Automation of business processes in business: Unlock the potential with BPMN!

In modern business, the pressure to improve efficiency and reduce costs has never been greater. Organizations continuously strive to optimize their business processes in order to remain competitive in the market. According to Digital Croatia Strategy for the period up to 2032. year, the main guidelines of the targeted transformation of Croatia towards a green and digital way of life refer to the application of advanced technologies such as: artificial intelligence (AI), machine learning, 5G/6G, cloud computing, Big Data i blockchain in the private sector. One of the key technologies that helps companies achieve these goals is the Business Process Model and Notation (BPMN). BPMN is a tool that not only allows companies to clearly and standardized graphically define their business processes, but also allows their automation.

BPMN double power: From idea to execution

Business Process Model and Notation (BPMN) is a globally recognized standard for graphic representation of business processes. Maintains it Object Management Group (OMG), an international organisation working on the development of standards in the field of computer technologies. In addition, BPMN is recognized as an international standard by ISO Organisations under label ISO/IEC 19510:2013.

In essence, BPMN is a visual language that allows business analysts, IT specialists and managers to clearly communicate business processes inside and outside the organization. The main purpose of the BPMN is Provision of a uniform specification understandable to all interested parties, including process modellers, developers and implementers of appropriate software solutions. The key advantage of BPMN lies in its ability to create a “bridge” between the design of business processes and their implementation, thus enabling them to automate and optimise more easily.

In addition to enabling visualization and communication of business processes, BPMN can also programmatically execute processes. What does that mean concretely? BPMN, through its rich set of elements and structures, enables detailed modeling of business processes that can be directly translated into executive code. This is particularly useful in the context of business processes carried out at BPM (Business Process Management) platforms. BPM includes methods for detection, modelling, analysis, measurement, improvement and optimization of business strategy and processes.

BPMN Engine: “Motors” that drive processes

BPMN engine is a software component designed to execute business process models defined using BPMN standards. We can literally imagine it as a motor that drives processes and manages their execution in real time. This includes managing the flow of activities (e.g. different tasks, events, decisions, etc.), scheduling tasks to users or software agents, monitoring progress and ensuring that business rules and conditions are met during the execution of the process.

Take, for example, the process of creating and sending a travel order. Roughly, the process begins with the creation of a travel order, followed by an overview of the order. If the order is correct, it is approved and sent to the addressee. Each of these steps can be further elaborated and automated using the BPMN engine, say as follows (Figure 1):

1. The “Create a mission order” step could be realized through a web form that is displayed to the user. The form may contain data input fields such as: date of travel, destination, purpose of travel, etc.
2. The “Browse travel order” step may be assigned to the user or group of users who are responsible for viewing the travel orders.
3. The “Authorise mission order” step is intended for the competent person, e.g. the director, who approves it if all the data are correct and in accordance with the company’s rules.
4. The “send a travel order” step can be realized through integration with the e-mail system to the appropriate persons or departments within the company.

The described process can be modeled and communicated in several steps using BPMN notation, which is visible in the image above. Four roughly defined tasks in this process are connected by arrows that represent the order in which tasks are performed. The two elements in the shape of a circle represent the initial and final event.

Many readers and connoisseurs of BPMN notation will notice several problems in the view above. For example, what if the competent authority refuses to approve the mission order? Who examines the travel order and who approves? The arrows linking tasks in the defined process only move in one direction – from left to right, i.e. from the initial event – “Travel order required” to the final event – “Travel order provided”.

Defining a business process in this way is completely legitimate, for example if we want to quickly and easily sketch a business process, do a brainstorming session with colleagues or define simple and quickly feasible processes that we do not intend to automate.

However, BPMN notation allows us much more. If we want to explain the business process in more detail to the IT team of our company, it is necessary to elaborate the problems we mentioned earlier. We can go backwards through the so-called switches. gateway),  drawing elements representing decision points in the business process. Next, for each of the tasks we can choose several offered types, such as: User Tasks (Eng. user task) or service tasks (Eng. service task).

In the end, through the drawing elements called trails (eng. swimlanes) tasks can be clearly grouped according to the responsibility / actor who performs them. In our case, the practice process (Figure 2) is grouped into two paths: “Secretary” and “Director”. It can also be observed that a service task “Microservice generated by the PDF mission order” has been added, which acts as API interface, that is, a set of rules and definitions that allow communication between different software applications, in this case receiving data to automatically fill in and generate a PDF mission order.

Accordingly, the process diagram will now look like this:

FIPU BPMN engine

At the Juraj Dobrila University of Pula, Faculty of Informatics, a special BPMN engine is being developed that is focused on business process automation using Python, which is a significant step in providing flexible and accessible tools for business process management. Python, as a high-level and general-purpose programming language, enables simplicity and accessibility in the development of software solutions thanks to its simple syntax, large user community, and the wealth of open source libraries. These characteristics of Python make it an ideal choice for developing a BPMN engine that can facilitate automation and management of business processes in various sectors.

On the other hand, Camunda is an enterprise business process management solution that offers a rich set of functionalities for modeling, automation, execution, and monitoring of business processes. Camunda is used in corporations to optimize business processes, providing a high level of scalability, security, and integration with existing IT systems. However, despite its advantages, Camunda can be costly to integrate and maintain, especially for smaller businesses that may face challenges related to integration complexity and high licensing costs.

The development of the BPMN engine at the Juraj Dobrila University of Pula offers an alternative that can be more attractive to smaller companies. This approach allows companies to take advantage of business process automation without having to invest heavily in costly enterprise solutions like Camunda.

FIPU BPMN Engine is currently used internally to automate and simplify the process of performing student internships at the Faculty. This engine represents a “light” version of the popular enterprise solution of Camunda, and it proves to be extremely suitable for the implementation of AI technologies in improving business processes. Thanks to its accessibility and flexibility, the FIPU BPMN engine enables efficient automation of various processes with fewer resources, making it an ideal choice for organizations looking for economical, fast and innovative solutions in the field of business process management.

FIPU BPMN engine provides key tools for optimization and digital transformation of business processes. If your organization is involved in the implementation of the EDIH Adria project, you can learn more about how to automate business processes, and if you apply to the “Test before invest” (TBI), a pilot adjustment of the FIPU BPMN engine can be made for some of your processes in order to carry out the so-called proof of concept of digitalization and AI introduction in your organization. “Test before invest” (TBI) is one of the basic services offered by the EDIH Adria consortium to private SMEs and the public sector, and allows organizations to experience all the advantages of automation and convince themselves of the practicality and efficiency of the chosen tool in improving your business without initial investments!