Business process simulation

Business process is: “A collection of related, structured activities – a chain of events- that produce a specific service or product for a particular customer or customers” [How06]. A simulation is an imitation of some real thing, state of affairs, or process. The supporting tools of process mapping and business process simulation are used in the change process and assist in communicating the current process design and people's roles in the overall performance of that design. The simulation model is also used to predict the performance of new designs incorporating the use of information technology. The approach is seen to have a number of advantages in the context of a public sector organization. These include the ability for personnel to move from a traditional grouping of staff in occupational groups with relationships defined by reporting requirements to a view of their role in a process, which delivers a performance to a customer. By running the simulation through time it is also possible to gauge how changes at an operational level can lead to the meeting of strategic targets over time. Business processes are increasingly recognized as the key to competitive survival. The important opportunities inherent to this invisible economic asset are the foundations of process-centered management. Simulation of business processes creates added value in understanding, analyzing and designing processes by introducing dynamic aspects. It provides decision support by anticipation of future changes in process design and improves understanding of processes. In this paper is described: • Business process improvement cycle from problem identification till concrete improvements made in business process. Described “Six-Sigma” process improvement cycle; • Defined types of process modeling tools indicating for what purposes they are used; • Identified advantages and disadvantages of business process imitation; • Technologies of business imitation; It was made experiment with chosen business process imitation systems. By imitating purchasing process it was analyzed business process imitation systems by evaluating its properties, analyzing given analysis results. Also proposed requirements for new imitation system development, identifying what functions should be implemented