NORTHLINK
TECHNOLOGICAL COLLEGE
BUSINESS PROCESS MANAGEMENT
New Pandan, Panabo City, Davao del Norte PROCESS MODELING
Key Terms:
Business process models are important at various stages of the BPM lifecycle. In this chapter we will
become familiar with the core set of symbols provided by BPMN (Business Process Management and
Notation). As stated earlier, a business process involves events and activities. Events represent things that
happen instantaneously (e.g. an invoice has been received) whereas activities represent units of work that
have a duration (e.g. an activity to pay an invoice). Also, we recall that in a process, events and activities
are logically related. Accordingly, the three most basic concepts of BPMN are event, activity, and arc.
Events are represented by circles, activities by rounded rectangles, and arcs (called sequence flows in
BPMN) are represented by arrows with a full arrow-head.
Exclusive Decisions - To model the relation between two or more alternative activities, like in the case of
the approval or rejection of a claim, we use an exclusive (XOR) split. We use an XOR-join to merge two or
more alternative branches that may have previously been forked with an XOR-split. An XOR gateway is
indicated with an empty diamond or with a diamond marked with an “X”.
Parallel Execution - When two or more activities do not have any order dependencies on each other (i.e.
one activity does not need to follow the other, nor it excludes the other) they can be executed
concurrently, or in parallel. The parallel (AND) gateway is used to model this particular relation. Specifically,
we use an AND-split to model the parallel execution of two or more branches, and an AND-join to
synchronize the execution of two or more parallel branches. An AND gateway is depicted as a diamond
with a “+” mark.
Inclusive Decisions - To model situations where a decision may lead to one or more options being taken at
the same time, we need to use an inclusive (OR) split gateway. An OR-split is similar to the XOR-split, but
the conditions on its outgoing branches do not need to be mutually exclusive, i.e. more than one of them
can be true at the same time. When we encounter an OR-split, we thus take one or more branches
depending on which conditions are true. In terms of token semantics, this means that the OR-split takes
the input token and generates a number of tokens equivalent to the number of output conditions that are
true, where this number can be at least one and at most as the total number of outgoing branches. Similar
to the XOR-split gateway, an OR-split can also be equipped with a default flow, which is taken only when
all other conditions evaluate to false.
Example 3.1 Shows a simple sequence of activities modeling an order fulfilment process in BPMN.
This process starts whenever a purchase order has been received from a customer. The first activity that
is carried out is confirming the order. Next, the shipment address is received so that the product can be
shipped to the customer. Afterwards, the invoice is emitted and once the payment is received the order
is archived, thus completing the process.
Figure 3.1 The diagram of a simple order fulfilment process
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Example 3.2 Invoice checking process.
As soon as an invoice is received from a customer, it needs to be checked for mismatches. The check may
result in either of these three options: i) there are no mismatches, in which case the invoice is posted; ii)
there are mismatches but these can be corrected, in which case the invoice is re-sent to the customer;
and iii) there are mismatches but these cannot be corrected, in which case the invoice is blocked. Once
one of these three activities is performed the invoice is parked and the process completes.
Figure 3.2 An example of the use of XOR gateways
Example 3.3 Security check at the airport.
Once the boarding pass has been received, passengers proceed to the security check. Here they need to
pass the personal security screening and the luggage screening. Afterwards, they can proceed to the
departure level.
Figure 3.3 An Example of the use of AND gateways
Example 3.5 Order distribution process.
A company has two warehouses that store different products: Amsterdam and Hamburg.
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.
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Figure 3.5.1 Modeling an inclusive decision: first trial
Figure 3.5.2 Modeling an inclusive decision: second trial
Figure 3.5.3Modeling an inclusive decision with the OR gateway
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