Made available in DSpace on 2015-04-11T13:40:50Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Paulo C N de Souza e Mello.pdf: 3859840 bytes, checksum: 880a031d40ce42032949fb9169f25c47 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2011-11-07 / Discusses the logistics processes managed by the Coordination for the Department of Materials Warehouse of the Federal University of Amazonas (UFAM-demat). Assumed that the modernization of procedures and tools for the logistic processes of supply of internal coordination of the demat Warehouse / UFAM can contribute to a better performance of that body providing feedback to the institution by reducing bottlenecks, rework and costs. Enrolls a literature review composed of materials management and modeling of business processes. It encourages a methodological path that characterizes the research as an exploratory case study. Uses a top down approach divided into three phases, starting with the preparation of the environment and the survey and description of the current situation (As Is). He points out that the results obtained enabled the identification and improvement of processes and allowed understanding of the desired situation to qualify the performance of the Federal University of Amazonas, thus enabling propose adjustments that would bring significant gains to the institution. / Departamento de Materiais da Universidade Federal do Amazonas (DEMAT-UFAM). Pressupõe que a modernização dos procedimentos e instrumentos disponíveis para os processos logísticos de suprimento internos da Coordenação de Almoxarifado do DEMAT/UFAM podem contribuir para um melhor desempenho do referido órgão proporcionando retorno à Instituição com a redução de gargalos, retrabalhos e custos. Arrola uma revisão da literatura composta de gestão de materiais e modelagem de processos de negócio. Favorece um percurso metodológico que caracteriza a investigação como um estudo de caso exploratório. Utiliza uma abordagem top down dividida em três fases, iniciando pela preparação do ambiente e o levantamento e descrição da situação atual (As Is). Aponta que os resultados obtidos viabilizaram a identificação e a melhoria dos processos e permitiram o entendimento da situação desejada para qualificar o desempenho da Universidade Federal do Amazonas, possibilitando dessa forma propor ajustes que possam trazer ganhos significativos à Instituição.

Context. The quality of business process models is important in the area of model-based software development. The overall goal of this study was to develop and evaluate a model for assessing the quality of models (Process Diagrams) in Business Process Model and Notation (BPMN). The model was an instantiation of the developed metamodel that adopt ISO/IEC 1926. Objectives. The objectives of the thesis were to propose, implement and evaluate a model for quality assessment of business process models in BPMN. The model was intended to help practitioners to check the quality of their BPMN models and provide meaningful feedback on whether the business process models are of good or bad quality. First objective was to develop a metamodel of models for quality assessment of business process models in BPMN, and later the model that in an instantiation of the metamodel. Within the model, the objectives were to propose the relevant quality characteristics, quality metrics, quality criteria and quality functions. Finally, usefulness of model for quality assessment of business process models in BPMN was to be evaluated. Methods. The methodology was driven by essential elements of the model for quality assessment of business process models in BPMN. This is: quality characteristics, quality metrics, quality criteria and quality functions. In the beginning the metamodel of the model was developed based on the ISO/IEC 1926 standard. Later, in order to identify quality characteristics of models existing in the literature, a systematic literature review was conducted. Quality characteristics explicitly relevant to BPMN were compared against each other and selected. Overlapping quality characteristics relevant to BPMN were merged. Next, in order to obtain quality metrics that measure aspects of models of business processes, a literature review was carried out. The literature review was restricted by a proposed set of selection criteria. The criteria were questions that every relevant literature describing quality metrics must affirmatively answer in order to identify only metrics that were able to be assigned to identify quality characteristics. If the chosen quality metrics needed to be changed or adjusted for the sake of better results, the author added changes or adjustments and provided rationale for them. Next, in order to obtain quality criteria, values of the quality metrics were gathered through measuring a repository of BPMN models. The repository was gathered as a preparatory work for the thesis and it consisted of models of varying quality. Manual measurement of quality metrics for each BPMN model from the repository could not be done within a reasonable amount of time. Therefore, a tool to automatically calculate metrics for BPMN models was implemented. The quality criteria were proposed based on the results from interpretation of the values using statistical analysis. Later, quality functions that aggregate values of the metrics were proposed. The complete model was next integrated into the tool so that it could assess a quality of real BPMN models. Finally, the model for assessing the quality of business process models in BPMN was evaluated for usefulness through a survey and survey-based experiment. Results. A metamodel of models for quality assessment of business process models in BPMN was proposed. A model for the quality assessment of models in BPMN was proposed and evaluated for usefulness. Initial sets of quality characteristics of models were found in the literature and quality characteristics that were relevant to BPMN were extracted. Quality metrics that measure aspects of models were found and adjusted to the BPMN notation. Quality criteria that state how values of quality metrics can be classified as good or bad were provided. Quality functions that state if quality characteristics are good or bad for a chosen BPMN model were provided. Finally, a tool that implements the model for quality assessment of models in BPMN was created. Conclusions. The results of the survey and survey-based experiment showed that the proposed model for quality assessment of models in BPMN works in most cases and is needed in general. Additionally, the elements of the model which should be corrected were identified. Contacted users of BPMN expressed a will to use the suggested tool associated with the model for quality assessment of business process models in BPMN.

