Michelle R Hoffine

US Patent:

8260659, Sep 4, 2012

Filed:

Nov 25, 2008

Appl. No.:

12/323462

Inventors:

Michelle R. Hoffine - Olathe KS, US
Penny M. Rogers - Lee's Summit MO, US
David R. Smith - Greenwood MO, US

Assignee:

Sprint Communications Company L.P. - Overland Park KS

International Classification:

G06Q 30/00

US Classification:

705 8, 705 7, 705 9

Abstract:

A system provides workload management for printing and inserting mail. A management component receives data that identifies available machines at multiple sites, identifies a work capacity for each machine, identifies available staff to operate the machines, and identifies an amount of pieces of mail for each cycle in a month. The management component estimates a work completion time for printing and inserting the pieces of mail into enclosures for each cycle based on the data, and compares the work completion time for each cycle to a service level agreement. The management component allocates the pieces of mail for each cycle to the machines and the staff based on the comparison, schedules downtime for the machines and the staff based on the allocation, and outputs the allocation and the downtime to a user interface to enable a management team to take a management action based on the allocation and/or the scheduled downtime.