| 20110213634 | SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR EFFECTIVE WORKLOAD DISTRIBUTION FOR SERVICE TECHNICIANS - 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. | 09-01-2011 |
