Data Template: Order to Cash - Sales Order Processing

The Activity Name describes a step in the sales order process, such as 'Order Created', 'Credit Check Performed', or 'Invoice Sent'. These activities are the building blocks of the process map and are derived from system events, status changes, or task completions.

Analyzing these activities allows for the visualization of the process flow, identification of common pathways (variants), and measurement of the frequency and duration of each step. It is fundamental to understanding what is happening in the process.

This attribute defines the steps in the process map. Without it, you cannot visualize the process flow or analyze how sales orders are actually being handled.

Typically derived from status changes in the 'Order.Status' field, creation of related records (e.g., Invoice), or completed 'Task' or 'Event' records related to the Order.

Event Time, or timestamp, records the precise moment an activity took place. This data is critical for sequencing events correctly and calculating durations between activities, which is the foundation of all time-based process mining analysis.

This attribute is used to order the activities for each case, calculate cycle times, identify waiting times, and analyze process performance over different time periods. Inaccurate or missing timestamps can severely limit the usefulness of the analysis.

Timestamps are essential for ordering events chronologically and calculating all performance metrics, such as cycle times and bottlenecks.

Corresponds to fields like 'CreatedDate' or 'LastModifiedDate' on the 'Order' object or related records. For specific events, it might come from the completion date of a 'Task' record.

The Sales Order ID is the cornerstone of the process analysis, uniquely identifying each customer order as it moves through its lifecycle. It links all associated activities, from creation and approval to fulfillment and payment.

In process mining, every event related to a specific order is tied back to this ID. This allows for the end-to-end reconstruction of the order's journey, enabling detailed analysis of cycle times, process variations, and bottlenecks for individual orders.

This attribute is essential for grouping all related events into a single case, making it possible to visualize and analyze the end-to-end process flow for each sales order.

This is the 'Id' field on the standard Salesforce 'Order' object.

This attribute records the date and time of the most recent data pull from the source system. It provides crucial context about the freshness of the data being analyzed.

Analysts use this information to understand if they are viewing the most current process data and to assess the relevance of their findings. It is a key piece of metadata for any process mining project.

Informs users about the timeliness of the data, ensuring they understand how current the analysis is.

This is a timestamp generated and added during the data extraction, transformation, and loading (ETL) process.

This attribute specifies the origin of the process data. For this analysis, it will consistently be 'Salesforce Sales Cloud'.

In environments with multiple systems, this field is critical for data lineage and troubleshooting. Even in a single-system context, it provides important metadata about the data's origin.

Provides essential context about the data's origin, which is important for data governance and when integrating data from multiple source systems.

This is typically a static value added during the data extraction process to label the dataset.

The Account Name identifies the customer associated with the sales order. This allows for process analysis from a customer-centric view.

By using this attribute, analysts can filter the process for specific customers, compare process performance across different customer segments, or identify if certain customers consistently experience process issues. It's key to linking process performance directly to customer experience.

Links process performance to specific customers, enabling customer-specific analysis and segmentation to identify patterns or issues.

The 'Order' object has a lookup field 'AccountId'. This ID must be joined with the 'Account' object to retrieve the 'Account.Name' field.

This attribute captures the state of the sales order, such as 'Draft', 'Activated', 'Shipped', or 'Closed'. Status changes are often the source for generating the activities in the process log.

Analyzing the order status provides context to each event and is crucial for tracking the progress of an order. It helps in understanding the outcome of cases, for example, identifying orders that were 'Cancelled' versus those that were successfully 'Closed'.

Provides critical context for each event and is often the basis for defining activities. It is also key to analyzing case outcomes like cancellations.

This is the 'Status' picklist field on the standard Salesforce 'Order' object.

This attribute stores the date when the customer expects to receive their goods. It serves as a critical benchmark for measuring delivery performance and customer satisfaction.

This date is used directly in the 'Delivery Date Adherence Tracking' dashboard and the 'On-Time Delivery Rate' KPI. It is compared against the actual delivery date ('Goods Delivered' timestamp) to determine if the order was delivered on time, early, or late.

This is the primary benchmark for measuring on-time delivery performance, a key indicator of customer satisfaction and operational effectiveness.

This is often a custom date field on the 'Order' object. Its exact name may vary. Consult Salesforce Sales Cloud documentation or schema.

Total Cycle Time is a key performance indicator that measures the end-to-end duration of the sales order process. It is calculated as the time difference between the first event (e.g., 'Order Created') and the last event (e.g., 'Order Closed').

