Data processing: financial – business practice – management – or co – Automated electrical financial or business practice or... – Health care management
Reexamination Certificate
1997-05-14
2001-08-14
Millin, Vincent (Department: 2164)
Data processing: financial, business practice, management, or co
Automated electrical financial or business practice or...
Health care management
C705S002000, C705S002000, C705S007380
Reexamination Certificate
active
06275809
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates in general, in a work flow constituted by a sequence of a plurality of task processes, to a system in which data is inputted to an electronic computer as the result of the business processings through the task processes, and more particularly to a business processing system in which all the persons in charge of respective task processes hold in common a single notice board business system database and a method of processing the same.
In general, the business processing may be carried out in many cases through the business processing process constituted by a sequence of a plurality of task processes. When the process proceeds from a certain task process to a next task process, the data is delivered one after another through chits, documents and the like, thereby carrying out a series of business processes. In a work flow system utilizing an electronic computer, the information which is arranged in chits or documents is stored in a memory provided in the electronic computer and is delivered to the person in charge of the next task process via the data transmission through a network.
FIG. 1
is a schematic view showing an example of a flow of a business process in the selling business. In the business process shown in
FIG. 1
, after the selling action has been carried out for a customer in order to carry out a deal, the specification, the price, the appointed delivery day and the like of a product are concretely estimated. Then, after having made contract with the customer, the arrangements for material supply, design and manufacture of a product, security of the stock, carrying-in step of a product, and the like for the associated sections are carried out. In addition, after a product has been delivered to a customer and then the acceptance is completed, the request and recovery of the price are carried out. The stages such as a deal and estimation correspond to task processes, respectively. According to the prior art, the delivery of the data from a certain task process to the next task process is carried out on the basis of the information which is arranged in chits. For this reason, the transmission of the information to the person in charge of the next task process is carried out at a time point when all the data on the chits becomes complete. Therefore, the person in charge of the subsequent task process can not be aware, until all the data on the chits has been decided, of the contents thereof. For example, in the example shown in
FIG. 1
, in the case where even if the contents of products are not decided yet in the steps of a deal and estimation, the person in charge of the delivery management wants to know the data of products as the undecided information, in the conventional method, the persons in charge of the subsequent task processes can not know that information at all. In addition, the data heads of the data which is inputted as the result of the business processing to an electronic computer are not necessarily decided in accordance with the flow of the business processing, and also which data head the data is decided from is not necessarily uniquely determined. For example, if the negotiations of the product specification progresses advancedly in the step of estimation in
FIG. 1
, then the data heads relating thereto are advancedly decided. Conversely, if the negotiations of the appointed delivery day progresses advancedly, then the data heads relating thereto are advancedly decided. According to the conventional method, however, if when the data heads have been decided, this fact is intended to be reported to the person in charge thereof in the related section, then the person in charge of the task process of interest needs to specify both the destination and data of the person in charge thereof in the related section on all such occasions in order to carry out the transmission processing, which results in the burden imposed on the person in charge of the task process being increased. This is a problem. In addition, according to the conventional method, since the so-called repetitive input is carried out in which the various kinds of chits are produced through a series of business processes and also the same data is repeatedly inputted to the different chits, the possibility that the mistake in the input is caused is increased and also the time required for inputting the needless data is taken.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
As described above, according to the prior art, since the transmission of the data from a certain task process to the next task process is carried out basically in chits, if all the data on the chits does not become complete, the data is not transmitted to the next task process. Therefore, even when the person in charge of the subsequent task process intends to advance the task advancedly, that person can not carry out the task and hence the task efficiency is not enhanced. This is another problem. Then, when the decided or undecided data is intended to be transmitted to the person in charge of the subsequent task process against such a serial flow of the business processing, the burden is forcedly imposed on the person in charge of the task process of interest. This is still another problem. In addition, there arises yet another problem of the mistake in the input and the reduction in the task efficiency due to the repetitive input of the data to the chits.
In the light of the foregoing problems associated with the prior art, the present invention was made in order to solve the foregoing problems, and it is therefore an object of the present invention to make that the arbitrary person in charge of the task process makes reference to the necessary data at an arbitrary time point possible in a business processing system.
It is another object of the present invention to reduce the transmission/reception of the data when the task process changes from a certain task process to the next task process as much as possible, reduce the burden imposed on the person in charge of the task process resulting therefrom and also to reduce the load on a network.
It is still another object of the present invention to make that the person in charge of the subsequent task process makes reference to data advancedly possible, permit the operation of inputting data advancedly by the person in charge in the subsequent task process in order to enhance the task efficiency, and also to enable the confusion which is easy to occur at this time to be prevented.
A business processing system according to the present invention may provide that the contents of all the data heads relating to a series of business process are epitomized in a database so that all the persons in charge of the task processes relating thereto can hold this database in common. In this connection, the concept of the process which is currently in task in accordance with a sequence of the task processes is preserved so that the person in charge of the current task process can carry out mainly the data input and the data update, and the persons in charge of the subsequent task processes can make reference mainly to the data. In addition, with respect to each of the task processes, the status of the data which should be fulfilled in order that the task process may change is defined in the form of a status change value every data head. Whether or not the task process change is judged on the basis of the status change value. When it is judged that the task process has changed, this fact that the task process has changed is reported to the person in charge of the task process the task of which can be newly carried out.
In a preferred aspect, in the business processing system according to the present invention, an identifier for representing the current task process is provided in the database. At the time when the task process has changed, the identifier of interest is updated to an identifier for representing the task process the task of which can be newly carried out and then the task process of interest is made change from the current task process to
Hosoda Naofumi
Nagayama Akiko
Ogawa Makoto
Takamatsu Eiji
Tamaki Masato
Antonelli Terry Stout & Kraus LLP
Hitachi , Ltd.
Kanof Pedro
Millin Vincent
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