Lesson 4 of 5
Variants and exceptions
9 min
A KPI tells you that something changed. To find out why, you need to see how documents actually flow. Process mining reconstructs the real process from system data and shows the paths documents take, including the ones nobody designed. This lesson introduces the concepts and SAP's offerings at a level a process owner needs.
Event logs and variants
Every SAP document carries timestamps: order created, changed, delivery created, goods issue posted, invoice created, payment cleared. Process mining collects these as an event log, one row per activity per case. Arrange them in time order for each case and you get the path that case took. Group identical paths and you get variants.
- ExtractTimestamps and attributes from SAP documents and change logs
- Event logCase ID, activity, timestamp, user, org unit
- Process graphAll paths drawn as one map with frequencies and times
- VariantsDistinct paths, ranked by frequency
- Root causeFilter variants by supplier, plant, user, document type
In a healthy process, a few variants cover most cases. In a troubled one, there are hundreds, and the extra ones are mostly rework loops: a price changed after the order, an invoice blocked and released, a delivery date changed three times.
| Variant | Path (Contoso P2P) | Share | What it suggests |
|---|---|---|---|
| Happy path | PO → goods receipt → invoice → payment | 58% | Designed flow |
| Price block loop | PO → goods receipt → invoice → price block → PO price change → release → payment | 21% | Outdated PO prices |
| Invoice before receipt | PO → invoice → quantity block → goods receipt → release → payment | 12% | Receiving posted late |
| Manual payment | PO → goods receipt → invoice → manual payment outside the run | 3% | Possible control bypass |
SAP's process intelligence offerings
Variant analysis is most useful when you filter. The same price block loop might be rare overall but concentrated on one supplier, one plant or one purchasing group. Filter the variants by those attributes and the driver usually stands out. Conformance checking, a related idea, compares actual paths with the designed process and highlights cases that skipped required steps, such as an invoice paid without a goods receipt where one was required.
SAP offers process mining under the SAP Signavio brand. SAP Signavio Process Intelligence is the full process mining tool: it builds event logs from SAP and other systems and lets analysts explore variants, conformance and root causes. SAP Signavio Process Insights is a more packaged offering for SAP ERP systems: it collects data from the system on a regular schedule and presents standard performance indicators, process flows with color-coded process blockers, company benchmarks and recommendations. Product names and packaging change, so check SAP's current offering with your account team.
Finding exceptions without process mining
You do not need a process mining tool to start. Embedded analytics and standard lists already show many exceptions: blocked invoices, credit-blocked orders, orders with incomplete data, deliveries without goods issue, billing documents not posted to accounting. Count them weekly, filter by plant, supplier or customer, and you have a simple exception analysis.
What would you do?
Process mining shows that 21% of Contoso's supplier invoices follow a price block loop, almost all for Lakeside Components and plant 1720. What is the most useful next step?
- Process mining builds an event log from SAP timestamps and groups cases into variants.
- Extra variants are usually rework loops; each is effort and risk.
- SAP Signavio Process Intelligence explores variants; SAP Signavio Process Insights packages standard indicators and blockers for SAP ERP.
- Embedded analytics and exception lists give a simple start without process mining.
Check your understanding · not graded
Lesson check
1. What is a process variant?
2. What does an event log contain?
3. Which SAP offering presents standard performance indicators and color-coded process blockers for SAP ERP?
4. Why do rework loops matter even when cycle time looks fine?