<s>
A	O
workflow	B-Protocol
consists	O
of	O
an	O
orchestrated	O
and	O
repeatable	O
pattern	O
of	O
activity	O
,	O
enabled	O
by	O
the	O
systematic	O
organization	O
of	O
resources	O
into	O
processes	O
that	O
transform	O
materials	O
,	O
provide	O
services	O
,	O
or	O
process	O
information	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
From	O
a	O
more	O
abstract	O
or	O
higher-level	O
perspective	O
,	O
workflow	B-Protocol
may	O
be	O
considered	O
a	O
view	O
or	O
representation	O
of	O
real	O
work	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Workflows	B-Protocol
may	O
be	O
viewed	O
as	O
one	O
fundamental	O
building	O
block	O
to	O
be	O
combined	O
with	O
other	O
parts	O
of	O
an	O
organization	O
's	O
structure	O
such	O
as	O
information	O
technology	O
,	O
teams	O
,	O
projects	O
and	O
hierarchies	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
development	O
of	O
the	O
concept	O
of	O
a	O
workflow	B-Protocol
occurred	O
above	O
a	O
series	O
of	O
loosely	O
defined	O
,	O
overlapping	O
eras	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
modern	O
history	O
of	O
workflows	B-Protocol
can	O
be	O
traced	O
to	O
Frederick	O
Taylor	O
and	O
Henry	O
Gantt	O
,	O
although	O
the	O
term	O
"	O
workflow	B-Protocol
"	O
was	O
not	O
in	O
use	O
as	O
such	O
during	O
their	O
lifetimes	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
One	O
of	O
the	O
earliest	O
instances	O
of	O
the	O
term	O
"	O
work	B-Protocol
flow	I-Protocol
"	O
was	O
in	O
a	O
railway	O
engineering	O
journal	O
from	O
1921	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Several	O
events	O
likely	O
contributed	O
to	O
the	O
development	O
of	O
formalized	O
information	O
workflows	B-Protocol
.	O
</s>
<s>
For	O
example	O
,	O
Soviet	O
mathematician	O
and	O
economist	O
Leonid	O
Kantorovich	O
developed	O
the	O
seeds	O
of	O
linear	B-Algorithm
programming	I-Algorithm
in	O
1939	O
through	O
efforts	O
to	O
solve	O
a	O
plywood	O
manufacturer	O
's	O
production	O
optimization	O
issues	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
This	O
led	O
to	O
more	O
efforts	O
to	O
improve	O
workflows	B-Protocol
,	O
in	O
knowledge	O
economy	O
sectors	O
as	O
well	O
as	O
in	O
manufacturing	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Variable	O
demands	O
on	O
workflows	B-Protocol
were	O
recognised	O
when	O
the	O
theory	O
of	O
critical	O
paths	O
and	O
moving	O
bottlenecks	O
was	O
considered	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Basu	O
and	O
Kumar	O
note	O
that	O
the	O
term	O
"	O
workflow	B-Protocol
management	I-Protocol
"	O
has	O
been	O
used	O
to	O
refer	O
to	O
tasks	O
associated	O
with	O
the	O
flow	O
of	O
information	O
through	O
the	O
value	O
chain	O
rather	O
than	O
the	O
flow	O
of	O
material	O
goods	O
:	O
they	O
characterise	O
the	O
definition	O
,	O
analysis	O
and	O
management	O
of	O
information	O
as	O
"	O
workflow	B-Protocol
management	I-Protocol
"	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
They	O
note	O
that	O
workflow	B-Protocol
can	O
be	O
managed	O
within	O
a	O
single	O
organisation	O
,	O
where	O
distinct	O
roles	O
are	O
allocated	O
to	O
individual	O
resources	O
,	O
and	O
also	O
across	O
multiple	O
organisations	O
or	O
distributed	O
locations	O
,	O
where	O
attention	O
needs	O
to	O
be	O
paid	O
to	O
the	O
interactions	O
between	O
activities	O
which	O
are	O
located	O
at	O
the	O
organizational	O
or	O
locational	O
boundaries	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
A	O
workflow	B-Protocol
management	I-Protocol
system	O
(	O
WfMS	O
)	O
is	O
a	O
software	O
system	O
for	O
setting	O
up	O
,	O
performing	O
,	O
and	O
monitoring	O
a	O
defined	O
sequence	O
of	O
processes	O
and	O
