Chapter 3: Essential Process Modeling

Contents
1. First Steps with BPMN
2. Branching and Merging
3. Business Objects
4. Resources
5. Process Decomposition
6. Process Model Reuse
7. Recap
Process Modeling in the BPM Lifecycle

Process
Management Processes

Define Vision Develop Strategy Implement Manage Risk

Strategy

identification Core Processes

Procure Procure Market Deliver

Manage
Customer
Materials Products Products Products
Service

Support Processes

Process architecture Manage Personnel

Manage
Information Manage Assets

Conformance and Process As-is process

performance
discovery model
insights

Process Process
monitoring analysis

Executable Insights on
process weaknesses and
model their impact

Process Process
implementation To-be process redesign
model
Chapter 3: Essential Process Modeling

Contents
1. First Steps with BPMN
2. Branching and Merging
3. Business Objects
4. Resources
5. Process Decomposition
6. Process Model Reuse
7. Recap
Business Process Model and Notation (BPMN)

 OMG standard (BPMN 2.1)

 Supported by numerous tools: bpmn.org lists over 70 tools
 Both for conceptual and executable models
BPMN from 10,000 miles…

Based on popular graphical flowcharts:

Core set of notation elements
Each core element has various subtypes

A BPMN process model is a graph consisting of four types of core elements:

start end
activity event gateway sequence
flow
Let’s start modeling

Order-to-cash
A typical order-to-cash process is triggered by the receipt of a purchase order from a
customer. The purchase order has to be checked against the stock regarding the
availability of the item(s) requested. Depending on stock availability the purchase order
may be confirmed or rejected.
If the purchase order is confirmed, an invoice is emitted and the goods requested are
shipped. The process completes by archiving the order or if the order is rejected.
Solution in BPMN: Order-to-cash

end
Reject order
activity Items not in event
Order
stock
rejected
Check stock split gateway end
availability
Purchase
order Items in
event
received stock Confirm Emit Archive
Ship goods
start order invoice order
Order
event fulfilled

Naming conventions
• Event: noun + past-participle verb (e.g. insurance claim lodged)
• Activity: imperative verb + noun (e.g. assess credit risk)
BPMN core elements

Activities capture work performed in a process

 Different types of activities

activity

Events represent the process’ triggers (start event)

and outcomes (end event).
 Different types of events
start end
event event

8
BPMN core elements

Gateways capture forking and joining paths in the control flow.

 Different types of gateways

gateway
Sequence flows represent the order in which activities and events
will be performed.
They can be assigned a condition to distinguish between alternative
branches.
sequence
 Different types of flows
flow

9
Process model vs process instances: The tokens game

Order #1
Order #2
Order #3
Reject order
Items not in
Order
stock
rejected
Check stock
availability
Purchase
order Items in
received stock Confirm Emit Archive
Ship goods
order invoice order
Order
fulfilled

10
A little bit more on events…

A start event triggers a new process instance start

by generating a token that traverses the event
sequence flow (“tokens source”)

An end event signals that a process instance has end

completed with a given outcome by consuming event
a token (“tokens sink”)

11
Let’s reconsider our order-to-cash example

[…] If the purchase order is confirmed, an invoice is

emitted and the goods requested are shipped. The
process completes by archiving the order. […]

Reject order
Items not in
Order
stock
rejected
Check stock
availability
Purchase
order Items in
received stock Confirm Emit Archive
Ship goods
order invoice order
Order
fulfilled

12
Solution: Order-to-cash
An
wi ythin
th
thi g wr
s m on
od g
el?
Reject order
Items not in
Order
stock
rejected
Check stock
availability split Emit invoice
Purchase
order Items in
received stock Confirm Emit Archive
Ship goods
order invoice order
Order
fulfilled
split join
Ship goods

13
Mapping, Abstraction, and Purpose of a Model

Models are abstractions from real world phenomena,

developed for the purpose of reducing overall complexity.

Models aggregate information and document only relevant

aspects of the real world

Models are being developed:

1. in a specific modelling subject
2. for a specific target audience
3. with a specific modelling purpose in mind
What’s the relevant model?

