Model-Driven Business Process Family Configuration
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current business process management systems lack the ability to dynamically adapt to changing environments and efficiently manage variability, leading to redundancy and maintenance issues due to the inability to orchestrate multiple flow definitions and support flexible IT systems.
Innovation Solution
A system and method using model-driven techniques to develop business process families, enabling easy configuration and extension by viewing business processes as templates with placeholders, allowing for composition and integration of agile processes, and supporting dynamic adaptation through meta-modeling and product line concepts.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If business processes are specified using traditional static process definition languages, then process flow can be orchestrated according to the defined model, but the system lacks adaptability to changing environments and cannot dynamically orchestrate multiple flow definitions
Solution Approach 1:
The patent transforms static process definitions into dynamic ones by introducing variability models that allow process flows to be configured and reconfigured at runtime. The business process family framework enables dynamic selection and composition of process variants based on changing business requirements, making the system adaptable without requiring complete process redesign.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent segments monolithic process definitions into modular process families with identifiable variability points. By dividing processes into core stable elements and variable elements that can be independently configured, the system achieves adaptability while managing complexity through modular organization of process components.
2Reliability
If separate process models are created for each situation-specific variant, then each variant can be precisely defined, but model redundancy increases and maintenance becomes complicated
Solution Approach 1:
The patent merges multiple situation-specific process variants into a unified business process family model that captures commonalities and variabilities. Instead of maintaining separate process models, the framework combines them into a single parametric model that can generate any variant through configuration, reducing redundancy while preserving precision.
Solution Approach 2:
The business process family framework creates a universal process model that serves multiple situations through configuration rather than requiring separate models. The same process family can be instantiated into different variants by configuring variability parameters, making the model multi-functional and eliminating maintenance of multiple duplicate models.
3Manufacturing precision
If business processes are defined with detailed specificity for each situation, then process accuracy is improved, but development time and resources increase significantly
Solution Approach 1:
The patent performs preliminary action by pre-defining the business process family structure with identified variability points and candidate variants during the design phase. This upfront work creates a reusable template that can be quickly configured for specific situations, reducing development time for individual process instances while maintaining accuracy through the pre-analyzed process structure.
Solution Approach 2:
The framework enables copying and reusing the core business process family model across multiple situations by configuring different variants through parameter selection rather than creating new models from scratch. This copying mechanism preserves process accuracy while dramatically reducing development time and resources for each new process instance.
4Stability of the object's composition
If configuration options are limited to fixed variation points in underlying models, then model stability is maintained, but flexibility to adapt to new situations is reduced
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces dynamics into the configuration system by allowing runtime addition of new variants and modification of variability points within the business process family framework. The system maintains stability of the core model structure while enabling dynamic adaptation to new situations through controlled extension mechanisms that preserve model integrity.
Data Source
AI summary
The present invention provides a system and method for developing a set of business process definitions sharing the common business intent as a business process family using model-driven techniques. The present invention minimizes on development time and resources thus leading to a cost effective system and method for developing business process families. The invention enables to create a business process family which can be easily configured to behave as a specific business process thus meeting the needs of a set of apriori known situations. The invention supports configuration process at different stages (i.e. design time, and run time) of the business process application and also support extension of the configuration structure at different stages (i.e. design time, and run time). The invention enables to create a business process family which can be easily extended to meet the needs of an as yet unseen situation.