Exam Prep

a collection of activities that take one or more kinds of input and create an output that is of value to the customer

Consists of:

• Events

• Activities

• Decision Points

Involves:

• Actors

• Objects

Delivers

• Outcomes

1. Is it a process at all?

2. Can the process be controlled?

3. Ist the process important enough to manage?

4. Is the scope of the process not too big?

5. Is the scope of the process not too small?

• Sequence

• Decomposition

• Specialisation

1. Process Landscape (incl. Value Chain)

2. Business Process (e.g. BPMN)

3. Sub-Process and Task (e.g. BPMN)

Comprehensive, hierarchical framework that categorizes business processes to create a standardized language and structure for defining work processes comprehensively and without redundancies.

1. Categories: represent major business functions

2. Process Groups: Logical Collections like “Operating Processes”

3. Processes and Sub-Processes: Detailed description of specific activities

1. Clarify Terminology

2. Identify E2E Process

3. For each E2EP identify sequential processes

4. For each BP identify major management & support processes

5. Decompose & Specialse BP

6. Compile Process Profile

7. Check completeness and Consistency

• Health: In how much trouble are processes

• Strategic Importance: Greatest impact on strategic goals

• Feasibility: Where it is reasonable to achieve benefits

  
  

• Time

• Cost

• Quality

• Flexibility

• formulate on a high level in form of a desirable state (waiting time under 30min)

• identify relevant performance measures for each objective

• Define one or more measures

• Define a more refined objective based on this performance measure such as X in over 99% of the time

• continous improvement & quality ensurance of products / services

• Puts emphases on products / services

• <> BPM focus on improving processes

• Methodology aimed at improving efficiency and effectiveness in BP

• focus: reducing waste and maximizing value for the customer

• eliminating non-value-added activities

• GOAL: create more value with fewer resources

• Data-driven methodology that aims to improve the quality of BP

• by identifying and removing the causes of defects and minimising variability

• uses statistical methods

• GOAL: better BP efficiency, reduce errors, improve customer satisfaction

• Person responsible for overseeing and maintaining a specific BP (go-to person)

• ensure that the process runs smoothly, meets its goals, and delivers value efficiently

• Responsible for:

  • Performance

  • Improvement

  • Solving issues

  • Communicate with Stakeholders

1. Process Identification

2. Process Discovery

3. Process Analysis

4. Process Redesign

5. Process Implementation

6. Process Monitoring

Strategic planning and management too to provide a comprehensive framework that translates an organisation's vision and strategy into a coherent set of performance measures.

1. Financial Perspective: How do we look to shareholder?

2. Customer Perspective: How do customers see us?

3. Internal Perspective: What must we excel at?

4. Learning & Growing Perspective: Can we continue to improve and create value?

Conceptual blueprint that defines the structure and operation of an organization. The goal of EA is to **determine how an organization can most effectively achieve its current and future objectives**.

