Task-based modeling method for construction business process modeling and automation

Standardization and business process reengineering have assisted in achieving business process automation by introducing "best practices" as standard process models. However, they have also resulted in many problems because a standard model has limited flexibility to suit different practices of different customers. This drawback becomes even more significant for the construction industry which is dominated by non-standard practices. This article presents a Task-Based Modeling method (TBM) for modeling construction business processes. Key management tasks are defined as the basic task components. Supplementing each task with an execution method and detailed attributes, its action(s) can be fully defined and its outcome can be measured. A business process model can then be created to meet the need of the particular user by using the task components as the basic building blocks. A request-driven approach is also proposed to instantiate an instance of a process model and to kick-off the automated business process. A purchasing process is used as an example to illustrate the presented methodology. (C) 2007 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.