Effiziente Realisierung von Prozess-Schemaevolution in Hochleistungs-Prozess-Management-Systemen

Immer mehr Unternehmen setzen zur Verwaltung und Überwachung ihrer betrieblichen Prozesse sogenannte Prozess-Management-Systeme (PMS) ein. Eine der wichtigsten Voraussetzungen für einen sinnvollen Einsatz ist es, dass PMS die Eigenschaft der AdaptivitÄat besitzen: Sie müssen Änderungen der hinterlegten Prozessvorlagen und der sich in Ausführung befindlichen Prozesse zur Laufzeit zulassen, damit die Unternehmen in der Lage sind, flexibel und schnell auf neue Anforderungen zu reagieren. Dies stellt jedoch hohe Ansprüche an ein PMS: Effiziente Algorithmen müssen dafür sorgen, dass die Änderungen nicht zu inkonsistenten Zuständen von Prozessvorlagen und -instanzen führen. Modifikationen der Prozessvorlagen müssen, wo vom Ausführungsfortschritt her möglich, auf die darauf basierenden Prozessinstanzen propagiert werden. Bei Instanzen, die sich aufgrund von Ad-hoc-Änderungen in ihrem Ablauf gegenüber der Vorlage unterscheiden, müssen zusätzlich ohne großes Eingreifen seitens der Benutzer Probleme erkannt und beseitigt werden, die sich bei der Migration auf die neue Version aus überlappenden oder widersprüchlichen Instanz- und Vorlagenänderungen ergeben. Dabei dürfen die anderen, parallel ablaufenden Funktionen des Systems nicht beeinträchtigt werden, selbst wenn in realen Anwendungen tausende von Instanzen migriert werden müssen. Hinzu kommt, dass dem System für diese Aufgaben nur eingeschränkt Ressourcen, wie z. B. Speicher, zur Verfügung stehen. Alle diese Anforderungen verlangen nach einer flexiblen und ressourcensparenenden Architek- tur sowie nach einer effizienten Implementierung. Die auf dem Markt erhältlichen Produkte bieten entweder gar keine oder nur eingeschränkte Änderungsmöglichkeiten zur Laufzeit oder erfüllen die angesprochenen Anforderungen nur unzureichend. Wir entwickeln in unserem Projekt AristaFlow ein Prozess-Management-System, welches Änderungen zur Laufzeit vollständig unterstützt

Improving Exception Handling by Discovering Change Dependencies in Adaptive Process Management Systems

Process-aware information systems should enable the flexible alignment of business processes to new requirements by supporting deviations from the predefined process model at runtime. To facilitate such dynamic process changes we have adopted techniques from casebased reasoning (CBR). In particular, our existing approach allows to capture the semantics of ad-hoc changes, to support their memorization, and to enable their reuse in upcoming exceptional situations. To further improve change reuse this paper presents an approach for discovering dependencies between ad-hoc modifications from change history. Based on this information better user assistance can be provided when dynamic process changes have to be made

Next-generation Process Management with ADEPT2

Short time-to-market, easy adaptation to changes in business environment, and robustness of processes are key requirements in today’s business world. In the IT area of Business Process Management (BPM), solutions claim to satisfy these new demands, but are still not sufficient.\ud In this paper we present a short overview on how these challenges are tackled by the ADEPT and AristaFlow projects and demonstrate a prototypical implementation

On Representing Instance Changes in Adaptive Process Management Systems

By separating the process logic from the application code process management systems (PMS) offer promising perspectives for automation and management of business processes. However, the added value of PMS strongly depends on their ability to support business process changes which can affect the process type as well as the process instance level. This does not only impose challenging conceptual issues (e.g., correctness of process schemata after changes) but also requires sophisticated implementation concepts with respect to efficient algorithms, flexible architectures, and reasonable treatment of resources. In this paper we sketch the general implementation concepts for representing process type and process instance data as well as for realizating process schema evolution. All these concepts have been developed and are currently implemented in the ADEPT2 prototype within the AristaFlow project

Architectural Design of Flexible Process Management Technology

To provide effective support, process-aware information systems (PAIS) must not freeze existing business processes. Instead they should enable authorized users to deviate on-the-fly from the implemented processes and to dynamically evolve them over time. While there has been a lot of work on the theoretical foundations of dynamic process changes, there is still a lack of PAIS implementing this dynamics. Designing the architecture of respective technology constitutes a big challenge due to the high complexity coming with dynamic processes. Besides this, performance, robustness, security and usability of the system must not be affected by the added flexibility. In the AristaFlow project we have taken a holistic approach to master this complexity. Based on a conceptual framework for flexible process enactment and dynamic processes, we have designed a sophisticated architecture for next generation process management technology. This paper discusses major design goals and basic architectural principles, gives insights into selected system components, and shows how change support features can be realized in an integrated and effective manner