This metric is the primary focus of the 'Sales Order End-to-End Cycle Time' dashboard. Analyzing cycle time helps identify overall process inefficiency and measure the impact of improvement initiatives. Variations in cycle time can be investigated by slicing the data with other attributes like country or product family.

This is a fundamental KPI for measuring overall process efficiency and identifying long-running orders that may indicate systemic problems.

Calculated during data transformation by subtracting the timestamp of the first event from the timestamp of the last event for each 'SalesOrderId'.

This attribute represents the total financial amount of the customer's order. It is a key metric for understanding the business impact of process efficiencies or inefficiencies.

In analysis, the total order amount can be used to segment cases, for instance, to see if high-value orders are processed differently or experience more delays than low-value orders. It is also fundamental for calculating financial KPIs and understanding the value flowing through the process.

Enables financial analysis of the process, allowing for segmentation of orders by value and quantifying the monetary impact of delays or rework.

This is the 'TotalAmount' field on the standard Salesforce 'Order' object.

This attribute identifies the individual responsible for completing a process step. It could be a sales representative, a credit analyst, or an automated system user.

Analysis based on this user is vital for understanding workload distribution, individual performance, and automation levels. It helps answer questions like 'Which users handle the most rework?' or 'Are certain teams faster at approvals?'. This is also used in social network analysis to see how work is handed off between individuals.

Allows for performance analysis by user, team, or role, and helps identify automation opportunities or training needs.

Can be found in fields like 'LastModifiedById' on the 'Order' object or 'OwnerId' on 'Task' records. These IDs would need to be joined with the 'User' object to get the user's name.

This attribute indicates the result of the customer's credit evaluation, which is often a critical gate in the order process. Common values include 'Approved', 'Rejected', or 'Pending'.

This is essential for the 'Credit Check Bottleneck Analysis' dashboard. By tracking when an order enters and leaves the credit check phase, and its final status, organizations can measure the duration and outcome of this step, identifying it as a potential source of delay.

Directly supports the analysis of the credit check step, helping to measure its duration, success rate, and impact on overall cycle time.

This is likely a custom field on the 'Order' or 'Account' object. Consult Salesforce Sales Cloud documentation or schema.

The Event End Time marks the completion of an activity. While many process mining tools infer this from the start time of the next activity, explicitly capturing it can provide more accurate activity durations, especially for long-running tasks.

This attribute is used to calculate the precise processing time of an activity. It is particularly valuable for analyzing tasks with significant duration, such as 'Credit Check Performed' or 'Inventory Allocated', helping to separate active processing time from idle waiting time.

It enables the precise calculation of individual activity processing times, which is crucial for identifying bottlenecks and resource-intensive steps.

Can be derived from the 'StartTime' of the subsequent event in the sequence for a given case. For some activities, it might be a specific field like 'Task.CompletedDateTime'.

The Invoice ID links a sales order to its corresponding financial invoice. The creation and sending of this invoice are key milestones in the latter half of the order-to-cash process.

This attribute is crucial for tracking the process from order fulfillment to payment. It allows for the precise measurement of the 'Invoice Created' and 'Invoice Sent to Customer' activities, which are needed for calculating the 'Payment Collection Duration'.

Links the sales order to the invoicing sub-process, enabling accurate tracking of financial activities and payment cycle times.

This is often a custom lookup field on the 'Order' object pointing to a standard or custom 'Invoice' object. The exact implementation varies.

This boolean attribute distinguishes between events triggered by system automation, such as an automated status update, and those performed manually by a user. This is key for understanding the level of automation in the process.

Analyzing this attribute helps in quantifying the impact of automation on efficiency and consistency. It allows for a comparison of automated versus manual paths and can highlight opportunities for further automation to reduce manual effort and potential for error.

Helps distinguish between system and user actions, which is crucial for automation analysis and identifying opportunities to reduce manual work.

Derived during data transformation by checking if the 'UserPerformingAction' is a designated system user or by rules based on the activity type.

This boolean attribute is a direct measure of delivery performance against customer expectations. It is calculated by comparing the timestamp of the 'Goods Delivered' activity with the 'RequestedDeliveryDate'.

It is the core calculation for the 'On-Time Delivery Rate' KPI. Analyzing this flag helps organizations understand their reliability and adherence to commitments, which is a major driver of customer satisfaction. When combined with other attributes, it can reveal if certain shipping methods or regions have lower on-time rates.

Provides a clear, binary measure of performance against customer commitments, directly supporting the On-Time Delivery Rate KPI.

Calculated during data transformation. The logic is: IF ('Goods Delivered' EventTime <= 'RequestedDeliveryDate') THEN true ELSE false.

