Process Mining of Knowledge-Intensive Processes: An Action Design Research Study in Manufacturing

Existing process mining methods are primarily designed for processes that have reached a high degree of digitalization and standardization. In contrast, the literature has only begun to discuss how process mining can be applied to knowledge-intensive processes—such as product innovation processes—that involve creative activities, require organizational flexibility, depend on single actors’ decision autonomy, and target process-external goals such as customer satisfaction. Due to these differences, existing Process Mining methods cannot be applied out-of-the-box to analyze knowledge-intensive processes. In this paper, we employ Action Design Research (ADR) to design and evaluate a process mining approach for knowledge-intensive processes. More specifically, we draw on the two processes of product innovation and engineer-to-order in manufacturing contexts. We collected data from 27 interviews and conducted 49 workshops to evaluate our IT artifact at different stages in the ADR process. From a theoretical perspective, we contribute five design principles and a conceptual artifact that prescribe how process mining ought to be designed for knowledge-intensive processes in manufacturing. From a managerial perspective, we demonstrate how enacting these principles enables their application in practice.