When business processes meet complex events in logistics: A systematic mapping study

Abstract

Logistics processes are attracting growing attention because of the globalisation of the market. Its growing complexity and the need for reducing costs have provoked the seek of new solutions based on the processing of the complex events that the business processes produce. Event-Driven Business Process Management (EDBPM) is a discipline that studies the integration of business processes and complex events. The analysis of the maturity level of the approaches and gaps to point out future lines of research could help not only logistics organisations, but also academia. Logistics organisation could benefit from producing more environmentally friendly and optimal solutions in transport, and academia could benefit from revealing open problems. Thus, this study aims to identify current approaches, frameworks, and tools that integrate business processes and complex events in the logistics domain. To do so, we follow a systematic approach to do a mapping study that captures and synthesises the approaches, frameworks, and tools that integrate these two fields. As a result, 10,978 articles were gathered and 169 of them were selected for extraction. We have classified the selected studies according to several criteria, including the business process life cycle in which they are being applied, the business process modelling language, and the event process modelling language, among others. Our synthesis reveals the open challenges and the most relevant frameworks and tools. However, there is no mature enough framework or tool ready to be used in companies, and a promising research must provide solutions that cover all phases in the process life cycle.