Business Process Modeling Approaches Research Articles

A Petri Net Approach for Business Process Modeling and Simulation

A business process is a set of activities executed in a specific sequence involving various actors. This relationship between actors, activities, and sequence is crucial for achieving the goals and objectives of organizations. Business process modeling involves determining the actors, activities, and execution sequence necessary to accomplish the organization’s objectives, permitting analysis of the overall process in order to identify and rectify potential failures, improve operations, or eliminate activities that do not generate value. In this study, Petri nets have been selected as the modeling tool due to their ability to provide graphical and mathematical representations of business processes, which offers a significant advantage over other tools. The objective of this research is to develop a BP modeling algorithm using Petri nets. It aims to simulate the behavior of each activity within a case study in which the mathematical representation of Petri nets is utilized to measure process performance. Additionally, a software artifact is created to assess the algorithm’s functionality and compare the performance of two different business process that share the same goal.

Artificial Intelligence Applied to a First Screening of Naevoid Melanoma: A New Use of Fast Random Forest Algorithm in Dermatopathology.

Malignant melanoma (MM) is the "great mime" of dermatopathology, and it can present such rare variants that even the most experienced pathologist might miss or misdiagnose them. Naevoid melanoma (NM), which accounts for about 1% of all MM cases, is a constant challenge, and when it is not diagnosed in a timely manner, it can even lead to death. In recent years, artificial intelligence has revolutionised much of what has been achieved in the biomedical field, and what once seemed distant is now almost incorporated into the diagnostic therapeutic flow chart. In this paper, we present the results of a machine learning approach that applies a fast random forest (FRF) algorithm to a cohort of naevoid melanomas in an attempt to understand if and how this approach could be incorporated into the business process modelling and notation (BPMN) approach. The FRF algorithm provides an innovative approach to formulating a clinical protocol oriented toward reducing the risk of NM misdiagnosis. The work provides the methodology to integrate FRF into a mapped clinical process.

Bridging the gap between business process and simulation: transformation from BPMN to DEVS

Organizations are constantly looking for ways to improve the performance of their business processes (BPs) by making them more understandable, coordinated, streamlined, and effective. As a result, stakeholders are invited to take part in BP's management and improvement projects, which make use of modeling and simulation technologies. The influence of resources (human, monetary, ...) and their allocation in a business process has a significant impact on the simulation results, thus they must be portrayed accurately from the analysts’ standpoint. By offering concepts, methodologies, and tools that combine business process modeling and simulation, this study bridges the gap between the two worlds. This paper presents perspectives on a metamodel-based transformation approach for Business Process Modeling and Notation (BPMN) models extended with Business Process Simulation Interchange Standard (BPSIM) into Discrete Event System Specification (DEVS) simulation models with an emphasis on resource allocation.

Advanced Control Systems in Industry 5.0 Enabling Process Mining.

This paper merges new research topics in Industry 5.0 using the Business Process Modeling and Notation (BPMN) approach able to integrate Artificial Intelligence (AI) in production processes. The goal is to provide an innovative approach to model production management in industry, adopting a new "proof of concept" of advanced Process Mining (PM) automatizing decisions and optimizing machine setting and maintenance interventions. Advanced electronic sensing and actuation systems, integrating supervised and unsupervised AI algorithms, are embedded in the PM model as theoretical process workflows suggested by a Decision Support System (DSS) engine enabling an intelligent decision-making procedure. The paper discusses, as examples, two theoretical models applied to specific industry sectors, such as food processing and energy production. The proposed work provides important elements of engineering management related to the digitalization of production process matching with automated control systems setting production parameters, thus enabling the self-adapting of product quality supervision and production efficiency in modern industrial systems.

An intuitive Architecture for DIY IoT Application Composition as Business Process Model

Internet of Things (IoT) and the related technologies have changed the users’ perspective of remote service utilization. Internet of Things is a network of billions of smart and connected devices, which expose their functionality in the form of sensing or actuation services. Currently, applications utilize those services to cater to the user’s needs. However, a user’s requirements are always changing which cannot be efficiently fulfilled by the domain specific applications. We propose the idea of using Business Process Modeling approach in order to enable the user to model their required processes based on the atomic services exposed by IoT devices. The approach requires no programming skills on behalf of the users so it can be used as a Do-It-Yourself (DIY) tool for the creation of IoT based processes. This article presents the architecture and detailed design of the proposed system.

