Customizing BPMN Diagrams Using Timelines

Abstract

BPMN (Business Process Model and Notation) is widely used for modeling Business Processes by using BPMN Diagrams, but lacks in some aspects. Representing execution-dependent and time-dependent decisions in BPMN Diagrams may be a daunting challenge [10]. In many cases such constraints are omitted in order to preserve the simplicity and the readability of the process model. However, for purposes such as compliance checking, process mining, and verification, formalizing such constraints could be very useful. In this paper, we propose a novel approach for annotating BPMN Diagrams with Temporal Syn-chronization Rules borrowed from the timeline-based planning field. We discuss the expressivity of the proposed approach and show that it is able to capture a lot of complex temporal-related constraints without affecting the structure of the BPMN Diagram. Finally, we provide a mapping from annotated BPMN Diagrams to timeline-based planning problems that allows one to take advantage of the last twenty years of theoretical and practical developments in the field.