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Business Process ModelingInformation Systems in Industry (372-1-4207 )

Arnon Sturm

The material of this presentation is adopted from various people including:Jan Mendling, Enn Õunapuu, Wil van der Aalst, Jan Recker, Michael Rosemann, Pnina Soffer,

Iris Reinhartz-Berger

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Outline

• Business Process Management (BPM)

• The notion of business process modeling

• Event-driven Process Chain (EPC)

• The notion of reference models

• Configurable EPC

• Application-based DOmain Modeling (ADOM) - EPC

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Business Process Management (BPM)

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BPM an Overview (1)

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BPM an Overview (2) Design• Process design encompasses both the identifying of

existing processes and designing the "to-be" process. Areas of focus include: representation of the process flow, the actors within it, alerts and notifications, escalations, procedures, Service Level Agreements, and task hand-over mechanisms.

Modeling• Modeling takes the theoretical design and introduces

combinations of variables, for instance changes in the cost of materials or increased rent to determine how the process might operate under different circumstances.

• It also involves running "what-if analysis" on the processes: What if I have 75% of resources to do the same task? What if I want to do the same job for 80% of the current cost?

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BPM an Overview (3)

Execution

• One way to automate processes is to develop or purchase an application that executes the required steps of the process.

Monitoring

• Monitoring encompasses the tracking of individual processes so that information on their state can be easily seen and statistics on the performance of one or more processes provided.

• The degree of monitoring depends on what information the business wants to evaluate and analyze and how business wants it to be monitored, in real-time or ad-hoc. Here, business activity monitoring(BAM) extends and expands the monitoring tools in generally provided by BPMS.

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BPM an Overview (4)

Optimization• Process optimization includes retrieving process

performance information from modeling or monitoring phase and identifying the potential or actual bottlenecks and potential rooms for cost savings or other improvements and then applying those enhancements in the design of the process thus continuing the value cycle of business process management.

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The notion of business process modeling

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Why we model?

• Describing a process• Analyzing a process• Enact a process

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What to model of a business process?

• Tasks• Coordination between tasks

– synchronization– decisions– parallel work– repetition– …

• Organizational responsibilities• Required resources• Information

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Modeling languages• Traditional process modeling languages: these languages mostly

come from the MIS tradition of information engineering and from work on business process engineering. • IDEF• Petri Nets• Event Process Chains (EPC)• Role Activity Diagrams• Resource-Event-Agent (REA)• Business Process Modeling Notation (BPMN).

• Workflow modeling languages: a workflow management system is a computer system that manages a business process by assigning activities of the process to the right resources, by “moving” work items (e.g., documents, orders, etc.) from one processing step to the next, and by tracking the progress of the process. These languages are, for the most part, formal and executable.

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Business Process Modeling Tools

Gartner: Magic Quadrant for Business Process Analysis, 2004, 04 March 2004 (http://mediaproducts.gartner.com/reprints/idsscheer/119964.html)

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Business Process Modeling Languages

Event-driven Process Chains (EPC) Petri Nets

Business Process Modeling Notation (BPMN) UML Activity Diagrams

XOR

XOR

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Event-Driven Process Chain (EPC)

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Event-Driven Process Chains (EPC’s)

• EPK (Keller, Nüttgens, Scheer 1992)

• Used in:– SAP reference models,

– SAP R/3 Business Workflow (EPC views),

– ARIS (IDS Prof. Scheer),

– LiveModel/Analyst (Intellicorp. Inc.)

• Elements:

Every function/event has max. 1 input/output arc!!

arc

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EPC (Example)

Note the multiple start and end events

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EPC (Extensions)

Executivemgmt

Materialsmgmt Sales

InventoryDisposition

RequestOffer

Customer

Requestreceived

Requestprocessed

Offerprocessing

RequestRequest

processing

Salesprocessing

Determinedelivery

date

RequestprocessingSales

Offerprocessing

CheckCredit

worthiness

Organizationalview

Data view Control view Functional view

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EPC Semantics• Functions:

activities of the business process

• Events:

pre- and post-conditions of functions

• AND split:

activates all subsequent branches

in concurrency

• OR split:

triggers one, two or up to all of multiple

subsequent branches.