?
15
Chapter 3: Essential Process Modeling

Contents
1. First Steps with BPMN
2. Branching and Merging
3. Business Objects
4. Resources
5. Process Decomposition
6. Process Model Reuse
7. Recap
A little more on gateways: XOR Gateway

An XOR Gateway captures decision points (XOR-

split) and points where alternative flows are merged
(XOR-join)
condition

XOR-split  takes one outgoing branch

¬ condition

XOR-join  proceeds when one incoming branch

has completed
17
Example: XOR Gateway

Invoice checking process

5
Exercise 3.1

Model the following fragment of a business process for assessing

loan applications (loan origination process).

Once a loan application has been approved by the loan provider, an

acceptance pack is prepared and sent to the customer. The acceptance
pack includes a repayment schedule which the customer needs to agree
upon by sending the signed documents back to the loan provider. The latter
then verifies the repayment agreement: if the applicant disagreed with the
repayment schedule, the loan provider cancels the application; if the
applicant agreed, the loan provider approves the application. In either case,
the process completes with the loan provider notifying the applicant of the
application status.
A little more on gateways: AND Gateway

An AND Gateway provides a mechanism to

create and synchronize “parallel” flows.

AND-split  takes all outgoing branches

AND-join  proceeds when all incoming

branches have completed
Example: AND Gateway

Airport security check

Revised solution

Order-to-cash

Reject order
Items not in
stock Order
rejected

Check stock
availability XOR-split Send invoice
Purchase
order Items in
received stock
Archive
Confirm order
order
Order
AND-split AND-join fulfilled

Ship goods
Exercise 3.2

Model the following fragment of a business process for assessing

loan applications.

A loan application is approved if it passes two checks: i) the applicant’s loan

risk assessment, done automatically by a system, and ii) the appraisal of the
property for which the loan has been asked, carried out by a property
appraiser. The risk assessment requires a credit history check on the
applicant, which is performed by a financial officer. Once both the loan risk
assessment and the property appraisal have been performed, a loan officer
can assess the applicant’s eligibility. If the applicant is not eligible, the
application is rejected, otherwise the acceptance pack is prepared and sent
to the applicant.
Business Process Modeling Tools

Pen & Paper

Haptic

Standalone
 E.g. Visio, Camunda Modeler

Repository-based
 E.g. ARIS, Signavio, Apromore

24
XOR / AND are not always what we need...

Order distribution process

A company has two warehouses, one in Amsterdam, the other in
Hamburg, that store different products. When an order is received, it is
distributed across these warehouses: if some of the relevant products
are maintained in Amsterdam, a sub-order is sent there; likewise, if
some relevant products are maintained in Hamburg, a sub-order is sent
there. Afterwards, the order is registered and the process completes.
Solution 1

Order distribution process

XOR-split XOR-join

AND-split AND-join
Solution 2

Order distribution process

AND-split AND-join

XOR-split XOR-join
OR Gateway

An OR Gateway provides a mechanism to

create and synchronize n out of m parallel
flows.
cond1

OR-split  takes one or more branches

condn
depending on conditions

OR-join  proceeds when all active

incoming branches have completed
Solution using OR Gateway

Order distribution process

29
What join type do we need here?

30
When should we use an OR-join?
Exercise 3.3

Model the following fragment of a business process for assessing

loan applications.

A loan application may be coupled with a home insurance which is offered at

discounted prices. The applicants may express their interest in a home
insurance plan at the time of submitting their loan application to the loan
provider. Based on this information, if the loan application is approved, the
loan provider may either only send an acceptance pack to the applicant, or
also send a home insurance quote. The process then continues with the
verification of the repayment agreement.
Rework and repetition

Address ministerial correspondence

In the treasury minister’s office, once a ministerial inquiry has been received, it is
registered into the system. Then the inquiry is investigated so that a ministerial response
can be prepared.
The finalization of a response includes the preparation of the response itself by the
cabinet officer and the review of the response by the principal registrar. If the registrar
does not approve the response, the latter needs to be prepared again by the cabinet
officer for review. The process finishes only once the response has been approved.

XOR-join: entry XOR-split: exit

point point
Why do we need to merge the loopback branch of a
repetition block with an XOR-join?
Exercise 3.4

Model the following fragment of a business process for assessing

loan applications.

