Transforming Object-Centric Process Models into BPMN 2.0 Models in the PHILharmonicFlows Framework

Abstract

Business processes can be modeled using a plethora of different paradigms including activity-centric (e.g., imperative, declarative), and data-centric processes. The former focus on the process activities to be executed as well as their execution order and constraints, whereas the latter deal with the data required to progress during process execution. Both representations, however, allow describing the same process, but from different viewpoints. Consequently, a transformation between process representations based on the different paradigms yields promising perspectives for enabling a holistic view on both the behavior and the data perspective of a process and fosters a common understanding of different paradigms. This paper presents an approach for transforming object-centric processes (i.e., object lifecycle processes and their interactions) into corresponding activity-centric representations modeled in terms of BPMN 2.0. We present seven transformation rules for mapping an object- to an activity-centric process, illustrated along a running example. We evaluate the approach based on a proof-of-concept implementation that can automatically perform the necessary transformations and has been applied in multiple scenarios. Overall, our approach for transforming object-centric processes into BPMN 2.0 models provides new insights into the relationship between the two paradigms and enables a more flexible and effective way of modeling business processes in general.