The event-driven Process Chain (EPC) is a flow chart for business process modeling introduced by August-Wilhelm Scheer in the early 1990s. It illustrates the business process workflows. It uses graphical symbols to show the control-flow structure of a business process as a chain of events and functions.

EPC diagram example

Edit this EPC Diagram

EPC Symbols

EPC diagrams use graphical symbols to show the control-flow structure of a business process as a chain of events and functions.

It provides various connectors that allow alternative and parallel execution of processes. Furthermore, it is specified by the usages of logical operators, such as OR, AND, and XOR. A major strength of EPC is claimed to be its simplicity and easy-to-understand notation. This makes EPC a widely accepted technique to denote business processes.

The building blocks used in EPC diagrams are:

Name Representation Description
Event EPC diagram symbol: event An event describes what circumstances a function or a process works or which state a function or a process will be resulted in.
Function EPC diagram symbol: Function A function describes the transformations from an initial state to a resulting state.
Operator  EPC diagram symbol: Operators And – An and operation corresponds to activate all paths in the control flow concurrently.

Or – An or operator corresponds to activate one or more paths among control flows.

XOR – An XOR operator corresponds to make a decision on which path to choose among several control flows.

Organization unit EPC diagram symbol: Organization unit An organization unit determines which person or organization within the structure of an enterprise is responsible for a specific function.
Control flow EPC diagram symbol: control flow A control flow connects events with function, process paths or operators that create a chronological sequence and logical interdependencies between them.
Process path EPC diagram symbol: Process path A process path shows the connection from or to other processes.
Organization unit assignment EPC diagram symbol: Organization unit assignment An organization unit assignment shows the connection between an organization unit and the function it is responsible for.
Information resource EPC diagram symbol: Information source An information resource portrays objects in the real world that can input data serving as the basis of a function or output data produced by a function.
System EPC diagram symbol: System A system is the provider of functions in a process.
Information flow EPC diagram symbol: Information flow Information flow shows the connection between functions and input or output data, upon which the function reads changes or writes.

Looking for EPC Diagram Online Tool?

The online EPC Diagram maker of VP Online makes it straightforward to create EPC Diagrams online. The EPC Diagram maker is built around drag-and-drop functionality and comes with a rich set of standard EPC symbols for creating any kind of EPC Diagram.

EPC diagram account creation example

Edit this Event-Driven Process Chain Diagram

EPC diagram order received example

Edit this Event-Driven Process Chain

EPC diagram company overview example

Edit this EPC Diagram