ADVANCED PROCESS MODELLING

AND
PROCESS DISCOVERY
Session 4
Week 2

Assessment due this week:

A2 Literature Review 20%.
 • Event-based choice gateway
Topics for • Boundary events: interrupting and non-
interrupting
the Week • Error events (throw and catch)
• BPM Lifecycle
• Process Discovery
• Process Discovery Techniques
• Organizing the Gathered Material
• Recap

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EVENTS
Events

In BPMN, events model something instantaneous happening

during the execution of a process

Types of event:
• Start
• Intermediate
• End

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BPMN event types

Start Intermediate End

Untyped Event – Indicates that an instance of the

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

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

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So, when to use what?

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

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Temporal events

Start Intermediate End

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)

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Example

PO handling
A Purchase Order (PO) handling process starts when a PO is received. The PO is first registered. If
the current date is not a working day, the process waits until the following working day before
proceeding.

Otherwise, an availability check is performed and a PO response is sent back to the customer.

Next working day

weekend/
holiday

weekday Check Send PO

Register PO
Availability Response
PO PO
Received fulfilled

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Recap: Message and Timer events

Start Intermediate End

Catching Catching Throwing Throwing

process message message process

starts upon received sent during ends upon
message during the the process message
received process sent

process time event

starts when occurred
time event (to model delay)
occurs

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 Data-based vs. event-based choices

• In an XOR-split gateway, one branch is chosen based on expressions

evaluated over available data
→Choice is made immediately when the gateway is reached

• Sometimes, the choice must be delayed until something happens

→Choice is based on a “race between events”

• BPMN distinguishes between:

• Exclusive decision gateway (XOR-split)
• Event-based decision gateway

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Choices outside our control…

Stock replenishment
A restaurant chain submits a purchase order (PO) to replenish its warehouses every
Thursday.

The restaurant chain’s procurement system expects to receive either a “PO Response”
or an error message.

However, it may also happen that no response is received at all due to system errors
or due to delays in handling the PO on the supplier’s side.

If no response is received by Friday afternoon or if an error message is received, a

purchasing officer at the restaurant chain’s headquarters should be notified.
Otherwise, the PO Response is processed normally.
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Event-based decision

With the XOR-split gateway, a branch is chosen based on

conditions that evaluate over available data
→ The choice can be made immediately after the token arrives
from the incoming flow

Sometimes, the choice must be delayed until an event happens

→ The choice is based on a “race” among events

Two types of XOR split:

data-driven event-driven
XOR-split XOR split

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Solution: event-driven XOR split
Stock replenishment

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Exercise

In the context of a claim handling process, it is sometimes necessary to send a

questionnaire to the claimant to gather additional information.

The claimant is expected to return the questionnaire within five days.

If no response is received after five days, a reminder is sent to the claimant.

If after another five days there is still no response, another reminder is sent and
so on until the completed questionnaire is received.

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EXCEPTION HANDLING
Example 1: terminate event
Signal the negative outcome…

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Example 2: terminate event
Abort the process by removing all tokens…

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Exception handling

Handling exceptions often involves stopping a sub-process and performing a special

activity

Types of exceptions for an activity (task/sub-process) in BPMN:

External: something goes wrong outside the process, and the execution of the
current activity must be interrupted. Handled with the Message event

Internal: something goes wrong inside an activity, whose execution must thus be
interrupted. Handled with the Error event

Timeout: an activity takes too long and must be interrupted. Handled with the
Timer event

All these events are catching intermediate events. They stop the enclosing activity and
start an exception handling routine.
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Internal exception: error event

Start Intermediate End

Error Event – Indicates an error: the end version generates an
error event while the catching intermediate version consumes it
when attached to the boundary of an activity

Must be attached to the

activity’s boundary

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Solution: internal exception Throwing and catching
error events must have
the same label
PO handling
Handle PO
Handle PO
Nextworking
Next working day
day Items not
weekend/
weekend/ available
holiday
holiday

weekday
weekday Check
Check Send POSend PO
Register PO
Register PO Availability
Availability ResponseResponse
Items
PO
PO
PO available Response PO PO
Response
Received
Received Registered
Registered fulfilled
fulfilled
sentsent

PO Change PO Cancel Items not

received received available
Handle PO
Cancelation
Register PO
PO Notification
Change
canceled sent

Must catch an error

event thrown from
within the same activity

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Example: Activity Timeout
Order-to-transportation quote
Once a wholesale order has been confirmed, the supplier transmits this order to
the carrier for the preparation of the transportation quote.

