Process Mining: The Hidden Superpower Reshaping Business Operations

Process mining, once a niche tool for academic researchers, is having a breakout year in 2020. As digital transformation accelerates, enterprise leaders are urgently seeking visibility into their actual business processes—and process mining has stepped into the spotlight as a secret weapon for operational excellence.

What is Process Mining?

Process mining uses data from IT systems—think ERP, CRM, workflow tools—to automatically reconstruct and visualize the real flow of tasks and activities in a business process. Instead of relying on interviews, workshops, or theoretical process maps, organizations get a data-driven, objective view of what is truly happening inside their operations.

Key benefits:

• Uncover process bottlenecks and deviations
• Quantify inefficiencies and compliance risks
• Accelerate digital transformation initiatives
• Support fact-based decisions on automation and optimization

Why 2020 Is the Year of Process Mining

This year, the perfect storm of cloud migration, remote work, and the pressure for operational agility is pushing process transparency to the top of the boardroom agenda. In a recent Gartner report, process mining was singled out as a “must-have” capability for enterprises undergoing large-scale change.

Key driving factors:

• Explosion of operational data: Enterprises now have years’ worth of digital traces that can be mined for insights.
• Vendor innovation: Tools from companies like Celonis, Signavio, and UiPath are maturing rapidly with user-friendly dashboards and AI-powered insights.
• Urgency for post-COVID resilience: CxOs need real-time visibility to pivot and streamline operations in an unpredictable environment.

How Process Mining Works in Practice

Imagine a global manufacturing company struggling with late order deliveries. Traditional analysis involves painstaking interviews, but with process mining, they can:

• Extract event logs from SAP or Microsoft Dynamics
• Automatically visualize the order-to-cash process
• Identify where delays really happen (e.g., order approvals, invoice creation)
• Quantify the impact and simulate improvement scenarios

Companies in banking, insurance, healthcare, logistics, and telecom are using process mining to:

• Shorten cycle times
• Ensure compliance with regulations
• Reduce manual rework
• Optimize customer journeys

Comparison: Process Mining vs. Traditional BPM

Feature	Process Mining	Traditional BPM
Approach	Data-driven, empirical	Rule-based, theoretical
Discovery speed	Fast (automated)	Slow (manual mapping)
Adaptability	High (real-time)	Low (infrequent reviews)
Transparency	End-to-end, objective	Often incomplete

Real-World Example: Siemens

Siemens, a global industrial powerhouse, adopted process mining in 2018 for its accounts payable process. By 2020, they achieved:

• 10% faster invoice processing
• Improved compliance rate
• Significant reduction in manual errors

Their experience demonstrates that process mining isn’t just a diagnostic tool—it’s a lever for continuous improvement.

Getting Started with Process Mining

1. Identify a critical business process (e.g., purchase-to-pay, customer onboarding)
2. Engage IT to access event log data from ERP, CRM, or ticketing systems
3. Pilot with a leading vendor platform to visualize your process
4. Use insights to inform automation or process redesign initiatives

Key Takeaways for Decision-Makers

• Process mining reveals the invisible spaghetti of your business workflows
• It’s a practical, scalable entry point for process automation and optimization
• Early adopters are already seeing payoffs in speed, cost, and compliance

Conclusion

As 2020 draws to a close, process mining is no longer just an experimental technology—it’s a board-level imperative for digital transformation. Investing in process transparency today will yield strategic and operational benefits for years to come.

Ready to see your business processes as they really are? Now is the time to unleash the power of process mining.