TY - JOUR A1 - Andree, Kerstin A1 - Ihde, Sven A1 - Weske, Mathias A1 - Pufahl, Luise T1 - An exception handling framework for case management JF - Software and Systems Modeling N2 - In order to achieve their business goals, organizations heavily rely on the operational excellence of their business processes. In traditional scenarios, business processes are usually well-structured, clearly specifying when and how certain tasks have to be executed. Flexible and knowledge-intensive processes are gathering momentum, where a knowledge worker drives the execution of a process case and determines the exact process path at runtime. In the case of an exception, the knowledge worker decides on an appropriate handling. While there is initial work on exception handling in well-structured business processes, exceptions in case management have not been sufficiently researched. This paper proposes an exception handling framework for stage-oriented case management languages, namely Guard Stage Milestone Model, Case Management Model and Notation, and Fragment-based Case Management. The effectiveness of the framework is evaluated with two real-world use cases showing that it covers all relevant exceptions and proposed handling strategies. KW - Exception handling KW - Knowledge-intensive processes KW - Flexible processes; KW - Case management Y1 - 2022 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1007/s10270-022-00993-3 SN - 1619-1366 SN - 1619-1374 VL - 21 IS - 3 SP - 939 EP - 962 PB - Springer CY - Heidelberg ER - TY - GEN A1 - Gonzalez-Lopez, Fernanda A1 - Pufahl, Luise T1 - A Landscape for Case Models T2 - Enterprise, Business-Process and Information Systems Modeling N2 - Case Management is a paradigm to support knowledge-intensive processes. The different approaches developed for modeling these types of processes tend to result in scattered models due to the low abstraction level at which the inherently complex processes are therein represented. Thus, readability and understandability is more challenging than that of traditional process models. By reviewing existing proposals in the field of process overviews and case models, this paper extends a case modeling language - the fragment-based Case Management (fCM) language - with the goal of modeling knowledge-intensive processes from a higher abstraction level - to generate a so-called fCM landscape. This proposal is empirically evaluated via an online experiment. Results indicate that interpreting an fCM landscape might be more effective and efficient than interpreting an informationally equivalent case model. KW - Case Management KW - Process landscape KW - Process map KW - Process architecture KW - Process model Y1 - 2019 SN - 978-3-030-20618-5 SN - 978-3-030-20617-8 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-20618-5_6 SN - 1865-1348 VL - 352 SP - 87 EP - 102 PB - Springer CY - Berlin ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Haarmann, Stephan A1 - Holfter, Adrian A1 - Pufahl, Luise A1 - Weske, Mathias T1 - Formal framework for checking compliance of data-driven case management JF - Journal on data semantics : JoDS N2 - Business processes are often specified in descriptive or normative models. Both types of models should adhere to internal and external regulations, such as company guidelines or laws. Employing compliance checking techniques, it is possible to verify process models against rules. While traditionally compliance checking focuses on well-structured processes, we address case management scenarios. In case management, knowledge workers drive multi-variant and adaptive processes. Our contribution is based on the fragment-based case management approach, which splits a process into a set of fragments. The fragments are synchronized through shared data but can, otherwise, be dynamically instantiated and executed. We formalize case models using Petri nets. We demonstrate the formalization for design-time and run-time compliance checking and present a proof-of-concept implementation. The application of the implemented compliance checking approach to a use case exemplifies its effectiveness while designing a case model. The empirical evaluation on a set of case models for measuring the performance of the approach shows that rules can often be checked in less than a second. KW - Compliance checking KW - Case management KW - Model verification KW - Data-centric KW - processes Y1 - 2021 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1007/s13740-021-00120-3 SN - 1861-2032 SN - 1861-2040 VL - 10 IS - 1-2 SP - 143 EP - 163 PB - Springer CY - Heidelberg ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Ihde, Sven A1 - Pufahl, Luise A1 - Völker, Maximilian A1 - Goel, Asvin A1 - Weske, Mathias T1 - A framework for modeling and executing task BT - specific resource allocations in business processes JF - Computing : archives for informatics and numerical computation N2 - As resources are valuable assets, organizations have to decide which resources to allocate to business process tasks in a way that the process is executed not only effectively but also efficiently. Traditional role-based resource allocation leads to