Workflow Patterns for Supply Chain Management Systems

Level: MSc

Research area/discipline: Information Systems, Software Engineering

Prerequisites: Information Systems for Engineers and Managers (INF31306)

Short description:

A supply chain is defined as a system consisting of organizations, people, activities, information, and resources involved in moving a product or service from supplier to customer. Supply chain activities transform natural resources, raw materials, and components into a finished product that is delivered to the end customer. Due to the increased global competition many companies are forced to improve their efficiency of the supply chain using systematic supply chain management (SCM) approaches. The underlying idea for SMC is based on the observation that practically every product that reaches an end user represents the cumulative effort of multiple organizations defining the supply chain. Supply chain management, as such, is the active management of supply chain activities to maximize customer value and achieve a sustainable competitive advantage. SCM activities typically include the management of the flow of materials, information, and finances in a process from supplier to manufacturer to wholesaler to retailer to consumer. Further, SCM involves coordinating and integrating these flows both within and among companies.

Supply chains and SCMs are typically process-oriented in which different types of workflows are used. A workflow consists of a set of activities enabled by the systematic organization of resources into processes that transform materials, provide services, or process information. Workflow patterns refer to recurrent problems and proven solutions related to the development of workflow applications in particular, and more broadly, process-oriented applications.

In this assignment we will focus on (1) identifying the key workflow patterns of SCMs (2) modeling these key workflow patterns (3) defining a method for applying and integrating these workflow patterns for a particular supply chain and SCM.

For more information: bedir.tekinerdogan@wur.nl