Using BPMN and Tracing for Rapid Business Process Prototyping Environments

Business Process (BP) analysis aims to investigate properties of BPs by performing simulation, diagnosis and verification with the goal of supporting BP Management (BPM). In this paper, we propose a framework for BPM that relies on the BP Modeling Notation (BPMN). More specifically, we first introduce a method to deal with the BPM life cycle. Then, we discuss a platform to support this life cycle. The platform comprises three basic modules: a visual BPMN-based designer, a process tracing service, and a BP Manager for, respectively, the design, configuration and execution phases of the BPM life cycle. The proposed framework is particularly useful to perform business simulations such as what-if analysis, and to provide an efficient integration support within the supply-chain. In this study, we also show some practical application of this framework through a real-world experience on a leather firm, offering an environment for process communication as well as for time and cost analysis.