The theme of this thesis is a process analysis of the Prague Congress Centre. The purpose of diploma work is to propose more effective running of processes in the company. The theoretical part focuses on business processes, process analysis and graphical languages. Another part deals with company's reservation system and analyzes typical characteristics of reservation systems. The main focus of the thesis is on process analysis of Prague Congress Centre, Inc. Current situation is analyzed and more effective operations which run through the whole company are proposed and evaluated. The emphasis is put on differences evaluation between present and proposed situation and suggestion for change. Another part deals with gaps detection in reservation system which is closely connected with chosen analyzed processes. These gaps, up to certain stage, do not allow effective running of chosen processes.

This thesis is focused on optimizing business processes in an environment of LIMAL (CZ). The aim of my work is to analyze and present the company processes and design new processes, which will be used to make the necessary adjustments in the information system and in the working practices of individual employees. The work is divided into two parts, theoretical and practical. The theoretical part describes the issue of business processes and their classification. Furthermore, usual methods which can be used to optimize business processes. The practical part is focused on optimizing the most important processes in LIMAL (CZ) s.r.o. First part clarify the company's activities and its specifics. To better understand the environment in which business operates, I present an Porter's analysis of competitive environment. The following part is an overview of each company's internal processes, and description of their current status and deficiencies, and proposed a new procedure, including the benefits that the deployment will bring. The work will serve as a reference for implementation of necessary changes in the information system and working practices of employees.

This article describes the method of Mobile Process Landscaping by example of a project in which the service processes of a company from the housing industry were analyzed regarding their mobile potential. This analysis was conducted with the aim to organize these processes more efficiently in order to realize cost savings. Therefore, the method of Mobile Process Landscaping, which is introduced in this article, was used. The method refers to the stage of requirements engineering in the software process. It is shown how the initial situation of the company was analyzed, which alternative process models on the basis of mobility supporting technology were developed and how these alternatives were economically evaluated. Furthermore, it is shown how first restrictions for the software and system design were made on the basis of one process model. Finally, it is shown how the Mobile Process Landscaping method can be used to verify whether the adoption of mobility supporting technology is suitable to obtain a defined goal and which requirements such a solution needs to fulfill.

Information technology (IT) is becoming the primary factordetermining the survival of most organizations. The differenttypes of systems and the wide range of objectives suggest thatdiverse evaluation methods are needed. There is a critical needfor a new approach to managing IT investments, and solving theinformation paradox should be a business imperative for allmanagers today. Evaluating IT investments introduces different types ofproblems that investment in traditional assets does notconsider. The focal point shifts from measuring hard andquantifiable benefits that appear on a firm’s incomestatement to measuring soft, diffuse, and qualitativeimpact. The decision to acquire new information technology poses anumber of serious evaluation problems for managers because theavailable methods for IT investment evaluation are mostlystatic and they do not consider dynamism in decision-makingprocesses. Common problems with the methods for evaluating ITinvestments are related to their inability to take account ofthe full range of potential benefits. There is a gap betweentheory and practice in relation to the use of any method formaking decisions and for continuous evaluation of ITinvestments. This thesis presents a new approach to evaluating benefitsof IT investments in a dynamic way, an approach consisting of acombination of dynamic information workflow models and businessprocess simulation techniques. The proposed approach givesmanagers and organizations the possibility of implementingother models for measuring different metrics and aspects of ITinvestments. A dynamic information workflow model of an electric utilityandsimulation essays are presented in order to show how theproposed approach is applied. The performance measure selectedfor running experiments was efficiency, which was characterizedby the following selected performance indicators: cycle time,resource utilization, and activity costs. Empirical data wascollected from case studies of different utilities in CentralAmerican countries. <b>Key words:</b>Business Process Modeling and Simulation,Evaluating IT Investments, Dynamic Information Workflow Model,Electric Utilities. / NR 20140805

