WO2016006002A2

WO2016006002A2 - A method and system for workflow management

Info

Publication number: WO2016006002A2
Application number: PCT/IN2015/050063
Authority: WO
Inventors: Srikant KRISHNAN; S. Narayanan; Srikrishnan P; Sakshee SHARMA
Original assignee: Dmacq Software Pvt. Ltd
Priority date: 2014-07-09
Filing date: 2015-07-09
Publication date: 2016-01-14
Also published as: WO2016006002A3

Abstract

A method and system for management of day-to-day workflow is disclosed. More particularly, the disclosure relates to seamless capture of information into a structured form by extracting data from unstructured documents. The system and method thereof disclosed herein through content data platform with user interactive features enables the user to enhance the her/his ability to directly capture data in to a structured form by extracting data from unstructured documents is in accordance to the user and/or service provider devices compatible format and to benefit across multiple platforms, thus automating workflow, document processing and minimizing manual intervention to a great extent.

Description

A METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR WORKFLOW MANAGEMENT

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to a method and system for workflow management, more particularly the invention relates to a content data platform with user interactive features to enhance the user's ability to directly capture information into a structured form by extracting data from unstructured documents.

2. Background of the Invention

Millions of documents are produced every day that are reviewed, processed, stored, audited, and transformed into computer-readable data. Examples include invoices, application forms, accounts payable, financial statements, government documents, human resource records, insurance claims, legal papers, medical records, etc. These documents mostly require data to be extracted in order to be processed. Generally, the method of performing data extraction on these documents is either manual or through automation. The manual data extraction requires the user to identify the relevant data from the document and then appropriately input it into the system using the software. As a result, the cost of data extraction is often quite high; numerous studies estimate the cost of processing invoices in excess of ten dollars each. The cost is especially high when the data extraction is performed by accountants, lawyers, physicians and other highly paid professionals as part of their work. However, the extraction of data through automation, requires the document from which the data has to be extracted into a specific format, and is not capable of extracting the data once the format of the document is changed. For the reasons stated above, which will become apparent to those skilled in the art upon reading and understanding the specification, there is a need in the art for a system and method for workflow management constituting content data platform with user interactive features to enhance the user's ability to directly capture information in to a structured form by extracting data from unstructured documents that is scalable and independent/compatible to new technology platforms, uses minimum resources that is easy and cost effectively maintained and is portable and can be deployed anywhere in very little time.

3. Summary of the Invention

In accordance with one aspect of the present invention, a method of extracting and arranging data in structured format from an electronic document is performed by selecting a category of the document, selecting a data content in the document, defining associated field of the data content in the document, and storing the data content in a Database system (505).

In another aspect, a method of capturing data content from an electronic document is performed by selecting an Entity Associated Tags (EAT), thus allowing a user to extract the document directly into an appropriate document processing system such as MIS (management Information System) process integrated with the system for further processing using associated EATs.

In another aspect, a system for document management, includes a device to obtain a document in electronic format and transmit the scanned data to a processing module comprising a memory, and a processor (502) coupled to the memory, configured to carry out the steps of: selecting a category of the document; selecting the data content in the document; defining associated field of the data content in the document; storing the data content in a Database system (505); and making available to the integrated data processing system such as MIS (Management Information System).

4. Brief Description of the Drawings

Reference will be made to embodiments of the invention, examples of which may be illustrated in the accompanying figures. These figures are intended to be illustrative, not limiting. Although the invention is generally described in the context of these embodiments, it should be understood that it is not intended to limit the scope of the invention to these particular embodiments.

Fig. 1 illustrates a flow diagram for Updating Entities in the Master data base.

Fig. 2 illustrates a flow diagram for Creating EAT's. Fig. 3 illustrates a flow diagram for Using EAT's.

Fig. 4 illustrates a flow diagram for Updating Entity's Property Values Using EAT's.

Fig. 5 illustrates a system diagram.

5. Detailed Description of the Invention

The invention described herein is directed to perform effective workflow management through content data platform with user interactive features to enhance the user's ability to directly capture information in to a structured form by extracting data and information from unstructured documents. The embodiments herein provide a method and system for workflow management through content data platform with user interactive features to enhance the user's ability to directly capture information in to a structured form by extracting data and information from unstructured documents. Further the embodiments may be easily implemented in various data and information management structures. The method of the invention may also be implemented as application performed by a stand alone or embedded system.

