process, and said updating step includes the step of updating the identifier from the identifier of the currently executed task process to an identifier of the task process which can be newly carried out.

4. A business processing method according to claim 1, wherein said status change rule includes information indicating whether or not said plurality of data items are said data items by which the data input is to be completed, with respect to the said plurality of task processes, and said judging step judges that when the operation of inputting the data has been completed with respect to all of said data items which are set for the currently executed task process, the task process can change from the currently executed task process to the next task process.

5. A business processing method according to claim 4, wherein said status change rule includes degree information indicating whether the degree of the data which is inputted with respect to each of said plurality of task processes is decided or undecided, and said judging step is corresponds to the degree information on the basis of the input request, and judges, when all of said data items are decided in which it is shown that the data input should be completed, that the task process can change from the currently executed task process to the next task process.

6. A business processing method according to claim 1, wherein a third memory for storing therein a limit rule for setting the due data, when the data input should be completed, with respect to each of the task processes having the respective processing limits is further provided, said third memory being accessed by said information processor, and

wherein said data input request receiving step includes the sub-steps of:

judging whether or not the current form has passed the processing limit which is set for the currently executed task process, and

informing, when it is judged that the current term has passed the processing limit, the terminal unit of that the data cannot be inputted and then prohibiting the data input through the terminal unit.

7. A business processing method according to claim 6, further comprising the steps of:

judging, on the basis of said limit rule, whether or not the current term has reached a predetermined term before the processing limit which is set with respect to the currently executed task process; and

informing, when it is judged that the current term has reached the predetermined term, the terminal unit of the person in charge of the currently executed task process of that the due date is drawing near.

8. A business processing method according to claim 4, wherein said updating step comprises the steps of:

judging whether or not the person in charge of the task process who has requested the input on the basis of the input request is the person in charge of the task process subsequent to the currently executed task process; and

setting, when it is judged that the person in charge of the task process who has requested the input is the person in charge of the subsequent task process, an advanced input flag, indicating that the data has been input in advance, in correspondence to the data item in said notice head business system database which is to be updated on the basis of the input request.

9. A business processing method according to claim 8, wherein said updating step further comprises the steps of:

judging, when it is judged in said judging step that the person in charge of the task process who has requested the input is not the person in charge of the subsequent task process, whether or not the modification is carried out with respect to the undecided inputted data in which the advanced input flag is set in the data item in said notice board business system database; and

informing, when it is judged that the modification is carried out with respect to the data inputted in advance, the terminal unit of the person in charge of the subsequent task process of the data modification.

10. A business processing method according to claim 1, wherein said notice board business system database has degree information indicating whether the degree of the inputted data is decided or undecided and said judging step judges, when all the data items for which the data input should be completed by said status change rule has become decided, that the task process can change from the currently executed task process to the next task process.

11. A business processing method according to claim 10, wherein said notice board business system database has a received notice flag indicating the terminal unit of which person in charge of the task process the data set every data items is received from, and

wherein said business processing method further comprises the steps of:

judging whether or not there is the data item to which said received notice flag is set, the data item being represented as being undecided by the degree information; and

transferring, when there is the corresponding data item, in response to the notice board business system database transfer request issued from the terminal unit, information reporting that the received notice is carried out for the data of the corresponding data head as well as the data in said notice board business system database which has been requested.

12. A business processing method according to claim 10, wherein said notice board business system database has a conference flag for indicating whether or not the conference is required for deciding the data, which is set, and also has a decision flag for indicating whether or not there is carried out the decision making for the data, which is set, every person in charge of the task process who participates in the conference, as the degree information of the data head in which it is shown by the conference flag that the conference is required, and

wherein said judging step includes the step of judging whether or not all the decision flags indicate that the decision making has been made by the persons in charge of the task processes, with respect to the data items in which it is shown by the conference flag that the conference is required, and in which it is shown by said status change rule that the data input should be completed, and the step of judging, when all the decision flags indicate that the decision making has been made by the persons in charge of the processes, that the data which is set to the data head of interest is decided.

13. A business processing method according to claim 1, wherein said notice board business system database includes degree information for indicating whether or not the data which is set is decided, and said status change rule includes, every data item of said notice board business system database, in correspondence to each of the task processes of the business processing, status change value information for indicating whether or not the data item needs to be decided in order to execute the processing of the task process of interest, and

wherein said judging step includes the step of referring to the decided information to search said status change value in order to judge the task process in which the processing can be executed.

14. A business processing method according to claim 13, wherein the status change rule information corresponding to the data items in which a plurality of data is set in said notice board business system database includes information for representing whether all the set data needs to be decided or if only a part of the data has to be decided.

25. A business processing method according to claim 1, further comprising the step of informing, when said information processor judges as a result of the judgement that a change of the current task process is possible, a terminal unit of a person in charge of said another task process of that a current task process has changed to said another task process.

2. A business processing system for executing a business processing including a sequence of a plurality of task processes, comprising:

a plurality of clients which are in charge of said plurality of task processes, respectively;

a database for holding therein notice board data including a plurality of data items which are inputted/updated by said clients through a work flow of said business processing;

a server to which said database is connected and which fetches, in response to a request from a client, data belonging to notice board data corresponding to the request from said database to send the data thus fetched to the client and to control an input/update of data to/in data items included in the corresponding notice board data; and

a status change rule accessed by said server to identify the currently executed task process of said plurality of task processes.

15. A business processing system according to claim 2, wherein said notice board business system database includes degree information indicating whether or not the set data is decided with respect to each of said plurality of data items.

16. A business processing system according to claim 15, wherein said notice board business system database includes a conference flag indicating whether or not a conference by a plurality of persons in charge of the task processes is required in order to decide the set data with respect to each of said plurality of data items.

17. A business processing system according to claim 16, wherein in said notice board business system database, the degree information corresponding to the data item which indicates the conference is required by the conference flag includes decision information indicating whether or not there is shown the decision making for the data, which is set in the data item, every person in charge of the task process who participates in the decision of the corresponding data item.

18. A business processing system according to claim 15, wherein said notice board business system database includes an advanced input flag indicating whether or not the data is set in the corresponding data item by the person in charge of the task process after completion of the currently executed task process, with respect to each of the plurality of data items.

19. A business processing system according to claim 2, wherein said status change rule includes the status change rule information indicating, in every data item of the notice board data, the status which the data item should fulfill, in correspondence to the task processes included in the business processing.

20. A business processing system according to claim 19, wherein the status change rule information indicating whether or not in order for the task process to change from the current task process to the next task process, the data which is set in said data items corresponding thereto should be decided.

21. A business processing system according to claim 20, wherein said server judges, on the basis of said status change rule, whether or not the data which is set in said data items of said notice board business system database can change to the next task process, and informs, when it is judged that the data can change to the next task process, the client of the next task process of that a change in the task process occurs.

22. A business processing system according to claim 19, wherein said status change rule information indicates whether or not the data which is set in the database needs to be decided in order to carry out the business processing of the corresponding task process.

23. A business processing system according to claim 22, wherein said status change rule information indicates whether, when there is a plurality of data which is set in the corresponding data item, all the data needs to be decided or if only a part of the data has to be decided.

24. A business processing system according to claim 22, wherein said server judges, on the basis of said status change rule, the status of the task process of the business processing which is carried out by the notice board data, and informs the client of the task process in which the task becomes newly possible of that the change occurs in the task process.