JP2011150565A - Management server, and management system - Google Patents

Abstract

【Task】
It is an object of the present invention to provide a management server and a management system that provide information for improving the visit of a support engineer while efficiently replacing parts recommended for replacement.
[Solution]
A customer information database connected to the terminal device via the network and storing device customer information, and part information installed in the device and replacement information indicating that each part is recommended for replacement are stored. In response to a request for device support information based on the product information database and the search condition transmitted from the terminal via the network, the device identification information corresponding to the search condition and its customer information are acquired from the customer database. , Device support information acquisition means for acquiring part information having the required replacement information of the acquired device identification information from the product information database, customer information acquired by the device support information acquisition means, device identification information, and required replacement information Management server having display means for displaying component information on the terminal
[Selection] Figure 6

Description

  The present invention relates to a management server and a management system for managing information on devices such as copying machines and printers.

  Conventionally, support engineers for devices such as multifunction peripherals and printers visit customers at regular intervals to exchange device consumables and periodic replacement parts. The support engineer will check the status of the device at the site during the visit, and will replace and arrange consumables and periodic replacement parts as necessary.

  However, as a result of the support engineer visiting the customer and checking the status of the device, there is a case where it is not necessary to replace or arrange consumables or periodic replacement parts, and the visit efficiency of the support engineer is poor.

  In addition to regular visits, when a support engineer receives a device error report from a customer, the support engineer visits the customer to perform error recovery work. However, since the support engineer visits the customer after receiving the error report, there is a problem that it takes time from the occurrence of the error to the recovery.

  Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2004-228561 describes that a propensity for consumption is calculated based on the consumption amount of a consumable item within a certain period of time in a customer's printer, and the replacement time of the consumable item is predicted from the propensity to notify the vendor. .

  Patent Document 2 describes that the management server acquires monitoring information including error information and consumables remaining amount information in the customer's printer and notifies the operator and user of the error information based on the monitoring information. Has been.

  According to Patent Document 1 and Patent Document 2, since the error information of the printer and the replacement time prediction information of the consumables are notified in a timely manner, the time from the occurrence of the error to the recovery can be shortened, and based on the replacement prediction information This makes it possible to create a visit plan for support engineers, leading to improved visit efficiency.

JP 2006-195506 A JP 2006-99609 A

  By the way, in the case of a device such as a printer, a defect or an improvement may be found in a part mounted on the device after the product is shipped. In this case, replacement of the part is recommended for a device that has already been shipped.

  However, although the support engineer is given defect information of parts, that is, replacement necessity information, the support engineer cannot easily specify the device (printer) on which the part to be replaced is mounted. Therefore, when the support engineer visits the customer, he / she checks whether or not the part requiring replacement is mounted on the device (printer), and when it is confirmed that the part is mounted, The arrangement was made.

  For this reason, it takes time until the parts are replaced, and a problem may occur before the parts are replaced. As a result, the support engineer visits the customer after the trouble occurs and replaces parts, causing damage to the customer and increasing the number of visits.

  Therefore, the present invention provides a management server and a management system that provide information for improving the visit of a support engineer while efficiently replacing parts recommended for replacement.

  In order to achieve the above object, according to the first aspect of the present invention, a management server is connected to a terminal device via a network and manages device information, wherein customer information of the device is the device. The customer information database stored in association with the device identification information and accessible by the management server, the component information mounted on the device, and the replacement information indicating that each component is recommended to be replaced In response to a request for device support information based on a product information database stored in association with device identification information of a device and accessible by the management server, and a search condition transmitted from the terminal via the network The device identification information corresponding to the condition and the customer information are obtained from the customer database. Device support information acquisition means for acquiring from the product information database part information having the required replacement information of the acquired device identification information, customer information and device identification information acquired by the device support information acquisition means, and Display means for displaying, on the terminal, part information having replacement required information.

  As a result, the support engineer can easily grasp the information on the device which is a device based on the predetermined search condition and mounts the component requiring replacement and the component requiring replacement.

  According to a preferred aspect of the first aspect, the customer information further includes installation address information that is an address where the device is installed, and the search condition includes the installation address information within a predetermined address range. The device support information acquisition means acquires the device identification information having the installation address within the predetermined address range and the customer information from the customer database, and the device identification information of the acquired device identification information Parts information having replacement information is obtained from the product information database.

  According to this aspect, the support engineer is a device having an installation address within a predetermined address range, and can easily grasp the information of the device on which the replacement target part is mounted and the replacement target part. it can.

  According to a preferable aspect in the first aspect, the management server further includes a map information database in which map information is stored and accessible by the management server, and the display means includes the map information. Displaying a map based on the map information acquired from the database, the device having the installation address within the predetermined address range acquired by the device support information acquisition means, the part information having the replacement information required The device is imaged at the position on the map corresponding to the installed address information of the device and displayed on the terminal.

  According to this aspect, the support engineer can grasp the position of the device having the installation address within the predetermined address range and mounting the component requiring replacement in correspondence with the map information.

  According to a preferable aspect in the first aspect, the management server is further connected to a plurality of device management apparatuses that acquire information on the device via a network, and further includes the device identification information of the device. , Maintenance information acquisition means for acquiring and holding maintenance information including use status of consumables in the device from the device management apparatus, and replacement time for predicting replacement time of the consumables based on the acquired maintenance information And the search condition includes the installation address information within a predetermined address range from the installation address of the device identification information whose replacement time predicted by the replacement time prediction means is within a predetermined period. Have

  According to this aspect, the support engineer has a device having an installation address within a predetermined address range from the installation address of the device whose replacement time for consumables is near, and information on the device on which the part requiring replacement is mounted. It is possible to easily grasp the parts to be replaced.

