What Is a Business Workflow?

Workflow refers to "the automation of a part or the whole of a business process in a computer application environment." It is an abstract, general description of the business rules between the workflow and its various operating steps. In computers, workflows are part of computer-supported collaborative work (CSCW). The latter is a general study of how a group works together with the help of computers.

The main problem that the workflow mainly solves is: in order to achieve a business goal, use a computer to automatically transfer documents, information, or tasks between multiple participants according to some predetermined rule.

The concept of workflow originated from the field of production organization and office automation. It is a concept proposed for routine tasks in daily work. The purpose is to break down work into well-defined tasks or roles, and execute these according to certain rules and processes Tasks and monitor them to achieve work efficiency, better control processes, enhanced customer service, and effective management of business processes. Although considerable achievements have been made in workflow, the definition of workflow has not been unified and clear.

The workflow definition given by Georgakopoulos is: Workflow is the organization of a set of tasks to complete a certain business process: defines the trigger sequence and trigger conditions of tasks, each task can be completed by one or more software systems, or It can be done by one or a group of people, and it can also be done by one or more people in collaboration with the software system.

The Workflow Management Coalition (WfMC) was established in 1993 as a standardization organization for workflow management, marking the gradual maturity of workflow technology. WfMC defines workflow as: Workflow refers to a type of business process that can be fully automated. According to a series of process rules, documents, information or tasks are passed and executed between different performers.

Chinese name: Workflow
Foreign name: Workflow

Applied discipline: Computer Science, Management
Scope of application: cloud computing

Workflow workflow type

Workflow calculation model

Workflow engine Workflow is the calculation model of the workflow. The logic and rules of how the work in the workflow is organized together are represented in a computer with an appropriate model and calculation is performed on it. The main problem to be solved by the workflow is: in order to achieve a business goal, among multiple participants, using a computer, automatic transmission according to some predetermined rules

Workflow is part of Computer Supported Cooperative Work (CSCW). The latter is a general study of how a group works together with the help of computers.

Many companies use paper forms, manual delivery, approval and signing at the first level, the work efficiency is very low, and the statistical report function cannot be achieved. With workflow software, users only need to fill in the relevant form on the computer, and they will automatically run down according to the defined process. The next-level approver will receive relevant information and can modify, track, manage, Inquiry, statistics, printing, etc. have greatly improved efficiency, realized knowledge management, and enhanced the company's core competitiveness.

2.0 Workflow Workflow 2.0

The definition of Workflow 2.0 is: to realize the automation and intelligence of work process management

fnotes1800 workflow diagram ^[1] And integration. The most important feature of Workflow 2.0 is that it can easily implement data integration and data statistics, eliminate information silos, and not only achieve data integration between OA office system internal workflows, such as borrowing and reimbursement, budgets and final accounts, etc., but also Data integration between OA office system workflow and other business systems, such as HR, ERP, CRM, etc. Workflow 2.0 can completely make up for the shortcomings of Workflow 1.0. It not only achieves data integration within the OA office system, but also data integration between the OA office system and third-party application systems.

If you label Workflow 1.0, it is "paperless, repetitive work, process island, system island, data island"; Workflow 2.0 corresponds to "intelligence, efficiency and quality improvement, external data integration, elimination of information Silos, internal data integration. " There is no doubt that Workflow 2.0 is more intelligent, more integrated, and can realize the synchronous exchange and sharing of data. It is more welcomed by users, and it can effectively help enterprises simplify redundant processes. This is the direction of future workflow technology development ^[1] .

Workflow Origin Development

Workflow Workflow technology originated from research in the field of office automation in the mid-1970s. Because computers were not yet popular, network technology was still low, and theoretical foundations were lacking, this new technology did not succeed. Simply put, a workflow is a series of interconnected, automated business activities or tasks. A workflow includes a set of tasks (or activities) and their mutual order relationship. It also includes the start and end conditions of processes and tasks (or activities), and a description of each task (or activity).

Workflow reference model

From 1983 to 1985, early commercial systems with workflow features appeared in the field of image processing and email.

Since the 1990s, with the popularization and promotion of personal computers, network technology, and

Workflow list The increasingly perfecting of information construction has made research and development of workflow technology into a new upsurge. In August 1993, the first industrial organization of workflow technology standardization-Workflow Management Coalition (WFMC for short) was established.

