Workflow mining: a survey of issues and approaches
01 Nov 2003-Vol. 47, Iss: 2, pp 237-267
TL;DR: This paper introduces the concept of workflow mining and presents a common format for workflow logs, and discusses the most challenging problems and present some of the workflow mining approaches available today.
Abstract: Many of today's information systems are driven by explicit process models. Workflow management systems, but also ERP, CRM, SCM, and B2B, are configured on the basis of a workflow model specifying the order in which tasks need to be executed. Creating a workflow design is a complicated time-consuming process and typically there are discrepancies between the actual workflow processes and the processes as perceived by the management. To support the design of workflows, we propose the use of workflow mining. Starting point for workflow mining is a so-called "workflow log" containing information about the workflow process as it is actually being executed. In this paper, we introduce the concept of workflow mining and present a common format for workflow logs. Then we discuss the most challenging problems and present some of the workflow mining approaches available today.
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26 Jun 2003
TL;DR: The acronyms in this domain are tried to demystify, the state-of-the-art technology is described, and it is argued that BPM could benefit from formal methods/languages.
Abstract: Business Process Management (BPM) includes methods, techniques, and tools to support the design, enactment, management, and analysis of operational business processes. It can be considered as an extension of classical Workflow Management (WFM) systems and approaches. Although the practical relevance of BPM is undisputed, a clear definition of BPM and related acronyms such as BAM, BPA, and STP are missing. Moreover, a clear scientific foundation is missing. In this paper, we try to demystify the acronyms in this domain, describe the state-of-the-art technology, and argue that BPM could benefit from formal methods/languages (cf. Petri nets, process algebras, etc.).
1,480 citations
TL;DR: An incremental approach to check the conformance of a process model and an event log is proposed and a Conformance Checker has been implemented within the ProM framework and it has been evaluated using artificial and real-life event logs.
1,111 citations
Cites background from "Workflow mining: a survey of issues..."
...Conformance checking assumes the presence of a given descriptive or prescriptive process model, and therefore has a different starting point, but nevertheless it is closely related to typical process mining techniques [10, 9], which aim at the discovery of a process model based on some event log....
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..., WFM, ERP, CRM, SCM, and B2B systems, provide some kind of event log (also referred to as transaction log or audit trail) [9]....
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..., extracting information from event logs [9]....
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20 Jun 2005
TL;DR: The ProM framework is introduced and an overview of the plug-ins that have been developed and is flexible with respect to the input and output format, and is also open enough to allow for the easy reuse of code during the implementation of new process mining ideas.
Abstract: Under the umbrella of buzzwords such as “Business Activity Monitoring” (BAM) and “Business Process Intelligence” (BPI) both academic (e.g., EMiT, Little Thumb, InWoLvE, Process Miner, and MinSoN) and commercial tools (e.g., ARIS PPM, HP BPI, and ILOG JViews) have been developed. The goal of these tools is to extract knowledge from event logs (e.g., transaction logs in an ERP system or audit trails in a WFM system), i.e., to do process mining. Unfortunately, tools use different formats for reading/storing log files and present their results in different ways. This makes it difficult to use different tools on the same data set and to compare the mining results. Furthermore, some of these tools implement concepts that can be very useful in the other tools but it is often difficult to combine tools. As a result, researchers working on new process mining techniques are forced to build a mining infrastructure from scratch or test their techniques in an isolated way, disconnected from any practical applications. To overcome these kind of problems, we have developed the ProM framework, i.e., an “pluggable” environment for process mining. The framework is flexible with respect to the input and output format, and is also open enough to allow for the easy reuse of code during the implementation of new process mining ideas. This paper introduces the ProM framework and gives an overview of the plug-ins that have been developed.
958 citations
Cites background from "Workflow mining: a survey of issues..."
...Therefore, we limit ourselves to a brief introduction to this topic and refer to [3, 4] and the http://www....
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TL;DR: This paper describes the application of process mining in one of the provincial offices of the Dutch National Public Works Department, responsible for the construction and maintenance of the road and water infrastructure.
804 citations
Cites background or methods from "Workflow mining: a survey of issues..."
...For more information on process mining we refer to a special issue of Computers in Industry on process mining [31] and a survey paper [2]....
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...The goal of process mining is to extract information about processes from transaction logs [2]....
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24 Sep 2007
TL;DR: A new process mining approach is proposed that is configurable and allows for different faithfully simplifiedviews of a particular process, just like different roadmaps provide suitable abstractions of reality.
