Business Process Model And Notation Research Articles

Automatic Decomposition of IoT Aware Business Processes – a Pattern Approach

The automatic decomposition of Internet of Things (IoT) aware business processes aims at transferring business logic to IoT devices, in order to reduce both the exchanged messages and the battery usage of such devices. Existing approaches are concerned with block structured processes or ignore data flow dependencies, which cannot be easily applied to processes modelled using the Business Process Model and Notation (BPMN). In this paper, we extend our previous proposal by generalizing the patterns we use to identify the parts of the BPMN processes that IoT devices can execute, and to define the decomposition transformation, assuring that decomposed models maintain the flow dependencies of their original counterparts. This generalization allows for the application of the patterns in more situations than our previous work, further reducing the number of exchanged messages and increasing battery lifespan.

Application of Genetic Algorithms for Finding Edit Distance between Process Models

Finding graph-edit distance (graph similarity) is an important task in many computer science areas, such as image analysis, machine learning, chemicalinformatics. Recently, with the development of process mining techniques, it became important to adapt and apply existing graph analysis methods to examine process models (annotated graphs) discovered from event data. In particular, finding graph-edit distance techniques can be used to reveal patterns (subprocesses), compare discovered process models. As it was shown experimentally and theoretically justified, exact methods for finding graph-edit distances between discovered process models (and graphs in general) are computationally expensive and can be applied to small models only. In this paper, we present and assess accuracy and performance characteristics of an inexact genetic algorithm applied to find distances between process models discovered from event logs. In particular, we find distances between BPMN (Business Process Model and Notation) models discovered from event logs by using different process discovery algorithms. We show that the genetic algorithm allows us to dramatically reduce the time of comparison and produces results which are close to the optimal solutions (minimal graph edit distances calculated by the exact search algorithm).

Development of a model for the dynamic formation of supplier networks

Abstract A company's performance depends on its ability to maintain effective and efficient relationships with suppliers and customers, by quickly sharing and disseminating information. Therefore, the Extended Enterprise needs to be dynamically formed to be agile and adaptable. The current research intends to present a solution for the dynamic composition of the extended enterprise, formed to take advantage of market opportunities quickly and efficiently. An information model has been elaborated based on the Supply Chain Operations Reference (SCOR) model, with the ultimate purpose of negotiating participation of companies in the dynamic establishment of a network for responding to a given demand for developing and manufacturing products. A protocol model, inspired in Open System Interconnection, has been elaborated with reference to the information model. A process model has been implemented according to the Business Process Model and Notation (BPMN) standard, in the form of a web-based application. An application example related to the oil and gas industry is used for demonstrating the solution concept.

Semantic composition of optimal process service plans in manufacturing with ODERU

PurposeThe need to flexibly react to changing demands and to cost-efficiently manage customized production even for lot size of one requires a dynamic and holistic integration of service-based processes within and across enterprises of the value chain. In this context, this paper aims at presenting ODERU, the authors’ novel pragmatic approach for automatically implementing service-based manufacturing processes at design and runtime within a cloud-based elastic manufacturing platform.Design/methodology/approachODERU relies on a set of semantic annotations of business process models encoded into an extension of the business process model and notation (BPMN) 2.0 standard. Leveraging the paradigms of semantic SOA and XaaS, ODERU integrates pattern-based semantic composition of process service plans with QoS-based optimization based on multi-objective constraint optimization problem solving.FindingsThe successful validation of ODERU in two industrial use cases for maintenance process optimization and automotive production in the European project CREMA revealed its usefulness for service-based process optimization in general and for significant cost reductions in maintenance in particular.Originality/valueODERU provides a pragmatic and flexible solution to optimal service composition with the following three main advantages: full integration of semantic service selection and composition with QoS-based optimization; executability of the generated optimal process service plans by an execution environment as they include service assignments, data flow (variable bindings) and optimal variable assignments; and support of fast replanning in a single model and plan.

Energy Management in Industry: An Enterprise Engineering Approach

Companies have needs and experience new opportunities to build their structure and align organizational process to achieve energy management with higher priority facing economic and environmental issues. The objective of this paper is to present the design and modeling of the Energy Management System (EnMS) in energy-intensive industries in an enterprise engineering approach, according to the management discipline called Business Process Management (BPM). The design of the process is based on the ISO 50001 standard and in good practices cited in the scientific literature. The methodology is characterized as basic, experimental, qualitative, and oriented according to the BPM development cycle. The process design created in the “should be” format presents a framework based on the Plan, Do, Check and Act (PDCA) cycle. The process is described in a necessary and sufficient way, arranging activities, actors and roles to establish an energy management process. The key process model of the energy review was developed in the Business Process Model and Notation (BPMN). The design and modeling allows to: analyze the EnMS as a process for understanding the activities; assist decision making; automate processes; enable collaboration; allow alignment of the process with the strategy; support the change and assisting with the evaluation of the organizational potential to implement the EnMS.

