Appendix C. Simulation Data

C.1. Process

Simulation Attributes

Base currency
The currency used for simulation.
Base time unit
The time unit to apply to all the time definitions in the process.

C.2. Activities

All the activities available in Red Hat JBoss BPM Suite, except for the human task, share the following properties. See Section C.7, “Human Tasks” for properties specific to human tasks.

Simulation Attributes

Cost per time unit
The cost for every time unit lapsed during simulation.
Distribution Type
For information about the Distribution type property, and the Processing time property if applicable, see Section C.9, “Distribution Types”.

C.3. Start Event

Simulation Attributes

Distribution Type
For information about the Distribution type property, and the Processing time property if applicable, see Section C.9, “Distribution Types”.
Probability (Boundary Event only)
The probability of triggering the element.

C.4. Catching Intermediate Events

Simulation Attributes

Distribution Type
For information about the Distribution type property, and the Processing time property if applicable, see Section C.9, “Distribution Types”.
Probability (Boundary Event only)
The probability of triggering the element.

C.5. Sequence Flow

Simulation Attributes

Probability (Boundary Event only)

The percentual probability that the flow is taken.

The probability value is applied only if the flow’s source element is a gateway and there are multiple flow elements leaving the gateway. When defining flow probabilities, ensure their sum is 100.

C.6. Throwing Intermediate Events

Simulation Attributes

Distribution Type
For information about the Distribution type property, and the Processing time property if applicable, see Section C.9, “Distribution Types”.

C.7. Human Tasks

Simulation Attributes

Cost per time unit
The cost for every time unit lapsed during simulation.
Distribution Type
For information about the Distribution type property, and the Processing time property if applicable, see Section C.9, “Distribution Types”.
Staff availability

The number of actors available to work on the given task.

Example C.1. Staff Availability Impact

Assume a simulation of 3 instances of a process. A new instance is created every 30 minutes. The process contains a None Start Event, a Human Task, and a Simple End Event.

  • The Human Task takes 3 hours to complete; the Working hours property is set to 3.
  • Only one person is available to work on the Human Tasks; the Staff availability property is set to 1.

That results in the following:

  • The Human Task generated by the first process instance will be executed in 3 hours.
  • The Human Task generated by the second process instance will be executed in approx. 6 hours. The second process instance is created after 30 minutes. However, the actor is busy with the first Task and becomes available only after another 2.5 hours. It takes 3 hours to execute the second Task.
  • The Human Task generated by the third process instance will be executed in approx. 9 hours. The second Human Task instance is finished after 3 hours. The actor needs another 3 hours to complete the third Human Task.
Working hours
A time period after which the task completes in a simulation. If the task should take an hour to complete, set this property to 1.

C.8. End Events

Simulation Attributes

Distribution Type
For information about the Distribution type property, and the Processing time property if applicable, see Section C.9, “Distribution Types”.

C.9. Distribution Types

The Distribution type property defines the distribution of possible time values, that is scores, of process elements.

The elements might use one of the following score distribution types on simulation:

  • Normal: the values are distributed on a bell-shaped, symmetrical curve.
  • Uniform: the values have a rectangular distribution, that means every value is applied the same number of times.
  • Poisson: the values are distributed on a negatively-skewed normal distribution curve.

C.9.1. Normal

The element values are picked based on the normal distribution type, which is bell-shaped and symmetrical.

Normal Distribution Attributes

Processing time (mean)
The mean processing time that the element needs in order to be processed. The value uses the time unit defined in the Base time unit property.
Standard deviation
The standard deviation of the processing time. The value uses the time unit defined in the Base time unit property.

C.9.2. Uniform

The Uniform distribution or rectangular distribution returns the possible values with the same levels of probability.

Uniform Distribution Attributes

Processing time (max)
The maximum processing time of the element.
Processing time (min)
The minimum processing time of the element.

C.9.3. Poisson

The Poisson distribution returns the possible values similarly as normal distribution. However, the distribution is negatively skewed, not symmetrical. The mean and the variant are equal.

C.9.3.1. Poisson Distribution Attributes

Processing time (mean)
The mean time for the element processing. The value uses the time unit defined in the Base time unit property.