BUSINESS PROCESS MANAGEMENT

EM2800E
CHAPTER 3 BUSINESS PROCESS DESIGN AND MODELING

3.1 Concepts and roles of Business Process Design and Modeling

3.2 Types of Business Process Models

3.3 Steps to design Business Process

3.4 BPMN language in Business Process Design

2.1 CONCEPTS AND ROLES OF BP DESIGN AND MODELLING

• What is process design and modeling

Graphically represent the processes that capture, manipulate, store and distribute
data between a system and its environment and among system components

• Purpose
• Communication • Explore the future behavior of the system
without risking the real-life process
• Documentation • Do what-if analysis (aka scenario analysis)
• Analysis (e.g. simulation) • Explore far into the future in just a few
seconds or minutes of computer time
• Manage and improve business processes
WHY PROCESS MODELING?

“It’s like turning a lot of light bulbs on in the minds of managers”

TRANSPARENCY
PROCESS MODELS – CONVEYING TRANSPARENCY

• What we need to do and when – Control flow

• What we need to work on – Artifacts (physical & electronic)
• Who does the work – Resources (human & systems)
KEY INGREDIENTS OF A PROCESS MODEL

• What we need to do and when

• Activities, events and their order relationships

• Manual or automated

• What we need to work on

• Input/output artifacts to activities

• Physical or electronic

• Who does the work

• Resources that perform activities and generate events

• Human or software
FURTHER POTENTIAL ELEMENTS IN A PROCESS

• Objectives, goals: to link with corporate strategy

• Risks: to risk-profile the process

• Policies, rules: to check process compliance

• Knowledge: to depict expertise required

….
2.1 CONCEPTS AND ROLES OF BP DESIGN AND MODELLING

Definitions BP design and modelling

“A model is a simplifying mapping of reality to serve a specific purpose” (Stachowiak:

Allgemeine Modelltheorie, 1973)

• Mapping: representation of natural or artificial originals that can be models

themselves

• Simplifying: only those attributes of the original that are considered relevant
(abstraction)

• Pragmatics: model is used by modeler in place of original for a certain time and
certain purpose
2.1 CONCEPTS AND ROLES OF BP DESIGN AND MODELLING

When a model is a 'good' model?

• Provides insight into the relevant aspects of processes.

• Shows actors, actions and information exchanges.

• Provides a common (shared) 'language' and symbolism

==> provides common understanding

• Supports finding opportunities for improvement.

• Creates a persistent record of the process.

2.1 CONCEPTS AND ROLES OF BP DESIGN AND MODELLING

The Essence of Business Process Design (BPD)

• An efficient process which does not deliver customer useless value

• A well-designed process does the right things

• BPD is concerned with configuring the process architecture to satisfy customer desires in
an efficient way

• Customers can be both internal and external

• Internal customer requirements must be aligned with the desires of

the external customers in the business strategy

• Distinction between process design and implementation

HOW NOVICES MODEL

Mark is going on a trip to Sydney. He decides to call a taxi from home to the airport. The taxi
arrives after 10 minutes and takes half an hour for the 20 kilometers to the airport.

At the airport, Mark uses the online check-in counter and receives his boarding pass. Of
course, he could have also used the ticket counter. He does not have to check-in any
luggage, and so he proceeds straight to the security check, which is 100 meters down the
hall on the right. The queue here is short and after 5 minutes he walks up to the departure

gate.

Mark decides not to go to the Frequent Flyer lounge and instead walks up and down the
shops for 15 minutes and buys a newspaper before he returns to the gate. After ten minutes
waiting, he boards the plane.
SOME OTHER WAYS OF MODELLING...
SOME OTHER WAYS OF MODELLING...
SOME OTHER WAYS OF MODELLING...
SOME OTHER WAYS OF MODELLING...
ISSUES?

• Different representation of concepts

• Different level of granularity (details)

• Different level of scope

• Different terminology

→ What is the right process model?

WHAT’S A MODEL? A LITTLE BIT ON MODELLING THEORY

• Models are abstractions from real world phenomena, developed for

the purpose of reducing overall complexity.

• Models aggregate information and document only relevant aspects of

the real world

• Models are being developed:

1. in a specific modelling subject

2. for a specific target audience

3. with a specific modelling purpose in mind

ANSWER

no right/wrong, but…

relevant/irrelevant model
WHAT’S THE RELEVANT MODEL?
2.2 TYPES OF BUSINESS PROCESS MODELS

• Process Flow chart: sequences of actions

• Process charts: integration of time, space, and activity types

• Swimlane/ Activity diagrams:

• visually distinguishes job sharing and responsibilities for sub-processes.
• part of Unified Modeling Language (UML) and
• relate to Business Process Model and Notation (BPMN) diagrams.
PROCESS FLOW CHART
PROCESS CHARTS
ACTIVITY DIAGRAMS
2.3 STEPS TO MODEL BUSINESS PROCESS
2.4 BPMN LANGUAGE IN BUSINESS PROCESS DESIGN

• Unified Modeling Language

• general-purpose visual modeling language in the field of software engineering
consisting of an integrated set of diagrams, intended to specify, visualize,
construct, and document the artifacts of a software system.

