Workflow Management: Models, methods and systems.
Wil van der Aalst
Eindhoven University of Technology Faculty of Technology Management Department of Information and Technology P.O. Box 513 5600 MB Eindhoven The Netherlands [email protected]
1 Overview of this course
Workflow management
Relation (Re)design of workflows with BPR With or without WFMS Resource management Logistical aspects COSA Analysis of workflows
Protos Concepts Guidelines Workflow management systems Techniques for business process modelling Interorganizational workflow Adaptive workflow
Based on Petri nets!
2 Outline of this course
• Introduction and motivation • (Re)design of workflows, • Business process reengineering guidelines, ... • Techniques for process modeling • Analysis of workflows •Petrinets •Case • High-level Petri nets • Functions and architecture of workflow management systems • Modeling business processes: workflow concepts • Hands-on COSA/Protos • Conclusion • Mapping workflows onto Petri nets • Resource management • Case/demo
3 Some trends
From programming to assembling!
EDM From data oriented DBMS to process oriented! GW OS From design EDI to redesign! WFM DSS ERP From controlled applications to organic!
4 Workflow management
Goal To manage the flow of work such that the work is done at the right time by the proper person.
Definitions A workflow management system (WFMS) is a software package that can be used to support the definition, management and execution of workflow processes. A workflow system (WFS) is a system based on a WFMS that supports a specific set of business processes through the execution of computerized process definitions
5 Relevance of workflow management systems
Trend: UIMS UIMS WFMS appl. appl. appl. appl. DBMS DBMS DBMS OS OS OS OS 1965-1975 1975-1985 1985-1995 1995-2005 Processes: • are becoming more important (BPR) • are subject to frequent changes • are becoming more complex • are increasing in number ⇒ Workflow Management System
6 The basic idea:
processes resources WFMS
applications
• separation of processes, resources and applications • focus on the logistics of work processes, not on the contents of individual tasks
7 Motivation In this course we concentrate on business process modeling
• Processes are important: – Business Process Reengineering (BPR) – Continuous Process Improvement (CPI) – Workflow Management (WFM) – Logistics Management (LM) • There are many modeling techniques and tools – DFD, ISAC, SADT, PN, HLPN, PA, FC, ... – Simulation tools, design tools, CASE tools, WFMS, ... • In this course we focus on the essential concepts by using a generic process modeling technique (Petri nets). • We focus on workflow processes.
8 Business Process Reengineering (BPR) (Business Process Redesign)
• Hammer and Champy: "Reengineering the corporation" (1993) •Keywords: – fundamental – radical – dramatic –process • The "organize before automate"-principle is replaced by "process thinking".
9 Processes and the organization