Once a loan application is received by the loan provider, and before

proceeding with its assessment, the application itself needs to be checked
for completeness. If the application is incomplete, it is returned to the
applicant, so that they can fill out the missing information and send it back to
the loan provider. This process is repeated until the application is found
complete.
Components of a modeling language

Modelling Language
Vocabulary

Syntax Semantics Notation

36
Components of a modeling language: Vocabulary

Modelling Language
Vocabulary: set of modeling elements of
the language (BPMN: activities, gateways,
Vocabulary events…)

Syntax Semantics Notation

37
Components of a modeling language: Syntax

Modelling Language
Syntax: set of rules to govern how these
elements can be combined (BPMN: start
Vocabulary events only have outgoing sequence flows
whereas end events only have incoming
sequence flows).
Syntax Semantics Notation

38
Components of a modeling language

Modelling Language
Semantics: bind these elements, including
their textual descriptions, to a precise
Vocabulary meaning (in BPMN: activities model
something actively performed during the
business process, while XOR gateways
Syntax Semantics Notation
model exclusive decisions and simple
merging points).

39
Components of a modeling language: Notation

Modelling Language Notation: set of graphical symbols for the

visualization of the elements (in BPMN:
Vocabulary
labeled rounded boxes to depict activities
and the circles with a thin border to depict
Syntax Semantics Notation start events).

40
Chapter 3: Essential Process Modeling

Contents
1. First Steps with BPMN
2. Branching and Merging
3. Business Objects
4. Resources
5. Process Decomposition
6. Process Model Reuse
7. Recap
Business Objects (aka artifacts)

Can be:
 Physical or digital information artifacts (e.g. an order on paper, an invoice on PDF)
 Physical material (e.g. a box containing the ordered goods)

42
Our Order-to-cash process, again

Send
invoice

Confirm Archive
Items in order order
stock Order
fulfilled
Check stock
Ship goods
availability
Purchase
order Items not in
received stock
Reject order
Order
rejected

The purchase order document serves as an input to the stock

availability check against the Warehouse DB. Based on the
outcome of this check, the status of the document is updated,
either to “approved” or “rejected”. If the order is approved, an
invoice and a shipment notice are produced. The order is then
archived on the Orders DB.
43
Business Objects in BPMN

A Data Object captures an artifact required

Purchase
order
Invoice
(input) or produced (output) by an activity.
 Can be physical or electronic
Emit
invoice

A Data Store is a place containing data

objects that must be persisted beyond the
Oracle CRM Client info duration of a process instance.

Retrieve client
information
It is used by an activity to store (as
output) or retrieve (as input) data objects.

44
Solution
Invoice
Purchase
Purchase
Order
Order
[approved]
Purchase Purchase Send [approved]
Order Order invoice
[checked]

Confirm Archive
Items in order order
stock Order
fulfilled
Check stock
Ship goods
availability
Purchase
order Items not in
received stock
Reject order
Order Orders DB
rejected Shipment
notice
Warehouse DB

Purchase
Order
[rejected]

The purchase order document serves as an input to the stock availability check against the
Warehouse DB. Based on the outcome of this check, the status of the document is updated, either to
“approved” or “rejected”. If the order is approved, an invoice and a shipment notice are produced. The
order is then archived on the Orders DB.
45
Do data objects affect the token flow?
Exercise 3.5
Is there any missing data
object or data store in the
example below?
Do we always need to model data objects?
BPMN Text Annotations

A Text Annotation is a mechanism to provide additional text information to the model

reader
 Doesn’t affect the flow of tokens through the process

Includes packaging For blocked invoices

Clear vendor
Ship goods
line items

49
Exercise 3.6

Put together the four fragments of the loan assessment process that
you created in Exercises 3.1–3.4.

Hint. Look at the labels of the start and end events to understand the order
dependencies among the various fragments. Then extend the resulting
model by adding all the required business objects. Moreover, attach
annotations to specify the business rules behind i) checking an application
completeness, ii) assessing an application eligibility, and iii) verifying a
repayment agreement.
Chapter 3: Essential Process Modeling

Contents
1. First Steps with BPMN
2. Branching and Merging
3. Business Objects
4. Resources
5. Process Decomposition
6. Process Model Reuse
7. Recap
 Resources

52
Resources

Active resources:
 Process participant
 Software system
 Equipment

Resource class:
A group of (active) resources that are interchangeable, e.g. a role, an
organizational unit or the whole organization.

