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How process mining uncovered hidden costs and saved €500.000 in procurement
- EIFFEL
Process mining is gaining traction in supply chain and procurement. As complexity increases and the pressure for speed and error-free work grows, organizations look for ways to make their processes more efficient and transparent. In this case, we show what process mining can deliver in procurement processes. The case isn't from EIFFEL itself but comes from our partner Process.Science: a company that develops AI-driven process mining solutions that integrate directly with existing BI platforms. While EIFFEL wasn't involved in this project, the insights are highly relevant for our network.
"Which supplier delivers on time? Why do some orders take longer? Where are the bottlenecks, internal or external?"
These are exactly the questions process mining answers. In complex supply chains, knowing what goes wrong isn't enough. You need to know why. Process mining brings that into sharp focus.
Lucas Maximilian Schroth, CEO and co-founder of Process.Science, puts it this way: "Delays in the supply chain don't just cost time, they cost money. You need to know if the problem lies with your internal process or an external supplier. That's exactly the insight process mining provides."
From bottleneck to breakthrough
For a global supplier of industrial gases with annual revenue exceeding $2 billion, Process.Science conducted a process analysis. The organization operates in both production and resale of industrial gas and has an extensive network of gas stations and logistics hubs.
The initial question was simple: why do approvals for purchase requests take too long? On average, it took 3 days from request to processing, a delay in an environment where speed is essential. But it quickly became clear this was just the tip of the iceberg.
Based on data from SAP, the complete procurement process was mapped. What employees thought was happening and what actually happened turned out to be two different worlds.
People assumed everything was running smoothly, but the data told a very different story. With process mining, you go from assumptions to facts.
Lucas
One of the most striking insights concerned order confirmations. According to employees, these came from over 90% of suppliers. In reality, only 10% were entered, half of which were technically incorrect. Wrong SAP settings, time-consuming manual work, and missing controls caused structural inefficiency that no one had seen before.
Insight leads to action
Process.Science worked closely with the internal teams. Automatic alerts were set up for delayed purchase requests. The SAP system was adjusted, requiring less manual correction work. Master data was also cleaned up, which had a direct impact on the accuracy of invoice processing.
The results were concrete. Within a year, the organization realized over €500.000 in savings on procurement costs. This came from better supplier management, utilizing payment discounts through faster approvals, and less manual work. The client's team could focus on what truly adds value.
"In the beginning, the team was skeptical," Lucas explains. "But when people saw how much unnecessary work we could eliminate, things turned around quickly. We didn't just solve one problem, we discovered 5 others."
What supply chain managers can take from this
This case shows: process mining isn't a reporting tool,it's a steering instrument. For supply chain professionals, it means:
- No more guesswork about where the problems are.
- From firefighting to structural improvement.
- Building confidence to automate processes (partially) with the right data as foundation.
How EIFFEL and Process.Science strengthen each other
At EIFFEL, we work with Process.Science to bring these kinds of insights to our clients. Where Process.Science handles the analyses and visualizations, we provide the translation to practice: process improvement, system adjustment, and embedding in the organization. This creates a collaboration that moves from insight to impact.
Lucas: "We don't do process optimization ourselves. That's where partners like EIFFEL come in. They guide clients through the next steps, such as automating order confirmations or improving invoice processing."
About Process.Science
Process.Science develops AI-driven process mining solutions that help organizations get the maximum from their operational data. The technology makes processes visible, exposes inefficiency, and supports data-driven decision-making. As EIFFEL's partner, their technology is a core part of how we help clients achieve tangible improvements in procurement and supply chain.