Meta Figure Vmi-based Work Flow Model

As an effective tool of supporting process modeling, optimizing analyzing and process automation, Workflow management receive the extensive attention in recent years, and become the focus studied progressively. The workflow model is the significant content in the workflow technology. The analysis of workflow model becomes more and more important in workflow design and management. So far there are many tools to facilitate establishing and implement workflow management. But these tools represent workflows for purposes of visualization, and are suit for analyzing workflows.Metagraph integrate the strength of simple graph, directed graph, hypergraph and AND/OR graph. It offers some distinct advantages for both graphical visualization of systems, as well as for formal analysis of system structure and behavior. It is an effective tool for analysis of workflow model.In this paper, the background of workflow model is a new inventory management method called Vendor Managed Inventory. After arguing various methods of analyzing workflow models, author first establishes VMI process workflow model based on Extended Petri Net, and then proposes rules for mapping between Petri Nets and Metagraphs. Under these rules, we transform the VMI workflow based on Petri Net to the one based on Metagraphs.This paper analyzes VMI workflow model from the views of interactions among information elements, interactions among tasks, interactions among resource, and interactions among different type's component, and provides the methods and ways for analysis. Then it draws some conclusions, and it could be useful for VMI workflow system design and management.