Process network theory

A set of logically consistent, systems-theoretic concepts, principles, and postulates, called process network theory (PNT), for partitioning the physical and biological production processes of economic enterprises into networks of technology-specific elemental processing components is presented. These processing components convert material resources of a given technical form into technically specific products and byproducts at a unit technical cost, through the application of dissipative resources. The transformation is expressed in terms of two distinct classes of performance variables, namely, the material flow rates and their associated technical cost. Specific technologies and the scale of operation appear as parameters in the transformation equations. The material flow rates and technical costs satisfy, respectively, the continuity and compatibility postulates of systems graph theory, thereby providing a theoretical and analytical framework for characterizing the technical and cost performance of the overall production system in terms of the elemental processing components and their interconnection