JP2005128714A - Failure response support system, service center system, and failure response support method - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a failure handling support system and method for instructing a service person in charge of on-site work based on a cause analysis result, in which failure notification from a customer is simple.
SOLUTION: A hospital failure notification system connected to a medical device and a failure service center system connected to a line therewith, the hospital failure notification system includes device information analysis means, and the failure service center system is classified into failure phenomena. And failure category database means for associating failure categories, failure response procedure database means for storing a procedure for identifying the cause of failure, failure classification information receiving means input at the terminal device, and based on this information Response determination means for determining a failure category and determining local response or automatic response; means for transmitting an analysis instruction for identifying the cause of failure when determined as automatic response; means for receiving an analysis result; When it is determined, a means for transmitting a work instruction specifying the cause of the failure and a means for receiving the result are provided.
[Selection] Figure 1

Description

  The present invention provides a failure repair service system that provides a series of work information from a failure notification from a customer to the completion of repair of the failure to a medical device system installed at a customer site, and supports failure response, and It relates to that method.

Remote maintenance using a public network such as a telephone line or the Internet has become widespread for failure and repair of equipment installed at customers. For example, in a medical device installed in a hospital or the like, if there is a failure notification from the customer, the computer of the repair service center of the medical device is transferred to the target medical device in the hospital via a public communication line. Connected, and reads out the operation log of the device, the set files, and the data related to the operation state of the device assumed to be related to the failure contacted by the customer (for example, see Patent Document 1). These read data are analyzed at the repair service center, the cause of the failure is identified, and a repair service is instructed to a local service person. This is because it is possible to quickly obtain data collection to be sent to the site where the cause analysis equipment and techniques tend to be inadequate, at the early stage of failure notification, and when the service person goes to the site, the cause of the failure is identified. They bring their countermeasures and try to shorten the repair time.
JP 2001-209724 A.

  However, the above-mentioned failure notification from the customer is mainly contacted by telephone, and it is difficult to grasp the content of the failure from the verbal explanation and analyze the cause. The reason for this is that the explanation of the failure details notified by the customer is often subjective, ambiguous, or emotional. Due to the difference between many questions to increase and the perception of the customer who captures only the superficial phenomena, sometimes it is difficult to collect sufficient situation information from the customer. In the end, verbal communication by telephone is not enough, and immediate response by dispatching maintenance service engineers with specialized technology is often the best response, and increasing the burden cost of service companies is a major problem It has become.

  In addition, for analysis of the cause of failure at the repair service center using the operation log of the above-mentioned device, the set files, and data on the operation state of the device assumed to be related to the failure contacted by the customer, Software information is used in accordance with the failure phenomenon. Which of the various software information is referred to and how it is investigated and investigated depends on the experience of the person in charge and the level of service education. Another problem is that differences occur in the accuracy of the results and the time required for the investigation process.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above-described conventional problems, and it is easy to notify the failure phenomenon from the customer. On the other hand, the failure service support side receiving the notification shares a failure notification tool that leads to investigation of the cause. It is intended to provide a failure response support system, a service center, and a failure response support method for confirming the cause from a remote failure service center and then contacting and instructing a service engineer about specific failure response work. To do.

In order to achieve the above object, a failure response support system according to the present invention includes a hospital failure notification system connected to a medical device installed in a hospital, and a failure service center system connected to this via a public communication line. The hospital failure notification system comprises device information analysis means,
The failure service center system includes a hierarchical failure phenomenon database means that associates a classification of failure phenomena with a failure category and a failure category, a failure response procedure database means that stores information on a response procedure for identifying a cause of failure, Means for receiving failure classification information input on the terminal device based on failure data classified into failure phenomena in a hierarchical structure provided in the hierarchical failure phenomenon database means; and input based on the received information The hierarchical failure phenomenon database means is searched by failure classification to determine a failure category, a response determining means for determining on-site response or automatic response based on the failure category, and determined to be automatic response by the response determination means At this time, an analysis instruction for identifying the cause of the failure is transmitted to the device information analysis means via the network. A means for receiving an analysis result based on the analysis instruction from the device information analysis means, and a terminal that provides work instruction and work procedure information for identifying the cause of the failure when the response determining means determines that the response is to be performed locally. There is provided a device comprising: means for transmitting on a device; and means for receiving a work result according to the work instruction input on a terminal device.