Understanding of business processes is becoming an important key factor for successful businesses and today many organizations are facing the lack of knowledge about the business processes that they are working on. Since the interaction between different business processes and different actors are becoming more common it is not only enough for employees to have knowledge about the business processes that they involve directly, but also they need to know about the other business processes in the organization. Unfortunately there is not enough research on this topic in the literature and the goal of this thesis is to propose a method for solving the indicated problem by increasing the understanding of business processes by the employees in an organization. The proposed method basically contains the design and execution of process models based on a real scenario. A case study has been conducted at an IT company where the employees have no or limited knowledge about the business processes that their organization works on. Even though the method has been only tested in one organization it is generic and can be applied to any other similar organization. The design science approach is used to develop the method and build the process models as artifacts. The process models have been verified by using an executable business modeling tool, iPB, and presented to the employees in a seminar in order to make them to understand the business processes better. The knowledge of the employees about the business processes has been analyzed before and after the presentation, thus we could compare the results and find out how much their knowledge has increased after the presentation. The results have shown that the knowledge of the employees has increased significantly. In conclusion, the method of design and presentation of executable business process models has been proved to be a solution to the problem of not understanding of business processes in an organization well enough.

During the past few years, Building Information Modeling (BIM) started to gain acceptance within the AEC industry. But, as with many software products for project management, BIM currently faces significant issues and obstacles that hinder its widespread use. The broad goal of this study is to improve BIM implementation in mid-size firms during the Schematic Design (SD) and Design Development (DD) phases. The study has four main objectives. First, mapping the existing BIM related process model in mid-size firms, and modeling the flow of information between BIM users inside these firms. Second, identifying the challenges that are currently facing BIM users during the Schematic Design (SD) and Design Development (DD) phases, because of the importance of these phases in making critical decisions that directly affect the building life cycle. Then, linking these challenges to a BIM related business process model in order to identify when and how these issues occur. Third, exploring the structural conditions that may change or affect the BIM workflow. Fourth, the study proposes a new business process model that can enhance BIM implementation in mid-size firms. The study is qualitative in nature, and based on interviews with a sample of BIM users involved in mid-size firms in the USA. The researcher attempted to capture BIM issues and the flow of information between BIM users through case studies and interviews inside their firms. Also, the researcher involved a new group of BIM users in the research to seek their feedback, in order to generalize the research results. / Ph. D.

La problématique scientifique abordée correspond à la modélisation et à l'amélioration des processus métiers. Ce problème est d'un intérêt croissant pour les entreprises qui prennent conscience de l'impact indéniable que peuvent avoir une meilleure compréhension et une meilleure gestion des processus métiers (PM) sur l'efficacité, la cohérence et la transparence de leurs activités. Le travail envisagé dans le cadre de la thèse vise à proposer une méthode et un outil pour mesurer et améliorer la qualité des modèles de processus métier. L’originalité de l’approche est qu’elle vise non seulement la qualité syntaxique mais aussi la qualité sémantique et pragmatique en s’appuyant notamment sur les connaissances du domaine. / In recent years the problems related to modeling and improving business processes have been of growing interest. Indeed, companies are realizing the undeniable impact of a better understanding and management of business processes (BP) on the effectiveness, consistency, and transparency of their business operations. BP modeling aims at a better understanding of processes, allowing deciders to achieve strategic goals of the company. However, inexperienced systems analysts often lack domain knowledge leading and this affects the quality of models they produce.Our approach targets the problem related to business process modeling quality by proposing an approach encompassing methods and tools for business process (BP) models quality measurement and improvement. We propose to support this modeling effort with an approach that uses domain knowledge to improve the semantic quality of BP models.The main contribution of this thesis is fourfold:1. Exploiting the IS domain knowledge: A business process metamodel is identified.Semantics are added to the metamodel by the mean of OCL constraints.2. Exploiting the application domain knowledge. It relies on domain ontologies. Alignment between the concepts of both metamodels is defined and illustrated.3. Designing of the guided quality process encompassing methods and techniques to evaluate and improve the business process models. Our process propose many quality constraints and metrics in order to evaluat the quality of the models and finally the process propose relevant recommendations for improvement.4. Development of a software prototype “BPM-Quality”. Our prototype implements all theabove mentioned artifacts and proposes a workflow enabling its users to evaluate andimprove CMs efficiently and effectively.We conducted a survey to validate the selection of the quality constraints through a first experience and also conducted a second experiment to evaluate the efficacy and efficiency of our overall approach and proposed improvements.

The aim of the project is development of the tool Process Inspector for business process modeling and collecting informations from stakeholders. For new solution was estimated supporting other technologies. Microsoft MsSQL database server and .Net Framework offer great oportunities to do that. On the other hand there are user graphic interface requirements. Develop tool with intuitive interface and friendly face. Communication with other tools is important feature, we will discuss Business Process Visual Architect communication.