Product-Based Workflow Design for Monitoring of Collaborative Business Processes - Advanced Information Systems Engineering - page 160

Table 2. Values for the different dimensions (Cost, data quality, availability) for each
path in the example product data model

Tota l
Avail-
ability

Tota l
Quality

Tota l
Cost

Operations

Path

1 Op01 Op02 Op11 Op06 Op14 1,7 0,2 0,81

2 Op01 Op02 Op11 Op05 Op13 1,9 0,3 0,72

3 Op01 Op02 Op11 Op08 Op15 Op18 2,0 0,3 0,43

4 Op01 Op02 Op11 Op10 Op16 Op18 1,7 0,3 0,50

5 Op01 Op02 Op11 Op07 Op15 Op17 2,4 0,3 0,38

6 Op01 Op02 Op11 Op09 Op16 Op17 2,0 0,3 0,44

7 Op01 Op03 Op11 Op12 Op06 Op14 2,6 0,2 0,57

8 Op01 Op03 Op11 Op12 Op05 Op13 2,8 0,4 0,50

9 Op01 Op03 Op11 Op12 Op08 Op15 Op18 2,9 0,7 0,30

10 Op01 Op03 Op11 Op12 Op10 Op16 Op18 2,6 0,5 0,35

11 Op01 Op03 Op11 Op12 Op07 Op15 Op17 3,3 0,8 0,26

12 Op01 Op03 Op11 Op12 Op09 Op16 Op17 2,9 0,6 0,31

13 Op01 Op04 Op12 Op06 Op14 1,7 0,2 0,63

14 Op01 Op04 Op12 Op05 Op13 1,9 0,4 0,56

15 Op01 Op04 Op12 Op08 Op15 Op18 2,0 0,7 0,17

16 Op01 Op04 Op12 Op10 Op16 Op18 1,7 0,5 0,39

17 Op01 Op04 Op12 Op07 Op15 Op17 2,4 0,7 0,15

18 Op01 Op04 Op12 Op09 Op16 Op17 2,0 0,6 0,34

path maximizing quality given maximum costs and minimum availability level
( Q c,a -path). We chose these type of constraints to exemplify our methodology.
In the general case, however, the selection of the optimal path should be seen as
the optimization of a utility function. Stakeholders can define the utility func-
tion, for instance, as the weighted sum of partial utility functions on individual
dimensions [1].
From the PDM of Fig. 3 and the operation properties of Table 1, we derive
18 complete paths for the monitoring process that may all serve the need for
monitoring the consumer order fulfillment process. These paths are reported in
Table 2. Among the available complete paths, we now discuss the above men-
tioned optimal ones:
A -path. The path with the highest availability, i.e. the highest probability of de-
livering the required end product in the form of monitoring information ( MON ),
is path 1. It produces the end product ( MON) by executing operations Op01,
Op02, Op11, Op06, Op14 . The total availability of this plan is 0.81.

C q -path. A cost optimal path given a minimum quality level is the monitoring
path with the lowest cost that satisfies a quality requirement set by the consumer.
Suppose the consumer sets the threshold for the quality level to 0.5. Then, paths
9, 10, 11, 12, 15, 16, 17, and 18 are to be considered. The path with the lowest
cost is selected from this subset. The cost optimal path given a minimum data
quality level therefore is path 16, with quality 0.5 and cost 1.7.

Q c,a -path. The third scenario concerns the determination of the quality optimal
path given maximum costs and a minimum level of availability. If the consumer
has a budget constraint of at most 2.0 and wants to be for at least 50% sure
that the monitoring information is delivered, then the highest quality possible