effective process executions, since each task is performed by a resource that has the required skills and competencies to do so. However, the resulting allocations are typically not as efficient as they could be, since optimization techniques have yet to find their way in traditional business process management scenarios. On the other hand, operations research provides a rich set of analytical methods for supporting problem-specific decisions on resource allocation. This paper provides a novel framework for creating transparency on existing tasks and resources, supporting individualized allocations for each activity in a process, and the possibility to integrate problem-specific analytical methods of the operations research domain. To validate the framework, the paper reports on the design and prototypical implementation of a software architecture, which extends a traditional process engine with a dedicated resource management component. This component allows us to define specific resource allocation problems at design time, and it also facilitates optimized resource allocation at run time. The framework is evaluated using a real-world parcel delivery process. The evaluation shows that the quality of the allocation results increase significantly with a technique from operations research in contrast to the traditional applied rule-based approach. KW - Process Execution KW - Business Process Management KW - Resource Allocation KW - Resource Management KW - Activity-oriented Optimization Y1 - 2022 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1007/s00607-022-01093-2 SN - 0010-485X SN - 1436-5057 VL - 104 SP - 2405 EP - 2429 PB - Springer CY - Wien ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Meyer, Andreas A1 - Pufahl, Luise A1 - Batoulis, Kimon A1 - Fahland, Dirk A1 - Weske, Mathias T1 - Automating data exchange in process choreographies JF - Information systems N2 - Communication between organizations is formalized as process choreographies in daily business. While the correct ordering of exchanged messages can be modeled and enacted with current choreography techniques, no approach exists to describe and automate the exchange of data between processes in a choreography using messages. This paper describes an entirely model-driven approach for BPMN introducing a few concepts that suffice to model data retrieval, data transformation, message exchange, and correlation four aspects of data exchange. For automation, this work utilizes a recent concept to enact data dependencies in internal processes. We present a modeling guideline to derive local process models from a given choreography; their operational semantics allows to correctly enact the entire choreography from the derived models only including the exchange of data. Targeting on successful interactions, we discuss means to ensure correct process choreography modeling. Finally, we implemented our approach by extending the camunda BPM platform with our approach and show its feasibility by realizing all service interaction patterns using only model-based concepts. (C) 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. KW - Process modeling KW - Data modeling KW - Process choreographies KW - Data exchange KW - BPMN KW - SQL Y1 - 2015 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1016/j.is.2015.03.008 SN - 0306-4379 SN - 1873-6076 VL - 53 SP - 296 EP - 329 PB - Elsevier CY - Oxford ER - TY - BOOK A1 - Meyer, Andreas A1 - Pufahl, Luise A1 - Fahland, Dirk A1 - Weske, Mathias T1 - Modeling and enacting complex data dependencies in business processes N2 - Enacting business processes in process engines requires the coverage of control flow, resource assignments, and process data. While the first two aspects are well supported in current process engines, data dependencies need to be added and maintained manually by a process engineer. Thus, this task is error-prone and time-consuming. In this report, we address the problem of modeling processes with complex data dependencies, e.g., m:n relationships, and their automatic enactment from process models. First, we extend BPMN data objects with few annotations to allow data dependency handling as well as data instance differentiation. Second, we introduce a pattern-based approach to derive SQL queries from process models utilizing the above mentioned extensions. Therewith, we allow automatic enactment of data-aware BPMN process models. We implemented our approach for the Activiti process engine to show applicability. N2 - Die Ausführung von Geschäftsprozessen in Process Engines benötigt Informationen über den Kontrollfluss, die Rollenzuordnungen und die Datenabhängigkeiten. Während die ersten beiden Aspekte bereits automatisiert von Process Engines unterstützt werden, müssen die Datenabhängigkeiten durch einen Prozessingenieur manuell hinzugefügt und gewartet werden. Allerdings ist diese Aufgabe sehr fehleranfällig und zeitintensiv. In diesem Report zeigen wir wie Prozesse mit komplexen Datenabhängigkeiten, z.B. m:n Beziehungen, modelliert und automatisiert ausgeführt werden können. Dazu erweitern wir zuerst BPMN Datenobjekte mit wenigen Annotationen, um das Handling von