tasks	O
,	O
with	O
the	O
broad	O
goals	O
of	O
increasing	O
productivity	O
,	O
reducing	O
costs	O
,	O
becoming	O
more	O
agile	O
,	O
and	O
improving	O
information	O
exchange	O
within	O
an	O
organization	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
These	O
systems	O
may	O
be	O
process-centric	O
or	O
data-centric	O
,	O
and	O
they	O
may	O
represent	O
the	O
workflow	B-Protocol
as	O
graphical	O
maps	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
A	O
workflow	B-Protocol
management	I-Protocol
system	O
may	O
also	O
include	O
an	O
extensible	O
interface	O
so	O
that	O
external	O
software	O
applications	O
can	O
be	O
integrated	O
and	O
provide	O
support	O
for	O
wide	O
area	O
workflows	B-Protocol
that	O
provide	O
faster	O
response	O
times	O
and	O
improved	O
productivity	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
concept	O
of	O
workflow	B-Protocol
is	O
closely	O
related	O
to	O
several	O
fields	O
in	O
operations	O
research	O
and	O
other	O
areas	O
that	O
study	O
the	O
nature	O
of	O
work	O
,	O
either	O
quantitatively	O
or	O
qualitatively	O
,	O
such	O
as	O
artificial	B-Application
intelligence	I-Application
(	O
in	O
particular	O
,	O
the	O
sub-discipline	O
of	O
AI	B-Application
planning	O
)	O
and	O
ethnography	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
term	O
"	O
workflow	B-Protocol
"	O
is	O
more	O
commonly	O
used	O
in	O
particular	O
industries	O
,	O
such	O
as	O
in	O
printing	O
or	O
professional	O
domains	O
such	O
as	O
clinical	O
laboratories	O
,	O
where	O
it	O
may	O
have	O
particular	O
specialized	O
meanings	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Processes	O
:	O
A	O
process	O
is	O
a	O
more	O
general	O
notion	O
than	O
workflow	B-Protocol
and	O
can	O
apply	O
to	O
,	O
for	O
example	O
,	O
physical	O
or	O
biological	O
processes	O
,	O
whereas	O
a	O
workflow	B-Protocol
is	O
typically	O
a	O
process	O
or	O
collection	O
of	O
processes	O
described	O
in	O
the	O
context	O
of	O
work	O
,	O
such	O
as	O
all	O
processes	O
occurring	O
in	O
a	O
machine	O
shop	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
A	O
plan	O
,	O
when	O
augmented	O
with	O
a	O
schedule	O
and	O
resource	B-Algorithm
allocation	I-Algorithm
calculations	O
,	O
completely	O
defines	O
a	O
particular	O
instance	O
of	O
systematic	O
processing	O
in	O
pursuit	O
of	O
a	O
goal	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
A	O
workflow	B-Protocol
may	O
be	O
viewed	O
as	O
an	O
often	O
optimal	O
or	O
near-optimal	O
realization	O
of	O
the	O
mechanisms	O
required	O
to	O
execute	O
the	O
same	O
plan	O
repeatedly	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Flow	O
control	O
:	O
This	O
is	O
a	O
control	O
concept	O
applied	O
to	O
workflows	B-Protocol
,	O
to	O
distinguish	O
from	O
static	O
control	O
of	O
buffers	O
of	O
material	O
or	O
orders	O
,	O
to	O
mean	O
a	O
more	O
dynamic	O
control	O
of	O
flow	O
speed	O
and	O
flow	O
volumes	O
in	O
motion	O
and	O
in	O
process	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In-transit	O
visibility	O
:	O
This	O
monitoring	O
concept	O
applies	O
to	O
transported	O
material	O
as	O
well	O
as	O
to	O
work	O
in	O
process	O
or	O
work	O
in	O
progress	O
,	O
i.e.	O
,	O
workflows	B-Protocol
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
following	O
examples	O
illustrate	O
the	O
variety	O
of	O
workflows	B-Protocol
seen	O
in	O
various	O
contexts	O
:	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
machine	O
shops	O
,	O
particularly	O
job	O
shops	O
and	O
flow	O
shops	O
,	O
the	O
flow	O
of	O
a	O
part	O
through	O
the	O
various	O
processing	O
stations	O
is	O
a	O
workflow	B-Protocol
.	O
</s>
<s>
Insurance	O
claims	O
processing	O
is	O
an	O
