Skip to main content

Discovering Block-Structured Process Models from Event Logs - A Constructive Approach

  • Conference paper

Part of the book series: Lecture Notes in Computer Science ((LNTCS,volume 7927))

Abstract

Process discovery is the problem of, given a log of observed behaviour, finding a process model that ‘best’ describes this behaviour. A large variety of process discovery algorithms has been proposed. However, no existing algorithm guarantees to return a fitting model (i.e., able to reproduce all observed behaviour) that is sound (free of deadlocks and other anomalies) in finite time. We present an extensible framework to discover from any given log a set of block-structured process models that are sound and fit the observed behaviour. In addition we characterise the minimal information required in the log to rediscover a particular process model. We then provide a polynomial-time algorithm for discovering a sound, fitting, block-structured model from any given log; we give sufficient conditions on the log for which our algorithm returns a model that is language-equivalent to the process model underlying the log, including unseen behaviour. The technique is implemented in a prototypical tool.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution.

Buying options

Chapter
USD   29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD   39.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book
USD   54.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Learn about institutional subscriptions

Preview

Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.

Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.

References

  1. van der Aalst, W.: Workflow verification: Finding control-flow errors using petri-net-based techniques. In: van der Aalst, W.M.P., Desel, J., Oberweis, A. (eds.) Business Process Management. LNCS, vol. 1806, pp. 161–183. Springer, Heidelberg (2000)

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  2. van der Aalst, W.: Process Mining: Discovery, Conformance and Enhancement of Business Processes. Springer (2011)

    Google Scholar 

  3. van der Aalst, W., Buijs, J., van Dongen, B.: Towards improving the representational bias of process mining. In: Aberer, K., Damiani, E., Dillon, T. (eds.) SIMPDA 2011. Lecture Notes in Business Information Processing, vol. 116, pp. 39–54. Springer, Heidelberg (2012)

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  4. van der Aalst, W.M.P., de Medeiros, A.K.A., Weijters, A.J.M.M.: Genetic process mining. In: Ciardo, G., Darondeau, P. (eds.) ICATPN 2005. LNCS, vol. 3536, pp. 48–69. Springer, Heidelberg (2005)

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  5. van der Aalst, W., Weijters, T., Maruster, L.: Workflow mining: Discovering process models from event logs. IEEE Transactions on Knowledge and Data Engineering 16(9), 1128–1142 (2004)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  6. Badouel, E.: On the α-reconstructibility of workflow nets. In: Haddad, S., Pomello, L. (eds.) PETRI NETS 2012. LNCS, vol. 7347, pp. 128–147. Springer, Heidelberg (2012)

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  7. Bergenthum, R., Desel, J., Lorenz, R., Mauser, S.: Process mining based on regions of languages. In: Alonso, G., Dadam, P., Rosemann, M. (eds.) BPM 2007. LNCS, vol. 4714, pp. 375–383. Springer, Heidelberg (2007)

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  8. Bergenthum, R., Desel, J., Mauser, S., Lorenz, R.: Synthesis of Petri nets from term based representations of infinite partial languages. Fundam. Inform. 95(1), 187–217 (2009)

    MathSciNet  MATH  Google Scholar 

  9. Buijs, J., van Dongen, B., van der Aalst, W.: A genetic algorithm for discovering process trees. In: 2012 IEEE Congress on Evolutionary Computation (CEC), pp. 1–8. IEEE (2012)

    Google Scholar 

  10. Buijs, J.C.A.M., van Dongen, B.F., van der Aalst, W.M.P., et al.: On the role of fitness, precision, generalization and simplicity in process discovery. In: Meersman, R., et al. (eds.) OTM 2012, Part I. LNCS, vol. 7565, pp. 305–322. Springer, Heidelberg (2012)

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  11. Cortadella, J., Kishinevsky, M., Lavagno, L., Yakovlev, A.: Deriving Petri nets from finite transition systems. IEEE Transactions on Computers 47(8), 859–882 (1998)

    Article  MathSciNet  Google Scholar 

  12. van Dongen, B.F., de Medeiros, A.K.A., Verbeek, H.M.W., Weijters, A.J.M.M., van der Aalst, W.M.P.: The ProM framework: A new era in process mining tool support. In: Ciardo, G., Darondeau, P. (eds.) ICATPN 2005. LNCS, vol. 3536, pp. 444–454. Springer, Heidelberg (2005)

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  13. van Dongen, B.F., de Medeiros, A.K.A., Wen, L.: Process mining: Overview and outlook of Petri net discovery algorithms. In: Jensen, K., van der Aalst, W.M.P. (eds.) ToPNoC II, LNCS, vol. 5460, pp. 225–242. Springer, Heidelberg (2009)