Datenabhängikeiten sowie die Differenzierung von Datenobjektinstanzen zu ermöglichen. Danach beschreiben wir einen Pattern-basierten Ansatz, um SQL-Queries, unter Nutzung der oben erwähnten Erweiterungen, aus Prozessmodellen abzuleiten. Damit erlauben wir die automatisierte Ausführung von Daten-orientierten BPMN Prozessmodellen. Um die Anwendbarkeit unseres Ansatzen zu demonstieren, implementierten wir ihn für die Process Engine Activiti. T3 - Technische Berichte des Hasso-Plattner-Instituts für Digital Engineering an der Universität Potsdam - 74 KW - Prozessmodellierung KW - Datenmodellierung KW - Prozessausführung KW - BPMN KW - SQL KW - Process Modeling KW - Data Modeling KW - Process Enactment KW - BPMN KW - SQL Y1 - 2013 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:kobv:517-opus-65103 SN - 978-3-86956-245-2 PB - Universitätsverlag Potsdam CY - Potsdam ER - TY - THES A1 - Pufahl, Luise T1 - Modeling and executing batch activities in business processes T1 - Modellierung und Ausführung von Batch-Aktivitäten in Geschäftsprozessen N2 - Business process automation improves organizations’ efficiency to perform work. Therefore, a business process is first documented as a process model which then serves as blueprint for a number of process instances representing the execution of specific business cases. In existing business process management systems, process instances run independently from each other. However, in practice, instances are also collected in groups at certain process activities for a combined execution to improve the process performance. Currently, this so-called batch processing is executed manually or supported by external software. Only few research proposals exist to explicitly represent and execute batch processing needs in business process models. These works also lack a comprehensive understanding of requirements. This thesis addresses the described issues by providing a basic concept, called batch activity. It allows an explicit representation of batch processing configurations in process models and provides a corresponding execution semantics, thereby easing automation. The batch activity groups different process instances based on their data context and can synchronize their execution over one or as well multiple process activities. The concept is conceived based on a requirements analysis considering existing literature on batch processing from different domains and industry examples. Further, this thesis provides two extensions: First, a flexible batch configuration concept, based on event processing techniques, is introduced to allow run time adaptations of batch configurations. Second, a concept for collecting and batching activity instances of multiple different process models is given. Thereby, the batch configuration is centrally defined, independently of the process models, which is especially beneficial for organizations with large process model collections. This thesis provides a technical evaluation as well as a validation of the presented concepts. A prototypical implementation in an existing open-source BPMS shows that with a few extensions, batch processing is enabled. Further, it demonstrates that the consolidated view of several work items in one user form can improve work efficiency. The validation, in which the batch activity concept is applied to different use cases in a simulated environment, implies cost-savings for business processes when a suitable batch configuration is used. For the validation, an extensible business process simulator was developed. It enables process designers to study the influence of a batch activity in a process with regards to its performance. N2 - Die Automatisierung von Geschäftsprozessen verbessert die Effizienz von Organisationen im Bearbeiten ihrer Aufgaben. Dafür wird ein Geschäftsprozess zunächst als Prozessmodell dokumentiert, der dann als Vorlage für eine Menge von Prozessinstanzen, welche die Ausführung von Geschäftsfällen repräsentieren, dient. In existierenden Prozessmanagement-Systemen werden Prozessinstanzen komplett unabhängig voneinander ausgeführt. In der Praxis jedoch werden Instanzen häufig zur Verbesserung der Prozessperformance an bestimmten Prozessaktivitäten in Gruppen gesammelt, um diese gebündelt auszuführen. Das sogenannte Batch Processing wird zurzeit nur manuell oder durch externe Software unterstützt. Wenige Forschungsarbeiten existieren, um Batch Processing-Konfigurationen in Prozessmodellen explizit zu repräsentieren und sie automatisiert auszuführen. Zusätzlich fehlt es diesen Arbeiten an einem umfassenden Verständnis der Anforderungen. Die vorliegende Dissertation befasst sich mit den oben genannten Fragestellungen, indem ein Batch Activity-Konzept entwickelt wird. Dieses erlaubt es Batch Processing-Aktivitäten in Geschäftsprozessen zu spezifizieren als auch zu konfigurieren und mittels einer zusätzlich bereitgestellten Ausführungssemantik zu automatisieren. Die Batch Activity kann verschiedene Prozessinstanzen auf Basis ihres Datenkontextes gruppieren und deren Ausführung über ein oder mehrere Aktivitäten synchronisieren. Das Konzept basiert auf einer Anforderungsanalyse, welche existierende