Extending BPMN for Supporting Customer-Facing Service Quality Requirements

The Business Process Modeling Notation (BPMN) was developed by an international body called the Business Process Management Initiative (BPMI). The strengths of BPMN include that it is easily readable and understandable, and could be transformed into the current widely used business process implementation language, the Business Process Execution Language (BPEL). However, there are some fundamental incompatibilities between BPMN and BPEL, which make it difficult to generate BPEL code for implementation from BPMN models.The aim of this paper is to investigate the synergic uses of BPMN and BPEL to model and implement executable business processes. To that end, we propose a Business Process Modelling framework. Then we apply it to a real life business process scenario involving a typical manufacturing process in the automotive industry. From the case study, we are able to conclude that BPMN is suitable for modelling business processes and then implementing the model in BPEL in spite of the incompatibilities between the former and the latter.

Business processes are essential components of all enterprises and the use of models, languages and execution engines as components of a Business Process Management (BPM) deployment are now commonplace. By definition, these processes describe an enterprise in terms of its organizational knowledge, structure and activities, and are often essential to realizing an organization's competitive advantage. It thus follows that the design, execution and, critically, responsiveness to change in the system or environment they are affecting, is of prime significance toward establishing and maintaining efficient business operation. Deploying a high quality and effective Business Process Management System (BPMS) is thus utterly essential to many modern enterprises. Yet current trends toward flexible methods of working, just-in-time organizational reaction times, distributed intra-organization and interorganization collaboration and constantly changing markets are creating new and complex business landscapes. This brings about increased complexity, further motivating the need for real-time dynamic change throughout an enterprise's business processes; ever more dynamic environments require key business processes to be more flexible and automated in both their design and behaviour. Yet many companies are now discovering that investments in conventional BPMS often suffers from poor return on investment due to a common inability to create business process models that are both meaningful to business people and capable of offering the real-time process flexibility and rapid process adaptation required to cope effectively with the fluid business conditions typifying many modern enterprises. As evidenced by our work with customers in the manufacturing domain, there is very often a need to alter executing process structures, sometimes in real-time, without perturbing the integrity of running process instances. If a BPMS is not built to innately support change in this manner the result can be reductions in both dependability and visibility, especially from a management perspective. Our observation is that many of the current procedural approaches to BPM are too inflexible and unresponsive to change, especially in any automated fashion. In fact many BPMS solutions provide only design-time modelling, with neither support for run-time determination of process structure, nor direct execution of industry standard Business Process Modeling Notation (BPMN) process models without the need for first translating BPMN into intermediary formats, such as the Business Process Execution Language (BPEL), in preparation for execution. In practice, these issues imply that process models can tend to become overly complex and brittle through the necessity of coding-in all O pe n A cc es s D at ab as e w w w .in te ch w eb .o rg

Recently, business processes are receiving more attention as process-centric representations of an enterprise. This paper focuses on the Business Process Modeling Notation (BPMN), that is becoming an industry standard. However, BPMN has some drawbacks such as the lack of formal semantics, limited potential for verification, and ambiguous description of the constructs. Also the ontology used to model is mostly kept implicit. As a result, BPMN models may be ambiguous, inconsistent or incomplete. In order to overcome these limitations, a contribution to BPMN is proposed by applying the way of thinking of DEMO; the explicit specified Enterprise ontology axioms and the rigid modeling methodology of DEMO. Adding the ontological concepts which, in DEMO, are translated into a coherent set of modeling symbols, may result in formal, unambiguous BPMN business process models. As such BPMN can be enriched on several aspects like the diagnosis, consistency, and optimalization of business processes.

While functional concerns are well supported in current business process modeling languages such as the Business Process Modeling Notation (BPMN), many important non-functional concerns such as security and quality of service (QoS) cannot be expressed. Some works proposed specific extensions to business process modeling languages to express certain non-functional concerns. However, most related works focus only on expressing non-functional properties in business process models without considering their realization on the implementation level. In this paper, we present a generic approach to non-functional concerns in business processes and bridge the gap between process modeling and process implementation by generating AO4BPEL aspects that enforce and realize the non-functional properties specified in the business process model. The functional part of the processes is realized by generating executable WS-BPEL code out of BPMN process models. The approach is not specific to a particular non-functional concern and the usage of aspects ensures a modular implementation of the business process.

