Glossary

AI agentautomation

Software that uses an AI model to carry out a task on its own: read a request, reconcile data, draft an answer. In a BPMN diagram an agent can own a lane like any other role; the model then defines what it does, which data it gets and where a person steps in. See processes before AI agents.

As-Isprocess state

The process as it actually runs today, including the waiting, the workarounds and the exceptions nobody wrote down. The starting point of every process capture and the version the process owner signs off first.

BPMN 2.0notation

Business Process Model and Notation, the standard for process diagrams: events, tasks, gateways, flows, pools and lanes. The BPMN guide explains the dozen symbols a business diagram needs; the examples show them in use.

BPMN 2.0 XMLfile format

The file format that belongs to the notation: one XML file holds the process, its lanes and flows and the layout of the diagram. patchley exports it (next to SVG and PNG of the diagram), and it opens in standard BPMN tools such as Camunda Modeler, Signavio and ADONIS. See BPMN for Camunda.

Control stepdiagram element

A task whose purpose is to check, approve or sign off: a four-eyes approval, a plausibility check, a compliance review. Marked in patchley diagrams so that audits and automation projects can find them and nobody designs them away by accident.

Data objectdiagram element

The document shape next to a task: a form, a file or a record a step needs or produces. Together with the system a task runs in, it tells an automation team what each step reads and writes. See data objects and systems.

Event (start, intermediate, end)diagram element

The circles. A start event opens a case ("Claim reported"), an end event closes it with a named result ("Payout received"), and an intermediate event makes the process wait for a message or a date in between. See events.

Four-eyes principlecontrol

The rule that a decision or a payment needs a second person to check it before it takes effect. In a diagram it is a control step in a second lane; in automation it is the approval an AI agent or a workflow cannot skip.

Gateway (XOR, AND, OR)diagram element

The diamond where a process branches or joins. Exclusive (XOR): one question, one path. Parallel (AND): all paths at once. Inclusive (OR): one or more paths by condition. Best named as a question with labelled answers: "Covered?" See gateways.

Human in the loopautomation

The design principle that a person decides at defined points of an automated process: an approval, an exception, a judgement call. In BPMN it is simply a task in a person's lane between the steps a system or an AI agent performs.

Lane / swimlanediagram element

A horizontal band inside a pool, one per role: claims handler, underwriter, management. Every task sits in the lane of the role that performs it, so the diagram shows who does what without extra words. A system or an AI agent can have a lane too.

Message flowdiagram element

The dashed arrow between two pools: a form sent to the insurer, a decision letter sent back. Pools never share a sequence flow; what crosses the boundary is a message.

Pooldiagram element

One participant in the process: your organisation, the customer, a supplier. A pool has its own start, its own end and its own sequence of steps, divided into lanes for the roles inside it. See pools and lanes.

Process landscapeoverview

All of an organisation's processes in one picture, usually grouped into management, core and support processes, each pointing to its own diagram. patchley builds the landscape from several diagrams.

Process mapdiagram

One process drawn end to end: who does what, in which order, with which decisions. In practice the BPMN diagram with its lanes is the process map; the process landscape is the map of all of them.

Process miningcategory

Software that reads event logs from IT systems and reconstructs the paths that cases actually took, with frequencies and durations. It needs systems that log every step and sees nothing that happens outside them. See the comparison.

Process ownerrole

The person accountable for a process end to end: that it is documented, that changes are agreed, that it performs. The person who signs off the As-Is and decides the To-Be.

RACImethod

A matrix that assigns, per step, who is Responsible, Accountable, Consulted and Informed. The lanes of a BPMN diagram show the R; the other three letters usually live in a table next to it or in the documentation per step.

Sequence flowdiagram element

The solid arrow that gives the steps inside one pool their order. After a gateway each outgoing sequence flow carries an answer as its label: "yes", "no", "above limit".

SOPdocument

Standard operating procedure: the written instruction for one step or one process, with purpose, performer, inputs, outputs and the checks along the way. In patchley one of the analyses per step, next to pain points, compliance and figures. See process documentation.

Subprocessdiagram element

A step that is itself a process, drawn in its own diagram and shown in the parent as a task with a plus marker. Keeps the parent diagram on one screen and lets each team own its part. See tasks and subprocess.

Taskdiagram element

The rounded rectangle: one unit of work by one role, named verb plus object ("Register claim"). A task can carry the system it runs in, the documents it uses and the mark of a control step.

Task miningcategory

Software that captures processes by observing what people do on their screens, clicks and keystrokes, and reconstructs steps from the recordings. It sees the software side of a process. See interview vs. task mining and capture without screen recording.

To-Beprocess state

The target design of a process: steps moved, removed, combined or handed to a system or an AI agent. Designed as its own linked diagram, with the As-Is unchanged and one switch away, so that the difference stays visible and can be agreed.

Value chainoverview

The sequence of activities with which an organisation creates value for its customers, from the first contact to delivery and service. The top level of a process landscape; each link of the chain opens into its processes.

Workflow / workflow engineautomation

A workflow is a process that a system runs step by step: it routes cases, assigns tasks and waits for approvals. The workflow engine is the software that does the running. patchley describes the process; running it is the Executions pilot, in preparation.