Discovering high-level BPMN process models from event data

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to demonstrate that process mining techniques can help to discover process models from event logs, using conventional high-level process modeling languages, such as Business Process Model and Notation (BPMN), leveraging their representational bias.Design/methodology/approachThe integrated discovery approach presented in this work is aimed to mine: control, data and resource perspectives within one process diagram, and, if possible, construct a hierarchy of subprocesses improving the model readability. The proposed approach is defined as a sequence of steps, performed to discover a model, containing various perspectives and presenting a holistic view of a process. This approach was implemented within an open-source process mining framework called ProM and proved its applicability for the analysis of real-life event logs.FindingsThis paper shows that the proposed integrated approach can be applied to real-life event logs of information systems from different domains. The multi-perspective process diagrams obtained within the approach are of good quality and better than models discovered using a technique that does not consider hierarchy. Moreover, due to the decomposition methods applied, the proposed approach can deal with large event logs, which cannot be handled by methods that do not use decomposition.Originality/valueThe paper consolidates various process mining techniques, which were never integrated before and presents a novel approach for the discovery of multi-perspective hierarchical BPMN models. This approach bridges the gap between well-known process mining techniques and a wide range of BPMN-complaint tools.

Analysis Service Engineering Development Lifecycle: an Object-Oriented Approach

Service Engineering (SE) is defined as a set of activities introducing a new business service. An object-oriented methodology is defined as principles and procedures to develop object-oriented software. This paper proposes an object-oriented methodology embedded SE framework in re-defining business service as a service-oriented application with detail implementation by using Activities and Artifacts. The proposed model for SE lifecycle consists of Process, Notation, and Tools modeled by utilizing Unified Process (UP), Business Process Model and Notation (BPMN), a programming language that supports the Business Process Management System (BPMS). In this research, the explanation is organized into three parts: (1) the brief review of the existing SE framework, (2) the elaboration of the proposed model, and (3) the detail of the SE lifecycle model with survey results from case studies. The framework is proposed to help practitioners and researchers to conduct service-oriented application by employing principles and methodology offered by the object-oriented approach.

A BPMN Based Notation for the Representation of Workflows in Hospital Protocols.

Flowcharts used for hospital protocols have a series of ambiguities and limitations in order to express some types of information. In this article, a notation proposal for flowcharts that partially avoids these problems is presented. This new notation is an adaptation of BPMNE2, an extension of the Business Process Model and Notation (BPMN), which allows direct modelling of procedures that follow the Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points (HACCP) model. The new notation has been validated in the hospital context, specifically in the field of hazardous drugs (HDs). To measure usability from the perspective of the health staff and auditors, the System Usability Scale (SUS) was used. A total of 47 experts took part in the assessment, resulting in a SUS score of 71, that corresponds to an acceptable level of usability. The feedback provided by these participants allows us to discover benefits and drawbacks of the proposal. Also, it is noteworthy that 76.6% of professionals prefer to migrate to the new notation from the ISO 5807:1985 notation, the most commonly used model. In addition to the direct benefits of this notation from the human point of view, its machine-understandable nature provides the required support for its integration into software tools for intelligent monitoring and auditing.

Full Meta Object profiling for flexible geoprocessing workflows

AbstractThe design and running of complex geoprocessing workflows is an increasingly common geospatial modelling and analysis task. The Business Process Model and Notation (BPMN) standard, which provides a graphical representation of a workflow, allows stakeholders to discuss the scientific conceptual approach behind this modelling while also defining a machine‐readable encoding in XML. Previous research has enabled the orchestration of Open Geospatial Consortium Web Processing Services (WPS) with a BPMN workflow engine. However, the need for direct access to predefined data inputs and outputs results in a lack of flexibility during composition of the workflow and of efficiency during execution. This article develops metadata profiling approaches, described as two possible configurations, which enable workflow management at the meta‐level through a coupling with a metadata catalogue. Specifically, a WPS profile and a BPMN profile are developed and tested using open‐source components to achieve this coupling. A case study in the context of an event mapping task applied within a big data framework and based on analysis of the Global Database of Event Language and Tone database illustrates the two different architectures.

