BPMN Token Cannon – The Modeling Mistake That Breaks Processes

What is a “token cannon” in BPMN—and why can it silently destroy your process models? The video explains the concept of a “token cannon” in BPMN and why it is a dangerous modeling pattern. It shows how certain constructs can unintentionally create an uncontrolled number of tokens that overload or break a process. Link to a video where a token cannon could make sense: https://youtu.be/BuwLJl6Cpyo This is video #63 of the #BPMNSeries. 00:00 Introduction 00:41 Cannon #1: AND-split 01:00 Cannon #2: OR-split 01:28 Cannon #3: Boundary event 02:14 Cannon #4: Boundary event 02:41 Cannon #5: Implicit 03:12 Cannon #6: Implicit 03:48 Cannon #7: Implicit 04:11 Cannon #9: OR-split and XOR-Join 04:50 Cannon #10: Signal Boundary Event 05:50 Relevance of token cannons #BPMN #BusinessProcessManagement #ProcessModeling ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Here is how cite this video in a scientific paper: Hense, A. (2026, February 11). BPMN Token Cannon – The Modeling Mistake That Breaks Processes. Zenodo. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.18364377 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------