The application of Petri-nets to workflow management
TL;DR: This paper introduces workflow management as an application domain for Petri nets, presents state-of-the-art results with respect to the verification of workflows, and highlights some Petri-net-based workflow tools.
Abstract: Workflow management promises a new solution to an age-old problem: controlling, monitoring, optimizing and supporting business processes. What is new about workflow management is the explicit representation of the business process logic which allows for computerized support. This paper discusses the use of Petri nets in the context of workflow management. Petri nets are an established tool for modeling and analyzing processes. On the one hand, Petri nets can be used as a design language for the specification of complex workflows. On the other hand, Petri net theory provides for powerful analysis techniques which can be used to verify the correctness of workflow procedures. This paper introduces workflow management as an application domain for Petri nets, presents state-of-the-art results with respect to the verification of workflows, and highlights some Petri-net-based workflow tools.
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01 Jul 2003
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors describe a number of workflow patterns addressing what they believe identify comprehensive workflow functionality and provide the basis for an in-depth comparison of commercial workflow management systems.
Abstract: Differences in features supported by the various contemporary commercial workflow management systems point to different insights of suitability and different levels of expressive power. The challenge, which we undertake in this paper, is to systematically address workflow requirements, from basic to complex. Many of the more complex requirements identified, recur quite frequently in the analysis phases of workflow projects, however their implementation is uncertain in current products. Requirements for workflow languages are indicated through workflow patterns. In this context, patterns address business requirements in an imperative workflow style expression, but are removed from specific workflow languages. The paper describes a number of workflow patterns addressing what we believe identify comprehensive workflow functionality. These patterns provide the basis for an in-depth comparison of a number of commercially available workflow management systems. As such, this paper can be seen as the academic response to evaluations made by prestigious consulting companies. Typically, these evaluations hardly consider the workflow modeling language and routing capabilities, and focus more on the purely technical and commercial aspects.
2,553 citations
Book•
01 Jan 2001
TL;DR: This book provides a basic overview of workflow terminology and organization, as well as detailed coverage of workflow modeling with Petri nets, to provide a comprehensive introduction to workflow management.
Abstract: This book offers a comprehensive introduction to workflow management, the management of business processes with information technology. By defining, analyzing, and redesigning an organization's resources and operations, workflow management systems ensure that the right information reaches the right person or computer application at the right time. The book provides a basic overview of workflow terminology and organization, as well as detailed coverage of workflow modeling with Petri nets. Because Petri nets make definitions easier to understand for nonexperts, they facilitate communication between designers and users. The book includes a chapter of case studies, review exercises, and a glossary. A special Web site developed by the authors, www.workflowcourse.com, features animation, interactive examples, lecture materials, exercises and solutions, relevant links, and other valuable resources for the classroom.
1,971 citations
TL;DR: A new algorithm is presented to extract a process model from a so-called "workflow log" containing information about the workflow process as it is actually being executed and represent it in terms of a Petri net.
Abstract: Contemporary workflow management systems are driven by explicit process models, i.e., a completely specified workflow design is required in order to enact a given workflow process. Creating a workflow design is a complicated time-consuming process and, typically, there are discrepancies between the actual workflow processes and the processes as perceived by the management. Therefore, we have developed techniques for discovering workflow models. The starting point for such techniques is a so-called "workflow log" containing information about the workflow process as it is actually being executed. We present a new algorithm to extract a process model from such a log and represent it in terms of a Petri net. However, we also demonstrate that it is not possible to discover arbitrary workflow processes. We explore a class of workflow processes that can be discovered. We show that the /spl alpha/-algorithm can successfully mine any workflow represented by a so-called SWF-net.
1,953 citations
Cites background from "The application of Petri-nets to wo..."
...corresponding short-circuited net [1], [2], [5]....
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...possible to decide soundness in polynomial time [2]....
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TL;DR: The state of the art in the area of Industry 4.0 as it relates to industries is surveyed, with a focus on China's Made-in-China 2025 and formal methods and systems methods crucial for realising Industry 5.0.
