Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Making Work Flow: On the Application of Petri Nets to Business Process Management

  • Conference paper
  • First Online:
Application and Theory of Petri Nets 2002 (ICATPN 2002)

Part of the book series: Lecture Notes in Computer Science ((LNCS,volume 2360))

Included in the following conference series:

Abstract

Information technology has changed business processes within and between enterprises. More and more work processes are being conducted under the supervision of information systems that are driven by process models. Examples are workflow management systems such as Staffware, enterprise resource planning systems such as SAP and Baan, but also include many domain specific systems. It is hard to imagine enterprise information systems that are unaware of the processes taking place. Although the topic of business process management using information technology has been addressed by consultants and software developers in depth, a more fundamental approach has been missing. Only since the nineties, researchers started to work on the foundations of business process management systems. This paper addresses some of the scientific challenges in business process management. In the spirit of Hilbert’s problems1, 10 interesting problems for people working on Petri-net theory are posed.

Part of paper is taken from my inaugural lecture “Making Work Flow: On the Design, Analysis, and Enactment of Business Processes” [6].

Note that by no means we are suggesting that the problems in this paper are of the same stature as the 23p roblems raised by David Hilbert in 1900.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Log in via an institution
Chapter
USD 29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD 39.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book
USD 54.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

Preview

Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.

Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.

References

  1. W. M. P. van der Aalst. The Application of Petri Nets to Workflow Management. The Journal of Circuits, Systems and Computers, 8(1):21–66, 1998.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  2. W. M. P. van der Aalst. Formalization and Verification of Event-driven Process Chains. Information and Software Technology, 41(10):639–650, 1999.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  3. W. M. P. van der Aalst. Woflan: A Petri-net-based Workflow Analyzer. Systems Analysis-Modelling-Simulation, 35(3):345–357, 1999.

    MATH  Google Scholar 

  4. W. M. P. van der Aalst. Loosely Coupled Interorganizational Workflows: Modeling and Analyzing Workflows Crossing Organizational Boundaries. Information and Management, 37(2):67–75, March 2000.

    Google Scholar 

  5. W. M. P. van der Aalst. Workflow Verification: Finding Control-Flow Errors using Petri-net-based Techniques. In W. M. P. van der Aalst, J. Desel, and A. Oberweis, editors, Business Process Management: Models, Techniques, and Empirical Studies, volume 1806 of Lecture Notes in Computer Science, pages 161–183. Springer-Verlag, Berlin, 2000.

    Google Scholar 

  6. W. M. P. van der Aalst. Making Work Flow: On the Design, Analysis and Enactment of Business Processes (inaugural lecture given at 30 November 2001). Eindhoven University of Technology, Eindhoven, The Netherlands, 2001.

    Google Scholar 

  7. W. M. P. van der Aalst and T. Basten. Identifying Commonalities and Differences in Object Life Cycles using Behavioral Inheritance. In J.M. Colom and M. Koutny, editors, Application and Theory of Petri Nets 2001, volume 2075 of Lecture Notes in Computer Science, pages 32–52. Springer-Verlag, Berlin, 2001.

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  8. W. M. P. van der Aalst and T. Basten. Inheritance of Workflows: An Approach to Tackling Problems Related to Change. Theoretical Computer Science, 270(1–2):125–203, 2002.

    Article  MATH  MathSciNet  Google Scholar 

  9. W. M. P. van der Aalst, J. Desel, and A. Oberweis, editors. Business Process Management: Models, Techniques, and Empirical Studies, volume 1806 of Lecture Notes in Computer Science. Springer-Verlag, Berlin, 2000.

    Google Scholar 

  10. W. M. P. van der Aalst, K.M. van Hee, and H.A. Reijers. Analysis of Discrete-time Stochastic Petri Nets. Statistica Neerlandica, 54(2):237–255, 2000.

    Article  MATH  MathSciNet  Google Scholar 

  11. W. M. P. van der Aalst and A.H.M. ter Hofstede. Verification of Workflow Task Structures: A Petri-net-based Approach. Information Systems, 25(1):43–69, 2000.

    Article  MATH  Google Scholar 

  12. W. M. P. van der Aalst, A.H.M. ter Hofstede, B. Kiepuszewski, and A.P. Barros. Workflow Patterns Home Page. http://www.tm.tue.nl/it/research/patterns/.

