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US 11,537,962 B2Granted
Resource planning method and system
AssigneeMxi Technologies, Ltd.
InventorYui Sotozaki
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
The invention is generally related to operations support systems and more specifically, to a method of and system for managing and planning future use of resources. One embodiment of the invention comprises an operations support system which displays multiple visits across a timeline, each visits being associated with a set of resource requirements. The system tabulates, in real-time, the total level of resources required for all of the visits, for each given day, comparing these totals against nominal available resource levels. If there is a shortfall, the system displays a number associated with the short-fall, such as the number of additional technicians that would be required. This provides the user with feedback so he/she can amend visits and tasks within visits to resolve short-falls in resources.
Claims22
A resource management system comprising:
- a main server;
- multiple remote computers, each of the multiple remote computers comprising a respective display;
- and
- a communications system configured to allow said multiple remote computers to access said main server;
- wherein said main server is operable to:
- maintain a distributed operations support system at least in part by maintaining a committed schedule and data coherency between the main server and each of the multiple remote computers with respect to the committed schedule;
- record resources required for each of multiple future visits scheduled on said distributed operations support system, wherein each of said multiple future visits is mapped to a set of quantified resource requirements;
- maintain a nominal capacity value for each of the resources;
- and
- in real-time:
- present each of said multiple future visits graphically on a timeline based on a schedule for each of said multiple future visits;
- tabulate a total level of resources required collectively for all of said multiple future visits for each time period in a timeline and cause the tabulated total levels of resources to be presented on the timeline;
- determine resources for which there is a shortfall at least in part by comparing the nominal capacity value for each of the resources to tabulated levels of resources required for all of said multiple future visits over a defined time period;
- and
- cause over-capacity resource demand indicators to be presented within the timeline on the respective display of each said multiple remote computers, said over-capacity resource demand indictors identifying resources for which there is a shortfall;
- wherein each of said multiple remote computers is operable to, via a user interface provided by the main server:
- locally effect an experimental or tentative change to the distributed operations support system without committing the experimental or tentative change to the committed schedule;
- locally update said over-capacity resource demand indicators within the timeline and in real time;
- commit the experimental or tentative change by sending instructions to the main server that cause the main server to update the committed schedule accordingly;
- and
- display a lock icon that is operable to place a committed change into a locked state, thereby preventing the committed change from being erased or removed.
18 more elements
A method of resource management, comprising:
- maintaining a distributed operations support system including maintaining a committed schedule and data coherency between a main server and multiple remote computers with respect to the committed schedule, each of the multiple remote computers comprising a respective display and including a display of multiple future visits scheduled on the distributed operations support system across a timeline;
- causing a record of resources required for each of said multiple future visits to be recorded on said distributed operations support system, wherein each of said multiple future visits is mapped to a set of quantified resource requirements;
- maintaining a nominal capacity value for each of the resources;
- in real time:
- tabulating a total level of resources required for all of said multiple future visits for each time period in a timeline and causing the tabulated total levels of resources to be presented on the timeline;
- determining resources for which there is a short-fall at least in part by comparing the nominal capacity value for each of the resources to the tabulated levels of said resources required for all of said multiple future visits, on a day-by-day basis;
- and
- causing over-capacity resource demand indicators to be presented within the timeline on the respective display of at least one of said multiple remote computers, said over-capacity resource demand indicators identifying one or more resources for which there is a shortfall;
- and
- providing a user interface to the multiple remote computers, wherein the interface is configured to enable each of the multiple remote computers to:
- display the timeline on the respective display;
- locally effect an experimental or tentative change to the distributed operations support system within the timeline on the respective display and without committing the experimental or tentative change to the committed schedule;
- locally update said over-capacity resource demand indicators in real time and within the timeline on the respective display;
- commit an experimental or tentative change by causing transmission of instructions to the main server that cause the main server to update the committed schedule;
- and
- cause a lock icon to be presented on the display, wherein the lock icon is operable to place a committed change into a locked state, thereby preventing the committed change from being erased or removed.
13 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.