In 1994, the Workflow Management Alliance released a reference model for interoperability between workflow management systems and formulated a series of industry standards. At the same time, many prototype systems were developed in the laboratory. Since entering the 21st century, workflow technology has been recognized by more and more people, and the related standards and specifications, workflow engines and commercial products are endless. While developing and promoting workflow products, people pay more attention to the theoretical research of workflow to promote the technology to mature.

Workflow history

Workflow database Workflow technology originated from the research work in the field of office automation in the mid-1970s, but the emergence of workflow ideas should be earlier. In 1968, Fritz Nordsieck had clearly expressed the idea of using information technology to automate workflows. Workflow-related research in the 1970s included: SCOOP, a prototype system developed by Michael D. Zisman of Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania; OfficeTalk series developed by Clarence A. Ellis and Gary J. Nutt of Xerox Palo Alto Research Center The test system also has the "Monitoring Software Failure Reporting" program on ARPANET developed by Anatol Holt and Paul Cashman. The systems developed by SCOOP, Officetalk and Anatol Holt all use some variant of Petri nets for process modeling. Among them, SCOOP and Officetalk systems not only marked the beginning of workflow technology, but also the earliest office automation system.

In the 1970s, people were full of strong optimism about workflow technology. Researchers generally believed that new technologies could bring huge improvements in office efficiency. However, this expectation eventually fell through. People have observed such a phenomenon that a successful organization often creatively breaks standard office processes at the appropriate time; and the introduction of workflow technology makes people only rigidly follow fixed processes, which ultimately leads to low office efficiency and people Dislike of technology. The technical reasons for the failure of workflow technology in the 1970s include: the use of personal computers in the office has not been accepted by society, network technology is not widespread, and developers do not understand the needs and defects of groupware technology.

The development of commercial systems with workflow features began between 1983 and 1985. Early commercial system owners

Workflow reference model Come from the field of image processing and e-mail. Image processing often needs to transfer and track images, and the workflow just meets this need; the enhanced email system also uses the idea of workflow to improve the original point-to-point mail flow to flow according to a certain process. Only a few of these early workflow systems were successful.

After entering the 1990s, the relevant technical conditions gradually matured, and the development and research of workflow systems entered a new upsurge. According to the survey, as of 1995, there were more than 200 types of software that claimed to support workflow management or possess workflow features. Workflow technology is used in telecommunications, software engineering, manufacturing, finance, banking, scientific experiments, health care, shipping, and office automation.

August 1993, Workflow Technology Standardization Industry Organization-Workflow Management Alliance (WfMC)

Established. In 1994, the Workflow Management Alliance released a workflow reference model for interoperability between workflow management systems, and successively formulated a series of industry standards.

Academic research on workflow technology is also very active. Many prototype systems have been developed in the laboratory. , Development process and other parties to discuss the technology of workflow, a large number of papers were written.

Despite advances in workflow technology, research on the theoretical basis is still insufficient. The existing workflow management system cannot be compared with the database management system in terms of function, reliability, and robustness.

After entering 2000, with the rise of Web services technology, multiple standardization organizations have formulated their own Web service standards related to workflow technology, such as XLANG, WSFL, etc. In August 2002, IBM and Microsoft jointly submitted and published the BPEL specification for other companies.

Workflow characteristics

1. Graphical and visual design flow chart

2, support a variety of complex processes

3. Organization-level processor-specific functions

4, B / S structure, pure browser application

5, strong security features

6, the form is powerful, easy to expand

7. Flexible out-of-office and overtime management strategies

8. The process can be tracked and managed

9, rich statistics, query, report functions

10. Integration with MAIL system

Workflow Applicable Industries

Consumer goods industry, manufacturing industry, telecommunications service industry, banking and insurance insurance and other financial service industries, logistics service industry, property service industry, property management, large and medium-sized import and export trading companies, government institutions, research institutes and education service industries Is a large multinational enterprise and group company.

Workflow- specific applications

1. Key business processes: order, quotation processing, procurement processing, contract review, customer phone processing, supply chain management, etc.

Specific application illustration of workflow (marketing work reporting process)

2. Administrative management: business applications, overtime applications, leave applications, car applications, various office supplies applications, purchase applications, daily weekly reports and other administrative forms that were originally manually processed.

