How many incoming flows should an AND gateway contain?

An AND gateway in a process model is used to create a parallel flow where all incoming paths must be satisfied for the flow to proceed. The key characteristic of an AND gateway is that it can have multiple incoming flows, which can come from various preceding activities or decision points in the process.

This is especially important in scenarios where you want to wait for several conditions or events to occur simultaneously before continuing the process execution. By allowing multiple incoming flows, the AND gateway enables a more complex model that can handle various paths and interactions effectively.

For instance, if you have a process that requires approvals from different departments before moving forward, each department can send its approval through separate incoming flows to the AND gateway. The process will not advance until all approvals are received, ensuring that all required conditions are met.

In contrast, an AND gateway does not work with just one incoming flow, which would not leverage its parallel processing capabilities. It also wouldn’t have a set limit such as being restricted to only two incoming flows, as it can handle as many as necessary, depending on the process requirements. Therefore, the appropriate understanding is that an AND gateway should be able to accommodate multiple incoming flows, aligning with how it functions within process modeling.