  Furthermore, the failure handling support system of the present invention determines whether the analysis result is valid based on the analysis result or the work result, and if it is valid, the replacement part used in the field work for the failure category, An apparatus is provided that includes means for extracting these replacement parts, extracted from the failure handling procedure database means.

  Furthermore, in the failure response support system of the present invention, the failure service center system uses service engineer dispatch management database means storing service engineer work schedules and specialized fields, and the service engineer dispatch management database means, Provided is a service engineer characterized by comprising a service engineer who performs a field work and a means for extracting by specifying a work date and a specialized field.

  The service center system according to the present invention is a service center system in which a failure cause analysis unit for medical equipment and an operation terminal device are connected via a public communication line. A failure category database that associates commands for performing failure analysis for each failure category, failure category reception means for receiving a failure category input by the operation terminal device, and failure category reception means. Based on the received failure category, command determination means for searching the failure category database to determine a command, command transmission means for transmitting the command determined by the command determination means to the failure cause analysis means, and the transmission Is transmitted from the failure cause analyzing means in response to the received command. And analysis result means for receiving the analysis result, based on the analysis result, to provide what is characterized by having a replacement part determining means for determining the necessity of replacement parts.

  Further, in the service center system according to the present invention, the failure category database associates work procedures to be performed for each failure category, and the failure category is based on the failure category received by the failure category receiving means. Work procedure determining means for searching a category database to determine a work procedure, work procedure transmitting means for transmitting a work procedure determined by the work procedure determining means to a service engineer, and the work input by the operation terminal device A validity receiving means for receiving the validity result of the procedure, and a means for judging whether or not the replacement part judging means is necessary based on the validity result received by the validity receiving means. Provide the features.

  In addition, the failure support support method of the present invention accesses a failure service center system that performs a failure response of the medical device via a public communication line from a failure notification operation terminal installed in the hospital together with the medical device. A failure notification step for classifying device failure phenomena into a hierarchical structure and notifying a failure category based on a failure category database associated with a command for performing failure analysis, and a failure category classified and notified in this hierarchical structure To the failure category database, a command determination step for determining a failure analysis command, and an analysis procedure database in which the command and the failure analysis method / procedure are associated with the determined command. A failure analysis step that performs either remote automatic or field work failure analysis according to the procedure; The cause determination step for determining the validity of the result of the failure analysis, and when the cause determination step determines “valid”, search the corresponding work procedure database in which the failure category and the local work procedure are associated, A local work instruction step for instructing a service engineer the local work procedure for the failure category, and a special response step for instructing rework of the cause analysis in the field when the cause determination step is determined to be “invalid”; What is characterized by comprising.

  Furthermore, the failure handling support method of the present invention searches the handling work procedure database in which the failure category and the local work procedure are associated with each other when the cause determination step determines “valid”. A local work instruction step for instructing the local work procedure to the service engineer, a search for the corresponding work procedure database, a determination of the necessity of replacement parts used in the local work procedure for the failure category, and a replacement for instructing the procurement of these parts Provided with a component procurement step.

  According to the failure response support system of the present invention, a customer is notified of a failure phenomenon / situation based on a hierarchical failure phenomenon database narrowed down to a failure cause category corresponding to each failure phenomenon classified in a hierarchical structure. Therefore, there is an effect that information can be collected smoothly.

  In addition, if the cause analysis procedure and the field work procedure are extracted from the failure response procedure database according to the narrowed down category and the cause analysis is performed by remote information analysis from the failure service center system and the cause is determined, a general service representative Will be instructed on site work procedures. If the cause cannot be determined, request assistance from an expert service engineer. Therefore, there is an effect that labor saving by remote information analysis and repeated response of the expert service engineer are minimized, thereby reducing the burden cost of the service company.

  Hereinafter, an embodiment of the failure support system of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.

  FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the configuration of the present embodiment.