Actor-oriented approach for business-process management of analytical system development

This paper aims at investigating the feasibility of an actor-oriented approach for modelling analytical systems development business processes. The study analyzes existing management challenges of analytical systems development processes, identifies key business process modeling approaches, and proposes a modeling approach based on actor-oriented approach with high flexibility and enhanced control over business artifacts. The article also describes examples of possible applications of this approach in a business process management tool.

Analysis of the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on the drinking milk supply chain in Austria by means of a business process modelling and System Dynamics approach

Abstract Dairy farming is an important branch of agricultural production for the supply of the Austrian population with domestic food. This paper examines the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the Austrian drinking milk supply chain. For this purpose, a tripartite approach was chosen consisting of a process description using Business Process Model and Notation (BPMN), a qualitative System Dynamics analysis with a Causal Loop Diagram (CLD), and the use case of the COVID-19 pandemic in the year 2020 in Austria. The results show that the drinking milk supply chain is complex and consists of many individual process steps. However, the number of locations that are passed through during drinking milk production is rather small. The CLD revealed that reinforcing feedback loops occur in the provision of packaging material and the availability of dairy staff. Analysis of the use case showed that the system of dairy production in Austria is stable in the tested scenario, and that the supply chains preserved their function also during the pandemic. Dairies with diverse product ranges were able to react more easily to the massively changed demand situation. The insights gained by this research may be used to increase the resilience of the drinking milk supply chain. Furthermore, the methodological approach can be transferred and used to analyse the supply chains of other foods.

Enhancing Business Process Modeling with Context and Ontology

Business process is a sequence of events and tasks that encompass actions and people. Therefore, a company that pays much attention to its business processes has to clearly identify and define the procedures of their relations. However, with the exponential evolution in ubiquitous computing, the exploitation of information spread all over different devices has become essential to further improve business processes. Hence, in this paper we present a new approach for business process modeling that is based on context-awareness and ontology. We propose a set of meta-model for the elements that we find very important, taking into account the context and, in modeling, the business process. To validate our approach, we propose a concrete case study about transport system to provide a proof of the applicability as well as the utility of the model.

Process Innovation and Improvement Using Business Object-Oriented Process Modelling (BOOPM) Framework

In the past decades, a number of methodologies have been proposed to innovate and improve business processes that play an important role in enhancing the operational efficiency of an organisation in order to attain business competitiveness. Traditional business process modelling (BPM) approaches are process-centric and focus on the workflow, ignoring the data modelling aspects that are essential for today’s data-centric landscape of modern businesses. Hence, a majority of BPM initiatives have failed in several organisations due to the lack of data-driven insights into their business performance. On the other hand, the information systems of today focus more on dataflows using object-oriented modelling (OOM) approaches. Even standard OOM approaches, such as unified modelling language (UML) methods, exhibit inherent weaknesses due to their lack of formalized innovation with business objects and the dynamic control-flows of complex business processes. In addition to these issues, both BPM and OOM approaches have been augmented with an array of complex software tools and techniques which have confused businesses. There is a lack of a common generalized framework that integrates the well-formalised control-flow based BPM approach and the dataflow based OOM approach that is suitable for today’s enterprise systems in order to support organisations to achieve successful business process improvements. This paper takes a modest step to fill this gap. We propose a framework using a structured six-step business process modelling (BPM) guideline combined with a business object-oriented methodology (BOOM) in a unique and practical way that could be adopted for improving an organisation’s process efficiency and business performance in contemporary enterprise systems. Our proposed business object-oriented process modelling (BOOPM) framework is applied to a business case study in order to demonstrate the practical implementation and process efficiency improvements that can be achieved in enterprise systems using such a structured and integrated approach.

An approach for Business Process Improvement Based on Simulation Technique

Business Process Management (BPM) is an approach used to manage business processes (BP) by facilitating the modeling, the execution as well as the improvement of a BP. It is considered as the most appropriate approach to continuously improving a process. In literature, the improvement phase is essentially based on the simulation technique where the majority of the defined works focus on improving BP models by proposing an approach for business process modeling and simulation. However, there is a lack of research studies that provide an approach for BP improvement based on simulation at both design-time and run-time. We propose in this paper an enhanced improvement approach based on simulation. The main contribution aims at integrating simulation model into BPM model, in order to promote the continuous improvement of a BP. The proposed model has been tested on a healthcare process model where we used simulation to define a set of improvement on the studied process model.

