The Components of a Process Model

Process Definition

A process definition contains the core configuration for a process in Enterprise Process Modeler. It includes the basic setup information (such as the source of definition, process name, description, and node and filter configurations), and defines the process structure through its node configuration (details such as from node, start node, and to node).

This is the data from your EnterpriseOne system that Enterprise Process Modeler uses to draw the picture—nodes and links— of the process model. For example, if your business process is tracking the status of purchase orders or sales orders, the process definition will likely come from Order Activity Rules data (P40204). You can also use the Process Definition application (P00201) to define an ad-hoc process.

In addition, the process definition includes filter configuration that controls which transactions or instances are included when analyzing the process (for example, filtering by company, business unit, document type, supplier, date range, or status). Together, these configurations determine how the process is modeled and how its analytics are calculated and displayed.

Design Options

Design options are attributes of the process model that define the scope of the process. For example, in an order-to-cash process, you might choose to define the process by the lifecycle of a sales order document, and more specifically, by the line type of stock items. In this case, Document Type and Line Type are design options, and Document Type=Sales Order (SO) and Line Type=Stock (S) define the scope of the process.

If you are generating a process model from a preconfigured process model template, then the design options are predefined in the template, and you cannot change them. If you are creating a user-defined process model, you will define the design options that are appropriate for your process model. In either case, users who are interacting with the process model in Enterprise Process Modeler cannot change design options.

Data Filtering and Grouping Options

Data filtering and grouping options are attributes of the process model that you intend for your process owners to control and change while they are interacting with the process model in Enterprise Process Modeler. For example, if you have established design options such as Document Type=Sales Order and Line Type=Stock for your order-to-cash process, you could also establish data filtering options such as Order Date, Company, and Business Unit. Using these filters, your process owners can explore different dimensions of the process, for example, showing the process model, metrics, and analytics only for Company 1, and then comparing that to Company 2. Further, if you designate a data filter to allow grouping, then your process owners can easily show the data segregated into groups.

Metrics

A metric is a measurable value tied to a business process that you define for a node or a link so your process owners can monitor, analyze, and report on how that process is performing.

A node metric measures performance or outcomes associated with a specific process step (node)—in other words, the work performed at that activity. For example, a node metric might track the number of sales order lines at a certain status, or the sum total of the value of the sales orders at that status.

A link metric is a measurement associated with the link (transition) between two nodes. To define link metrics, you must be able to identify data that defines the start and end of the link, for example, the Last Status and Next Status for sales orders. Link metrics quantify what occurs as work moves from one process node (step) to the next, for example, the number of sales order lines that have a Last Status of 520 and a Next Status of 540.

Analytics

Similar to business intelligence applications, analytics draw data from your EnterpriseOne system and present it as visualizations, such as pie charts, bar charts, and line graphs. However, the advantage with Enterprise Process Modeler is that these analytics are presented in the context of a process model, making it easier for your users to identify the point in a process where a bottleneck or issue might be occurring. You can define analytics at three levels: the process level, the node level, and the link level.

A process analytic is a measure that summarizes the overall performance of an end-to-end process using data captured across its nodes and links. Process analytics help you evaluate how the overall process is operating. For example, total cycle time, total volume, cost, throughput, and exception or rework rates—so you can identify bottlenecks and improvement opportunities.

Node analytics and link analytics are analytics (measures, results, and visual indicators) applied to individual process nodes (steps) or the links (connections) between steps to help you assess performance at each activity and across each transition.

If you are generating a process model from a preconfigured process model template, then the metrics and analytics are predefined in the template, and you cannot change them. You can, however, choose to show or hide them from users in Enterprise Process Modeler. If you are creating a user-defined process model, you define the metrics and analytics that are appropriate for your process model. In either case, users who are interacting with the process model in Enterprise Process Modeler cannot change metrics and analytics, but they can change data filters to show different dimensions of the data, and they can change certain visualization options, such as visualizing a bar chart horizontally or vertically.