Meta-Repository for Business Process Standardization
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Solution Overview
Problem
Traditional business process management systems require wholesale changes, leading to uncertainty and inefficiencies, as they often lack compatibility across different backend systems, and ad hoc workflows are limited to local contexts, preventing seamless reuse and evolution.
Innovation Solution
A meta-repository and business process modification framework that allows incremental updates and reuse of business processes across multiple backend systems, enabling dynamic modification and ad hoc workflows to be saved as templates for broader accessibility.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If wholesale changes are made to business processes, then updated procedures can be implemented, but uncertainty and risk increase leading to costly delays and inefficiencies
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments business processes into modular templates that can be independently updated and reused. Instead of wholesale changes, individual process templates are modified and then selectively applied to specific workflows, reducing risk and allowing incremental improvement while maintaining overall system stability.
Solution Approach 2:
The system implements dynamic process management where business process templates can be updated in place and the changes automatically propagated to connected workflows. This allows the system to adapt to new requirements without rigid replacement cycles, maintaining reliability through continuous, controlled evolution rather than periodic wholesale changes.
2Adaptability or versatility
If different business processes are developed in different departments, then local needs can be met, but compatibility issues arise and efficiency decreases due to redevelopment of similar processes
Solution Approach 1:
The patent creates universal business process templates that can serve multiple departments and functions. A single template can be instantiated and adapted for use across different backend systems and organizational units, eliminating the need to recreate similar processes in each department while still allowing local customization through template parameters and extensions.
Solution Approach 2:
The system enables copying and reusing of validated business process templates across different departments and systems. Instead of developing processes independently in each unit, organizations can replicate proven templates and adapt them locally, ensuring consistency and quality while reducing redundant development effort and improving overall productivity.
3Ease of operation
If ad hoc workflows are developed locally, then specific local needs can be addressed, but the workflows remain unavailable to other backend systems preventing reuse
Solution Approach 1:
The patent merges the advantages of local ad hoc workflow development with centralized template management. Local workflows can be created and executed as needed, while simultaneously being registered and made available as reusable templates in the shared repository. This allows local operational flexibility while enabling organizational-wide reuse and standardization.
Solution Approach 2:
The system introduces a template repository and management layer as an intermediary between local workflow execution and organizational-wide process assets. This intermediary layer captures locally developed workflows, standardizes them into reusable templates, and distributes them across the organization, enabling both local ease of operation and global adaptability through systematic knowledge sharing.
Data Source
AI summary
Methods and apparatuses provide for a meta-repository to store business processes from different backend systems and make the business processes available to the different backend systems. In one embodiment, the backend systems execute incompatible software, but the business processes are standardized and can be instantiated in each of the backend systems.