Database Support for Workflow Management Systems

2009 ◽  
pp. 208-213
Author(s):  
Francisco A.C. Pinheiro
Keyword(s):  
Process Model ◽  
Reference Model ◽  
Workflow Management ◽  
Process Models ◽  
Formal Structure ◽  
Work Processes ◽  
Software Applications ◽  
Process Enactment ◽  
Workflow Management Coalition ◽  
Process Structure

A workflow is a series of work processes performed under rules that reflect the formal structure of the organization in which they are carried out and the relationships between their various parts. Workflow applications are software applications used to automate part of workflow processes. They run under the control of a workflow management system (WfMS). The WfMS usually comprises an organizational model, describing the process structure, and a process model, describing the process logic. The Workflow Management Coalition (WfMC, 2008) publishes a set of workflow definitions and related material, including a reference model. Databases are commonly used as a WfMS supporting technology. Not only workflow data are maintained in databases but also the rules governing processes can be stored in database schemas. Database functionality can be used both for defining and managing process models as well as for environment notification and process enactment. This article shows how particular database-related technologies can be used to support WfMS.

Database Support for Workflow Management Systems

2005 ◽  
pp. 158-161
Author(s):  
Francisco A.C. Pinheiro
Keyword(s):  
Management System ◽  
Process Model ◽  
Reference Model ◽  
Workflow Management ◽  
Formal Structure ◽  
Work Processes ◽  
Related Material ◽  
Software Applications ◽  
Workflow Management Coalition ◽  
Process Structure

A workflow is a series of work processes performed under rules that reflect the formal structure of the organization in which they are carried out and the relationships between their various parts. Workflow applications are software applications used to automate part of workflow processes. They run under the control of a workflow management system (WfMS). The WfMS usually comprises an organizational model, describing the process structure, and a process model, describing the process logic. The Workflow Management Coalition (WfMC, 2004) publishes a set of workflow definitions and related material, including a reference model.

scholarly journals Detecting Difference between Process Models Based on the Refined Process Structure Tree

2017 ◽  
Vol 2017 ◽  
pp. 1-17 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jing Fan ◽  
Jiaxing Wang ◽  
Weishi An ◽  
Bin Cao ◽  
Tianyang Dong
Keyword(s):  
Business Process ◽  
Process Model ◽  
Workflow Management ◽  
Process Models ◽  
Divide And Conquer ◽  
Detection Methods ◽  
Structure Tree ◽  
The Difference ◽  
The Cost ◽  
Process Structure

The development of mobile workflow management systems (mWfMS) leads to large number of business process models. In the meantime, the location restriction embedded in mWfMS may result in different process models for a single business process. In order to help users quickly locate the difference and rebuild the process model, detecting the difference between different process models is needed. Existing detection methods either provide a dissimilarity value to represent the difference or use predefined difference template to generate the result, which cannot reflect the entire composition of the difference. Hence, in this paper, we present a new approach to solve this problem. Firstly, we parse the process models to their corresponding refined process structure trees (PSTs), that is, decomposing a process model into a hierarchy of subprocess models. Then we design a method to convert the PST to its corresponding task based process structure tree (TPST). As a consequence, the problem of detecting difference between two process models is transformed to detect difference between their corresponding TPSTs. Finally, we obtain the difference between two TPSTs based on the divide and conquer strategy, where the difference is described by an edit script and we make the cost of the edit script close to minimum. The extensive experimental evaluation shows that our method can meet the real requirements in terms of precision and efficiency.

A Graph-Based Approach for Semantic Process Model Discovery

2011 ◽  
pp. 438-462 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ahmed Gater ◽  
Daniela Grigori ◽  
Mokrane Bouzeghoub
Keyword(s):  
Web Services ◽  
Process Model ◽  
Service Oriented Architecture ◽  
Graph Matching ◽  
Process Models ◽  
Matching Problem ◽  
Service Oriented ◽  
Semantic Process ◽  
Process Structure ◽  
Matching Techniques

One of the key tasks in the service oriented architecture that Semantic Web services aim to automate is the discovery of services that can fulfill the applications or user needs. OWL-S is one of the proposals for describing semantic metadata about Web services, which is based on the OWL ontology language. Majority of current approaches for matching OWL-S processes take into account only the inputs/outputs service profile. This chapter argues that, in many situations the service matchmaking should take into account also the process model. We present matching techniques that operate on OWL-S process models and allow retrieving in a given repository, the processes most similar to the query. To do so, the chapter proposes to reduce the problem of process matching to a graph matching problem and to adapt existing algorithms for this purpose. It proposes a similarity measure used to rank the discovered services. This measure captures differences in process structure and semantic differences between input/outputs used in the processes.

