PML, an Object Oriented Process Modeling Language

Abstract

Processes are very important for the success within many business fields. They define the proper application of methods, technologies, tools and company structures in order to reach business goals. Important processes to be defined are manufacturing processes or product development processes for example to guarantee the company's success. Over the last decades many process modeling languages have been developed to cover the needs of process modeling. Those modeling languages have several limitations, mainly they are still procedural and didn't follow the paradigm change to object oriented modeling and thus often lead to process models, which are difficult to maintain. In previous papers we have introduced PML, Process Modeling Language, and shown it's usage in process modeling. PML is derived from UML and hence fully object oriented and uses modern modeling techniques. It is based on process class diagrams that describe methods and resources for process modeling. In this paper the modeling language is described in more detail and new language elements will be introduced to develop the language to a generic usable process modeling language.