Process mining using α-algorithm as a tool (A case study of student registration)

The α-algorithm is an algorithm used in process mining, aimed at reconstructing causality from a set of sequences of events. In this paper we used alpha algorithm in order to focus on the control flow perspective of students´ registration process model in one of the universities in Thailand. The event log consisted of 299 cases and 569 events. Initially the data was received in form of MS Access Database but later using PromImport platform, the data was converted into MXML, a format that commonly is used in Prom. Though the paper applies the α-algorithm in presented case study, yet the α-algorithm could not adequately deal with loops and concurrency of process models. Therefore, the α-algorithm should not be seen as a very practical mining technique as it has its own problems with noise, infrequent/incomplete behavior, and complex routing constructs. Nevertheless, we used the algorithm as a baseline for discussing the challenges related to model discovery of registration process in an academic environment.