Application of predictive simulation in development of adaptive workflows

Abstract

Context aware workflows are adapted to changing circumstances to meet their execution performance requirements. Adaptation can be performed reactively or proactively. Predictive or runtime simulation can be used to adapt workflows proactively. This paper proposes an approach for using the predictive simulation in improving efficiency of customer service workflows. The predictive simulation is invoked during the workflow execution to evaluate expected workflow performance in the current context and to adapt workflow execution accordingly. Efficiency of the predictive simulation is evaluated experimentally using an example of the digital service design at the museum. It is shown on the basis of simulation results that the proactive adaptation is more efficient than the reactive adaptation, especially, in the case of high visitor flow.