STREAMLINING WORKFLOWS USING BUSINESS PROCESSING MODELLING NOTATION (BPMN) HOW DOES IT WORK?

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1 ALIA Access 2010 Brisbane, Australia 1 3 September 2010 STREAMLINING WORKFLOWS USING BUSINESS PROCESSING MODELLING NOTATION (BPMN) HOW DOES IT WORK? M. MORENO 1, 1 Document Supply Service, National Library of Australia, Canberra, ACT, <mmoreno@nla.gov.au> ABSTRACT Among the key findings of the Australian Interlibrary Loan and Document Delivery Benchmarking study [1] conducted in 2000 was that efficiency depended on reviewing workflows and using an automated interlibrary loan document delivery management system. Si nce then, the National Li brary of Australia has continually reviewed workflows in its Document Supply Service Section. These reviews culminated in the implementation of the Relais Interlibrary Loan Management System in In 2009 the National Library commenced a comprehensive program of reviewing workflows using Business Process Modelling Notation to identify areas of improvement. Between April and November 2009 a thorough review of int erlibrary loan and document delivery workflows across the whole National Li brary was undertaken, resulting in the Streamlining Collection Reproduction Services Report. This paper provides a brief overview of Business Process Modelling Notation (BPMN) and its use in the National Library to evaluate workflows, and outlines key findings of the report and the process for implementing the recommendations. 1. BACKGROUND The I nt ernational Federation of Library Associations and Libraries (IFLA), Best Practice guidelines for interlibrary loan and document delivery state: Streamline the process within your own library - Define performance indicators for service levels and turnaround time and monitor your performance against them; evaluate your own routines and change them accordingly; and reduce the number of hands through which the requests are passing [ 2] Reviewing workflows and finding ways of delivering more with less is a fact of life. When you combine a large interlibrary loan department, six special collection areas, online patron requesting facilities, an interlibrary loan and document delivery management system and an increasing number of requests,

2 finding a more efficient way to deliver services is mandatory in order to provide a high quality customer service. In order to begin this process at the National Library we needed to answer a number of questions, such as; where to start? How to describe the workflows in a consistent fashion? How to ensure all stakeholders share a common understanding? And more import antly, how to easily identify areas for change? When the National Library first began using BPMN in 2007 we engaged a specialist consultant to work with st aff to dev elop skills in workflow analysis on a specific project, namely mappi ng workflows associat ed with commercial orders. C ommercial orders are requests for high quality photographic images processed through the Digitisation and Photography Branch and can include requests for copies of material from the Pictures, Manuscripts, Asian, Newspapers and Maps collections or the printed collections. The project was very successful and identif ied the need for an orders management system to manage these requests and also identified areas of overlap or double handling within the different work units. However, the project only covered a subset of the total requests received for material from the National Li brary s collections, that is, requests for high quality photographic images. It did not include conventional interlibrary loans and document delivery requests or requests for scans and photocopies or requests for copies of already digitised material made through the Copies Direct requests, the National Library s easy to use online service for users. As BPMN had proved to be an effective tool for this project, it was decided to adopt it for a larger Streamlining Reproduction Services Project designed to review all workflows associated with providing offsite access to National Library collections. Initially progress was slow due to the complexity of the tasks involved and in April 2009 the Project Manager was moved off -line to work full time on the project. The project included reviewing the workflows of the Document Supply Service, Newspapers, Manuscripts, Maps, Oral History, Pictures and Asian Collections areas. It covered not only requests for copies from individuals but also interlibrary loan and document delivery services to libraries. 2. THE PROJECT The Streamlining Reproduction Services Project [4] was am bitious, ent ailing detailed studies of the different workflows used by all of the areas providing offsite access to the National Library s collections. Whilst Document Supply Service is responsible for supplying 89% of loans and 71% of copies t o libraries and individuals these services are also offered from a number of other specialist areas within the Library: Asian Collections, Manuscripts, Maps, Newspapers, Oral History and Pictures. Microform copies of collection material produced by the National Library are also sold through Preservation Services. The project found that in total 30 full time equivalent (FTE) staff are involved in providing copies and loans from the National Library s collections. In the 2008/09 financial year a total of 54,359 requests were received from libraries and 17,160 requests were received from individuals. Requests from individuals ar e pl aced through the Copies

