Abstract:
A system for viewing and managing work flow. The system includes at least one processor and memory configured to track time requirements for each of a plurality of jobs, compile and display the time requirements relative to current time in a plurality of managerial-level views, and in each view, indicate status of the jobs relative to the time requirements.

Description:
FIELD 
       [0001]    The present disclosure relates generally to workflow management and more particularly to a visibility and workflow management tool that uses current and historical data to predict work. 
       BACKGROUND 
       [0002]    The statements in this section merely provide background information related to the present disclosure and may not constitute prior art. In a large enterprise, it can be difficult to comprehend and manage in a timely manner the volume of work and different types of jobs that may be requested of large numbers of people and various work groups. 
       SUMMARY 
       [0003]    The present disclosure, in one implementation, is directed to a system for viewing and managing work flow. The system includes at least one processor and memory configured to track time requirements for each of a plurality of jobs, compile and display the time requirements relative to current time in a plurality of managerial-level views, and in each view, indicate status of the jobs relative to the time requirements. 
         [0004]    Further areas of applicability will become apparent from the description provided herein. It should be understood that the description and specific examples are intended for purposes of illustration only and are not intended to limit the scope of the present disclosure. 
     
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         [0005]    The drawings described herein are for illustration purposes only and are not intended to limit the scope of the present disclosure in any way. 
           [0006]      FIG. 1  is a diagrammatic view of enterprise operations using a visibility tool in accordance with one implementation of the disclosure; 
           [0007]      FIG. 2  is a view of a record including data descriptive of a job request and job resolution in accordance with one implementation of the disclosure; 
           [0008]      FIG. 3  is a view of a record including data descriptive of employee shift data in accordance with one implementation of the disclosure; 
           [0009]      FIG. 4  is a view of a record including data descriptive of employee staffing in accordance with one implementation of the disclosure; 
           [0010]      FIGS. 5-8  are views of hourly job data in accordance with one implementation of the disclosure; 
           [0011]      FIG. 9  is a director-level view of data in accordance with one implementation of the disclosure; 
           [0012]      FIG. 10  is a second-level manager view of data in accordance with one implementation of the disclosure; 
           [0013]      FIG. 11  is a first-level manager view of data in accordance with one implementation of the disclosure; 
           [0014]      FIG. 12  is a group-leader view of data in accordance with one implementation of the disclosure; 
           [0015]      FIG. 13  is a multi-group view in accordance with one implementation of the disclosure; 
           [0016]      FIGS. 14 and 15  are customer job status views in accordance with one implementation of the disclosure; and 
           [0017]      FIGS. 16-18  are seating chart views in accordance with one implementation of the disclosure. 
       
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
       [0018]    The following description is merely exemplary in nature and is not intended to limit the present disclosure, application, or uses. In a large enterprise, when customers request work to be performed, it is highly desirable to know whom to best assign the work to, both individually and by group, and to be able to respond accurately to customers&#39; inquiries, e.g., by providing an overall status of workload and due time. Various implementations of the present disclosure provide management personnel with a tool that enables them to quickly and accurately respond to the numerous inquiries typically made by customers of a large enterprise. Staff and management can understand how work is being allocated and/or completed in real time. Various implementations of the present disclosure make it possible for staff and management to know, e.g., which individuals or groups are busy and which are idle and can take on more workload. 
         [0019]    A view of enterprise operations in which a visibility tool is used in accordance with one implementation of the disclosure is indicated generally in  FIG. 1  by reference number  20 . In the present example, the enterprise manufactures and services aircraft for a plurality of airlines and other customers. It should be noted, however, that the disclosure is not so limited. The disclosure may be implemented in relation to many different types of businesses and in relation to many different arrangements of employees and work assignments. 
         [0020]    In enterprise operations  20 , a service engineer can have responsibility for a plurality of job assignments. A work assignment typically comes from one of two sources. A job may be assigned reactive to a customer service request, or assigned pro-actively by in-house management. A customer service request  24  typically is made by a customer, and/or by staff of an operations center  28 , through a communications system  32 . In performing a job of a particular type, a service engineer may communicate with and/or be subject to constraints through one of a plurality of activity interface or systems  36 A- 36   g . For example, service bulletins may be logged in the system  36   a , and structural repair manual activity may be performed with reference to a structural repair manual interface  36   f . In such an enterprise, assignment of work and oversight of work assignments can be complex. 
