Management apparatus, management system, and management method

A management system, comprising:

• a plurality of image forming apparatuses;
• and
• a management apparatus connected to the image forming apparatuses with a network, wherein
• each of the image forming apparatuses includes a transmitter that transmits a plurality of pieces of status data based on control system data for stabilizing image forming to the management apparatus, and
• the management apparatus includes:
• a receiver that receives the pieces of status data;
• an inference unit that determines abnormality occurrence symptom of each of the plurality of image forming apparatuses based on the pieces of received status data, and calculates a symptom determination index value representing an index of the abnormality occurrence symptom of each of the image forming apparatuses;
• a replacement part information acquisition unit that acquires, when receiving a diagnosis request from a terminal of a maintenance person maintaining the image forming apparatus, replacement part information including a replacement date of each of the image forming apparatuses from a maintenance management system connected to the network;
• a judgment table generator that calculates weight information with respect to the symptom determination index value based on the acquired replacement part information;
• a integrated diagnostic information generator that calculates integrated diagnostic value information for each of the image forming apparatuses based on the symptom determination index value and the weight information;
• and
• a integrated diagnostic information notification unit that transmits the integrated diagnostic value information to the terminal of the maintenance person.

A management method performed by a management apparatus, the method comprising:

• receiving a plurality of pieces of status data based on control system data for stabilizing image forming from an image forming apparatus forming an image by a plurality of image forming units operating in conjunction with each other through a network with which the image forming apparatus is connected;
• determining abnormality occurrence symptom of each of the image forming units based on the pieces of received status data, and calculating a symptom determination index value representing an index of the abnormality occurrence symptom of each of the image forming units;
• acquiring, when receiving a diagnosis request from a terminal of a maintenance person maintaining the image forming apparatus, replacement part information including a replacement date of the image forming unit from a maintenance management system connected to a network;
• calculating weight information with respect to the symptom determination index value based on the acquired replacement part information;
• calculating integrated diagnostic value information for each image forming unit based on the symptom determination index value and the weight information;
• and
• transmitting the integrated diagnostic value information to the terminal of the maintenance person.