The invention described herein is explained using specific exemplary details for better understanding. However, the invention disclosed can be worked on by a person skilled in the art without the use of these specific details.

References in the specification to "one embodiment" or "an embodiment" means that a particular feature, structure, characteristic, or function described in connection with the embodiment is included in at least one embodiment of the invention. The appearances of the phrase "in one embodiment" in various places in the specification are not necessarily all referring to the same embodiment.

Hereinafter, the preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail. For clear description of the present invention, known constructions and functions will be omitted.

Parts of the description may be presented in terms of operations performed by a computer system, using terms such as data, state, link, fault, packet, FTP and the like, consistent with the manner commonly employed by those skilled in the art to convey the substance of their work to others skilled in the art. As is well understood by those skilled in the art, these quantities take the form of data stored/transferred in the form of electrical, magnetic, or optical signals capable of being stored, transferred, combined, and otherwise manipulated through mechanical and electrical components of the computer system; and the term computer system includes general purpose as well as special purpose data processing machines, switches, and the like, that are standalone, adjunct or embedded. According to an embodiment of the present invention, the method and system for workflow management through content data platform with user interactive features to enhance the user's ability to directly capture data in to a structured form by extracting data from unstructured documents is in accordance to the user and /or service provider devices compatible format and to benefit across multiple platforms.

As per one of the embodiment of the present invention, that the present invention may minimize manual intervention and automate text extraction from unstructured documents with the ability to directly capture data into a structured form. As per the preferred embodiment of the present invention, the system and the method thereof of will enhance the user's ability to manage and process data for workflow management and execution may be by inverse tagging. The inverse tagging for workflow automation may minimize manual intervention to may be to a great extent and may automate document processing.

As per one of the exemplary preferred embodiment of the present invention, the system comprise of a plurality of Interactive User Interface, at least one Master Database (5051 ), at least one Tags Database (5052), at least one Document Database (5053), a plurality of Electronic document generation and extraction module (506) wherein at least one Electronic document generation and extraction module (506) comprise of at least one Optical scanner module (5061 ), a Dynamic memory module (5062), at least one coder processor module (504), and at least one processor unit(501 ) wherein the processor unit(501 ) comprise of at least one RISC type processor, configuration register memory module (503). The components of the system are configured to perform the associative functionality enabling the system to execute the overall functionality, the system is configured for. As per one of the exemplary preferred embodiment of the present invention, the system and method thereof may automatically identify a plurality of entity associated tags (EAT's) in a plurality of given document. The plurality of EAT's may be constituted of a plurality of tags associated to a plurality of entity in at least one Database (505) - for example, if Customer is an entity in the Database (505), then the customer name, say, "XYZ" is a tag, and both the tag and its associated entity are called an EAT. However, the at least one entity customer may consist of a plurality of properties such as Name, Id, Address, Agreement Number and others. In a plurality of input document if the text "XYZ" were to appear, then all such occurrences may be automatically tagged with EAT's so that corresponding Customer entities values may be updated from the plurality of documents itself. The plurality of entities may have a plurality of parametric variables associated with it. The plurality of parametric variables associated with at least one entity may receive or may update their values through may be the linking of the plurality of EAT's to the respective plurality of parametric variable occurrence in the document. This may significantly improve the efficiency of data input since it is much faster to allocate values for different properties of an entity than it is to enter these values manually. As per one of the embodiment of the present invention, the method and the process may be described through Figures 1 - 4.

Figure 1 , describes the process of normal usage of the main application, wherein during the normal usage of the main application, the user creates entities that are stored in the Master Database (5051 ). These entities include all business-related entities such as Customers, Invoices, Orders, and the like. Each of these entities has several properties associated with it - for example, the properties typically associated with the Customer entity are Name, Id, Address, Agreement Number and others. During normal operation of the main application several Customer entities are created each with possibly different values for the properties.

As described in Figure 2, Entity Associated Tags (EAT's) may be created may be by the user using at least one user-interface for this purpose. An EAT may consist of at least one tuple (tag, entity) where tag may be the handle for the EAT and the entity may be the corresponding entity in the Master Database (5051 ). All EAT's may be stored in the Tags Database (5052).

