Event-Driven Process Chain for Modeling and Verification of Business Requirements–A Systematic Literature Review

Automation of any business process primarily requires the identification of clear and precise requirements. However, the initially collected business requirements are usually expressed in natural language that creates ambiguities among different stakeholders. To overcome this problem, various business process modeling languages (BPMLs) have been introduced to represent the business requirements graphically. In this context, event-driven process chain (EPC) is a well-known BPML that supports the modeling and verification of business requirements in early automation phases. Although EPC is frequently researched to improve its modeling and verification capabilities, there is no study available yet to the best of our knowledge that examines and summarizes the latest EPC developments. Therefore, in this article, we comprehensively investigate the latest EPC approaches, trends, and tools for the modeling and verification of business requirements. Particularly, a systematic literature review is carried out to select and analyze 73 research studies published during 1998–2017. Consequently, the selected studies are classified into six categories, i.e., modeling (14), transformation (13), verification (17), general (20), semantics (5), and requirement (4). Moreover, latest EPC modeling approaches are identified and analyzed, i.e., UML (2), meta-model (3), integration (5), and EPC notations (4). Furthermore, EPC verification methods are also investigated, i.e., EPC (6), petri-nets (8), and other languages (3). Finally, 25 leading EPC tools have been presented, i.e., existing tools (14), proposed/developed tools, (5) and additional tools (6). It has been concluded that EPC provides adequate approaches and tool support for the modeling and verification of simple business requirements through atomic events. However, the complex business requirements cannot be modeled and verified through EPC due to the lack of complex event processing. Consequently, there is a strong need to include the support for the modeling and verification of complex events in EPC to manage multifaceted business requirements.

[1]  Deng Shengchun,et al.  Business process modeling for SCM systems , 2008, 2008 4th International Conference on Emerging Technologies.

[2]  Jorge Oliveira e Sá,et al.  A multi-driven approach to requirements analysis of data warehouse model: A case study , 2012 .

[3]  Christoph Schneider,et al.  Petri Net Based Certification of Event-Driven Process Chains , 1998, ICATPN.

[4]  Boudewijn F. van Dongen,et al.  Verification of EPCs: Using Reduction Rules and Petri Nets , 2005, CAiSE.

[5]  Marion Murzek,et al.  Structural Patterns for the Transformation of Business Process Models , 2006, 2006 10th IEEE International Enterprise Distributed Object Computing Conference Workshops (EDOCW'06).

[6]  Boudewijn F. van Dongen,et al.  ProM 4.0: Comprehensive Support for Real Process Analysis , 2007, ICATPN.

[7]  Jörg Dörr,et al.  EPC vs. UML Activity Diagram - Two Experiments Examining their Usefulness for Requirements Engineering , 2009, 2009 17th IEEE International Requirements Engineering Conference.

[8]  Xia Wang,et al.  Research on Flexible Business Process of Bank Modeling Based on EPC , 2015, MUE 2015.

[9]  Iris Reinhartz-Berger,et al.  Extending the Adaptability of Reference Models , 2010, IEEE Transactions on Systems, Man, and Cybernetics - Part A: Systems and Humans.

[10]  Yan Jun-wei,et al.  Analysis of mapping form EPC model to workflow model , 2006 .

[11]  Jan Mendling,et al.  Understanding the Occurrence of Errors in Process Models Based on Metrics , 2007, OTM Conferences.

[12]  Jan Mendling,et al.  Preserving correctness during business process model configuration , 2010, Formal Aspects of Computing.

[13]  Stefan Junginger.  The Workflow Management Coalition Standard WPDL: First Steps towards Formalization , 2000 .

[14]  Brenda Scholtz,et al.  Composite, Real-time Validation for Business Process Modelling , 2014, SAICSIT '14.

[15]  Yuan-Chen Yu,et al.  A Parametric Event-Driven Flowed Token Petri Nets for Generic Agile Systems Modeling and Control , 2006, 2006 IEEE International Conference on Systems, Man and Cybernetics.

[16]  Giancarlo Guizzardi,et al.  An ontology-based semantic foundation for ARIS EPCs , 2010, SAC '10.

[17]  Wil M. P. van der Aalst,et al.  Formalization and verification of event-driven process chains , 1999, Inf. Softw. Technol..

