Introduction
What Data Do You Need?
Process mining works with event logs—records of things that happen in your business systems. The good news: you probably already have this data.
The Three Essential Elements
Every event in your log needs just three things:
| Element | What It Means | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Activity | What happened | "Order Placed", "Invoice Sent", "Payment Received" |
| Timestamp | When it happened | "2024-01-15 09:30:00" |
| Case ID | What it happened to | Order #12345, Customer ID, Ticket Number |
Swipe to see the rest of the table
That's it. With these three elements, process mining can reconstruct your entire process flow automatically.
Where Does This Data Come From?
You likely already have event logs in:
- ERP systems — SAP, Oracle, NetSuite track every transaction
- CRM platforms — Salesforce, HubSpot log customer interactions
- Support systems — Zendesk, ServiceNow record ticket lifecycles
- Databases — Any system that logs activities with timestamps
- Spreadsheets — Exported transaction logs or activity reports
A Simple Example
Here's what process-ready data looks like:
| Order ID | Timestamp | Activity |
|---|---|---|
| ORD-001 | Jan 15, 9:00am | Order Placed |
| ORD-001 | Jan 15, 10:30am | Payment Confirmed |
| ORD-001 | Jan 16, 2:00pm | Shipped |
| ORD-001 | Jan 18, 11:00am | Delivered |
| ORD-002 | Jan 15, 11:00am | Order Placed |
| ORD-002 | Jan 15, 11:05am | Payment Confirmed |
| ORD-002 | Jan 15, 3:00pm | Shipped |
Swipe to see the rest of the table
From this simple table, process mining can show you:
- The typical path orders follow
- How long each step takes
- Which orders deviate from the norm
- Where delays occur
No Perfect Data Required
Your data doesn't need to be perfectly clean. Process mining tools (including Flow Myna) are designed to handle real-world messiness—inconsistent formats, missing values, and varying column names. Just export what you have and let the tool do the heavy lifting.
Process Mining Fundamentals
This is part of a 4-part introduction to process mining:
What is Process Mining?
The basics of data-driven process analysis.
What Data Do You Need?
Event logs, timestamps, and case IDs explained.
Object-Centric Approach
Handle real-world complexity with multiple objects.
What Insights Can You Get?
Bottlenecks, compliance gaps, and optimization opportunities.