Automating Business Processes by Using
Workflow in Microsoft Dynamics® AX 2012
The effective definition and execution of business processes determines how successfully an
organization can meet its objectives. The workflow tool in Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012 can help
organizations improve and automate their business processes. The workflow system—first introduced
in Microsoft Dynamics AX 2009, and enhanced in the current release—provides a rich set of features
that enable the business process improvement cycle.
THE BUSINESS PROCESS IMPROVEMENT CYCLE
The business process improvement cycle represents a sequence of four steps that aim to
enhance business process effectiveness. Each step is described below:
Design – The business process design specifies how the process will be automated.
This includes defining the activities (such as tasks, decisions, and approvals) that need
to be carried out, the way in which they are sequenced, and how they behave.
Implement/configure – The workflow is implemented and/or configured according
to the design.
Run – The workflow executes repeatedly as required by the business or organization.
For example, purchase requisitions are submitted to workflow whenever they are
needed; expense reports are completed and processed every Friday. Tracking data is
accumulated as the workflow progresses.
Analyze – The results of executing the workflows are analyzed and potential
improvements are identified. These potential improvements are inputs into the design
step as the business process improvement cycle repeats.
The workflow system in Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012 delivers enhancements in all four of
these business process improvement cycle steps, as described in the following sections.
BUSINESS PROCESS IMPROVEMENT CYCLE: DESIGN
The workflow system in Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012 provides a set of abstractions for
imagining how to automate a business process and designing how the process should
function:
Organization support – Workflows can be modeled for use across the organization
or for a specific legal entity.
Workflow elements – A range of different activity types can be connected in various
ways within a workflow, including tasks, multistep approvals, decisions, automated
tasks, sub-workflows, and parallel activities.
Conditions – Conditions represent business rules, which can be incorporated into the
workflow to control its behavior at run time.
Line-item workflow support – Workflows can be modeled on the basis of business
documents that consist of master/detail data, such as purchase requisitions and
expense reports.
BUSINESS PROCESS IMPROVEMENT CYCLE: IMPLEMENT/CONFIGURE
Implementation and configuration activities for a design primarily involve authoring
workflows based on available workflow types. It might also be necessary to create new
workflow types and extend workflow in Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012 in other ways. This
can be done with the new graphical workflow editor, the workflow development wizards,
and the various application programmatic interfaces that are available.
Graphical workflow
editor
Workflow editor – Workflow authoring has been streamlined in Microsoft Dynamics
AX 2012 with the introduction of a graphical workflow editor, which provides a visual
representation of how a given business process is being automated. Authors can use
it to select, arrange, and link workflow elements and also to define various workflow
and element properties.
Workflow development wizards – Three new wizards for creating new workflow
types, tasks, and approvals are now available in the Application Object Tree (AOT).
They make the development of new workflows more efficient by creating and linking
most of the required metadata.
Workflow extensibility – You can extend the built-in functionality of the workflow
system in various ways: The workflow model API can be used to configure and
maintain workflows programmatically. The workflow runtime API can be used to
interact with running workflows; for example, to take an action or to inquire about the
workflow. And the provider model can encompass workflow assignment and due date
calculation functionality and enable alternative assignment methods to be added to
the workflow. Event handlers within each workflow can invoke custom business logic
at specific, well-defined points in the life of a workflow, such as when a document is
submitted and when it is approved.
BUSINESS PROCESS IMPROVEMENT CYCLE: RUN
In the run step, workflows that are ready to be used are activated for specific business
documents and executed. The workflow system in Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012 uses the
Microsoft .NET Framework 4.0 Workflow Foundation to run workflows. Users interact with
running workflows by using the rich client and Enterprise Portal for Microsoft Dynamics
AX 2012. The unified work list within Enterprise Portal helps productivity by presenting
users with a single place to view and act on their activities, alerts, and work items. Tracking
information is collected throughout the life of a workflow for use in the next step: analysis.
The workflow runtime itself is hosted within Application Object Server (AOS) and does not
require the installation of any additional components, streamlining the setup process.
BUSINESS PROCESS IMPROVEMENT CYCLE: ANALYZE
In the final step—analysis—the accumulated tracking information from the previous step
is processed and an analytical cube is generated. The various workflow reports draw their
data from the analytical cube and provide insight into the operational characteristics of
the workflows that have been executed in Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012 over a period of
time. These characteristics can then be reviewed and interpreted and potential process
improvements can be identified and fed into the design stage, beginning the cycle again.
SUMMARY
Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012 includes an integrated, comprehensive, and flexible workflow system that leverages the
power of the Microsoft .NET 4.0 Workflow Foundation to enable customers, partners, and independent software vendors
(ISVs) to automate their business processes. It provides support for all four steps of the business process improvement
cycle—especially design, implementation, and configuration—through a newly introduced graphical workflow editor.
The workflow system in Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012 is delivered with approximately 60 available workflow types across
various application modules. These can be used immediately to automate business processes in those application areas.
New workflows also can be created quickly by using new workflow development wizards.
To complete the process improvement cycle, the performance characteristics of workflows in Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012
can now be more easily assessed by using the workflow analytical cube and associated reports. These will ultimately help
to improve the very business processes that are being automated.
Microsoft Dynamics is a line of integrated, adaptable business management solutions that enables you and your people to make business decisions with greater confidence.
Microsoft Dynamics works like and with familiar Microsoft software, automating and streamlining financial, customer relationship and supply chain processes in a way that
helps you drive business success.
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