As per one of the embodiment of the present invention, during normal use of the main application integrated with the EAT system, as shown in Figure 3, when at least one electronic document is input to the system, that at least one document may be first parsed for all words. Then all these words may be checked with the Tags Database (5052) to identify potential EAT matches. All matches may be highlighted in the document. When a user right-clicks a highlighted EAT, current values of all properties of that EAT from the Master Database (5051 ) will be popped and displayed, provided the property with the same name as the tag name may exist in the Master Database (5051 ). If such an entity does not exist then the popup will display nil values for all properties. The user may have the option to either create values to empty properties or modify existing values for properties. In both cases the procedure is the same as shown in Figure 4. The user may right click on a value in the document and from the popup chooses which property's value needs to be updated. All such updates may be directly stored in the Master Database (5051 ). As per one of the embodiment of the present invention, the present invention deploys a plurality of systems and methods thereof for EAT's identification in electronic document. One of the system and the method thereof to identify EAT's in a given electronic document may make use of Optical Character Recognition (OCR) technology. OCR may identify all words and their locations in the document. These words may be stored in the at least one local memory and then may be checked with the Tags Database (5052). Any matches with the Tags Database (5052) may cause that location to be highlighted. The user may right-click the highlighted location wherein upon right-clicking the highlighted location the corresponding word from the local memory may be retrieved and may be stored in the selected property in the Master Database (5051 ).

As per one of the embodiment of the present invention the system and the method thereof to implement and execute the process for creation of Entity Associated Tags (EAT's), manipulate stored EAT's for addition, deletion, and update, automatically identify all EAT's in a given electronic document, directly update all properties of a plurality of entities associated with the EAT from the document without need for manual updating, automatically associate a plurality of given document with a plurality of respective tags for later retrieval.

As per one of the embodiment of the present invention the method comprising receiving, for each electronic document of multiple electronic documents from a plurality of document generation and extraction module a plurality of first data indicative of a content pattern of the electronic document. The first data comprises a content pattern associated with the electronic document, wherein the content pattern data indicative of at least one type of the electronic document, a plurality of second data indicative of all words and their location in the document, and a plurality of third data indicative of a plurality of parametric variables associated with the electronic document; As per one of the embodiment of the present invention the method comprising storing, first data indicative of a content pattern of the electronic document of multiple electronic documents, storing second data indicative of all words and their location in the electronic document of multiple electronic documents, and storing third data indicative of a plurality of parametric variables associated with the electronic document of multiple electronic documents. A request for the for determining and recommending EATs for one or more of the multiple electronic documents is generated, wherein the request comprises the first data, second data and third data for each of the one or more of the multiple electronic documents.

The determining and recommending potential Entity Associated Tags (EAT) matches is based at least in part on the first data, the first data i.e. a type of the electronic document. For each electronic document of the multiple electronic documents, determining and recommending potential Entity Associated Tags (EAT) matches is based on at least in part on the second data. The second data content is available for identification and selection by the user through the user interface module (507). In case, the EAT matches to that of the available second data content are not available, the process allows the user to create and update EAT and update all properties of a plurality of entities associated with the at least one created EAT. The user is allowed to identify and select the potential entity associated tags. A plurality of current values of a plurality of properties associated with the selected / determined EAT of the electronic document are provided through display and popup upon identification and selection of the potential entity associated tags by the user. The processor (502) further determines an entity category associated with the data constituting the at least one electronic document, wherein the entity includes all business related entities; and a tag is determined, at least in part, based on the determined entity category associated with the data of the at least one electronic document. The processor (502) determines the EATs of the electronic document based at least in part on the first data and the third data.

The processor (502) of a processing unit (501 ) is configured to perform the determination and recommendation of EATs. The configuration register of the processing unit (501 ) provides a reduced instruction hardware configuration set to the processor (502). The configuration register module (503) receives parametric variable data through user interface module (507) from the user and generates reduced instruction hardware configuration set. The processor (502) of the processing unit (501 ) also integrates the document processing systems such as but not limited to MIS and provide the EATs and relative document in electronic format for further processing to the document processing systems such as but not limited to MIS. As per one of the embodiment of the present invention the method determine, for each of multiple words available through the content of the at least one electronic document, a degree of correspondence between an EAT with the words in the at least one electronic document and their determined locations in the at least one electronic document and rank the multiple EATs based on the determined degrees of correspondence. Further to the ranking the process performs the filtering the ranked multiple EATs to remove any multiple occurrence and least or null degrees of correspondence EATs included in the plurality of EATs determined based on the second data of the at least one electronic document. The highest ranked of the filtered EATs are identified as the determined and recommended EATs.

