3 Key Takeaways from Process Mining & BPM Digital Summit Europe

The fact that automation continues to drive business process management (BPM) probably doesn’t come as a surprise to many. SSON Analytics data shows that among shared services professionals automated solutions (88%) and data analytics (87%) were considered the highest priority when it comes to supporting process optimization. Despite this awareness, many business processes are unprepared for automation to begin with.

During this week’s online Process Mining & BPM Digital Summit Europe event, the focus was on what strategies can be implemented to get businesses, employees and processes ready for the latest process mining strategies. In this analysis, you’ll find three takeaways from the event that help illustrate how to optimize process mining for your business.

1. Analyze Processes Before Purchasing Products

Anna Alechno, the Global Process and Automation Lead for PepsiCo, discussed the importance of preparing processes for workflow mapping and automation during the Process Mining & BPM Digital Summit.

Alechno, a shared services professional with nearly twenty years of experience, adamantly believes that without the right preparation, the transition to process mining strategies can leave stakeholders disappointed.

Business processes rely on metrics to measure success, and owners to organize and oversee the implementation of processes. The goal of automation is generally to smooth out and simplify those processes.

However, automation can only achieve that goal if there is a clear understanding of how business processes are organized and maintained to begin with.

Many businesses will invest in automation before BPM has ensured processes are up-to-date, well-managed and organized. Alechno believes it is essential for companies to utilize BPM to ensure expectations are aligned before purchasing process mining technology. 

“We automate for the sake of the processes,” Alechno said. “We don’t automate processes for the sake of automation because if we do that we can still have a mess… just an automated one.”

Employees and business leaders alike need to engage, analyze and communicate regarding their processes before spending on process mining.

Alechno added that companies could use process mining as a tool to determine what further automation is needed, but there needs to be a unified agreement regarding which processes aren’t ready.

2. You Don’t Have to Take On Process Mining Alone

Striving for process excellence can be a daunting challenge, especially when working with new technologies. These challenges are familiar for Daniel Peled, SVP Channel and Global Sales at Nintex-Kyron, but fortunately, resources exist to ensure reaching process excellence isn’t a solo mission.

During “The Business Process Engine: Driving Business Process Excellence at Standard Bank” segment of the Process Mining & BPM Digital Summit, Peled explained how using a workflow automation firm can speed up the process of reaching process excellence.

“From finding the processes to collecting the data, all the way to having customers interact with the new formats that have been designed, companies can have an end-to-end solution,” Peled said.

Peled used Standard Bank in South Africa as a prime example of a company utilizing resources to improve process experiences.

Standard Bank, like many companies, was looking to automate processes in order to stay competitive in the industry. Standard Bank committed itself to analyzing its processes, which led to the realization that many of the bank’s processes were outdated and executed manually.

The bank’s next step was to understand which processes needed to be focused on first. This step would typically rely on shadowing, operational walkthroughs and interviews to gather process insights, which can typically take weeks. However, by using a PoC on the Kyron platform, Standard Bank was able to determine which processes should be prioritized within a matter of days.

Once Standard Bank decided to focus on the demand for data retention, and certain processes were prioritized, the bank reached the conclusion they should continue using Kyron’s services.

By utilizing Kyron’s AWS platform, Standard Bank was able to standardize business processes, problems, and opportunities under one automated domain.

3. Established KPI’s Get C-Suite Buy-In for Process Tools

While process mining seems essential, some business leaders may be wary of digitizing data and processes.

James Newell, the former Head of Business Process Excellence/Operational Excellence at Lapp Group, spoke about how KPIs can be used as a tool to convince business leaders to commit to process mining strategies.

“Getting leadership buy-in is the key thing, and it can seem like a challenging task, but it becomes easy when you show transparency in key business figures such as data and numbers,” Newell said.

Although transparency can provide results, the process of collecting and analyzing that data can be time-consuming. That’s where KPIs can benefit employee’s push for process mining.

Newell has broken down two types of KPIs. There are the traditional Key Performance Indicators, as well as Key Potential Indicators, which Newell believes are important when pitching process mining to business leaders. 

Key Potential Indicators are measurements that show why the process is ineffecient and display employee effectiveness after training. According to Newell, these measurements need to be taken at the genba [the place where value is created], by the people involved with the process.

When concluding, Newell added that combining transparency with results from Key Potential Indicators can often provide the best results. And when pitching the need for process mining, make sure it happens at the place where the process is maintained to ensure business leaders understand what the measurements mean and why employees are requesting process mining.

This analysis was just a brief summary of lessons learned during the Process Mining & BPM Digital Summit Europe. If you are interested in learning more about this topic, be sure to register for SSON’s Continuous Improvement Digital Summit and SSO Digital Week Europe.