SYSTEM AND METHODS FOR PROCESS ANALYSIS, SIMULATION, AND OPTIMIZATION BASED ON ACTIVITY-BASED COST INFORMATION

• US 20090157448A1
• Filed: 12/17/2007
• Published: 06/18/2009
• Est. Priority Date: 12/17/2007
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Original Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Inventors: Malkin, Wayne
• Granted Patent: US 9,697,480 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 705/7
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/04 Forecasting or optimisation specially adapted for administrative or management purposes, e.g. linear programming or "cutting stock problem" market predictions or forecasting for commercial activities G06Q30/0202
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/06 Resources, workflows, human or project management; Enterprise or organisation planning; Enterprise or organisation modelling
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/0633 Workflow analysis

Abstract

A computer-implemented method of analyzing a workflow is provided. The method can include generating a multi-stage workflow representation corresponding to a physical process, the representation defining for each stage of the workflow at least one activity performed during the process. The method also can include associating at least one activity-based cost with each activity performed during the process, and estimating a distribution of costs over the stages of the workflow based on cost data generated by repeated execution of the process. The method can further include determining, based upon the estimated distribution of costs, whether a cost imbalance is associated with at least one stage of the workflow.

Claims

1. A computer-implemented method of analyzing a workflow, comprising:

generating a multi-stage workflow corresponding to a physical process, the workflow defining for each stage at least one activity performed during the process;

associating at least one activity-based cost with each activity performed during the process; and

estimating a distribution of costs over the stages of the workflow based on cost data generated by repeated execution of the process.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising determining, based upon the estimated distribution of costs, whether a cost imbalance is associated with at least one stage of the workflow.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein at least one parameter is associated with each activity, and further comprising simulating a change in the distribution of costs by varying the at least one parameter during a simulation of the process under varying conditions.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein at least one parameter is associated with each activity, and further comprising minimizing a total cost of the workflow using the estimated distribution of costs and iteratively varying the at least one parameter to reflect simulated changes in the process.

5. The method of claim 4, wherein the at least one parameter comprises at least one among a fixed cost, a variable cost of an activity-associated task, a variable cost based upon time-of-execution of an activity, an opportunity cost of wait time between two consecutive stages of the workflow, a storage cost, utilization cost of a resource used in conjunction with an activity, and an implicit cost of allocated overhead.

6. The method of claim 4, wherein the at least one parameter is a price-per-unit of a resource used during at least one stage of the workflow, and further comprising iteratively varying the price-per-unit and determining corresponding changes in the distribution of costs based upon changes in the price-per-unit.

7. The method of claim 1, comprising estimating a total revenue generated by a simulated completion of the process, and further comprising maximizing an estimated profit by simulating changes in the process by varying at least one parameter of the workflow, wherein the simulated change iteratively varies at least one among an estimated total revenue and the estimated distribution of costs.

8. The method of claim 1, further comprising associating at least one resource constraint with at least one stage of the workflow and simulating a change in the process by varying the at least one resource constraint and determining for each simulated change in the process a corresponding change in the distribution of costs.

9. A computer-based system for analyzing a workflow, comprising:

a workflow-generating module for generating a multi-stage workflow corresponding to a physical process, the workflow defining at each stage at least one activity performed during the process;

a cost-activity-associating module for associating at least one activity-based cost with each activity performed during the process; and

a cost-distribution-estimating module for estimating a distribution of costs over the stages of the workflow based on cost data generated by repeated execution of the process.

10. The system of claim 9, wherein the cost-distribution-estimating module is further configured to determine, based upon the estimated distribution of costs, whether a cost imbalance is associated with at least one stage of the workflow.

11. The system of claim 9, wherein the workflow-generating module is further configured to associate at least one parameter with each activity, and further comprising a simulating module for simulating a change in the distribution of costs by varying the at least one parameter during a simulation of the process under varying conditions.

12. The system of claim 9, wherein the workflow-generating module is further configured to associate at least one parameter with each activity, and further comprising an optimization module for estimating a minimum total cost of the workflow using the estimated distribution of costs and iteratively varying the at least one parameter to reflect simulated changes in the process.

13. The system of claim 9, wherein the workflow-generating module is further configured to associate at least one parameter with each activity, and further comprising an optimization module for estimating a total revenue generated by a simulated completion of the process and for estimating a maximum profit by simulating a change in the process by varying at least one parameter of the workflow, wherein the simulated change iteratively varies at least one among the estimated total revenue and the estimated distribution of costs.

14. A computer-readable storage medium having computer-readable code embedded therein, such that when loaded to and executed by a computer, the computer-readable code causes the computer to:

generate a multi-stage workflow corresponding to a physical process, the workflow defining for each stage at least one activity performed during the process;

associate at least one activity-based cost with each activity performed during the process; and

estimate a distribution of costs over the stages of the workflow based on cost data generated by repeated execution of the process.

15. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 14, further comprising computer-readable code for causing the computer to determine, based upon the estimated distribution of costs, whether a cost imbalance is associated with at least one stage of the workflow.

16. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 14, further comprising computer-readable code for causing the computer to simulate a change in the distribution of costs by varying the at least one parameter during a simulation of the process under varying conditions.

17. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 14, wherein at least one parameter is associated with each activity, and further comprising computer-readable code for causing the computer to estimate changes in a total cost of the workflow using the estimated distribution of costs by iteratively varying the at least one parameter to reflect simulated changes in the process.

18. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 17, wherein the at least one parameter is a price-per-unit of a resource used during at least one stage of the workflow, and further comprising computer-readable code for causing the computer to iteratively vary the price-per-unit determine corresponding changes in the distribution of costs based upon changes in the price-per-unit.

19. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 14, comprising estimating a total revenue generated by a simulated completion of the process, and further comprising computer-readable code for causing the computer to maximize an estimated profit by simulating a change in the process by varying at least one parameter of the workflow, wherein the simulated change iteratively varies an estimated total revenue and the estimated distribution of costs.

20. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 14, further comprising computer-readable code for causing the computer to associate at least one resource constraint with at least one stage of the workflow and simulate a change in the process by varying the at least one resource constraint.