Business Process Modelling Notation Case Study Assessment

Q1).Assume that a business process modeling notation (BPMN) business process model is required for the business process described below and that you are starting to work on it.

Construction International is a construction company specializing in public works (e.g. roads, bridges, pipelines). Construction International site engineers often need to hire a special type of equipment, such as a truck or a bulldozer, from specialized heavy equipment suppliers.

When a site engineer needs to hire this kind of equipment, he/she sends an Equipment Hire Request to one of the clerks at the Construction International depot. The clerk at the depot first checks if appropriate equipment (owned by Construction International) is available at the depot for the required period of time. If it is, the request is filled, and the equipment is delivered to the construction site. Otherwise, the clerk checks an information system that lists all equipment offered by their suppliers and selects the most cost-effective piece of equipment that complies with the request. She then checks the availability of this equipment with the equipment's supplier via phone or e-mail. Sometimes, the selected equipment is not available, and the clerk has to select another piece of equipment and check its availability with its supplier, and so on.

Once the clerk has found a suitable piece of equipment available for hire, she recommends to the works engineer that the request to hire it to be approved. The works engineer usually approves equipment hire requests once per day, and in about 10% of the cases, the works engineer rejects the equipment engagement request. He can either reject it completely or ask that the selected equipment be replaced with cheaper equipment. In this case, the clerk needs to perform another availability inquiry.

Once the works engineer has approved the hire, the clerk sends an email confirmation to the supplier (attaching a Hire Order form) and she records it in an Excel spreadsheet that she maintains in order to keep track of all the approved equipment hires. These two steps can be done in any order.

1. Use BPMN to create a model of the process described above. Your model must represent the roles of those involved in using pools and swimlanes and it must model decisions appropriately. You may create your model by hand and include an image of it, or use Visio and both insert an image and upload the Visio file.
2. Explain three (3) inefficiencies or problems with the process that is, what the issue is and why it is a problem or makes the process inefficient. For each issue explain which of the following performance indicators it impacts on: time, quality, cost, and flexibility.

Q2).Identify three (3) errors in the model shown below and for each explain which type of model quality is an issue.

Q3).Read the following case study description and answer the questions below it.

Hire Depot hires out building equipment such as tools and scaffolding to customers who want to undertake home repairs and renovations. Hire Depot is a small business with only 3 staff. Two of the staff, Patrick and Ahmed, are also the founders and part owners of Hire Depot, and they undertake the sales functions. The other full-time staff member, Mary, is employed as an administration manager and undertakes all human resource and administration duties. Hire Depot is very much a family-like company, built on close relationships with regular customers. Due to the relationships formed over many years of business, Hire Depot has often conducted business with regular customers via verbal agreements rather than documentation and following a strict business process. However in recent years, due to their increased dealings with businesses (as opposed to just homeowners), a certain amount of documentation has been required by the accounts departments of these companies. This has led to Hire Depot creating an in-house method for processing customer orders. When a customer wants to hire equipment, they contact Hire Depot either by phone or email, to request it; if what they require is available order is created, but if the equipment is unavailable, the customer is notified and order isn't created. When a customer comes to pick up the equipment they have ordered they sign an order docket (which states the order number, the date, and equipment being taken) confirming the equipment has been booked out. This order docket is then filed manually by Mary in the Current Equipment Hire folders. A mental note is made by the salespeople, Patrick and Ahmed, that the equipment is booked out and no longer available for hire if any customers inquire. Sometimes this causes problems as they occasionally forget that a certain piece of equipment has already been booked out and customers are wrongly notified about its availability. When the equipment comes back, Mary is notified that the equipment has been returned and she relocates the order docket manually and creates an invoice for that order. The original order docket as well as a copy of the invoice is filed away in the Equipment Hire History folder. The equipment is then usually put straight back in the storeroom. An equipment check is meant to occur to ensure that the equipment isn't damaged but usually, the staff members are too busy and the equipment isn't checked until after another customer places an order for it.

1. Use BPMN to create a model of the process for hiring out and handling returned equipment described above. Take care to include all the participating stakeholders and to model the decisions appropriately.
2. Consider the model that you have just created. Describe three inefficiencies or problems you have identified with the process. For each issue explain how it impacts on the following performance indicators: time, quality, cost, and flexibility.
3. Discuss how this process could be made more efficient. Describe the business process improvement best practices (i.e. heuristics) that your suggested improvements would employ.