         [0021]    In one configuration, a visibility and workflow management tool  44  uses historical data to predict work based, e.g., on time of day, day of week, and/or week of year. Such information may be used to determine the workflow status for individual groups, based on current and projected manpower. The tool  44  provides a graphic means of showing which groups need help, which are available to help and where work and manpower need to be directed. The tool  44  can be used to allow an organization with remote groups to see and assign a work project fluidly to a person, or group, who is available to work on the project without significantly impacting group performance as a whole. The tool  44  can determine how complete each of a plurality of jobs is, the complexity of each job, and remaining time available for completing the job. It can be determined, for example, whether a job is at risk or on track or if a person is able to take on more work. 
         [0022]    A job may be requested and tracked, e.g., using a record indicated generally by reference number  100  in  FIG. 2 . Information from the record  100 , including a job description  104 , job type  108 , and due date  112 , is input to the visibility tool  44 . The record  100  may be updated as the job progresses. Employee shift data, as shown in  FIG. 3 , and staffing data, as shown in  FIG. 4 , also are input to the visibility tool  44 . 
         [0023]    For work requests for which a response time is defined to the hour, jobs may be displayed in a viewer window indicated generally in  FIG. 5  by reference number  200 . The window  200  can be used to provide a graphical representation of current jobs for one or more specified job types  204 , when the jobs are due, what aircraft type(s) they are for, and whether a job has been assigned to anyone for work. The window  200  allows a person assigning work to assess which jobs should obtain a high priority and to forecast short term staffing requirements. 
         [0024]    Aircraft model types are displayed along a vertical axis  208  and hours remaining are displayed along a horizontal axis  212 . Jobs are located on the screen  200  depending on the associated model type, time due and job status. Such information is provided real time, i.e., markers  216  indicating jobs are moved in real time toward (and perhaps past) a vertical “now line”  220 . Jobs are coded by color, e.g., a green marker  216  indicates a job that is assigned, is being worked on, and has more than 30 minutes until its due time. Any of the markers  216  can be selected by a user to display a window that provides pertinent information for the job. 
         [0025]    Referring to  FIG. 6 , when a job has less than 30 minutes remaining until its due time, its marker color changes to yellow. When a job is out of time or late, its marker color is red. When a new job appears that is not assigned to anyone, its marker color is white. Of course, colors referred to in the disclosure are only exemplary, and other colors and/or marker types could be used. Additionally, it should be understood that different numbers and kinds of job types, and/or different time parameters, could be provided for in other implementations. As shown in  FIG. 6 , when a “Late List button”  224  is selected, a list  228  of all currently late jobs is displayed. 
         [0026]    Referring to  FIG. 7 , when a “Res. Load” button  232  is selected, a list  236  of all assigned jobs is shown, e.g., with details such as employee name and service request number for each job. Referring to  FIG. 8 , when an “Outage” button  240  is selected, system outages are displayed, thereby allowing a user to show how current due times may relate to an outage of a given system. A user may then reschedule work to account for the system outage. 
         [0027]    Various levels of viewing workflow and workflow-related information may be provided based, e.g., on a viewer&#39;s management level. For example, dependent on an employee&#39;s position, the employee may use the tool  44  to view an amount of work assigned to himself or herself, to a lead group, to a first-level manager group, to a second-level manager group, and/or to a director level. Status of a job may be shown, e.g., based on a current amount of work to be completed, number of available people, due time of the job, complexity of the job, and amount of time an individual has remaining on shift. 
         [0028]    A director-level view is indicated generally in  FIG. 9  by reference number  300 . The view  300  displays job status for each of four second-level managers  304  who report to the director for whom the view  300  is configured. Jobs are indicated by job type  308  and also as to whether they are late  312 , due the current day  316 , and whether they are due for each of the next seven days  320 . By selecting a second-level manager  304  in the view  300 , a director may cause a view to be displayed as shown in  FIG. 10 . A second-level manager view is indicated generally in  FIG. 10  by reference number  350 . The view  350  displays job status for each of two first-level managers  354  who report to the second-level manager for whom the view  350  is configured. 
         [0029]    By selecting a first-level manager  354  in the view  350 , a director (or second-level manager viewing the view  350 ) may cause a view to be displayed as shown in  FIG. 11 . A first-level manager view is indicated generally in  FIG. 11  by reference number  400 . The view  400  displays job status for each of three group leaders  404  who report to the first-level manager for whom the view  400  is configured. 
