Process mining: can small firms use it to find tasks?

Key takeaways

Process mining for small business means using the event logs your systems record, each with a case, an activity and a timestamp, to rebuild how work actually flows. It shows the real paths, delays and rework. It is powerful for high-volume flows in one or two systems, but most small firms get 80% of the insight from simple exports and a spreadsheet.

• Process mining rebuilds flows from system event logs.
• Each event needs a case ID, activity and timestamp.
• Best for high-volume flows in one or two systems.
• For most SMEs, simple exports give most of the insight.

What is process mining?

Process mining is a data technique that reads the event logs systems record, such as 'order created', 'payment received', 'order shipped', and reconstructs the actual sequence for every case. It shows the common paths, the unusual ones, where time is lost and how often steps are repeated, without anyone drawing a map by hand.

• How to identify tasks suitable for outsourcing
• Use your software data to find manual work

When does process mining make sense for an SME?

It works when several conditions are met.

• High volume: hundreds or thousands of cases a month.
• Most steps recorded in one or two systems.
• Logs with case IDs and timestamps you can export.
• A specific question, such as 'why do orders take five days?'

• Straight-through processing: cut the touches per task
• How to find the bottleneck that is capping your growth

What is the simpler alternative?

Export the same events to a spreadsheet and calculate time between key steps, count cases that loop back, and count manual edits by type. That shows most of what a mining tool would, at no cost. Combine it with a swimlane drawn with the team, which captures the steps no system records.

• Swimlane diagrams: see who does each task
• Count your task volumes before you outsource anything

What does this look like in practice?

A pattern we see: an online retailer exports a few months of order events. A simple spreadsheet shows a noticeable share of orders looping back for an address correction, adding delay. Address checking becomes a clear, high-volume task to hand over, and the form is fixed to reduce errors at source.

• See client work
• BPO Solutions for UK businesses

Process mining checklist

• Check volume and where events are recorded.
• Export case IDs, activities and timestamps.
• Calculate time between key steps.
• Count loops and manual edits.
• Use a tool only if the spreadsheet runs out.

• Swimlane diagrams: see who does each task
• The admin behind each order: trace one sale end to end

Next step

Export one month of order or ticket events from your main system and calculate the average time between the first and last step. That single number tells you where to look.