ADEPT Next Generation Process Management Technology - Tool Demonstration

In the ADEPT project we have been working on the design and implementation of a next generation process management technology for several years. Based on a conceptual framework for dynamic process changes, on innovative process support functions, and on advanced implementation concepts, the developed system enables the realization of adaptive, process-aware information systems (PAIS). Basically, process changes can take place at the process type as well as the process instance level: Changes of single process instances may have to be carried out in an ad-hoc manner (e.g., to deal with an exceptional situation) and must not affect system robustness and consistency. Process type changes, in turn, must be quickly accomplished in order to adapt the PAIS to business process changes. This may also include the migration of (thousands of) instances to the new process schema (if desired). Important requirements are to perform respective migrations on-the-fly, to preserve correctness, and to avoid performance penalties

Repräsentation von Schema- und Instanzobjekten in adaptiven Prozess-Management-Systemen

Immer mehr Unternehmen setzen zur Steuerung, Verwaltung und Überwachung ihrer betrieblichen Abläufe ein Prozess-Management-System (PMS) ein. Eine wichtige Voraussetzung für den sinnvollen Einsatz eines PMS ist, dass es die Eigenschaft der Adaptivität besitzt [RRD04a, SMO00]: Es muss Änderungen der hinterlegten Prozessvorlagen - wir sprechen hierbei von Schemaevolution - und der sich in Ausführung befindlichen Prozesse zur Laufzeit zulassen, damit die Unternehmen in der Lage sind, flexibel und schnell auf neue Anforderungen zu reagieren. Prozessoptimierungen, Änderungen der innerbetrieblichen Organisation, wie z. B. Auslagern der Produktion ins Ausland, oder neue gesetzliche Bestimmungen machen Modifikationen der Prozessvorlage notwendig. Änderungen von Instanzen sind notwendig, um unvorhersehbaren Situationen (z. B. Ausfall von Maschinen) begegnen oder um späte Kundenwünsche noch berücksichtigen zu können

Investigating the Usability of a Head-Mounted Display Augmented Reality Device in Elementary School Children

Augmenting reality via head-mounted displays (HMD-AR) is an emerging technology in education. The interactivity provided by HMD-AR devices is particularly promising for learning, but presents a challenge to human activity recognition, especially with children. Recent technological advances regarding speech and gesture recognition concerning Microsoft’s HoloLens 2 may address this prevailing issue. In a within-subjects study with 47 elementary school children (2nd to 6th grade), we examined the usability of the HoloLens 2 using a standardized tutorial on multimodal interaction in AR. The overall system usability was rated “good”. However, several behavioral metrics indicated that specific interaction modes differed in their efficiency. The results are of major importance for the development of learning applications in HMD-AR as they partially deviate from previous findings. In particular, the well-functioning recognition of children’s voice commands that we observed represents a novelty. Furthermore, we found different interaction preferences in HMD-AR among the children. We also found the use of HMD-AR to have a positive effect on children’s activity-related achievement emotions. Overall, our findings can serve as a basis for determining general requirements, possibilities, and limitations of the implementation of educational HMD-AR environments in elementary school classrooms

Digital ink and differentiated subjective ratings for cognitive load measurement in middle childhood

Background: New methods are constantly being developed to adapt cognitive load measurement to different contexts. However, research on middle childhood students' cognitive load measurement is rare. Research indicates that the three cognitive load dimensions (intrinsic, extraneous, and germane) can be measured well in adults and teenagers using differentiated subjective rating instruments. Moreover, digital ink recorded by smartpens could serve as an indicator for cognitive load in adults. Aims: With the present research, we aimed at investigating the relation between subjective cognitive load ratings, velocity and pressure measures recorded with a smartpen, and performance in standardized sketching tasks in middle childhood students. Sample: Thirty-six children (age 7–12) participated at the university's laboratory. Methods: The children performed two standardized sketching tasks, each in two versions. The induced intrinsic cognitive load or the extraneous cognitive load was varied between the versions. Digital ink was recorded while the children drew with a smartpen on real paper and after each task, they were asked to report their perceived intrinsic and extraneous cognitive load using a newly developed 5-item scale. Results: Results indicated that cognitive load ratings as well as velocity and pressure measures were substantially related to the induced cognitive load and to performance in both sketching tasks. However, cognitive load ratings and smartpen measures were not substantially related. Conclusions: Both subjective rating and digital ink hold potential for cognitive load and performance measurement. However, it is questionable whether they measure the exact same constructs