Explain in your own words why business process redesign's best practices (also known as heuristics) are used. Your answer should include two (2) examples of business process design best practices that might be used by a university to speed up the student enrolment process. (6 marks)

Q4)Assume that a business process modeling notation (BPMN) business process model is required for the business process described below and that you are starting to work on it.

EyeDoctor is a local optometrist business. It employs the following staff: one optometrist (a health care professional who tests eyes and prescribes eyeglasses and contact lenses) called Sally; two opticians, Hong and Ahmed, who adjust and fit optical products such as glasses; and one receptionist, Rina. When a customer calls to make an appointment to have their eyes tested, the receptionist books an appointment by recording it in the EyeDoctor diary, which is a large printed book used for the entire year. If it is the first time the customer has had their eyes checked at EyeDoctor, when they arrive for their appointment they are given a form to record their details. These details are then entered into EyeDoctor's simple computer system by the receptionist when she has time. Occasionally these forms become misplaced, or it can be difficult to read the writing of some customers, leading to errors in the records. The sight test is carried out by the optometrist, and details are recorded on a printed sheet during the test. Once the eye test is complete the optometrist records the details in the system and if glasses are required provides a copy of the glasses prescription to the patient for their records. If glasses are required, the patient is then invited by an optician to choose from a selection of frames and lens types. If they are unable to decide, they may take the prescription with them. If the patient chooses glasses frames the order is processed by the optician and recorded in the system. The customer pays a deposit (one-third of the cost). Payments are generally made by credit card, but occasionally are paid in cash. At the end of each day, a list of all required orders is generated by the receptionist and emailed to the factory that makes the glasses. When the completed order arrives back at EyeDoctor (a week later), the receptionist calls the customer to let them know that the glasses are ready. When the patient arrives to collect them, the balance is paid, and the optician makes any necessary adjustments.

1. Answer each of the questions below to provide the information needed for the process model. Be as specific as you can.

i) List each of the roles/resources that will require a swimlane in the model.

ii) What pools should be included in the model?

iii) List and name all the activities in the process.

iv) What event triggers the process? What other events need to be modeled?

v) Describe each of the decisions that need to be modeled.

vi) Describe any information flows that are required i.e. what information and where it flows to and from.

b) Use BPMN to create a model of the process described above. Your model must represent the roles of those involved in using pools and swimlanes and model decisions appropriately. You may create your model by hand and include an image of it, or use Visio and both insert an image and upload the Visio file.

c) Explain three (3) inefficiencies or problems you have identified with the process that is, what the issue is and why it is inefficient or a problem. For each issue explain which of the following performance indicators it impacts on: time, quality, cost, and flexibility.

Q5).Construction Hire hires out building equipment such as tools and scaffolding to customers who want to undertake home repairs and renovations. Construction Hire is a small business with only 3 staff. Two of the staff, Patrick and Ahmed, are also the founders and part owners of Construction Hire, and they undertake the customer-facing sales functions. The other full-time staff member, Mary, is employed in an administration role. Construction Hire is very much a family-like company, built on close relationships with regular customers. Due to the relationships formed over many years of business, Construction Hire has often conducted business with regular customers via verbal agreements rather than formal documentation. However, in recent years, due to their increased dealings with businesses (as opposed to just homeowners), more documentation has been required by the accounts departments of these companies. This has led to Construction Hire creating an in-house process for handling customer orders. When a customer wants to hire a piece of equipment they contact Construction Hire, either by phone or email, to request it. If what they require is available order is created, but if the equipment is unavailable, the customer is notified, and an order is not created. When a customer comes to pick up the equipment they have ordered they sign an order docket (which states the order number, the date, and equipment being taken) confirming the equipment has been booked out. This order docket is then filed manually by Mary in the Current Equipment Hire folders when she has time. A mental note is made by the salespeople, Patrick and Ahmed, that the equipment is booked out and no longer available for hire if any customers inquire. Sometimes this causes problems as they occasionally forget that a certain piece of equipment has already been booked out and customers are wrongly notified about its availability. When the equipment comes back, Mary is notified that the equipment has been returned and she relocates the order docket manually and creates an invoice for that order. The original order docket as well as a copy of the invoice is then filed away in the Equipment Hire History folder. The equipment is then usually put straight back in the storeroom. An equipment check is meant to occur to ensure that the equipment isn't damaged but often the sales staff are too busy, and the equipment isn't checked until after another customer places an order for it.

