The Case for Unified Process Management in Smart Manufacturing

Business process management is often deployed to improve enterprise integration, but its impact is yet to reach manufacturing operations. We propose the concept of unified process management that facilitates integration between business management and manufacturing operations. The proposition is presented as an updated enterprise architecture for computer integrated manufacturing, converged around a centralized process management system. The process management system can orchestrate both business and operations activities by issuing work items to humans and robots connected via the internet-of-things. We present a realization of such a process management system and evaluate the proposition with an industrial case study. The results support the unification of process management as an enabler of smart manufacturing.