Catálogo de publicaciones - libros

The subject-oriented approach to model and execute business processes can be conceptually and easily combined with the business rules approach. Business rules are a mean to enhance the agility of workflows, as it should make the knowledge and decisions of an organization more explicit. As with the process model, ordinary users should be able to create, change and maintain the sets of rules in an idealized scenario. We demonstrate a real case for the beneficial use of business rules in the case of process automation and show a practical integration with an S-BPM reference implementation. Based on experiences in the field, we also point out that there is still serious lack of knowledge about actual trends and technologies in the context of the digital transformation of a business. The contribution is intended for practitioners with some interest in IT support for business process management.

This chapter presents a scenario for the use of agents in the implementation of subject-oriented process models. The scenario is set in a manufacturing company that has already used S-BPM in office-based business processes and now wants to apply this approach on the shop floor using agent technology. The chapter describes a project team meeting in which S-BPM specifications for a pressing process are developed and concepts for the agent-based implementation of that process are discussed. During the meeting, a number of issues are raised that are a consequence of using computational rather than human agents for implementing subject behaviour. The key issues include:While these issues are discussed in a manufacturing scenario, they are generic in that they can be transferred to agent-based implementations in other process domains.

Each business process management (BPM) approach requires a precise semantic specification scheme. Semantically, ambiguities can cause a lot of problems during the lifespan of a business process. As Abstract State Machines (ASMs) are grounded to subject orientation, we have explored their capabilities with respect to representing and executing Subject-oriented BPM (S-BPM) models. Based on the ASM method we implemented an interpreter which allows not only the proof of the S-BPM concept in terms of semantical preciseness, but also the automated execution of S-BPM models in terms of a workflow engine. This workflow engine serves as a baseline and reference implementation for further language and processing developments, such as simulation tools, as it has been developed within the Open-S-BPM initiative. This contribution focuses more on the use of the technique than on formal definitions.

Many enacted business processes in the field use (more or less intense) communication to forward work to the next participant in an activity chain. Communication can be oral (personal, phone) or technically supported (e-mail, phone). It can be unstructured using natural language—typically text or spoken word—or structured using formal language (business objects) typically stored in systems. Based on decades of research in the domain of the social sciences, we know that an understanding of how organizations work are based on communication and language. Therefore any technology to support the execution of business processes should support communication between process participants. This is the concept of S-BPM. Here, we present the results of work in the field to develop a platform to model and execute business processes as interaction between actors. As process models predefine work we call this way of interaction (using standard e-mail exchange). To enable also cross-company communication (process orchestrations) we technically implemented the platform as a so-called - (ME-BPP) using cloud technology. The contribution uses a real-world case to demonstrate the need for a communication-based view on business processes. The case reflects the situation typically for large-scale international companies with world-wide activities and with focus on processes related to order fulfillment, including manufacturing. Further on, an IT architecture to support the enactment of such processes is discussed. The contribution is intended for practitioners with some IT background and/or interests.

Introducing a standard ERP system gives best‐practice processes to companies; but what if a company has developed a better practice and wants to implement it? ERP projects are often very time and resource consuming. One alternative opportunity is the use of S-BPM together with ERP systems. In this article, several ways are shown how this interaction can be realized. Practical examples are presented based on SAP ERP. The intention is to empower readers to apply the shown concepts to their projects.