3. Personnel management: staff training arrangements, performance evaluation, post change processing, employee file information management, etc.

4. Finance related categories: payment requests, receivables processing, daily reimbursement processing, business travel reimbursement, budget and plan applications, etc.

5. Customer service: customer information management, customer complaints, request processing, after-sales service management, etc.

6. Special service categories: ISO series corresponding process, quality management corresponding process, product data information management, trade company customs clearance processing, logistics company cargo tracking processing and other tasks that are completed by manual manual transfer through forms can be applied with workflow software automatic specification To implement.

Workflow replanning

Logically, attention and research on workflow can be viewed as re-planning of business processes (

BPR). The BPR viewpoint requires us to look at the process of actual business, but what should this process look like, how to analyze and structure it? Workflow is a concrete, operational answer that can enable us to create from "mysterious", "artistic" business processes that are difficult to predict and control, to analytical, technical, controllable and The engineering process of prediction is like this, it really reflects the meaning of engineering in re-engineering.

The concept of workflow and BPR has been researched and applied by almost all researchers. There is a very active organization in this field, the Workflow And Reengineering International Association (WARIA).

Workflow Enterprise Engineering

Regardless of theory, method, object, or content, we all have reasons to regard "workflow" as part of enterprise engineering. In fact, the existing description of the workflow system is itself a general business model framework. It is not enough just to have a workflow. It is necessary to comprehensively consider the goals of the entire system and all relevant elements-this is the enterprise engineering.

IT Workflow IT system

Compared with enterprise IT application systems that have been adopted in the past, such as MRPII or ERP, WFMS is a very important milestone. From the user's perspective, the changes that WFMS brings (or will bring) are extremely strong, and can even be described as the realization of a user's "dream".

In some old "modular" products, the design of the system is usually based on task division, and the work items are divided. Object-oriented technology cannot directly solve this problem. On the contrary, it often makes the system more chaotic and trivial. Operationally, typically, we must constantly advance and retreat between hierarchical menus (such as drop-down menus) or objects, or hide and seek in obsessed objects and related menus.

The workflow management system is a real "man-machine" system. The user is the basic role in the system and the direct task assignment object. He or she can directly see the "task list" listed by the computer for himself and track each The status of a task or to continue a task without having to exit from one module and enter another module to search for clues to the corresponding task. The former is function or object oriented, while the latter is directly user oriented. In this way, the user's task assignment and task completion status can be computerized and controlled to the greatest extent.

A typical workflow product is "customer-service software." The important way to grow is through the World Wide Web interface, which allows customers or remote employees to better participate. The definition of workflow is often based on the use of graphical tools to define the corresponding work arrangements according to the business process instance.

Workflow approval mode

The approval process settings are divided into two modes: traditional mode and proportional calculation mode

The traditional mode is to set the approvers for each node of the approval process. Only after all the personnel on the node have passed the approval request can they enter the next section.

Proportion calculation mode: For each approval process, a pass ratio between 0-100% must be set for the approval process. Only when the final approval result is equal to or greater than this ratio, the approval can be considered as passing. .

Workflow benefits

The benefits brought by the implementation of workflow management in enterprises: can improve the efficiency of business operations, improve the use of corporate resources, improve the flexibility and adaptability of business operations, improve work efficiency, focus on core business, track business processes, and quantify assessment business Processing efficiency, reducing waste, increasing profits, and giving full play to the role of existing computer network resources. The implementation of the workflow will achieve the purpose of shortening the operating cycle of the enterprise, improving the internal and external processes of the enterprise, optimizing and rationally utilizing resources, reducing human errors and delays, and improving labor productivity.

Workflow implementation method

Workflow database

The implementation of a workflow requires three basic steps: mapping, modeling, and management. Mapping is the first step. Its primary task is to identify and document all existing manual and automated business processes within the organization; modeling is to develop a model that helps build a streamlined business process. The third stage is software implementation and seamless system integration across all work departments, business units, and even the entire enterprise. In order to ensure that the workflow system can be implemented into the organization "seamlessly", the project team must follow a well-defined and proven working method, and there must be measurable work stages result. A well thought out implementation plan executed by an experienced team is the determinant of successful adoption and implementation of the workflow. The following figure depicts a recommended high-level workflow (implementation process) that can be adopted by a typical organization.

