Executable process management notation for water transport

The article presents a critical analysis of the most widely used business process modeling notations (BPMN, EPC, IDEF0) from the perspective of their practical application. The key problems identified include semantic redundancy, a dissonance between simplicity and formal rigor, and a gap between formal process description and executability. It is concluded that the choice of a modeling notation should be context-dependent and determined by specific modeling objectives, and that a transition toward a domain-specific executable notation is required. In order to improve technological processes in water transport and to support research related to the scientific organization of labor, an original specialized executable notation is proposed. Its key advantages include an orientation toward domain-specific concepts of transport logistics, ensuring intuitive clarity for specialists, formal rigor enabling model verification, and direct execution capabilities that eliminate the stage of manual transformation of models into operational regulations. The proposed approach has been tested using the example of modeling technological processes in a seaport and has demonstrated its effectiveness in increasing transparency, manageability, and optimization of logistics operations. The generation of random event durations enables the notation to be used, unlike traditional network models, as a tool for simulation modeling of transport processes by determining the probability of executing alternative scenarios and the starting point of their execution. In this sense, the proposed approach allows, to a certain extent, for the “reservation” of managerial decisions through the advance formation of backup planning options. The software suite implementing the notation is developed in the Visual Basic for Applications (VBA) environment of the MS Excel package, as it supports the creation of macros for automating routine spreadsheet operations, generating complex reports, and developing user interfaces. This environment is characterized by a relatively low entry barrier due to its simple syntax and extensive library of builtin functions, which enables rapid adoption even by users without a specialized programming background, while the ability to record macros in real time with subsequent fine-tuning of the generated code significantly accelerates the development process.

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