工作流挖掘：相关问题和方法的研究

Workflow mining: A survey of issues and approaches

W.M.P. van der Aalst ^a,*, B.F. van Dongen ^a, J. Herbst ^b, L. Maruster ^a,G. Schimm ^c, A.J.M.M. Weijters ^a

^a Department of Technology Management, Eindhoven University of Technology, P.O. Box 513, NL-5600 MB,

Eindhoven, The Netherlands

^b DaimlerChrysler AG, Research and Technology, P.O. Box 2360, D-89013 Ulm, Germany

^c OFFIS, Escherweg 2, D-26121 Oldenburg, Germany

Received 2 October 2002; received in revised form 29 January 2003; accepted 26 February 2003

工作流挖掘：相关问题和方法的研究

2002年10月2日收稿，2003年1月29日修订稿，2003年2月26日定稿。

Abstract

Many of today’s information systems are driven by explicit process models. Workflow management systems, but also ERP, CRM, SCM, and B2B, are configured on the basis of a workflow model specifying the order in which tasks need to be executed. Creating a workflow design is a complicated time-consuming process and typically there are discrepancies between the actual workflow processes and the processes as perceived by the management. To support the design of workflows, we propose the use of workflow mining. Starting point for workflow mining is a so-called “workflow log” containing information about the workflow process as it is actually being executed. In this paper, we introduce the concept of workflow mining and present a common format for workflow logs. Then we discuss the most challenging problems and present some of the workflow mining approaches available today.

©2003 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Keywords: Workflow mining; Workflow management; Data mining; Petri nets

摘要

     如今，大多数信息系统是由确定的过程模型来驱动的。诸如ERP（企业资源计划）、CRM（客户关系管理）、SCM（供应链关系管理）和B2B等的工作流管理系统都是基于定义了用于执行的系列任务的工作流模型而配置的。工作流设计是一个复杂而耗时的过程，更何况在实际的工作流过程和管理所认识到的工作过程之间存在着若干差异。为了更好的实现工作流设计，我们建议应用工作流挖掘。工作流挖掘的起点就是所谓的“工作流日志”，它包含了与当工作过程被真正执行时与之有关的信息。本文旨在介绍工作流挖掘的概念和展示工作流日志的一般形式。进一步地，我们将讨论一些有挑战性的问题和展示一些当前可以利用的工作流挖掘方法。

关键字：工作流挖掘；工作流管理；数据挖掘；Petri网络

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