Establishing the project management office The composition of the project management office is the first and most important step. The members of the project management office must be carefully selected, and they must represent the business, operations, IT, and audit departments within the organization to the appropriate extent. Product experts, technical support staff, and managers from the product supplier must also be involved to complement the user. Change management consultants are often included in PMOs to help diversify the thinking of people in the organization. The roles and responsibilities of each member must be clearly defined. The PMO as a whole establishes the project's implementation scope, goals, implementation time frame, and priorities. The PMO is also responsible for managing and tracking the progress of the project, setting indicators for detecting the success of the project, and regularly reporting the project status to senior management.

The business analysis project team will analyze the user's existing business processes, find out which processes need to be optimized and improved to achieve the best results, and analyze the timeline and expected results of each process. They will hold discussions with key personnel to collect and identify the correct information and data to determine how the workflow system meets the needs. The next business analysis will identify which processes can be optimized, automated, streamlined, and which processes even need to be redesigned.

Determining Goals Determining the best goals is based on detailed analysis of business processes. The definition of the goals of a workflow project should be clear and verifiable. Good goals mean project success. At each stage of the implementation process, the project team must confirm that the results achieved are what they expect. For example, if the goal is to shorten the invoicing cycle by two weeks, you must analyze existing processes for time tracking, billing, and invoicing.

After determining the implementation plan objectives, a project team composed of users and software vendors demonstrates the various modules of the workflow solution, defines their functions and characteristics according to the specific needs raised by users, and jointly decides based on business priorities Online time of each module.

Modeling business processes in a workflow system Setting up a business model during implementation is an extremely important step. Users should work closely with software product application experts to strike a balance between ease of use and functional requirements.

Users can test the model before the deployment phase to ensure that the model meets actual requirements without excessive overhead. It should be pointed out that if this modeling step is not completely completed correctly, it will lead to incorrect reports or unnecessary management work.

Implementing process and software integration At this stage, the project team will determine the existing processes and systems that need to interact with the workflow system. If not handled properly, the integration of old and new processes will lead to failure. An important aspect of process integration is eliminating or minimizing redundant data between multiple systems, and copying this data across multiple systems. Processes must be tightly integrated, and data must flow smoothly across different processes and applications.

The project team must also ensure that the workflow system meets the security standards of the user organization, which is often overlooked before the deployment phase.

Deployment workflow system Deployment workflow system includes two parts. The first part is naturally the technical part, covering hardware and software installation, backup, recovery, network installation, etc., which is similar to general IT application implementation.

The second part refers to the online test run. The commissioning team should be truly representative. The project team must communicate with the commissioning team on the importance of the project and ensure that adequate training is provided to enable the commissioning team to be comfortable with the commissioning work. It is recommended that the project team establish a clear communication channel to ensure that users' feedback and suggestions can be timely feedback during the trial operation. The trial operation will enable the project team to identify the weaknesses and shortcomings of the original design and plan, and resolve them before the large-scale online operation. This can also increase users' acceptance of the new process, because users feel that they are also involved in the development part of the project, and solutions are not imposed on them.

It is generally believed that adopting a phased implementation workflow system allows users to obtain benefits faster. Because users can learn the new system more effectively and progressively, and get immediate benefits. Phased implementation also gives users more time to understand and evaluate their further needs, making it easier to modify during project implementation. In addition, phased implementation projects reduce risk.

The system evaluation pays special attention to that after each stage is completed, the project team should evaluate the completed results based on the goals set at the beginning of the project, and analyze the achieved results, and compare them with the original design goals. Make sure your workflow solution optimizes to a more reasonable solution in your existing business environment to understand what needs to change.

System support To ensure successful implementation and better use of workflow software, organizations must invest in services. Organizations should assign professionals to provide first-line services, and they should also be responsible for signing contracts with suppliers to obtain second-level support. .

workflow software

With the rapid progress of computer and communication technology, the Internet and Intranet play a huge role in the construction of enterprise information. The market economy has made companies pay more and more attention to improving efficiency and reducing costs. With traditional paper forms, the manual delivery process can no longer meet the timeliness of the transaction process and the need for informatized office space. The development of modern enterprises urgently needs to establish a stable, convenient and secure electronic file transfer platform based on the network environment. Through this network platform, people within the organization can work together across time and place, and use electronic forms to pass various types of enterprises. Information, implement processing, tracking, querying, statistics and other operations on the process, improve office efficiency, realize paperless office, promote the process of enterprise e-ization, and improve the overall competitiveness of the enterprise.

