Abstract: There is a problem in practical application of workflow management system. It is that the workflow processes have been defined with a low efficiency and productivity due to the complexity of actual business processes. An approach to this problem was proposed by adopting the idea and technique of software reuse. The solution is based on the archilecture of software product line and aims to improve the efficiency of the domain-specific workflow processes' definilion. Two types of reusable assets,domain business ontology and workflow template,were identified. Moreover,how to construct, describe and retrieve these reusable assets was discussed in detail. hhe steps to define the workflow process based on reuse were explained. As a demonstration, a definition tool was developed and the method was proved feasible and more productive in practice.

Key words: Software reuse, Software product line, Workflow, Domain business ontology, Workflow template