Process Analysis with SAP Signavio Process Insights
Data-driven process analyses are an essential component of a successful digital transformation: they focus on the business aspect and can ensure that a more technical migration is followed by an improvement in business processes.
SAP Signavio Process Insights is the state-of-the-art analysis tool for quickly and comprehensively identifying improvement potential in SAP-based business processes.
As part of our holistic approach to process optimization within business process management – which is divided into four phases: strategy, process analysis, measures and prioritization and implementation – SAP Signavio Process Insights offers the ideal support for the process analysis phase. All the necessary tools can be provided without the customer having to license the software on a permanent basis.
SAP Signavio Process Insight is a cloud solution that can be easily supplied with relevant process data from SAP ECC, SAP S/4HANA and SAP Ariba. The customer only needs to set up a technical user for data extraction and, if necessary, update the release status of some SAP standard components via corresponding SAP Notes. The actual data extraction and provision of the analysis results in an interactive user interface are then completed in just a few hours.
1. Value Analysis as the Basis for Process Analysis
The value analysis provides an ideal introduction to the process analysis project. It makes the one-off and recurring monetary value of process optimization and the elimination of inefficiencies comprehensible. The results are grouped according to the value drivers of the business areas and the performance indicators to be optimized. This enables an initial potential-driven prioritization of the business areas that should be addressed as a priority in the optimization phase.
In the following customer example, the value analysis shows the highest optimization potential (column Potential Value) for the Sales and Finance business areas. In contrast, only a relatively low potential is seen for the area of procurement.
Value analysis: Identified high-level optimization potential in the individual business areas
The potential can be differentiated in detail according to the individual specific performance indicators. The expected savings potential is calculated from the difference between the measured current actual values (column Baseline) and the achievable target values customary in the industry.
2. Detailed Analyses of Important Process Flows
The next project step involves detailed analyses of actual process flows with all relevant business data and evaluations of the standard performance indicators provided. Process flows reveal weaknesses at process step level (see column headings) and identify the specific points within the process execution (see boxes) with the greatest potential for improvement. The visualization is based on a traffic light logic.
Process flow: Example of supplier invoice reconciliation with recognized anomalies (yellow) and weaknesses (red)
Standard performance indicators provide additional information on aspects related to automation, exceptions or backlogs that affect process efficiency and performance.
Performance indicators: relevant indicators of different categories for the invoice to payment process
In the next step, the weaknesses identified up to this point can be further examined directly in Process Insights using company and industry benchmarking. This shows in concrete terms what target achievement is possible. Company benchmarking visualizes the performance of individual metrics across internal organizational units, e.g. company code, plant or sales organization. Such comparisons can help to identify the root cause of inefficiencies and establish an exchange of best practices between comparable organizational units. Industry benchmarking, on the other hand, makes it possible to compare your own performance – with several performance indicators for the automation rate – with that of competitors from the same industry.
The following customer example shows that an indicator for the degree of automation when creating order items is better company-wide than the industry average; at the same time, however, individual plants are still below average.
Benchmarking: Performance indicator for automated order creation
3. Recommendations for Further Project Phases
SAP Signavio Process Insights provides further direct input for the project phase Measures and prioritization of our approach to process optimization through so-called recommendations.
The correction recommendations provide specific instructions derived from the identified weaknesses for adjustments to the configuration or procedures for process execution. Some of the measures identified can achieve rapid success with little effort. Others, however, may require major process changes.
Correction recommendations: Suggestions for the end-to-end source-to-pay process
The expected impact and cost of the recommended corrections are classified in a three-level grid: low, medium or high. This makes it possible to prioritize measures by addressing the corrections with low effort and high expected impact first, if necessary.
The innovation recommendations, on the other hand, support the planning of long-term strategic improvements with the help of new and innovative best-practice SAP solutions and applications that enable a targeted start to process transformation. They exist in the categories SAP S/4HANA Functions, User Experience, Intelligent Technologies, SAP Build Process Automation, SAP Ariba and other SAP solutions. Correction and innovation recommendations are evaluated and prioritized in the process analysis project according to expected impact and effort. Together with the results of the value analysis, vulnerability analysis with process flows and standard performance indicators and benchmarking steps, they then form a factual basis for the measures and prioritization project phase based on actual data from current process execution.
Innovation recommendations: Proposals for the end-to-end source-to-pay process by category
Summary
SAP Signavio Process Insights performs a fact-based analysis. This identifies disruptive factors and weak points in the organization, processes and systems in various areas of the company. In addition, SAP S/4HANA innovations are evaluated in a process-related and organizational context. These innovations can either already be used in the current version (quick wins), can be implemented via a release update or can be used outside the core by purchasing additional licenses. The following functions are used for this purpose:
- The value analysis shows the one-off and recurring monetary value of optimizing processes, in particular the increase in the degree of automation.
- Standard performance indicators prioritize specific weaknesses in process execution according to the potential for improvement and the effort required to rectify them.
- Company and sector benchmarking is used to show what level of target achievement is possible.
- Correction recommendations provide instructions for adjustments to the configuration or procedures for process execution.
- Innovation recommendations support the planning of long-term strategic improvements with the help of new and innovative best practice SAP solutions and applications.
Perspective
The approach described above is the “plug” part of the SAP Signavio plug-and-gain method, which focuses on analyzing the performance of processes. In the “gain” part, the actual execution of the processes can be examined on this basis. Automatically generated actual process models are then transferred to the modeling part of the SAP Signavio Process Transformation Suite (Process Manager). There they can be used further: in the first step for “scoring”, which evaluates compliance with the system usage recommended by SAP, and in the second step also for a concrete model comparison of the current actual processes with the best practice models for SAP S/4HANA published by SAP.
Authors: Winfried Barth and Stefan Klein
