TY - JOUR
T1 - Using business process models for the specification of manufacturing operations
AU - Erasmus, Jonnro
AU - Vanderfeesten, Irene
AU - Traganos, Konstantinos
AU - Grefen, Paul
PY - 2020/12
Y1 - 2020/12
N2 - Business process management (BPM) is often employed as a driver of integration, by articulating business processes that cross the boundaries of individual business functions. Business process modelling as part of BPM has shown its potential in administrative environments, such as banking and insurance organizations. However, business process modelling remains unproven for all the processes encountered in manufacturing enterprises, including the physical operations processes that transform input materials into the required product. These processes have physical characteristics that make them essentially different from administrative processes with a highly digital nature, like limited physical buffers for intermediate products and transportation times between activities. In this paper, we present an approach to use business process models for the specification of these physical operations processes. Our approach is based on a catalogue of common process fragments that are adapted to the physical nature of manufacturing. These process fragments serve as reusable building blocks for the specification of manufacturing processes. We use the industry standard Business Process Model and Notation (BPMN) to represent both fragments and processes. We demonstrate the use of our catalogue of fragments by modelling and enacting the real-world processes of ten manufacturing organizations. The results show strong support for the use of business process models for both representation and enactment of manufacturing processes. This work closes part of the gap between the support for administrative processes and physical industrial processes, thus contributing to the advent of the smart manufacturing concept in the context of Industry 4.0.
AB - Business process management (BPM) is often employed as a driver of integration, by articulating business processes that cross the boundaries of individual business functions. Business process modelling as part of BPM has shown its potential in administrative environments, such as banking and insurance organizations. However, business process modelling remains unproven for all the processes encountered in manufacturing enterprises, including the physical operations processes that transform input materials into the required product. These processes have physical characteristics that make them essentially different from administrative processes with a highly digital nature, like limited physical buffers for intermediate products and transportation times between activities. In this paper, we present an approach to use business process models for the specification of these physical operations processes. Our approach is based on a catalogue of common process fragments that are adapted to the physical nature of manufacturing. These process fragments serve as reusable building blocks for the specification of manufacturing processes. We use the industry standard Business Process Model and Notation (BPMN) to represent both fragments and processes. We demonstrate the use of our catalogue of fragments by modelling and enacting the real-world processes of ten manufacturing organizations. The results show strong support for the use of business process models for both representation and enactment of manufacturing processes. This work closes part of the gap between the support for administrative processes and physical industrial processes, thus contributing to the advent of the smart manufacturing concept in the context of Industry 4.0.
KW - Business process modelling
KW - Cross-functional process management
KW - Manufacturing operations
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85090240826&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1016/j.compind.2020.103297
DO - 10.1016/j.compind.2020.103297
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85090240826
VL - 123
JO - Computers in Industry
JF - Computers in Industry
SN - 0166-3615
M1 - 103297
ER -