  As shown in FIG. 1, in this embodiment, medical devices 21 and 31 are installed and operating in customer hospitals A and B, and the failure service center of the failure service center corresponding to the failure of these medical devices. Each of the system 10 and the hospital failure notification systems 20 and 30 connected to the medical devices 21 and 31 that are the target of each hospital performs data communication via the public communication line 40.

  The failure service center system 10 includes a failure cause analysis device 12, a hierarchical failure phenomenon database 13, a failure handling procedure database 14, a service engineer management database 18, a parts arrangement dispatch management database 19, and a failure phenomenon communication Web. A server 17 and a work procedure notification device 15 are connected, and a communication connection device 16 connected to the public communication line 40 is further connected.

  On the other hand, in the case where a trouble such as a failure occurs in the installed medical device 21, the hospital A receiving the repair service of the failure service center 10 sends the device information analysis device 22, the failure notification to the target medical device 21. A hospital failure notification system 20 configured by connecting an operation terminal 23 and a communication connection device 24 and further including a communication connection device 24 connected to the public communication line 40 is provided. A hospital failure notification system 30 connected to the medical device 31 is also provided in the hospital B, and a similar hospital failure notification system is provided in medical devices installed in other hospitals. Are connected to receive a failure service by the failure response support system of the present embodiment.

  The hierarchical failure phenomenon database 13 of the failure service center system 10 includes a failure phenomenon classification data table 13a. As shown in FIG. 2A, the failure phenomenon classification data table 13 a has a configuration in which the state of a malfunction caused by a failure of a medical device of the same model as the medical device 21 is classified into a large classification 131, a medium classification 132, and a small classification 133. Thus, the category ID 134 that is classified by the hierarchical structure and identified for each item of the lowest layer is choreographed. The failure phenomenon classification data table 13a is used for classifying failure and failure phenomena assumed in the design stage of medical devices of the same model, setting classification items and hierarchical classifications, and assigning each category ID 134. A classification item such as a failure phenomenon actually communicated in the field after the medical device is shipped is constructed.

  The failure response procedure database 14 of the failure service center system 10 includes a response work procedure data table 14a. As shown in FIG. 2B, the configuration of the corresponding work procedure data table 14 a is made up of data of cause analysis 142, cause analysis procedure 143, field work 144, and field work procedure 145 for each category ID 141. Yes. The category ID 141 corresponds to the category ID 134 specified in the above-described failure phenomenon classification data table 13a.

  Further, each item of the failure handling procedure database 14 will be specifically described below.

  The item of cause analysis 142 is data designating an analysis method for investigating what causes the failure. “Automatic” indicates that remote automatic analysis is performed, and the system control device of the failure service center system 10 11 starts the “command N” of the application software instructed in the cause analysis procedure 143 of the corresponding work procedure data table 14a to the device information analysis device 22 of the hospital failure notification system 20 through the public communication line 40. Indicates remote access. “Local” indicates that it is difficult to investigate the cause by remote access, and a service person is made a business trip to the site to investigate the actual machine. For example, when the category ID is “10 02 01”, the corresponding work procedure Instructing to perform the cause investigation work shown in Chapter 10 Section 3 of the document (manual) number 98990 specified in the cause analysis procedure 143 of the data table 14a.

  The item of the cause analysis procedure 143, as described above, instructs either remote access to the device information analysis device 22 or going to the site to investigate the actual machine in order to identify the cause of the failure. For example, if the result is “abc” when the “result” is “100 1 00”, it indicates that the cause has been investigated. Otherwise, a separate cause investigation is required. It shows that.

  The item of the field work 144 is a unit, a single part, a member, etc. used for repair work performed locally when the cause is identified by the cause analysis in the cause analysis procedure 143 (hereinafter collectively referred to as replacement parts). In the case of “with parts”, an automatic arrangement for replacement parts is instructed.

  The field work procedure 145 item is a specific instruction of the work procedure of the repair work to be performed on the spot for the cause of the failure. The document number indicating the work procedure and the chapter and section or page with the specific description are displayed. It is shown.

  The service engineer management database 18 holds data such as service engineer response schedules and technical fields corresponding to equipment failures, and the parts arrangement / shipment management database 19 replaces parts to be replaced in response to failures. It holds data such as special measuring instruments and tools that are required, arrangements such as temporary substitute units, and ordering / arrival schedules / confirmations.