• XOR split:

defines a choice to activate one of multiple

subsequent branches.

• AND join:

waits for all incoming branches to complete.

• OR join:

waits for all active branches to complete.

• XOR join:

continue when one of alternative branches

has completed.

ANDSplit

ANDJoin

XORJoin

EPCFunction

EPCEvent

Activity Pre- & Post-condition

XORSplit

ORSplit

ORJoin

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EPC Semantics: Transition Relation (1)

Cuntz, Kindler, 2004

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EPC Semantics: Transition Relation (2)

Non-local semantics

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How EPCs work (1)

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How EPCs work (2)

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How EPCs work (3)• Only if nothing can be

propagated to arc a21, c1 is

allowed to proceed.

• But if c1 is allowed to proceed,

a folder can be propagated to

a21.

• But if something can be

propagated to a21, c1 may not

proceed.

• If c1 may not proceed, nothing

can be propagated to arc a21

(see 1.)

• …

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Problems with Connector Mismatch (1)

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Problems with Connector Mismatch (2)

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Lessons LearnedUse structured blocks

Use simple loops

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The notion of reference models

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Guidelines of Modeling (GoM)1. Correctness:

relates to the mapping, capture attributes of the original correctly

2. Relevance:abstract from those aspects that are not relevant

3. Economic Efficiency:Keep an eye on the purpose of modeling task

4. Clarity:the model should be intuitive to understand for involved stakeholders

5. Comparability:Use a similar mapping for similar aspects

6. Systematic Design:define interfaces to related models

Schütte, Rotthowe: The Guidelines of Modeling - An Approach to Enhance the Quality in Information Models, 1998.

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What is a Reference Model

Reference models of business processes aim to provide generic knowledge in order to assist process design in specific enterprises.

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Reuse processes in reference models: Reuse by adoption

• A detailed model to be adopted as is.

• Strengths:– Simple reuse process.

• Weaknesses:– Lack of flexibility.

– Modifications of the model are not supported.

– Optionality specification.

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Reuse processes in reference models: Reuse by assembly

• A set of detailed model parts to be consolidated.

• Strengths:– Moderately simple reuse process.

– Some flexibility due to choice of model parts.

• Weaknesses:– Modifications of the model parts are not

supported.

– Consolidation verification support is required.

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Reuse processes in reference models: Reuse by specialization

• Model at a high abstraction level as a basis for creating a specific detailed model.

• Strengths:– Flexibility – The reuse process does not

impose a detailed solution.– Enables reuse by analogy across domains.

• Weaknesses:– The reuse process is not structured nor

supported.

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Reuse processes in reference models: Reuse by customization

• A detailed model explicitly specifying configuration possibilities and dependencies. This specification guides the selection of possible options.

• Strengths:– Flexibility.– Reuse process guided and supported by the model.

• Weaknesses:– Mainly applicable if attached to a specific enterprise

system, which constrains the configuration possibilities.

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Real World EPC Process Models

• SAP Reference ModelKeller & Teufel: SAP R/3 Process-oriented Implementation, 1998.

• Handels-H-ModellBecker & Schütte: Handelsinformationssysteme, 2nd Edition, 2006.

• Y-CIM-Modell für die ProduktionScheer: Wirtschaftsinformatik – Referenzmodelle fürindustrielle Geschäftsprozesse, 7th Edition, 1997.

• ARIS Platform 7.0 by IDS Scheer AG: http://www.ids-scheer.de/

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The SAP Reference Model

• About 10,000 information models

• 5 Hierarchy Levels

• 29 Branches

• Various model types: data, organization, processes, etc.

