Enterprise scheduling system for scheduling mobile service representatives

• US 7,603,285 B2
• Filed: 04/02/2001
• Issued: 10/13/2009
• Est. Priority Date: 03/31/2000
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Hitachi Energy Switzerland AG (Hitachi, Ltd.)
• Original Assignee: Ventyx Software SRL
• Inventors: Krezeski, Derek, Druce, Guy, Jacobs, Simon
• Primary Examiner(s): DeCady; Albert
• Assistant Examiner(s): ROBERTSON, DAVID
• Application Number:
  US09/824,852
• Publication Number:
  US 20010037229A1
• Time in Patent Office: 3,116 Days
• Field of Search: 705/8, 705/9
• US Class Current: 705/7.14
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/02 Reservations, e.g. for tickets, services or events
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/04 Forecasting or optimisation specially adapted for administrative or management purposes, e.g. linear programming or "cutting stock problem" market predictions or forecasting for commercial activities G06Q30/0202
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/047 Optimisation of routes or paths, e.g. travelling salesman problem
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/06 Resources, workflows, human or project management; Enterprise or organisation planning; Enterprise or organisation modelling
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/0631 Resource planning, allocation, distributing or scheduling for enterprises or organisations
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/063112 Skill-based matching of a person or a group to a task
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/063114 Status monitoring or status determination for a person or group
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/063116 Schedule adjustment for a person or group
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/06314 Calendaring for a resource
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/06315 Needs-based resource requirements planning or analysis
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/06316 Sequencing of tasks or work
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/08 Logistics, e.g. warehousing, loading or distribution; Inventory or stock management
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/10 Office automation; Time management
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/109 Time management, e.g. calendars, reminders, meetings or time accounting
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/1095 Meeting or appointment
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/1097 Task assignment
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/60 Scheduling or organising the servicing of application requests, e.g. requests for application data transmissions using the analysis and optimisation of the required network resources admission control or resource allocation H04L47/70
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 69/329 in the application layer [OSI layer 7]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 9/40 Network security protocols
• CPC Class Codes: Y02P 90/80 Management or planning

Abstract

Systems and methods for providing an enhanced scheduling process are discussed. One embodiment of the present invention includes a method for scheduling mobile service representatives. The method includes negotiating an appointment window for booking a reservation, assigning the reservation to a shift of a mobile service representative, and optimizing periodically the shift of the mobile service representative while the acts of negotiating and assigning are executing.

Claims

1. A computer readable medium having computer-executable instructions stored thereon for causing a computer to perform a method for scheduling by performing steps comprising:

negotiating a reservation to perform an order for a customer against a schedule;

adding the reservation, wherein adding the reservation includes identifying a duration, a priority, a location, an appointment window, a mobile service representative, a bumping indicator, and an aggregation indicator for the reservation, the aggregation indicator having a first setting to enable aggregation of the reservation and having a second setting to disable aggregation of the reservation;

identifying shifts of mobile service representatives that are suitable for the reservation;

sorting the identified shifts from a more desirable shift to a less desirable shift according to objective criteria associated with the reservation;

booking the order to one of the shifts of mobile service representatives starting with the more desirable shift and in descending order to the less desirable shift according to the objective criteria;

in response to the bumping indicator indicative of enabled bumping of the reservation, bumping reservations of a shift in accordance with a bumping matrix to make room in the shift for the reservation, the bumping matrix having indicators of automatic bumping and on request bumping for the reservations enabled for bumping;

in response to the aggregation indicator having the first setting to enable aggregation of the reservation, aggregating reservations in accordance with an aggregation parameter set to group reservations together the aggregation parameter set defining information of reservations to be compared during aggregation, the aggregated reservations having a same value for the information defined by the aggregation parameter set, and in response to the aggregation indicator having the second setting to disable aggregation of the reservation, not aggregating reservations having the same value for the information defined by the aggregation parameter set; and

periodically optimizing the shifts of the mobile service representative according to the order of desirability of the identified shifts, the objective criteria, the aggregation parameter set, and the bumping matrix.

2. The computer readable medium having computer-executable instructions stored thereon of claim 1, further comprising computer-executable instructions for causing a computer to perform configuring a constraint set, wherein the act of configuring allows a user to modify the constraint set so as to control the way in which orders are assigned to a mobile service representative.

3. The computer readable medium having computer-executable instructions stored thereon of claim 1, wherein negotiating includes using a window over the schedule, wherein the window defines a set of shifts in the schedule that can be booked by the act of booking.

4. The computer readable medium having computer-executable instructions stored thereon of claim 1, wherein negotiating includes negotiating an appointment window for the order so as to allow the mobile service representative to begin the performance of the order within the time frame of the appointment window.

5. The computer readable medium having computer-executable instructions stored thereon of claim 1, further comprising bumping an order, which has a lower priority, for another order, which has a higher priority.

