Using IDEF0 for dynamic process analysis

Business process reengineering (BPR) is a modeling activity whose goal is to achieve better understanding and improvement of a business process. One method for modeling processes is IDEF0. It has received support from the US Government and has been in use for many years. IDEF provides a means of capturing the dataflow and ancillary properties of a process and is more disciplined than structured analysis. IDEF0 lacks one significant capability-description of the dynamics of a process. This paper discusses one way in which this shortcoming has been addressed. It focuses on a linkage of IDEF0 and a simulation engine based on Petri nets. The problems associated with this linkage are described together with a demonstration of how they were resolved through the development and use of a software tool.