Checking Business Process Evolution

International audienceBusiness processes support the modeling and the implementation of software as workflows of local and inter-process activities. Taking over structuring and composition, evolution has become a central concern in software development. We advocate it should be taken into account as soon as the modeling of business processes, which can thereafter be made executable using process engines or model-to-code transformations. We show here that business process evolution needs formal analysis in order to compare different versions of processes, identify precisely the differences between them, and ensure the desired consistency. To reach this objective, we first present a model transformation from the BPMN standard notation to the LNT process algebra. We then propose a set of relations for comparing business processes at the formal model level. With reference to related work, we propose a richer set of comparison primitives supporting renaming, refinement, property- and context-awareness. Thanks to an implementation of our approach that can be used through a Web application, we put the checking of evolution within the reach of business process designers

Checking Business Process Evolution

A business process is a collection of structured activities producing a particular product or software. BPMN is a workflow-based graphical notation for specifying business processes. Formally analyzing such processes is a crucial challenge in order to avoid erroneous executions of the corresponding software. In this paper, we focus on timed business processes where execution time can be associated to several BPMN constructs. We propose an encoding of timed business processes into the Maude language, which allows one to automatically verify several properties of interest on processes such as the maximum/minimum/average execution time or the timed degree of parallelism that provides a valuable guide for the problem of resource allocation. The analysis is achieved using the rewriting-based tools available in Maude, which also provides other techniques (e.g., reachability analysis and model checking) for verifying BPMN specifications. We applied our approach on a large set of BPMN processes for evaluation purposes.Universidad de Málaga. Campus de Excelencia Internacional Andalucía Tech

Choreography automata

Automata models are well-established in many areas of computer science and are supported by a wealth of theoretical results including a wide range of algorithms and techniques to specify and analyse systems. We introduce choreography automata for the choreographic modelling of communicating systems. The projection of a choreography automaton yields a system of communicating finite-state machines. We consider both the standard asynchronous semantics of communicating systems and a synchronous variant of it. For both, the projections of well-formed automata are proved to be live as well as lock- and deadlock-free

Automated Analysis of Industrial Workflow-based Models

International audienceModelling and governance of business processes are important concerns in companies all over the world. By better understanding business processes, different optimizations are made possible, concretely resulting into potential efficiency gains, cost reductions and improvements in agility. The use of formal specification languages for the modelling of business processes paves the way for different kinds of automated analysis. Such analysis can be used to infer properties from the modelled processes that can be used to improve their design. In this paper, we particularly explore two important classes of verification, namely verification of behavioural properties using model checking techniques and data-based analysis using SAT solving. Those verifications are fully automated by using different tools such as the CADP verification toolbox and the Z3 solver. We illustrate our approach on a real-world case study

Quantifying the Similarity of Non-bisimilar Labelled Transition Systems

International audienceEquivalence checking is an established technique for automatically verifying that two behavioural models (Labelled Transition Systems, LTSs) are equivalent from the point of view of an external observer. When these models are not equivalent, the checker returns a Boolean result with a counterexample, which is a sequence of actions leading to a state where the equivalence relation is not satisfied. However, this counterexample does not give any indication of how far the two LTSs are one from another. One can wonder whether they are almost identical or totally different, which is quite different from a design or debugging point of view. In this paper, we present an approach for measuring the similarity between two LTS models. The set of metrics is computed automatically using a tool we implemented. Beyond presenting the foundations of the proposed solution, we will show how it can be applied to two concrete application domains for supporting the construction of IoT applications on the one hand and for contributing to the process model matching problem on the other

Choreography Automata

Online event due to covidInternational audienceAutomata models are well-established in many areas of computer science and are supported by a wealth of theoretical results including a wide range of algorithms and techniques to specify and analyse systems. We introduce choreography automata for the choreographic modelling of communicating systems. The projection of a choreography automaton yields a system of communicating finite-state machines. We consider both the standard asynchronous semantics of communicating systems and a synchronous variant of it. For both, the projections of well-formed automata are proved to be live as well as lock-and deadlock-free

Análise e proposta de melhoria dos processos críticos num departamento de exportação