  According to a preferable aspect in the first aspect, the management server is further connected to a plurality of device management apparatuses that acquire information on the device via a network, and further includes the device identification information of the device. , Device information holding means for acquiring from the device management apparatus and holding maintenance information including one or both of failure information and consumable usage status in the device, and the search condition includes the failure information The installation address information within a predetermined address range from the installation address of the device identification information with a small remaining amount of the device or consumables.

  According to this aspect, the support engineer is a device having an installation address within a predetermined address range from the installation address of the device in which a failure has occurred or the remaining amount of consumables is low, and the part to be replaced is required. It is possible to easily grasp information on devices to be mounted and parts to be replaced.

  According to a preferred aspect of the first aspect, the replacement required information includes emergency level information indicating an emergency level for which replacement is recommended for each of the components, and the display unit makes the emergency level distinguishable. To display the exchange required information.

  According to this aspect, the support engineer can recognize the replacement urgency level of the parts requiring replacement together.

  According to a second aspect of the present invention, there is provided a management system in which a plurality of device management apparatuses that acquire device information, a management server that manages the device information, and a terminal device are connected via a network. The device management apparatus has information acquisition means for acquiring maintenance information including use status of consumables in the device, and transmission means for transmitting device identification information of the device and the maintenance information to the management server. The management server obtains the device identification information and the maintenance information from the device management apparatus, and predicts the replacement time of the consumable based on the obtained maintenance information. Replacement time predicting means, and customer information of the device, including an installation address information which is an address where the device is installed The information is stored in association with the device identification information of the device, the customer information database accessible by the management server, the component information mounted on the device, and the component that is recommended to be replaced for each component The exchange information is stored in association with the device identification information of the device, the product information database accessible by the management server, and the device identification information whose exchange time predicted by the replacement time prediction means is within a predetermined period. The device identification information having the installation address information within a predetermined address range from the installation address and the customer information thereof are acquired from the customer database, and the part information having the replacement information of the acquired device identification information The device support information for obtaining the device information from the product information database It has a yield means, and display means for displaying the part information in the terminal with the customer information and the device identification information the device support information acquisition unit acquires and its main exchange information.

  As a result, the support engineer can replace the consumables with a device that has an installation address within the specified address range from the device installation address that is close to the replacement date. It is possible to easily grasp the parts.

  According to a third aspect of the present invention, there is provided a management system in which a plurality of device management apparatuses that acquire device information, a management server that manages the device information, and a terminal device are connected via a network. The device management apparatus is configured to obtain information acquisition means for acquiring maintenance information including one or both of failure information and consumables usage status in the device, device identification information of the device, and the maintenance information. The management server is configured to obtain maintenance information acquisition means for acquiring and holding the device identification information and the maintenance information from the device management apparatus, customer information of the device, and Customer information including installation address information, which is the address where the device is installed, is stored in association with the device identification information of the device. The customer information database accessible by the management server, the component information mounted on the device, and the replacement information indicating that the component is recommended to be replaced are stored in association with the device identification information of the device. And the installation address information within a predetermined address range from the installation address of the device identification database accessible by the management server, the device having the failure information, or the device identification information with a low remaining amount of consumables. The device support information acquisition means for acquiring the device identification information and the customer information from the customer database, and acquiring part information having the replacement information of the acquired device identification information from the product information database; Customer information acquired by the device support information acquisition means; And component information with device identification information and the main exchange information and a display means for displaying on said terminal.

  As a result, the support engineer is a device that has an installation address within the specified address range from the installation address of the device that has failed or the remaining amount of consumables is low, and that is equipped with the parts that require replacement And the parts to be exchanged can be easily grasped.

It is a figure showing the network configuration of the system of the example of a 1st embodiment. It is a figure showing the structure of each apparatus of a 1st embodiment. It is a figure showing customer information DB. It is a figure showing the structure of product information DB. It is a figure showing the example of data of product information DB. It is a flowchart figure of a display of device support information of a 1st example of an embodiment. It is a figure showing the device support screen whose search conditions are "Matsumoto" area. The device support information screen on which the urgency level is displayed as exchange information required is shown. It is a figure showing the device support information in a predetermined address range from a certain device. It is a flowchart figure which displays device support information corresponding to a map. It is a 1st figure showing the device support information corresponding to a map. It is a 2nd figure showing the device support information corresponding to a map. It is a figure showing the network configuration of the system of the example of 3rd Embodiment. It is a figure showing the structure of each apparatus of the example of 3rd Embodiment. It is a figure showing maintenance information DB. It is a figure showing the device support information screen which displayed maintenance information. It is a figure showing the device support information of 3rd Embodiment based on a search condition.

  Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. However, the technical scope of the present invention is not limited to these embodiments, but extends to the matters described in the claims and equivalents thereof.

  The management server 10 according to the present embodiment stores a customer information database 13 storing device customer information that can be accessed by the management server 10, component information installed in the device, and replacement information for each component. Product information database 21. In response to a request for device support information based on a search condition transmitted from the terminal 30 connected to the management server 10 via the network, the management server 10 responds to a request for device support information and the customer information associated with the search condition. Are acquired from the customer database 13 and parts information having the required replacement information of the acquired device identification information is acquired from the product information database 21, and the acquired customer information, device identification information, and parts having the required replacement information are acquired. The device support information including the information is displayed on the terminal 30.

  The device support information in the present embodiment is information for the support engineer to grasp the state of each device in the customer environment. The support engineer creates a customer visit plan based on the device support information.

  FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating a network configuration of a system according to the first embodiment. In the system according to the present embodiment, a management server 10 that manages information on devices in a customer environment and a terminal 30 that browses information on the management server 10 are connected via the Internet. The management server 10 is connected to the database of the intranet environment 20.

  1 illustrates a system in which one management server 10 and one terminal 30 are connected via the Internet. However, the number of terminals 30 is not limited to these. There may be a plurality. Although not shown, communication between the management server 10 and the Internet may be through a firewall.

  Next, the configuration of the management server 10 and the terminal 30 will be described.

  FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating the configuration of each apparatus. First, the configuration of the management server 10 will be described. The management server 10 can be accessed by a customer information database (hereinafter referred to as DB) that can be accessed by the management server 10, device support information acquisition means 11, device support information display means 12, and management server 10. And a product information DB 21 of an intranet environment 20.

  The customer information DB 13 is a DB in which customer information of devices in the customer environment is stored. Each information and its configuration will be described later. The product information DB 21 is a DB in which information on parts mounted on devices in the customer environment and information on replacement of parts is stored. Each information and specific configuration will be described later. In this embodiment, a printer is exemplified as a device.

  The device support information acquisition unit 11 is one of the characteristic portions of the present embodiment, and in response to a request for transmitting a device support information screen based on the search condition requested from the terminal 30, a customer DB, a product information DB 21, Get information corresponding to the search condition. The display unit 12 transmits the device support information acquired by the device support information acquisition unit 11 to the terminal 30 for display. Specific processing will be described later.

  The terminal 30 has a browser function, and acquires and displays information from a web server connected via the Internet based on instructions from a support engineer who is a user. More specifically, based on an instruction such as clicking a button on the browser screen or inputting a URL (Uniform Resource Locator) on the browser screen, the terminal 30 sends a screen information transmission request based on the instruction via the Internet. To the connected management server 10. Then, the terminal 30 displays the screen information transmitted in response to the transmission request from the management server 10 on the display screen.

  The management server 10 and the terminal 30 can be configured by a general personal computer or the like, and include a CPU, a RAM, a ROM, a hard disk, a display unit, and the like (not shown). Each means and function of the management server 10 and the terminal 30 includes a program stored in the ROM and a CPU that executes processing according to the instruction.

  Next, the configuration of each DB in FIG. 2 will be described with reference to FIGS.

  FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating the configuration of the customer information DB 13. As shown in FIG. 3A, the customer information DB 13 of this embodiment is composed of a printer serial number (S / N) and customer information. The serial number is a unique number assigned to each printer, and generally consists of several alphanumeric characters. Further, the customer information in the present embodiment includes at least a customer name, and the customer name is a company name such as Company A or Company B, and a name such as Company A X Office, Company B Factory Y, or the like. To express. In addition, the customer information may include other information such as installation address information where the device is installed, customer contact name, contact information, maintenance contract period, and the like.

  FIG. 3B is a diagram illustrating a data example of the customer information DB 13. In the figure, for example, the customer who uses the printer with the serial number “10010” is “Company A”, and the printer with the serial number is installed at the address “X town 1-2-1”. It is represented. In the customer information DB 13, customer information of all printers to be managed by the management server 10 is stored in association with the serial numbers of the printers.

  FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating the configuration of the product information DB 21. The product information DB 21 includes the serial number (S / N) of the printer in FIG. 4A, the name and lot number of each part mounted on the printer with the serial number, and the lot number of each part name in FIG. It consists of replacement information corresponding to the lot number of the part name. In the product information DB 21, the part information of all the printers to be managed is associated with the serial number of the printer (FIG. 4 (a)), and the lot information of all the parts having replacement information is the lot of the part. It is stored in association with the number (FIG. 4B). This will be specifically described below.

  The components mounted on the printer are, for example, an IC (integrated circuit), a fixing unit of a print engine, a photosensitive drum, firmware, and the like. The part name is the name of the part. In the case of an IC, the part name is, for example, “IC-01”. Further, the part name is not limited to the above name, and may be in any form as long as the type of the part can be identified.

  The lot number represents a production unit when the same type of parts are produced together. For example, when 100 parts are produced together, the lot numbers of 100 parts are the same. Since parts with the same lot number are manufactured under the same conditions, they are regarded as parts having the same quality. Therefore, product quality is handled in units of lot numbers.

  The lot number is represented by a character string composed of several alphanumeric characters, for example, “Y000010”. A program such as firmware may be represented by a version number such as “Ver 1.6.02.”

  The replacement-required information is information indicating that a part replacement is recommended, that is, a replacement is required, and is associated with a part name and a lot number. There are cases where parts mounted on a printer or the like are found defective or improved after the product is shipped, and replacement of the parts is recommended. For this reason, manufacturers and the like manage exchange-required information for each lot number, which is a unit for handling quality.

  In the product information DB 21 described above, the replacement information is associated with the part name and the lot number. However, when the part name can be identified from the lot number, the replacement information may be associated with only the lot number. In this embodiment, a lot number is used as a unit for handling quality. However, if the quality can be identified, the lot number may not be used.

  FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating a data example of the product information DB 21. In the figure, for example, an IC with a component name “IC-01” mounted on a printer with a serial number “10020” is recommended to be replaced due to performance deterioration over time.