• Organisational perspective

• Product Perspective

• BP Perspective

• Data Perspective

• Application Perspective

• Technical Infrastructure

1. Management Process (Develop Strategie, Implement strategie)

2. Core Processes (Produce Products, Deliver Products)

3. Support Processes (Manage Personnel, Manage Information)

• Abstraction from real world phenomena

• Models are developed in a subject, for an audience, with a purpose

1. Business Purpose

   1. Documentation

   2. Redesign

   3. Quality Certificartion

2. Information System Purposes

   1. ERP Selection

   2. Software Development

   3. Process Implementation

1. Meta Model

2. Models

   1. Level 1-3

3. Cases

• Variables

• Data Mappings

• Code Snippers

• Participant Assignment Rules

• Tasks, Events

• Other BPMS specification

1. Pure BPMN: From the ground supprt BPMN natively

2. Adapted BPMN: use BPMN skin but rely on internal representation

3. Non BPMN: Own proprietary language

1. Control Flow

2. Organisation Structure

3. Data Structures

4. IT Landscape

1. Define the setting

2. Gather information (understand the process)

3. Conduct Modeling

4. Assure Model Quality

1. Fragmented Process Knowledge

2. Domain experts think on instance level

3. Knowledge of Process Modelling is uncommon

• Evidence Based

  • Document Analysis

  • Observation

  • Automated process Discovery / Process Mining

• Interview Based

• Workshop based

1. Identify the process boundaries

   1. What are triggers?

   2. What are outcomes?

   3. What perspective is assumed?

   4. What artefacts are required as input/output

2. Identify activities and events

3. Identify resources and their handovers

4. Identify Control Flow

5. Identify additional elements (data objects, events, exception handling)

• Vocabulary: Banning / restricting use of OR gateway

• Structure: limiting size of model to max 30 nodes

• Semantics: using data objects to only. capture information flow

• Appearance: Enforcning labeling/layout style

1. Activities as imperative verb+noun

2. Events as noun + past-particle verb

3. Conditions on outgoing arcs with reference to object

• Syntactic Quality

  • Structural correct

  • Behavioural Correct

• Semantic Quality

  • Validity

  • Completeness

• Pragmatic Quality

  • Understandable

  • Maintainable

  • Learning

Syntactic quality relates to the conformance of a process model to the syntactic rules of the modeling language used.

• Structural Correctness

• Behavioural Correctness

Semantic quality relates to the adherence of a process model to its real-world process.

High quality if:

• Valid: All model instances are correct and relevant

• Complete: All possible process instances are covered

Also Behavioural Appropriateness

Pragmatic quality relates to the usability of a process model

• Usability

  • Understandable

  • Mainatainable

  • Learning: How good does the model reveal how the process works in reality

A model is structurally correct if it satisfies the following syntactic rules:

1. Element Level

   1. activities must have at lease one incoming and on outgoing sequence flow

   2. Start events do not have incoming arcs, <> end events

   3. gateways have one incoming and at least two outgoing

2. Model Level

   1. all nodes from a path from start to an end event (option to complete)

      1. No dangling arcs /orphan nodes

      2. at least one start, one end event

1. Value Added & Waste Analysis

2. Stakeholder Analysis

3. Root-Cause Analysis

—> Issue Register & Pareto Chart

• Classify each step as

  • Value Adding (VA

  • Business Value adding - BVA

  • Non-value adding - NVA

**Criteria**

- Is the customer willing to pay for this step?

- Would the customer agree that this step is necessary to achieve their goals?

- If the step is removed, would the customer perceive that the end product or service is less valuable?

**Criteria**:

- Is this step required in order to collect revenue, to improve or grow the business?

- Would the business (potentially) suffer in the long-term if this step was removed Does it reduce risk of business losses?

- Is this step required in order to comply with regulatory requirements?

Everything else besides VA and BVA

• Handovers, context switches

• Waiting times, delays

• Rework or defect correction

1. Move

   1. Unnecessary Transportation

2. Hold

   1. Inventory

   2. Waiting / Idleness

3. Over-Do

   1. Defects

   2. Over-Processing

   3. Over-Production

1. Customer

2. Participants

3. External Parties

4. Process Owner

5. Sponsor

Purpose: to maintain, organize and prioritise perceived weaknesses of the process

Sources:

• Input to a process modelling project

• Collected as part of ongoing process improvement actions

• Collected during process discovery (modelling)

• Value-added/waste analysis

- Useful to prioritise a collection of issues

- Bar chart where the height of the bar denotes the impact of each issue

- Bars sorted by impact

- Superposed curve of cumulative percentage impact

Visual tool used in project management and business process improvement to categorise ideas and tasks based on their Payoff and ease of implementation.

• Possible

• Implement

• Challenge

• Kill

A problem-solving method used to identify the underlying or fundamental reason for a problem or issue. It aims to find out why something went wrong, rather than just addressing its symptoms.

• Five Levels of Why

• Always find contributing factors to contributing factors

Method used to optimize the movement of things through processes.