In order to prepare the quote, the carrier needs to compute the route plan
(including all track points that need to be traversed during the travel) and
estimate the trailer usage.

By contract, wholesale orders have to be dispatched within four days from the
receipt of the order.

This implies that transportation quotes have to be prepared within 48 hours from
the receipt of the order to remain within the terms of the contract.
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Solution: Activity Timeout

Order-to-transportation quote

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Non-interrupting boundary events

Sometimes we may need to trigger an activity in parallel to the

normal flow, i.e. without interrupting the normal flow.

This can be achieved by using non-interrupting boundary events

Must be attached to
the activity’s boundary
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 Solution: non-interrupting boundary events
PO handling

Handle PO

Next working day Items not

weekend/ available
holiday

weekday Check Send PO

Register PO Availability Response
Items
PO PO available PO
Response
Received Registered fulfilled
sent

PO Change PO Cancel Items not Address

received received available change
Handle PO received
Cancelation
Register PO Update
PO Notification
Change customer
canceled sent address

Customer
address
updated

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Summary

• In this lecture we have learned about:

• BPMN sub-processes
• Repetition markers: loop marker and parallel multi-instance marker
• Events: timer, message and error events
• Event-based choice gateway
• Boundary events: interrupting and non-interrupting
• Error events (throw and catch)

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And once I’ve got a model, what’s next?

Process analysis techniques:

• Added-value and waste analysis
• Root-cause analysis
• Flow Analysis
• Queuing Analysis
• Process Simulation

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DISCOVERY PROCESS
BPM Lifecycle

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Process Discovery

1. Defining the setting: This phase is dedicated to assembling a team in a company that will be
responsible for working on the process.

2. Gathering information: This phase is concerned with building an understanding of the

process. Different discovery methods can be used to acquire information on a process.

3. Conducting the modeling task: This phase deals with organizing the creation of the process
model. The modeling method gives guidance for mapping out the process in a systematic
way.

4. Assuring process model quality: This phase aims to guarantee that the resulting process
models meet different quality criteria. This phase is important for establishing trust in the
process model.
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Who is involved?

Domain Expert Process Analyst

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Stakeholders in Detail

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Challenge 1:
Fragmented Process Knowledge

I make a photocopy before

handing over the
application

Why can‘t I directly

provide cash after
approval?
We bundle refinancing to
get better interest rates.

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Challenge 2:
Domain Experts think on Instance Level

”Every trip is different.“

”You cannot really compare. Our

customers go to different places in
different seasons using different
modes of transportation.“

”We can never do anything exactly

in the same way. There are so
many special conditions.“

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 Expertise of Process Analysts

Problem understanding
• Episodic knowledge available to get to root of problem
• Knowledge organisation helps to structure problem
Problem solving
• Trigger identification (problem-related cues)
• Hypothesis management (formulation and testing of hypotheses)
• Goal setting (what needs to be achieved next)
• Top-down strategy driven by analysis goals
Modelling skills
• Well-structured and laid out
• Systematically labelled
• Explicit start and end points of a process
• Appropriate granularity and decomposition

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Process Discovery Techniques

Evidence-based
• Document analysis
• Observation
• Process mining

Interview-based

Workshop-based

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Document Analysis
Documents point to existing roles, activities and business objects

Formal documentation in terms of

• Organization chart
• Employment plan
• Quality certificate report
• Internal policies
• Glossaries and handbooks

Forms

Work instructions
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Observation

• Observe what people do at their workplace

• Trace business objects in the course of their lifecycle
• Inspect the work environment

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Process Mining

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Interviews
Interview

Validation Modeling
• Correct
• Complete
Verification
• Sound

• Structured vs. unstructured interviews

• Assumption: analyst and stakeholder share terminology
• Then, questions target at identifying deviations from standard processing

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Workshops
• Gather all key stakeholders together

• One process analyst, multiple domain experts

• Participants interact to create shared understanding

• Often: software-supported, a model is directly created during the workshop (separate role)

