DESIGN AND DEVELOPMENT OF A MODULARIZED FLEXIBLE WORKFLOW MANAGEMENT SYSTEM FOR VIRTUAL ENTERPRISES

摘要

The objective of this research is to design and develop arngeneric workflow management system for flexible, virtualrnenterprise process integration and automation. The mainrnfunctional modules of the system include the process flowrndefinition, the execution, monitoring and control ofrnworkflows, the client-side interfaces, and the systemrnadministration. The research efforts are divided into severalrnstages. First, we analyze the characteristics of businessrnprocesses and capture major elements of the workflowrndefinition. Then, the database schema for a modularizedrnbusiness flow management system is designed. The keyrnfunctional modules of the system are then implementedrnbased on Java coding scheme. The following step enablesrnthe web-based interfaces of functional modules for extendedrnenterprise activities. Finally, a workflow model forrnconducting engineering change procedure is generated andrntested using the prototype system. The research contributesrnto the enabling of e-supply chain management (eSCM)rnthrough the development of web-based workflowrnmanagement system serving extended enterprise partners.