Process Mining Glossary

Everybody is talking about Process Mining! But what is it all about?
Have a look to our Process Mining Glossary. Get explanations for all the important terms you need to know for a better understanding of process mining.

A B C D E F G H I J K L M
N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z

A

Activities List

List of all activities included in the dataset with # of occurrences and color based conformance.

Actionable insights

After thorough data analysis and patterns in the data have been found, key insights can be uncovered and acted upon.

Automated business process discovery (ABPD)

A collection of tools and techniques used to define, map and analyze an organization’s existing business processes. Automation software "watches" business users perform normal activities within their organizational framework, from ERP systems to web apps and many more. Using artificial intelligence, ABPD then chains together business processes across different end-users to traverse organizational silos, giving you an accurate view of the full end-to-end business process and all its variations. ABPD delivers information on bottlenecks, variances, root causes and the distribution of the process instances, thus enabling meaningful simulation. It’s all about capturing what has happened in a real-life process.

Automation Rate

The ratio of how many activities are executed manually vs automated (system user activities/total actitvities) Looking at automation rates is crucial in defining RPA goals and KPIs. Automation rates are a good indicator of RPA potential - processes that begin with low automation rates can benefit significantly from RPA.

B

Bar Chart

Visual graph type which shows volume on an x and y axis.

Behavior Analysis

Analysis of general behavioral patterns hidden in the process map.

Bottleneck

Any connection between two activities where the process is executed slowly.

BPO (Business Process Outsourcing)

The outsourcing of processes to outside service providers.

C

Case

The transactional indicator (e.g. purchase order, ticket id, case number, etc.).

Case ID, Activities and Timestamps

Event log data required for process mining to work.

Cases Table

Table with all cases and selectable attributes of the dataset.

Conformance Analysis

Analysis of how aligned process variants are with process models.

Conformance Checking

compare real process with BPMN model (visual mapping available)

Conformance/ conformance checking

Comparing real process with BPMN model (visual mapping available).

Continuous Monitoring

Tracking the impact of RPA initiative such as ROI.

Cost Analysis

Given a set of fix/variable costs of my process, how expensive a variant is compared to the other.

Cycle Time

How long a case needs to run from beginning to end of the process.

D

Dialog Users

Term for manual users in SAP.

Digital twin

A digital replica of a real entity, system, or process. Digital twins are often used to develop analytics for predicting, optimizing and developing aspects of your business.

E

Event

An activity that is executed for the main transactional indicator or for a logically linked transactional object (e.g. you have purchase order and invoice).

Execution Pattern

Also known as execution models.

F

Funnel Analysis

A visual representation of the data volume transitions from one activity to the other.

H

Happy path

Finding the simplest version of your process. A default scenario with no errors.

Histogram

Chart showing the distribution of a KPI over dynamic segments and it’s average

Hotspots

Visual representations of the hottest process areas.

I

Investigation

The container of all widgets & chapters related to one analysis.

L

Loop

Any activity that is executed 2 or more times in a row.

O

Occurrences

Number of times a certain case or event happens.

P

Process

The container of all data related to one transactional indicator = data model container.

Process Analytics

Data to show you both how your process is performing and insights on how to improve it.

Process Bottlenecks

A point in a process in which capacity is limited, therefore slowing down the entire process.

Process Discovery

Visual representation of all cases of the uploaded dataset.

Process Improvement

Optimizing your existing business processes to make them run faster and more efficiently.

Process Intelligence

End-to-end process management that harnesses the hidden value in your processes. You'll gain operational insights into potential risks and ongoing monitoring and improvement opportunities, too. The powerful combination of process discovery, process analysis, and conformance checking supports a collaborative approach to process improvement, giving you game-changing insights into your business.

Process Performance

Is your process performing as it should? Identify a set of metrics/KPIs that will enable you to measure your process performance.

Process Variants

Visual representation of the most important variants of the dataset.

Processtraces

The technical foundation of Process Mining. Insights are built with the digital traces which have been extracted from backend source systems.

R

Rework

Any activity that signals an extra step for a case.

RPA (Robotic Process Automation)

The technology to automate manual, repetitive, error-prone processes. Software robots record a process workflow, map the process and automate the execution of these processes.

S

Spaghetti diagram

Use a spaghetti diagram, the visual representation of activities going throug a process, to identify opportunities to improve the workflow.

Spreadsheet

Static sheet to record excel style info.

Success Rate

Given a set end-goal for the process (e.g. opportunity won, invoice paid) how probable is the success of my process for any activity / connection available

System Users

Term for "robot" use in SAP.

T

Text

Static sheet to record word style info.

Throughput Analysis

Analysis for cycle times and bottlenecks.

Throughput times

The time it takes for a process to be executed completely.

Time Series

Chart showing development of a KPI over time (days, weeks, months).

U

User Analysis

Analysis of activities and performance of a single user, system or robot.

V

Variable Importance

Root-cause analysis for event level attributes.

View

The container of a data subset related to one process with some filters and columns.

W

Widget

The single analytical component.

Workspace

The general suite space allocated to a customer.