3 Direct Service either di rectly from the catalogue record or entered manually via the blank request forms on the National Library s website. See Although the majority of requests received, including those placed through Copies Direct, ar e managed through the Relais interlibrary loan management system, there are still a number of requests handled manually. These are requests made using the hard copy multi-item order form. The nature of the National Library s diverse collections, ranging from oral hi story to oil paintings, and user expectations for fast el ectronic service has meant that copying workflows are complex. In the past there was considerable variation in practices in the special collections areas and whi le there have been great advances in standardisation and significant improvements to make workflows more efficient, particularly since the introduction of the Copies Direct Service and Relais, achieving further major efficiencies required a new approach. A more holistic approach that considered all of the stakeholders and systems used across the National Library and that could document the many different workflows in a consistent style was needed. Once the decision to use BPMN to map the workflows was made, it became imperative to collect quality data in order to get the desired results. The following project methodology was used: 1. Collecting data - a series interviews were held wit h stakeholders from each section to collect data; document existing workflows; and document any issues or shortcomings with processes or the systems used, i.e. any problems with the Copies Direct or the Relais system. 2. Documenting processes - mapping the workflows us ing BPMN Diagrams and narratives to describe all of the activities undertaken by each section. 3. Reviewing the information collection - the BPMN Diagrams and Narratives were reviewed and updated in consultation with st akeholders. This was also an opportunity to gather examples of problems experienced by each section and user scenarios. 4. Analysing results an analysis and recommendations were prepared for each workflow taking int o account in particular the Benchmarking Studies recommendation to Examine workflows to ensure there are as few steps as possible [1] 5. Reporting the findings a report incorporated the findings, analysis, diagrams, narratives and recommendation was completed in October However, before reporting on the findings of the Project and the value Business Processing Modelling Notation contributes to the review process, it is important to understand how BPMN works and how it was used to identify areas for improvement. 3. BUSINESS PROCESSING MODELLING NOTATION (BPMN) BPMN is a standard for describing and modelling business process es and uses a graphical not ation for specifying processes in a Bu siness Process Diagram [3]. There are two main aspects to BPMN, the diagram showing the relationship of each activity to the next and a narrative which describes the processes and different activities in the form of a story. This method of des cribing activities was designed to as sist both technical and stakeholder gr oups by providing a readily understandable notation that is intuitive to stakeholders but also represent s complex processes. It is intended to serve as a common language to bridge the communication gap that frequently occurs between the

4 development of specifications and the final implementation. Table 1 below lists some of the more common elements used in BPMN diagrams. Symbol Description Ev ents, represented as a circle. It is something that happens and has a cause or effect. There are three types of events, start, intermediate or end Activities are represented by a rounded corner rectangle. It is a generic term for work and can include tasks, sub-processes, etc. Gateways represented as a diamond are used to control the splitting or merging of workflows. There are 3 types of gateways or (empty di amond); and (diamond with a + ) and xor (diamond with an o ) Sequence flow represented as a solid line and arrow, is used to show the order that activities follow in the business process Message flow represented as a broken line and open arrow, is used to show the flow of messages between two business roles Association represented by a dotted line is used to show links to Art ifacts Pool shows a participant and can be used to show separate entities, for ex ample you would have a pool for the user and another pool for the Li brary. The concept of pools and swim lanes is a visual mechanism of or ganising and categorising activities Lanes within a pool show sub-participants in the workflow, for example dif ferent sections within the same organisation Artifacts allow developers to bring additional information into the process and therefore improve readability. There are three types of artifacts: Data object shows data is required or produced by Activities [explanation Text annotation shows explanations for the Activities and can be represented as a left square bracket or a rectangle with an association link Group is a mechanism for grouping Activities in reporting but doesn t af fect the sequence flow Table 1: List of BPMN concepts

5 So how do all of these elements come together? Figure 1 shows a theoretical interlibrary loan request flow using an interlibrary loan management system to manage the request. Figure 1: Example of an idealised BPMN diagram for an interlibrary loan section using an automated system The concept of swimlanes is used to untangle processes and clearly demarcate the dif ferent players and their activity within the lanes. The process begins with a start event in this case the client has an information need and requires a copy of a collection item. They can either search the catalogue or enter the citation directly into the online request form. When a workflow crosses over to another business area this is easily represented by using the sequence flow symbol to show that the process is now being carried out in a different business area or lane. In this example the request moves from the client pool to the library pool and is received in the ILL/DD request management system lane. The use of lanes can further differentiate between the activities undertaken by staff and those undertaken by the interlibrary loan management system. Of course if the request were sent to another section of an organisation then another lane would be added to the diagram and so on. By providing this level of detail it is possible to clearly identify areas of overlap or inefficiency, particularly if an activity appears in more than one lane. The second aspect of the BPMN pr ocess is the use of a narrative which describes the activities and their relationships in story form. For each activity in the BPMN diagram there would be a corresponding description in the narrative indicating the interaction between the different activities. Below is an example of the narrative for the first few activities in the sample BPMN diagram.

