Thursday, January 7, 2016

Why IoT matters in BPM?

A major part of Business Process Management (BPM) is to understand how processes were executed and to find out ways to improve current processes. In order to do this we need execution data. But how much data is needed? Answer is, the more data we can collect, the more we can discover.

How do we collect data during process executions? If there is a process step which involves an employee filling a web form, it can easily generate data about who filled the form, start and end times of filling the form, values entered, etc. But what about process steps that do not involve someone entering data into a computer.

Let's take the below shipment process. When a package has to be shipped, an employee fills shipment details in a system. Then the package is transported to a port and shipped. Once the package is received, a user sends an acknowledgment message through the shipment system.


We can easily collect data on first and last steps as those are done through the shipment system. We can perform some process analysis from that data as well. For example, by considering start time of the first task and end time of the last task along with shipping destination for each shipment, we can derive average time for shipping a package to a given destination. However, we can't say much on what happens during the shipment process as we don't have data on loading the package, transporting the package using a truck and shipping the package. This is where IoT helps in business processes...

Let's assume that each package is tagged with a RFID. Further, each forklift, truck and ship has RFID readers, which can track all packages it currently holds. In addition, operators of forklifts and trucks wear RFID tags so that corresponding forklify/truck can track its operator. Then each vehicle sends events about its actions. For example, forklift sends the below event when it picks up a package:

<forklift id, package id, pick up time, operator id, location>

Furthermore, an example event sent by a truck when a package is loaded can be:

<truck id, package id, loaded time, driver id, location>

These events can be captured by the shipment system, so that it has data on each intermediate process step in addition to the two steps with direct user involvement. With this addition data, we can do more detailed process analysis such as which steps have most waiting time (i.e. in which places a package sits idle without being transported), how many packages got delayed due to traffic congestion, who are the most efficient forklift operators, etc. Thus, if a process step is performed using a IoT enabled device, execution data on that step can be captured and used in process analysis.

Process execution analysis is not the only area where IoT can help. Events sent by IoT enabled devices can be used for other important functions such as enhancing process models (e.g. by identifying missing steps), discovering new process models from event streams, automatic task completion by integrating events directly into process runtimes, etc.





9 comments:

  1. I have read your blog it is very helpful for us. I couldn't find any knowledge on this matter prior to. I would like to thanks for sharing this article here. If anyone looking for the Business Process Management service provider in UK, Synergy Prime Limited is the best choice.

    ReplyDelete
  2. IoT technology is used in many different business sectors for better growth of organisation. Through IoT platform in business it help to secure data and reducing costs without reducing services. Thank you for sharing this great blog.

    ReplyDelete
  3. I generally check this kind of article and I found your article which is related to my interest. Genuinely it is good and instructive information. Thankful to you for sharing an article like this. Hangcha Forklift Dealer Australia

    ReplyDelete
  4. You have given essential data for us. about AMGO OH-10 It is excellent and good for everyone. Keep posting always. I am very thankful to you.

    ReplyDelete
  5. You wrote this post very carefully.Forklift Rental Dubai The amount of information is stunning and also a gainful article for us. Keep sharing this kind of articles, Thank you.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Your blog contains lots of valuable data. It is a factual and beneficial article for us.warehouse in bangalore Thankful to you for sharing an article like this.

    ReplyDelete
  7. I just wanted to say this is an elegantly composed article as we have seen here. I got some knowledge from your article and also it is a significant article for us. Thanks for sharing an article like this.Reach Forklift Training

    ReplyDelete
  8. You have done good work by publishing this article here Auto Repair Perrysburg. I found this article too much informative, and also it is beneficial to enhance our knowledge. Grateful to you for sharing an article like this.

    ReplyDelete
  9. I value your endeavors which you have placed into this article. Truly it is a valuable article to build our insight. Gratitude for share an article like this.Vehicle Storage Unit Cleveland Georgia

    ReplyDelete