Nikolay Mehandjiev Centre for Service Research

Manchester Business School

Service System Modelling

Principles

Service System Modelling Workshop

Looking at cooperative assembly of large-scale service systems

Systems comprise convergent services

Aiming to transfer lessons we learned in the automotive domain

2

Field of Interest

Target area: Systems Comprising Convergent Services

Target activity: Collaborative modelling and composition of

systems

Aim: To create a modelling language and a software

system which supports target activity

Approach: 1. Represent services and their providers as knowledge structures;

2. Each service provider is supported by a software agent on the software platform

3. Construct a system where software agents can collaboratively create a model of complex service systems, reasoning over knowledge structures to achieve optimal composition

3

This presentation

A. Establishes motivation and objectives

B. Outlines formative experiences from the automotive domain

C. Presents our contributions

D. Charts further work

4

A. Motivation

Conventional & Software Services are becoming intertwined into

Convergent Services.

Convergent Service Composition ≟ Virtual Organisation Formation

Using software service concepts and technology to create innovative

Convergent Services [2,3]

Designing better software using ideas from conventional services [47]

How to integrate both sides above to deliver efficient and effective

convergent service systems? (this presentation)

A. Initial Model of Software-as-a-Service

• Orthogonal (and pre-dating) the SOA• Enables flexibility of software using ideas from service organisations;• Provide uniform mechanisms for composing convergent services

5

user

service provider

atomic service

sub-contractor

sub-contractor

service

“know-how”

specify needs

propose contract

accept contract

provide service

negotiate & select

6

A. Aim and Objectives

Aim: To create a modelling language and a software system which supports the collaborative creation of complex systems comprising convergent services

Approach: 1. Represent services and their providers as knowledge structures; 2. Each service provider is supported by a software agent on the

software platform3. Construct a system where software agents can collaboratively

create a model of complex service systems, reasoning over knowledge structures to achieve optimal composition.

Objectives:1. Start from the meta-model we have created for the domain of automotive

manufacturing;2. Study specific features of convergent systems which differentiate them

from virtual enterprises in automotive manufacturing;3. Customise meta-model from (1) into a language for collaborative

modelling and creation of service systems4. Validate (3)

7

This presentation

A. Establishes motivation and objectives

B. Outlines formative experiences from the automotive domain

C. Presents our contributions

D. Charts further work

8

B. Experiences in Automotive Manufacturing

(taken from Galbraith (2002))

OEM

Tier 1 Suppliers

(Systems and Modules)

Tier 2 Suppliers

(Automotive Components)

Tier 3 Suppliers

(Raw Materials, Standard Parts)

Traditional Hierarchy

But also direct interactions between OEM and Tiers 2 and 3

B. Virtual Organization Lifecycle Model (Strader 1998)

9

10

B. Experiences – Research Programme MaBE 2002-2005 Agent-based Formation of Virtual Enterprises €206k 38p/m

CrossWork 2004-2006 Design of cross-organisational workflows (VE) €280k 50p/m

SUDDEN 2006-2009 Collaborative design of supply networks €386k 62p/m

Commius 2008-2011 Seamless collaboration between SMEs €346k 38p/m

SOA4ALL 2008-2011 Semantic Services and End Users €503k 55p/m

BonFIRE 2011-2012 Composition of Complex Systems €182k 30p/m

MODUM 2011-2014 Optimisation of transportation services €514k 56p/m

Collaborators: Intier, MAN, Hanomag, Atos Origin, SAP, iNet, Profactor, TUe, Linz Uni

And a number of PhD projects, for example:o Designing agent systems – roles and interactions - MaBE