6 The client finds the item they require through Search Catalogue. They select the order button on the catalogue which allows them to Request an item from the Library and the bibliographic inf ormation is aut omatically transferred to the online ordering system. Alternatively the client may al ready have the citation in which case they can enter the request details directly into the online or dering system to Request an item from the Library. The online form is completed with the following information: citation of item required; delivery options; personal and payment information, if applicable, and; then submitted. The request is then sent to the interlibrary loan management system to Receive Request. The interlibrary loan management system automatically routes the request to the Search catalogue step to confirm the item is available... Figure 2: Example of the BPMN Narrative showing the first few activities in the diagram. The example in Figure 2, describes in story form the few steps in the BPMN diagram. The activities are highlighted in bold to show the activities and the sequence within the story. In addition to telling the story, the narrative report has a second component, an analysis of the workflow based on the data collected in the diagram and narrative to identify any areas for improvements or problems or issues in the workflow. In some cases the analysis may include options for addressing the issues and problems identified in the process, additional diagrams describing the ideal or improved process or describe an outline for automation. As the project progressed, it became evident that this narrative style would not be suitable due to the complexity of the workflows. Anyone who is familiar with interlibrary loan processes will be aware that exceptions abound and workflows can become quite complex. When considered in the context of the many diagrams and workflows required as part of this pr oject, a more st reamlined approach was required. In effect the narrative was modified to describe all of the elements of the diagram in the form of a sequence or steps in the process rather than a story. Figure 3 shows an example of the narrative style used in the project. Search catalogue The client searches the library catalogue to find the item they require and selects the order button to place the request. Request an item from the library The client fills out the order form adding citation, item required, delivery opt ions personal and payment information and submits the form. Figure 3: Example of the National Library Narrative style. Another innovation in the process was the use of numbered text annotation artifact boxes. In order to provide clear links between the BPMN diagram, the narrative and the analysis, each problem or issue identified in the workflow was given two text annotation artifacts in the diagram; one describing the issue or problem and a second was given an issue number and coloured in order to easily identify the problem areas in the workflow. The same issue number was repeated in the narrative and again in the analysis and thereby providing a way to easily cross reference the issues identified in the process. This pr oved to be a very effective mechanism to help the stakeholders understand the relationship

7 between the issues/problems identified and where they occurred in the workflow described by the diagram and narrative. Figure 4: Example of the National Library use of the text annotation artifact 4. THE FINDINGS In total eleven BPMN diagrams, narratives and analyses were completed covering all of the workflows used by the different areas. BPMN diagrams, narratives and analyses were produced for the Document Supply Service; the Newspaper section; Asian Collections, Manuscripts, Maps, Oral History and the Pictures Collections and also for the Preservation Section and Digitisation and Photography Branch to cover requests for materials requiring special treatment. All of this information was brought together in the Streamlining Collection Reproduction Services Workflows Report which included comprehensive analysis and a series of recommendations. In summary the recommendations in the report can be grouped into 5 main themes: 1. The redevelopment of the Copies Direct Service to incorporate a number of improvements: the main ones being the introduction of a shopping cart facility to enable clients to place multiple orders; the addition of new fields to collect more targeted data for special collections and; credit card validation functionality. 2. Improvements to the Relais system with a view to streamlining workflows. The Relais system had not been reviewed since it was set up in 2005 and the project identified a number of system changes to improve workflows as well as a number of system enhancements. 3. The need to develop and review policies. In order to ensure more consistent services across all areas, clear polices are required, for example a copying policy describing what material may be copied (including copyright) and to what standards. 4. A number of workflows were identified that required more detailed work, for example changing procedures to route requests for Digitisation and Photography through the Relais system. 5. The need to pursue NISO Circulation Interchange Protocol functionality in the Voyager ILMS, so that circulation information could be shared between Voyager and Relais, therefore preventing double handling of loans, as these were checked out in both Voyager and Relais. 5. WHAT NEXT!

8 The Streamlining Reproduction Services Project continues. Phase Two will implement the findings of the Report. Work has already commenced on redeveloping the Copies Direct Service. The Project Manager has worked with a business analyst from the Library s IT Division to prepare specifications for the new Copies Direct service. Once these are finalised the new service will be developed in-house by the Library s software developers. The project is expected to be completed in the second quarter of The new service will offer clients the ability to request several items in a single order. It will provide users with clearer information on turnaround time and costs and will validate credit cards when requests are submitted. In terms of Relais there is a long list of system changes which need to be tested before these can be implemented. These will include: modifications to existing system settings, some of which ar e configurable in-house, others will require Relais International assistance; developments in the new version of the Relais software to be released in December 2010; specific enhancements requested by the NLA; and the requirements developed in collaboration with State Library of Victoria. This project is also ex pected to conclude in second quarter For all of these processes BPMN diagrams and narratives are used. Ev ery time a workflow is changed a new diagram and narrative is created. It serves as a tool for communicating with staff in the Information Technology division and a tool for training staff in the various collection areas. The use of BPMN has proven to be an extremely effective tool for this project. REFERENCES [1] National Resource Sharing Working Group, Interlibrary Loan and Document Delivery Benchmarking Study ; National Library of Australia, [2] IFLA, Guidelines for Best Practice in Interlibrary Loan and Document Delivery Guidelines for Best Practice in Interlibrary Loan and Document Delivery -en.htm [3] Wikipedia. Business Processing Modelling Notation, [4] National Library of Australia, Streamlining Collection Reproduction Services Report: a review of the different workflows used in the National Library of Australia to support interlibrary loan/document delivery and copying services; National Library of Australia, 2009