Unlocking Business Efficiency: A Deep Dive into Filters in SAP Signavio Process Insights, Discovery

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As businesses strive for greater efficiency in an increasingly competitive landscape, the ability to identify bottlenecks, inefficiencies, and opportunities for process improvement is more critical than ever. SAP Signavio Process Insights, discovery edition, offers a robust yet lightweight tool for analyzing process performance in SAP ERP or SAP S/4HANA systems. Among its many features, the filters for analyzing process data enables targeted insights that drive actionable decisions.

In this blog, we’ll explore the key filters—that I name the “What, Where, When”—that make SAP Signavio Process Insights indispensable for root cause analysis and process performance improvement. These filters empower users to identify the “what,” “where,” and “when” of inefficiencies, providing a structured and visual approach to uncovering actionable insights.

Why Filters Matter in Process Performance Analysis

Before diving into the filters, it’s important to understand their overarching value. Businesses today generate vast amounts of data, making it challenging to focus on the specific elements that impact process efficiency. SAP Signavio Process Insights addresses this challenge with powerful filters that allow users to:

• Pinpoint inefficiencies by focusing on specific document types, locations, or timeframes.
• Simplify root cause analysis with detailed breakdowns of performance indicators and blockers.
• Identify and prioritize areas for improvement by isolating outdated or problematic process data.

By using these filters, organizations can accelerate decision-making, reduce costs, and enhance overall operational performance.

Exploring the Filters: What, Where, When

Let’s explore each filter in detail, including how they work, what they uncover, and how they can be used to improve process performance.

Let’s see a concrete example together:

When you enter any Process Performance indicator (PPI), any blocker, process step or Process Flow, you will be able to filter the information by clicking on the “filter” button on the top right corner.

You can see here an example for the PPI “Overdue and Open Account Receivable items”:

“Overdue and Open Account Receivable items” will be contracted to “AR items” in the rest of the blog – Quick refresh: the AR items are the invoices that should already have been paid by your customers, and were not-.

By clicking on it, a new page will display with the available filters (side note: every filters available in the full edition of SAP Signavio Process Insights will be displayed, some of these are not available in SAP Signavio Process Insights, discovery edition).

By default, the filters for Company Code and Document Type, will be shown:

So our “What” and our “Where”, which makes our life easy.

For each filter selection, a new table will be displayed with the segmentation for the related filter, meaning how many items belong to the specific topic (business area, type, date, etc….).

You can directly see in this example that a big part of the AR items happen for the document types “DR”, “RV” and “DZ” and for the Company Codes “F001” and “F002”.

To go a bit more in details, let’s remove the filter “Company Code” by clicking on the bin symbol above the the related table.

1. What: Understanding Document-Level Insights

The What filter focuses on identifying the type of document involved in a process.

By applying the What filter, users can quickly assess:

• Which document types are associated with inefficiencies. For instance, if a high number of overdue invoices are flagged, it could indicate bottlenecks in the payment approval process.
• Patterns across documents, such as recurring delays in specific categories, allowing users to focus their improvement efforts.

Benefits of the “What” Filter:

• Precision: Isolate inefficiencies tied to specific document types without sifting through irrelevant data.
• Root Cause Identification: Understand which step in the document’s lifecycle is contributing to delays or errors.

By leveraging the “What” filter, businesses can uncover inefficiencies at a granular level, enabling targeted interventions to streamline processes.

Demo:
Here is an example:

Out of the 112,292 AR items, let’s focus on the document types that are the most represented for this PPI, the onces for which there are more than 10,000 items:

By clicking on the Ok button on the right corner, you will see the list of the AR items related to the selected document types:

You can then export this list for further investigation with the related process experts.

2. Where: Locating Inefficiencies by Geography and Organization

The Where filter pinpoints inefficiencies based on location, company code, or plant. This is particularly valuable for organizations operating across multiple geographies or business units, where process performance may vary significantly.

Examples of insights derived from the Where filter include:

• Identifying company codes with unusually high processing times, indicating potential training or resource allocation issues.
• Highlighting plants where delays in production orders impact downstream supply chain processes.
• Detecting inefficiencies in regional operations that may stem from differing local practices or compliance challenges.