  In FIG. 2, the customer information DB 13 is held in the management server 10 and the product information DB 21 is held in the intranet environment 20 accessible by the management server 10, and both DBs are held in separate environments. This is because product information and customer information are generally different in departments or companies that manage the information. Specifically, product information is often managed by a development department or development company in charge of product development, and customer information is often managed mainly by a sales department or sales company that sells printers. However, the environment in which both DBs are held is not limited to the form in FIG. 2. For example, both DBs may be held in the management server 10.

  Next, processing that is a characteristic part of the present embodiment, in which the management server 10 acquires device support information corresponding to the search condition instructed from the terminal 30 from each DB and causes the terminal 30 to display the device support information. Will be described with reference to a flowchart.

  FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing device support information display processing in the present embodiment.

  First, the support engineer inputs a URL for requesting the management server 10 to display a device support screen in the Internet browser of the terminal 30. In response to the device support screen display request from the terminal 30, the management server 10 prompts the terminal 30 to specify a search condition for the device support screen. When the support engineer specifies a search condition from the terminal 30, the search condition is notified to the management server 10 (S11).

  The device support information acquisition unit 11 of the management server 10 acquires the serial number of the device searched based on the specified search condition and its customer information from the customer information DB 13 (S12), and uses the part information of the serial number as the component information. Therefore, the component information having the replacement required information is acquired from the product information DB 21 (S13). The display unit 12 of the management server 10 causes the terminal 30 to display the serial number acquired by the device support information acquisition unit 11, customer information, and part information having replacement required information (S 14).

  The search condition is, for example, designation of a region to which a display target printer belongs, and for example, a region such as “Matsumoto” or “Kofu” is designated. In addition to the area, a customer name or device identification information may be specified as a search condition.

  FIG. 7 is a diagram illustrating a device support screen whose search condition is the “Matsumoto” region. As a premise of the present embodiment, in the “Matsumoto” area, printers of serial numbers “10010” and “10020” of company A, printers of serial number “20010” of company B X office, and company Y office Y Assume that there is a printer with a serial number “30010”, a printer with a serial number “40010” from company C, and a printer with a serial number “50010” from company D. In addition, the printer with serial number “10020” of company A is equipped with a part “IC-01” that requires replacement, and the printer with serial number “50010” of company D has a part “firmware A” that needs to be replaced. Shall.

  When the support engineer designates “Matsumoto” area as a search condition, the designation information is notified to the management server 10 (S11). Then, the device support information acquisition unit 11 of the management server 10 reads from the customer information DB 13 the serial numbers “10010” “10020” “20010” “30010” “40010” “40010” of the devices whose device installation addresses are included in the “Matsumoto” region. 50010 ”and the customer name“ 10010: Company A ”“ 10020: Company A ”“ 20010: Company B X office ”“ 30010: Company B Y office ”“ 40010: Company C ”“ 50010: Company D ” ”(S12), and the component information of the device having the serial number and having the replacement required information is acquired from the product information DB 21 (S13).

  In the present embodiment, the part “IC-01” with serial number “10020” of company A and the part “firmware A” with serial number “50010” of company D have replacement information. Therefore, the device support information acquisition unit 11 acquires component information “10020: IC-01” and “50010: firmware A” having replacement information from the product information DB 21. The display unit 12 displays a device support screen as shown in FIG. 7 on the terminal 30 based on the information acquired by the device support information acquisition unit 11 (S14).

  The support engineer refers to the device support screen as shown in FIG. 7, and is the printer installed in the “Matsumoto” area, which has the serial number and customer information of the printer on which the parts requiring replacement are installed. It is possible to grasp part information to be replaced.

  As another search condition, for example, when the serial number “10020” is designated, the device support information acquisition unit 11 of the management server 10 acquires the customer information “Company A” of the serial number from the customer information DB 13. At the same time, the component information “IC-01”, which is the component information of the printer of the serial number and has the replacement information, is acquired from the product information DB 21. Then, the display unit 12 causes the terminal 30 to display the serial number “10020”, the customer information “Company A”, and the component information “IC-01”.

  In this way, the support engineer can browse the printer serial number corresponding to the search condition, the customer information, and the part information having the replacement information, and the information on the printer on which the replacement target part is mounted. It is possible to easily grasp the parts to be replaced. As a result, the support engineer can surely replace the part requiring replacement, and the replacement target part is not replaced and a failure caused by the part occurs, increasing the number of times the support engineer is dispatched. Can be avoided.

  In addition, the support engineer can grasp the parts to be exchanged, and can prepare in advance the parts necessary for parts exchange at the visit to the customer. Furthermore, the urgency may be set in the replacement required information depending on the urgency of the parts replacement. For example, it is assumed that the urgency level of a part having a defect having a high occurrence frequency and a large influence is high, and conversely, the urgency level of a part having a defect having a low occurrence frequency and a small influence is low.

  FIG. 8 shows a device support information screen in which the degree of urgency is displayed as exchange required information. In the drawing, the urgency level indicates “high: A, medium: B, low: C”, and the replacement urgency level of the replacement target component “IC-01” in the printer with the serial number “10020” of “Company A” is shown. The medium level indicates that the replacement urgent degree of the part “firmware A” to be replaced in the printer with the serial number “50010” of “Company D” is low. The degree of urgency may be expressed so as to be distinguishable by alphanumeric characters as shown in FIG. 8, or may be expressed by a color or the like such as “high: red, low: blue”.

  The replacement information further has a replacement urgency level, and the urgency level is displayed as the replacement required information, so that the support engineer can recognize the replacement urgency level in addition to the component information to be replaced. As a result, the support engineer should preferentially replace parts that require immediate replacement with high urgency, and replace parts systematically with lower priority for parts with low urgency. Can do.