• Model is reference point for discussions

• Alternative: brown-paper workshops

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 Strengths and Weaknesses
Technique Strength Weakness
Document Analysis • Structured information • Outdated material
• Independent from availability of • Wrong level of abstraction
stakeholders

Observation • Context-rich insight into process • Potentially intrusive

Automatic Discovery • Extensive set of cases
• Objective data
Interview • Detailed inquiry into process
• Stakeholders likely to behave
differently
• Only few cases
• Potential issue with data quality
• Requires sparse time of process
stakeholders
• Several iterations required before
sign-off

Workshop • Direct resolution of conflicting • Synchronous availability of several

views stakeholders 41
Effort of Process Discovery

Consider that the order process of your favorite online book retailer has
ten major activities that are conducted by different persons.

How much time do you need approximately for creating a process model
that is validated and approved by the process owner?

Make appropriate assumptions.

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 Process Discovery Effort
This process contains ten major activities that are executed by different persons.

We can assume that there will be a kickoff meeting with the process owner and some important domain experts
on day one. One day might be required to study available documentation.

An interview with one domain expert can take from two to three hours, such that we would be able to meet two
persons per day, and document the interview results at after hours/overtime.

Let us assume that we meet some persons only once while we seek feedback from important domain experts in two
additional interviews. Then, there would be a final approval from the process owner.

This adds up to one day for the kickoff, one for document study, five days for the first iteration interviews, and
further five days if we assume that we meet five experts three times.

Then, we need one day for preparing the meeting for final approval with the process owner, which would be on the
following day. If there are no delays and scheduling problems, this yields 2 + 5 + 5 + 2 = 14 work days as a minimum.

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 Any Difference in Discovery?

• Consider the following two companies.

• Company A is young, founded three years ago, and

has grown rapidly to a current toll of one hundred
employees.

• Company B is owned by the state and operates in a

domain with extensive health and security
regulations.

• How might these different characteristics influence a

workshop-based discovery approach?

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 Discovery and Culture
Before starting with process discovery, it is important to understand the culture and the sentiment of an
organization.

There are companies that preach and practice an open culture in which all employee are encouraged to utter
their ideas and their criticism.

Such organizations can benefit a lot from workshops as participants are likely to present their ideas freely.

In strictly hierarchical organizations, it is necessary to take special care that every participant gets an equal
share of parole in a workshop and that ideas and critique are not hold back.

It might be the case that the young dynamic company has a more open culture than the company with
extensive health and security regulations.

This has to be taken into account when organizing a workshop.

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Organizing the Gathered Material
1. Identify the process boundaries

2. Identify activities and events

3. Identify resources and their handovers

4. Identify the control flow

5. Identify additional elements.

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Process Boundaries
•Under which condition does the process start?

•With which result does it end?

•Which perspective do you assume?

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Identify Activities and Events

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Identify Resources and Handovers

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Identify Control Flow

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Your modelling project

•For your modeling project, capture

• Control flow
• Activities
• Gateways
• Conditions
• Events

• Resources

•Describe the process in such a way that it can be used to trace in which state the
admission/doctor-studies is and who is conducting which steps of processing.
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Assessment 2 (Part A): 1000-words Literature Review
• This is an individual assessment.

• Due this week (Friday at 5:00 pm)

• Students should undertake a literature review on the role of information

systems (IS) in Business Process Management.

• Weight of the assessment is 20 percent.

• Students must submit their own work.

• Any materials taken from other sources must be cited accordingly.

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Assessment 2 (Part B): 2000-word Report 30%
• This is an individual assessment.

• Due in Session 6 of Week 3 (Friday at 5:00 pm)

• Choose and study a small/medium organisation and create an AS-IS model with a Business Process
Modelling tool (LucidChart or Signavio).

• Must use AND, XOR gateways, lanes and pools, and correct connections with relevant icons to build
AS-IS model (organization’s current business model).

• Weight of the assessment is 30 percent.

• Students must submit their own work.

• Any materials taken from other sources must be cited accordingly.

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Recap

Repetition markers:
Events: timer,
BPMN sub- loop marker and Event-based choice
message and error
processes parallel multi- gateway
events
instance marker

Boundary events:
Error events (throw BPM Lifecycle Process Discovery
interrupting and
and catch)
non-interrupting

Process Discovery Organizing the

Recap
Techniques Gathered Material

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END OF CHAPTER