Activities process transactions.
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Time and resources are the most commonly modeled characteristics of a process. Process models use activities to represent steps in a process, and transactions to represent the flow of data or materials through the process. Directed connector lines between activities represent the flow of transactions and show the sequencing of the activities during simulation.
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Activities process transactions. |
In process modeling, you describe how activities process transactions by assigning properties to each activity. For more information, see Define Activity Behavior.
As transactions flow through a process, activities may transform them. For example, in an automobile assembly process, input transactions to the Assemble Engine activity are the parts needed to assemble the engine. The output of the activity is the assembled engine. The assembled engine may then serve as an input transaction to an activity that assembles the auto.
When an activity completes normally, the transaction moves to the next activity or activities along one or more of the normal output paths, depending on decisions the activity makes or parallel work opportunities that may exist.
Sometimes an activity may need to stop before finishing. For example, an activity may have a deadline that it doesn’t meet, so it is terminated and the transaction is escalated to a manager’s attention. In this case, the activity is immediately stopped, the normal output path or paths are not taken, and one exceptional path is taken instead. An output exception models this type of transaction flow.
Exception flow model |
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