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310 12 Analyzing “Spaghetti Processes”

be observed remotely. Later, we will show that ASML and Philips Healthcare al-
ready monitor the systems they manufacture. In the future, manufacturers will start
monitoring also less expensive goods, e.g., cars, consumer electronics, and heating
systems will be connected to the Internet for a variety of reasons. Manufacturers
would like to know how their products are used, when they malfunction, and how to
repair them.
Resource management and Sales/CRM are two functional areas where a mixture
of Spaghetti and Lasagna processes can be encountered (cf. Sect. 11.4.1).
One can come across Spaghetti processes in all sectors and industries mentioned
in Sect. 11.4.2. However, processes in the tertiary sector tend to be less structured
than processes in the other two sectors. For instance, as is illustrated by Fig. 12.1,
the healthcare industry is notorious in this respect. In general, one can say that
processes driven by humans that can operate in an autonomous manner are less
structured. Situations, in which expertise, intuition, and creativity are important,
stimulate self-government. Doctors in hospitals and engineers in large construction
projects often need to deal with one-of-a-kind problems. Consumers that are using
products also operate in an autonomous manner. Consider, for example, a television
that can be monitored remotely to learn how it is used and when it malfunctions.
Some users will watch television the whole day and constantly switch channels
whereas other users only watch the news at 8 pm and then switch off the television.
Self-directed behavior of consumers and professionals typically results in Spaghetti-
like processes.
As mentioned earlier, Spaghetti processes are interesting from the viewpoint of
process mining. First of all, it is interesting to learn from the amazing capabilities
of humans to deal with complex unstructured problems. When automating parts of
the process it is important to understand why processes are unstructured to avoid
building counter-productive and inflexible information systems. Second, Spaghetti
processes have the largest improvement potential. They are more difficult to analyze,
but the prospective rewards are also higher.

12.3.2 Examples of Spaghetti Processes

We have encountered Spaghetti processes in a variety of organizations. In Chap. 11,
we already mentioned several organizations where we applied process mining. In
this section, we give three additional examples: ASML, Philips Healthcare, and
AMC. The goal is not to describe the processes of these organizations in detail, but
to provide pointers to applications of process mining in Spaghetti-like environments.

12.3.2.1 ASML

ASML is the world’s leading manufacturer of chip-making equipment and a key
supplier to the chip industry. ASML designs, develops, integrates and services ad-
vanced systems to produce semiconductors. Process mining has been used to ana-
lyze the test process of wafer scanners in ASML [82].