Optimizing resource utilization by combining activities across process instances

Abstract

Resource-efficient business processes are a key asset of an organization in a competitive market environment. Current efforts address this issue either at the process schema level by specifying an optimal sequence of process activities or at the process instance level by optimizing resource utilization within a single running process instance. In this paper, we present a novel approach for combining activities across process instances to optimize resource utilization. The proposed approach comprises the (i) definition of business processes and combinable activities, (ii) identification of possible combinations at runtime, (iii) determination of optimization potential, and (iv) actual combination of activities across process instances. The approach further supports partial activity combinations and dynamic resource selection for combined activities. The applicability of the approach is demonstrated by a case study.