Process chain diagram

The process chain diagram ( VKD ) is a model for representing business processes in an organization in business process modeling . Alternatives are Business Process Model and Notation (BPMN) as an international standard and representation as an event-controlled process chain (EPK).

Elements and relationships of the process chain diagram

The capabilities of the VKD to represent elements and relationships essentially correspond to those of an extended event-driven process chain (eEPK). (see also elements and relationships of the function assignment diagram for the elements and relationships of the extended EPC)

The relationships between events , functions and link operators / connectors are also known as structure-forming relationships because they describe the process structure of an organization.

The relationships between functions and other elements are also referred to as non-structure-forming relationships because they describe neither the functional structure nor the process structure of an organization.

Areas of application

same process as EEPK

Process chain diagrams with their column-by-column sorting of the elements are used in a very similar way and can represent the same facts as extended event-driven process chains (EPCs) with their free placement of the elements.

In the process chain diagram, the process display can also be supplemented by the elements and relationships of the function assignment diagram.

Example of a process chain diagram for a manufacturing company

Advantages and disadvantages of the process chain diagram

advantages

By sorting the elements by type by column, process chain diagrams offer advantages in the detection of organizational breaks (change of organizational unit), system breaks (change of application system) or data breaks (change of data carrier or data format).

disadvantage

Process chain diagrams have a disadvantage compared to EPCs when displaying alternative or parallel processes and when looping back as well as when using the existing drawing area, because EPCs allow elements to be freely positioned on the drawing area.