Enhancing the partner selection process in a Sustainable Partner Network

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to introduce how to describe in a unified way the business models of different sectors companies based on VAC/EPC notations, and to contribute to the lean based partner selection mechanism for sustainable partner network. Design/methodology/approach: The authors introduce the unified business process modelling approach for collaborative companies modelling, which supports the lean based sustainable partner selection. Where lean correspond to the characteristics of cheap (cost effective), better (lower risk) and fast (less time).Findings: The authors defend that appropriate partner selection is a vital success factor in any collaboration. Existing supplier (partner selection) tools do not include the unified approach for business processes modelling of partners organisations and do not apply the lean principles for sustainable partner selection. Existing collaborative networks such as conventional supply chains spend considerable time and money to search for suitable partners, decrease the number of successful initiation of a project and completed collaborative projects.Research limitations/implications: The authors have designed a unified methodology for the business process modelling of manufacturing and machinery sectors companies applied for the formation of a sustainable partner network. After implementation, the solution applies the lean based approach for partner selection, to decrease the time and cost spend with simultaneous improvement of collaborative project sustainability. Nevertheless, the proposed approach is adaptable to other fields.Practical implications: To evaluate the achieved results the authors have performed the simulation study of Sustainable Partner Network (SPN) formation followed by partner’s selection that supports lean principles. The paper includes a feasibility case study for the approval of findings, where twenty-seven small and medium enterprises (SMEs) from the manufacturing and logistics fields collaborate to achieve a common goal. The time required for collaborative partner selection in the conventional supply chain is compared to the partner selection in Sustainable Partner Network was found to less.Originality/value: The main idea is to collect information about the available resources of SMEs into a new temporary entity and to utilise those resources for the realisation of the tasks of a particularly large project while meeting customer expectations. This work also suggests a methodology for faster business process modelling and evaluation (assessment) based on lean principles for a particular business process. Partners can use the SPN resources with the attributes of fast, cheap and less risk. The suggested solution enables to select the most reliable partners and contributes to the improvement of collaborative networks sustainability.

Smart Process Optimization and Adaptive Execution with Semantic Services in Cloud Manufacturing †

A new requirement for the manufacturing companies in Industry 4.0 is to be flexible with respect to changes in demands, requiring them to react rapidly and efficiently on the production capacities. Together with the trend to use Service-Oriented Architectures (SOA), this requirement induces a need for agile collaboration among supply chain partners, but also between different divisions or branches of the same company. In order to address this collaboration challenge, we propose a novel pragmatic approach for the process analysis, implementation and execution. This is achieved through sets of semantic annotations of business process models encoded into BPMN 2.0 extensions. Building blocks for such manufacturing processes are the individual available services, which are also semantically annotated according to the Everything-as-a-Service (XaaS) principles and stored into a common marketplace. The optimization of such manufacturing processes combines pattern-based semantic composition of services with their non-functional aspects. This is achieved by means of Quality-of-Service (QoS)-based Constraint Optimization Problem (COP) solving, resulting in an automatic implementation of service-based manufacturing processes. The produced solution is mapped back to the BPMN 2.0 standard formalism by means of the introduced extension elements, fully detailing the enactable optimal process service plan produced. This approach allows enacting a process instance, using just-in-time service leasing, allocation of resources and dynamic replanning in the case of failures. This proposition provides the best compromise between external visibility, control and flexibility. In this way, it provides an optimal approach for business process models’ implementation, with a full service-oriented taste, by implementing user-defined QoS metrics, just-in-time execution and basic dynamic repairing capabilities. This paper presents the described approach and the technical architecture and depicts one initial industrial application in the manufacturing domain of aluminum forging for bicycle hull body forming, where the advantages stemming from the main capabilities of this approach are sketched.

The process of outpatient care of children and adolescents in a tertiary‐level hospital specializing in pediatrics: A case study focused on identifying opportunities for improvement with the aid of modeling using BPMN

IntroductionBusiness process management has gained importance in organizations for providing improved productivity and cost reduction, with process modeling being the central role. Usually, with reduced resources, the health area can benefit from good management of its processes.ObjectiveTo identify proposals for improvements in the process of outpatient care of children and adolescents in a tertiary‐level—the most specialized and complex—pediatric hospital.MethodsA bibliographic survey on the subject and a case study with in loco observation of the processes with semistructured interviews with the professionals involved were carried out. Alpha Hospital was chosen for this study, and the modeling of the process was performed using Business Process Model and Notation.ResultsTwelve relevant articles were identified. The “AS‐IS” model of the process was obtained as a result and presents the existing 4 subprocesses (patient reception, preconsultation, consultation, and postconsultation). Specifically, the following improvement opportunities were identified: (a) process monitoring through indicators; (b) adequacy of the information system; (c) creation of service evaluation mechanisms; and (d) definition and application of training sessions for whenever a new professional begins working in a specific sector. The problem with the waiting time for patient care was also identified, but with no obvious solution; further studies should be carried to solve the problem.ConclusionThe use of the business process modeling approach and process analysis allowed the hospital team awareness of the process and the identification of an improved set that can be helpful to Alpha Hospital or be used by other hospitals.

