Process mining
Since 2011, the Department of Information Technology is involved in a research in the area of process mining. The research is a continuation of the work performed since 2008 in the area of modeling and computer support of virtual organization and in the area of social network analysis.
The term process mining is used to describe techniques, tools, and methods to discover, monitor and improve real business processes by extracting knowledge from event logs commonly available in today's information systems (cf. Process Mining Manifesto). . The concept of process mining is based on observation that creating a process model, as stated in a classical business process management approach, is a complicated and time-consuming process and typically there are discrepancies between the actually executed processes and the envisioned process models. Moreover, ad-hoc processes cannot be modeled due to their unpredictability and emergence, but once they are executed, the knowledge concerning the model of executed process is still useful. Process mining is based on exploration of events generated by PAIS during the execution of process instances. Exploration aims at discovering process models describing actually executed process instances and facts associated with those models.
Research aims
The aims of a research in the area of process mining performed at the Departments of Information Technology are:
- development of a new process mining methods supporting inter organizational collaborative processes,
- practical application of process mining methods in industry,
- search for new areas of process mining applications,
- promotion of process mining concept among business practitioners and academics,
- organization of tutorials and workshops on process mining,
- inclusion of process mining in courses for students of the Poznań University of Economics.
Conducted work
Currently, the following works are conducted by the Department of Information Technology:
- "Analysis of document workflow processes using process mining techniques", industryproject in cooperation with Wielkopolska Voivodship Office in Poznań, July - August 2013
- "Analysis, improvement and monitoring of inventory processes using process mining methods", industry project in cooperation with Dendro Poland, March - August 2013
- project "Recommendation method RMV for partner and service selection in virtual organization breeding environments based on process mining techniques", project coordinator Zbigniew Paszkiewicz, the Polish National Science Center grant;
- membership in Polish Process Mining Group;
- membership in IEEE Task Force on Process Mining;
- cooperation with other Polish universities in the area of process mining
- process mining is a part of course for 3rd year students from the Faculty of Informatics and Electronic Economy, minor Electronic Business;
- process mining is a subject of interest of the .Net Group, student association working at the Department;
- articles promoting the concept of process mining among business practitioners published in industry journals and on the Web;
- participation in scientific and idustrial process mining events, e.g., Process Mining Camp, Dagstuhl seminars
- blog "Process mining the Polish way", www.eksploracjaprocesow.pl (in Polish), Facebook fan page http://www.facebook.com/EksploracjaProcesow, Twitter: @zpaszk;
Research team
The research team members:
Contact person: Zbigniew Paszkiewicz, M.Sc. zpasz@kti.ue.poznan.pl
Publications
Scientific publications:
- Paszkiewicz, Z., Process Mining Techniques in Conformance Testing of Inventory Processes: An Industrial Application, Proceedings of the 16th International Conference on Business Information Systems, Poznań, Poland 19 - 20 June, 2013 (to be published)
- Paszkiewicz, Z., W. Picard, Analysis of the Volvo IT Incident and Problem Handling Processes using Process Mining and Social Network Analysis, 9th International Workshop on Business Process Intelligence 2013, BPI Challenge 2013 (submitted for review)
- Picard, W., A Formalization of Social Requirements for Human Interactions with Service Protocols, in: Information Sciences, vol. 283 , Elsevier, 2013, pp. 1-21
- Paszkiewicz, Z., and W. Cellary: Computer Supported Collaboration of SMEs, in Transnational Market, in: Journal of Transnational Management , vol. 17, issue 4, ed. Becker, K., Taylor & Francis, 2012, pp. 294-313
- Paszkiewicz, Z., W. Cellary: Computer Supported Collaborative Processes in Virtual Organizations, in: Advances in Global Management Development. Challenges and opportunities of global business in the new millennium: contemporary issues and future trends, ed. Kaynak, E., and T. Harcar, The 20th Annual World Business Congress, July 3–7, 2011, Poznań, Poland, IMDA Press, 2011, pp. 85–94
Non-scientific publications
- Paszkiewicz, Z., Case Study: Process Mining for Analyzing Inventory Processes, Flux Capacitor, 28 January 2014
- Paszkiewicz, Z., A. Siurdyban, S. Chmiel, Eksploracja procesów w praktyce (Process Mining in Practice), IT-Professional, 4 November 2013
- Paszkiewicz, Z., Czynienik, Ł., Prześwietl swoją firmę (X-ray you company), Rzeczpospolita, Prawo gospodarcze, 20 September 2013 (in Polish)
- Paszkiewicz, Z., Analiza odchyleń (Conformance analysis), IT Professional, 1 August 2013 (in Polish)
- Paszkiewicz, Z., Process mining, IT Professional, 1 July 2013 (in Polish)
- En face: Zbigniew Paszkiewicz, Computerworld Poland, Nr 11/999, 29.05.2013, ISSN 0867-2334 (in Polish)
- Paszkiewicz, Z., Kierunki rozwoju eksploracji procesów (Further development of process mining techniques), Magazyn IT, 26.05.2013 (in Polish)
- Drogi na skróty nie ma (There is no other way), Computerworld.pl, 17 maja 2013 (in Polish)
- Paszkiewicz, Z., Narzędzia eksploracji procesów (Process mining tools), Magazyn IT, 6 maja 2013 (available alaso on erp-view.pl) (in Polish)
- Paszkiewicz, Z., Eksploracja procesów – otwierając czarne pudełko (Process mining - opening the black box), Magazyn IT, 12 kwietnia 2013 (available alaso on erp-view.pl) (in Polish)
Additional information
Online sources of information concerning process mining:
- IEEE taks force on process mining
- Process Mining Manifesto
- Process mining at the Eindhoven University of Technology
- Blog on process mining in Polish - www.eksploracjaprocesow.pl (pol.)
- Blog of the Fluxicon company
Other selected publications:
- Wil M.P. van der Aalst: Process Mining: Discovery, Conformance, Enhancement of Business Processes. Springer 2011
- Dumas, M., Aalst, W. van der, & Hofstede, A. ter (2005): Process-Aware Information Systems: Bridging People and Software through Process Technology. Wiley & Sons.
- Grigori, D., Casati, F., Castellanos, M., Dayal, U., Sayal, M., & Shan, M. (2004): Business Process Intelligence. Computers in Industry, 53 (3), 321–343.
- W.M.P. van der Aalst et al.: Business Process Mining: An Industrial Application. Information Systems, vol. 32, no. 5, 2007, pp. 713-732