Business Processes Modelling and Automation

The banking sector is a competitive environment, where business process re-engineering is constantly needed. Business process modelling and automation are effective tools towards this direction, improving the performance of business activities and enabling enterprise-wide monitoring and coordination. In this paper, we present a case study of modelling and automating business processes in the Loan Monitoring Department of a medium-sized Bank. Loan monitoring is a typical banking activity, which includes business processes concerning loan approval, collection of delinquent loans and initiation of appropriate legal claims. These processes are often performed in cooperation with external business partners, such as legal firms and brokers, have collaborative properties and are considered to be of dynamic nature. Their efficiency strongly depends on human operator experience and subjective criteria. The loan monitoring policy employed is a significant factor for determining profits. Thus, relevant business processes should always be monitored, evaluated and refined. Business process modelling was conducted using the Modified Petri-Net (MPN) model, which allows the description of ad-hoc and collaborative business activities. Business process automation was performed using Lotus Domino/Notes groupware platform, since widely known workflow management systems do not provide the means for the description of such activities. The direct mapping and support of MPN main entities within Notes environment ensured the accurate and complete implementation of all business processes and reduced significantly programming cost. Loan Management System is the integrated environment build to support loan monitoring activities. Our experience and the potential of the business process modelling and automation approach are also presented.