1. A method for facilitating collaboration between a plurality of parties, each party in the plurality of parties being a participant in a process supported by a software application, the method comprising:
receiving, from a first party in the plurality of parties, a request to initiate a collaboration session for a transaction of the process, wherein the request is submitted by the first party through a user interface of the software application, and wherein the user interface is associated with a functional step in the process;
retrieving, from the software application, first contextual information related to the transaction and second contextual information related to the process; and
initiating the collaboration session using the first contextual information and the second contextual information.
2. The method of claim 1, wherein the first contextual information related to the transaction includes information selected from a group consisting of: a current state of the transaction, and an audit history of the transaction.
3. The method of claim 1, wherein the second contextual information related to the process includes information selected from a group consisting of: a definition of the process, and a priority of the process.
4. The method of claim 1, wherein the request includes a transaction identifier, and wherein the transaction identifier is used to retrieve the first contextual information and the second contextual information.
5. The method of claim 1, wherein initiating the collaboration session using the first contextual information and the second contextual information comprises launching a collaboration application, and wherein the collaboration application provides access to at least a portion of the first contextual information and the second contextual information.
6. The method of claim 5, wherein the collaboration application is automatically selected from a plurality of collaboration applications, and wherein the selection of the collaboration application is based upon one or more of: a collaboration preference of the first party, priorities of the plurality of collaboration applications, and availabilities of participants in the collaboration session with respect to each collaboration application in the plurality of collaboration applications.
7. The method of claim 5, wherein the collaboration application is selected from a group consisting of: a video conference application, a web conference application, a telephone conference application, and an instant messaging application.
8. The method of claim 1 further comprising:
identifying, based on a first set of rules, a second party in the plurality of parties that should be included in the collaboration session; and
sending a request to the second party to join the collaboration session.
9. The method of claim 8, wherein the first set of rules are configured to take into account at least a portion of the first contextual information and the second contextual information.
10. The method of claim 9, wherein the first set of rules are further configured to take into account one or more attributes of the first or second party.
11. The method of claim 10, wherein the one or more attributes are selected from a group consisting of: an identity of the first or second party, a role of the first or second party in the business process, a skill level of the first or second party, a seniority of first or second party, an availability of the first or second party, and a collaboration preference of the first or second party.
12. The method of claim 9, wherein the first set of rules are further configured to match one or more attributes of the first and second parties.
13. The method of claim 9, wherein the first set of rules are user-customizable.
14. The method of claim 8 further comprising determining, based on a second set of rules, a priority for the request sent to the second party.
15. The method of claim 14, wherein the second set of rules are configured to take into account at least a portion of the first contextual information and the second contextual information.
16. The method of claim 15, wherein the second set of rules are further configured to take into account one or more attributes of the first or second party.
17. The method of claim 8 further comprising:
determining an availability of the second party; and
if the second party is not available, creating a collaboration invitation for the second party.
18. The method of claim 17, wherein creating a collaboration invitation comprises creating an appointment in a calendar of the second party, and wherein the appointment includes a reference to at least a portion of the first contextual information and the second contextual information.
19. The method of claim 18, wherein a duration of the appointment is automatically determined based on recorded durations of prior collaboration sessions regarding the transaction or the process.
20. The method of claim 18, wherein the appointment includes a URL link to the collaboration session.
21. The method of claim 8 further comprising:
determining an availability of the second party; and
if the second party is unavailable, creating a recorded inquiry for the second party.
22. The method of claim 1 further comprising storing an audit record of the collaboration session.
23. The method of claim 1, wherein the process is a business process, and wherein the software application is a business application.
24. A system for facilitating collaboration between a plurality of parties, each party in the plurality of parties being a participant in a process supported by a software application, the system comprising:
a collaboration repository configured to store first contextual information related to a transaction of the process and second contextual information related to the process; and
a collaboration server in communication with the collaboration repository, the collaboration server being configured to:
receive, from a first party in the plurality of parties, a request to initiate a collaboration session for the transaction, wherein the request is submitted by the first party through a user interface of the software application, and wherein the user interface is associated with a functional step in the process;
retrieve, from the software application, the first contextual information and the second contextual information; and
initiate the collaboration session using the first contextual information and the second contextual information.
25. A machine-readable medium for a computer system, the machine-readable medium having stored thereon a series of instructions which, when executed by a processing component, facilitate collaboration between a plurality of parties, each party in the plurality of parties being a participant in a process supported by a software application, by causing the processing component to:
receive, from a first party in the plurality of parties, a request to initiate a collaboration session for a transaction of the process, wherein the request is submitted by the first party through a user interface of the software application, and wherein the user interface is associated with a functional step in the process;
retrieve, from the software application, first contextual information related to the transaction and second contextual information related to the process; and
initiate the collaboration session using the first contextual information and the second contextual information.
The claims below are in addition to those above.
All refrences to claim(s) which appear below refer to the numbering after this setence.
1. A method for simulating and scheduling a batch process manufacturing facility, comprising the steps of:
selecting a sequence of unit operations, wherein each of the sequence of unit operations has an identifier code;
selecting a set of scheduling cycles for each of the sequence of unit operations;
referencing a master table using the identifier code to obtain operational parameters for each of the sequence of unit operations;
devising one or more discrete tasks for each of the sequence of unit operations;
generating a block flow diagram using the sequence of unit operations and the operational parameters; and
generating a process time line using the operational parameters, the discrete tasks, the block flow diagram, the set of scheduling cycles for each of the sequence of unit operations, wherein the process time line is used as a tool for batch processing and facility design,
wherein devising one or more discrete tasks for each of the sequence of unit operational parameters includes:
defining one or more design cycle levels that comprise one or more execution options, each of the design cycle levels are associated with one of the discrete tasks;
testing the execution options with multiple iterations whether each of the execution cycles is executed (a) only during the first iteration of a design cycle level; (b) during each iteration of a design cycle level; (c) only during intermediate iterations of a design cycle level, excluding the first and last iterations; or (d) only during the last iteration of a design cycle level; and
including or excluding an adjusted task duration for each the discrete tasks associated with each of the sequence of unit operations in the process time line depending on the results of testing the execution options.
2. The method of claim 1, wherein the batch process manufacturing facility is a biopharmaceutical batch processing facility.
3. A system for simulating and scheduling a batch process manufacturing facility, comprising:
means for selecting a sequence of unit operations, wherein each of the sequence of unit operations has an identifier code;
means for selecting a set of scheduling cycles for each of the sequence of unit operations;
means for referencing a master table using the identifier code to obtain operational parameters for each of the sequence of unit operations;
means for devising one or more discrete tasks for each of the sequence of unit operations;
means for generating a block flow diagram using the sequence of unit operations and the operational parameters; and
means for generating a process time line using the operational parameters, the discrete tasks, the block flow diagram, the set of scheduling cycles for each of the sequence of unit operations, wherein the process time line is used as a tool for batch processing and facility design, wherein the devising means includes:
means for defining one or more design cycle levels that comprise one or more execution options, each of the design cycle levels are associated with one of the discrete tasks;
means for testing the execution options with multiple iterations whether each of the execution cycles is executed (a) only during the first iteration of a design cycle level; (b) during each iteration of a design cycle level; (c) only during intermediate iterations of a design cycle level, excluding the first and last iterations; or (d) only during the last iteration of a design cycle level; and
means for adjusting a task duration for each the discrete tasks associated with each of the sequence of unit operations in the process time line depending on the results of testing the execution options.
4. The system of claim 3, wherein the batch process manufacturing facility is a biopharmaceutical batch processing facility.