Have you ever heard about process mining? The term has been gaining ground in the corporate market, especially among companies seeking to increase productivity and understand business bottlenecks.
But if you don’t know it yet, don’t worry; this is the ideal time to learn more about the subject. So, keep following the post and find out more!
What Is Process Mining?
Process mining is a mapping method whose main objective is to understand a company’s or department’s processes and activity flows.
Many companies and managers have used this method to improve and have more control over the procedures carried out within the business.
This process mining is achieved through systemic movements using information collected in companies’ databases.
It is essential to highlight that process management has been developing more and more over the years since the 1960s, becoming part of the routine of several departments.
Initially, the method that governed process management was called Total Quality Management (TQM).
Later, Process Reengineering, Lean Six Sigma, and Business Process Management (BPM) techniques emerged, also known as Business Process Management.
We can say that the new cycle of evolution within process management is process mining.
How Does It Work?
So that you understand how process mining works in practice, below we will exemplify how it operates, as well as describe the three steps that comprise this method.
Starting with the example, firstly, it is necessary to point out that nowadays, most companies have some management system where countless data are stored. After some time, this information has no use for the business, being left forgotten in an archive.
It turns out that this data offers significant information for managers and entrepreneurs, which can be used strategically. And that’s where process mining comes into play.
The idea of this method is to analyze all the information gathered over the years through reverse engineering, that is, to evaluate each stage of the process in a regressive way to understand the efficiency of the processes.
For example, the outflow of a certain amount of money is identified in the accounting department. Using reverse engineering, it turns out that this value comes from a bill paid by the company to a supplier.
In turn, the bill is related to an invoice issued by the supplier. Subsequently, it is identified that this note was generated after the company made a purchase.
Finally, it is seen that this acquisition was derived from the purchase request made by a particular sector of the enterprise. This way, it is possible to investigate each step of the entire request, purchase and payment process for a specific product or input.
Now that you can understand more about process mining, see below the three steps that make up this method.
Discovery
The first stage of process mining is discovery, which consists of organizing all the data stored by the company so that the actual scenario of implementing processes becomes evident.
Confirmation
In the second stage, confirmation, a comparison is made between the real scenario identified in the first stage and the scenario desired by the company to identify flaws. At this stage, the concept of reverse engineering is applied to assist in the analysis of processes.
In addition, information is previously interpreted, and hypotheses are created using artificial intelligence or specialized consultancy.
Improvements
Finally, the last step consists of the final interpretation of the data and the proposal of improvements to increase efficiency in the processes.
The Benefits Of Applying Process Mining In The Company
See below a set of benefits provided by process mining.
Process Optimization
One of the main benefits of process mining is the optimization of processes, considering that the company’s activities are all evaluated to find flaws and bottlenecks in execution.
Increased Quality Of Products And Services
With process optimization and all the analysis carried out during process mining, the quality of products or services offered by the company increases as problems are solved and new, more effective strategies are implemented.
Greater Savings
Finally, the benefits highlighted above trigger more significant savings for the company as processes are optimized, eliminating errors and unnecessary expenses. Furthermore, it is worth highlighting that, in the financial sphere, it is possible to obtain greater profitability.
This occurs considering that the increase in the quality of products and services is reflected in greater customer satisfaction, who become loyal. It is necessary to remember that a loyal customer generates more significant savings, as it is cheaper than attracting new consumers.
Tips To Start Implementing Process Mining
To implement process mining in your company, you need to have a management system and professionals qualified to handle this technology or hire a specialized consultancy in the subject, which will be responsible for executing all the steps mentioned in the post with excellence.
Suppose you want to conduct a short experience in the area before entering college or seek a course to train your employees quickly. In that case, Impacta has an online course in Process and Systems Management for Entrepreneurs, which lasts just 3 hours and offers a general overview of the area.
Finally!
As you can see, process mining is an innovative method within process management. Furthermore, it is a method with just three steps to complete.
However, to carry out these steps, it is necessary to have both a system that has artificial intelligence and the expertise necessary to operate the system and interpret the data obtained.
Also Read: Process Automation: How Does It Work