o Decision-making when outsourcing processes - CrossWork

o Ecosystem-based model for system evolution - SUDDEN

11

B. Experiences – Case Study Illustrations

• Hanomag / Härtol / Peddinghaus

• Magna Intier BMW X series

• Automotive Cluster in Upper

Austria

• MAN waterpump

• Graf Carello electric vehicles

• Schneegans Silicon - Oil dipstick

• Technology Cluster Genoa

MaB

E CrossW

ork

SU

DD

EN C

omm

ius

12

B. Experiences – focus on VE formation

a business opportunity Formationmonths haphazard

Evolutionreactive weeks

Dissolutionfeedback is

informal slow

Operationpaperwork reporting hearsay

Delay

i. Speed of change

ii. Complexity

iii. Customer demands

13

B. Experiences – focus on VE formation

a business opportunity Formationmonths haphazard

Evolutionreactive weeks

Dissolutionfeedback is

informal slow

Operationpaperwork reporting hearsay

Delay

i. Speed of change – reducing time to market, rapid evolution

ii. Complexity – automate selection processes, innovative solutions

iii. Customer demands – attention to quality and price

a business opportunityFormation

months dayshaphazard systematic

Evolutionreactive proactiveweeks minutes

Dissolutionfeedback is

informal formal slow instant

Operationpaperwork workflowreporting monitoring hearsay evaluation

Delay

“Instant Virtual Enterprise”

B. Integrating Service views in SUDDEN

SUDDEN aims to empower SMEs by enabling them to act as designers and coordinators of collaborative supply networks within automotive ecosystems.

Each SME:

offers a number of convergent services with formal semantic descriptions;

has a presence on the marketplace/platform as a service provider; and

is described by a rich profile of capabilities and previous history of collaborations.

The system combines these services in a virtual organisation / supply network using a sophisticated process integrating the following mechanisms:

1. top-down planning using centralised domain knowledge;

2. bottom-up consortium formation using notice-boards, agents and decentralised knowledge about value-added by each SME;

3. SMEs can change their services to fit in with a lucrative opportunity;

4. evaluation of teams using both individual and collaboration metrics.

15

16

This presentation

A. Establishes motivation and scope for our

work

B. Outlines formative experiences from the automotive domain

C. Presents our contributions

D. Charts further work

17

C. Our Contributions

1. Organising Framework: a recursive model of a VE, plus a set of model construction operators

2. Focused techniques and innovative solutionsa) Creating Convergent Services

i. innovative service composition using distributed knowledge [9]

ii. negotiation for service composition [4,5,10]

iii. holistic support for eProcess negotiation [11]

iv. cooperation in service procurement negotiations [12]

b) Adaptation of service supply ecosystems

i. ecosystem-inspired model of service supply chain adaptation [13]

ii. flexible interactions between marketplace participants [14]

c) User involvement in service construction

i. tradeoffs between risks and benefits of user involvement [15]

ii. visual Interfaces for creating convergent services [16]

18

C. Contributions: Organising Framework

1. responsibility-led operationalisation

2. discretionary process steps

3. coordination processes

Goal

Relation

Chooses

Goal

Actor

Operationalisation Choice

Makes

Process Process

Decomposition

Discretionary Step Definition

Responsibility

Decomposition

ResponsibilityOperationalisation

Elaboration

Discretionary step designation

C. Contributions: Detailed Model and Principles

19

Dependency

Resource

Goal

Relation

Flow

Fit

Sharing

Decomposition

10..*

subgoal

Chooses

Goal

Responsibility

Assigns

ActorOperationalisation Choice

Competence

*

*

requires

* *

1*

declares

CoordinationCoordination Goal

*

*

ManageFactor

impact

Process Process

Discretionary Step Definition

Model principles I. Iterative elaboration of goals and appointing service providers