example	O
of	O
an	O
information-intensive	O
,	O
document-driven	O
workflow	B-Protocol
.	O
</s>
<s>
Wikipedia	O
editing	O
can	O
be	O
modeled	O
as	O
a	O
stochastic	O
workflow	B-Protocol
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
Getting	O
Things	O
Done	O
system	O
is	O
a	O
model	O
of	O
personal	O
workflow	B-Protocol
management	I-Protocol
for	O
information	O
workers	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
traditional	O
offset	O
and	O
digital	O
printing	O
,	O
the	O
concept	O
of	O
workflow	B-Protocol
represents	O
the	O
process	O
,	O
people	O
,	O
and	O
usually	O
software	O
technology	O
(	O
RIPs	O
raster	O
image	O
processors	O
or	O
DFE	O
digital	O
front	O
end	O
)	O
controllers	O
that	O
play	O
a	O
part	O
in	O
pre/post	O
processing	O
of	O
print-related	O
files	O
,	O
e.g.	O
,	O
PDF	O
pre-flight	O
checking	O
to	O
make	O
certain	O
that	O
fonts	O
are	O
embedded	O
or	O
that	O
the	O
imaging	B-Application
output	O
to	O
plate	O
or	O
digital	O
press	O
will	O
be	O
able	O
to	O
render	O
the	O
document	O
intent	O
properly	O
for	O
the	O
image-output	O
capabilities	O
of	O
the	O
press	O
that	O
will	O
print	O
the	O
final	O
image	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
This	O
DAG	O
is	O
referred	O
to	O
as	O
a	O
workflow	B-Protocol
,	O
e.g.	O
,	O
Brain	O
Imaging	B-Application
workflows	B-Protocol
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
healthcare	O
data	O
analysis	O
,	O
a	O
workflow	B-Protocol
can	O
be	O
identified	O
or	O
used	O
to	O
represent	O
a	O
sequence	O
of	O
steps	O
which	O
compose	O
a	O
complex	O
data	O
analysis	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
service-oriented	O
architectures	O
,	O
an	O
application	O
can	O
be	O
represented	O
through	O
an	O
executable	O
workflow	B-Protocol
,	O
where	O
different	O
,	O
possibly	O
geographically	O
distributed	O
,	O
service	O
components	O
interact	O
to	O
provide	O
the	O
corresponding	O
functionality	O
under	O
the	O
control	O
of	O
a	O
workflow	B-Protocol
management	I-Protocol
system	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
shared	O
services	O
,	O
an	O
application	O
can	O
be	O
in	O
the	O
practice	O
of	O
developing	O
robotic	O
process	O
automation	O
(	O
called	O
RPA	O
or	O
RPAAI	O
for	O
self-guided	O
RPA	O
2.0	O
based	O
on	O
artificial	B-Application
intelligence	I-Application
)	O
which	O
results	O
in	O
the	O
deployment	O
of	O
attended	O
or	O
unattended	O
software	O
agents	O
to	O
an	O
organization	O
's	O
environment	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Artificial	B-Application
intelligence	I-Application
software	O
robots	O
are	O
deployed	O
to	O
handle	O
unstructured	B-Application
data	I-Application
sets	O
and	O
are	O
deployed	O
after	O
performing	O
and	O
deploying	O
robotic	O
process	O
automation	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Modeling	O
:	O
Workflow	B-Protocol
problems	O
can	O
be	O
modeled	O
and	O
analyzed	O
using	O
graph-based	O
formalisms	O
like	O
Petri	B-Operating_System
nets	I-Operating_System
.	O
</s>
<s>
Measurement	O
:	O
Many	O
of	O
the	O
concepts	O
used	O
to	O
measure	O
scheduling	O
systems	O
in	O
operations	O
research	O
are	O
useful	O
for	O
measuring	O
general	O
workflows	B-Protocol
.	O
</s>
<s>
Specialized	O
connotations	O
:	O
The	O
term	O
"	O
workflow	B-Protocol
"	O
has	O
specialized	O
connotations	O
in	O
information	O
technology	O
,	O
document	O
management	O
,	O
and	O
imaging	B-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
Since	O
1993	O
,	O
one	O
trade	O
consortium	O
specifically	O
focused	O
on	O
workflow	B-Protocol
management	I-Protocol
and	O
the	O
interoperability	O
of	O
workflow	B-Protocol
management	I-Protocol
