Process Modelling Exercises –
Feedback session
Prof. Dr. Jochen De Weerdt
Session overview
1. Workflow net exercise
2. BPMN exercises
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1. Workflow net exercise
Exercise
1. Draw the Petri net (called PN1) that is formalized as:
PN1 = (P,T,F) with
P = {start, p1, p2, p3, p4, end}
T = {A, B, C, D, E}
F = {(start,A),(A,p1),(A,p2),(p1,B),(p2,C),(B,p3),(C,p4),(p3,D),(D,p1),(p3,E),(p4,E),(E,end)}
Note: You can use Signavio for modelling Petri nets.
2. Is Petri net PN1 = (P,T,F) a workflow net? Explain.
3. Consider the following marking as the initial marking: M0 = [start]. List three different possible firing sequences (firing
sequence = sequence of markings). Which activity sequences correspond to each of the three firing sequences?
4. Consider the following marking as the initial marking: M0 = [start]. How many different firing sequences are implied by
this Petri net?
5. Given PN1 with marking M[p1,p4]. Which transitions are enabled? Which aren’t?
6. Given PN1 with marking M[p2,p3]. After firing D, what is the resulting marking.
7. Draw a BPMN model that represents the same behaviour as PN1. You can use Signavio for drawing the model.
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1. Draw the workflow net
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2. Workflow net?
• Yes. Why?
1. It has only one source place (i.e. place with only outgoing edges).
2. It has only one sink place (i.e. place with only incoming edges).
3. The net is strongly connected (i.e. there is a directed path between
any pair of nodes)
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Reset transition
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3. List three possible firing sequences
• [start] → [p1,p2] → [p1,p4] → [p3,p4] → [end]
• Activity sequence: A → C → B → E
• [start] → [p1,p2] → [p1,p4] → [p3,p4] → [p1,p4]→ [p3,p4] → [end]
• Activity sequence: A → C → B → D → B → E
• [start] → [p1,p2] → [p2,p3] → [p3,p4] → [end]
• Activity sequence: A → B → C → E
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4. How many firing sequences?
• Unlimited
• The contains a loop of activities B and D, therefore, an infinite number of
firing sequences exist
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5. Given PN1 with marking M[p1,p4]. Which
transitions are enabled? Which aren’t?
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6. Given PN1 with marking M[p2,p3]. After
firing D, what is the resulting marking?
• [p1,p2]
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7. BPMN diagram
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2. BPMN Exercises
Exercise 1: Simple BPMN (Exercise 3.12)
• Model the following fragment using organizational elements
and information artefacts:
• “After a claim is received, it is registered by a claims officer who then
writes a settlement recommendation. This recommendation is then
checked by a senior claims officer who may mark the claim as “OK” or
“not OK”. If the claim is marked as “not OK”, it is sent back to the claims
officer and the recommendation is repeated. If the claim is “OK”, the
claim handling proceeds.”
Steps to follow
1. Identify the process boundaries
2. Identify activities and events
3. Identify resources and their handovers
4. Identify the control flow
5. Identify additional elements (most importantly information
artefacts)
1. Identify the process boundaries
• Under which condition does it start?
• A claim is being received
• With which result does it end?
• The claim is handled
• Which perspective do we assume?
• Insurance company (claims department)
2. Identify activities and events
3. Identify resources and their handovers
4. Identify the control-flow
4. Identify control-flow: even better
5. Identify additional elements (data)
Exercise 2: multi-instance activity
• After a car accident, a statement is sought from the witnesses
that were present, in order to lodge the insurance claim. As soon
as the first two statements are received, the claim can be lodged
to the insurance company without waiting for the other
statements.
• Model with organizational elements
• Make sure to introduce multi-instance activity or multi-instance sub-
process
Solution: multi-instance activity
data collection multi-instance pool
denotes a set of denotes multiple
data objects of the participants of the
same type same type
completion condition
indicates minimum
number of instances
required to complete
(≤ cardinality)
Exercise 3: ad-hoc sub-process
• A typical army selection process starts by shortlisting all candidates’ applications. Those
shortlisted are then called to sit the following tests: drug and alcohol, eye, color vision,
hearing, blood, urine, weight, fingerprinting and doctor examination. The color vision can only
be done after the eye test, while the doctor examination can only be done after color vision,
hearing, blood, urine and weight have been tested. Moreover, it may be required for some
candidates to repeat some of these tests multiple times in order to get a correct
assessment, e.g. the blood test may need be repeated if the candidate has taken too much
sugar in the previous 24 hours. The candidates that pass all tests are asked to sit a mental
exam and a physical exam, followed by an interview. Only those that also pass these two
exams and perform well in the interview can be recruited in the army.
Solution
Solution
Exercise 4: event-based decision
• In the context of a claim handling process, it is sometimes
necessary to send a questionnaire to the claimant to gather
additional information. The claimant is expected to return the
questionnaire within five days. If no response is received after five
days, a reminder is sent to the claimant. If after another five days
there is still no response, another reminder is sent and so on until
the completed questionnaire is received.
Solution
Exercise 5: non-interrupting boundary
events
A Purchase Order (PO) handling process starts when a PO is received. The PO is
first registered. If the current date is not a working day, the process waits until
the following working day before proceeding. Otherwise, an availability check is
performed and a “PO response” is sent back to the customer.
Further, if the customer sends a “PO cancelation request” after the PO
registration, the PO processing must be stopped and the change request needs
to be handled.
The customer may send a “Customer address change request”
after the PO registration. When such a request is received, it is
just registered, without further action.
Solution
Questions?
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