[18]  Christian Müller,et al.  A Tool For A Flexible Posterior Analysis Of Simulation Experiments , 2015, ECMS.

[19]  Mark Strembeck,et al.  On the Cognitive Effectiveness of Routing Symbols in Process Modeling Languages , 2010, BIS.

[20]  Peter Fettke,et al.  Collaborative Business Process Modeling with CoMoMod - A Toolkit for Model Integration in Distributed Cooperation Environments , 2011, 2011 IEEE 20th International Workshops on Enabling Technologies: Infrastructure for Collaborative Enterprises.

[21]  Jan Mendling,et al.  Generating correct EPCs from configured C-EPCs , 2006, SAC '06.

[22]  Manuel Wimmer,et al.  Applying Model Transformation By-Example on Business Process Modeling Languages , 2007, ER Workshops.

[23]  Olga Levina.  Assessing Information Loss in EPC to BPMN Business Process Model Transformation , 2012, 2012 IEEE 16th International Enterprise Distributed Object Computing Conference Workshops.

[24]  Patrick Delfmann,et al.  Towards an EPC Standardization - A Literature Review on Exchange Formats for EPC Models , 2016, MKWI.

[25]  Dong Wang,et al.  An RFID Middleware Business Process Integration Framework Based on EPC Modeling and Complex Event Processing , 2009, 2009 Fourth International Conference on Computer Sciences and Convergence Information Technology.

[26]  Karsten Wolf,et al.  Transforming BPEL to Petri Nets , 2005, Business Process Management.

[27]  Jan Mendling,et al.  Detection and prediction of errors in EPCs of the SAP reference model , 2008, Data Knowl. Eng..

[28]  Joaquín Nicolás,et al.  Transforming the OOram three-model architecture into a UML-based process , 2001, Proceedings of the 34th Annual Hawaii International Conference on System Sciences.

[29]  João P. Vilela,et al.  Privacy-Preserving Data Mining: Methods, Metrics, and Applications , 2017, IEEE Access.

[30]  Edward A. Lee.  Constructive Models of Discrete and Continuous Physical Phenomena , 2014, IEEE Access.

[31]  Walid Gaaloul,et al.  A semantic framework for configurable business process as a service in the cloud , 2016, J. Netw. Comput. Appl..

[32]  Volker Hoyer,et al.  Collaborative e-Business Process Modelling: Transforming Private EPC to Public BPMN Business Process Models , 2007, Business Process Management Workshops.

[33]  Michael Schrefl,et al.  Modelling Inter-Process Dependencies with High-Level Business Process Modelling Languages , 2008, APCCM.

[34]  August-Wilhelm Scheer,et al.  ARIS Architecture and Reference Models for Business Process Management , 2000, Business Process Management.

[35]  Ekkart Kindler,et al.  On the semantics of EPCs: Resolving the vicious circle , 2006, Data Knowl. Eng..

[36]  Veronika Stefanov,et al.  A performance measurement perspective for event-driven process chains , 2005, 16th International Workshop on Database and Expert Systems Applications (DEXA'05).

[37]  Jörg Dörr,et al.  Investigating the usefulness of notations in the context of requirements engineering , 2012, 2012 Second IEEE International Workshop on Empirical Requirements Engineering (EmpiRE).

[38]  Peter Loos,et al.  Towards an Extended Metamodel of Event-Driven Process Chains to Model Complex Event Patterns , 2015, ER Workshops.

[39]  Jun Han,et al.  EPClets - A Lightweight and Flexible Textual Language to Augment EPC Process Modelling , 2014, 2014 IEEE International Conference on Services Computing.

[40]  Peter Loos,et al.  Towards A Minimal Cost Of Change Approach For Inductive Reference Model Development , 2013, ECIS.

[41]  Andreas Winter,et al.  Using GXL for exchanging business process models , 2006, Inf. Syst. E Bus. Manag..

[42]  Wei-Hao Chen,et al.  Integration of EPC and a modularized colored Petri net through events for agile manufacturing cell control , 2004, IEEE International Conference on Networking, Sensing and Control, 2004.

[43]  Hajo A. Reijers,et al.  A Systematic Evaluation of Enterprise Modelling Approaches on Their Applicability to Automatically Generate ERP Software , 2016, 2016 IEEE 18th Conference on Business Informatics (CBI).

