Matthew Robert Peters

US Patent:

20110213634, Sep 1, 2011

Filed:

Mar 1, 2011

Appl. No.:

13/038306

Inventors:

Buddy George Karakey - Scottsdale AZ, US
Weston McArtor - Cody WY, US
Gregory Scott Moseley - Milford PA, US
Matthew John Peters - Eden Prairie MN, US
Steven R. Sharkey - Overland Park KS, US

Assignee:

Business Equipment Information Services, Inc. - Cody WY

International Classification:

G06Q 10/00

US Classification:

705 714

Abstract:

Disclosed is a software/computer based system/method that optimizes assignment of a service technician's territory (i.e., geographic area assigned to a service technician to support) based on a number of factors, particularly, the number and type of serviceable units in a territory, the usage history of the serviceable units (i.e., how often units may malfunction based on volume of use), and the historical expertise and efficiency of the technician in performing various types of expected repairs. Optimization goals include assigning service territories to service technicians such that each service technician is working 40 hours (or some other hourly goal) per week with few overtime hours (i.e., upset customers waiting for service) or under time (i.e., paying for time the service technician is not working for a customer). For example, copier repair technicians may be assigned to territories depending on how well the technicians have historically performed repairs on particular copier models. If a first technician is exceptionally fast and efficient, the first technician may be assigned an effectively larger workload area (i.e., more serviceable units) than a second technician that has a more average performance record.