• 604 EPC business process models

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An EPC from the SAP Reference Model

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Configurable EPC

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From Reference Model to Instantiation

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From Reference Model to Instantiation

• The main goal of C-EPC is to be able to specify that a concrete EPC is an acceptable configuration or not.

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C-EPC ExampleConfigurable EPC Configured C-EPC

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Configuration Language (1)

• Configurable function– on

– off

– opt

• Configurable connector

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Configuration Language (2)

• Requirements and guidelines are logical expressions where the atomic statements bind the configurable nodes to concrete values.

• Requirements can be considered as hard constraints.

• Guidelines can be considerd as soft constraints.

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Three steps to arrive at minimal model

Goal: Calculate Process Graph that is minimal for configured C-EPC

• Derive Configured Connectors

• Derive Configured Functions

• Apply Graph Reduction to Process Graph

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Derive Configured Connectors

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Derive Configured Functions

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Reduce Graph

anyE

PC

1a

nyE

PC

2

an

yE

PC

1a

nyE

PC

2

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Example of a C-Function in a Sequence

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Workflow Patterns (1)

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Workflow Patterns (2)

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Workflow Patterns (3)

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Workflow Patterns (4)

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Application-based DOmain Modeling (ADOM) - EPC

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Application-based Domain Modeling (ADOM)

• Three layered architecture: application, domain, and language. – Application layer – models of particular enterprises– Domain layer – reference model– Language layer – meta-models of modeling

languages (UML, EPC, BPMN…)• Language independent .• Constraints enforced between the layers:

– Domain –> application– Language –> domain, application

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Utilizing ADOM for reference models

Domain Layer

Language Layer

Chocolate

Manufacturer

Computer

StoreSoftware

Development

Sell

Products

Buy Raw

Materials

EPC

Application Layer

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Definitions (1)• Definition 0: A model M is a set of elements.

• Definition 1(a): A relational element re is a binary directional relationship between two other elements. A relational element is usually represented by a meta-class in the language layer.

• Definition 1(b): A non-relational element is an element that cannot be expressed as a relational one.

• Definition 2 (a): A dependent element d in model M is an element whose existence in the model depends on at least one element d' in model M.

• Definition 2 (b): dependee group

• Definition 2 (c): dependency function

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Definitions (2)• Definition 3: A first order element in model M is a

named non-relational element which is not dependent in model M.

• Definition 4: A reference model RM in ADOM is a triple (ERM, MULT, mi) such that ERM is a set of model elements, MULT⊆N×(N∪{n}) is a set of multiplicity pairs, and mi:ERM→MULT is a mapping. The elements in ERM are termed reference model elements and the elements in MULT are termed multiplicity indicators.

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Definitions (3)• Definition 5: A business process model BP is a triple

(EBP, C, cl) such that EBP is a set of model elements, C is a set of model elements such that there exists a reference model RM=(ERM, MULT, mi), C⊆ERM∪{null}, and cl:EBP→C is a mapping. The elements in EBP are termed business process elements and the elements in C–{null} are termed reference model classifiers.

• Definition 6: A path• Definition 7 (a): A split logical element is a mutual

source of two or more paths.• Definition 7 (b): A join logical element is a mutual

destination of two or more paths.

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Definitions (4)• Definition 7(c): A logical element is a non-relational

element which can be a split logical element or a join logical element. The role of a logical element is respectively split or join.

• Definition 8: A type of a logical element (IE) may be AND, OR, or XOR, implying the logical relations between its paths.

