Xerox Corporation

Conduent Business Services, LLC

Timothy Wayne Jacobs

Jie Lin

David Snyderman

Sudhendu Rai

Eric Michael Gross

Jack Gaynor Elliot

Zhigang Fan

Sharath Srinivas

Jeffrey David Kingsley

Alvaro Enrique Gil

Yingjun Bai

Robert John Rolleston

Jan Bares

Jacques C Bertrand

Steven R Perez

George W Vianco

Raymond L Sommers

David M Korvick

John W Prebola

David T Zawadzki

Ravi Sampath

A method of defining a performance milestone track for a planned process includes: selecting a time range relating to a repeatable process to define a set of average assessment trajectories, retrieving historical data representative of assessment data for actors in conjunction with selective assessments of the actors during performances of the repeatable process. The historical data includes an assessment parameter identifying a value for the selective assessment. The method includes processing a select time portion of the historical data using a binning algorithm to assign historical data for the select time portion across quantile range bins based on select ranges of assessment parameter values for the historical data and separately processing a select actor portion of the historical data for each quantile range bin using a smoothing algorithm to form the set of average assessment trajectories for the repeatable process. A computational device for performing the method is also provided.

Method and apparatus for defining performance milestone track for planned process

A print job processing system determines a set of job size thresholds for a set of print jobs received over a period of time by a print shop. The print shop includes multiple cells. The system orders the job size thresholds from lowest to highest, assigns the lowest job size threshold to a first one of the cells, assigns the highest job size threshold to a second one of the cells, and assigns each of the remaining thresholds to the remaining cells so that each of the cells has an assigned threshold. Then, when the system receives a print job, it determines a size for the received print job, identifies which of the cells has an assigned job size threshold that corresponds to the size of the received print job, and routes the received print job to the identified cell. The identified cell may then process the received print job.

Method and system for print shop job routing

A method of assigning a job to a production device may include identifying a queue comprising a plurality of print jobs, identifying a plurality of print production devices capable of processing the plurality of print jobs, determining that one of the identified print production devices is an idle print production device, identifying a top priority print job from the queue, determining a completion time associated with processing the top priority print job by each of the identified print production devices, identifying a fastest print production device, assigning the top priority print job to the fastest print production device, determining whether the fastest print production device is the idle print production device, and in response to determining that the fastest print production device is the idle print production device, sending the top priority print job to the fastest print production device and removing the top priority print job from the queue.

Methods and systems for assigning jobs to production devices

Methods and systems of balancing job assignments to a plurality of machines are disclosed. A computing device receives multiple jobs each having a job size and determines a job order for the jobs based on each job's job size. A machine order is determined for a plurality of machines based on a setup time and a processing rate associated with each machine. The computing device assigns one or more jobs to each machine based on the job order and the machine order such that a maximum total processing time for the machines is minimized. A total processing time for each machine is determined based on the number of jobs and the cumulative job size of the jobs assigned to the machine, and the setup time and the processing time associated with the machine. The maximum total processing time is the largest of the total processing times for the machines.

Methods and systems for balancing job assignments to machines in a production environment

A method and system for managing print shop workflow determines whether variations in print shop workflow may be reduced by shifting one or more customers' scheduled orders to different time periods. By shifting an order from one time period to another, the system may reduce variability in demand levels over time, thus helping increase overall system efficiency. To do this, one or more customers are selected as candidates for print shop order rescheduling. The system identifies customer orders that, if moved to other time periods, will most reduce demand level variations. A user may accept the system's recommendations, or the system may present a user with several alternative load leveling options for selection. The system may then cause the orders to be printed based on the load leveling proposal and the user's selection.

Methods and systems for load leveling in a print shop

A print shop configuration system for obtaining a print shop configuration is provided. The system includes a print shop configuration manager for determining whether a selected relationship exists between (1), one or more sets of job requirements and at least one of a set of print processing related cells or (2) two sets of print processing related cells. A possible print shop configuration may be discarded or prioritized, based on the existence of the selected relationship.

System and method for developing a print shop configuration

A system for determining a location of stations in a cell of a job shop may include a computing device and a computer-readable storage medium in communication with the computing device. The computer-readable storage medium may include one or more programming instructions for receiving information corresponding to a workflow of a cell in a job shop. The information may include a plurality of print-related functions performable by the cell and an amount of work associated with one or more pairs of print-related functions. The computer-readable storage medium may include one or more programming instructions for identifying a plurality of stations in the cell, determining a target distance between one or more pairs of stations, generating a visual depiction of the identified stations, automatically applying the visual depiction to a floor plan, and displaying the visual depiction as applied to the floor plan to a user.

Systems and methods for determining a location of stations in a print shop

A system is provided for forming a print shop configuration with a first set of equipment, the first set of equipment being derived from a second set of equipment from a first print shop and a third set of equipment from a second print shop. The system includes a manager and application, the manager and application working together to generate a list of at least some of all possible print shop configurations that could be formed with a selected number of cells. The cells are populated with selected pieces of equipment from the second and third sets of multiple pieces of equipment. A criterion is used to select, from the list of possible print shop configurations, the print shop configuration with the first set of equipment.

A system for designing cells in a document production environment may include a computing device and a computer-readable medium in communication with the computing device, where the computer-readable medium comprises one or more programming instructions for identifying a plurality of print jobs, comprising one or more functions, where the print jobs are associated with the document production environment, generating a representation for each unique print job and creating one or more workflows. The computer-readable storage medium may also include one or more programming instructions for assigning the workflow to one of a plurality of cells, where each cell may include one or more devices, determining whether one or more of the cells is complex, and splitting at least one workflow within a complex cell.

Creating workflows for print jobs, assigning the workflows to cells of devices, and splitting the workflows within complex cells

A system for designing cells in a document production environment may include a computing device and a computer-readable medium in communication with the computing device. The computer-readable medium may include one or more programming instructions for identifying a plurality of jobs associated with the document production environment. Each job may include one or more functions. The computer-readable medium may include one or more programming instructions for generating a representation for each unique job, creating one or more workflows, assigning the workflow to one of a plurality of cells, determining whether one or more of the cells is complex, and splitting at least one workflow within a complex cell. Each cell may include one or more devices.

Creating workflows for a job shop, assigning the workflows to cells of devices, and splitting the workflows within complex cells

System and method for developing a configuration for a combination of two or more printshops

A system is provided for forming a print shop configuration with a first set of equipment, the first set of equipment being derived from a second set of equipment from a first print shop and a third set of equipment from a second print shop. The system includes a print shop configuration manager for determining whether a selected relationship exists between (1), one or more sets of job requirements and at least one of a set of print processing related cells or (2) two sets of print processing related cells. A possible print shop configuration may be discarded or prioritized, based on the existence of the selected relationship.

System and method for developing a configuration for a combination of two of more printshops

A print job is received in a complex printing environment. The print job is decomposed optimal batch sizes by into method and system processing a print job by identifying a total processing time T(b) for each of multiple batch sizes, and the total processing time for each of the batch sizes are compared to determine which of the batch sizes is optimal for the printing environment.

System and method for determining an optimal batch size for a print job

The present invention is a method for image segmentation to produce a mixed raster content (MRC) image with constant foreground layers. The invention extracts uniform text and other uniform color objects that carry detail information. The method includes four primary steps. First, the objects are extracted from the image. Next, the objects are tested for color consistency and other features to decide if they should be chosen for coding to the MRC foreground layers. The objects that are chosen are then clustered in color space. The image is finally segmented such that each foreground layer codes the objects from the same color cluster.

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Fairport, NY, United States of America

Timothy Wayne Jacobs