Towards semantically-aided domain specific business process modeling

PurposeDomain-specific process modeling has been proposed in the literature as a solution to several problems in business process management. The problems arise when using only the generic Business Process Model and Notation (BPMN) standard for modeling. This language includes domain ambiguity and difficult long-term model evolution. Domain-specific modeling involves developing concept definitions, domain-specific processes and eventually industry-standard BPMN models. This entails a multi-layered modeling approach, where any of these artifacts can be modified by various stakeholders and changes done by one person may influence models used by others. There is therefore a need for tool support to keep track of changes done and their potential impacts. The paper aims to discuss these issues.Design/methodology/approachThe authors use a multi-context systems-based approach to infer the impacts that changes may cause in the models; and alsothe authors incrementally map components of business process models to ontologies.FindingsAdvantages of the framework include: identifying conflicts/inconsistencies across different business modeling layers; expressing rich information on the relations between two layers; calculating the impact of changes taking place in one layer to the rest of the layers; and selecting incrementally the most appropriate semantic models on which the transformations can be based.Research limitations/implicationsThe authors consider this work as one of the foundational bricks that will enable further advances toward the governance of multi-layer business process modeling systems. Extensive usability tests would enable to further confirm the findings of the paper.Practical implicationsThe approach described here should improve the maintainability, reuse and clarity of business process models and in extension improve data governance in large organizations. The approaches described here should improve the maintainability, reuse and clarity of business process models. This can improve data governance in large organizations and for large collections of processes by aiding various stakeholders to understand problems with process evolutions, changes and inconsistencies with business goals.Originality/valueThis paper fulfills an identified gap to enabling semantically aided domain–specific process modeling.

IManageMyHealth and iSupportMyPatients: mobile decision support and health management apps for cancer patients and their doctors.

Clinical decision support systems can play a crucial role in healthcare delivery as they promise to improve health outcomes and patient safety, reduce medical errors and costs and contribute to patient satisfaction. Used in an optimal way, they increase the quality of healthcare by proposing the right information and intervention to the right person at the right time in the healthcare delivery process.This paper reports on a specific approach to integrated clinical decision support and patient guidance in the cancer domain as proposed by the H2020 iManageCancer project. This project aims at facilitating efficient self-management and management of cancer according to the latest available clinical knowledge and the local healthcare delivery model, supporting patients and their healthcare providers in making informed decisions on treatment choices and in managing the side effects of their therapy. The iManageCancer platform is a comprehensive platform of interconnected mobile tools to empower cancer patients and to support them in the management of their disease in collaboration with their doctors. The backbone of the iManageCancer platform comprises a personal health record and the central decision support unit (CDSU). The latter offers dedicated services to the end users in combination with the apps iManageMyHealth and iSupportMyPatients. The CDSU itself is composed of the so-called Care Flow Engine (CFE) and the model repository framework (MRF). The CFE executes personalised and workflow oriented formal disease management diagrams (Care Flows). In decision points of such a Care Flow, rules that operate on actual health information of the patient decide on the treatment path that the system follows. Alternatively, the system can also invoke a predictive model of the MRF to proceed with the best treatment path in the diagram. Care Flow diagrams are designed by clinical experts with a specific graphical tool that also deploys these diagrams as executable workflows in the CFE following the Business Process Model and Notation (BPMN) standard. They are exposed as services that patients or their doctors can use in their apps in order to manage certain aspects of the cancer disease like pain, fatigue or the monitoring of chemotherapies at home. The mHealth platform for cancer patients is currently being assessed in clinical pilots in Italy and Germany and in several end-user workshops.

Verification of Model Transformations Using Isabelle/HOL and Scala

Model transformations have proved to be powerful in the development of critical systems. According to their intents, they have been used in many domains such as models refinement, simulation, and domain semantics. The formal methods have been successful in the verification and validation of critical systems, and in particular, in the formalization of UML, BPMN, and AADL. However, little research has been done on verifying the transformation itself. In this paper, we extend our previous work using Isabelle/HOL that transforms UML State Machine Diagrams (SMD) to Colored Petri nets (CPN) models and proves that certain structural properties of this transformation are correct. For example, the structural property: “for each final state of a SMD model a corresponding place in CPN model should be generated by the transformation” is described and checked using Isabelle/HOL as invariant property. In the current work, we use Scala as environment of executing Isabelle/HOL specifications and we perform the verified transformation using Scala. Moreover, we demonstrate our approach using another case study of transforming BPMN (Business Process Model and Notation) models into Petri nets models and verify the correctness of certain structural properties of this transformation.

