Process Mining

Would you like to obtain more insight into the bottlenecks in your organisation, into purchase and sales processes, client contact moments or other operational processes? Process Mining can be used to explain causes of long lead times in processes, dissatisfied clients and out-of-date stocks in a clear and unambiguous way.

Process Mining charts processes on the basis of meta data, also known as log data or event data, that are stored in the systems. Process Mining is fully data-driven, and therefore it is important that process data is recorded in a structural manner with an export option.

A process may consist of anything at all, for example a complaints procedure, invoice processing, customs returns or timesheets. It could also be how an order is shipped or complaints handling by the service desk. All manner of processes can be charted, provided the log data are recorded and available.

Process Mining has three different objectives

1. Process Discovery - chart processes

Charting the underlying processes by analysing and connecting the available data. This visualises the process and that provides answers to questions, such as what does the underlying process look like, which activities are carried out and in which order, and what is the cooperation between departments?

2. Process Compliance - determining whether the process went well

By charting the underlying process it can be compared with the process design, and the differences produce valuable insights from daily practice. Process Mining uses all log data, so exceptions are charted too.

3. Process Optimisation - identify bottlenecks in the process

In addition to Process Discovery or Compliance you can look for the improvement points. Bottlenecks in the process are places where waiting time starts adding up, where steps are repeated, or actions skipped. Process Mining can also identify the risks in existing processes, enabling them to be tweaked to improve the process.

Effective use of Process Mining requires a customised approach. For example, you can use interviews to validate processes and to identify improvement points. When Process Discovery, Process Compliance and Process Optimisation are applied correctly, they provide enormous value to management, internal and external audits and other departments in your organisation.