The fourth speakers at Process Mining Camp 2019 were Bas van Beek and Frank Nobel from PGGM in the Netherlands.

When a company starts using process mining, they face not only the challenge of understanding what process mining can do and how to use the process mining tool. They also have to find the right place for process mining in the organization.

Often, there are multiple candidate teams who could lead the development of the process mining practice. For example, many companies have both a process improvement team (working with methodologies like BPM or Six Sigma) and a data science team (working with all kinds of data analysis techniques). Now, with process mining as the new kid on the block, which of these two groups should pick this up and integrate process mining into their way of working?

At PGGM, they have a Lean Six Sigma group and a Data Science group. They approach every process mining initiative as a multi-disciplinary team with people from both groups.

The initiatives themselves can be quite different. One of them, a project in the audit space, was particularly interesting because it achieved what most process mining in audit projects are after: Not just to increase the assurance, but also to make the audit more efficient.

Watch the video to learn more about three multi-disciplinary process mining projects that Bas and Frank have performed at PGGM.

From 15 to 24 June 2020, we will meet for our first digital edition of Process Mining Camp. This year, camp will not only be fully online and free of charge, but we are also trying out a new format.

We will get together for one live-streamed talk each day, with lots of discussion and socializing at the campfire in between. You can read more about this year’s camp format, and why we think it can create a more relaxed and engaging experience, on our updated camp website.

Take a look at the program and sign up now!

The third speaker at Process Mining Camp 2019 was Zvi Topol from MuyVentive in the United States.

As process miners, we develop an uncanny ability to spot potential process mining data everywhere. Once you understand the mental model for process mining, you start seeing case IDs, activity names, and timestamps for processes in all kinds of situations.

After more than 17 years of this “process mining data spotting” it is rare that I see a completely new application area of process mining come along. Yet, when I read Zvi’s article about mining chatbot interactions I was surprised, and we just had to invite him to present his use case at camp.

The application is broader than just chatbots because other natural language interfaces like voice interfaces (Amazon Echo, Google Home, etc.) can be analyzed with the same approach. The goal — similar to customer journey-type analyses — is to improve customer experience rather than to increase speed or reduce costs.

Watch Zvi’s talk to learn how chatbot interactions can be analyzed with process mining, and dive into the world of natural language processing.

From 15 to 24 June 2020, we will meet for our first digital edition of Process Mining Camp. This year, camp will not only be fully online and free of charge, but we are also trying out a new format.

We will get together for one live-streamed talk each day, with lots of discussion and socializing at the campfire in between. You can read more about this year’s camp format, and why we think it can create a more relaxed and engaging experience, on our updated camp website.

Take a look at the program and sign up now!

The second speakers at Process Mining Camp 2019 were Claus Mitterlehner and Jozef Gruzman from Raiffeisen Bank International in Austria.

At camp we are always trying to learn from each other. So, hearing how others are setting up their process mining practice is particularly valuable.

Jozef and Claus developed a standard approach for black-box process discoveries. That is a little different from what you normally see. Usually you are expected to start by defining the scope and the goals for the project together with the process owner right from the beginning.

Instead, using process mining, they first explore and review the processes pretty extensively on their own. Only then they dive deeper in the analysis with the subject matter experts.

Of course, a prerequisite for this approach is that you have some general domain knowledge about the process. Claus and Jozef have this domain knowledge, because they are part of the central process efficiency team that supports all the different countries in the bank.

Watch the video of how Claus and Jozef illustrate their approach and the deliverables they create for the business units based on the customer lending process.

From 15 to 24 June 2020, we will meet for our first digital edition of Process Mining Camp. This year, camp will not only be fully online and free of charge, but we are also trying out a new format.

We will get together for one live-streamed talk each day, with lots of discussion and socializing at the campfire in between. You can read more about this year’s camp format, and why we think it can create a more relaxed and engaging experience, on our updated camp website.

Take a look at the program and sign up now!

To get us all ready for Process Mining Camp, we have started to publish the videos from last year’s camp. Process Mining Camp 2019 had the most diverse set of process mining topics we had ever seen. You can look forward to hearing about a wide range of process mining applications. 

The first speaker was Freerk Jilderda from ASML.

Freerk Jilderda: Process Mining Machine Recoveries to Reduce Downtime (ASML, The Netherlands)

ASML provides chip makers with everything they need to mass-produce patterns on silicon, helping to increase the value and lower the cost of a chip. The key technology is the lithography system, which brings together high-tech hardware and advanced software to control the chip manufacturing process down to the nanometer. All of the world’s top chipmakers like Samsung, Intel and TSMC use ASML’s technology, enabling the waves of innovation that help tackle the world’s toughest challenges.

The machines are developed and assembled in Veldhoven in the Netherlands and shipped to customers all over the world. Freerk Jilderda is a project manager running structural improvement projects in the Development & Engineering sector. Availability of the machines is crucial and, therefore, Freerk started a project to reduce the recovery time.

