Read and understand digital traces!
IT systems leave a digital fingerprint during process handling. Analyzing this fingerprint provides important information about the straightforwardness of your processes.
What is process mining?
Process mining is an analysis method for investigating and optimizing business processes. It combines concepts from data analysis and process management to make real processes in organizations visible and comprehensible through data. This involves analyzing digital “traces” that arise in IT systems (such as ERP or CRM systems) during daily business operations. The aim is to identify hidden inefficiencies, deviations and potential for improvement in processes and to better understand processes.
What is the difference to process analysis?
With process analysis, the flow of a business process is recorded as part of a workshop with the employees involved in the process. The process steps recorded within the process can be carried out manually or digitally in IT. Manual process steps (e.g. checking in the warehouse or release by signature) cannot be recorded by process mining, unlike any status changes in the ERP system. In the case of digital process steps, numbers, data and facts replace the “gut feeling” of employees when it comes to questions such as how often certain events occur or how long they take. Process mining is therefore an ideal complement to systematic process analysis.
How does process mining work?
Process mining is essentially based on four core functions:
- Data extraction: Process mining uses event logs from IT systems, which contain information about the start and end of activities as well as timestamps and actors involved.
- Process modeling: The extracted data is used to create a model of the actual workflow. The path from the beginning to the end of a process (e.g. for order-to-cash: from the creation of a sales order to invoicing) is visualized and displayed, including all variants and deviations.
- Analysis: The next step is the analysis, in which the actual process model is compared with the “ideal” workflow. This identifies deviations, bottlenecks and inefficient processes.
- Optimization: Potential for optimization is identified based on the analysis. This allows processes to be accelerated, resources to be used more efficiently and cost savings to be realized.
We have been active as a management consultancy in the field of process and IT optimization since 1987. Our customers are primarily from the automotive and supplier industry, mechanical and plant engineering and the processing industry.
How does process mining help you to improve your factory performance?
Process mining brings transparency to your processes and gives you a real overview of how often and why the actual process standard is deviated from (e.g. how often the date, quantity or price was changed in an order to the supplier). In addition, you can see “at the touch of a button” how long certain sub-processes (e.g. from order creation to release of the production order or from dispatch to invoicing) take. This allows you to identify bottlenecks and measure the degree to which throughput time targets have been achieved.
How can process mining be implemented in the company?
Process mining can basically be implemented for all processes that are mapped in a company’s IT system. However, it is necessary to collect the data logs over a defined period for an initial process recording. At least 3 months is recommended here. Process mining is not an application for everyday use. Rather, it is about evaluating the duration and the “straight line” of a process at certain intervals and thus reviewing the measures introduced for process optimization. As a rule, separate software is required for process mining.
Case database
In this case database, you will find selected publications on the topic of process mining from our extensive knowledge database.
The publications in the knowledge database are generally only available in German. If you require information in another language, please send us a brief email and we will be happy to assist you.
| Autor | Titel | Erschienen in | Jahr |
|---|---|---|---|
| Wey, Guido | Process Mining bei der Impreg GmbH | Internes Exposé | 2024 |
Conclusion
With process mining, you can identify reasons for disruptions in the process, determine how often they occur and what impact they have on throughput time. Against this background, it is self-explanatory that the market for process mining systems will double in the next few years.