2 Why automate your workflow?

Among the many forms in the company, including administration, personnel, IT, etc., most of them are filled in by paper, manually delivered or filled in by Word / Excel documents, and sent by mail.

Manually processing the workflow, on the one hand, it is impossible to effectively track and understand the status of the entire process, on the other hand, human errors and time delays will inevitably lead to inefficiency, especially the inability to perform quantitative statistics, which is not conducive to queries, reports and Grade.

The specific manifestation of the problem is as follows:

A lot of time and energy is wasted in the transmission of transactions and internal coordination; inefficient processing processes can easily lead to delayed response from the market and customers; for some businesses that do not have standardized business processes, the responsibilities are unclear and it can easily cause a management vacuum; for For businesses with standardized business processes, due to the lack of records and tracking of the processing process, human interference factors still exist in the actual operation process, leading to the existence of standards but inability to act according to the standards. Enterprise data and knowledge are not sufficient Utilization; Processing time, cost, and efficiency cannot be controlled and measured; Key business flows often cause time black holes and delays due to various factors; Excessive reliance on paper not only wastes but slows down the development of the enterprise; Query and retrieval of forms cannot be achieved , Statistics, etc .; internal information equipment (server, PC, dedicated line, etc.) cannot be fully utilized. ...

Adopting a workflow system to realize the automation of work processes has obvious benefits. This includes improving the efficiency of enterprise operations, improving the use of enterprise resources, improving the flexibility and adaptability of enterprise operations, improving work efficiency, and focusing on the core. Business, tracking business process, quantifying the efficiency of business processing, reducing waste, increasing profits, and giving full play to the role of existing computer network resources. The implementation of the workflow system will achieve the purpose of shortening the operation cycle of the enterprise, improving the internal and external processes of the enterprise, optimizing and rationally utilizing resources, reducing human errors and delays, and improving labor productivity.

The specific performance is:

Pass the most appropriate affairs to the right people at the right time; Employees can focus on their key business; No need for process training and smooth implementation of process changes; Management can grasp the business situation and business process processing efficiency at any time Real-time management and monitoring; Obtain historical data and reports at any time; Reduce paper waste and save management costs; Internal conflicts, customer complaints, and human errors and delays will be greatly reduced; Improved work efficiency; Improved resource utilization; Improved process specifications Enhanced communication; increased trust and transparency; enhanced transparency; improved service quality; easy implementation of remote and mobile office to achieve "zero response" in transaction processing; back-end database applications that provide reporting, query, statistics, retrieval, analysis and other functions to assist companies Make decisions; discover and value the core business processes of the enterprise, while continuously improving, restructuring, and optimizing processes to enhance core competitiveness; work collaboratively and share knowledge to truly realize the transition to a "knowledge management enterprise". ...

The implementation of the workflow system will further standardize the company's business processes, improve work efficiency, track and monitor the company's process status in real time, and meet the company's rapid development requirements.

3 What are the main applications of workflow?

It should be said that the scope of the workflow software application is still very wide. Any task completed through the manual flow through the forms can be automatically implemented by the workflow software. You can consider promoting workflow automation in the following aspects.

Administrative management: Business applications, overtime applications, leave applications, car applications, various office tools applications, purchase applications, daily weekly reports, information announcements, etc. are all administrative forms that were originally manually processed.

Personnel management: employee training arrangements, performance evaluation, new employee arrangements, job change processing, employee file information management, etc.

Finance related categories: payment requests, receivables processing, daily, travel, entertainment reimbursement, budget and plan applications, etc.

Customer service: customer information management, customer complaint, request processing, after-sales service management.

Other business processes: order, quotation processing, purchase processing, contract review, customer phone processing, etc.

