Lynx Workflow Engine

The Lynx Workflow Engine provides a platform for business process automation. Building applications that manage business process automation can be very complicated and time consuming. Compared to traditional methods, Lynx Workflow helps us develop process-centric applications in up to 40 percent less time with a resulting application that is more stable and easier to maintain.

When used in the core of software systems, Lynx Workflow ensures that business tasks are executed by the right resource at the right time. Lynx Workflow Engine includes the Workflow Modeler tool for designing business processes and uses an "Inbox" approach to show current tasks. Once a task within the business process (e.g. "Approve Claim for Payment") becomes current, it appears in the Inbox of the resource assigned to the task. Once the task is completed, it disappears from the Inbox, and the next task (or tasks) appears in the Inboxes of the appropriate resources. For example, if the claims processor does not have authority to approve the claim for payment, then his manager will receive a request for approval in his Inbox. Lynx Workflow makes sure that tasks are performed in the correct order. For example, the system will not send the claim for payment to Accounting until it has been approved by the claims processor (and his managers, if applicable).

Lynx Workflow is a full-featured workflow management system (WfMS) based on a solid mathematical foundation. It deals with business processes generically; thus it is not limited to insurance or reinsurance business process applications. A WfMS, like Lynx Workflow, provides the following significant benefits:

• Making process changes easier
• Making processes more flexible
• Providing a generic way of viewing and analyzing processes, thus facilitating business process reengineering
• Providing an auditable trail of the individual who performed each task en route to case completion
• Significantly speeding up software development

Lynx Workflow Engine uses a new language (called YAWL) for describing complex business processes. This language was designed by mathematicians in the Netherlands and Australia to deal with situations that most existing workflow solutions cannot easily handle. As a result, Lynx Workflow Engine is an ideal starting point for building process-centric applications for complex business processes, which must coordinate multiple human resources, diverse tasks and different cases.