A workflow is a generic term for orchestrated and repeatable patterns of activity, enabled by the systematic organization of resources into processes that transform materials, provide services, or process information. It can be depicted as a sequence of operations, the work of a person or group, the work of an organization of staff, or one or more simple or complex mechanisms.
The critical path method (CPM), or critical path analysis (CPA), is an algorithm for scheduling a set of project activities. A critical path is determined by identifying the longest stretch of dependent activities and measuring the time required to complete them from start to finish. It is commonly used in conjunction with the program evaluation and review technique (PERT).
A control system manages, commands, directs, or regulates the behavior of other devices or systems using control loops. It can range from a single home heating controller using a thermostat controlling a domestic boiler to large industrial control systems which are used for controlling processes or machines. The control systems are designed via control engineering process.
A modeling language is any artificial language that can be used to express data, information or knowledge or systems in a structure that is defined by a consistent set of rules. The rules are used for interpretation of the meaning of components in the structure Programing language.
In computing, a visual programming language, also known as diagrammatic programming, graphical programming or block coding, is a programming language that lets users create programs by manipulating program elements graphically rather than by specifying them textually. A VPL allows programming with visual expressions, spatial arrangements of text and graphic symbols, used either as elements of syntax or secondary notation. For example, many VPLs are based on the idea of "boxes and arrows", where boxes or other screen objects are treated as entities, connected by arrows, lines or arcs which represent relations.
A flowchart is a type of diagram that represents a workflow or process. A flowchart can also be defined as a diagrammatic representation of an algorithm, a step-by-step approach to solving a task.
This article explains the typically manual action of creating and presentingconceptual business process models of a company based on expert knowledge. For automatic evaluation of transactional business process models based on digital traces in IT systems see process mining.
Business rules are abstractions of the policies and practices of a business organization. In computer software development, the business rules approach is a development methodology where rules are in a form that is used by, but does not have to be embedded in, business process management systems.
In computer science, stream processing is a programming paradigm which views streams, or sequences of events in time, as the central input and output objects of computation. Stream processing encompasses dataflow programming, reactive programming, and distributed data processing. Stream processing systems aim to expose parallel processing for data streams and rely on streaming algorithms for efficient implementation. The software stack for these systems includes components such as programming models and query languages, for expressing computation; stream management systems, for distribution and scheduling; and hardware components for acceleration including floating-point units, graphics processing units, and field-programmable gate arrays.
The design structure matrix (DSM; also referred to as dependency structure matrix, dependency structure method, dependency source matrix, problem solving matrix (PSM), incidence matrix, N2 matrix, interaction matrix, dependency map or design precedence matrix) is a simple, compact and visual representation of a system or project in the form of a square matrix.
In software engineering, structured analysis (SA) and structured design (SD) are methods for analyzing business requirements and developing specifications for converting practices into computer programs, hardware configurations, and related manual procedures.
DRAKON is a free and open source algorithmic visual programming and modeling language developed as part of the defunct Soviet Union Buran space program in 1986 following the need in increase of software development productivity. The visual language provides a uniform way to represent processes in flowcharts.
Business process discovery (BPD) related to business process management and process mining is a set of techniques that manually or automatically construct a representation of an organisations' current business processes and their major process variations. These techniques use data recorded in the existing organisational methods of work, documentations, and technology systems that run business processes within an organisation. The type of data required for process discovery is called an event log. Any record of data that contains the case id, activity name, and timestamp. Such a record qualifies for an event log and can be used to discover the underlying process model. The event log can contain additional information related to the process, such as the resources executing the activity, the type or nature of the events, or any other relevant details. Process discovery aims to obtain a process model that describes the event log as closely as possible. The process model acts as a graphical representation of the process. The event logs used for discovery could contain noise, irregular information, and inconsistent/incorrect timestamps. Process discovery is challenging due to such noisy event logs and because the event log contains only a part of the actual process hidden behind the system. The discovery algorithms should solely depend on a small percentage of data provided by the event logs to develop the closest possible model to the actual behaviour.
In systems engineering, software engineering, and computer science, a function model or functional model is a structured representation of the functions within the modeled system or subject area.
A functional flow block diagram (FFBD) is a multi-tier, time-sequenced, step-by-step flow diagram of a system's functional flow. The term "functional" in this context is different from its use in functional programming or in mathematics, where pairing "functional" with "flow" would be ambiguous. Here, "functional flow" pertains to the sequencing of operations, with "flow" arrows expressing dependence on the success of prior operations. FFBDs may also express input and output data dependencies between functional blocks, as shown in figures below, but FFBDs primarily focus on sequencing.
Process simulation is used for the design, development, analysis, and optimization of technical process of simulation of processes such as: chemical plant s, chemical processes, environmental systems, power stations, complex manufacturing operations, biological processes, and similar technical functions.
Plant Simulation is a computer application developed by Siemens Digital Industries Software for modelling, simulating, analyzing, visualizing and optimizing production systems and processes, the flow of materials and logistic operations. Plant Simulation, allows users to optimize material flow and resource utilization and logistics for all levels of plant planning from global production facilities, through local plants, to specific lines. Within the Plant Design and Optimization Solution, the software portfolio, to which Plant Simulation belongs, is — together with the products of the Digital Factory and of Digital Manufacturing — part of the Product Lifecycle Management Software (PLM). The application allows comparing complex production alternatives, including the immanent process logic, by means of computer simulations. Plant Simulation is used by individual production planners as well as by multi-national enterprises, primarily to strategically plan layout, and control logic and dimensions of large, complex production investments. It is one of the major products that dominate that market space.
A distribution management system (DMS) is a collection of applications designed to monitor and control the electric power distribution networks efficiently and reliably. It acts as a decision support system to assist the control room and field operating personnel with the monitoring and control of the electric distribution system. Improving the reliability and quality of service in terms of reducing power outages, minimizing outage time, maintaining acceptable frequency and voltage levels are the key deliverables of a DMS. Given the complexity of distribution grids, such systems may involve communication and coordination across multiple components. For example, the control of active loads may require a complex chain of communication through different components as described in US patent 11747849B2
Design Space Exploration (DSE) refers to systematic analysis and pruning of unwanted design points based on parameters of interest. While the term DSE can apply to any kind of system, we refer to electronic and embedded system design in this article.