The data indicative of the at least one recommended EAT determined for at least one of the multiple electronic documents, is forwarded to the Database (505) for storing the electronic document and its associated entity data and tags data into respective databases.

The data is received in response to sending request. The received data is indicative of determined and recommended EATs for each of the one or more of the multiple electronic documents. The determined and recommended EATs for each of the one or more of the multiple electronic documents are available for identification and selection by the user through the user interface module (507). A plurality of current values of a plurality of properties associated with the selected / determined EAT of the electronic document are provided through display and popup upon identification and selection of the potential entity associated tags by the user. The data indicative of the at least one recommended EAT determined for at least one of the multiple electronic documents, is forwarded to the Database (505) for storing the electronic document and its associated entity data and tags data into respective databases.

As per one of the embodiment of the present invention the method determines and recommend at least one EATs, to each of the one or more of the multiple electronic documents, and allow the user to extract the electronic document directly in to the appropriate document processing system such as MIS process integrated with the system for further processing using associated EATs.

As per one of the exemplary preferred embodiment of the present invention, the system comprise of a plurality of Interactive User Interface to facilitate user to provide interactive inputs as well as provide control signals, at least one Master Database (5051 ) to store the entity data, at least one Tags Database (5052) to store the tag data, at least one Document Database (5053) to store the received electronic document as well as the parsed and processed document, a plurality of Electronic document generation and extraction module (506) wherein the at least one Electronic document generation and extraction module (506) comprise of at least one Optical scanner module (5061 ) to optically scan the hard copy of the document to receive a input document in electronic form, a Dynamic memory module (5062) to store the electronic document dynamically, at least one coder processor module (504) to receive document in various electronic format, and at least one processor unit(501 ) to control functionality of the individual modules and execute over all functionality constituting the method to obtain information in to a structured form by extracting data and information from unstructured documents wherein the processor unit(501 ) comprise of at least one RISC type processor enabling the faster execution, and configuration register memory module (503) for setting the configuration of the component of the system.

The present invention may overcome the challenges of the current scenario through the described system and method for workflow management through content data platform with user interactive features to enhance the user's ability to directly capture information in to a structured form by extracting data and information from unstructured documents.

Claims

CLAIMS:

A method of extracting and arranging data in structured format from an electronic document, comprising steps of:

selecting a category of the document;

selecting the data in the document;

defining associated field of the data in the document; and

storing the data in a Database system (505).

The method as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the category of the document comprises of sub-categories.

The method as claimed in claim 2, wherein the category of the document comprises of field based on the category.

The method as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the selecting the data comprises of pointing the data in the document.

The method as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the selecting the data comprises of highlighting the data in the document.

The method as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the defining associated field of the data comprises of:

selecting the appropriate field of the data, wherein the field list is displayed according to the selected category.

The method as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the Database system (505) is configured to store the data against the associated field.

A system for document management comprising:

a scanning device configured to: scan a document; and

transmit the scanned data to a processing module;

the processing unit (501 ), comprising a memory, and a processor coupled to the memory, configured to carry out the steps of:

(a) selecting a category of the document;

(b) selecting the data in the document;

(c) defining associated field of the data in the document; and

(d) storing the data in a Database system (505).

The system as claimed in claim 8, wherein the scanning device comprises a scanner.

10. The system as claimed in claim 8, wherein the category of the document comprises of sub-categories.

1 1 . The system as claimed in claim 10, wherein the category of the document comprises of field based on the category. 12. The system as claimed in claim 8, wherein the selecting the data comprises of pointing the data in the document.

13. The system as claimed in claim 8, wherein the selecting the data comprises of highlighting the data in the document.

14. The system as claimed in claim 8, wherein the defining associated field of the data comprises of:

15. The system as claimed in claim 8, wherein the Database system (505) is configured to store the data against the associated field.