    Google Scholar 

  14. Fahland, D., van der Aalst, W.M.P.: Repairing process models to reflect reality. In: Barros, A., Gal, A., Kindler, E. (eds.) BPM 2012. LNCS, vol. 7481, pp. 229–245. Springer, Heidelberg (2012)

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  15. Fahland, D., Favre, C., Koehler, J., Lohmann, N., Völzer, H., Wolf, K.: Analysis on demand: Instantaneous soundness checking of industrial business process models. Data Knowl. Eng. 70(5), 448–466 (2011)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  16. Gambini, M., La Rosa, M., Migliorini, S., Ter Hofstede, A.H.M.: Automated error correction of business process models. In: Rinderle-Ma, S., Toumani, F., Wolf, K. (eds.) BPM 2011. LNCS, vol. 6896, pp. 148–165. Springer, Heidelberg (2011)

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  17. Günther, C.W., van der Aalst, W.M.P.: Fuzzy mining–adaptive process simplification based on multi-perspective metrics. In: Alonso, G., Dadam, P., Rosemann, M. (eds.) BPM 2007. LNCS, vol. 4714, pp. 328–343. Springer, Heidelberg (2007)

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  18. Leemans, S., Fahland, D., van der Aalst, W.: Discovering block-structured process models from event logs - a constructive approach. Tech. Rep. BPM-13-06, Eindhoven University of Technology (April 2013)

    Google Scholar 

  19. de Medeiros, A., Weijters, A., van der Aalst, W.: Genetic process mining: an experimental evaluation. Data Mining and Knowledge Discovery 14(2), 245–304 (2007)

    Article  MathSciNet  Google Scholar 

  20. Polyvyanyy, A., Garcia-Banuelos, L., Fahland, D., Weske, M.: Maximal structuring of acyclic process models. The Computer Journal (2012), http://comjnl.oxfordjournals.org/content/early/2012/09/19/comjnl.bxs126.abstract

  21. Polyvyanyy, A., Vanhatalo, J., Völzer, H.: Simplified computation and generalization of the refined process structure tree. In: Bravetti, M. (ed.) WS-FM 2010. LNCS, vol. 6551, pp. 25–41. Springer, Heidelberg (2011)

    Google Scholar 

  22. Reisig, W., Schnupp, P., Muchnick, S.: Primer in Petri Net Design. Springer-Verlag New York, Inc. (1992)

    Google Scholar 

  23. Rozinat, A., de Medeiros, A.K.A., Günther, C.W., Weijters, A.J.M.M., van der Aalst, W.M.P.: The need for a process mining evaluation framework in research and practice. In: ter Hofstede, A.H.M., Benatallah, B., Paik, H.-Y. (eds.) BPM Workshops 2007. LNCS, vol. 4928, pp. 84–89. Springer, Heidelberg (2008)

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  24. Weijters, A., van der Aalst, W., de Medeiros, A.: Process mining with the heuristics miner-algorithm. Technische Universiteit Eindhoven, Tech. Rep. WP 166 (2006)

    Google Scholar 

  25. Wen, L., van der Aalst, W., Wang, J., Sun, J.: Mining process models with non-free-choice constructs. Data Mining and Knowledge Discovery 15(2), 145–180 (2007)

    Article  MathSciNet  Google Scholar 

  26. Wen, L., Wang, J., Sun, J.: Mining invisible tasks from event logs. In: Dong, G., Lin, X., Wang, W., Yang, Y., Yu, J.X. (eds.) APWeb/WAIM 2007. LNCS, vol. 4505, pp. 358–365. Springer, Heidelberg (2007)

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  27. van der Werf, J.M.E.M., van Dongen, B.F., Hurkens, C.A.J., Serebrenik, A.: Process discovery using integer linear programming. In: van Hee, K.M., Valk, R. (eds.) PETRI NETS 2008. LNCS, vol. 5062, pp. 368–387. Springer, Heidelberg (2008)

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2013 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg

About this paper

Cite this paper

Leemans, S.J.J., Fahland, D., van der Aalst, W.M.P. (2013). Discovering Block-Structured Process Models from Event Logs - A Constructive Approach. In: Colom, JM., Desel, J. (eds) Application and Theory of Petri Nets and Concurrency. PETRI NETS 2013. Lecture Notes in Computer Science, vol 7927. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-38697-8_17

Download citation

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-38697-8_17

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-642-38696-1

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-642-38697-8

  • eBook Packages: Computer ScienceComputer Science (R0)

Publish with us

Policies and ethics