Automatic business process analysis and simulation based on DEMO

Abstract

Enterprise process modelling as a core area of the Enterprises Information Systems (EIS) research has long attracted theoreticians of new concepts, designers of artefacts, and practitioners of modelling. As a result a vast number of modelling methods have been generated. However, each method is challenging because they lack certain aspects. First, these methods view processes as a flowchart, undermining the deep (nested) structure of processes. Second, most of these methods are based on informal or semi-formal representation, failing direct model checking and formal analysis without further translations and mapping procedures. Finally, because the majority of these methods originated from a computing perspective, their focal point is control-flow rather than interaction of social actors. In reality, an enterprise is a complex socio-technical system that includes interaction of technical and social components. In this paper, we discuss an innovative method that will address some of these challenges and provide an improved tool for this purpose. We base our method on the field-proven DEMO theory and methodology, where emphasis is made on the interactions between social actors. The proposed method encompasses a set of graphical notations and constructs based on the Petri nets semantics that allows direct model analysis and simulation.

Keywords:

• Enterprise process modelling
• Business systems analysis
• Process simulation
• Requirements elicitation
• DEMO methodology
• Design science
• Modelling technique
• Enterprise information systems