• standard notation for the modeling of a system, but not a way of designing a
system

• Business Process Model and Notation (BPMN)

• is a graphical illustration of business processes in a business process model with

the primary goal of providing a notation that is easily understandable by all
business users.
2.4 BPMN LANGUAGE IN BUSINESS PROCESS DESIGN
UML AND BPMN
BUSINESS PROCESS MODEL AND NOTATION (BPMN)

• OMG standard (nowadays BPMN 2.0)

BPMN 2.0 is the latest version of this BPMN standard, developed by the Object Management Group
(OMG®) with the aim of producing a unified modeling language that is understandable to all business
users. It bridges the gap between business process design and implementation. This simplifies the
user task by setting out a clear software diagram.

• Both for conceptual and executable models

• Supported by numerous tools: bpmn.org lists over 70 tools, incl.

• Signavio (we’ll use the academic edition –academic.signavio.com)

• Bizagi Process Modeler

• Cameo Business Analyst

BUSINESS PROCESS MODEL AND NOTATION (BPMN)

A BPMN process model is a graph consisting of four types of core

elements:
EXAMPLE

Order-to-cash

An order-to-cash process is triggered by the receipt of a purchase order from

a customer. Upon receipt, the purchase order has to be checked against the
stock to determine if the the requested item(s) are available.

Depending on stock availability the purchase order may be confirmed or

rejected.

If the purchase order is confirmed, an invoice is emitted and the goods

requested are shipped. The process completes by archiving the order.
BREAK IT DOWN

Order-to-cash

• An order-to-cash process is triggered by the receipt of a purchase order from a

customer.

• Upon receipt, the purchase order has to be checked against the stock to determine
if the the requested item(s) are available.

• Depending on stock availability the purchase order may be confirmed or rejected.

• If the purchase order is confirmed, an invoice is emitted and the goods requested
are shipped. The process completes by archiving the order.
BPMN MODEL

Naming conventions
• Event: noun + past-participle verb (e.g. insurance claim lodged)
• Activity: verb + noun (e.g. assess credit risk)
EXECUTION OF A PROCESS MODEL - THE “TOKEN GAME”
START AND END EVENT

A start event triggers a new process instance by

generating a token that traverses the sequence flow
(“tokens source”)

An end event signals that a process instance has

completed with a given outcome by consuming a token
(“tokens sink”)
ORDER-TO-CASH EXAMPLE REVISITED

[…] If the purchase order is confirmed, an invoice is emitted and the goods
requested are shipped (in any order). The process completes by archiving the
order. […]
FIRST TRY
A LITTLE MORE ON GATEWAYS: XOR GATEWAY

An XOR Gateway captures decision points (XOR-

split) and points where alternative flows are merged
(XOR-join)

• XOR-split => takes one outgoing branch

• XOR-join => proceeds when one incoming branch

has completed
EXAMPLE: XOR GATEWAY

Invoice checking process

EXERCISE

Once a loan application has been approved by the loan provider, an

acceptance pack is prepared and sent to the customer. The acceptance pack
includes a repayment schedule which the customer needs to agree upon by
sending the signed documents back to the loan provider. The latter then
verifies the repayment agreement: if the applicant disagreed with the
repayment schedule, the loan provider cancels the application; if the applicant
agreed, the loan provider approves the application. In either case, the process
completes with the loan provider notifying the applicant of the application
status.
AND GATEWAY

An AND Gateway provides a mechanism to

create and synchronize “parallel” flows.

AND-split => takes all outgoing branches

AND-join => proceeds when all incoming

branches have completed
EXAMPLE: AND GATEWAY

Airport security check

REVISED ORDER-TO-CASH PROCESS MODEL
EXERCISE

A loan application is approved if it passes two checks: (i) the applicant's loan
risk assessment, done automatically by a system, and (ii) the appraisal of the
property for which the loan has been asked, carried out by a property
appraiser. The risk assessment requires a credit history check on the applicant,
which is performed by a financial officer. Once both the loan risk assessment
and the property appraisal have been performed, a loan officer can assess the
applicant's eligibility. If the applicant is not eligible, the application is rejected,
otherwise the acceptance pack is prepared and sent to the applicant.
BETWEEN XOR AND AND

Order distribution process

A company has two warehouses that store different products:

Amsterdam and Hamburg. When an order is received, it is distributed

across these warehouses: if some of the relevant products are
maintained in Amsterdam, a sub-order is sent there; likewise, if some
relevant products are maintained in Hamburg, a sub-order is sent there.
Afterwards, the order is registered, and the process completes.
SOLUTION 1

Order distribution process

SOLUTION 2

Order distribution process

OR GATEWAY

An OR Gateway provides a mechanism to create and

synchronize n out of m parallel flows.