Forschungsarbeiten zum Thema des Batch Processings aus unterschiedlichen Domänen als auch Praxisbeispiele berücksichtigt. Weiterhin werden zwei Erweiterungen des Basiskonzeptes in dieser Arbeit vorgestellt: Erstens wird ein Konzept zur flexiblen Anpassung der Batch-Konfiguration zur Ausführungszeit basierend auf Techniken der Ereignisverarbeitung vorgestellt. Zweitens wird ein Konzept eingeführt, um Aktivitätsinstanzen von verschiedenen Prozessmodellen zu sammeln und zu konsolidieren. Dabei wird die Batch-Konfiguration unabhängig von Prozessmodellen zentral definiert, was besonders für Unternehmen mit großen Prozesssammlungen hilfreich ist. Die vorliegende Dissertation beinhaltet eine technische Evaluation als auch eine Validierung der eingeführten Konzepte. Eine prototypische Implementierung in ein bestehendes, open-source Prozessmanagement-System zeigt, dass Batch Processing mit wenigen Erweiterungen integriert werden kann. Zusätzlich wird demonstriert, dass die konsolidierte Darstellung von mehreren Prozessfällen in einer Benutzeransicht die Arbeitsleistung von Endanwendern verbessern kann. Die Validierung, in der das Batch Activity-Konzept in unterschiedlichen Anwendungsfällen in einer simulierten Umgebung eingesetzt wird, impliziert Prozesskosteneinsparungen, wenn eine geeignete Batch-Konfiguration gewählt wird. Für die Validierung wurde ein erweiterbarer Geschäftsprozesssimulator entwickelt. Dieser ermöglicht es Prozessmodellierern, den Einfluss einer Batch Activity auf einen Prozess mit Hinblick auf dessen Performance zu untersuchen. KW - business process KW - batch activity KW - process modeling KW - process execution KW - batch processing KW - Geschäftsprozess KW - Batch-Aktivität KW - Prozessmodellierung KW - Prozessausführung KW - Stapelverarbeitung Y1 - 2018 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:kobv:517-opus4-408013 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Pufahl, Luise A1 - Weske, Mathias T1 - Batch activity: enhancing business process modeling and enactment with batch processing JF - Computing N2 - Organizations strive for efficiency in their business processes by process improvement and automation. Business process management (BPM) supports these efforts by capturing business processes in process models serving as blueprint for a number of process instances. In BPM, process instances are typically considered running independently of each other. However, batch processing-the collectively execution of several instances at specific process activities-is a common phenomenon in operational processes to reduce cost or time. Currently, batch processing is organized manually or hard-coded in software. For allowing stakeholders to explicitly represent their batch configurations in process models and their automatic execution, this paper provides a concept for batch activities and describes the corresponding execution semantics. The batch activity concept is evaluated in a two-step approach: a prototypical implementation in an existing BPM System proves its feasibility. Additionally, batch activities are applied to different use cases in a simulated environment. Its application implies cost-savings when a suitable batch configuration is selected. The batch activity concept contributes to practice by allowing the specification of batch work in process models and their automatic execution, and to research by extending the existing process modeling concepts. KW - Batch activity KW - Batch processing KW - Business process models KW - Process Enactment KW - Colored Petri Net Y1 - 2019 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1007/s00607-019-00717-4 SN - 0010-485X SN - 1436-5057 VL - 101 IS - 12 SP - 1909 EP - 1933 PB - Springer CY - Wien ER - TY - GEN A1 - Pufahl, Luise A1 - Wong, Tsun Yin A1 - Weske, Mathias T1 - Design of an extensible BPMN process simulator T2 - Business Process Management Workshops (BPM 2017) N2 - Business process simulation is an important means for quantitative analysis of a business process and to compare different process alternatives. With the Business Process Model and Notation (BPMN) being the state-of-the-art language for the graphical representation of business processes, many existing process simulators support already the simulation of BPMN diagrams. However, they do not provide well-defined interfaces to integrate new concepts in the simulation environment. In this work, we present the design and architecture of a proof-of-concept implementation of an open and extensible BPMN process simulator. It also supports the simulation of multiple BPMN processes at a time and relies on the building blocks of the well-founded discrete event simulation. The extensibility is assured by a plug-in concept. Its feasibility is demonstrated by extensions supporting new BPMN concepts, such as the simulation of business rule activities referencing decision models and batch activities. KW - Business process simulation KW - Extensibility KW - BPMN Y1 - 2018 SN - 978-3-319-74030-0 SN - 978-3-319-74029-4 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-74030-0_62 SN - 1865-1348 VL - 308 SP - 782 EP - 795 PB - Springer CY - Berlin ER -