Process mining reveals even the most exotic flaws. Pipple helps logistics company Rhenus to implement this technology in their European branches.
Does a picker in the warehouse receive his instructions via an automatic voice instruction? And does it include a product from a bulk packaging? That’s when things go wrong. A conclussion from the process mining at Rhenus: a method in which a computer program analyzes a large amount of internal data on patterns. In this way, they also discovered that orders in need of manual verification didn’t get checked in 20% of the cases.
Proof of value
These are just a few results of a test period with process mining software application Celonis. The test had to determine whether a business license would be worth the steep annual price tag. Dennis Batenburg, manager Business reporting & controlling at Rhenus, asked Pipple for a proof of value. He already knew the Eindhoven-based data consultants from projects in other departments.
Real time process data
The fact that the company could benefit a lot from process mining was revealed in a brainstorm with Pipple. Rhenus’ financial reports showed that some locations invariably met the customers’ KPIs, but without earning a penny. Effects of this were only visible in the next report, one month later. This had to change, Batenburg decided: ‘You can only be in control when the work floor has access to real-time process data’.
Now, do the math
After three months of trial runs in their warehouse in Tilburg, Batenburg gave the green light to purchase the software. The business case exceeded all expectations. Process mining saves us 100K annually in this warehouse alone. We now implement it in warehouses in Poland, France and Germany, where the products and processes are virtually the same. Now, do the math when we apply this to all of our sixty warehouses!
Process mining saves us 100K annually in this warehouse alone. Now, do the math when we apply this to all of our sixty warehouses!
Specialist process management
Although Rhenus has a lot of experienced project managers itself, Pipple’s project management is essential. Batenburg: ‘An application like that is not Windows that you just install. You can’t experiment with it: everything is custom-made and has to be done right. There are other issues at play than in an average project. Pipple has done this many times before. Database connections, transformation scripts, dashboards, use cases: they know what is needed and how long it takes to develop it’.