A hybrid approach for aspect‐oriented business process modeling

AbstractSeparation of concerns has long been an important strategy to deal with complexity when developing a system. Some concerns (like security) are scattered through the whole system, and different modules are tangled to such concerns. These concerns are known as cross‐cutting concerns. When the system in question is a business process, cross‐cutting concerns are aimed at being encapsulated by Aspect‐Oriented Business Process Modeling. However, the state‐of‐the‐art techniques in this field lack efficient mechanisms that (1) support composition of cross‐cutting concerns that can be defined in parallel to (a part of) a process model and (2) enable specifying both mandatory and optional cross‐cutting concerns. To address these limitations, this paper proposes a new Aspect‐Oriented Business Process Modeling approach. The approach is hybrid since it is based on declarative rules to relate imperative cross‐cutting concerns and imperative business process models. The approach is explained, formally grounded with precise semantics, and used accordingly to implement the artifacts that support modeling and enactment of business processes in the proposed fashion as a proof of concept. In addition, the approach is evaluated on the basis of the Technology Acceptance Model during a workshop session. The result shows that participants perceived the approach usable and easy to use.

An Effective Practical Approach for Business Process Modeling and Simulation in Service Industries

Business process modeling and simulation is a new quantitative approach to model, analyze and improve the efficiency and effectiveness of business processes in a structured manner. Since there is a lack of practical framework or process to provide sequential steps of process simulation in a more comprehensive and structured way, this paper develops a new standard and practical process for effective process simulation in service industries, proposing different modelling and analytical approaches and discussing the methods that can be utilized in each step. This model has been implemented in several business areas in a large financial institution with exceptional results of cost saving and process improvement.

Gerenciamento de processos de negócio em biblioteca pública

Este trabalho traz um estudo da Divisão de Tratamento Técnico da Informação do Sistema Integrado de Bibliotecas do Município de São Carlos (SIBI/SC). O objetivo é mapear os processos do setor de processamento técnico do material bibliográfico do sistema, desde sua aquisição até sua disponibilização para o usuário. Para isto, fez uso da modelagem de processos de negócios. A metodologia empregada foi a pesquisa-ação e bibliográfica. Como resultado do mapeamento foram identificados pontos críticos e propostas soluções, visando a melhoria dos serviços prestados no Sistema Integrado de Bibliotecas do Município de São Carlos.Abstract: This paper presents a study from Division of Information Technical Treatment belonging to the Library Integrated System of São Carlos City (SIBI-SC). Technical Treatment is responsible for receiving works, classification and indexing, tipping, availability on the collection and inventory of all library materials of system integrators libraries. The aim is to map the processes from division of technical treatment of the system, since its acquisition to its availability to the user. For such, the study applied the business process modeling approach. The methodological procedures used in the research include action research and bibliographic research. The result of mapping identified critical points for which solutions were proposed, aiming to improve the services provided by the system.Keywords: Library. BPM. Business processes management. Public management. Process integration. Process mapping.Resumen: En este trabajo se presenta un estudio de la División de Tratamiento Técnico de Información del Sistema Integrado de Biblioteca en São Carlos / SP (SIBI-SC). Tratamiento Técnico se encarga de recibir las obras, la clasificación y la indexación, la propina, disponible en los activos e inventario de todos los materiales de la biblioteca de las bibliotecas integradores de sistemas. El objetivo es mapear los procesos de división de tratamiento técnico de sistema, desde la adquisición hasta su disponibilidad para el usuario. Para ello, hemos hecho uso de la gestión de procesos de negocio. La metodología utilizada fue la investigación-acción y la literatura. Como resultado de la cartografía de los puntos críticos y las soluciones propuestas fueron identificadas, destinada a mejorar los servicios prestados por el sistema.Palabras clave: Biblioteca. BPM. Gestión de procesos de negocio. Gestión pública. Integración de procesos. Mapeo de procesos.