16. A method comprising:

receiving, for each electronic document of multiple electronic documents from at least one document generation and extraction module : (i) first data indicative of a content pattern of the electronic document, (ii) second data indicative of all words and their location in the document, and (iii) third data indicative of a plurality of parametric variables associated with the electronic document;

for each electronic document of the multiple electronic documents, determining and recommending potential Entity Associated Tags (EAT) based at least in part on the first data, a type of the electronic document;

for each electronic document of the multiple electronic documents, determining and recommending potential Entity Associated Tags (EAT) matches based on at least in part on the second data content: (i) the second data content available for identification and selection by the user through the user interface module (507), (ii) if the EAT matches to that of the available second data content are not available, create and update EAT and update all properties of a plurality of entities associated with the at least one created EAT, (iii) upon identification and selection, provide through display and popup a plurality of current values of a plurality of properties associated with the determined EAT of the electronic document;

sending data indicative of: (i) the at least one recommended EAT determined for at least one of the multiple electronic documents, (ii) storing the electronic document and its associated entity data and tags data into respective databases and (iii) the at least one of the multiple electronic documents; and for each electronic document allow the user to extract the electronic document directly into an appropriate document processing system such as MIS process integrated with the system for further processing using associated EATs.

17. The method of claim 16, wherein determining and recommending the potential EATs comprises:

determining, for each of multiple words available through the content of the at least one electronic document, a degree of correspondence between an EAT with the words in the at least one electronic document and their determined locations in the at least one electronic document;

ranking the multiple EATs based on the determined degrees of correspondence;

filtering the ranked multiple EATs to remove any multiple occurrence and least or null degrees of correspondence EATs included in the plurality of EATs determined based on the second data of the at least one electronic document; and

identifying a highest ranked one of the filtered EATs as the determined and recommended EATs.

18. The method of claim 16, wherein, for at least one electronic document of the multiple electronic documents, the first data comprises a content pattern associated with the electronic document, wherein the content pattern data indicative of at least one type of the electronic document.

19. The method of claim 18, wherein determining the EATs of the electronic document comprises:

determining an entity category associated with the data constituting the at least one electronic document, wherein the entity includes all business related entities; and basing the determined tag, at least in part, on the determined entity category associated with the data of the at least one electronic document. 20. The method of claim 16, further comprising, for each electronic document of the multiple electronic documents, determining the EATs of the electronic document based at least in part on the first data and the third data. 21 . A method comprising:

storing, for each electronic document of multiple electronic documents:

(i) first data indicative of a content pattern of the electronic document,

(ii) second data indicative of all words and their location in the document, and

(iii) third data indicative of a plurality of parametric variables associated with the electronic document;

sending a request for determining and recommending EATs for one or more of the multiple electronic document s, wherein the request comprises the first data, second data and third data for each of the one or more of the multiple electronic document s;

in response to sending the request, receiving data indicative of determined and recommended EATs for each of the one or more of the multiple electronic documents, wherein the determined and recommended EATs for each of the one or more of the multiple electronic documents are :

(i) available for identification and selection by the user through the user interface module (507),

(ii) upon identification and selection, provide through display and popup a plurality of current values of a plurality of properties associated with the determined EAT of the electronic document, and

(iii) available for storing along with the electronic document and its associated entity data and tags data into respective databases; and

making at least one determination and recommendation of at least one EATs, to each of the one or more of the multiple electronic documents, and allowing the user to extract the electronic document directly in to the appropriate document processing system such as MIS process integrated with the system for further processing using associated EATs.

22. The system comprising:

at least one document generation and extraction module, configured to provide, for each electronic document of multiple electronic documents:

(i) first data indicative of a content pattern of the electronic document,

a processing unit (501 ), configured to:

determine and recommend potential Entity Associated Tags based at least in part on the first data, a type of the electronic document;

determine and recommend potential Entity Associated Tags (EAT) matches based on at least in part on the second data content:

(i) the second data content available for identification and selection by the user through the user interface module (507), (ii) if the EAT matches to that of the available second data content are not available, create and update EAT and update all properties of a plurality of entities associated with the at least one created EAT, and

(iii) upon identification and selection, provide through display and popup a plurality of current values of a plurality of properties associated with the determined EAT of the electronic document; a Database (505), configured to receive data indicative of:

(i) the at least one recommended EAT determined for at least one of the multiple electronic documents,

(ii) storing the electronic document and its associated entity data and tags data into respective databases, and

(iii) the at least one of the multiple electronic documents; and a user interface module (507), configured to allow the user to extract the electronic document directly in to the appropriate document processing system such as MIS process integrated with the system for further processing using associated EATs.