6. The computer readable medium having computer-executable instructions stored thereon of claim 1, further comprising computer-executable instructions for causing a computer to perform escalating the priority of an order over time when the order has not been performed by the mobile service representative.

7. The computer readable medium having computer-executable instructions stored thereon claim 1, further comprising computer-executable instructions for causing a computer to perform splitting an order to a set of orders when the performance of the order requires a number of days to perform the order.

8. The computer readable medium having computer-executable instructions stored thereon of claim 1, wherein optimizing includes optimizing a single shift of a mobile service representative so as to shorten travel time between orders booked in the single shift.

9. The computer readable medium having computer-executable instructions stored thereon of claim 1, wherein optimizing includes optimizing at least one pair of shifts, wherein optimizing is selected from a group consisting of swapping orders between the at least one pair of shifts and reassigning orders between the at least one pair of shifts.

10. The computer readable medium having computer-executable instructions stored thereon of claim 1, wherein booking includes booking the order to a shift of the mobile service representative if the mobile service representative has the set of skills and the set of equipment according to the objective criteria.

11. A scheduling system for a dispatching environment having a processor and memory, the processor having a scheduling engine for scheduling mobile service representative, the scheduling engine comprising:

a negotiator operable to negotiate an appointment window to perform an order, the order defined by a data structure that includes at least one of an appointment window, a duration, a priority, a location, and a set of skills required to carry out the order, and further includes at least one of a bumping indicator and an aggregation indicator, the aggregation indicator having a first setting to enable aggregation of the reservation and having a second setting to disable aggregation of the reservation, the data structure residing on a computer media;

an assignment filter configured to identify shifts that are suitable for the reservation and further configured to sort the identified shifts from a more desirable shift to a less desirable shift according to objective criteria associated with the reservation;

an assigner operable to assign the order to a shift of a mobile service representative starting with the more desirable shift and in descending order to the less desirable shift according to the objective criteria;

a bumping component operable to bump reservations of a shift in accordance with a bumping matrix in response to the bumping indicator indicative of enabled bumping of the reservation to make room in the shift for the reservation, the bumping matrix having indicators of automatic bumping and on request bumping for the reservations enabled for bumping;

an aggregator component operable to aggregate reservations having enabled aggregation indicators in accordance with an aggregation parameter set to group reservations together, the aggregation parameter set defining information of reservations to be compared during aggregation, the aggregated reservations having a same value for the information defined by the aggregation parameter set; and

an optimizer operable to optimize dynamically the shifts of the mobile service representative according to the order of desirability of the identified shifts, the objective criteria, the aggregation parameter set, and the bumping matrix.

12. The scheduling system of claim 11, wherein the order is defined by a data structure that includes an appointment window, a duration, a priority, a location, and a set of skills required to carry out the order.

13. The scheduling system of claim 11, wherein the mobile service representative is defined by a data structure that includes a set of skills that the mobile service representative possesses and the equipment that the mobile service representative possesses.

14. The scheduling system of claim 11, wherein the shift is defined by a data structure that includes a shift start date and start time, a shift end date and end time, a set of break start dates and start time, a set of break end dates and end times, and a starting location and an ending location.

15. The scheduling system of claim 11, wherein the assigner accounts for the travel time of the mobile service representative and the break time of the mobile service representative in assigning the order to the shift of the mobile service representative.

16. The scheduling system of claim 11, wherein the appointment window includes an identifier, a start time, and an end time, and wherein the appointment window is visible to the negotiator.

17. The scheduling system of claim 11, wherein the order includes a predetermined level of priority, wherein the predetermined level of priority of the order determines whether the order will be bumped by another order having a higher level of priority.

18. The scheduling system of claim 11, further comprising a travel time component that calculates the travel time between the start of a shift to the first order assigned to the shift and the travel time between two orders, and the travel time between the last order assigned to the shift and the end of the shift.

19. The scheduling system of claim 11, wherein the optimizer includes an optimizing filter, wherein the optimizing filter finds a shift into which a reservation fits, for satisfying the optimization objectives.

20. The scheduling system of claim 11, wherein the optimizer includes an optimization objective component having a set of optimization objectives, wherein the optimization objective component determines the degree to which the set of optimization objectives are satisfied by optimizing a shift or a pair of shifts.