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Instantiation (1)

• First order element instantiation

<1, *>

A

<1, *>

B

<1, *>

<0, *>

D

<1, *>

F

<0, *>

V

<0, 1>

C

<1, 1>

E

<1, 1>

<0, *>

<1, *><1, *>

V<0, *>

<0, *>

<0, *>

<1, 1>

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Instantiation (2)

• Dependent element instantiation

<1, *>

A

<1, *>

B

<1, *>

<0, *>

D

<1, *>

F

<0, *>

V

<0, 1>

C

<1, 1>

E

<1, 1>

<0, *>

<1, *><1, *>

V<0, *>

<0, *>

<0, *>

<1, 1>

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Instantiation (3)

• Relational element instantiation

<1, *>

A

<1, *>

B

<1, *>

<0, *>

D

<1, *>

F

<0, *>

V

<0, 1>

C

<1, 1>

E

<1, 1>

<0, *>

<1, *><1, *>

V<0, *>

<0, *>

<0, *>

<1, 1>

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Instantiation (4)

• Logical element instantiation

<1, *>

A

<1, *>

B

<1, *>

<0, *>

D

<1, *>

F

<0, *>

V

<0, 1>

C

<1, 1>

E

<1, 1>

<0, *>

<1, *><1, *>

V<0, *>

<0, *>

<0, *>

<1, 1>

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Instantiation (5)<0, *>

Customer Order

Received

<0, 1>

Quote Activity

<0, *>

Customer Request for

Quote Activity

<1, 1>

<1, 1>

Quote Activity

Completed

<1, 1>

<1, *>

<1, *>

Insert Order

<0, *>

<1, *>

Order Inserted

<1, *>

<0, *>

Validate

Configuration

<1, *>

Configuration Validated

<0, *><1, *>

<1, *>

Sell Process

Failed

XOR <1, 1><0, *><1, 1>

<0, *>

Salesperson Initiative for

Quote Activity

<0, *>

Request For

Proposal Exists

<1, *>

<1, *>

<1, *>

<1, *>

V<0, *>

V

<0, 1>

Check

Customer

Credit

<1, 1>

Customer Credit

Validated

<1, 1>

<0, *>

<1, *><1, *>

V<0, *>

<0, *>

<0, *>

<1, 1>

<1, *>

Check

Availability

<1, 1>

All Resources

Available

<1, *>

V

<0, 1>

<1, 1>

<1, *>

Delivery

<0, *>

<1, *>

Payment

<0, *>

<1, 1>

Delivery

Handled

<1, 1>

Payment

Handled

<1, *> <1, *>

V

<1, 1>

Close Sell

<0, 1> <0, 1>

<0, 1>

<1, 1>

<1, 1>

Sell Process

Completed

Successfully

<1, 1>

XOR <1, 1><1, 1>

<1, *>

Some

Resources are

not Available

<0, *>

Reference Model

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Instantiation (6)

Business Process Model

<Customer Order

Received>

Phone Call Received

<Insert Order>

Order Chocolate

by Phone

<Order Inserted>

<Check

Availability>

Check Chocolate

& Packages

Availability

<All Resources

Available>

Chocolate &

Packages Available

V

<Delivery>

Local Delivery

<Payment>

Issue Invoice &

Receive

Payment

<Delivery

Handled>

<Payment

Handled>

V

<Close Sell>

<Sell Process

Completed

Successfully>

<Customer Order

Received>

Fax Received

<Insert Order>

Order Chocolate

by Fax

<Customer Order

Received>

Internet Form

Received

<Insert Order>

Order Chocolate

Via Internet

XOR

Check Required

Transport

Conditions

XOR

Local

Shipment

Export

ShipmentOwn Shipment

XOR

<Delivery>

Export

Delivery

<Delivery>

Delivery by

Customer

<Customer

Credit

Validated>

<Check

Customer

Credit>

XOR

<Some Resources

are not Available>

Chocolate is

Available, but

Packages are not

Wait for

PackagesXOR

<Some Resources

are not Available>

Chocolate is not

Available

Cancel Order

<Sell Process

Failed>

Due to lack of

Required Chocolate

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Validation (1)

The validation in ADOM-EPC is performed in three stages:

• Reduction

• Unification

• Matching

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Validation (2)

Reduction

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Validation (3)

Unification