<Second Embodiment>
In the first embodiment, the support engineer specifies a search condition such as a region, and the management server 10 displays on the terminal 30 the customer information of the device corresponding to the search condition and the part information having the replacement information. An example was described. In contrast, in the second embodiment, the support engineer designates a predetermined address range including the installation address of a specific device as a search condition, and the management server 10 determines the predetermined address range from the installation address of the device. The customer information of the device having the installed address information and the parts information having the replacement required information are displayed on the terminal 30.

  The flowchart representing the device support information display process in the present embodiment is the same as the flowchart in FIG. 6 of the first embodiment. However, the customer information DB 13 in the present embodiment has installed address information indicating the address where the printer is installed, as shown in FIG.

  Further, in the present embodiment, as in the first embodiment, the printer with the serial number “10020” of company A replaces the part “IC-01” to be replaced with the serial number “50010” of company D. The printer “” is assumed to be equipped with a part “firmware A” to be replaced. In the following, device support information display processing according to the present embodiment will be described with reference to flowcharts.

  First, as in the first embodiment, the management server 10 prompts the user to specify a search condition for the device support screen. When a support engineer or the like instructs a search condition from the terminal 30, the search condition is notified to the management server 10 (S11). Then, the device support information acquisition unit 11 of the management server 10 acquires the printer serial number based on the instructed search condition and the customer information of the serial number from the customer information DB 13 (S12).

  In the present embodiment, as a search condition, for example, it has an installation address within a predetermined address range including the installation address of a certain printer, that is, “5 kilometers”, “10 kilometers” from the installation address of a certain printer. It is designated to have an installation address within a range such as “”. Hereinafter, a case where a printer having an installation address within a range of 10 kilometers from the installation address of the printer of “Company C” that is planning to visit will be described as a search condition.

  When the search condition as described above is designated, the device support information acquisition unit 11 includes the serial number of the printer having the installation address information within the 10 km range including the installation address information of the printer of “Company C”, the customer information, Is acquired from the customer information DB 13.

  In the present embodiment, the printers having the installation address information within the range of 10 kilometers including the installation address of the printer “40010” of “Company C” are the printers “10010” and “10020” of Company A and the Company X office The printer “20010” of company B, the printers of company Y and company D are installed outside the range of 10 km from the installation address of printer “40010” of company “C”. Therefore, the device support information acquisition unit 11 includes the printer serial numbers “10010”, “10020”, “20010”, “40010” corresponding to the search condition, and customer information “10010: Company A”, “10020: Company A”, “20010”. : Company B X Office ”“ 40010: Company C ”is acquired from the customer information DB 13.

  Subsequently, the device support information acquisition unit 11 acquires, from the product information DB 21, printer component information corresponding to the search condition and component information having replacement information (S 13). In this case, among the printers corresponding to the search condition, the printer “10020” of company A is equipped with the component “IC-01” having the replacement information. Therefore, the device support information acquisition unit 11 acquires the component information “10020: IC-01” of the printer of company A.

  Then, the display unit 12 displays a device support screen as shown in FIG. 9 on the terminal 30 based on the acquired information (S14).

  FIG. 9 is a diagram illustrating a device support information screen in a case where it is designated as the search condition that installation address information within a range of 10 kilometers from the installation address of the printer “40010” of company C is specified. From the figure, the support engineer can grasp that there is a printer of company A equipped with the part “IC-01” to be replaced within a range of 10 km from the installation address of the printer “40010” of company C. As a result, the support engineer can exchange the part “IC-01” to be replaced of the printer of company A in the vicinity of company C when visiting the company C.

  In this way, the customer information of the printer having the installation address information within the predetermined address range from the installation address of the specific printer and the parts information having the replacement information are displayed on the terminal 30, so that the support engineer can For example, it is possible to grasp the customer information of the printer on which the part requiring replacement in the vicinity of the planned visit destination and the part information requiring replacement are grasped.

  As a result, when a specific customer visits, a support engineer can use the opportunity to replace the part of the printer that has the part that needs to be replaced near the customer, and increase the number of dispatches. While avoiding, it is possible to efficiently perform the replacement work of the parts requiring replacement. In addition, the support engineer can avoid the necessity of emergency dispatch due to a failure that may occur in the future without replacing the parts requiring replacement, and the main purpose is to replace the parts requiring replacement. The number of future dispatches can also be reduced.

  Further, as in the first embodiment, the urgency level may be displayed as the replacement required information. As a result, the support engineer can also grasp the urgency of replacement of parts requiring replacement in the vicinity of the visited printer. As a result, the support engineer can further reduce the number of dispatches by replacing parts with priority given to a printer equipped with parts with high urgency.

  In addition, support engineers need to immediately replace parts for parts with high urgency, so we would like to visit customers mainly for the replacement work of the parts. Since there is no need for replacement, there is a requirement to avoid visiting customers for the purpose of replacing the parts.

  Therefore, the support engineer preferentially visits the customer to replace the parts that have parts with high urgent need for replacement, and replaces parts with low priority parts, for example, regular customers. At the time of the visit, the parts are exchanged for the printer on which the parts having low urgent parts needing replacement near the customer are used. As a result, the support engineer can perform parts replacement even for parts with low urgency of replacement while avoiding an increase in the number of dispatches.

  Further, the display unit 12 may display the information acquired by the device support information unit 11 in association with the map information.

  FIG. 10 is a flowchart showing processing for displaying device support information in association with map information. In this case, the management server 10 further includes a map information DB (not shown) in which map information is stored and accessible by the management server 10.

