Computer-readable storage medium, management device, and management system for managing devices

A management device comprising:

• a communication interface configured to communicate with a plurality of devices;
• and
• a controller configured to:
• classify each of the plurality of devices into one of a plurality of groups;
• obtain usage information from each of the plurality of devices via the communication interface, the usage information including a usage-related value representing how much each of the plurality of devices has been used, the usage information including at least one selected from the group consisting of:
• a usage time indicating how long each of the plurality of devices has been used during a particular period to date;
• a count of power-on times indicating how many times each of the plurality of devices has been switched from a power-off state to a power-on state during the particular period to date;
• a count of return-from-sleep times indicating how many times each of the plurality of devices has been brought back to a normal mode from a sleep mode during the particular period to date;
• a count of cover-opened times indicating how many times covers of each of the plurality of devices has been opened during the particular period to date;
• a count of battery charging times indicating how many times a battery of each of the plurality of devices has been charged during the particular period to date;
• a consumables replacement date indicating a most recent date when a consumable item for each of a plurality of printers was replaced, where the plurality of devices are the plurality of printers;
• a count of sheet-tray-opened times indicating how many times a sheet tray of each of the plurality of printers was opened during the particular period to date;
• a remaining sheet quantity indicating a quantity of sheets remaining in each of the plurality of printers;
• a print distance indicating a length of a sheet over which images have been printed by each of the plurality of printers during the particular period to date;
• and
• a count of sheet cutting times indicating how many times a sheet has been cut by each of the plurality of printers during the particular period to date;
• calculate a reference value of the usage-related value included in the usage information for one or more devices belonging to each of the plurality of groups;
• extract one or more abnormally-used devices each of which has an abnormal usage-related value from the one or more devices belonging to each of the plurality of groups, based on the calculated reference value;
• and
• provide a notification of device-specific information for identifying the one or more abnormally-used devices extracted from the one or more devices belonging to each of the plurality of groups.

A management system comprising:

• a plurality of devices;
• and
• a management device comprising:
• a communication interface configured to communicate with the plurality of devices;
• and
• a controller configured to:
• classify each of the plurality of devices into one of a plurality of groups;
• obtain usage information from each of the plurality of devices via the communication interface, the usage information including a usage-related value representing how much each of the plurality of devices has been used, the usage information including at least one selected from the group consisting of:
• a usage time indicating how long each of the plurality of devices has been used during a particular period to date;
• a count of power-on times indicating how many times each of the plurality of devices has been switched from a power-off state to a power-on state during the particular period to date;
• a count of return-from-sleep times indicating how many times each of the plurality of devices has been brought back to a normal mode from a sleep mode during the particular period to date;
• a count of cover-opened times indicating how many times covers of each of the plurality of devices has been opened during the particular period to date;
• a count of battery charging times indicating how many times a battery of each of the plurality of devices has been charged during the particular period to date;
• a consumables replacement date indicating a most recent date when a consumable item for each of a plurality of printers was replaced, where the plurality of devices are the plurality of printers;
• a count of sheet-tray-opened times indicating how many times a sheet tray of each of the plurality of printers was opened during the particular period to date;
• a remaining sheet quantity indicating a quantity of sheets remaining in each of the plurality of printers;
• a print distance indicating a length of a sheet over which images have been printed by each of the plurality of printers during the particular period to date;
• and
• a count of sheet cutting times indicating how many times a sheet has been cut by each of the plurality of printers during the particular period to date;
• calculate a reference value of the usage-related value included in the usage information for one or more devices belonging to each of the plurality of groups;
• extract one or more abnormally-used devices each of which has an abnormal usage-related value from the one or more devices belonging to each of the plurality of groups, based on the calculated reference value;
• and
• provide a notification of device-specific information for identifying the one or more abnormally-used devices extracted from the one or more devices belonging to each of the plurality of groups.

A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium storing computer-readable instructions that are executable by a processor of a management device configured to manage a plurality of devices, the instructions being configured to, when executed by the processor, cause the management device to:

• classify each of the plurality of devices into one of a plurality of groups;
• obtain usage information representing normal operational parameters obtained during regular device operation, and not comprising malfunction or error-occurrence data from each of the plurality of devices, the usage information including a usage-related value representing how each of the plurality of devices has been used;
• calculate a reference value of the usage-related value included in the usage information for one or more devices belonging to each of the plurality of groups;
• extract one or more devices which are neither malfunctioning nor operating in error, but are deemed to have an abnormal usage with respect to other devices within a same group, based on the calculated reference value, respectively, and the usage-related value included in the usage information for the one or more devices belonging to each of the plurality of groups;
• and
• provide a notification of device-specific information for identifying the one or more devices extracted from the one or more devices belonging to each of the plurality of groups.