Classification of processes involved in sharing individual participant data from clinical trials.

Background: In recent years, a cultural change in the handling of research data has resulted in the promotion of a culture of openness and an increased sharing of data. In the area of clinical trials, sharing of individual participant data involves a complex set of processes and the interaction of many actors and actions. Individual services and tools to support data sharing are becoming available, but what is missing is a detailed, structured and comprehensive list of processes and subprocesses involved and the tools and services needed. Methods: Principles and recommendations from a published consensus document on data sharing were analysed in detail by a small expert group. Processes and subprocesses involved in data sharing were identified and linked to actors and possible supporting services and tools. Definitions adapted from the business process model and notation (BPMN) were applied in the analysis. Results: A detailed and comprehensive tabulation of individual processes and subprocesses involved in data sharing, structured according to 9 main processes, is provided. Possible tools and services to support these processes are identified and grouped according to the major type of support. Conclusions: The identification of the individual processes and subprocesses and supporting tools and services, is a first step towards development of a generic framework or architecture for the sharing of data from clinical trials. Such a framework is needed to provide an overview of how the various actors, research processes and services could interact to form a sustainable system for data sharing.

Classification of processes involved in sharing individual participant data from clinical trials

Background: In recent years, a cultural change in the handling of research data has resulted in the promotion of a culture of openness and an increased sharing of data. In the area of clinical trials, sharing of individual participant data involves a complex set of processes and the interaction of many actors and actions. Individual services and tools to support data sharing are becoming available, but what is missing is a detailed, structured and comprehensive list of processes and subprocesses involved and the tools and services needed. Methods: Principles and recommendations from a published consensus document on data sharing were analysed in detail by a small expert group. Processes and subprocesses involved in data sharing were identified and linked to actors and possible supporting services and tools. Definitions adapted from the business process model and notation (BPMN) were applied in the analysis. Results: A detailed and comprehensive tabulation of individual processes and subprocesses involved in data sharing, structured according to 9 main processes, is provided. Possible tools and services to support these processes are identified and grouped according to the major type of support. Conclusions: The identification of the individual processes and subprocesses and supporting tools and services, is a first step towards development of a generic framework or architecture for the sharing of data from clinical trials. Such a framework is needed to provide an overview of how the various actors, research processes and services could interact to form a sustainable system for data sharing.

Maximizing control flow concurrency in BPMN workflow models through syntactic means

PurposeConcurrency is a desirable property that enhances workflow efficiency. The purpose of this paper is to propose six polynomial-time algorithms that collectively maximize control flow concurrency for Business Process Model and Notation (BPMN) workflow models. The proposed algorithms perform model-level transformations on a BPMN model during the design phase of the model, thereby improving the workflow model’s execution efficiency.Design/methodology/approachThe approach is similar to source code optimization, which solely works with syntactic means. The first step makes implicit synchronizations of interdependent concurrent control flows explicit by adding parallel gateways. After that, every control flow can proceed asynchronously. The next step then generates an equivalent sequence of execution hierarchies for every control flow such that they collectively provide maximum concurrency for the control flow. As a whole, the proposed algorithms add a valuable feature to a BPMN modeling tool to maximize control flow concurrency.FindingsIn addition, this paper introduces the concept of control flow independence, which is a user-determined semantic property of BPMN models that cannot be obtained by any syntactic means. But, if control flow independence holds in a BPMN model, the model’s determinism is guaranteed. As a result, the proposed algorithms output a model that can be proved to be equivalent to the original model.Originality/valueThis paper adds value to BPMN modeling tools by providing polynomial-time algorithms that collectively maximize control flow concurrency in a BPMN model during the design phase of the model. As a result, the model’s execution efficiency will increase. Similar to source code optimization, these algorithms perform model-level transformations on a BPMN model through syntactic means; and the transformations performed to each control flow are guaranteed to be equivalent to the control flow. Furthermore, a case study on a real-life new employee preparation process is provided to demonstrate the proposed algorithms’ usefulness on increasing the process’s execution efficiency.