This chapter reveals the roles of business process modeling (BPM) and business process reengineering (BPR) in eGovernment, thus describing the concepts of eGovernment and BPM; BPM methodologies; business process modeling notation (BPMN); the importance of BPR in government-to-citizen (G2C) e-commerce; the relationship between BPM and eGovernment-based citizen satisfaction; the application of BPR in eGovernment; and the implementation of eGovernment through BPM. eGovernment is a modern trend that is driven by the advances in BPM and BPR as well as the aspirations of citizens who place increasing demands on governments' service. By modeling business processes in eGovernment, public sector organizations can achieve improvements in transparency and reduction in costs and resource requirements, resulting in improved business performance and compliance. The chapter argues that applying BPM and BPR in eGovernment has the potential to enhance public sector performance and achieve organizational goals in public sector organizations.

This research was aimed to analyze the business process of product purchase and product receipt on small and medium retail enterprises. The most of problem that appeared on Small and Medium Enterprises (SME) was lack of awareness to fix and improve the business process, because the appropriate business process could help the development of organization. The illustration of business process used Business Process Modeling Notation (BPMN). BPMN could really help the making of business process to be understood easier by the users and could be analyzed, so it produced improvement suggestions on the business process in order to achieve business effectiveness. This research was a qualitative research, which the research data was collected through observation and interview techniques in PO Dolopo Grosir which was one of the biggest wholesale shops in Madiun District. The research result referred the deficiency on the business process of product purchase and product receipt in PO Dolopo Grosir. The deficiencies on this business process could be risky to cause problems such as error of purchase decision, forgetfulness of product return, and less strict checking standard on product receipt process.

In this paper, we present a reactive system for running flexible business process. We define two flexibility patterns based on BPMN (Business Process Model Notation) that deals with changes of resource requirements for business process. The business processes are built on an abstract level, using a BPMN model for the specification of the cloud service business process structure based on flexibility patterns, and the state-chart diagram for the specification of the cloud service business process behaviour. In fact, our approach is based on model driven engineering to facilitate the business process design for developers and free them from the lower cloud details during the running time of such applications. Moreover, the use of flexibility actions ensures the capacity of making a compromise between adapting rapidly and easily business process when running errors occur and keeping the effectiveness of these updated application models. This update is controlled by the real time system which is based on a machine learning algorithm to depict the appropriate cloud service to involve in the business process model using the right flexibility action. Finally, we present some results of our system.

This research is conducted in Locarvest. Established in 2015, Locarvest is an online platform company that selling agricultural products based in Bandung. They see the importance of agricultural products for humans and people who like to shop online as an opportunity for them to sell local agricultural products online. Currently, they have been developing a website to change their selling platform which will be launched soon in the late of July 2019. They assume that the website can create a simpler selling process. However, they do not have their written business process where many companies have become increasingly interested in business processes due to the need for effective and efficient activities (Dave, 2017). In here, the objectives of this research are to analyze and model the current business process of Locarvest and propose a new business process to solve Locarvest’s current problem using the concept of Business Process Management (BPM) and the design is modeled using Business Process Modelling Notation (BPMN). To model the current business process, interviews with the employees of Locarvest and observation in the office were conducted. The result of this paper is proposing some improvements within the business process by eliminating some activities and create some new activities for Locarvest. The design also has been approved by the employees of Locarvest.
 Keywords: Business process, Business Process Management, Business Process Modelling Notation, case study, agriculture

We show how a basic discrete event simulation language can be enabled for business process modeling and simulation by adding an activity construct. While activities are often not considered at all or not treated in a conceptually satisfactory way in the discrete event simulation literature, the great majority of business process modeling languages are based on an activity construct. However, unlike a simulation language, the predominant business process modeling languages, including UML Activity Diagrams and the Business Process Modeling Notation (BPMN), are not executable. So, the challenge for business process modeling is to define an executable semantics for activities, while the challenge for discrete event simulation is to find a way how to introduce an activity construct on top of the basic discrete event simulation concepts of objects and events. The main idea is to define an activity as a complex event having a start event and an end event. This idea is well-known from the business process modeling literature, e.g. from the Business Process Definition Metamodel (Bock 2008), but it has also been used in a rudimentary way in some discrete event simulation approaches, e.g. in (Fishman 2001). Our research contribution consists of two achievements: 1) we define a conceptual model of activities for discrete event simulation and implement it in our ER/AOR simulation language; 2) we show how to use BPMN for the purpose of simulation modeling.