53
Resources in the order-to-cash example

The order-to-cash process is carried out by a seller’s organization which

includes two departments: the Sales department and the Warehouse &
Distribution department.
The purchase order received by the Seller has to be checked against the
stock. This is done via an ERP module within the Warehouse &
Distribution department.
If the purchase order is confirmed, the Warehouse & Distribution
department ships the goods. Meantime, the Sales department emits the
invoice. The process concludes with the order being archived by the Sales
department.

54
BPMN Elements – Pools & Lanes

Pool
Captures a resource class. Generally used to model a business party (e.g. a
whole company)

Pool

Lane
Captures a resource sub-class within a resource class by partitioning a pool.
Generally used to model departments (e.g. shipping, finance), internal roles (e.g.
Manager, Associate), software systems (e.g. DBMS, CRM) or equipment (e.g.
Manufacturing plant)
Lane
Pool

Lane
Lane
Lane
55
Solution: Order-to-cash

14
Exercise 3.7

Extend the business process for assessing loan applications that

you created in Exercise 3.6 by considering the following resource
aspects.

The process for assessing loan applications is executed by four roles within
the loan provider: a financial officer takes care of checking the applicant’s
credit history; a property appraiser is responsible for appraising the property;
an insurance sales representative sends the home insurance quote to the
applicant if this is required. All other activities are performed by the loan
officer who is the main point of contact with the applicant.
Exchanging information between business parties

Order-to-cash
The purchase order sent by the Customer is received by the Seller and
checked against the stock. This is done via an ERP module within the
Warehouse & Distribution department. If the purchase order is not
confirmed, the Sales department sends an order rejection to the
Customer, otherwise it sends an order confirmation.
Next, the Warehouse & Distribution department ships the goods and sends
a shipment notification to the Customer. Meantime, the Sales department
emits the invoice and sends it to the Customer. The process concludes
with the order being archived by the Sales department.

58
BPMN Elements – Message Flow

A Message Flow represents a flow of information or materials between

two process parties (Pools) Message

A Message Flow can connect:

• directly to the boundary of a Pool  captures a message to/from that party
• to a specific activity or event within that Pool  captures a message that triggers a
specific activity/event within that party

Pool 2

Pool 2
Receive
Pool 1

Send Receive

Pool 1
Send

59
BPMN Elements – Start Message Event

The start message event triggers a process by the receipt of a message

when an incoming message flow is connected to the event

Message

Message
received

60
Solution: Order-to-cash

61
Pools, Lanes and Message Flows: syntax

1. The Sequence Flow cannot cross the boundaries of a Pool

2. Both Sequence Flow and Message Flow can cross the boundaries of Lanes
3. A Message Flow cannot connect two flow elements within the same pool

19
Black box or white box?
When are messages sent or received?

• A Send activity will send the outgoing message upon activity

completion
• A Receive activity won’t start until the incoming message has been
received

Pool 2

Pool 2
Receive
Pool 1

Pool 1
Send Receive
Send

Note: the order of the message flows w.r.t. an activity is irrelevant, the
above rules always hold
64
When are messages sent or received?
• Message B is first received
before Activity can start.
• Message A is sent after,
upon Activity’s completion
• First, message B is
received, before Activity can
start.
• Then, message A is sent,
upon Activity’s completion

65
Process (or Orchestration) Diagram

Models a single business party and can be:

Public view (black box)

Auctioning Service
Private view (white box)
Conduct auction
Auctioning Service

Send auction Send auction Send auction

creation creation completion
confirmation confirmation notification
Auction
begins

66
Collaboration Diagram

Models a global business process between at least two business parties (each
modelled by a Pool)

Send delivery
notification
Seller

Send auction Send

Send
creation payment
payment ack.
request details
Private
Auction
creation
Auction
completion
process
Auction
request creation notification
confirmation Goods
Payment sent
details Payment notification
Auctioning Service

Conduct auction acknowledgement

Delivery
Send auction Send auction Send auction acknowledgement
creation creation completion
confirmation confirmation notification
Auction
begins

Auction
Bid Bid
completion
acknowledgement
notification
Bidder

Public
process
67
Exercise 3.8

Extend the model of Exercise 3.7 by representing the interactions

between the loan provider and the applicant.
Chapter 3: Essential Process Modeling

Contents
1. First Steps with BPMN
2. Branching and Merging
3. Business Objects
4. Resources
5. Process Decomposition
6. Process Model Reuse
7. Recap
Process decomposition
Process decomposition