Automating correctness verification of artifact-centric business process models

ContextThe artifact-centric methodology has emerged as a new paradigm to support business process management over the last few years. This way, business processes are described from the point of view of the artifacts that are manipulated during the process. ObjectiveOne of the research challenges in this area is the verification of the correctness of this kind of business process models where the model is formed of various artifacts that interact among them. MethodIn this paper, we propose a fully automated approach for verifying correctness of artifact-centric business process models, taking into account that the state (lifecycle) and the values of each artifact (numerical data described by pre and postconditions) influence in the values and the state of the others. The lifecycles of the artifacts and the numerical data managed are modeled by using the Constraint Programming paradigm, an Artificial Intelligence technique. ResultsTwo correctness notions for artifact-centric business process models are distinguished (reachability and weak termination), and novel verification algorithms are developed to check them. The algorithms are complete: neither false positives nor false negatives are generated. Moreover, the algorithms offer precise diagnosis of the detected errors, indicating the execution causing the error where the lifecycle gets stuck. ConclusionTo the best of our knowledge, this paper presents the first verification approach for artifact-centric business process models that integrates pre and postconditions, which define the behavior of the services, and numerical data verification when the model is formed of more than one artifact. The approach can detect errors not detectable with other approaches.

A novel secure business process modeling approach and its impact on business performance

The existing information system (IS) development methods do not meet the requirements to resolve security-related IS problems and they fail to provide for the successful integration of security and systems engineering during all development process stages. Security should be considered during the whole software development process and the requirements specifications should be identified. This paper aims to propose an integrated security and IS engineering approach in all software development process stages by using the i* language. The proposed framework is divided into three separate parts: modeling the business environment, modeling the information technology system and modeling IS security. A mobile phone order management process in a telecommunication company is used as a case study to validate the proposed framework. An empirical analysis based on data from 130 business and IT managers is used to evaluate and investigate if it has an impact on business process performance. The results were subjected to reliability and validity analyses. Bivariate correlation analysis was used to test four hypotheses. The results show that considering security IS goals in the whole system development process can have a positive influence on system implementation, better meet business expectations and positively impact on business process performance.

Reengineering business processes to improve an integrated industrial roundwood and energywood procurement chain

Procurement systems and supply chains for industrial-scale forest fuel recovery are still immature. Business process improvement techniques can significantly improve system performance. The present study applies business process modeling and reengineering approaches to an integrated industrial roundwood and energywood supply chain in Germany. The existing business process was reengineered. A new business process for integrated industrial roundwood and energywood procurement and two new business processes for future biomass procurement operations were designed using proven best practices. The improvement potential of the new business processes was investigated by determining the organizational and managerial workload of all actors using discrete-event simulation. The results of the discrete-event simulation were then used as a basis for a comprehensive cost calculation. Finally, the cost-saving potential relative to the current practice was determined. The redesign of the current business process provides a cost-saving potential of 20–39% (–2.64 to –5.25 USD/m3). The first biomass procurement process involves a saving potential of 12–53% (–1.60 to –7.20 USD/m3), while the second might even increase the costs by 13% if the probability of failures is high. With decreasing probability of failures, the costs can decrease by up to 32% (+1.76 to –4.27 USD/m3). The study demonstrates that simple and low-cost measures can improve business processes in forest supply chains and achieve considerable cost savings.

Evaluating RFID opportunity through process analysis

Current literature agrees that one of the main results obtained by adopting RFID lies in an improved efficiency increase in material handling operations, especially regarding reductions in the time required to perform certain procedural steps. However, by evaluating only the advantages that can be easily quantified and definitely achieved may lead to limited results. This paper presents a business case of a large European Consumer Packaged Goods (FMCG) company in the cosmetics and beauty sector. Eleven processes in receiving, handling, storage and delivery procedures in one of the main distribution centres of the company were analysed and modelled using a detailed Business Process Modelling (BPM) approach. Since savings were evaluated only in terms of the reduction of resources used - achieved through process acceleration - despite the company dealing in huge volumes of high-margin products, the feasibility study turned out to be negative. Thus, the paper concludes with a brief discussion of how companies should take on this challenge if process timing benefits are insufficient. The detailed process analysis reported in this paper may be useful for operation practitioners or any manufacturing company or distribution centre about to start an as-is versus to-be comparison of their material handling procedures for RFID implementation.