A recovery is a procedure of tests and calibrations to get the machine back up and running after repairs or maintenance. The ideal recovery is described by a procedure containing a sequence of 140 steps. After Freerk’s team identified the recoveries from the machine logging, they used process mining to compare the recoveries with the procedure to identify the key deviations. In this way they were able to find steps that are not part of the expected recovery procedure and improve the process.

Watch Freerk’s talk now!

From 15 to 24 June 2020, we will meet for our first digital edition of Process Mining Camp. This year, camp will not only be fully online and free of charge, but we are also trying out a new format.

We will get together for one live-streamed talk each day, with lots of discussion and socializing at the campfire in between. You can read more about this year’s camp format, and why we think it can create a more relaxed and engaging experience, on our updated camp website.

Take a look at the program and sign up now!

Grab your warm sweaters, air out your sleeping bags, and pack your provisions — On 15–24 June we meet for Process Mining Camp 2020, online and in style.

When we were planning the first Process Mining Camp eight years ago, there were a lot of questions on our mind. One thing, however, was clear from the start: We wanted camp to be different.

Different from an academic conference — While academic conferences were the meeting places for process miners back then, they were clearly for researchers with lots of theoretical background knowledge and experience. We wanted something more open for practitioners and new-comers.

Different from typical commercial conferences and trade fairs — No sales pitches from the podium. No glossy brochures and booths with raffles on the floors. No sleazy lead generation masquerading as networking.

Our first camp back in 2012 was a wild ride. We found five great speakers who shared their stories with a fired-up audience, all squeezed into a small lecture room on the TU Eindhoven campus. To say that it was not the most polished experience is probably an understatement. We even managed to run out of coffee, repeatedly. The horror.

But it was accessible and open, not high-minded and secluded. It was humble, direct, and hands-on, not flashy and commercialized. It was quite a different beast indeed.

Over the years, we kept iterating on the idea of what Process Mining Camp could be. We improved a lot of what was lacking. We added parts that were missing. And, wherever possible, we tried something different.

Livestreaming. Fireside chats. Discussion workshops. Panels.

Not the sure thing, not the safe thing. There was a lot trial, and even more errors. But we made something… different.

This year, we don’t have the luxury of picking some fancy angle to add or modify. 2020 is very different, and not in a particularly fun way. Process Mining Camp 2020 will be quite different as well. But we can still have some fun.

Let’s do our own little Summer Camp of Process Mining this year!

So, of course, we will do this online, on the internet we all know and love. But is there still something we can do differently?

Well, you bet there is. Lots! Let’s just think about your run-of-the-mill online conference, or even any in-person conference like past camps. What sucks most about them?

1. You spend the whole day listening to presentation after presentation, you are overwhelmed with information, you can’t sit straight, and there is no time for a proper meal or quite enough sleep. Of course, there is also no time for getting stuff done, so even when you’re back home you need to catch up on work rather than getting to spend time with your family again.

   When you need to travel to a conference, this makes sense. You spend a lot of time, effort, and money to get there, so you want to get the most out of the experience. Open the firehose, bring the noise! At an online conference, however, this is just not necessary.

   At summer camp, we will limit ourselves to one presentation per day. Two hours max, at a palatable time of the day. You can be part of camp, get all the goods, and still live a normal life with family time and a normal stress level. Pretty sweet deal, no?

2. After each presentation, there is a call for questions, and the microphone is passed around the audience. Or you are supposed to type your two cents into a comment box. Whatever it may be, what if l’esprit d’escalier strikes again? You draw a blank when it matters, and on your way out, there it is: The brilliant, important question that should have been asked if there had only been enough time!

   At summer camp, you can ask that question. While we will have a short Q&A right after each talk, we asked our speakers to return the next day for a more extended chat. Any question that comes up overnight can get its time in the sun, and we will all be much smarter for it.

3. At physical conferences, you bump into other attendees in the hallway, and you need to sit next to them in a lecture hall and share food and drinks with them during the breaks.

   Okay, this one is pretty sweet, and there is no way we can match that with a remote experience. Bummer.

   However, we will get a nice campfire going, in our very own summer camp Slack community. Here, we can all get together and get to know one another. We will take our time and talk about the presentations, process mining, whatever. And make some friends along the way.

   All of our speakers will join us there, as will many of past years’ camp alumni, so you can be sure that there is a boatload of expertise for all your questions, and the finest company for just hanging out.

With all those moving parts, some things need to stay the same. For example, Wil van der Aalst will see us out for the summer with his traditional camp keynote, to be enjoyed straight from the comfort of your couch or backyard.

If all works out as planned, this year’s process mining camp will not only feel very different from past editions but will also stand miles apart from other online conferences — in a good way, if we’re lucky. I guess we will see. Things will go awry, problems will have to be dealt with, connections are going to drop – and yet, we shall prevail. Hopefully. In any way, we will all have done something a little different together, you and us.

Wish us luck, hurry to sign up, and see you all very soon!