  The process in which the device support information obtaining unit 11 obtains the part information having the serial number based on the search condition, the customer information, and the replacement required information from the customer information DB 13 and the product information DB 21 is as follows: It is the same. Subsequently, when the device support information is displayed in correspondence with the map information (YES in S21), the display unit 12 of the management server 10 acquires and displays the map information from the map information DB, and device support information acquisition unit. Based on the information acquired by the terminal 11, the printer of the serial number on which the part having the replacement information is mounted is imaged as an icon or the like at the position on the map corresponding to the installation address information of the printer of the serial number, and the terminal 30 (S22).

  FIG. 11 is a diagram illustrating a device support information screen corresponding to map information in a case where it is specified that the installation address information within a range of 10 kilometers from the installation address of the printer “40010” of company C is specified as a search condition. As a premise, as in FIG. 9, the printers of Company A and Company B X offices are installed within 10 kilometers from the installation address of Company C's printer “40010”. Assume that the installed printer is a printer “10020” of company A.

  Of the printers corresponding to the search conditions, the printer having the parts having the information that requires replacement is only the printer “10020” of company A. Therefore, as shown in FIG. “10020” is displayed as a black circle icon 111 in correspondence with the map at the position of the installation address information of the printer. As a result, when a support engineer plans to visit Company C, the support engineer can easily grasp the location of the printer of Company A that mounts the parts to be replaced in the vicinity of Company C in correspondence with the map information. Can do.

  In this way, the support engineer corresponds to the map information the location of the printer with the replacement target part among the printers with the installation address within the predetermined range from the installation address of the specific printer that is visited. I can grasp it.

  Further, the display unit 12 may display only the printer on which the component requiring replacement as shown in FIG. 11 is associated with the map as an icon, or may include the component requiring replacement as shown in FIG. The printers that are not installed may be displayed together so that the printers that have the parts requiring replacement and the printers that are not installed can be displayed in a distinguishable manner.

  FIG. 12 is a diagram in which all printers having installation addresses within a 10-kilometer range from the installation address of the printer “40010” of company C are displayed as icons corresponding to the map. In the drawing, a black circle icon 111 represents a printer on which a part requiring replacement is mounted, and white circle icons 121 and 122 represent printers on which no part to be replaced is mounted. In addition to the icons, the display means 12 may display the customer information of the printer corresponding to the icons, the urgency level of the information required for replacement, etc. in characters as shown in FIG. Alternatively, when the icon is selected by clicking or the like, the display unit 12 may display the customer information of the printer corresponding to the icon, the urgency level of the information requiring replacement, or the like.

<Third Embodiment>
In the management server 10 according to the third embodiment, the support engineer designates a predetermined address range including the installation address of a device with a small amount of consumables such as toner or a faulty device as a search condition, The management server 10 causes the terminal 30 to display the customer information of the device having the installation address information within the predetermined address range from the installation address of the device and the part information having the replacement required information.

  FIG. 13 is a diagram illustrating a network configuration in the system according to the third embodiment. In the system according to the present embodiment, printers 40, 50, and 60, which are devices, are further connected to the first and second embodiments via the Internet. In this embodiment, a printer is exemplified as a device. However, a multifunction device, a FAX, a server, or the like may be used. Furthermore, although three printers 40, 50, and 60 are illustrated in the figure, the number is not limited to this number as long as there are a plurality.

  FIG. 14 is a diagram illustrating a system configuration in the third embodiment. In the first and second embodiments, the printer is the same as a conventional printer, whereas the printer 40 of this embodiment includes a device management apparatus 41. Although the device management apparatus 41 is mounted on the printer 40 in FIG. 14, the device management apparatus 41 may be mounted on the communication interface 46 of the printer 40 or a customer environment computer (not shown) that can access the printer 40. Etc. may be mounted. The device management apparatus 41 only needs to be connectable to the management server 10 via the Internet.

  Hereinafter, the configuration of the printer 40 in the present embodiment will be described. The device management apparatus 41 includes information acquisition means 42 and information transmission means 43. The information acquisition unit 42 acquires maintenance information for the printer 40. The maintenance information is, for example, billing information such as the number of printed sheets, usage status information of consumables such as toner and regular replacement parts, and various trouble information such as paper jams.

  The billing information is information used when a manufacturer or the like adopts a service form that collects a usage fee for a device such as a printer from a customer and uses the device. The manufacturer or the like charges the customer for a charge amount calculated based on the charge information such as the number of printed sheets in the printer. In such a service form, the manufacturer replaces consumables such as toner in the printer free of charge. For this reason, the support engineer regularly visits the customer so as not to run out of printer consumables in the customer environment.

  Returning to FIG. 14, the information transmission unit 43 of the printer 40 transmits the maintenance information acquired by the information acquisition unit 42 to the management server 10 via the communication interface 46 periodically or as needed. Specifically, the information transmission unit 43 periodically transmits the charging information, the usage amount information of the consumables, and the like to the management server 10 for the failure information as needed.

  In addition, the printer 40 includes a controller 44 that controls the entire printer, a print engine 45 that performs print processing of image data, and the like. Although not shown, the printer 40 includes a CPU, RAM, ROM, and the like as hardware. Each means includes a program stored in the ROM and a CPU that executes processing in accordance with the instructions.

  The configuration of the printers 50 and 60 is the same as that of the printer 40.

  On the other hand, the management server 10 according to the present embodiment further includes maintenance information acquisition means 15 that receives the maintenance information transmitted from the device management apparatus 41 and holds it as the maintenance information DB 16 or the like.

