Process mining
Process mining is a technique that reconstructs how processes actually run from the event logs of information systems — records of which activity happened, for which case, and when. It shows the real paths cases take, how long steps last, where cases loop back, and how often the process deviates from its intended flow.
What is process mining?
It is used in three main ways: to discover a process model from the data, to check conformance between the real and the intended process, and to enrich a model with times and frequencies. It needs, at minimum, a case identifier, an activity name and a timestamp per event, usually exported from systems such as an ERP or CRM.
Its limits are just as clear: it sees only what systems record, and it shows what happened, not why.
Not to be confused with task mining, which analyses how people work on their own computers, or with data mining in general.
Why it matters for SMEs
For example: a distributor mines its order handling and finds a long wait between order entry and release. The cause — a sales assistant checking every export order by hand against a spreadsheet — happens outside the ERP and is invisible in the data until someone asks.
For SMEs, mining pays off mainly for high-volume processes that run inside one or two systems. See process mapping vs process mining.
Process mining in the MentX approach
MentX captures how your company really works: the knowledge of your key people and the processes they run. We offer both a hands-on service approach — mapping your processes and capturing the knowledge behind them, from meetings, workshops and a guided intake — and our own personality-aware knowledge base, with full source attribution, in your own Knowledge Space. We build on the tools you already use and add best-practice solutions where they fit.
Where system data exists, it is a welcome input and a check on the map; the reasons come from the people. See process mining vs expert interviews.