Modeling Boundary-Spanning Business Processes in Industry 4.0: Incorporating Risk-Based Design

Abstract

Industry 4.0 brings new challenges to the digitalization and decentralization of busi-ness processes. This paper contributes with a Business Process Modeling and Nota-tion (BPMN) Extension that addresses the inter-organizational nature of the fourth industrial revolution and the need to address risk-by-design since the early stages of industrial collaboration. The proposal results from two design science research cy-cles. The extension named IOBP 4.0 provides an integrated description of (1) pri-vate/shared process elements, (2) local/distributed manufacturing stages, (3) tech-nology incorporation strategy in the production network, and (4) risk situations. IOBP 4.0 can be useful for companies certified by the ISO 9001 quality standard that need to disclose their processes and third-party collaborations, following a risk-based approach. Moreover, incorporating risk-based process design in Industry 4.0 may improve business process resilience in manufacturing networks.