  Next, the operation and procedure of the present embodiment configured as described above will be described with reference to the flowchart shown in FIG.

  For example, when a doctor or a laboratory technician who uses the medical device 21 of the hospital A confirms a phenomenon that seems to be a failure or malfunction of the medical device 21, the failure phenomenon is notified in step S <b> 31. In this step S31, the device information analysis device 22 and the failure notification operation terminal 23 of the hospital failure notification system 20 connected to the medical device 21 are connected to the failure service center system 10 via the public communication line 40. 17 is connected.

  After this connection, in step S32, a failure phenomenon classification data table 13a held in the hierarchical failure phenomenon database 13 of the failure service center system 10 is configured in a hierarchical structure, and the failure situation / phenomenon is selected as a pull-down item option. A failure notification screen set in the Web server 17 is displayed on the failure notification operation terminal 23. From this failure notification operation terminal 23, the doctor or laboratory technician sequentially selects and designates the phenomenon of failure that is confirmed, and inputs and notifies the failure service center system 10 of the failure status. If, for example, “screen abnormality”, “ring noise”, and “plurality” are sequentially selected on the failure communication screen by selecting / designating items classified in this hierarchy, the failure phenomenon classification data table 13a shown in FIG. The category ID “10 02 01” of the record in the third row corresponding to each of the field classifications is extracted as the category analysis in step S33.

  In step S34, the extracted category ID refers to the category ID 141 in the corresponding work procedure data table 14a of the failure response procedure database 14, and extracts a record of the corresponding corresponding work procedure. In the above example, since the record in the fourth row corresponds, this record is extracted.

  In step S35, first, the cause analysis 142 of the record in the extracted corresponding work procedure data table 14a is identified, and the failure cause analysis is performed by remote automatic analysis ("automatic") by a command set in advance from the failure cause analysis device 12. ) Or a response to send a service engineer to the site to investigate the cause (“local”). In the case of “automatic”, the command N specified in the cause analysis procedure 143 of the corresponding record in the corresponding work procedure data table 14a is notified from the failure cause analyzer 12 via the public communication line 40 in step S36. The device information analysis device 22 of the system 20 is instructed to execute the cause analysis application of the command N.

  On the other hand, if the failure cause analysis is “local”, in step S37, a person in charge of the service engineer listed in the service engineer dispatch management database 18 is dedicated to the cause analysis procedure 143. A work instruction document having a document (manual) number designated by the work procedure notification device 15 is presented / instructed. Regarding the full-time assignment of the person in charge, the system operator of the failure service center system 10 refers to the service engineer dispatch management database 18 and coordinates the correspondence with the candidate in charge and designates the person in charge offline. The work instruction notification device 15 can also present a work instruction document with the document number specified in the cause analysis procedure 143. The service engineer instructed to investigate the cause and analyze the cause by the work procedure notification device 15 goes to hospital A in step S38, and sends the investigation / analysis result from the failure notification operation terminal 23 to the phenomenon notification Web server 17 or the cause of the failure. Input to the analyzer 12 and report.

  Next, the result of the automatic analysis of the specified command returned or the result of analysis by the failure cause analyzer 12 of the input data contacted by the service engineer from the field is displayed as the cause of failure in step S39. Or “invalid” is checked against the “result” specified in the cause analysis procedure 143.

  If it is determined as “valid” in the determination in step S39, in step S40, the local work 144 in the corresponding work procedure data table 14a is inquired to determine a replacement part such as a unit, a single part, or a member necessary for the local work. And check the necessity. If “parts are present”, data is extracted from the parts arrangement / shipment management database 19 in step S41, and replacement parts are ordered. In the case of “no parts”, the process proceeds to step S42 along with the processing after ordering the parts “with parts” (step S41), and the service engineer dispatch management database 18 is referred to the service engineer in charge of the repair work. The work procedure notification device 15 notifies / instructs the local work procedure 145 of the corresponding work procedure data table 14a. This notification includes information such as the arrangement status of replacement parts to be exchanged locally and the date and time of arrival.