systems	O
,	O
the	O
Workflow	B-Protocol
Management	I-Protocol
Coalition	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Scientific	B-Application
workflow	I-Application
systems	I-Application
:	O
These	O
found	O
wide	O
acceptance	O
in	O
the	O
fields	O
of	O
bioinformatics	O
and	O
cheminformatics	O
in	O
the	O
early	O
2000s	O
,	O
when	O
they	O
met	O
the	O
need	O
for	O
multiple	O
interconnected	O
tools	O
that	O
handle	O
multiple	O
data	O
formats	O
and	O
large	O
data	O
quantities	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Also	O
,	O
the	O
paradigm	O
of	O
scientific	O
workflows	B-Protocol
resembles	O
the	O
well-established	O
practice	O
of	O
Perl	B-Language
programming	I-Language
in	O
life	O
science	O
research	O
organizations	O
,	O
making	O
this	O
adoption	O
a	O
natural	O
step	O
towards	O
more	O
structured	O
infrastructure	O
setup	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Human-machine	O
interaction	O
:	O
Several	O
conceptualizations	O
of	O
mixed-initiative	O
workflows	B-Protocol
have	O
been	O
studied	O
,	O
particularly	O
in	O
the	O
military	O
,	O
where	O
automated	O
agents	O
play	O
roles	O
just	O
as	O
humans	O
do	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Workflow	B-Protocol
analysis	O
:	O
Workflow	B-Protocol
systems	O
allow	O
users	O
to	O
develop	O
executable	O
processes	O
with	O
no	O
familiarity	O
with	O
formal	O
programming	O
concepts	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Automated	O
workflow	B-Protocol
analysis	O
techniques	O
can	O
help	O
users	O
analyze	O
the	O
properties	O
of	O
user	B-Protocol
workflows	I-Protocol
to	O
conduct	O
verification	O
of	O
certain	O
properties	O
before	O
executing	O
them	O
,	O
e.g.	O
,	O
analyzing	O
flow	O
control	O
or	O
data	O
flow	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Examples	O
of	O
tools	O
based	O
on	O
formal	O
analysis	O
frameworks	O
have	O
been	O
developed	O
and	O
used	O
for	O
the	O
analysis	O
of	O
scientific	O
workflows	B-Protocol
and	O
can	O
be	O
extended	O
to	O
the	O
analysis	O
of	O
other	O
types	O
of	O
workflows	B-Protocol
.	O
</s>
<s>
Several	O
workflow	B-Protocol
improvement	O
theories	O
have	O
been	O
proposed	O
and	O
implemented	O
in	O
the	O
modern	O
workplace	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
A	O
workflow	B-Protocol
can	O
usually	O
be	O
described	O
using	O
formal	O
or	O
informal	O
flow	O
diagramming	O
techniques	O
,	O
showing	O
directed	O
flows	O
between	O
processing	O
steps	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Single	O
processing	O
steps	O
or	O
components	O
of	O
a	O
workflow	B-Protocol
can	O
basically	O
be	O
defined	O
by	O
three	O
parameters	O
:	O
</s>
<s>
Thus	O
,	O
the	O
essential	O
description	O
of	O
a	O
component	O
actually	O
comprises	O
only	O
input	O
and	O
output	O
that	O
are	O
described	O
fully	O
in	O
terms	O
of	O
data	O
types	O
and	O
their	O
meaning	O
(	O
semantics	B-Application
)	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Many	O
software	O
systems	O
exist	O
to	O
support	O
workflows	B-Protocol
in	O
particular	O
domains	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Such	O
systems	O
manage	O
tasks	O
such	O
as	O
automatic	O
routing	O
,	O
partially	O
automated	O
processing	O
,	O
and	O
integration	O
between	O
different	O
functional	O
software	O
applications	O
and	O
hardware	O
systems	O
that	O
contribute	O
to	O
the	O
value-addition	O
process	O
underlying	O
the	O
workflow	B-Protocol
.	O
</s>
<s>
There	O
are	O
also	O
software	O
suppliers	O
using	O
the	O
technology	O
process	B-Application
driven	I-Application
messaging	I-Application
service	I-Application
based	O
upon	O
three	O
elements	O
:	O
</s>
