Skip to content

BPMN Order-to-Cash Process

Run the BPMN MicroSim Fullscreen

About This MicroSim

A simplified order-to-cash process drawn in BPMN, with three lanes inside one company-facing pool: Sales, Credit, Fulfillment — plus the Customer as a black-box pool below. The process flows left-to-right with one exclusive gateway (orders over $10k get a manager review) and one parallel gateway (pick-and-pack and invoicing happen simultaneously).

Click Trace Large Order to watch a token take the manager-review path. Click Trace Small Order for the auto-approve path. Click Highlight Lane Handoffs to make the crossings visible — handoffs are where most processes break.

How to Use

  1. Click any element to see its BPMN type, definition, and a real-world example
  2. Trace either the large-order or small-order path
  3. Highlight handoffs to see where work moves between teams

Embedding This MicroSim

<iframe src="https://dmccreary.github.io/information-systems/sims/bpmn-order-to-cash/main.html"
        height="722px" width="100%" scrolling="no"></iframe>

Lesson Plan

Learning Objectives

By the end of this activity, students will be able to:

  1. Read a BPMN diagram and name each element type by its shape
  2. Distinguish exclusive (XOR) from parallel (AND) gateways
  3. Trace a token through both branches of an exclusive gateway
  4. Identify lane handoffs and explain why they are points of risk

Suggested Activities

  1. Element Quiz (5 min) — Show one element at a time; students name the BPMN type
  2. Trace Both Paths (5 min) — Run both traces; describe what's the same and what's different
  3. Find the Handoffs (10 min) — Highlight handoffs; for each, propose one improvement (automation, SLA, queue)
  4. Add a Failure Branch (15 min) — Sketch what the diagram should look like if the credit review rejects the order

Assessment

  • Match BPMN shapes to formal element types
  • Explain the difference between an XOR gateway and an AND gateway in your own words
  • Identify each lane crossing in a fresh BPMN diagram

References

  • OMG (2014). BPMN 2.0 Specification.
  • White, S. & Miers, D. (2008). BPMN Modeling and Reference Guide.