Consequência da crescente globalização e aumento da competitividade torna-se imperativo dar resposta às necessidades de diferentes mercados, desenvolvendo uma relação de confiança com os clientes, cada vez mais exigentes. Assim, é crucial que as organizações procurem promover a partilha de conhecimento entre os seus colaboradores através da sistematização de processos alinhados com a estratégia corporativa. O desafio relatado neste documento surge no contexto em que a empresa em estudo, mais concretamente o departamento de exportação, pretende dar resposta à inexistência de alguns processos bem documentados desde a atividade de prospeção e negociação comercial até ao serviço pós-venda. O presente projeto tem como objetivos principais atualizar e disponibilizar toda a documentação, no sentido de promover a rápida e fácil consulta por parte de todos os colaboradores, bem como assegurar que as funções destes estão claramente definidas. Foi utilizada uma metodologia teórica que consistiu no mapeamento inicial do processo através de reuniões com os principais dinamizadores do projeto, identificação continua das oportunidades de melhoria e como atividade final a realização de um ciclo de formações, de forma a garantir que todos têm acesso à mesma informação. Como resultado, obteve-se Instruções de Trabalho, que indicam todas as etapas a operacionalizar no sistema ERP e outra documentação de suporte comercial que permitiram melhorar o desempenho dos colaboradores e assegurar a manutenção e gestão da informação no departamento. Com a implementação deste projeto, a equipa da exportação ganha uma vantagem no sentido de ver documentadas as tarefas associadas aos seus processos e, deste modo, adquirir um maior conhecimento que permita a redução de erros internos. É expectável que seja desencadeada uma melhoria continua no fluxo de informação através de uma interação eficiente com os outros departamentos, assegurando assim o alinhamento e envolvimento das diversas equipas.Because of growing globalization and competitiveness, it becomes imperative to respond to the needs of different markets, developing a trusting relationship with increasingly demanding customers. Thus, it is crucial that organizations seek to promote the sharing of knowledge among their employees through the systematization of processes, aligned with corporate strategy. The challenge reported in this document arises in the context in which the company under study, more specifically the export department, intends to respond to the inexistence of some well-documented processes from the activity of prospecting and commercial negotiation to after-sales service. The main purpose of this project is to update and make available all the documentation, to promote quick and easy consultation by all employees, as well as to ensure that their functions are clearly defined. It was used a methodology that went through a theoretical approach, initial mapping of the process through meetings with the main participants of the project, continuous identification of opportunities for improvement and as a final activity the realization of a cycle of training, so that everyone has access to the same information. As a result, Work Instructions were obtained, which indicate all the steps to be implemented in the ERP system, as well as other commercial support documentation that allowed employees to improve performance and ensure the maintenance and management of the information in the department. With the implementation of this project, the export team gains an advantage in order to see the tasks associated to their processes documented, and thus acquire a greater knowledge that allows the reduction of internal errors. It is expected that a continuous improvement in the flow of information will be triggered, through an efficient interaction with the other departments, thus ensuring the alignment and involvement of the different teams.Mestrado em Engenharia e Gestão Industria

Método de integración inteligente de procesos de negocio sensible y adaptado al contexto

La Integración de procesos de negocio permite consolidar un conjunto de modelos de proceso en una sola descripción, con el fin de realizar actividades de mantenimiento y/o actualización sobre los ellos. Por lo anterior, es importante seleccionar aquellos procesos que soporten dichas actividades sin afectar su resultado y rendimiento. En esta tesis de doctorado se propone un método de integración de procesos de negocio, con capacidad de razonamiento sobre el contexto. El método propuesto consta de cuatro fases secuenciales e iterativas a saber, Fase 1. Definición del objetivo de integración, Fase 2. Búsqueda y recuperación de variantes, Fase 3. Integración y Fase 4. Propagación y ejecución. Adicionalmente, se propone un modelo de contexto que soporta el método, el cual está compuesto por entidades, situaciones y restricciones, al cual se integra una ontología de contexto de variantes, que identifica los recursos involucrados a partir de una situación contextual presente. El razonamiento inteligente se soporta por un sistema multi-agente que captura información del contexto, identifica situaciones, realiza agrupamiento de variantes y propagación de cambios; obteniendo como resultado la lista de variantes a integrar. Finalmente, se construye un prototipo de validación, que facilita la simulación de escenarios y la ejecución de los procesos. La validación del método se realizó mediante la definición y aplicación del método a cuatro casos de estudio; así mismo, para el análisis de resultados, se utilizaron métricas de valoración cualitativa y cuantitativa. Los resultados obtenidos fueron satisfactorios, lo cual demuestra la utilidad, la validez y el alcance del métodoAbstract: Business process integration allows to consolidate a set of process models in a single description, in order to carry out maintenance and updating activities. Therefore, it is important to select those processes that support these activities without affecting their results and performance. In this PhD thesis, a BPI method with the ability to reason on the context is proposed, This method is composed by four sequential and iterative steps. Step 1. Definition of the integration objective, Step 2. Search and recovery of variants, Step 3. Integration and Step 4. Propagation and execution. Additionally, a context model composed by entities, situations and constraints is proposed to supports the method. Likewise an ontology of variant context is integrated; it focus is to identify the resources involved from actived contextual situation. Intelligent reasoning is supported by a multi-agent system that captures information from the context, identifies situations, performs clustering of variants and change propagation; obtaining as a overcome the variants to integrate. Finally, a validation prototype is constructed, which facilitates the simulation of scenarios and the execution of the processes. The validation of the method was carried out by defining and applying the method to four case studies; likewise, for the analysis of results, qualitative and quantitative valuation metrics were used. The results obtained were satisfactory, which shows the usefulness, validity and scope of the method.Doctorad

Checking Business Process Evolution

International audienceBusiness processes support the design and implementation of software as workflows of local and inter-organization activities. Tools provide the business process designer with modelling and execution facilities, but they barely provide formal analysis techniques. When one makes a process evolve, for example by refactoring it or by adding new features in it, it is important to be able to check whether, and how, this process has changed, and possibly correct evolution flaws. To reach this objective, we first present a model transformation from the BPMN standard notation to the LNT process algebra and LTS formal models. We then propose a set of relations for comparing business processes at the formal model level. With reference to related work, we propose a richer set of comparison primitives supporting renaming, refinement, property and context-awareness. We also support BPMN processes containing unbalanced structures among gateways. In order to make the checking of evolution convenient for business process designers, we have implemented tool support for our approach as a web application