Benefits of the “Where” Filter:

• Visibility: Gain a clear view of geographic or organizational hotspots where processes lag behind.
• Targeted Action: Focus resources on specific locations or teams that need improvement.
• Scalability: Evaluate global operations holistically while addressing local inefficiencies.
  
  

With the Where filter, businesses can optimize performance across their organizational landscape, ensuring consistency and efficiency across locations.

Demo:
Here, we removed our filter for “Document Type” and added “Company Code” from the filter selection table on the left:

As before, out of the 112,292 AR items, let’s focus on the company codes that are the most represented for this PPI, the onces for which there are more than 10,000 items:

By clicking on the Ok button on the right corner, you will see the list of the AR items related to the selected company codes:

You can then export this list for further investigation with the related business area.

3. When: Identifying Temporal Patterns and Trends

The When filter allows users to analyze process performance based on time, providing insights into both current and historical data. Key capabilities include:

• Highlighting new issues that may signal ongoing problems in process performance, such as an increase in overdue orders over the past quarter.
• Identifying obsolete data that can be archived, freeing up system resources and improving data clarity.

Benefits of the “When” Filter:

• Proactive Management: Address emerging issues before they escalate into larger problems.
• Data Hygiene: Ensure outdated or irrelevant information is removed from active systems, reducing clutter and improving data accuracy.
  
  

The When filter equips businesses to make time-sensitive decisions, ensuring that their processes remain agile and efficient in a dynamic business environment.

Demo:
Here, we removed our filter for  “Company Code”  and we can add a new filter from the  filter selection table on the left.

Let’s first use “Fiscal Year”. This will help us to quickly segment the data per year and clearly and quickly assess if the AR items are currently happening or are obsolete data:

We can see that the majority of the items are old and not so much business relevant.

You can of course filter and export your selction like for the two previous examples, but I would like to do something else.

Let’s select “Due on” as a new filter:

You see that in the the related table list, there is an entey for each date. This is very convenient if you are looking for a specific date, like if you wish to review the AR items from the 17th December 2021.

By clicking on “ID” a drop-down menu will appear:

In this drop-down menu, select “Advanced Filtering”.

A new pop-up will be show:

You can select the data from a specific date (“From”), until a specific date (“To”),  or even a specific time range (“From/To”) and for the last X days.

Let’s select  from the case from 31st December 2021:

The various dates will be shown:

We see that there are in total 1,004 AR items between 31st December 2021 and today, which were due 5 different dates.

Bringing It All Together

The true power of SAP Signavio Process Insights lies in its ability to combine these filters into a comprehensive analysis. For example, a user could analyze:

• When: 1. Archive obsolete data (keep in this filter only what is less than six month old)
• What: Most impacted document types (> 10k)
• Where: In a specific company code or plant (> 10k)

Where before we use the “OR” logic (filter by “Document type” or “Company code” or “Due on”), we use here the “AND” logic (what are the AR items related to specific document types, coming from specific company codes in the last 6 months).

And we see the number of AR items fulfilling these criteria are only 962 out of 112,292:

This targeted approach allows users to focus on the most critical areas of inefficiency, accelerating the path to resolution.

Benefits of Using Filters in Process Insights

Enhanced Root Cause Analysis

By narrowing down issues using What, Where, and When, businesses can dive deeper into the specific causes of inefficiencies, whether they stem from system errors, resource constraints, or procedural gaps.

Improved Decision-Making

Filters enable users to transform raw data into actionable insights, helping stakeholders prioritize and implement changes where they matter most.

Cost Savings and Efficiency Gains

By focusing efforts on high-impact areas, businesses can streamline operations, reduce waste, and enhance productivity.

Conclusion

SAP Signavio Process Insights, discovery edition, offers an intuitive and powerful way to analyze process performance through its What, Where, When filters. These tools empower businesses to uncover inefficiencies, conduct detailed root cause analysis, and make informed decisions to drive continuous improvement.

With these filters in hand, businesses can move beyond high-level observations to take targeted, data-driven actions that improve their processes and position them for long-term success.

Stay tuned for more insights on how SAP Signavio Process Insights can transform your process management journey.