• mapping steps involved in a process,

• identifying bottlenecks, inefficiencies, or waste,

• devising strategies to improve flow.

• GOAL: enhance efficiency, reducing cycle times, improving quality

• Split Process into chunks

• For Options: time of route * odds of taking it

• Parallel: Max of all routes

• Loops: time for chunk divided by 1-odds of making a loop

Processing Time : Cycle Time = Cycle Time Efficiency

Processing Time (time taken by value adding activities) +

Waiting Time ( taken by non-value adding activities)

=> Cycle Time (Time between start and completion of a process instance)

• Time spent per respirce on work process

• : time available per resource for process work

• = Resource utilisation

Utilisation of 60% => resource is idle 40% of time

Average Work in Process

• Number of cases running (started, but not completed)

• e.g. # of active & unfilled orders in an order to cash process

WIP = Lamda * CT

• Lambda = Arrival Rate

• Cycle Time

1. Not all Models are Structured

2. Fixed arrival rate capacity

   1. Cycle time does not consider

      1. The rate which new process instances are created

      2. Number of available resources

• Average Cost of a process instance

• The numbr of times on average each activity is executed

• Can be used to calculate the “unit load” of each task, resource utilisation, and theoretical capacity

• Capacity Problems are a common key driver of process redesign

• Queueing and waiting time analysis is important in service systems

  • Large cost of waiting / lost sales due to waiting

• Example: Hospital ER

• If arrivals are regular or sufficiently spaced apart, no queuing delay occurs

  • Determinisitc traffic

  • Variable, but spaced apart traffic

• Queueing results from variablity in processing rimes and/or inter-arrival intervals

  • Bursty Traffic

• Deterministic Arrivals, variable Job sice

• High utilisation makes it worse

• Common arrival assumption in simulation models

• applicable when arrival are independent from another

• Assumption:

  • time between arrivals (first M)/processing time (second M) follow negative exponential distri.

  • 1 Server

  • FCFS

• Example:

  • Customer Service Desk

• Can be used to analyze waiting times

• Suitable for anlyzing one single activity at a time on a single resource pool (not suitable for E2E)

• Limitations can be adressed by process simulation

• Method for As-is Analysis and What-if Analysis

• In a nutshell

  • Run large number of process instances

  • Gather performance data (cost, time, utilisation)

  • Calculate statistics from the collected data

1. Model Process

2. Define a Simulation Scenario

3. Run the Simulation

4. Analyze the Simulation Outputs

5. Repeat for alternative scenarios

1. Processing Time of Activities

2. Conditional Branch Probabilities

3. Arrival Rate of process instances

4. Resource Pools

5. Assignment of tasks to resource pools

• Stochasticity

• Data Quality

• Simplifying Assumptions

1. Process is always exactly Followed

2. That a resource only works on one task

3. That if a resource becomes available and a task is enabled a resource will start

4. That a resource works constantly (no interruptions)

• Positive Motive: urge to innovate

• Reactive Motive: Fighting entropy

With increasing stage of development, product innovation decreaes but process innovation increases

1. Customers

2. Operation View

3. Behaviour View

4. Organisation (Structure / Population)

5. Information

6. Technology

7. External Enviroment

improving a process along one dimension may very well weaken its performance along another

• Time <> Quality

• Flexibility <> Cost

• Transactional vs Transformational (X)

• Creative vs Analytical (Y)

• Inward vs Outward looking (circle)

• Transactional

  • Seek identify problems and resolve incrementally

  • not challenging current process structure

• Transformational

  • Aim to achieve breakthrough innovation

  • Puts in question fundamental assumptopms and principles

• Analytical

  • strong mathematical and quantitative focus

  • Embrace tools / technology

• Creative

  • Rely on human creativity

  • Embrace group dynamics

• Inward

  • Consider process from interal organisation

  • Draw from objectives and performance & measurements

• Outward

  • Consider process from outsiders perspective

  • driven by external opportunities

• Analyticla

  • Inward

    • Six Sigma

    • Heuristic Process Redesign

  • Outward

    • Lean

• Creative

  • Inward

    • 7FE

  • Outward

    • Crowdsourcing

• Creative

  • Design led innovation

  • NESTT

• provide understanding of emotional ties of customers with product

• People not only served by form and function but also through experience its usage envokes

