What is Process Simulation?

Understanding Process Simulation

Process simulation is a powerful technique that allows you to model and execute your business processes virtually. Unlike process mining, which analyzes what has already happened, simulation lets you look forward and predict what will happen under different conditions.

Looking Forward vs. Looking Backward

In process intelligence, there are two fundamental approaches:

Think of process mining as a rearview mirror—it shows you where you’ve been. Process simulation is like a GPS with traffic prediction—it shows you what lies ahead and helps you choose the best route.

Why Simulate Your Processes?

1. Test Changes Before Implementation

Before making costly changes to your real processes, you can simulate the impact:

• What if we add more staff to the approval step?
• What if we automate a manual task?
• What if customer demand increases by 50%?

2. Identify Bottlenecks Proactively

Simulation reveals where bottlenecks will occur before they actually happen:

• Which activities will become overloaded?
• Where will cases queue up and wait?
• Which resources will be over- or under-utilized?

3. Optimize Resource Allocation

Determine the optimal number of resources:

• How many staff do we need during peak hours?
• Can we reduce capacity during off-peak periods?
• What’s the cost-benefit of adding additional resources?

4. Validate Process Redesigns

When you design a new “To-Be” process, simulation helps validate your design:

• Will the new process actually perform better?
• Are there unintended consequences?
• Does the design meet the performance requirements?

How Simulation Connects to Process Mining

ProcessMind integrates simulation seamlessly with process mining. This creates a powerful cycle:

1. Mine your historical process data to understand current performance
2. Design process improvements based on insights
3. Simulate the proposed changes to predict outcomes
4. Compare simulated results with actual data
5. Implement changes with confidence
6. Mine again to verify the improvements

Simulation Output: A Virtual Event Log

When you run a simulation in ProcessMind, the output is an event log—just like the data you would upload for process mining. This simulated dataset contains:

• Case IDs: Unique identifiers for each simulated process instance
• Activities: The steps each case went through
• Timestamps: When each activity started and completed
• Attributes: Any custom data you’ve defined

Because the simulation output has the same structure as real process mining data, you can:

• Apply all the same analysis tools and dashboards
• Compare simulated data directly with actual historical data
• Use filters, statistics, and visualizations identically

Key Simulation Concepts

To effectively use simulation, you’ll need to understand a few key concepts:

Getting Started with Simulation

Ready to start simulating? Here’s your path forward: