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Increasing the efficiency of business processes using a theory of constraints

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Abstract

In this study, a Theory of Constraints (TOC)-based method was developed to enhance the efficiency of business processes. Whereas the TOC has been employed in manufacturing processes, the present paper shows that it can be effective also for Business Process Management (BPM). In order to apply the TOC to business processes, a Drum-Buffer-Rope (DBR) scheduling method for a Business Process Management System (BPMS) was developed. A procedure by which business process efficiency can be improved using these concepts is presented. To validate our approach, a series of simulations of a real banking process was conducted, on the basis of which the applicability of the proposed method was analyzed. Based on the analysis results, we show that the TOC-based method can improve business process efficiency, particularly under heavy workloads with limited resources. And we suggest, accordingly, several guidelines that can be followed for the efficient management of business processes.

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Acknowledgments

This work was supported by the Korea Research Foundation Grant funded by the Korean Government (MOEHRD) and The Regional Research Universities Program/Research Center for Logistics Information Technology.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. The School of Information, University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley, CA, 94720-4600, USA

    Seung-Hyun Rhee

  2. Department of Industrial and Information Systems Engineering, Seoul National University of Technology, Seoul, 139-743, Republic of Korea

    Nam Wook Cho

  3. Department of Industrial Engineering, Pusan National University, Busan, 609-735, Republic of Korea

    Hyerim Bae

Authors
  1. Seung-Hyun Rhee
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  2. Nam Wook Cho
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  3. Hyerim Bae
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Nam Wook Cho.

Appendix: Experimental Environments

Appendix: Experimental Environments

Table 4 lists the participants in each activity, and Table 5 shows the expected processing time (EPT) for each activity.

Table 4 Agents for each activity
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Table 5 Expected Processing Time (EPT) of Each Activity (Unit: min.)
Full size table

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Rhee, SH., Cho, N.W. & Bae, H. Increasing the efficiency of business processes using a theory of constraints. Inf Syst Front 12, 443–455 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10796-008-9145-9

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