[44]  Kees M. van Hee,et al.  Colored Petri Nets to Verify Extended Event-Driven Process Chains , 2005, OTM Conferences.

[45]  Jörg Ziemann,et al.  Towards Tool Support for Integrated Modeling of Private and Public Business Processes , 2007, 16th IEEE International Workshops on Enabling Technologies: Infrastructure for Collaborative Enterprises (WETICE 2007).

[46]  Hongming Cai,et al.  Multi-view service-oriented rule merged business process modeling framework , 2011, Proceedings of 2011 IEEE 6th International Symposium on Service Oriented System (SOSE).

[47]  Peter Loos,et al.  Object-orientation in business process modeling through applying event driven process chains (EPC) in UML , 1998, Proceedings Second International Enterprise Distributed Object Computing (Cat. No.98EX244).

[48]  Jan Mendling,et al.  On the Correlation between Process Model Metrics and Errors , 2007, ER.

[49]  Andreas Speck,et al.  Applying model checking to workflow verification , 2004, Proceedings. 11th IEEE International Conference and Workshop on the Engineering of Computer-Based Systems, 2004..

[50]  Jan Mendling,et al.  Structural Patterns for Soundness of Business Process Models , 2006, 2006 10th IEEE International Enterprise Distributed Object Computing Conference (EDOC'06).

[51]  Jan Mendling,et al.  Event-Driven Process Chains (EPC) , 2008 .

[52]  Wil M.P. van der Aalst,et al.  Getting rid of OR-joins and multiple start events in business process models , 2008, Enterp. Inf. Syst..

[53]  Peter Loos,et al.  Comparing the Control-Flow of EPC and Petri Net from the End-User Perspective , 2005, Business Process Management.

[54]  Beate List,et al.  A UML 2 Profile for Event Driven Process Chains , 2006, CONFENIS.

[55]  Stipe Celar,et al.  Use of Method for Elicitation, Documentation, and Validation of Software User Requirements (MEDoV) in Agile Software Development Projects , 2014, 2014 Sixth International Conference on Computational Intelligence, Communication Systems and Networks.

[56]  Markus Nüttgens,et al.  Extending different Business Process Modeling Languages with Domain Specific Concepts: The Case of Internal Controls in EPC and BPMN , 2015, EMISA.

[57]  Jan Mendling.  Verification of EPC Soundness , 2008 .

[58]  Farooque Azam,et al.  Verification of Event-Driven Process Chain with Timed Automata and Time Petri Nets , 2017, 2017 9th IEEE-GCC Conference and Exhibition (GCCCE).

[59]  Jan Mendling,et al.  Transformation of yEPC business process models to YAWL , 2006, SAC.

[60]  Christian M. Schweda,et al.  Providing EA decision support for stakeholders by automated analyses , 2015, DEC.

[61]  Michael Schrefl,et al.  Automated Construction of Process Goal Trees from EPC-Models to Facilitate Extraction of Process Patterns , 2009, ICEIS.

[62]  Marjan Hericko,et al.  An empirical investigation of intuitive understandability of process diagrams , 2016, Comput. Stand. Interfaces.

[63]  Jörg Becker,et al.  On the de-facto Standard of Event-driven Process Chains: How EPC is defined in Literature , 2016, Modellierung.

[64]  Peter Loos,et al.  Process Modelling Approach for Collaboration Networks , 2006, 15th IEEE International Workshops on Enabling Technologies: Infrastructure for Collaborative Enterprises (WETICE'06).

[65]  Jan Mendling,et al.  Getting Rid of the OR-Join in Business Process Models , 2007, 11th IEEE International Enterprise Distributed Object Computing Conference (EDOC 2007).

[66]  Heiko Kern,et al.  Model interoperability between meta-modeling environments by using m3-level-based bridges , 2016 .

[67]  H. Krallmann,et al.  Process-oriented Knowledge Management within the Product Change Systems of the Automotive Industry , 2015 .

[68]  Boudewijn F. van Dongen,et al.  The ProM Framework: A New Era in Process Mining Tool Support , 2005, ICATPN.

[69]  Marc Born,et al.  Towards executable models: transforming EDOC behavior models to CORBA and BPEL , 2004, Proceedings. Eighth IEEE International Enterprise Distributed Object Computing Conference, 2004. EDOC 2004..