Nowadays the Business Process Modelling Notation (BPMN) has become a standard to provide a notation readily understandable by all business process (BP) stakeholders when it comes to carrying out the Business Process Modelling (BPM) activity. In this paper, we present a new Formal Compositional Verification Approach (FCVA), based on the Model–Checking verification technique for software, integrated with a formal software design method called MEDISTAM–RT. Both are used to facilitate the development of the Task Model (TM) associated to a BP design. MEDISTAM–RT uses UML–RT as its graphical modelling notation and CSP+T formal specification language for temporal annotations. The application of FCVA is aimed at guaranteeing the correctness of the TM with respect to initial property specification derived from the BP rules. One instance of a BPM enterprise–project related to the Customer Relationship Management (CRM) business is discussed in order to show a practical use of our proposal.

Business processes play an important role in Service-Oriented Architectures. Commonly, the business processes are designed in the Business Process Modeling Notation (BPMN), which allows their development even by persons without programming skills. Being abstract and high-level BPMN is not suitable for direct execution, though. The natural choice for implementing business processes is the Business Process Executable Language (BPEL), which is directly executable, but it is also a programming language that requires programming skills in order to be used. This dichotomy is typically solved by transforming BPMN into BPEL. However, this transformation is a complex task. There have been developed a number of transformation methods but their common problem is either incompleteness or loss of intentions, which makes BPEL rather difficult to modify and debug as well as to propagate changes back to BPMN. In this paper we address this problem by presenting a non-trivial enhancement of the existing transformation algorithm [14]. Our approach provides a complete transformation while preserving a large set of intentions expressed in the BPMN description, which makes it also suitable in the context of model-driven development.

Semi-formal transformation of secure business processes into analysis class and use case models: An MDA approach

The XYZ City Trade Office is a government organization that is engaged in regulating the stability of staple food through trade activities in XYZ City. This study aims to identify the existing business processes at the XYZ City Trade Office, in addition to being identified, this study will also conduct an analysis and improvement and redesign of the business processes currently being implemented by the XYZ City Trade Office. The steps taken to identify business processes are by conducting interviews related to the duties and functions of each entity and the Office to stakeholders in the XYZ City Trade Office. The methodology used to identify, describe, analyze and redesign business processes is the Business Process Life Cycle (BPM Lifecycle). The identification results are 36 business processes, and 3 of them are export business processes, import business processes, and processes Business Can Send and Evaluate. In all three business processes further evaluation and analysis are carried out. The analysis and evaluation is to first describe the business process in the form of business process modeling notation (BPMN) using bizagi modeller, then measure the quality of business processes, and analyze weaknesses, and compare with the duties and functions of the Ministry of Trade of the Republic of Indonesia, so that improvements to the process for the third the business process. Improvements for the Export and Import business processes are by adding oversight processes at the shipping stage, and business process improvements Conducting Shipment and Evaluation is by removing the activities of Giving Delivery News.
 
