Shared resource model for allocating resources to activities in BP simulation

Abstract

Resources shareability amongst simultaneous business process (BP) activities is one of the main issues in the BP simulation. Without realistic simulation of shared resources usage, it is difficult to obtain accurate BP performance measures. This paper presents an approach to model shareable resources and a set of rules to handle resources allocation and control their usage in the rule-based BP simulation. The presented model and set of constraints are formalized using the UML/OCL allowing validation of the proof of concept. The approach has been implemented in a prototype of BP simulation tool, and an example highlighting benefits of applying the approach in the BP simulation is presented.