21. A computer readable medium having computer-executable instructions stored thereon for causing a computer to perform a method for scheduling mobile service representatives by performing steps comprising:

negotiating an appointment window for booking a reservation;

adding a reservation, wherein adding a reservation includes identifying a duration, a priority, a location, an appointment window, a mobile service representative, a bumping indicator, and an aggregation indicator, the aggregation indicator having a first setting to enable aggregation of the reservation and having a second setting to disable aggregation of the reservation;

identifying shifts of mobile service representative that are suitable for the reservation;

sorting the identified shifts from a more desirable to a less desirable shift based on objective criteria associated with the reservation;

assigning the reservation to a shift of a mobile service representative starting with the more desirable shift and in descending order to the less desirable shift according to the objective criteria;

in response to the bumping indicator indicative of enabled bumping of the reservation, bumping reservations of a shift in accordance with a bumping matrix to make room in the shift for the reservation, the bumping matrix having indicators of automatic bumping and on request bumping for the reservations enabled for bumping;

in response to the aggregation indicator having the first setting to enable aggregation of the reservation, aggregating reservations in accordance with an aggregation parameter set to group reservations together, the aggregation parameter set defining information of reservations to be compared during aggregation, the aggregated reservations having a same value for the information defined by the aggregation parameter set, and in response to the second setting to disable aggregation of the reservation, not aggregating reservations having the same value for the information defined by the aggregation parameter set; and

periodically optimizing the shifts of the mobile service representative according to the order of desirability of the identified shifts, the objective criteria, the aggregation parameter set, and the bumping matrix.

22. The computer readable medium having computer-executable instructions stored thereon of claim 21, further comprising computer-executable instructions for causing a computer to perform adding a mobile service representative, wherein adding the mobile service representative includes identifying a working area of the mobile service representative, a set of skills of the mobile service representative, and a set of equipment types that is possessed by the mobile service representative.

23. The computer readable medium having computer-executable instructions stored thereon of claim 21, further comprising computer-executable instructions for causing a computer to perform adding a shift, wherein adding a shift includes identifying a mobile service representative to be associated with the shift, a start time, an end time, and a set of breaks.

24. The computer readable medium having computer-executable instructions stored thereon of claim 21, further comprising computer-executable instructions for causing a computer to perform finding a list of appointment windows for the act of negotiating.

25. The computer readable medium having computer-executable instructions stored thereon of claim 21, further comprising computer-executable instructions for causing a computer to perform assigning forcibly a reservation when the act of assigning the reservation has failed.

26. The computer readable medium having computer-executable instructions stored thereon of claim 21, further comprising computer-executable instructions for causing a computer to perform removing an assignment of a reservation.

27. The computer readable medium having computer-executable instructions stored thereon of claim 21, further comprising computer-executable instructions for causing a computer to perform canceling a reservation.

28. The computer readable medium having computer-executable instructions stored thereon of claim 21, further comprising computer-executable instructions for causing a computer to inhibit bumping of the reservation during optimization.

29. The computer readable medium having computer-executable instructions stored thereon of claim 21, further comprising computer-executable instructions for causing a computer to perform reassigning a reservation.

30. The computer readable medium having computer-executable instructions stored thereon of claim 21, further comprising computer-executable instructions for causing a computer to perform reassigning forcibly a reservation.

31. The computer readable medium having computer-executable instructions stored thereon of claim 21, further comprising computer-executable instructions for causing a computer to perform reassigning a bumped or a yanked reservation.

32. The computer readable medium having computer-executable instructions stored thereon of claim 21, further comprising computer-executable instructions for causing a computer to perform setting at least one property from a set of properties of a reservation.

33. The computer readable medium having computer-executable instructions stored thereon of claim 21, further comprising computer-executable instructions for causing a computer to perform modifying the shift of a mobile service representative.

34. The computer readable medium having computer-executable instructions stored thereon of claim 21, further comprising computer-executable instructions for causing a computer to perform deleting a mobile service representative.

35. The computer readable medium having computer-executable instructions stored thereon of claim 21, further comprising computer-executable instructions for causing a computer to perform modifying a shift.

36. The computer readable medium having computer-executable instructions stored thereon of claim 21, further comprising computer-executable instructions for causing a computer to perform modifying forcibly a shift.

37. The computer readable medium having computer-executable instructions stored thereon of claim 21, further comprising computer-executable instructions for causing a computer to perform deleting a shift.

38. The computer readable medium having computer-executable instructions stored thereon of claim 21, further comprising deleting computer-executable instructions for causing a computer to perform deleting forcibly a shift.

39. The computer readable medium having computer-executable instructions stored thereon of claim 21, further comprising computer-executable instructions for causing a computer to perform notifying a subscriber when a reservation event occurs.

40. The computer readable medium having computer-executable instructions stored thereon of claim 21, further comprising computer-executable instructions for causing a computer to perform getting reservation assignment information.

41. The computer readable medium having computer-executable instructions stored thereon of claim 21, further comprising computer-executable instructions for causing a computer to perform getting shift assignment information.

42. The computer readable medium having computer-executable instructions stored thereon of claim 21, further comprising computer-executable instructions for causing a computer to perform getting mobile service representative assignment information.

43. The computer readable medium having computer-executable instructions stored thereon of claim 21, further comprising computer-executable instructions for causing a computer to perform confirming a reservation.