 Keywords: Business Process, BPMN, BPM Lifecycle, Bizagi Modeller

Business process modelling is an important part of system design. When designing or redesigning a business process, stakeholders specify, negotiate, and agree on business requirements to be satisfied, including non-functional requirements that concern the quality of the business process. This thesis addresses the question of how to specify and compute the quality of a business process, given the model that stakeholders use. The motivation for this thesis is the increasing importance of the quality of business processes. Knowing the quality of specific business processes enables stakeholders to judge if these processes need improvement. Knowing the quality of the constructs of those processes (viz., events, inputs, activities, and outputs) and the way they are structured enables a more detailed analysis of their shortcomings and provides a basis for the design of improvements. The research challenge of this thesis is grounded in the assumption that: “Organisations need an appropriate means to effectively compute achievement of their goals and objectives by their business processes.” Given this challenge, the main research question on which this thesis focuses is: “Can the quality of a business process be computed quantitatively at different levels of granularity?” The research objective is: “To develop frameworks, factors, and metrics for computing non-functional requirements (quality) of business processes quantitatively at different levels of granularity.” The outcomes of this thesis are: 1) BPIMM, a language-independent business process integrating meta-model, based on the concepts of seven mainstream business process modelling languages: BPMN, EPC, RAD, UML AD, SADT, IDEF0, and IDEF3. 2) BPC-QC (Business Process Concept - Quality Computation), an approach to quality computation at the lowest level of granularity of a business process. The approach consists of: i. BPC-QEF (Business Process Concept - Quality Evaluation Framework), a language-independent generic framework and algorithm to compute the quality of the constructs of a business process: event, input, activity, and output. ii. A set of business process quality dimensions and factors. The following quality dimensions are distinguished: performance, efficiency, reliability, recoverability, permissibility, and availability. Each dimension categorises different quality aspects in terms of factors. A non-exhaustive set of sixteen quantitative factors is provided. iii. Quality metrics for each of the quality factors, to facilitate a quantitative computation of the quality of a specific construct of a business process. 3) BP-QC (Business Process - Quality Computation), an approach to compute the quality at the highest level of granularity of a business process. The approach consists of: i. BP-CQCF (Business Process - Compositional Quality Computation Framework), a language-independent generic framework and algorithm to compute the quality of a business process as a whole, given the quality of its constructs. ii. A set of generic business process modelling patterns to decompose a business process into more succinct parts, namely: sequential, parallel with synchronisation, exclusive, inclusive, simple loop, and complex loop. iii. A set of over one hundred computational formulae. For each combination of modelling pattern and a quality factor, there is a formula to compute the quality. 4) AAV (Approach to Application and Validation), an evaluation plan to evaluate BPIMM, BPC-QC and BP-QC in practice, together with expert stakeholders. The plan consists of the units of measure, a measurement model, and a case study procedure. To evaluate the applicability of the contributions of this thesis to real world business needs, four case studies have been conducted in different environments: a Dutch educational institution, a global financial institution, an international financial service provider, and a Dutch research project on crisis management. Each of these case studies concerns a different, single business process. This thesis shows that: 1) A quality computation approach can be adopted independent of a business process modelling language. 2) Quantitative quality factors can be introduced specifically for the constructs of a business process. 3) Quantitative metrics and computational formulae can be developed for specific quality factors, allowing the computation of different aspects of the quality of a business process quantitatively at different levels of granularity. 4) An evaluation plan can be developed to evaluate the applicability of the contributions of this thesis (viz., BPIMM, BPC-QC, and BP-QC). The contributions of this thesis are designed to be beneficial to the areas of business and management, requirements engineering, software engineering, and business process modelling. In the areas of requirements engineering and software engineering, these contributions are intended to help practitioners to consider non-functional requirements at the earliest stage. In the area of business process modelling, information systems, service computing, and cloud computing, the contributions can be used for quality-driven modelling, design, and redesign. To conclude, knowing the quality value of a business process at different levels of granularity provides a basis for its improvement.

This paper proposes a general approach for using conversational interfaces such as chatbots to offer adaptive learning of business processes in an environment involving different actors. Adaptivity concerns both the content being proposed, the sequence of learning items, and the way the conversation is conducted. The original approach allows the development of sustainable chatbots and empowers various non-technical actors (authors, teachers, publishers, and learners) to control the chatbot features directly. The aCHAT-WF framework (adaptive CHATbot for WorkFlows), proposed in this paper for managing conversational interfaces, conceptually represents all the aspects related to a conversation about business processes, with different facets for the user, the conversation flow, and the conversation contents, combining them to obtain a flexible interaction with the user. The paper focuses on the different preparation phases for instructional material based on Business Process Modeling Notation (BPMN) models, separating the different roles involved in the construction of a chatbot for teaching business processes and with the possibility of defining different styles for the interaction with the users. The proposed method is configuration-driven, to facilitate the separation of the different aspects of the control of the interaction and the delivery of contents.