  If the parts to be arranged are prepared, the field work is performed in step S43, and the repair completion confirmation such as a heat run test or an operation test for a predetermined time shown in the work instruction document (manual) of the field work procedure 145 is confirmed. Implement the procedure.

  Further, in step S44, the result of the repair completion confirmation is reported from the device information analysis device 22 and the failure notification operation terminal 23 installed in the hospital to the failure cause analysis device 12 of the failure service center system 10. When this report is “completed” in which the medical device 21 that has failed is recovered by repair, the failure analysis and the repair are completed, and the work flow ends. On the other hand, if there is a defect in the result of the repair completion confirmation, the procedure is moved to step S45, “not completed” is reported to the failure cause analysis device 12 of the failure service center system 10, and the initial step S31 is performed. The special response procedure for requesting expert engineer support at the failure service center will be implemented. Information such as the failure phenomenon, cause analysis procedure, local failure response procedure, completion confirmation procedure, etc., revealed by this special failure response procedure is reflected in each database of the failure service center system 10, and these information / data Is added and updated.

  According to the present embodiment, in the failure notification from the user of the medical device, the failure phenomenon is selected and input by the term or event classified by the hierarchical structure in the failure phenomenon classification data table 13a. It is possible to make sure and narrow down to the cause category at the same time. Further, the cause analysis procedure and the field work procedure corresponding to the narrowed category are extracted from the corresponding work procedure data table 14a, and the cause analysis is performed by remote information analysis from the service center. Since the engineer is instructed on the applicable site work procedure, the cost of going to the site for investigating the cause can be reduced, and the specific site work procedure is clearly stated and instructed by the document. The response is left to the service engineer, which reduces labor costs. Only when the cause cannot be determined, an expert service engineer is sent to the site, and there is also an advantage that the operation management of the efficient service engineer who analyzes the cause of the failure by the experience and technical ability can be managed.

  Next, a modification of the above embodiment will be described.

  In the first modification, a failure notification is notified from a customer of a medical device by voice communication such as a telephone, and the operator of the service center receives this notification. The operator first asks where the medical device in the hospital is informed of the failure, specifies the identification number of the medical device, and accesses the failure phenomenon communication Web server 17 of the failure service center system 10. To do. Next, the failure phenomenon communication Web server 17 inputs the failure phenomenon notification from the customer along the input means in which the failure phenomenon is shown in a hierarchical structure, and step S32 of the above procedure is performed. The procedure is advanced in the same manner as above, and the failure is dealt with. This has the effect that failure notification can be reliably performed to a customer who is unfamiliar with the handling of the failure notification operation terminal.

  In the second modification, supplementation of data indicating the failure status is added to a failure notification of an image abnormality or image quality failure. In addition to the analysis by the application of the “automatic” command N performed in step S36 described above, the fault phenomenon communication Web server 17 is requested to input the faulty image data acquired by the customer as material data. Fill in the data. The analysis result in step S39 is determined including the supplemented data. The cause analysis procedure 143 is “automatic” for the corresponding category, such as acquiring and replenishing image data depicting a standard phantom from which the reference image data can be collected, as the replenishment procedure as “local” work. And “local” may be used. According to this, there is an advantage that a fine difference in phenomenon can be visually confirmed in the classification of the phenomenon.

The block diagram which shows the structure of one Embodiment of this invention. The figure which shows the data table of the database with which the failure service center system of this embodiment is equipped. The flowchart which shows the procedure of this embodiment.

Explanation of symbols

10 ... Failure service center system,
11 ... System control device,
12 ... Failure cause analysis device,
13 ... Hierarchical failure phenomenon database,
13a ... Failure phenomenon classification data table,
14 ... Failure response procedure database,
14a ... corresponding work procedure data table,
15 ... Work procedure notification device,
16, 24 ... communication connection device,
17 ... Failure phenomenon communication web server,
18 ... Management database for service engineers
19 ... Parts arrangement / shipment management database,
20, 30 ... Hospital trouble report system,
21, 31 ... medical equipment,
22 ... Device information analysis device,
23 ... failure notification operation terminal,
131 ... major classification,
132: Medium classification,
133 ... small classification,
134, 141 ... category ID,
142 ... cause analysis,
143 ... cause analysis procedure,
144 ... field work,
145 ... Local work procedure.

