An observational approach to practical process non-conformance detection

A key challenge facing process non-conformance detection is to develop approaches not only effective across different domains and for different kinds of processes, but also to provide a practical and easy to implement solution. Since this is a process improvement area, the commercial realities of today dictate that if a solution cannot be implemented easily, quickly and cost-effectively then it is probably not worth implementing at all regardless of its effectiveness. The focus of this paper is on presenting a simple and practical approach to process non-conformance detection. We propose an approach based on specifying non-conformance rules to enhance an existing process specification without modifying it. The rules specified are used to check for conformance of process enactment data. Our methodology is flexible in its instantiation and because it is observatory, can be implemented with minimal interference with the existing process. We evaluate this approach using a case study.