[70]  Jan Mendling,et al.  From Inter-organizational Workflows to Process Execution: Generating BPEL from WS-CDL , 2005, OTM Workshops.

[71]  Jan Mendling,et al.  On the Syntax of Reference Model Configuration - Transforming the C-EPC into Lawful EPC Models , 2005, Business Process Management Workshops.

[72]  J. Krogstie,et al.  Formalization and verification of EPCs with OR-joins based on state and context , 2007 .

[73]  Wil M. P. van der Aalst,et al.  A configurable reference modelling language , 2007, Inf. Syst..

[74]  Oliver Thomas,et al.  Using Process Models for the Design of Service-Oriented Architectures: Methodology and E-Commerce Case Study , 2008, Proceedings of the 41st Annual Hawaii International Conference on System Sciences (HICSS 2008).

[75]  Frank Hermann,et al.  Modeling and reconfiguration of critical business processes for the purpose of a Business Continuity Management respecting security, risk and compliance requirements at Credit Suisse using algebraic graph transformation , 2009, 2009 13th Enterprise Distributed Object Computing Conference Workshops.

[76]  Volker Gruhn,et al.  A Comparison of Soundness Results Obtained by Different Approaches , 2009, Business Process Management Workshops.

[77]  Sven Feja,et al.  Model Checking with Graphical Validation Rules , 2008, 15th Annual IEEE International Conference and Workshop on the Engineering of Computer Based Systems (ecbs 2008).

[78]  Ekkart Kindler,et al.  On the semantics of EPCs: Efficient calculation and simulation , 2005, EPK.

[79]  Remco M. Dijkman,et al.  Petri Net Transformations for Business Processes - A Survey , 2009, Trans. Petri Nets Other Model. Concurr..

[80]  William M. Tepfenhart,et al.  EPC Workflow Model to WIFA Model Conversion , 2006, 2006 IEEE International Conference on Systems, Man and Cybernetics.

[81]  Eva Söderström,et al.  Towards a Framework for Comparing Process Modelling Languages , 2002, CAiSE.

[82]  Stipe Celar,et al.  Method for elicitation, documentation and validation of software user requirements (MEDoV) , 2013, 2013 IEEE Symposium on Computers and Communications (ISCC).

[83]  Remco M. Dijkman,et al.  Semantics and analysis of business process models in BPMN , 2008, Inf. Softw. Technol..

[84]  Jan Mendling,et al.  Instantiation Semantics for Process Models , 2008, BPM.

[85]  Hongming Cai,et al.  A business process modeling approach based on Semantic Event-driven Process Chains , 2010, The 2010 14th International Conference on Computer Supported Cooperative Work in Design.

[86]  Maria-Eugenia Iacob,et al.  Feasibility of EPC to BPEL Model Transformations Based on Ontology and Patterns , 2009, Business Process Management Workshops.

[87]  Christian Mueller.  Approaches To Run Simulations Of Business Processes In A Grid Computing Network , 2014, ECMS.

[88]  Jan Mendling,et al.  EPC markup language (EPML): an XML-based interchange format for event-driven process chains (EPC) , 2006, Inf. Syst. E Bus. Manag..

[89]  Junliang Chen,et al.  lightEPC: A Formal Approach for Modeling Personalized Lightweight Event-Driven Business Process , 2013, 2013 IEEE International Conference on Services Computing.

[90]  Irfan Chishti,et al.  Ontology mapping of business process modeling based on formal temporal logic , 2014 .

[91]  Hafedh Mili,et al.  Business process modeling languages: Sorting through the alphabet soup , 2010, CSUR.

[92]  Tomas Bruckner,et al.  Methodology for Modeling and Analysis of Business Processes (MMABP) , 2015 .

[93]  Wil M. P. van der Aalst,et al.  Merging Event-Driven Process Chains , 2008, OTM Conferences.

[94]  Remco M. Dijkman,et al.  Measuring Similarity between Business Process Models , 2008, CAiSE.

[95]  Jan Mendling,et al.  Yet Another Event-Driven Process Chain , 2005, Business Process Management.

[96]  Katarzyna Grzybowska,et al.  The modelling and design process of coordination mechanisms in the supply chain , 2017, J. Appl. Log..