# Investigation of Microservice-Based Workflow Management Solutions for Industrial Automation
## 2 Background and Related Work
### Services for Workflow Management  
The subject of workflow management technologies precedes that of SOA and the more recent microservice architecture. Its origins can be traced back to the development of office automation in the late 1970s and 1980s [25]. Therefore, most research efforts have been undertaken from the point of view of integrating new software technologies with previously devised WFMSs. The first interactions between the fields occurred in the early 2000s, when companies such as IBM explored how business process activities could be implemented via web services [26]. Their research showed how real-world activities could be captured through web services, decreasing the struggle of software integration in workflow systems that required ad hoc connections to monolithic software systems. Additionally, they claim that inter-company processes could be streamlined using technologies to compose web services. A similar approach has been followed to include newer resources, such as IoT devices, into the enterprise resource planning layer to be used in business processes [27]. More recent advancements in the use of services for implementing workflows fall under the umbrella of Intelligent Business Process Management Suite (iBPMS) software [28]. The analysis in Gartner's \"Magic Quadrant for Intelligent Business Process Management Suites (iBPMS) 2019\" ([[https://www.gartner.com/en/documents/3899484/](https://www.gartner.com/en/documents/3899484/)]([https://www.gartner.com/en/documents/3899484/](https://www.gartner.com/en/documents/3899484/)), accessed on 22 June 2021) shows offerings that do not provide industry domain capabilities by default. Several articles have identified the need to change the industrial paradigm concerning business processes. For example, [29] recognizes that control information traditionally managed by an MES must be extended to provide accurate data exchanges to coordinate collaborative production processes. Further, [30] points out that a migration from traditional production systems to a modern approach is necessary. Traditional systems are usually rigid vertical applications using a centralized approach. On the other hand, modern approaches are agile plug-and-produce systems that are dynamically adaptable to changing production conditions, open to new features and functions, flexible to different processing tasks, modular to enable quick and economic changes, and able to support new business processes. In addition, [31] identifies that Industry 4.0 requires a multitude of data to reflect the demands of service-oriented manufacturing processes and describe the challenges of the orchestration process. A search of the relevant scientific literature has identified articles that include adaptations in the industrial manufacturing context as a part of their proposal. For instance, [32] identifies the need to enable event-driven devices using microservices and the possibility of creating integrated workflows from data ingestion among the primary Industry 4.0 requirements. In [33], [PERSON] et al. proposed a service-oriented architecture for integrating factory workers in industrial cyber-physical production environments; they used Camunda for modeling and execution. Similarly, in [34], [PERSON] et al. created a semantic framework for developing IoT-aware business processes. Signavio ([[https://www.signavio.com/](https://www.signavio.com/)]([https://www.signavio.com/](https://www.signavio.com/)), accessed on 22 June 2021) was extended to support semantically annotated Business Process Modeling Notation (BPMN) in the process editor. [35] proposes a service-based framework architecture that uses Semantic Web technology and a workflow engine for service orchestration. Further, ref. [36] supposes a reference architecture and agile development method for engineering platforms via a Process Driven Approach (PDA) based on the BPMN standard and process engines.