Classification and Formalization of Instance-Spanning Constraints in Process-Driven Applications

In process-driven applications, typically, instances share human, computer, and physical resources and hence cannot be executed independently of each other. This necessitates the definition, verification, and enforcement of restrictions and conditions across multiple instances by so called instance-spanning constraints (ISC). ISC might refer to instances of one or several process types or variants. While real-world applications from, e.g., the logistics, manufacturing, and energy domain crave for the support of ISC, only partial solutions can be found. This work provides a systematic ISC classification and formalization that enables the verification of ISC during design and runtime. Based on a collection of 114 ISC from different domains and sources the relevance and feasibility of the presented concepts is shown.