Abstract: Process Mining is a technique for extracting process models from executionlogs. This is particularly useful in situations where people have an idealizedview of reality. Real-life processes turn out to be less structured than peopletend to believe. Unfortunately, traditional process mining approaches haveproblems dealing with unstructured processes. The discovered models are often"spaghetti-like", showing all details without distinguishing what is important andwhat is not. This paper proposes a new process mining approach to overcome thisproblem. The approach is configurable and allows for different faithfully simplifiedviews of a particular process. To do this, the concept of a roadmap is used asa metaphor. Just like different roadmaps provide suitable abstractions of reality,process models should provide meaningful abstractions of operational processesencountered in domains ranging from healthcare and logistics to web servicesand public administration.
795 citations
References
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TL;DR: This paper introduces workflow management as an application domain for Petri nets, presents state-of-the-art results with respect to the verification of workflows, and highlights some Petri-net-based workflow tools.
Abstract: Workflow management promises a new solution to an age-old problem: controlling, monitoring, optimizing and supporting business processes. What is new about workflow management is the explicit representation of the business process logic which allows for computerized support. This paper discusses the use of Petri nets in the context of workflow management. Petri nets are an established tool for modeling and analyzing processes. On the one hand, Petri nets can be used as a design language for the specification of complex workflows. On the other hand, Petri net theory provides for powerful analysis techniques which can be used to verify the correctness of workflow procedures. This paper introduces workflow management as an application domain for Petri nets, presents state-of-the-art results with respect to the verification of workflows, and highlights some Petri-net-based workflow tools.
2,862 citations
"Workflow mining: a survey of issues..." refers background in this paper
...The first approach we would like to discuss in more detail uses a specific class of Petri nets, named workflow nets (WF-nets), as a theoretical basis [1,4]....
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Book•
01 Jan 1999TL;DR: Communicating Systems: Behaviour of automata and Observation equivalence: theory, examples, and Discussion and related work Bibliography Index.
Abstract: Glossary Part I. Communicating Systems: 1. Introduction 2. Behaviour of automata 3. Sequential processes and bisimulation 4. Concurrent processes and reaction 5. Transitions and strong equivalence 6. Observation equivalence: theory 7. Observation equivalence: examples Part II. The pi-Calculus: 8. What is mobility? 9. The pi-calculus and reaction 10. Applications of the pi-calculus 11. Sorts, objects and functions 12. Commitments and strong bisimulation 13. Observation equivalence and examples 14. Discussion and related work Bibliography Index.
2,557 citations
"Workflow mining: a survey of issues..." refers background in this paper
...Languages such as Petri nets [50] are graph-based while textual languages such as p-calculus [ 45 ] are block-oriented....
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01 Jul 2003
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors describe a number of workflow patterns addressing what they believe identify comprehensive workflow functionality and provide the basis for an in-depth comparison of commercial workflow management systems.
Abstract: Differences in features supported by the various contemporary commercial workflow management systems point to different insights of suitability and different levels of expressive power. The challenge, which we undertake in this paper, is to systematically address workflow requirements, from basic to complex. Many of the more complex requirements identified, recur quite frequently in the analysis phases of workflow projects, however their implementation is uncertain in current products. Requirements for workflow languages are indicated through workflow patterns. In this context, patterns address business requirements in an imperative workflow style expression, but are removed from specific workflow languages. The paper describes a number of workflow patterns addressing what we believe identify comprehensive workflow functionality. These patterns provide the basis for an in-depth comparison of a number of commercially available workflow management systems. As such, this paper can be seen as the academic response to evaluations made by prestigious consulting companies. Typically, these evaluations hardly consider the workflow modeling language and routing capabilities, and focus more on the purely technical and commercial aspects.
2,553 citations
Book•
01 Jan 2001
TL;DR: This book provides a basic overview of workflow terminology and organization, as well as detailed coverage of workflow modeling with Petri nets, to provide a comprehensive introduction to workflow management.
Abstract: This book offers a comprehensive introduction to workflow management, the management of business processes with information technology. By defining, analyzing, and redesigning an organization's resources and operations, workflow management systems ensure that the right information reaches the right person or computer application at the right time. The book provides a basic overview of workflow terminology and organization, as well as detailed coverage of workflow modeling with Petri nets. Because Petri nets make definitions easier to understand for nonexperts, they facilitate communication between designers and users. The book includes a chapter of case studies, review exercises, and a glossary. A special Web site developed by the authors, www.workflowcourse.com, features animation, interactive examples, lecture materials, exercises and solutions, relevant links, and other valuable resources for the classroom.
1,971 citations