OR-split => takes one or more branches depending on

conditions

OR-join => proceeds when all active incoming branches

have completed
SOLUTION USING OR GATEWAY

Order distribution process

EXERCISE

A loan application may be coupled with a home insurance which is

offered at discounted prices. The applicants may express their interest in
a home insurance plan at the time of submitting their loan application to
the loan provider. Based on this information, if the loan application is
approved, the loan provider may either only send an acceptance pack to
the applicant, or also send a home insurance quote. The process then
continues with the verification of the repayment agreement.
BEWARE: BEGINNER’S MISTAKE
GUIDELINES: NAMING CONVENTIONS

1. Give a name to every event and task

2. For tasks: verb followed by business object name and possibly complement
• Issue Driver Licence, Renew Licence via Agency

3. For message events: object + past participle

• Invoice received, Claim settled

4. Avoid generic verbs such as Handle, Record…

5. Label each XOR-split with a condition

• Policy is invalid, Claim is inadmissible
ONE MORE GUIDELINE…

Model in blocks

• Pair up each AND-split with an AND-join and each XOR-split with a

XOR-join, whenever possible

• Exception: sometimes a XOR-split leads to two end events – different

outcomes (cf. order management example)
WHAT TYPE SHOULD WE ASSIGN TO THIS JOIN?
THE ORDER-TO-CASH PROCESS MODEL WITH PRODUCT MANUFACTURING

If the product requested is not in stock, it needs to be manufactured before

the order handling can continue. To manufacture a product, the required raw
materials have to be ordered. Two preferred suppliers provide different types
of raw materials. Depending on the product to be manufactured, raw
materials may be ordered from either Supplier 1 or Supplier 2, or from both.
Once the raw materials are available, the product can be manufactured and
the order can be confirmed. On the other hand, if the product is in stock, it is
retrieved from the warehouse before confirming the order. In either case, the
process continues normally.
THE ORDER-TO-CASH PROCESS MODEL WITH PRODUCT MANUFACTURING
REWORK AND REPETITION

Address ministerial correspondence

In the minister’s office, when a ministerial inquiry has been received, it is registered into the system.
Then the inquiry is investigated so that a ministerial response can be prepared.

The finalization of a response includes the preparation of the response itself by the cabinet officer
and the review of the response by the principal registrar. If the registrar does not approve the
response, the latter needs to be prepared again by the cabinet officer for review. The process finishes
only once the response has been approved.
EXERCISE

Once a loan application is received by the loan provider, and before

proceeding with its assessment, the application itself needs to be
checked for completeness. If the application is incomplete, it is returned
to the applicant, so that they can fill out the missing information and
send it back to the loan provider. This process is repeated until the
application is found complete
QUICK NOTE: IMPLICIT VS. EXPLICIT GATEWAYS
HOW THIS PROCESS STARTS? HOW IT ENDS?
PROCESS MODELLING VIEWPOINTS
Organizational Elements in BPMN – Pools & Lanes

Pool
Captures a resource class. Generally used to model a business party (e.g. a whole company)

Lane
A resource sub-class within a pool. Generally used to model departments (e.g. shipping,
finance), internal roles (e.g. Manager, Associate), software systems (e.g. ERP, CRM)
ORDER-TO-CASH PROCESS WITH LANES
The order-to-cash process is carried out by a seller’s organization which includes two departments:

the sales department and the warehouse & distribution department. The purchase order received by

warehouse & distribution is checked against the stock. This operation is carried out automatically by

the ERP system of warehouse & distribution, which queries the warehouse database. If the product is

in stock, it is retrieved from the warehouse before the sales department confirms the order. Next, the

sales department emits an invoice and waits for the payment, while the product is shipped from

within warehouse & distribution. The process completes with the order archival in the sales

department. If the product is not in stock, the ERP system within warehouse & distribution checks the

raw materials availability by accessing the suppliers catalog. Once the raw materials have been

obtained the warehouse & distribution department takes care of manufacturing the product. The

process completes with the purchase order being confirmed and archived by the sales department.
ORDER-TO-CASH PROCESS WITH LANES
MESSAGE FLOW

• A Message Flow represents a flow of information between two process parties (Pools)