Claims (7)

A hospital failure notification system connected to medical equipment installed in a hospital, and a failure service center system connected to this via a public communication line,
The hospital failure notification system includes device information analysis means,
The failure service center system includes:
Hierarchical fault phenomenon database means that associates fault category and fault category with hierarchical structure,
A failure handling procedure database means for storing information on handling procedures for identifying the cause of failure;
Means for receiving failure classification information input on a terminal device based on failure data classified into failure phenomena in a hierarchical structure provided in the hierarchical failure phenomenon database means;
Searching the hierarchical fault phenomenon database means by the fault classification input based on the received information to determine a fault category, and a response determining means for determining on-site response or automatic response based on the fault category;
Means for transmitting an analysis instruction for specifying a cause of failure to the device information analysis means via a network when the correspondence determination means is determined to be automatic correspondence;
Means for receiving an analysis result by the analysis instruction from the device information analysis means;
Means for transmitting work instruction and work procedure information for identifying the cause of the failure on the terminal device when the correspondence determination means determines that it is local support;
A failure response support system comprising means for receiving a work result according to the work instruction input on a terminal device.   It is determined whether the analysis result is valid based on the analysis result or the work result, and if it is valid, replacement parts used in the field work for the failure category are extracted from the failure handling procedure database means, The failure response support system according to claim 1, further comprising means for arranging replacement parts. The failure service center system includes a service engineer dispatch management database means storing a service engineer's work schedule and specialized fields,
2. The failure response support system according to claim 1, further comprising means for extracting the service engineer performing the field work by designating a work date and a specialized field by using the service engineer dispatch management database means. The medical device failure cause analysis means and the operation terminal device is a service center system connected via a public communication line,
A failure category database in which medical device failure phenomena are classified into hierarchical failure categories and a command for performing failure analysis is associated with each failure category;
A failure category receiving means for receiving a failure category input by the operation terminal device;
Based on the failure category received by the failure category receiving means, command determining means for searching the failure category database and determining a command;
Command transmitting means for transmitting the command determined by the command determining means to the failure cause analyzing means;
An analysis result means for receiving an analysis result transmitted from the failure cause analysis means in response to the transmitted command;
A service center system comprising replacement part determination means for determining whether or not a replacement part is necessary based on the analysis result. The failure category database associates work procedures to be performed for each failure category,
Work procedure determination means for searching the failure category database and determining a work procedure based on the failure category received by the failure category reception means;
Work procedure transmitting means for transmitting the work procedure determined by the work procedure determining means to the service engineer;
Validity receiving means for receiving the validity result of the work procedure input by the operation terminal device;
5. The service center system according to claim 4, further comprising means for determining whether or not the replacement part determining means is necessary based on the validity result received by the validity receiving means. From the failure notification operation terminal installed in the hospital together with the medical device, access the failure service center system that handles the failure of the medical device via a public communication line, classify the phenomenon of the failure of the medical device into a hierarchical structure, A failure notification step of notifying a failure category based on a failure category database associated with a command for performing failure analysis;
A command determination step of querying the failure category database notified of the failure category classified into this hierarchical structure and determining a failure analysis command;
A failure analysis step of searching an analysis procedure database in which a command and failure analysis technique / procedure are associated with the determined command, and performing failure analysis of either remote automatic operation or field work according to the procedure;
A cause determination step for determining the validity of the result of the failure analysis;
In this cause determination step, when it is determined to be “valid”, the corresponding work procedure database in which the failure category and the local work procedure are associated is searched, and the local work instruction for instructing the service engineer the local work procedure for the failure category. Steps,
A failure handling support method, comprising: a special handling step for instructing rework of a cause analysis at a site when it is judged as “invalid” in the cause judging step. If it is determined that the cause is determined to be “appropriate” in the cause determination step, a corresponding work procedure database in which the failure category is associated with the local work procedure is searched, and a local work instruction that instructs the service engineer on the local work procedure for the failure category. Steps,
7. A replacement part procurement step for searching the corresponding work procedure database, determining whether or not a replacement part to be used in a field work procedure for the failure category is necessary, and instructing the procurement thereof. Of failure response support.

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