A BPMN extension to support discrete-event simulation for healthcare applications: an explicit representation of queues, attributes and data-driven decision points

Stakeholder engagement in simulation projects is important, especially in healthcare where there is a plurality of stakeholder opinions, objectives and power. One promising approach for increasing engagement is facilitated modelling. Currently, the complexity of producing a simulation model means that the “model coding” stage is performed without the involvement of stakeholders, interrupting the possibility of a fully facilitated project. Early work demonstrated that with currently available software tools we can represent a simple healthcare process using Business Process Model and Notation (BPMN) and generate a simulation model automatically. However, for more complex processes, BPMN currently has a number of limitations, namely the ability to represent queues and data-driven decision points. To address these limitations, we propose a conceptual design for an extension to BPMN (BPMN4SIM) using model-driven architecture. Application to an elderly emergency care pathway in a UK hospital shows that BPMN4SIM is able to represent a more complex business process.

BPMN-E2: a BPMN extension for an enhanced workflow description

This paper discusses a business process model and notation (BPMN) extension that includes new elements designed to improve its expressiveness. In previous works, different shortcomings concerning the BPMN language were detected. As a result, a set of requirements to overcome these issues was collected and used to guide this work. The proposed extension supports the representation of information commonly used by experts in the hazard analysis and critical control points domain, usually expressed in natural language, in a machine-understandable fashion. To take full advantage of the features introduced in this BPMN extension, tools such as ProM can be easily upgraded with appropriate plugins to support the new elements. In this line, an advanced conformance checking plugin was developed for process mining on BPMN models. A real-world example of use showing the benefits of applying the new elements is also discussed. This proposal paves the way for novel advanced analysis mechanisms for traceability systems.

Classification of processes involved in sharing individual participant data from clinical trials.

Background: In recent years, a cultural change in the handling of data from research has resulted in the strong promotion of a culture of openness and increased sharing of data. In the area of clinical trials, sharing of individual participant data involves a complex set of processes and the interaction of many actors and actions. Individual services/tools to support data sharing are available, but what is missing is a detailed, structured and comprehensive list of processes/subprocesses involved and tools/services needed. Methods: Principles and recommendations from a published data sharing consensus document are analysed in detail by a small expert group. Processes/subprocesses involved in data sharing are identified and linked to actors and possible services/tools. Definitions are adapted from the business process model and notation (BPMN) and applied in the analysis. Results: A detailed and comprehensive list of individual processes/subprocesses involved in data sharing, structured according to 9 main processes, is provided. Possible tools/services to support these processes/subprocesses are identified and grouped according to major type of support. Conclusions: The list of individual processes/subprocesses and tools/services identified is a first step towards development of a generic framework or architecture for sharing of data from clinical trials. Such a framework is strongly needed to give an overview of how various actors, research processes and services could form an interoperable system for data sharing.

Querying Workflow Logs

A business process or workflow is an assembly of tasks that accomplishes a business goal. Business process management is the study of the design, configuration/implementation, enactment and monitoring, analysis, and re-design of workflows. The traditional methodology for the re-design and improvement of workflows relies on the well-known sequence of extract, transform, and load (ETL), data/process warehousing, and online analytical processing (OLAP) tools. In this paper, we study the ad hoc queryiny of process enactments for (data-centric) business processes, bypassing the traditional methodology for more flexibility in querying. We develop an algebraic query language based on “incident patterns” with four operators inspired from Business Process Model and Notation (BPMN) representation, allowing the user to formulate ad hoc queries directly over workflow logs. A formal semantics of this query language, a preliminary query evaluation algorithm, and a group of elementary properties of the operators are provided.

A new multi-source and dynamic energy modeling method for machine tools

Energy is a core part for the sustainable development of machine tool industry; its intensity and utilization has become increasingly important with the concern over global climate change. Machine tools, as a vital part of energy consumption, have major significance for energy savings and carbon emissions. To achieve such energy savings, a precise energy model of a machine tool is a primary register to provide decision support for energy efficiency evaluation and optimization. As there are numerous machine tool components and each with its own characteristic energy signature, the energy consumption of a machine tool has a complex multi-source and dynamic characteristic. To describe such characteristic, a new methodology of energy modeling is proposed with the components working states of machine tools. Firstly, the components of a machine tool are divided into two classifications according to their energy characteristics, i.e., time-varying units (TVUs) and non-time-varying units (NTVUs). Secondly, the working states and coupling relationship of TVUs and NTVUs are studied, and a segmented energy modeling method of TVUs and NTVUs is proposed. Thirdly, the work state execution and coupling relationship of TVUs and NTVUs are combined into a description model of machine tools based on the Business Process Model and Notation (BPMN), and the energy data association of the model is also studied. Finally, a case study of computer numerical control (CNC) milling machine is given to verify the effectiveness of the proposed model.