Abstract: Rapid advances in industrialisation and informatisation methods have spurred tremendous progress in developing the next generation of manufacturing technology. Today, we are on the cusp of the Fourth Industrial Revolution. In 2013, amongst one of 10 ‘Future Projects’ identified by the German government as part of its High-Tech Strategy 2020 Action Plan, the Industry 4.0 project is considered to be a major endeavour for Germany to establish itself as a leader of integrated industry. In 2014, China’s State Council unveiled their ten-year national plan, Made-in-China 2025, which was designed to transform China from the world’s workshop into a world manufacturing power. Made-in-China 2025 is an initiative to comprehensively upgrade China’s industry including the manufacturing sector. In Industry 4.0 and Made-in-China 2025, many applications require a combination of recently emerging new technologies, which is giving rise to the emergence of Industry 4.0. Such technologies originate from different disciplines ...
1,780 citations
Cites background from "The application of Petri-nets to wo..."
...The concept of workflow was initially developed to track process-related information and the status of each instance of the process as it moves through an organisation (van der Aalst 1998)....
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References
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01 Apr 1989
TL;DR: The author proceeds with introductory modeling examples, behavioral and structural properties, three methods of analysis, subclasses of Petri nets and their analysis, and one section is devoted to marked graphs, the concurrent system model most amenable to analysis.
Abstract: Starts with a brief review of the history and the application areas considered in the literature. The author then proceeds with introductory modeling examples, behavioral and structural properties, three methods of analysis, subclasses of Petri nets and their analysis. In particular, one section is devoted to marked graphs, the concurrent system model most amenable to analysis. Introductory discussions on stochastic nets with their application to performance modeling, and on high-level nets with their application to logic programming, are provided. Also included are recent results on reachability criteria. Suggestions are provided for further reading on many subject areas of Petri nets. >
10,755 citations
"The application of Petri-nets to wo..." refers background in this paper
...For a review of the history of Petri nets and an extensive bibliography the reader is referred to [ Mur89 ]....
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Book•
17 Oct 2013TL;DR: A data model, called the entity-relationship model, is proposed that incorporates some of the important semantic information about the real world and can be used as a basis for unification of different views of data: the network model, the relational model, and the entity set model.
Abstract: A data model, called the entity-relationship model, is proposed. This model incorporates some of the important semantic information in the real world. A special diagramatic technique is introduced as a tool for data base design. An example of data base design and description using the model and the diagramatic technique is given. Some implications on data integrity, information retrieval, and data manipulation are discussed.The entity-relationship model can be used as a basis for unification of different views of data: the network model, the relational model, and the entity set model. Semantic ambiguities in these models are analyzed. Possible ways to derive their views of data from the entity-relationship model are presented.
5,941 citations
IBM1
TL;DR: In this article, a model based on n-ary relations, a normal form for data base relations, and the concept of a universal data sublanguage are introduced, and certain operations on relations are discussed and applied to the problems of redundancy and consistency in the user's model.
Abstract: Future users of large data banks must be protected from having to know how the data is organized in the machine (the internal representation). A prompting service which supplies such information is not a satisfactory solution. Activities of users at terminals and most application programs should remain unaffected when the internal representation of data is changed and even when some aspects of the external representation are changed. Changes in data representation will often be needed as a result of changes in query, update, and report traffic and natural growth in the types of stored information.Existing noninferential, formatted data systems provide users with tree-structured files or slightly more general network models of the data. In Section 1, inadequacies of these models are discussed. A model based on n-ary relations, a normal form for data base relations, and the concept of a universal data sublanguage are introduced. In Section 2, certain operations on relations (other than logical inference) are discussed and applied to the problems of redundancy and consistency in the user's model.
4,990 citations
22 Sep 1975
TL;DR: A data model, called the entity-relationship model, which incorporates the semantic information in the real world is proposed, and a special diagramatic technique is introduced for exhibiting entities and relationships.
Abstract: A data model, called the entity-relationship model, is proposed. This model incorporates some of the important semantic information about the real world. A special diagrammatic technique is introduced as a tool for database design. An example of database design and description using the model and the diagrammatic technique is given. Some implications for data integrity, information retrieval, and data manipulation are discussed.The entity-relationship model can be used as a basis for unification of different views of data: the network model, the relational model, and the entity set model. Semantic ambiguities in these models are analyzed. Possible ways to derive their views of data from the entity-relationship model are presented.
3,693 citations
Journal Article•
TL;DR: A model based on n-ary relations, a normal form for data base relations, and the concept of a universal data sublanguage are introduced and certain operations on relations are discussed and applied to the problems of redundancy and consistency in the user's model.
3,311 citations