1. Answer each of the questions below to provide the information needed for the process model. Be as specific as you can.

i) List each of the roles/resources that will require a swimlane in the model.

ii) What pools should be included in the model?

iii) List and name all the activities in the process.

iv) What event triggers the process? What other events need to be modeled?

v) Describe each of the gateways that need to be modeled.

vi) Describe any information flows that are required i.e. what information and where it flows to and from.

1.  Use BPMN to create a model of the process described above. Your model must represent the roles of those involved in using pools and swimlanes and model decisions appropriately.
2.  Describe three (3) ways in which the process for hiring equipment could be made even more efficient. Your answer should include the business process improvement best practices (i.e. heuristics) that your suggested improvements would employ.

Q6).Assume that a business process modeling notation (BPMN) business process model is required for the business process described below and that you are starting to work on it.

Bambino's Pizzeria is a small family-owned business. Until recently orders were still taken down on pads, leading to lost or forgotten orders. The various staff had overlapping responsibilities, for example, answering the phones to take orders, and cooking pizzas (and delivering if necessary). In addition to workflow problems, the business also experienced problems with customers not paying for their orders. They recognized that their processes needed improvement. After a review of business processes, Bambino's Pizzeria recently introduced a redesigned process to speed up pizza ordering and delivery the text below describes it.

Bambino's has 3 PCs connected to incoming phone lines. When a customer calls in an order to have pizza delivered, an order taker answers and the Caller ID checks the phone number against a database of past phone orders. If the order is for a repeat customer, the system matches the number with the customer database and displays the customer record on the screen. (Customer records contain a variety of information including whether the customer's dog bites). For first-time customers, the order taker obtains the caller's name and address and creates a record in the customer database. For first-time customers, the order will only be accepted if the phone number is valid and the customer provides a valid credit card number.

The order taker then types in the customer's pizza order. The system prints out a three-part order on a printer located in the kitchen. The original is used by the cook to prepare the order. When the order is ready the cook marks the other two copies as completed and gives them to the delivery driver to serve as delivery receipts for the driver and customer respectively.

At the same time as the order is printed, the order taker's computer displays a city locator grid that is used to help dispatch the drivers. From a copy of the display, a dispatch slip showing the customer's street and surrounding streets is printed for the driver. The final system output generated at this time is a record of the order, which is a source input to the (separate) accounts system. This data is manually entered into the accounts system at the end of the shift and later used to tally sales, calculate the drivers' pay and generate other reports.

1. Use BPMN to create a model of the process described above. Your model must represent the roles of those involved in using pools and swimlanes and it must model decisions appropriately. You may create your model by hand and include an image of it or use Visio and both insert an image and upload the Visio file.

1. Explain three (3) inefficiencies or problems you have identified with the process that is, what each issue is and why it is inefficient or a problem. For each issue explain which of the following performance indicators it impacts on: time, quality, cost, and flexibility.
2. Discuss how the order and delivery process and associated processes could be made even more efficient. Describe the business process improvement best practices (i.e. heuristics) that your suggested improvements would employ.

Q7)International University wants to evaluate two learning management systems (LMSs) and determine which to adopt. They intend to use the weighted score approach to software evaluation.

1. Identify five (5) criteria that you think should be included in the evaluation and determine what you think their relative importance is.
2. Set up a table that could be filled out as the evaluation is conducted and used to support the decision on which LMS to acquire.

Q8).A report included the following criteria as important when evaluating and comparing business process modeling tools: Ease of use when drawing models Adherence to the BPMN standard Support for the UML standard Visual drill-downs and sublevels are supported Inclusion of various graphical formats such as bitmaps, shape libraries and JPEGs

1. Set up a table (and include in your exam script) that could be used to support evaluating Microsoft Visio with Visual Paradigm on these criteria. You wish to use the weighted score approach, so will need to first determine what you consider to be the relative importance of each of these criteria and include it in your table.
2. ii) Then explain how the remainder of the table could be filled out and used to make a decision on which modeling tool to acquire. NOTE: you don't need to actually do the evaluations or calculations. (8 marks)