An activity in a process can be decomposed into a “sub-process”

Expanded Sub-process

Collapsed
Task
Sub-process

Activities

Use this feature to:

1. Improve understanding by breaking down large models
2. Identify parts that should be:
 repeated
 executed multiple times in parallel
 interrupted, or
71
 compensated
Example: Sub-Process

Invoice Process Process

received Invoice Payment

Process Invoice
no
mismatches

Enter Invoice /
Check Invoice
Credit Note
Mismatches
Details

mismatch
exists
Block Invoice

72
Identify possible sub-processes

Acquire raw materials

73
Ship and invoice
Solution

74
The refactored model

75
Exercise 3.9

Identify suitable sub-processes in the process for assessing loan ap-

plications modeled in Exercise 3.6.

Hint. Use the building blocks that you created throughout Exercises
3.1–3.4.
Imposing order of messages via subprocess

The expanded subprocess for “Activity”

77
Example: Modelling process hierarchies

Process Receive and

Level 3 Inquiry and Validate ...
Quote Order

Level 4 Enter Order Check Credit ...

Order
received

Clear Order
Credit
Level 5 Check Credit
Record
available
...
Contact
customer
Credit not
account rep.
available

(Fragment of the SCOR reference model)

78
 Value chain modelling

Chain of (high-level) processes an organization performs in order to achieve a business goal,

e.g. deliver a product or service to the market.

Business
process

“is predecessor
of”

79
 Linking value chains with process models
Process
model for
this process
is available

80
When should we decompose a process model into sub-
processes?
 Guidelines: modeling levels
Use sub-processes when the model becomes too large:
 Hard to understand
 Increased error probability

Level 1 – start with value chain

Level 2 – add main decisions and handoffs (lanes)
Level 3+ – add procedural aspects:
 Parallel gateways
 Data objects, data stores
 Exception handling
 And as much detail as is relevant

Decomposition drivers:
 Logical: group elements meaningfully (e.g. common business object)
 Structural: up to 30 nodes (activities, events, gateways)
82
Chapter 3: Essential Process Modeling

Contents
1. First Steps with BPMN
2. Branching and Merging
3. Business Objects
4. Resources
5. Process Decomposition
6. Process Model Reuse
7. Recap
Embedded or global sub-processes?
Process Reuse

By default, a sub-process is “embedded” into its parent process (i.e. it is stored

within the same file)

In order to maximize reuse, it is possible to “extract” the sub-process and store it as

a separate file in the process model repository

Such a sub-process is called “global” model, and is invoked via a “call” activity

(normal) Call
activity activity
Example: process reuse

Call activity is the

default choice to
maximize reusability
86
Exercise 3.9

Identify suitable sub-processes in the process for assessing loan ap-

plications modeled in Exercise 3.6.

Hint. Use the building blocks that you created throughout Exercises
3.1–3.4.
Sub-processes: syntax

Sequence flows cannot cross sub-process boundaries

 Use start/end events

Message flows can cross sub-process boundaries

 To indicate messages emanating from/incoming into the sub-process

Start with at least one start event

 If multiple, first occurring will trigger the sub-process

Finish with at least one end event

 The sub-process will complete once all tokens have reached an end event.
88
May need an (X)OR-split after sub-process to understand what end
Example: sub-process with multiple end events

Quote-to-order

89
Exercise 3.10

Identify suitable sub-processes in the process of Exercise 1.7 (page

30). Among these sub-processes, identify those that are specific to
this process versus those that can potentially be shared with other
processes of the same company.
Chapter 3: Essential Process Modeling

Contents
1. First Steps with BPMN
2. Branching and Merging
3. Business Objects
4. Resources
5. Process Decomposition
6. Process Model Reuse
7. Recap
Recap

1. BPMN activities capture units of work in a process

2. Events define the start and end of a process, and signal something that happens
during the execution of it
3. Gateways model exclusive and inclusive decisions, merges, parallelism and
synchronization, and repetition
4. A process model depicts all the possible ways a given business process can be
executed, while a process instance captures one specific process execution out of all
possible ones
5. Data objects capture a physical or digital business object required to execute an
activity or trigger an event, or that results from the execution of an activity or an event
occurrence
6. Pools generally model resource classes while lanes are used to partition pools
7. Sub-processes represent activities that can be broken down in a number of internal
steps, as compared to tasks, which capture single units of work