A workflow model supporting pre-dispatching of tasks

In a workflow management system, two facts are often observed: (1) the processing capacities for activities may not be fully utilized all the time, even that for critical activities; and (2) the lifecycle of a task can be partitioned into two parts: preparation phase and actual execution phase. In order to shorten the lifecycle of a workflow process instance, it is better to overlap the actual execution of a task and the preparation of its successor as long as possible. Aiming at this goal, this paper introduces the concept of task pre-dispatching into workflow management systems and analyzes when and under what circumstances a task should be pre-dispatched. Then a formalized workflow model as well as a scheduling algorithm is presented to support it. Finally, it is shown from a quantitative analysis that our approach is useful in practice.