Is BPMN right for my purpose?

2
votes

Intro

The company I work in (it is an intern-like position though, until I am done with university) recently implemented an automated warehouse solution, where goods are transported by means of autonomous shuttles. The basic functions of the shuttles are controlled by onboard electronics (microcontroller), routing through the warehouse racking is done by software solution which in turn communicates with our ERP solution. Effectively the ERP solution handles the whole warehousing.

Task

There are well documented processes for every of the four layers (operator who loads the the shuttles, shuttle itself, routing, ERP) individually. But since we kind of puzzled all four of them together to one solution (which was kind of new to all of the participating companies), there are only vague, on-the-flyish process descriptions involving all four layers available.

Now I have been tasked to come up with a solution to illustrate the processes at work.

Example

  1. ERP signals goods in demand at assembly station A1

  2. Warehouse operator looks at screen and starts loading boxes to be picked up by shuttle

  3. Warehouse operator puts in details into ERP, such as count/weight, box number, ...

  4. Warehouse operator clears boxes for pick-up (by confirming inputs in ERP)

  5. ERP generates transport order

  6. ERP sends transport order to routing software
  7. Routing software sends telegram to shuttle control
  8. Shuttle control turns wheels and asks for directions to pick up boxes
  9. ...

Question

As mentioned, I have to graphically represent the kind of processes similar to the one shown in the (easy and not complete) example above. I need to incorporate the operator's actions as well as basic communication between shuttle, routing software and ERP.

Since I attended a course on BPMN at university it came to mind immediately. But now, after immersing myself into information about BPMN for several hours I still can't conclusively tell if BPMN helps my efforts or just further complicates the whole thing.

Is BPMN the right tool for my purpose?

Disclaimer

I am not a Business Analyst. I have looked at alternatives to BPMN (simple flowcharts, activity diagrams, ...) but they don't seem to fit. Just putting together the existing processes for every respective layer yields no result, owing to the different and sometimes too detailed process descriptions.

Edit

The ERP is SAP ERP 6.0 EHP7 with integrated WMS component.

1
bpmnprocessmodel
NWBC is not a ERP but just a thin client for accessing ERP:) Get a grasp of the terms for yourself. – Suncatcher
As for the question, my words about warehouse management are still true: stick to EWM (if company can afford it) or to using existing WM + Workflow. – Suncatcher
Corrected the version and terms. – pat3d3r

1 Answers

1
votes

TL;DR: use the notation you would be implement process in, i.e. choose BPMS, not BPMN.
The notation itself means nothing unless it has proper tool for modelling and further process implementation aka BPMS. You can find dozens of comparisons (e.g. BPMN vs EPC or BPMN vs BPEL), however they won't help you unless you have clear understanding where and how you will be implement you modeled process.
Generally speaking, EPC is used for more high-level view of the process, whereas BPMN is utilized for more fine-grained view, where all technical details of communications between peers can be described. However, it depends.

I also recommend you to review this table

enter image description here

and answer the question to yourself whether your process changes (in)frequently or not, and whether you need separate BPM tool.

How I see it from your description: you have four participants (four layers), which are four lanes in BPMN terms, and they are collaborating/communicating with each other during the process. Generally speaking, this fits to BPMN application area, but personally I feel that you should stick your ERP tooling.
I don't know which ERP you use, but every serious ERP solution includes tool for process customization. For example, SAP has Workflow, which can widely enhance and extend existing processes within SAP. Probably, your ERP have it too.

Again, it's not clear which warehouse management system you use and if it is integrated to your ERP. It seems to be not, and it seems to be some old legacy system, because of which you start re-modelling the stuff. In this particular case it might me wiser to acquire special advanced warehouse management package (take a look at SAP's EWM features as an example) which can cover most of your requirements.