Process mining is increasingly gaining attention at major industry events like the National Retail Federation (NRF) Big Show, especially as retailers face growing pressures to optimize operations, improve customer experiences, and leverage digital transformation. At NRF, there was a strong focus on data-driven insights and advanced analytics, with process mining fitting neatly into these themes.

Retailers are seeking ways to streamline their operations — from supply chain management and inventory optimization to customer journey analysis and workforce management. Process mining can offer key insights to enhance all of these areas.

Process mining is a cutting-edge analytical technology that transforms raw event logs from business systems into real-time, actionable insights. By visualizing actual workflows, it uncovers inefficiencies, bottlenecks and deviations from intended processes, empowering organizations to optimize operations, streamline performance, and drive efficiency. With its ability to bridge the gap between process design and execution, process mining enables businesses to align operations with strategic objectives, enhance agility, and maintain a competitive edge in a data-driven world.

Leading organizations across various industries are increasingly adopting process mining to drive operational excellence and digital transformation. This transformative technology is being leveraged to optimize supply chains, streamline customer service workflows, and automate repetitive tasks, delivering significant efficiency gains. Furthermore, process mining plays a pivotal role in digital transformation efforts, ensuring that systems and processes are scalable and future-ready. This advanced analytical approach allows businesses to extract valuable insights from event logs in IT systems, offering a clear, data-driven view of their processes.

By leveraging process mining, companies can:

  • Enhance efficiency: Identify bottlenecks and inefficiencies within workflows, leading to streamlined operations.
  • Improve compliance: Ensure adherence to regulatory standards by uncovering hidden process deviations.
  • Unlock data-driven insights: Gain real-time visibility into process performance, enabling informed decision-making.

Industries such as manufacturing, logistics, finance and some retail segments are already realizing substantial benefits from process mining, driving operational efficiency and achieving superior outcomes. As organizations face the growing demands of digital transformation, process mining is proving to be a critical enabler for staying competitive, optimizing workflows, and accelerating business growth. The ability to extract actionable insights from data empowers companies to make informed decisions and continuously refine their operations, ensuring they remain agile in a fast-evolving marketplace.

The apparel and retail industries are beginning to understand that leveraging process mining can be a transformative tool to optimize operations, enhance customer experiences, and drive agility in a competitive market. By gaining real-time visibility into workflows, companies can identify inefficiencies, streamline supply chains, and make data-driven decisions. To adopt this technology, organizations are taking key steps such as assessing existing processes to identify pain points; centralizing data from systems like ERP, PLM and CRM; and investing in advanced process mining platforms with artificial intelligence-driven insights. They’re also fostering collaboration across departments to align IT, operations and leadership, ensuring the technology delivers maximum impact. With a focus on continuous improvement, businesses are using process mining to implement changes, monitor results, and refine operations, enabling them to adapt quickly to shifting consumer demands and market trends.

Infor’s process mining technology delivers advanced, industry-specific insights through seamless integration with Infor CloudSuite solutions. Unlike generic platforms, Infor’s process mining leverages embedded AI, advanced analytics, and a unified data fabric to provide real-time, actionable intelligence tailored to the complexities of industries like retail, manufacturing, and distribution. Its ability to analyze both structured and unstructured data ensures a holistic view of business processes, while its intuitive design enables rapid deployment with minimal disruption. Beyond identifying inefficiencies, Infor’s technology proactively recommends data-driven optimizations, empowering organizations to enhance agility, ensure compliance, and achieve sustainable growth. With unmatched scalability and a focus on continuous improvement, Infor’s process mining is a strategic tool that drives operational excellence and can help apparel and retail businesses stay ahead in an ever-evolving market.

Ana Friedlander is the industry solution and strategy director for fashion and retail at Infor.