• Pursue innovation customers do not expect but grow passionate about

Navigate, Expand, Strengthen, and Tune/Takeoff

• quadrant with 4 sides

  • The Future vs Now

    • Process Vision

    • As is process Issues

  • Resources vs Guidelines

    • People, systems, documents

    • Policies, Procedures

1. No successful organisation relies on piecemeal improvement

2. IS is crucial but its necessary t go beyond pure automation what is already done

3. break away from ingrained patterns

• Objective: Overhaul Process

• Analytical: it relies on a set of principles

• Mostly inward looking

1. Information is captured fresh

2. Integrate information processing work

3. Those who are interested of output should be drivers

4. Put decision point where the work is performed

Transformative, analytical and outward-looking [[Process Redesign|process redesign]] method.

• Objective: Overhaul process

• Analytical: relies on a formal, algorithmic way of developming new BP

• Outward: because product takes the center stage

1. Product Specifications

2. Product Data Model

3. Process

Transactional, analytical, inward-looking Process Redesign method.

• uses fixed list of redesign heuristics to determine potential actions

  • Time (Parallelism, Case-based work)

  • Cost (Activity Elimination, Empower)

  • Quality (Empower Triage)

  • Flexibility (Flexible assignment, Centralisation)

Transactional, creative, inward-looking redesign method.

Facilitators:

• Need to ask lots of what if /why this

• Not accept the first answer

• Most look for the second right answer

• Challenge rules of process

• Needs to rely on intuition

1. ERP

2. CRM

3. SCM

4. PLM

5. BPMS

• Groupware

• Adhoc Workflow

• Production Workflow Sydstems

• Caswe Management Systems

1. Workload Reduction

2. Flexible System Integration

3. Execution Transparency

4. Rule Enforcement

1. Technical Challenges

   1. Applications often not developed from a process persepective

   2. Batch processing does not work with case concept

   3. Integration of all Layers and Applications

2. Organisational

   1. Complexity due to exceptions

   2. Adjust to pace of org. changes

   3. Fears of prorcess participants

   4. strong management commitment needed

1. DICE

   1. Duration

   2. Integrity of team

   3. Commitment of mgmt

   4. Effort demanded from employees

2. Risk of resistance

3. Matters of Caution

   1. Avoid premature victory celebration

   2. Programmatic change fallacy

Novel class of systems that automate user task on computers

- RPA scripts can be developed by recording repetitive user tasks that move data between several computer screens

- Robots can then work on task according to these scripts

• Principle: Not all processes can be automated

• Categories of tasks

  • Automated

  • Manual (without aid of any software)

  • User (with assistance of the workmlist handler)

As a rule of thumb, a (sub-)process whose tasks are performed in an ad hoc manner, without any predictable order, is not suitable for automation via a BPMN- based BPMS

• Notation to specify business rules

• elements

  1. Decision Requirements Graph (how data is propagated between decisions)

  2. Simple Expression Language (to define how values are extracted from variables

  3. Decision Table

• Defines which tasks have to be executed, although potentially restricted by certain conditions

• Describes what has to be achieved in a process instead of how to achieve it

• Can be used as a sub-process in a BPMN but also vice versa

Tracking and analyzing of activities and performance metrics associated with business processes.

GOAL: is to ensure that these processes are operating within predefined standards and are aligned with the organization's objectives.

