Enhancing Procurement Performance in Project-Oriented Organizations: A Process Analysis Approach

Efficient procurement processes are critical for successful project execution in the construction industry. This study applies process mining techniques to analyze the procurement process of a project-oriented construction organization using the Behfalab platform. By leveraging real event log data extracted from the company's software system, the research aims to discover the actual procurement process execution, identify bottlenecks and deviations from the ideal process model, and propose data-driven improvement recommendations. The analysis reveals the predominant "happy path" followed in approximately 23.5% of cases examined during a 4.5-month period. It also uncovers the distribution of cases across various procurement activities, highlighting resource-intensive areas such as request handling, technical evaluations, and cost registration. Notably, significant bottlenecks are identified, including lengthy durations for tasks like purchase order processing on credit (average 12.8 working days), inquiry examination by workshop heads (11.6 working days), and cost registration (7.8 working days). Based on the findings and inputs from organizational experts, recommendations are proposed to enhance the procurement process. These include strengthening planning and resource allocation, establishing an authorized vendor list, promoting system thinking and software utilization, enhancing systematic cost registration and control mechanisms, and reinforcing the central procurement unit. The study contributes to the business process management domain by demonstrating the practical application of process mining for optimizing critical processes within project-oriented construction organizations.