  13. W. M. P. van der Aalst, A.H.M. ter Hofstede, B. Kiepuszewski, and A.P. Barros. Advanced Workflow Patterns. In O. Etzion and P. Scheuermann, editors, 7th International Conference on Cooperative Information Systems (CoopIS 2000), volume 1901 of Lecture Notes in Computer Science, pages 18–29. Springer-Verlag, Berlin, 2000.

    Google Scholar 

  14. W. M. P. van der Aalst and S. Jablonski, editors. Flexible Workflow Technology Driving the Networked Economy, Special Issue of the International Journal of Computer Systems, Science, and Engineering, volume 15, number 5. CRL Publishing Ltd, 2000.

    Google Scholar 

  15. W. M. P. van der Aalst and M. Weske. The P2P approach to Interorganizational Workflows. In K.R. Dittrich, A. Geppert, and M.C. Norrie, editors, Proceedings of the 13th International Conference on Advanced Information Systems Engineering (CAiSE’01), volume 2068 of Lecture Notes in Computer Science, pages 140–156. Springer-Verlag, Berlin, 2001.

    Google Scholar 

  16. A. Agostini and G. De Michelis. Improving Flexibility of Workflow Management Systems. In W. M. P. van der Aalst, J. Desel, and A. Oberweis, editors, Business Process Management: Models, Techniques, and Empirical Studies, volume 1806 of Lecture Notes in Computer Science, pages 218–234. Springer-Verlag, Berlin, 2000.

    Google Scholar 

  17. J.C.M. Baeten and W.P. Weijland. Process Algebra, volume 18 of Cambridge tracts in theoretical computer science. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 1990.

    Google Scholar 

  18. F. Baskett, K.M. Chandy, R.R. Muntz, and F.G. Palacios. Open, Closed and Mixed Networks of Queues with Different Classes of Customers. Journal of the Association of Computing Machinery, 22(2):248–260, April 1975.

    Google Scholar 

  19. T. Basten and W. M. P. van der Aalst. Inheritance of Behavior. Journal of Logic and Algebraic Programming, 47(2):47–145, 2001.

    Article  MATH  MathSciNet  Google Scholar 

  20. G. Booch, J. Rumbaugh, and I. Jacobson. The Unified Modeling Language User Guide. Addison Wesley, Reading, MA, USA, 1998.

    Google Scholar 

  21. J.A. Buzacott. Commonalities in Reengineerd Business Processes: Models and Issues. Management Science, 42(5):768–782, 1996.

    Article  MATH  Google Scholar 

  22. J.E. Cook and A.L. Wolf. Discovering Models of Software Processes from Event-Based Data. ACM Transactions on Software Engineering and Methodology, 7(3):215–249, 1998.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  23. J. Desel and J. Esparza. Free Choice Petri Nets, volume 40 of Cambridge Tracts in Theoretical Computer Science. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK, 1995.

    MATH  Google Scholar 

  24. C.A. Ellis. Information Control Nets: A Mathematical Model of Office Information Flow. In Proceedings of the Conference on Simulation, Measurement and Modeling of Computer Systems, pages 225–240, Boulder, Colorado, 1979. ACM Press.

    Google Scholar 

  25. C.A. Ellis, K. Keddara, and G. Rozenberg. Dynamic change within workflow systems. In N. Comstock, C. Ellis, R. Kling, J. Mylopoulos, and S. Kaplan, editors, Proceedings of the Conference on Organizational Computing Systems, pages 10–21, Milpitas, California, August 1995. ACM SIGOIS, ACM Press, New York.

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  26. C.A. Ellis and G. Nutt. Workflow: The Process Spectrum. In A. Sheth, editor, Proceedings of the NSF Workshop on Workflow and Process Automation in Information Systems, pages 140–145, Athens, Georgia, May 1996.

    Google Scholar 

  27. J.W. Forrester. Industrial Dynamics. MIT Press, Cambridge, MA, 1968.

    Google Scholar 

  28. E.M. Goldratt and J. Cox. The Goal. Gower, Aldershot, UK, 1984.

    Google Scholar 

  29. D. Harel. Statecharts: A Visual Formalism for Complex Systems. Science of Computer Programming, 8:231–274, 1987.

    Article  MATH  MathSciNet  Google Scholar 

  30. K.M. van Hee, H.A. Reijers, H.M.W. Verbeek, and L. Zerguini. On the Optimal Allocation of Resources in Stochastic Workflow Nets. In K. Djemame and M. Kara, editors, Proceedings of the Seventeenth UK Performance Engineering Workshop, pages 23–34. University of Leeds, Leeds, UK, 2001.

    Google Scholar 

  31. D. Hilbert. Mathematical problems. Bulletin of the American Mathematical Society, 8:437–479, 1902.

    Article  MathSciNet  Google Scholar 

  32. A. W. Holt. Coordination Technology and Petri Nets. In G. Rozenberg, editor, Advances in Petri Nets 1985, volume 222 of Lecture Notes in Computer Science, pages 278–296. Springer-Verlag, Berlin, 1985.

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  33. S. Jablonski and C. Bussler. Workflow Management: Modeling Concepts, Architecture, and Implementation. International Thomson Computer Press, London, UK, 1996.

    Google Scholar 

  34. E. Kindler, A. Martens, and W. Reisig. Inter-Operability of Workflow Applications: Local Criteria for Global Soundness. In W. M. P. van der Aalst, J. Desel, and A. Oberweis, editors, Business Process Management: Models, Techniques, and Empirical Studies, volume 1806 of Lecture Notes in Computer Science, pages 235–253. Springer-Verlag, Berlin, 2000.

    Google Scholar 

  35. M. Klein, C. Dellarocas, and A. Bernstein, editors. Adaptive Workflow Systems, Special Issue of Computer Supported Cooperative Work, 2000.

    Google Scholar 

  36. P. Lawrence, editor. Workflow Handbook 1997, Workflow Management Coalition. John Wiley and Sons, New York, 1997.

    Google Scholar 

  37. P. Lyman and H. Varian. How Much Information. http://www.sims.berkeley.edu/how-much-info.

  38. M. Ajmone Marsan, G. Balbo, and G. Conte et al. Modelling with Generalized Stochastic Petri Nets. Wiley series in parallel computing. Wiley, New York, 1995.

    MATH  Google Scholar 

  39. C.A. Petri. Kommunikation mit Automaten. PhD thesis, Institut für instrumentelle Mathematik, Bonn, 1962.

    Google Scholar 

  40. H.A. Reijers and W. M. P. van der Aalst. Short-Term Simulation: Bridging the Gap between Operational Control and Strategic Decision Making. In M.H. Hamza, editor, Proceedings of the IASTED International Conference on Modelling and Simulation, pages 417–421. IASTED/Acta Press, Anaheim, USA, 1999.

    Google Scholar 

  41. W. Reisig and G. Rozenberg, editors. Lectures on Petri Nets I: Basic Models, volume 1491 of Lecture Notes in Computer Science. Springer-Verlag, Berlin, 1998.

    MATH  Google Scholar 

  42. W. Sadiq and M.E. Orlowska. Analyzing Process Models using Graph Reduction Techniques. Information Systems, 25(2):117–134, 2000.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  43. H.M.W. Verbeek, T. Basten, and W. M. P. van der Aalst. Diagnosing Workflow Processes using Woflan. The Computer Journal, 44(4):246–279, 2001.

    Article  MATH  Google Scholar 

  44. T. Weijters and W. M. P. van der Aalst. Rediscovering Workflow Models from Event-Based Data. In V. Hoste and G. de Pauw, editors, Proceedings of the 11th Dutch-Belgian Conference on Machine Learning (Benelearn 2001), pages 93–100, 2001.

    Google Scholar 

  45. Woflan Home Page. http://www.tm.tue.nl/it/woflan.

  46. M.D. Zisman. Representation, Specification and Automation of Office Procedures. PhD thesis, University of Pennsylvania, Warton School of Business, 1977.

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Technology Management, Eindhoven University of Technology, P.O. Box 513, NL-5600 MB, Eindhoven, The Netherlands

    Wil M. P. van der Aalst

Authors
  1. Wil M. P. van der Aalst
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Division of Informatics, University of Edinburgh, James Clerk Maxwell Building, The King’s Buildings Mayfield Road, Edinburgh, EH9 3JZ, UK

    Javier Esparza

  2. Department of Computer Science, University of Adelaide, North Terrace, Adelaide, SA, 5005, Australia

    Charles Lakos

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2002 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg

About this paper

Cite this paper

van der Aalst, W.M.P. (2002). Making Work Flow: On the Application of Petri Nets to Business Process Management. In: Esparza, J., Lakos, C. (eds) Application and Theory of Petri Nets 2002. ICATPN 2002. Lecture Notes in Computer Science, vol 2360. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/3-540-48068-4_1

Download citation

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/3-540-48068-4_1

  • Published:

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-540-43787-1

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-540-48068-6

  • eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive

Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Search

Navigation