Process Model for an Empiracally Grounded Reference Model Construction

2011 ◽  
pp. 77-97 ◽  
Author(s):  
Frederik Ahlemann ◽  
Heike Gastl
Keyword(s):  
Literature Review ◽  
Process Model ◽  
Epistemological Beliefs ◽  
Reference Model ◽  
Real Life ◽  
Process Models ◽  
Research Projects ◽  
Ongoing Research ◽  
Reference Models ◽  
Proposed Model

This chapter stresses the importance of integrating empirical evidence in the construction process of reference models. With reference to the authors’ underly-ing epistemological beliefs, requirements for an empirically grounded process model are derived. Based on a literature review of existing process models and experience gained from three research projects, an advanced process model is proposed in order to provide concrete instructions that show how these require-ments can be met. Real-life examples from completed and ongoing research pro-jects are continuously integrated so as to contribute to the practicability of the proposed model for the reader.

AN INTEGRATED LIFE CYCLE FOR WORKFLOW MANAGEMENT BASED ON LEARNING AND PLANNING

2006 ◽  
Vol 15 (04) ◽  
pp. 485-505 ◽  
Author(s):  
HUGO M. FERREIRA ◽  
DIOGO R. FERREIRA
Keyword(s):  
Process Model ◽  
Business Processes ◽  
Inductive Logic ◽  
Workflow Management ◽  
Process Models ◽  
Planning Techniques ◽  
Successive Refinement ◽  
Business Goals ◽  
Learning Techniques ◽  
Build Time

The ability to describe business processes as executable models has always been one of the fundamental premises of workflow management. Yet, the tacit nature of human knowledge is often an obstacle to eliciting accurate process models. On the other hand, the result of process modeling is a static plan of action, which is difficult to adapt to changing procedures or to different business goals. In this article, we attempt to address these problems by approaching workflow management with a combination of learning and planning techniques. Assuming that processes cannot be fully described at build-time, we make use of learning techniques, namely Inductive Logic Programming (ILP), in order to discover workflow activities and to describe them as planning operators. These operators will be subsequently fed to a partial-order planner in order to find the process model as a planning solution. The continuous interplay between learning, planning and execution aims at arriving at a feasible plan by successive refinement of the operators. The approach is illustrated in two simple scenarios. Following a discussion of related work, the paper concludes by presenting the main challenges that remain to be solved.

THE MINADEPT CLUSTERING APPROACH FOR DISCOVERING REFERENCE PROCESS MODELS OUT OF PROCESS VARIANTS

2010 ◽  
Vol 19 (03n04) ◽  
pp. 159-203 ◽  
Author(s):  
CHEN LI ◽  
MANFRED REICHERT ◽  
ANDREAS WOMBACHER
Keyword(s):  
Process Model ◽  
Clustering Algorithm ◽  
Reference Model ◽  
Average Distance ◽  
Process Models ◽  
Process Variants ◽  
Reference Process ◽  
Build Time ◽  
Clustering Approach ◽  
New Generation

During the last years a new generation of adaptive Process-Aware Information Systems (PAIS) has emerged, which enables dynamic process changes at runtime, while preserving PAIS robustness and consistency. Such adaptive PAIS allow authorized users to add new process activities, to delete existing activities, or to change pre-defined activity sequences during runtime. Both this runtime flexibility and process configurations at build-time, lead to a large number of process variants being derived from the same process model, but slightly differing in structure due to the applied changes. Generally, process variants are expensive to configure and difficult to maintain. This paper presents selected results from our MinAdept project. In particular, we provide a clustering algorithm that fosters learning from past process changes by mining a collection of process variants. As mining result we obtain a process model for which average distance to the process variant models becomes minimal. By adopting this process model as reference model in the PAIS, need for future process configuration and adaptation decreases. We have validated our clustering algorithm by means of a case study as well as comprehensive simulations. Altogether, our vision is to enable full process lifecycle support in adaptive PAIS.

Surgical Workflow Management Schemata for Cataract Procedures

2012 ◽  
Vol 51 (05) ◽  
pp. 371-382 ◽  
Author(s):  
P. Liebmann ◽  
P. Wiedemann ◽  
J. Meixensberger ◽  
T. Neumuth
Keyword(s):  
Process Model ◽  
Workflow Management ◽  
Surgical Techniques ◽  
High Variability ◽  
Process Models ◽  
Work Flow ◽  
Surgical Workflow ◽  
Design And Implementation ◽  
Surgical Process Model ◽  
Learning Sets

SummaryObjective: Workflow guidance of surgical activities is a challenging task. Because of variations in patient properties and applied surgical techniques, surgical processes have a high variability. The objective of this study was the design and implementation of a surgical workflow management system (SWFMS) that can provide a robust guidance for surgical activities. We investigated how many surgical process models are needed to develop a SWFMS that can guide cataract surgeries robustly.Methods: We used 100 cases of cataract surgeries and acquired patient-individual surgical process models (iSPMs) from them. Of these, randomized subsets iSPMs were selected as learning sets to create a generic surgical process model (gSPM). These gSPMs were mapped onto workflow nets as work-flow schemata to define the behavior of the SWFMS. Finally, 10 iSPMs from the disjoint set were simulated to validate the workflow schema for the surgical processes. The measurement was the successful guidance of an iSPM.Results: We demonstrated that a SWFMS with a workflow schema that was generated from a subset of 10 iSPMs is sufficient to guide approximately 65% of all surgical processes in the total set, and that a subset of 50 iSPMs is sufficient to guide approx. 80% of all processes.Conclusion: We designed a SWFMS that is able to guide surgical activities on a detailed level. The study demonstrated that the high inter-patient variability of surgical processes can be considered by our approach.

