Authors:
Ralf Schepers
;
Tobias Minning
;
Yannik Moog
and
Ingo J. Timm
Affiliation:
Business Informatics I, University of Trier, Germany
Keyword(s):
Business Process Simulation, Material Flow Simulation, Enterprise Dynamics (ED), BPMN.
Abstract:
Due to the ISO 9001 certification and process oriented-organization, many business process models are available at enterprises and public institutions. They are e.g. used for documentation or for introducing processes to new employees. As a de-facto standard notation BPMN “Business Process Model and Notation” is widely used. These process models can support static analyses of business processes. Dynamic analysis, e.g., by simulation is beneficial for in-depth analysis and optimization. However, only few approaches are available to perform simulation on basis of BPMN. In the production engineering domain, process simulation for analysis and optimization is a de-facto standard. In this domain, material flow simulation is a valid method of analysis, planning and construction.
In this paper, we discuss the potentials and shortcomings of transforming BPMN models to a material flow simulation model. On the basis of an analysis of BPMN and material flow simulation, we identified requireme
nts for transforming. Four levels of transformation complexity are defined. Furthermore we developed matching relation from BPMN elements to material flow elements. As proof of concept, we implemented the transformation process using Enterprise Dynamics and evaluated its outcome. The benefits and limitations of this approach are discussed in the paper in front of evaluation and related work.
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