  FIG. 15 is a diagram illustrating the configuration of the maintenance information DB 16. As shown in FIG. 15A, the maintenance information DB 16 according to the present embodiment includes, for example, a printer serial number (S / N), information acquisition date and time, information type, and contents. The information type is, for example, a failure, a warning, or information.

  FIG. 15B is a diagram illustrating a data example of the maintenance information DB 16. In the figure, the maintenance information DB 16 has information on the “printing fault” of the fault type acquired at “2009/12/18 15:20:18” for the printer with the serial number “30010”, for example. The maintenance information DB 16 stores maintenance information of all printers to be managed by the management server 10 in association with the serial numbers of the printers.

  Returning to FIG. 14, the device support information acquisition unit 11 of the management server 10 according to the present embodiment adds the serial number corresponding to the search condition, the customer information, and the part information having the replacement information, and the serial number of the serial number. Printer maintenance information is acquired from the maintenance information DB 16. The display unit 12 displays a device support screen as shown in FIG. 16 on the terminal 30 based on the information acquired by the device support information acquisition unit 11.

  FIG. 16 is a diagram illustrating a device support screen in which the search condition is “Matsumoto” area, and further displaying maintenance information. In the figure, “situation” 161 represents the status of the consumables, “◯” represents that the remaining amount of consumables is sufficient, and “Δ” represents that the remaining amount of consumables is low. Based on the figure, the support engineer has a low amount of K toner in the printer with serial number “10010” of company A, and a printing failure has occurred in the printer with serial number “30010” of company B's Y office. You can grasp what you are doing.

  For example, in the same figure, a printer with a serial number “30010” of company B's Y office where the failure has occurred is selected, and the search address has an installation address within a range of 10 kilometers from the installation address of the printer. It is specified. Next, a process for displaying device support information based on the search condition will be described. The process flow is the same as the flowcharts of FIGS.

  In the present embodiment, the printers having the installation address information within the 10 km range including the installation address of the printer with the serial number “30010” of Company B's Y office are the printers “10010” and “10020” of Company A, and Suppose the printer “20010” of company B X office. Therefore, the device support information acquisition unit 11 includes the printer serial numbers “10010”, “10020”, “20010”, “30010” corresponding to the search condition, and customer information “10010: Company A”, “10020: Company A”, “20010: Company B X office” and “30010: Company B Y office” are acquired from the customer information DB 13.

  Subsequently, the device support information acquisition unit 11 acquires, from the product information DB 21, part information “IC-01” that is part information of the printer corresponding to the search condition and has replacement information. Then, the display unit 12 displays a device support screen as shown in FIG. 17 on the terminal 30 based on the acquired information.

  FIG. 17 is a diagram illustrating a device support information screen in a case where it is designated as a search condition to have an installation address within a range of 10 kilometers from the installation address of the printer with the serial number “30010” of Company B's Y office. According to the figure, the support engineer has a printer of company A equipped with a replacement target part “IC-01” within 10 km from the installation address of the printer of serial number “30010” of company B's Y office. I can understand that. As a result, when the support engineer visits Company B's Y office for recovery work for the printer “30010” in which the failure has occurred, the support engineer needs the printer of Company A to mount the parts that need replacement in the vicinity. The replacement work of the part “IC-01” to be replaced can be performed.

  In the above example, the information of the printer on which the replacement target part in the vicinity of the printer in which the failure has occurred is displayed. However, replacement of consumables due to, for example, a low or insufficient amount of K toner. The information of the printer on which the parts to be replaced in the vicinity of the printer “10010” of company A that needs to be installed may be displayed.

  In this way, the customer information of the printer having the installation address information within the predetermined address range from the installation address of the printer that requires replacement of the consumables or the trouble has occurred, and the parts information having the replacement information are required. By displaying the information on the terminal 30, the support engineer grasps the customer information of the printer on which the part requiring replacement located in the vicinity of the customer who needs to visit and the part information requiring replacement. Can do.

  As a result, the support engineer can use the opportunity to perform part replacement work for printers equipped with parts that need replacement in the vicinity of the customer when the visit is required. It is possible to efficiently replace the parts to be replaced while avoiding an increase in the number of parts. In addition, the support engineer can avoid the necessity of emergency dispatch due to a failure that may occur in the future without replacing the parts requiring replacement, and the main purpose is to replace the parts requiring replacement. The number of future dispatches can also be reduced.

  Further, as described above, in the case of a service form in which the usage fee of the printer based on the billing information is collected from the customer, the support engineer needs to replace the consumables so that the consumables in the customer environment are not short. In the case of such a service form, in this embodiment, the support engineer can grasp the state of the consumables from the device support screen, and can efficiently replace the consumables, and further use the visit. Thus, it is possible to perform a part replacement operation for a printer mounted with a part requiring replacement in the vicinity of the customer, and it is possible to more efficiently perform a consumable part replacement work and a part replacement required part replacement operation.

  Similarly to the second embodiment, the urgency level may be displayed as replacement information, or the printer on which the replacement target part is mounted is displayed as an icon corresponding to the map information. May be.

  Furthermore, the management server 10 of the present embodiment further includes a replacement time predicting unit 17 (FIG. 14) for predicting the replacement time of consumables based on the maintenance information acquired from the device management apparatus 41. Good. Since the management server 10 includes the replacement time predicting unit 17, the display unit 12 can further display the predicted replacement date 162 of the consumables by the replacement time predicting unit 17 as maintenance information as shown in FIG. .

  As a result, the support engineer can detect the expected replacement date 162 of the consumables, and the printer on which the replacement expected date 162 is within a certain period, and the printer with the parts to be replaced in the vicinity of the customer. Can be grasped in advance. Thereby, the support engineer can perform the replacement work of the consumables and the replacement work of the parts requiring replacement more efficiently and systematically.

