Business Process Management Technology for Discrete Manufacturing

Contemporary business process management technology has successfully been implemented to streamline and coordinate administrative business processes. The use of this type of technology to automate processes in complex manufacturing is however less mature. In this paper we discuss the research challenges and requirements for the application and extension of business process management concepts and theories to discrete manufacturing processes as encountered in e.g. the automotive industry. In these processes humans and robots collaborate to produce complex physical products. Awareness of physical constraints during execution, such as safety issues, is very important in these processes. Integration of the process management with real-world events, such as safety alarms and failure of machinery, has to take place. We present an architectural solution showing the extensions needed to current business process management technology for adoption in the high tech manufacturing domain and we validate this solution by construction. From this we conclude that the application of business process management to discrete manufacturing is possible but requires substantial additions to contemporary systems. This paper contributes by providing the framework for these additions.