Modeling Participants

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The development of process models may involve many people to create a set of models thatfully represent the process. Business strategists, business managers, financial analysts, auditors, and compliance analysts, process performance analysts, requirements analysts, systems analysts,or others may create different process models for their particular purposes. Models can be created by individuals expressing their personal knowledge or models can be created by groups outlining the scope and depth of the business theyare addressing. For redesign efforts, information systems personnel who develop the requirements for IT support must consider organizational design personnel who determining roles, responsibilities and reporting structures, or financial personnel who are measuring cost and value options.

Modeling Techniques and Tools

White Boarding and Flip Charts

Using a white board with erasable markers to draw the process flows and flip charts to capture other information and then later transcribing the results into drawing or modeling and reporting tools is a common method used in workshops, interviews or structured/facilitated modeling sessions.

Butcher Paper and Sticky-notes

Another common workshop technique is to cover the walls of a room with taped up Butcher paper and have the workshop participants put removable sticky-notes on the paper until they have arranged the activities into the sequence on which they agree. Sometimes this is done with the participants directing the facilitator in the placement of these activities, and other times the participants place the notes depicting activities. The resulting model must then be transcribed into a drawing or modeling and reporting tool later.

Drawing Tools and Reports

During or after the interviews and workshops, participants capture and process flow
records using a cheap image, such as Visio, PowerPoint or other
electronic drawing tool. Often times, these images inserted into a Word document or
PowerPoint presentation as a means of reporting findings and share the results.

Electronic Modeling and Projection

Utilizing electronic drawing or modeling tools and projecting the images to large screens to capture and view the developing models.

Process Simulation

 Overview

Simulations require sufficient data which typically allows the process to be mathematically simulated under various scenarios, loads, etc. Simulation can be used to achieve the following:

  • Validate a model by demonstrating that real transaction sets, when run through
  • the model exhibit, produce the same performance characteristics as those in the
  • actual process
  • Predict the process design’s performance under differing scenarios (vary the
  • number of transactions over time, the number of workers, etc.)
  • Determine which variables have the greatest affect on process performance
  • Compare performance of different process designs  under the same sets of
  • Circumstances

Process laboratories are often used as part of a process improvement, redesign, or reengineering effort

Mock Trials

Mock trials can be similar to events run in a process laboratory. However, mock trials are typically one-off testing events versus the ongoing study and simulation often found in laboratories. Mock trials include running test transactions based on actual or sample data from real processes on an end-to-end basis.

Technical Simulation/Load analysis

Some process simulation tools provide the ability to perform load analysis. For example, simulating peak, average, and valley transaction loads predict impact on cycle time, resource requirements, bottlenecks, etc. Some of the typical analyses are resource utilization, distribution analysis, cycle time analysis, and cost analysis. Some process simulation tools can also present animations of the simulations. Animations may be helpful in visually identifying phenomena during performance that may not be readily apparent in typical analysis of simulation data sets.