• A Message Flow can connect:

• directly to the boundary of a Pool => captures an informative message to/from that
party
• to a specific activity or event within that Pool => captures a message that triggers a
specific activity/event within that party
ORDER-TO-CASH PROCESS WITH A BLACK-BOX CUSTOMER POOL
POOLS, LANES AND FLOWS: SYNTACTIC RULES

1. A Sequence Flow cannot cross the

boundaries of a Pool (message flows
can)

2. Both Sequence Flow and Message Flow

can cross the boundaries of Lanes

3. A Message Flow cannot connect two

flow elements within the same pool
ONE MORE GUIDELINE…

Start modeling with one single “white-box” pool

• Initially, put the events and tasks in only one pool - the pool of the party who is
running the process

• Leave all other pools "black-boxed"

• Once you have modeled this way, and once the process diagram inside the white-
box pool is complete, you can model the details (events and tasks) in the other
pools if that is useful.

• In this course we will only model processes with one single white-box pool - all
other pools are black-box
PROCESS MODELLING VIEWPOINTS
ORDER-TO-CASH PROCESS, AGAIN

The purchase order document serves as an input to the stock availability check. Based on
the outcome of this check, the status of the document is updated, either to “approved” or
“rejected”. If the order is approved, an invoice and a shipment notice are produced.
MODEL WITH INFORMATION ARTIFACTS
BPMN INFORMATION ARTIFACTS

• A Data Object captures an artifact required (input)

or produced (output) by an activity.
• Can be physical or electronic

• A Data Store is a place containing data objects

that must be persisted beyond the duration of a
process instance.

• It is used by an activity to store (as output) or

retrieve (as input) data objects.
QUICK NOTE: BPMN TEXT ANNOTATIONS

• A Text Annotation is a mechanism to provide additional text

information to the model reader

• Doesn’t affect the flow of tokens through the process

BPMN MAIN ELEMENTS - RECAP

Other symbols: https://www.heflo.com/blog/process-modeling/process-mapping-symbols/

https://www.breezetree.com/articles/excel-flowchart-shapes/
BPMN GATEWAYS
MODELLING BUSINESS PROCESS ON BPMN.IO

• Business Process Model and Notation (BPMN) 2.0 Tutorial

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BwkNceoybvA&ab_channel=Lucid
chart

• https://bpmn.io/
ADVANCED PROCESS MODELING

• Sub-process

• Intermediate event

• Temporal events
ANYTHING WRONG WITH THIS MODEL?
IS THIS BETTER?
IDENTIFYING SUB-PROCESSES
USING THE EXPANDED SUB-PROCESS NOTATION
BPMN EVENT TYPES

• Untyped Event – Indicates that an instance of the process is

created (start) or completed (end), without specifying the cause
for creation/completion

• Start Message Event – Indicates that an instance of the process is

created when a message is received

• End Message Event – Indicates that an instance of the process is

completed when a message is sent

• Intermediate Message Event – Indicates that an event is expected

to occur during the process. The event is triggered when a
message is received or sent
COMPARISON WITH SENDING/RECEIVING TASKS
SO, WHEN TO USE WHAT?

Use message events only when the corresponding activity would simply send or receive a
message and do nothing else
TEMPORAL EVENTS

• Start Timer Event – Indicates that an instance of

the process is created at certain date(s)/time(s),
e.g. start process at 6pm every Friday

• Intermediate Timer Event – Triggered at certain

date(s)/time(s), or after a time interval has elapsed
since the moment the event is “enabled” (delay)
RECAP: MESSAGE AND TIMER EVENTS
EXAMPLE

In a small claims tribunal, callovers occur once a month to set down the matter
for the upcoming trials. The process for setting up a callover starts three
weeks prior to the callover day with the preparation of the callover list
containing information such as contact details of the involved parties and
estimated hearing date. One week prior to the callover, the involved parties
are contacted to determine if they are all ready to go to trial. If this is the case,
the callover is set, otherwise it is deferred to the next available slot. Finally on
the callover day, the callover material is prepared and the callover is held.
EXAMPLE
EXERCISE

The ISP sends an invoice by email to the customer on the first working day of each
month (Day 1). On Day 7, the customer has the full outstanding amount
automatically debited from its bank account. If an automatic transaction fails for any
reason, the customer is notified on Day 8. On Day 9, the transaction that failed on
Day 7 is re-attempted. If it fails again, on Day 10 a late fee is charged to the
customer’s bank account. At this stage, the automatic payment is no longer
attempted. On Day 14, the Internet service is suspended until payment is received. If
the payment is still outstanding on Day 30, the account is closed and a disconnection
fee is applied. A debt-recovery procedure is then started.
THANK YOU !