An Example of Business Process Simulation Using ARENA

In this paper a modelling methodology for business systems simulation is introduced. The methodology is based on the business transaction concept in conjunction with Petri nets notations. Next to these two components, the Arena simulation package is discussed to build an animated simulation model. Since the simulation model will be demonstrated using the software, it is not included into this paper, but it is shown how to use AREAN elements. 1 The transaction concept The transaction concept introduced in this paper is originated from the DEMO (Dynamic Essential Modeling of Organization) methodology authored and developed by [2]. According to this concept, each business transaction is comprised of three phases that are called order phase, execution phase, and result phase (O-phase, Ephase and R-phase correspondingly). The underlining concept of the transaction is based on the Language/Action Perspective [2, 3] that considers communication as a way of acting and carrying tasks. Each transaction involves two actors: the actor that initiates the transaction is called the initiator, while the actor that executes the transaction is called the executor. As discussed above, each transaction is completed in three phases. The order phase (O) is an interaction between the initiator and the executor of the transaction. During this phase the initiator makes a request towards the executor for some service or task. The execution phase (E) is solely completed by the executor alone. The result phase (R) is again an interaction between the executor and the initiator. During this phase the executor communicates the result to the initiator. The structure of the business transaction is shown in the figure below. Fig. 1. The transaction structure Barjis J. (2005). An Example of Business Process Simulation Using ARENA. In Proceedings of the 3rd International Workshop on Modelling, Simulation, Verification and Validation of Enterprise Information Systems, pages 107-112 DOI: 10.5220/0002571201070112 Copyright c © SciTePress On the left side of the figure, a transaction is represented as a sequence of the three phases (O-phase, E-phase, R-phase) that take place one after another, while, for compactness, the right side of the figure compresses the three phases into one single unit called a transaction (T).