The innovative Swedish family business Boxon handles packaging and labeling needs in the Nordic region, Europe and China to customers in a variety of industries. This involves large transaction volumes that place demands on well-functioning, efficient order to cash flows. At Boxon, they saw opportunities for improvement in these flows, while at the same time lacking a reliable method to pinpoint where these opportunities existed.
We needed a method to move from “my gut feeling is” to factual insights into how things really are. The fastest way forward in this was through process mining. That’s why, together with Implema, we decided to streamline our flows more intelligently through data-driven decisions, says Per Yllfors, CDO at Boxon.
Automated Analysis of Business Flows
So, what is process mining? Simply explained, it is a data-driven analysis of processes. The work can be done analogously as well as digitally, although an analog process mining, for example interviews in an organization, tends to be less accurate compared to if it is done digitally. If the digital technology that exists is used, it is both time-efficient, fact-based and more reliable as a decision support. In addition, it becomes easier to create a visual overview of data in different flows that can be monitored and filtered according to different parameters. In this way, it is also possible to present variables and deviations even more clearly.
A Fast, Qualitative and Reliable Method for Current State Analysis
Why process mining? With process mining, you can reliably form a qualified opinion about flows and about what works or not. Process mining can be done as a one-time event, when needed, and used as a current state analysis or continuously, as an ongoing activity to see how measures affect processes and the effect of these in real time. However you choose to use process mining, it is an effective way to accelerate the rate of improvement in processes without it requiring huge investments or advanced, expensive technology.
A Fast, Effective Collaboration between Boxon and Implema in Phase 1
Together with Implema, Boxon was able to complete the first phase of its process mining in just 1.5 months, and introduce, plan and implement the mapping of its order to cash flows.
Our expectations for the project were to find the parts in processes that we could easily modify so that we could quickly streamline the daily work. We were positively surprised how well we could relatively quickly identify bottlenecks but also get confirmation that parts of the process work well, continues Per
Initially, a technical setup was carried out from the production system to Celonis, the software that Implema chose to set up the analysis and review the information in. After that, Boxon needed to validate that the data in the analysis corresponded to the data in Boxon’s business system from SAP.
After that, two workshops were carried out together, a so-called Discovery workshop and a Findings workshop respectively. In the Discovery workshop, the analysis was reviewed together. At the same time, flows, key figures, bottlenecks, positive effects from previous changes, among other things, were “discovered”. In the workshop, interesting points to look at further were also identified. In the Findings workshop, key people at Boxon received a review of the particularly interesting points that emerged during the previous workshop. And based on these, concrete and specific discussions could be held about the current situation, causes, consequences and possible improvements in the analyzed flows based on the data that emerged.
Implema then concluded the project’s first phase with a summary of what had been found during the Findings workshop together with an “effort vs benefit” compilation. Based on that, Boxon could produce a prioritization list of possible measures, and pick the lowest hanging fruits and take such measures.
What Awaits in the Next Step, Phase 2
In the second phase, the starting point will be the prioritization list with measures that Boxon has formulated together with Implema. The emphasis will then be on transforming the knowledge and insights gained with this process mining, so that Boxon can take the realize the efficiencies that it is possible to do.
In phase 2, it may also be relevant to run several rounds of process mining at regular intervals, one to two times annually, to, among other things, see if and how the measures introduced have helped, alternatively as a check-up to see how the processes are doing.
It has been fantastic fun to delve into, but also to get an overview of, the entire process from start to finish. When you work with systems, it is easy to get stuck in small details, but now we got the opportunity to analyze the flow together on a completely new level. The insights you get in a project like this are significant and I would recommend everyone to run an “x-ray” of their business. I look forward to continuing to pave the way towards these insights and above all the value they will generate for Boxon, says Klara Strandell, project manager for process mining and application consultant, SAP
