Towards an approach to model business processes using workflow modeling techniques in production systems

We present an object-oriented approach to model business processes in production systems using workflow concepts. We define an object reference model called C-Wf that represents the structural and functional enterprise elements involved in the business processes, such as enterprise activities, human resources, machines, etc. Through the C-Wf reference model classes it is possible to build up particular enterprise models that involve the elements required for the production planning process and the basic information for monitoring business process execution under a workflow point of view. We discuss the essential aspects involved in the production planning, in particular the resource allocation process, which are addressed by the proposed approach.