  The above embodiment has been described as the processing of each means of the management server 10 and the device management apparatus 41. The processing of these means is stored as a program on a computer-readable recording medium, and The program may be executed by a computer reading and executing the program.

10: Management server, 11: Device support information acquisition means, 12: Display means, 13: Customer information database, 14: Communication I / F, 15: Maintenance information acquisition means, 16: Maintenance information database, 17: Replacement time prediction means 20: Intranet environment, 21: Product information database 30: Terminal,
40: Printer, 41: Device management device, 42: Information acquisition means, 43: Information transmission means, 44: Controller, 45: Print engine, 46: Communication I / F

Claims (8)

A management server connected to a terminal device via a network and managing device information,
Customer information of the device is stored in association with device identification information of the device, and a customer information database accessible by the management server;
The product information database that is stored in association with the device identification information of the device in which the component information mounted on the device and the replacement information indicating that the replacement is recommended for each component is stored in association with the device identification information of the device; ,
In response to a request for device support information based on a search condition transmitted from the terminal via the network, the device identification information corresponding to the search condition and the customer information are obtained from the customer database, Device support information acquisition means for acquiring part information having the replacement information of the acquired device identification information from the product information database;
Display means for displaying on the terminal customer information acquired by the device support information acquisition means, device identification information, and part information having its replacement information;
A management server characterized by comprising: In claim 1,
The customer information includes installation address information that is an address where the device is installed,
The search condition has the installation address information within a predetermined address range,
The device support information acquisition means acquires the device identification information having the installation address within the predetermined address range and the customer information from the customer database, and the exchange required information of the acquired device identification information. A management server that acquires part information having a name from the product information database. In claim 2,
The management server further includes:
Map information is stored and has a map information database accessible by the management server;
The display means is a device that displays a map based on map information acquired from the map information database and has the installation address within the predetermined address range acquired by the device support information acquisition means. The management server characterized in that the device of part information having replacement information is imaged at a position on the map corresponding to the installation address information of the device and displayed on the terminal. In claim 2 or 3,
The management server is connected via a network to a plurality of device management apparatuses that acquire the device information,
further,
Maintenance information acquisition means for acquiring and holding the device identification information of the device and maintenance information including the use status of consumables in the device from the device management apparatus;
Replacement time prediction means for predicting the replacement time of the consumables based on the acquired maintenance information,
The search condition includes the installation address information within a predetermined address range from the installation address of the device identification information whose replacement time predicted by the replacement time prediction means is within a predetermined period. server. In claim 2 or 3,
The management server is connected via a network to a plurality of device management apparatuses that acquire the device information,
further,
Device information holding means for acquiring and holding the device identification information of the device and maintenance information including either or both of failure information and consumable usage status in the device;
The search server includes the installation address information within a predetermined address range from the installation address of the device having the failure information or the device identification information with a small remaining amount of consumables. In any one of Claims 1 thru | or 5,
The replacement required information includes urgency information indicating the urgency recommended for replacement for each of the parts,
The management server characterized in that the display means displays the exchange required information with the urgency level distinguishable. A management system in which a plurality of device management devices that acquire device information, a management server that manages the device information, and a terminal device are connected via a network,
The device management apparatus includes:
Information acquisition means for acquiring maintenance information including the usage status of consumables in the device;
Transmitting means for transmitting device identification information of the device and the maintenance information to the management server;
The management server is
Maintenance information acquisition means for acquiring and holding the device identification information and the maintenance information from the device management apparatus;
Replacement time prediction means for predicting the replacement time of the consumables based on the acquired maintenance information,
Customer information including the installed address information which is the customer information of the device and the address where the device is installed is stored in association with the device identification information of the device, and the customer information database accessible by the management server;
The product information database that is stored in association with the device identification information of the device in which the component information mounted on the device and the replacement information indicating that the replacement is recommended for each component is stored in association with the device identification information of the device; ,
The device identification information having the installation address information within a predetermined address range from the installation address of the device identification information whose replacement time predicted by the replacement time prediction means is within a predetermined period, and the customer information The device support information acquisition means for acquiring from the product information database the part information having the replacement information of the acquired device identification information and acquiring from the customer database,
Display means for displaying on the terminal customer information acquired by the device support information acquisition means, device identification information, and part information having its replacement information;
A management system comprising: A management system in which a plurality of device management devices that acquire device information, a management server that manages the device information, and a terminal device are connected via a network,
The device management apparatus includes:
Information acquisition means for acquiring maintenance information including either or both of failure information and consumable usage in the device;
Transmitting means for transmitting device identification information of the device and the maintenance information to the management server;
The management server is
Maintenance information acquisition means for acquiring and holding the device identification information and the maintenance information from the device management apparatus;
Customer information including the installed address information which is the customer information of the device and the address where the device is installed is stored in association with the device identification information of the device, and the customer information database accessible by the management server;
The product information database that is stored in association with the device identification information of the device in which the component information mounted on the device and the replacement information indicating that the replacement is recommended for each component is stored in association with the device identification information of the device; ,
The device having the failure information, or the device identification information having the installation address information within a predetermined address range from the installation address of the device identification information with a small remaining amount of consumables and the customer information are the customer. The device support information acquisition means for acquiring from the product information database the part information having the replacement information of the acquired device identification information and acquiring from the database,
Display means for displaying on the terminal customer information acquired by the device support information acquisition means, device identification information, and part information having its replacement information;
A management system comprising:

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