Typical Workflow Client

Manufacturing Execution System (MES) Today, the vast number of manufacturing enterprises in China are facing fierce market competition: sharp price increases of raw materials, homogeneity of products, increasing quality awareness of consumers, and huge price reductions by customers Stress, etc. It is our vast number of manufacturing companies that have entered ERP, SCM, BPR, e-commerce and other informationization projects to improve management levels and reduce management costs, but the factory still faces the following situation:

(1) But the market is constantly changing, and our customers' requirements are getting higher and higher: better quality, lower prices, shorter lead times, and more and more product varieties;

(2) When there is a user product complaint, can I trace all the production process information of this batch of products according to the product number? Can it be immediately identified: raw material supplier, operating machine, operator, elapsed process, production date and time, and key process parameters?

(3) When the same production line needs to mix and assemble multiple models of products, can it automatically check and prompt operations to prevent worker assembly errors, product production process errors, product mix and delivery errors?

(4) What are the top 5 product defects that have occurred on the production line in the past 12 hours? What is the number of defective products?

(5) What is the quantity of each product in the warehouse and on the pre-process, mid-process, and post-process lines? Which suppliers should be supplied separately? When will it be delivered on time?

(6) How much time does the production line and processing equipment have in production, and how much time is it stopping and idling? The main reason that affects the production potential of equipment is: equipment failure? Scheduling error? Untimely supply of materials? Insufficient worker training? Or is the process index unreasonable?

(7) Is it possible to automatically perform statistics and analysis on the product quality inspection data to accurately distinguish between random fluctuations and abnormal fluctuations of product quality, and eliminate potential quality hazards in the bud?

(8) Is it possible to abolish the manual report and automatically count the production quantity, pass rate and defect code of each process? This is because a key information communication bridge is missing between the ERP system at the planning layer and the automation control system at the production site, and there is an information fault. The ES-MES manufacturing execution system bridges the gap between the planning layer (represented by the ERP resource planning system) and the underlying control (represented by HMI, DCS, PLC). On the one hand, the MES can refine and decompose the production management information from the MRPII and ERP software, and pass the operation instructions from the planning layer to the underlying control layer; on the other hand, the MES can collect the status data of equipment and instruments for real-time monitoring The operating status of the underlying equipment is analyzed, calculated, and processed, so as to conveniently and reliably integrate the control system and the information system, and feedback the production status to the planning layer in a timely manner.

Workflow Work Mode

Basic mode

Sequential mode-perform activities sequentially

Explanation: One activity in the workflow process can only be performed when the other activity is completed.

Example: After the order registration activity is completed, the customer notification can be performed.

Parallel branch mode-running two activities simultaneously

Explanation: At a point in the process, one control thread is divided into two control threads that can be executed in parallel, allowing two activities to run simultaneously.

example:

Synchronous mode-synchronize two parallel execution threads

Single-selection mode-select one execution from multiple paths

Simple merge mode-merge two alternative paths

Advanced branch and sync mode

Multi-select mode-select several from multiple execution paths

Synchronous merge mode-merge multiple paths, if multiple paths are selected, synchronize; if only one path is selected, perform simple merge

Multiple merge mode-merge multiple paths

Discriminator mode-merge multiple paths without synchronization, perform only one follow-up activity

N-mode in M-merge multiple paths, perform partial synchronization, perform only subsequent activities once

Structural pattern

Arbitrary loop mode-execute workflow without any restrictions

Implicit termination mode-end if there is nothing to do

Multi-instance mode

State-based model

Deferred selection mode-execution of one of two optional threads, which thread will be executed is implicit

Alternate parallel mode two activities can be performed in any order, but not in parallel

Milestone Mode-Inspire an event when a milestone is reached

Cancel mode

Cancel Event-Cancel the current event

Cancel process-cancel the process

Features and benefits of workflow

The main functions of workflow

A workflow management system (Workflow Management System, WFMS) is a system that defines, creates, and executes workflows. At the highest level, WFMS should be able to provide functional support in the following three areas:

Construction functions: definition and modeling of workflow processes and their constituent activities;
Operation control function: manage the workflow process in the running environment, and schedule the activities in the workflow process;
Operation interaction function: refers to the function of WFMS to interact with users (participants or controllers of business work) and external application tools during the workflow operation.

Benefits of Workflow Workflow Management System

Due to the development of information technology and increasingly fierce commercial competition, people are no longer satisfied with independent and fragmented office automation and computer applications, but need comprehensive and integrated solutions. As a technology to manage and integrate routine affairs, the emergence of WFMS is inevitable. It can bring the following benefits: