How China Destroyed its Electric Vehicle Market
The Chinese government has given a major shock to companies selling electric vehicles in the country. China has announced a sudden rollback of the billions of dollars which were being paid in subsidies to makers of electric companies. This sudden move has left many of these companies high and dry. Many of these companies had […]
The Economic Implications of Facebook Data Breach
Facebook is one of the most important firms in the American economy. The tech giant is a major employer in the United States. Its actions have a profound economic impact across the globe. This is the reason behind the hefty valuation that Facebook commands. However, this valuation and the entire business model came under siege […]
Is Australia Really Recession Proof ?
Australia has a peculiar economic history amongst the developed nations. Whereas all other developed countries have faced some economic downturn in the past few years, Australia has avoided recession for 25 years now! This is a record of sorts wherein a developed economy has been continually growing for such a long period of time. The […]
Role of a Process Owner in a Six Sigma Project
The process owner is the person who is supposed to be in charge of the improved Six Sigma process. Since they are the one that have to run the process after it is improved, it is essential that play a role in the Six Sigma project. Although the process owners are not involved in the […]
Return on Investment (ROI) in ERP Project
When a proposal is put forward for implementing an ERP system, two questions are invariably asked i) How much it is going to cost ii) What is the pay back period. It is always preferable to have a cost benefit analysis before embarking on ERP project. A properly done ROI analysis builds a business case […]
Gateways can split your processes into multiple paths. This is because the path which the process will take at execution is based on conditions at execution. It cannot be defined while designing.
Gateways thus model all the options that the process has i.e. all the possible paths that can be taken by a process at execution. Here are the types of gateways and when to use them:
| Gateway Name | Symbol | Implication |
| AND Gateway |  | An AND gateway, helps to execute parallel tasks. It diverts the workflow on all pathways that meet into or it or come out of it. For instance consider the making of a car. There are certain tasks which can be executed in parallel and this will save time. Use an AND gateway to model such tasks in your Process model |
| OR Gateway |  | An OR gateway will allow one or more routings based on certain pre-defined criteria. For instance, if your customer is taking the car along with the service contract, then the OR gateway will make both paths active. But if the customer is taking only the service warranty or only the car, only one of the process paths will become active. Use the OR split when you are not sure about how many paths the process will need to take from the gateway when it is executed. |
| XOR Gateway |  | An XOR gateway is one which allows the process to take one and only one of the paths that come in it or go out of it. This should be done when the process will move along one of the many paths based on certain conditions. For instance, a candidate appearing for an interview can be selected or rejected but not both. Hence use the XOR gateway and define both selection and rejection paths. Based on the input selected or rejected, the process-flow will be diverted to one but not all of the relevant paths. |
| Event | Symbol | Implication |
| Start Event |  | The start event signals a process to start. Each process can have one and only one start event. It can be manual, automatic (timer based) or message based. |
| End Event |  | An end event completes the process. A process can have multiple end events. This is denoted with a start event having a shading along its circumference. |
| Intermediate Event |  | An intermediate event is any event that takes place between the start and end of the process |
| Message Event |  | Message events are meant to increase the co-ordination between different processes. A message event starts a series of steps in the current process based on a message it has received from outside the process. For instance, the purchasing process should be started after it receives a message from the store. In this case, the store is supposed to pass on information to begin a process. The messages can be automated to ensure that the execution takes place on time and as desired. |
| Timer Event |  | Timer events are useful control procedures. They initiate a series of steps automatically based on the time which has elapsed after an activity has been performed/ not performed. The primary use of these events is to provide the customer with service levels i.e. customer can expect a repair mechanic to reach them within 24 hours. They then notify the management is there has been no preparation to send the mechanic after let’s say 16 hours. A single timer event can have multiple escalation paths. For example: 16-18 hours: Project Manager Hence the escalation goes on till higher and higher levels till it gets executed. There are therefore no chances of material information being withheld since a program has been written to escalate it automatically. |
| Ad-Hoc Event |  | Ad-hoc events are events which have no defined time. These are initiated by users with requisite level of access at any time within the execution of a process. Termination of a customer order is one such process. If the customer wants to cancel an order, the process must be capable of handling these events. An ad-hoc event is initiated by an authorised user in the middle of the process to trigger a series of actions that replace the original flow of process. For instance a termination of an order starts the cancellation formalities and refund process and stops the processing of an order. Ad-hoc events may have defined users or a group of users. This is usually the management or the supervisory level of users. Ad-hoc events can be based on internal needs, for instance ad-hoc reports or external needs such as the one mentioned above. |
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Continuous Improvement and Business Process Re-Engineering
February 12, 2025
