Applicability of process maps for simulation modeling in business process change projects

Abstract

There are several techniques and tools that attempt to effectively represent different modeling perspectives according to business process modeling purpose and goals. One of widely used techniques for process modeling is process maps. The technique is based on flowcharts and one of its most important advantages, that is extremely important in early phases of business process change projects, is that models are easily understandable to all members of a project group. It is believed that this technique can provide only basic facilities in representing processes and is inappropriate for simulation. The main objective of this paper is to show that process maps have all elements required for simulation and that they have some other benefits, very important for business process renovation, that are discussed in the paper.