         [0030]    By selecting a group leader  404  in the view  400 , a director (or second- or first-level manager viewing the view  400 ) may cause a view to be displayed as shown in  FIG. 12 . A lead view is indicated generally in  FIG. 12  by reference number  450 . The view  450  displays job status for each of twelve persons  454  in a group who report to the group leader for whom the view  450  is configured. A job may be assigned a severity level based on predefined criteria to determine a projected elapsed time for that job. Severity levels may change automatically based on actual values of completed jobs. Based on an amount of work that is due for a given group, considered together with a number of people available and remaining time, a “defense readiness condition”-type indication may be displayed, e.g., using red, yellow and green to indicate status, when individuals, lead groups, first-level managers and/or second-level manager are in need of help, or if they are able to provide help to other groups. Thus, for example, as shown in the lead view  450 , the status of a lead group is indicated by displaying, by individual, all jobs that are assigned to the group. 
         [0031]    A multi-group view is indicated generally in  FIG. 13  by reference number  500 . The view  500  shows work assigned to each group  504 . Currently existing capacity for work by a group is indicated by a line  508  for each group. Information in the view  500  thus may be used manually and/or automatically to reallocate work among groups to even out work assignments. 
         [0032]    In some implementations and as shown in the Figures, color may be used to indicate status in the following manner. Status of an upper managerial level is based on a combination of lower-level management status for each day. Manager level colors for each day are determined by the sum of messages on individual days at the group leader level. Any day with late jobs is shown as red. If a manager has more than one red day, the color is red. If a manager has one red day, but demand does not exceed capacity by more than 20% overall, status is yellow. If a manager has more than one yellow day, the color is yellow. If a manager has one yellow day, but demand does not exceed capacity by more than 20%, overall status is green. Lead level colors for each day are determined by the individual days on the lead level chart. Any late jobs are shown as red. If a lead has more than one red day, the color is red. If a lead has one red day, but demand does not exceed capacity by more than 20%, overall status is yellow. If a lead has more than one yellow day, the color is yellow. If a lead has one yellow day, but demand does not exceed capacity by more than 20%, overall status is green. The color level of the first-level manager is determined by the color of the leads. 
         [0033]    Jobs that are late are automatically red. Jobs that have more than one due date change are automatically red. Jobs that have one due date change are automatically yellow. If someone is not set to “in” and has jobs due that day, they are automatically red. If someone is not “due” on a certain day and jobs are due that day, they are automatically red. If a person&#39;s work load for one day exceeds the average by 10%, they are yellow. If a person&#39;s work load for one day exceeds the average by 20%, they are red. If a day has more than two yellow people, the group is yellow. If a day has more than two red people, the group is red. It should be noted generally that the foregoing status indications are exemplary, and that other or additional ways of indicating jobs and timing could be used. 
         [0034]    A view displaying job status for a customer is indicated generally in  FIG. 14  by reference number  550 . The view  550  displays the status of jobs for a customer  554 , by tail number along a vertical axis  558  and time along a horizontal axis  562 . An outlined block  566  indicates an asset need date. Typically and as in the foregoing views, selection of a displayed element causes information underlying the data shown in the selected element to be displayed, e.g., as shown in  FIG. 15 . A view of information pertaining to one of the tail numbers is indicated generally in  FIG. 15  by reference number  600 . 
         [0035]    Referring to  FIG. 1 , in the present exemplary implementation, the operations center  28  is staffed 24 hours per day with multiple shifts and different people sharing different desks at various times. Thus the desk location of a particular staff person at a particular time is generally unpredictable. Accordingly, a seating chart view is provided as indicated generally in  FIG. 16  by reference number  650 . The seating chart  650  provides a graphical representation of the seating positions of individuals and shows how much work is assigned to each individual. The view  650  shows whether a particular job is being completed inside the local area, or whether it has been sourced out. Each job may be indicated as previously described, i.e., by red, yellow, green and white markers  654 . The view  650  shows the seating for a main center  28  and the metrics along the view top  658  are for the main center  28 . A view indicated generally in  FIG. 17  by reference number  700  shows seating and job allocation at two separate satellite locations  704 . Each group can see the work allocation of other centers. Each location has its own metrics along the top  708  of the screen. As shown in  FIG. 18 , each of the job markers on the seating charts  150  and  700  can be selected to bring up a window  750  that provides pertinent information for the selected job. 
         [0036]    The foregoing system allows an enterprise to manage work and employees, to ensure that optimal workloads are directed to work locations that can produce the work when needed. Customers can benefit when they receive responses to their requests in a timely manner. 
         [0037]    While various embodiments have been described, those skilled in the art will recognize modifications or variations which might be made without departing from the present disclosure. The examples illustrate the various embodiments and are not intended to limit the present disclosure. Therefore, the description and claims should be interpreted liberally with only such limitation as is necessary in view of the pertinent prior art.