Process Mining: The X-Ray Vision Your Business Needs Before Automating Anything

How Process Mining Works

Process mining sits at the intersection of data science and business process management. It works by extracting event logs from enterprise systems — every system that records timestamped activities (order created, invoice approved, ticket escalated) generates the raw material for process mining.

These event logs are then reconstructed into process maps — visual representations of how work actually flows through the organisation, including all variations, branches, and loops. Conformance analysis compares actual execution against the intended process design, identifying deviations, compliance violations, and ad-hoc workarounds. And performance analysis overlays timing data to identify bottlenecks, delays, and resource constraints.

The result is an objective, data-driven picture of operational reality — not the idealised version in the process documentation.

What Process Mining Reveals

Hidden bottlenecks — You might assume that order fulfilment takes three days because of warehouse processing time. Process mining might reveal that two of those days are actually spent waiting for credit approval — a step that could be automated or parallelised.

Process variants — A process that should follow one path may actually follow dozens. Process mining shows you how many variants exist, how often each occurs, and which ones are causing problems.

Rework and loops — Rework — where tasks are sent back for correction — is a silent productivity killer. Process mining quantifies rework rates and identifies root causes.

Compliance deviations — In regulated processes, deviations from standard procedure can create legal or regulatory risk. Process mining identifies non-compliant executions automatically.

Automation candidates — By visualising which steps are high-volume, rule-based, and time-consuming, process mining provides a data-driven foundation for prioritising automation investments.

Process Mining + Intelligent Automation

Process mining doesn't just identify what to automate — it ensures that automation delivers maximum value. Before automating, process mining reveals the true "as-is" state, preventing you from automating a suboptimal process. During implementation, it provides the process data needed to design effective automation workflows. After deployment, it measures the impact of automation on process performance — quantifying cycle time reduction, throughput improvement, and cost savings.

This creates a continuous improvement loop: mine → automate → measure → optimise → repeat.

Getting Started

Process mining requires minimal infrastructure — if your enterprise systems generate event logs (and nearly all do), you have the raw material. The key is choosing the right tool, configuring data extraction correctly, and having the process expertise to interpret results.

At Trufe, we offer process mining engagements that deliver actionable insights within weeks — giving you the visibility you need to make informed automation and optimisation decisions.

Trufe uses process mining to give enterprises X-ray vision into their operations — uncovering hidden inefficiencies and building the data-driven foundation for intelligent automation. Start your process discovery today.

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