Thanks Chris. I already started reading that paper and I plan on getting started on the model tonight if I have some free time. I also found that I can download a 60 day trial of Microsoft Visio online so I will do that as well. I'll keep you all posted on the progress and ask questions as they come up.
Hi Frank,
You might also want to take a look at Avantage BPM. The base version of the software seems to be FREE with to time limits and not strings attached. Visio barely supports BPMN (it's mostly the symbols) - it looks like Avantage BPM tools has BPMN as its native notation. You might want to give it a try since it won't expire in 60 days.
Best regards,
- Adrian
Perfect! I'll give it a shot. Thank you.
Ok here is the draft of my pick ticket process flow model. I don't have permission to attach it to this thread so I hosted it on another site. Hopefully its not to small for you all to read. Let me know what you think.
Frank,
What a great start to the process flow. I noticed that when you first described the process in writing you mentioned two preconditions before a pick ticket is created by the office. Here you didn't show this. There's nothing wrong with that. The decision about where the process starts is really a judgment called based on the scope of what you are trying to improve upon.
Your first gateway (the diamond shape) is considered an "Exclusive OR" gateway. It means that you can only choose one of the alternative paths. I have a feeling that the workers may do both paths multiple times until the entire order is filled. This means you probably want on "Inclusive OR" gateway. This means the worker can take one path or the other or both. Also, you probably what to show an activity looping or sequence flow looping to repeat the steps of picking the items from stock. This is also an area where I think you need a bit more detail. Does the worker pick an item, place it somewhere and then go pick another item?
The second gateway you used is an "Inclusive OR" gateway. This means that the flow may follow one path, or the other, or both. But these two paths look exclusive. If it's the wrong material then the manager isn't going to approve it. I would also show the flow looping back on itself in the case of wrong items. We probably need to show some more detail here. What happens to the incorrectly picked items. Then I assume the worker would go back and perform the same stock picking process shown earlier in the process flow.
Third, we need to be sure that we have clearly shown who is performing which tasks so, for now, be sure to add in the activity description the person performing the activity. There are other methods for showing this but lets keep it simple for now.
I'll let you work on these things. In the meantime I will begin to form a list of questions that are going through my mind as I look at this process flow.
Chris
Chris, thank you for clarifiying the difference between the two "OR" gateways. I wasn't sure when I first put it together. I can see what you are saying now and I will switch them around. I also understand what you are saying about looping the process and you are correct. If the material is not picked correctly the first time the warehouse worker must go back and pick the material again and again until it is correct. How though is the correct way of showing loops in the process flow diagram? I didn't see any examples of this in the Intro to BPMN paper i read.
EDIT: Ok, I gave it another shot and instead of noting who was doing each process in the task itself I tried out using swim lanes to designate which employee did each process. I'm still not sure how to signify the looping effect but take a look and let me know what you think. Thanks.
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