Process modeling

About: Process modeling is a research topic. Over the lifetime, 11639 publications have been published within this topic receiving 223996 citations. The topic is also known as: process simulation.

Formal verification of business processes with temporal and resource constraints

Abstract: The correctness of business process models is critical for IT system development. The properties of business processes need to be analyzed when they are designed. In particular, business processes usually have various constraints on time and resources, which may cause serious problems like bottlenecks and deadlocks. In this paper, we propose an approach based on the model checking technique for verifying business process models with temporal and resource constraints. First, we extend Business Process Modeling Notation (BPMN) to handle these constraints. Then, we provide a mapping of the business process models described with this extended BPMN onto timed automata that can be verified by the UPPAAL model checker. This approach helps to eliminate various problems with time and resources in the early phase of development, and enables the quality assurance of business process models.

Updatable process views for user-centered adaption of large process models

Abstract: The increasing adoption of process-aware information systems (PAISs) has resulted in large process model collections. To support users having different perspectives on these processes and related data, a PAIS should provide personalized views on process models. Existing PAISs, however, do not provide mechanisms for creating or even changing such process views. Especially, changing process models is a frequent use case in PAISs due to changing needs or unplanned situations. While process views have been used as abstractions for visualizing large process models, no work exists on how to change process models based on respective views. This paper presents an approach for changing large process models through updates of corresponding process views, while ensuring up-to-dateness and consistency of all other process views on the process model changed. Respective update operations can be applied to a process view and corresponding changes be correctly propagated to the underlying process model. Furthermore, all other views related to this process model are then migrated to the new version of the process model as well. Overall, our view framework enables domain experts to evolve large process models over time based on appropriate model abstractions.

The development of ring rolling technology, part 2: Investigation of process behaviour and production equipment

Abstract: This is the continuation of a thorough survey of work on ring rolling published in the English and German languages up to 2004 [see No. 2/3, p.111-120]: The methods used to investigate the process are reviewed, separated into experimental and theoretical categories; the insights gained from these investigations are organised according to the challenges identified at the outset; developments in the control and operation of the process are described. Having given a set of ideal targets for the process, the state of current knowledge about ring rolling is assessed in order to predict likely developments: process modelling capability is nearly able to predict rolling behaviour for a complete cycle with sufficient accuracy to allow effective use of models for design of rolling schedules and preforms; analysis of material behaviour is relatively mature for steel rings, but has scope for significant extension for titanium and aluminium alloys and composites; design choices that seek to extend the flexibility of the process have had some exploration, but could be extended.

A behavioral similarity measure between labeled Petri nets based on principal transition sequences

Abstract: Being able to determine the degree of similarity between process models is important for management, reuse, and analysis of business process models. In this paper we propose a novel method to determine the degree of similarity between process models, which exploits their semantics. Our approach is designed for labeled Petri nets as these can be seen as a foundational theory for process modeling. As the set of traces of a labeled Petri net may be infinite, the challenge is to find a way to represent behavioral characteristics of a net in a finite manner. Therefore, the proposed similarity measure is based on the notion of so-called "principal transition sequences", which aim to provide an approximation of the essence of a process model. This paper defines a novel similarity measure, proposes a method to compute it, and demonstrates that it offers certain benefits with respect to the state-of-the-art in this field.

Complete and Interpretable Conformance Checking of Business Processes

Abstract: This article presents a method for checking the conformance between an event log capturing the actual execution of a business process, and a model capturing its expected or normative execution. Given a process model and an event log, the method returns a set of statements in natural language describing the behavior allowed by the model but not observed in the log and vice versa. The method relies on a unified representation of process models and event logs based on a well-known model of concurrency, namely event structures. Specifically, the problem of conformance checking is approached by converting the event log into an event structure, converting the process model into another event structure, and aligning the two event structures via an error-correcting synchronized product. Each difference detected in the synchronized product is then verbalized as a natural language statement. An empirical evaluation shows that the proposed method can handle real datasets and produces more concise and higher-level difference descriptions than state-of-the-art conformance checking methods. In a survey designed according to the technology acceptance model, practitioners showed a preference towards the proposed method with respect to a state-of-the-art baseline.