Process management system, method and information processing apparatus

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-12182655-B2
Application number	US-202318449101-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Aug 14, 2023
Priority date	Aug 15, 2022
Publication date	Dec 31, 2024
Grant date	Dec 31, 2024

Abstract

A process management system includes a management unit that manages section data that defines sections in a real space and process data that indicates an expected location, from among the sections, in which a management target is to be positioned at the time of completing a work process, a first wireless device that is attached to the management target and stores first identification information, at least one reading apparatus that is capable of reading identification information from a wireless device, and a determination unit that checks a location of the management target estimated based on a result of reading of the first identification information from the first wireless device against the expected location by variable granularity depending on type information associated with the management target to determine a status of the work process regarding the management target.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A process management system comprising:
a management unit configured to manage section data that defines a plurality of sections set in a real space and process data that indicates an expected location, from among the plurality of sections, in which a management target is to be positioned at a time of completing a work process that involves a movement of the management target;
a first wireless device that is attached to the management target and stores first identification information for identifying the management target;
one or more second wireless devices each of which is installed in one of the plurality of sections and stores second identification information associated with the corresponding installation section:
at least one reading apparatus that is capable of reading, from a wireless device, identification information stored in the wireless device;
an estimation unit configured to estimate a location of the management target based on a result of reading of the first identification information from the first wireless device by a first reading apparatus and a result of reading of the second identification information from the second wireless device by the first reading apparatus; and
a determination unit configured to check a location of the management target estimated by the estimation unit against the expected location to determine a status of the work process regarding the management target;
wherein the section data defines at least one first-level section set in the real space with first spatial granularity and at least one second-level section set in the at least one first-level section with second spatial granularity that is finer than the first spatial granularity, and
the determination unit is configured to check the location of the management target against the expected location by variable granularity depending on type information associated with the management target.

2. The process management system according to claim 1 , wherein the type information includes a target type that indicates a type of the management target, and
the determination unit is configured to: check a location of a first management target of which target type indicates a first type against the expected location by the first spatial granularity; and check a location of a second management target of which target type indicates a second type that is different from the first type against the expected location by the second spatial granularity.

3. The process management system according to claim 1 , wherein the type information includes a process type that indicates a type of each of the plurality of work processes associated with the management target, and
the determination unit is configured to: check a location of the management target against the expected location by the first spatial granularity in a case where the process type of a first work process out of the plurality of work processes indicates a first type; and check a location of the management target against the expected location by the second spatial granularity in a case where the process type of a second work process indicates a second type that is different from the first type.

4. The process management system according to claim 2 , wherein the determination unit is configured to determine that a work process is completed regarding a management target of which type information indicates the first type in a case where a location of the management target is equal to a first-level section corresponding to the expected location indicated by the process data or to any lower-level section that belongs to the first-level section.

5. The process management system according to claim 3 , wherein the second work process is a work process that follows the first work process.

6. The process management system according to claim 1 , wherein the estimation unit is configured to estimate positional coordinates of the location of the management target based on an amount of movement of the first reading apparatus between a time point at which the first identification information has been read from the first wireless device by the first reading apparatus and a time point at which the second identification information has been read from the second wireless device by the first reading apparatus, and
the determination unit is configured to check the location of the management target against the expected location by a level of positional coordinates in a case where the type information associated with the management target indicates a predetermined type.

7. The process management system according to claim 1 , wherein the first-level section and the second-level section correspond to any two of a site, a building, a floor, and a room.

Assignees

• Canon Kk

Inventors

• Nakajima Yuki
• Kitamura Toshifumi
• Takase Junna
• Tomioka Yasuhiro
• Shimura Yasuhiro

Classifications

• G06K19/07758

  arrangements for adhering the record carrier to further objects or living beings, functioning as an identification tag · CPC title

• G06Q50/08

  Construction · CPC title

• G06Q50/04

  Manufacturing · CPC title

• G06Q10/0875

  Itemisation or classification of parts, supplies or services, e.g. bill of materials · CPC title

• G06Q10/087

  Inventory or stock management, e.g. order filling, procurement or balancing against orders · CPC title