The Numina Workflow Manager will let you create a workflow for any application. This is accomplished by creating workflow statuses and setting the next statuses for each. You can also create work queues and assign access to each. The real usefulness of the Workflow Manager lies within the API and the applications that apply workflow.

I think it is best to explain how it works through an example. Lets pretend that we have a website where customers can order items. A typical scenario might look like this:

1. User places order using an online order form.
2. Website saves order and sets the initial status to Processing.
3. A person from the Finance department sees the order in their queue and processes the payment. If it goes through then they will move the order to the Charged status.
4. At this point the Floor Crew can pick up the order in their queue and move it to the Packaging status. They will gather the items needed and print the shipping label. Once the packaging is done they will move the order to the Ready for Shipment status.
5. The Customer Service department can now see the order in their queue. They will deal with handling the order from now until the customer gets it.
6. Some time later that day FedEx will come and pick up the package. When this happens the status will move to Shipped.

Each circle and box represents a different workflow status and each color represents a different queue. We will also allow Managers to see all queues, which will allow them to see all orders. We can simulate this workflow by adding all of the statuses in the Workflow Manager and then setting the next workflow status for each, like this:

1. Processing
   • Next Statuses:
     1. Hold
     2. Charged
     3. Void
2. Charged
   • Next Statuses:
     1. Packaging
     2. Void
3. Packaging
   • Next Statuses:
     1. Ready For Shipment
     2. Void
4. Ready For Shipment
   • Next Statuses:
     1. Shipped
5. Hold
   • Next Statuses:
     1. Processing
6. Void
   • No Next Statuses
7. Shipped
   • No Next Statuses

Then we will create our queues and assign the appropriate statuses. We’ll also assign which groups and users have access to each queue.

1. Finance Queue
   • Can view orders with status:
     1. Processing
     2. Hold
     3. Charged
     4. Void
   • Groups who can see this queue:
     1. Finance Department
     2. Managers
2. Packing Queue
   • Can view orders with status:
     1. Charged
     2. Packaging
   • Groups who can see this queue:
     1. Floor Crew
     2. Managers
3. Customer Service Queue
   • Can view orders with status:
     1. Ready For Shipment
     2. Shipped
     3. Void
   • Groups who can see this queue:
     1. Customer Service Department
     2. Managers

This is a basic workflow but I think it illustrates what you can do with the Workflow Manager. Like previously mentioned, all you are doing is creating statuses and defining which statuses you can go to. Queues are a mapping between statuses and users. They determine what each user can see. This same approach can be applied to create a much more intricate workflow as well.