II. Devolved decision-making – service providers choose services to bind

III. Situatedness – instantiating some services is left till run-time

20

C. Contributions: Top-Down Service Composition

1. Decompose Global Process.2. Matchmake at appropriate levels.

21

C. Contributions: Bottom-up Service Composition

1. Suppliers offer capabilities.2. Global process emerges.

28

Graf Carello – Example

29

C. Contributions Flexible reaction to changes1. Discretionary steps create space for situated action

2. Switching of suppliers

3. Switching of processes allows for re-planning

4. Switching of coordination processes

Factors

Activities, Dependencies,

Resources System Goals

WorkCoordination

Supplier SelectionTeam formation

Meta-Management

Meta-level

Inter-level

30

This presentation

A. Establishes motivation and scope for our

work

B. Outlines formative experiences from the automotive domain

C. Presents our contributions

D. Charts further work

31

D. Further Work

• Process-focused service systems composition

• Apply team formation to semantic service composition and transport planning

• Applicability of our flexibility contributions to service adaptation

including ecosystems-based approach

• Integrate with end-user-development focused stream of work

MaBE 2002-2005 Agent-based Formation of Virtual Enterprises €206k 38p/m

CrossWork 2004-2006 Design of cross-organisational workflows (VE) €280k 50p/m

SUDDEN 2006-2009 Collaborative design of supply networks €386k 62p/m

Commius 2008-2011 Seamless collaboration between SMEs €346k 38p/m

SOA4ALL 2008-2011 Semantic Services and End Users €503k 55p/m

BonFIRE 2011-2012 Composition of Complex Systems €182k 30p/m

MODUM 2011-2014 Optimisation of transportation services €514k 56p/m

33

References[1] Centre for Service Research, University of Manchester. www.mbs.ac.uk/research/csr/, last accessed Nov 19, 2009

[2] N. Mehandjiev, P. Grefen et al, Dynamic Business Process Formation for Instant Virtual Enterprises. Springer “Advanced Information and Knowledge Processing”, expected March 2010

[3] Grefen, P. et al, CrossWork: Internet-based Support for Process-Oriented Instant Virtual Enterprises. IEEE Internet Computing. Nov-Dec 2009

[4] N. Mehandjiev, et. Al. Provider-Composer Negotiations for Semantic Robustness in Service Compositions. In ICSOC 2009, Springer. 2009

[5] F.Lecue, U.Wajid, N.Mehandjiev. Negotiating Robustness in Semantic Web Service Composition. In Proceedings of ECOWS 2009. Eindhoven, IIEEE CS

[6] Kollingbaum, M., Norman, T., Mehandjiev, N., and Brown, K. 2006. Engineering organisation-oriented software. In Proc. WISER '06. at IEEE ICSE, Shanghai, China, May 2006). ACM, New York, 23-28

[7] Bennett K. H., Gold N. E., Munro M., Xu J., Layzell P. J., Budgen D., Brereton O. P. and Mehandjiev N.Prototype Implementations of an Architectural Model for Service-Based Flexible Software. in Proc. 35 IEEE HICSS(2002), Published by IEEE Computer Society, CA,

[8] Nikolay Mehandjiev, Iain Stalker, Martin Carpenter. Recursive Construction and Evolution of Collaborative Business Processes. In Ardagna, Mecella and Yang, ed. Business Process Management Workshops. Lecture Notes in Business Information Processing. Vol 17. pp. 573-584. Springer, 2009.

[9] M. Carpenter, N. Mehandjiev and I.D. Stalker. Flexible Behaviours for Emergent Process Interoperability. InWETICE 2006, Manchester, UK,

[10] J.C. Chen et al. Managing Supply Chains of Software as a Service through Agent Negotiations, in CEC 2005, München, IEEE CS Press

[11] S Shaikh and N Mehandjiev Multi-attribute Negotiation in E-Business Process Composition. In WETICE 2004) Modena, Italy, 2004, IEEE CS Press.

[12] Abdoessalam, A.M. and Mehandjiev, N. Collaborative Negotiation in Web Service Procurement, in WETICE 2004, Modena, 2004 IEEE CS.

[13] Marín, César A., Stalker, Iain, & Mehandjiev, Nikolay. Business Ecosystem Modelling: Combining Natural Ecosystems and Multi-Agent Systems. Pages 181-195. in : Cooperative Information Agents XI, LNAI, vol. 4676. Heidelberg: Springer ISBN: 978-3-540-75118-2

[14] Wajid, U and Mehandjiev, N. Using Task-based Dialogues for Multi-Agent Collaborations, in WETICE 2008, Rome, 2008. IEEE CS Press

[15] N Mehandjiev, A Sutcliffe and D Lee, Organisational View Of End-User Development, in End User Development, 2006, Springer, ISBN: 1-4020-4220-5

[16] Abdallah Namoune et al, Composition of Interactive Service-based Applications by End Users. In UGS2009 Proceedings

J. Galbraith, Designing Organisations. Jossey-Bass 2002

Mowshovitz. (1997) On the Theory of Virtual Organization. Systems Research and Behavioral Science. 14(4). Oct-Dec, 373-384..