1. Operational Dashboards (runtime)

2. Tactical Dashboards (historical

   1. For Process Owners

   2. Emphasis on analysis and manangement

   3. Typical Metrics: cycle time, error rates

3. Strategic Dashboards

1. Event Filters (retain events that fullfill condition)

2. Performance Filters (retain traceds that have are in a certain duration range)

3. Event Pair Filers (retain traces where condition for pair of events is fullfilled

4. Endpoint Filters (retain traces that start or finish with an event that fullfils a given condition

Create WF based on Ordering Relations such that the ordering is obeyed by the net

1. Limited handling of Noise

2. Doesnt consider Loops and concurrence

3. Limited handling of complex processes with many branches

• Exploits Occurance Frequencies to estimate flow probabilities

• Uses ordering relations as foundation

• Relations provide a model to reason about frquencies

• relatively robust against noise

1. Construction of Frequency Table

2. Induction of Dependency Graph

3. Construction of Petri Net System

• Discovered Model might be unsound

• Discovered model may not be able to replay all traces observed in log

Detect discrepancies between [[Business Process Model|process model]] and observed information ([[Event Log]]). Analyses deviations.

• Local: Conformance at level of trace or parts in process model

• Global: Feedback on overall conformance

• Unfitting: Behaviour of log is not possible with model

• Additional: Behaviour possible that is not in the log

Given two traces in a log, find the differences and root causes for variation or deviance between the two logs.

1. Strategic Alignment

2. Governance

3. Methods

4. Information Technology

5. People

6. Culture

1. Context awareness

2. Continuity

3. Enablement

4. Holism

5. Institutionalisatoin

6. Involvement

7. Joint understanding

8. Purpose

9. Simplicity

10. Technology

1. Initial

2. Managed

3. Defined

4. Quantitatively Managed

5. Optimizing

1. Blue:

   • High for strategic and governance, low elsewhere

   • Driven by CEO, because of urgency

2. Organge:

   • High for IT and Methods, low elsewhere

   • Driven by CIO, emphasis on tools/software

3. Green

   • Medium in people, culture, low elsewhere

   • Orgs with rule based governance and heavy union, everybodys buy in is sought for any redesign

• Measurement: Does our way of measuring / the metric give the wrong idea?

• Material: Problems with the input of the process

• Machine: Factors related to technical equipment

• Method: Factors realting to the How of processing

• Man: Factors that lie within the imperfecation of participants

• Millieu: Anything surrounding the process: customers, suppliers, etc…

STRENGTH

• Structured information

• Independent from availability of stakeholders

WEAKNESS

• Outdated material

• Wrong level of abstraction

STRENGTH

• Context-rich insight into process

WEAKNESS

• Potentially intrusive

• Stakeholders likely to behave differently

• Only few cases

STRENGTH

• Extensive set of cases

• Objective data

WEAKNESS

• Potential issue with data quality and level of abstraction

STRENGTH

• Detailed inquiry into process

WEAKNESS

• Requires sparse time of process stakeholders

• Several iterations required before sign-off

STRENGTH

• Direct resolution of conflicting views

WEAKNESS

• Requires availability of several stakeholders at the same time

1. G1 Use as few elements in the model as possible

2. G2 Minimize the routing paths per element

3. G3 Use one start event (per trigger) and one end event (per outcome)

4. G4 Model as structured as possible

5. G5 Avoid OR gateways where possible

6. G6 Use verb-object activity labels

7. G7 Decompose a model with more than 30 elements

CapacityDemand/AvailableCapacity

Lambda / Mu

• L/lambda

• 1 / (mu-lambda)

L = Avg number jobs in the system

• Lq / lambda

• lambda / (mu(mu-Lambda))

Lq= Avg number of jobs in queue

• p/(1-p)

p = resource utilisation

• mean service rate

• Number of jobs that can be handled by one server unit per time period

• p^2/1-p

Base:

• c = n servern

• Mu = mean service rate, n jobs can be handled by one server unit per time unit

• lambda = mean arrival rate

p = resource utilisation

L = Avg number jobs in system (WIP)

Lq = Avg n jobs in queue

W = Avg length in system (cycle time)

Wq = Avg time in queue