Value-based process engineering

Process Engineering is an emerging discipline whose foundational elements are derived from software engineering, industrial engineering, organizational design, computer science, biology and other disciplines. Traditional software engineering approaches seek to instantiate finite requirements and functional activities into executable code. These approaches are sufficient in non-complex and markedly deterministic environments. However, the increasing complexity of the problem domains, cost of process failure and the expense of software integration require a new approach that focuses on the value of the overall solution. Process engineering is a value-based discipline that represents the synthesis of science, mathematics, tools and procedures to model complex technical, human and biological processes with the intent to optimize the value of those processes for the good of humanity within the constraints of time, cost and reliability. This paper provides a rationale for Value-Based Process Engineering as a distinct engineering discipline from its predecessor discipline of software engineering. It lays out a framework for using process engineering and its associated modeling as a method to reduce an organization's exposure to process failure. Software engineering and the emerging Valuebased Process Engineering are integral in eliminating, reducing and ameliorating the impact of these failures.