A framework to semantify BPMN models using DEMO business transaction pattern

TL;DR

This paper introduces a semantic framework for BPMN models based on DEMO business transaction patterns, enhancing expressiveness and completeness without altering BPMN standards, supported by a tool and industrial case studies.

Contribution

It proposes a systematic method to semantify BPMN models using enterprise ontology patterns, with an automated tool and validation through industrial proof-of-concepts.

Findings

Enhanced BPMN models captured more implicit and unimplemented situations.

The framework systematically enriches models with minimal effort.

The approach is validated as useful through industrial case studies.

Abstract

BPMN is a specification language widely used by industry and researchers for business process modeling and execution. It defines clearly how to articulate its concepts, but do not provide mechanism to represent the semantics of the produced models. This paper addresses the problem of how to improve the expressiveness of BPMN models, proposing a definition for the semantics of a business process within a BPMN model, and improving the completeness of the models in a systematic manner, so that models can describe far more situations with few extra managed complexity. We conceive a framework based on the business transaction patterns available in the enterprise ontology body of knowledge to prescribe the foundations of semantic BPMN models. A tool has been developed to automate the framework. Then, two industrial proof-of-concepts are used to measure its coverage, both positive and negative, and to argue about our proposal's usefulness. After that, the proposal is compared with others using a systematic literature review. A full BPMN pattern is proposed encompassing the happy flow, the declinations, the rejections and the revocations, without adding any new element to the BPMN specification. A software tool has been developed, and made publicly available, to support the automatic generation of the BPMN models from the proposed patterns. Our semantified BPMN pattern allowed the identification of a large amount of implicit, and other not implemented, situations in both proof-of-concepts. It is concluded that the usage of a semantic solution, grounded on a sound pattern, allows the systematic enrichment of the BPMN models with a bounded effort. Moreover, to simplify the BPMN executable models' implementation, its elements could be classified as implicit, explicit, or not implemented yet. Finally, related work indicates that this work is demanded, but no full solutions are available.