[PROJECT] Streamlining Customer Orders: A BPMN Automation Journey

Part of a class in university was to model and automate a customer order process using BPMN (Business Process Model and Notation) and Camunda. The goal was to create a workflow that handles customer orders from initiation to completion, including various decision points and tasks. The customers were simulated using a simple JSON server.

The Process of Achieving BPMN Automation

As mentioned in my other post about Enhancing Efficiency with BPM the journey to BPMN automation involved several key steps:

• Understanding BPMN: Familiarizing myself with BPMN notation, symbols, and best practices for modeling business processes.
• Modeling the Process: Using a BPMN modeling tool to create a visual representation of the customer order process, including tasks, events, gateways, and data objects.

The BPMN diagram illustrates the customer order process we designed, highlighting key tasks such as order verification, credit checks, and order fulfillment.

• Implementing the Process: Translating the BPMN model into executable code using Camunda BPM platform. This involved creating service tasks, user tasks, and integrating with external systems (like the JSON server for customer data).

• Integrate Code Automation: Writing Java code for service tasks to handle business logic, such as checking creditworthiness and preparing orders.

• Testing and Validation: Running simulations to ensure the process behaves as expected, identifying and fixing any issues or bottlenecks.

Process Steps in Detail

1. Order Received: The process starts when a customer places an order.
2. Check for completeness: Human in the loop task to verify if the order details are complete.
3. Check creditworthiness: Automated task to check the customer’s creditworthiness using an external service.
4. Set order conditions: Use a DMN (Decision Model and Notation) table to determine the order conditions based on the credit check results.
5. Prepare order: Automated task to prepare the order for shipment and create invoice.
6. Ship order: Human in the loop task to handle the shipping of the order.

Implementation

The process was implemented using Camunda BPM platform with Java for the service tasks. The code and BPMN files are publicly available on my GitHub repository: GitHub - bpmn-customer-order