This calculated attribute identifies cases that deviate from a linear, forward progression. Rework occurs when an activity is repeated or when the process loops back to an earlier stage, often due to errors, missing information, or rejected approvals.

This flag is used to calculate the 'Sales Order Rework Rate' KPI and power the 'Sales Order Rework and Error Rate' dashboard. It helps quantify the frequency and impact of inefficiencies, pointing to areas that require better quality controls or process clarification.

Quantifies process inefficiency by flagging orders that require extra, unplanned work, which directly impacts cost and cycle time.

Calculated by process mining software or during data transformation by detecting repeated activity names or backward process flows for a given case.

The Order Owner is the sales representative or account manager who has primary responsibility for the order. This differs from the user who performs a specific action, as the owner is responsible for the overall progression of the case.

Analyzing by owner can help in evaluating team or individual workloads and performance in managing their portfolio of orders. It can highlight which owners have orders that frequently get stuck or require rework, indicating potential coaching opportunities.

Identifies the person accountable for the order's success, allowing for analysis of workload and performance at the owner level.

This is the 'OwnerId' field on the 'Order' object. This ID can be joined with the 'User' object to get the owner's name.

This calculated metric measures the efficiency of the final, crucial stage of the order-to-cash cycle: getting paid. It is the duration between the 'Invoice Sent to Customer' activity and the 'Payment Received' activity.

This attribute directly supports the 'Payment Collection Duration' dashboard and the 'Payment Realization Time' KPI. Analyzing this duration helps the finance department identify bottlenecks in collections, assess the effectiveness of payment terms, and find opportunities to accelerate cash flow.

Measures the efficiency of the accounts receivable process, directly impacting the company's cash flow.

Calculated during data transformation by subtracting the timestamp of the 'Invoice Sent to Customer' event from the 'Payment Received' event for each case.

Processing time is the time spent actively working on a task, calculated as the difference between an activity's end time and start time. This is distinct from waiting time, which is the idle time between activities.

This metric is fundamental for bottleneck analysis, such as for the 'Credit Check Performed' activity. By isolating the active processing time, analysts can determine if delays are caused by inefficient work on the task itself or by long queues before the task begins.

Isolates the active work time for a specific task, helping to distinguish between inefficient activities and long waiting times.

Calculated during data transformation by subtracting the 'EventTime' (StartTime) from the 'EventEndTime'.

The Product Family provides a high-level classification of the items included in the sales order. This allows for process analysis based on the type of product being sold.

This attribute can be used to segment the process and determine if certain product families have different process paths, longer cycle times, or higher rework rates. For example, complex, configurable products might follow a more elaborate approval and fulfillment process than standard, off-the-shelf items.

Enables process analysis segmented by product category, revealing if different types of products lead to variations in process efficiency.

Retrieved from the 'Product2' object, which is linked to the 'Order' via the 'OrderItem' junction object. This requires joining Order -> OrderItem -> PricebookEntry -> Product2.

The Sales Channel attribute categorizes orders based on their point of origin. This allows for comparative analysis of process performance across different channels.

This is essential for the 'Sales Channel Performance Comparison' dashboard. By filtering or comparing by channel, businesses can identify which channels are most efficient, which ones experience the most rework, and where standardization efforts may be needed to align performance.

Enables performance comparison across different business channels, helping to identify best practices and areas for process harmonization.

This is typically a custom picklist field on the 'Order' or 'Opportunity' object. Consult Salesforce Sales Cloud documentation or schema.

This attribute specifies the country where the order is being shipped. It is a key dimension for geographical analysis of the order-to-cash process.

Analyzing by shipping country can reveal regional differences in process performance, such as longer delivery times for international orders or variations in payment collection cycles. It allows for segmentation of the process to understand and address region-specific challenges.

Enables geographical segmentation of the process, which can highlight regional performance differences, compliance issues, or logistical challenges.

This is the 'ShippingCountry' field on the standard Salesforce 'Order' object.

This attribute indicates the logistics service level chosen for the order's delivery. It directly impacts delivery timelines and costs.

In the 'Shipping Method Efficiency Analysis', this attribute is used to compare the performance of different shipping options. It helps to determine if express shipments are meeting their time commitments and how different methods impact the overall 'Goods Shipped' to 'Goods Delivered' duration.

Allows for analysis of logistics performance, helping to evaluate the cost and efficiency of different shipping options.

This is likely a custom field on the 'Order' object or on a related custom 'Shipment' object. Consult Salesforce Sales Cloud documentation or schema.