ICT353/532 Advanced Business Analysis and Design
Topic 5: Tools and Techniques for Business Process Modelling
Exercise 1

Consider the diagram below which shows levels of processes. What do the swimlanes represent in the 2nd and 3rd diagrams? How does the 3rd diagram differ from the 2nd diagram?

Exercise 2

Consider the BPMN models below of a process for handling applications for approval to conduct research involving humans and answer the following questions.
a) Identify the main BPMN constructs in the diagrams.
b) Compare these models with the model we looked at last week. Are these processes easier or harder to understand than the one from last week?
c) What information and functionality do these models provide that the model we looked at last week didn’t?

 
Exercise 3

Read the case below and use BPMN to represent the process. Use swim lanes to identify the actors. Swap your model with the person next to you and give each other some feedback.

An insurance company processes claims which result from traffic accidents with cars where customers are involved in. It uses the following procedure for the processing of the insurance claims:
• Every claim, reported by a customer, is registered by a junior claim handler from the Car Damages department. After the registration of the claim, the insurance claim is classified by the junior claim handler. There are two categories: simple and complex claims.
o For simple claims two tasks need to be executed: check insurance and phone garage. These tasks are independent of each other.
o The complex claims require three tasks to be executed: check insurance, check damage history and phone garage. These tasks need to be executed sequentially in the order specified.
• After executing these either two or three tasks a decision is made. This decision is made by a senior claim handler and has two possible outcomes: OK (positive) or NOK (negative):
o If the decision is positive, then the insurance company will pay. An employee of the finance department handles the payment. In any event, the insurance company sends a letter to the customer who sent the claim. The junior claim handler writes this letter.

ICT353/532 Advanced Business Analysis and Design
Topic 5: Tools and Techniques for Business Process Modelling
Part 2

Exercise 4

The example below of a process used in a travel agency is in the form of a UML activity diagram. Redraw it in BPMN.

Exercise 5

The example below represents a process that uses the exclusive choice and simple merge patterns. Redraw it in BPMN.
Exercise 6

The example below represents a process that uses multi-choice and synchronising merge patterns. Redraw it in BPMN.
Exercise 7

Read the case below and undertake the activity at the end.

The handling of delays by borrowers in returning books back to the Library is very inefficient. The current library system is able to automatically send a reminder to the customer about a delay, but if the customer does not return the book the delay is handled manually by the librarians. Because of customer complaints about non-available books and because of several cases of disappearing books, the Library wants to make the process of handling delays more efficient. The management of the Library has decided that the delay process should be analysed and then optimised.

The librarians have been interviewed about how they today handle delays, what activities they perform, in which sequence, and how they decide what to do next. The interviews have resulted in a mixture of views of the practice of handling delays. The typical scenario of recognising and handling a delay can be summarized as:

A new customer requests an unavailable book. The librarian checks the system and recognises that there has been a delay in returning it. She promises to notify the customer when the book is returned. Then she looks up the customer who has not returned the book in the system. If there is a phone number registered, she tries to call him by phone, else she writes a letter about the delay, stating that he has already received one reminder and that he will be charged a fee for the delay. If the book has not been returned a week later, the librarian will send another letter to the delayed customer informing him that he will be reported to the police for theft if the book is not returned. One more week later, if not returned, the librarian contacts her manager, who takes over. The manager contacts the police over phone about the theft. The manager also contacts the bad payments register through a web browser as the customer has not paid the overdue fee. The manager registers the customer as a bad payer. He also contacts a debt collection agency by phone to collect the fee. If the customer delivers the book back but has not paid the charged amount, the librarian will send a letter informing him about the missing payment. The librarian uses a web browser to log on to the Library payments system to see if the customer has paid the fee. If the payment has still not been registered 10 days after the first request, the bad payment register and the debt collection agency is contacted by the librarian.

You are employed as a business analyst for the Library and it is your job to first describe how the business process is it is currently handled (As-Is process). Use BPMN to represent the process. Use swim lanes to identify the actors.

ICT353/532 Advanced Business Analysis and Design
Topic 6: Business Process Improvement

Exercise 1

The attached diagram is an attempt at modelling the case below. Trace the process using the model and identify any errors in it or issues that need clarification.
A new customer requests an unavailable book. The librarian checks the system and recognises that there has been a delay in returning it. She promises to notify the customer when the book is returned. Then she looks up the customer who has not returned the book in the system. If there is a phone number registered, she tries to call him by phone, else she writes a letter about the delay, stating that he has already received one reminder and that he will be charged a fee for the delay. If the book has not been returned a week later, the librarian will send another letter to the delayed customer informing him that he will be reported to the police for theft if the book is not returned. One more week later, if not returned, the librarian contacts her manager, who takes over. The manager contacts the police over phone about the theft. The manager also contacts the bad payments register through a web browser as the customer has not paid the overdue fee. The manager registers the customer as a bad payer. He also contacts a debt collection agency by phone to collect the fee. If the customer delivers the book back but has not paid the charged amount, the librarian will send a letter informing him about the missing payment. The librarian uses a web browser to log on to the Library payments system to see if the customer has paid the fee. If the payment has still not been registered 10 days after the first request, the bad payment register and the debt collection agency is contacted by the librarian.

Exercise 2

Consider how the process for handling books that are not returned on time could be improved (that is the process described in Exercise 1). Use the As-Is model as a basis for identifying how the process can be improved. List any aspects that could be improved and explain why these changes should improve efficiency for the library. For example consider the following: automating some tasks by use of information technology; changing the sequence of activities; making parallel paths in the process.
Exercise 3

Use BPMN to represent the To-Be process for handling books that are not returned on time.