TOWARD A QUALITY FRAMEWORK FOR BUSINESS PROCESS MODELS

2013 ◽  
Vol 22 (01) ◽  
pp. 1350003 ◽  
Author(s):  
LAURA SÁNCHEZ-GONZÁLEZ ◽  
FÉLIX GARCÍA ◽  
FRANCISCO RUIZ ◽  
MARIO PIATTINI
Keyword(s):  
Business Process ◽  
Process Modeling ◽  
Process Model ◽  
Reference Model ◽  
Relevant Literature ◽  
Quality Characteristics ◽  
Process Models ◽  
Business Process Models ◽  
Quality Framework ◽  
Effective Assessment

Business process modeling is recognized as a key part of the business process lifecycle. It is during this stage that a conceptual model is produced by collecting business process requirements and representing them with a specific business process notation. While there has been much research into process modeling techniques, little has taken place with regard to the characteristics that should be considered for an effective assessment of the models' quality. This paper presents a synthesis of quality characteristics for business process models, based on a systematic review of the relevant literature. It then goes on to describe a reference model for the quality assessment of business process models, and to relate the aforementioned quality characteristics to existing relevant process model measures. These relations may help organizations to guide the improvement of their business process models according to their chosen quality characteristics.

An alternative method for refined process structure trees (RPST)

2019 ◽  
Vol 26 (2) ◽  
pp. 613-629
Author(s):  
Yongsun Choi ◽  
N. Long Ha ◽  
Pauline Kongsuwan ◽  
Kwan Hee Han
Keyword(s):  
Process Model ◽  
Computation Time ◽  
Software Tool ◽  
Process Models ◽  
Two Phase ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Dominance Relations ◽  
Alternative Method ◽  
Structure Tree ◽  
Process Structure

Purpose The refined process structure tree (RPST), the hierarchy of non-overlapping single-entry single-exit (SESE) regions of a process model, has been utilized for better comprehension and more efficient analysis of business process models. Existing RPST methods, based on the triconnected components of edges, fail to identify a certain type of SESE region. The purpose of this paper is to introduce an alternative method for generating a complete RPST utilizing rather simple techniques. Design/methodology/approach The proposed method first focuses on the SESE regions of bonds and rigids, from the innermost ones to the outermost ones, utilizing dominance and post-dominance relations. Then, any SESE region of a series nested in a bond or a rigid is identified with a depth-first search variation. Two-phase algorithms and their completeness proofs, a software tool incorporating visualization of stepwise outcomes, and the experimental results of the proposed method are provided. Findings The proposed method utilizes simple techniques that allow their straightforward implementation. Visualization of stepwise outcomes helps process analysts to understand the proposed method and the SESE regions. Experiments with 604 SAP reference models demonstrated the limitation of the existing RPST methods. The proposed method, however, completely identified all types of SESE regions, defined with nodes, in less computation time than with the old methods. Originality/value Each triconnected component of the undirected version of a process model is associated with a pair of boundary nodes without discriminating between the entry and the exit. Here, each non-atomic SESE region is associated with two distinct entry and exit nodes from the original model in the form of a directed graph. By specifying the properties of SESE regions in more comprehensible ways, this paper facilitates a deeper understanding of SESE regions rather than relying on the resulting RPST.

scholarly journals Mining workflow processes from distributed workflow enactment event logs

2012 ◽  
pp. 528-553
Keyword(s):  
Process Model ◽  
Process Mining ◽  
Workflow Management ◽  
Computer Software ◽  
Structural Data ◽  
Control Flow ◽  
Process Models ◽  
Distributed Workflow ◽  
Workflow Mining ◽  
Event Logs

Workflow management systems help to execute, monitor and manage work process flow and execution. These systems, as they are executing, keep a record of who does what and when (e.g. log of events). The activity of using computer software to examine these records, and deriving various structural data results is called workflow mining. The workflow mining activity, in general, needs to encompass behavioral (process/control-flow), social, informational (data-flow), and organizational perspectives; as well as other perspectives, because workflow systems are "people systems" that must be designed, deployed, and understood within their social and organizational contexts. This paper particularly focuses on mining the behavioral aspect of workflows from XML-based workflow enactment event logs, which are vertically (semantic-driven distribution) or horizontally (syntactic-driven distribution) distributed over the networked workflow enactment components. That is, this paper proposes distributed workflow mining approaches that are able to rediscover ICN-based structured workflow process models through incrementally amalgamating a series of vertically or horizontally fragmented temporal workcases. And each of the approaches consists of a temporal fragment discovery algorithm, which is able to discover a set of temporal fragment models from the fragmented workflow enactment event logs, and a workflow process mining algorithm which rediscovers a structured workflow process model from the discovered temporal fragment models. Where, the temporal fragment model represents the concrete model of the XML-based distributed workflow fragment events log.

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