The conformance check identifies possible reasons why a sequence of functions does not conform to a reference model. The reasons for the non-conformance are called conformance issues.
There are four different types of conformance issues.
Example
The following figure shows a schematic EPC with the start function S and the end function E. The EPC is the reference model for the examples of the non-compliance types described below.
A particular pair of functions occurs in the wrong order.
This issue is signaled by the dimension value ShouldNotFollow.
Example
The process step A should not follow process step C.
non-conformant function order: S,C,A,B,D,E
The process instance starts with a wrong function.
This issue is signaled by the dimension value ShouldNotStartProcess.
Example
Process instance should not start with process step E.
non-conformant function order: E,A,C,B,D,E
All steps of the process instance are terminated, but no end event is reached. This indicates an incomplete process.
This issue is signaled by the dimension value ShouldNotEndProcess.
Example
The process instance should not end with process step D.
non-conformant function order: S,A,C,B,D
A function in the process instance is not part of the function mapping and therefore cannot match any model function.
This issue is signaled by the dimension value ShouldNotOccur.
Example
Process type Z occurs. If Z is not part of the model, any process that includes Z falls into this category.
non-conformant function order: S,A,C,B,Z,D,E
Note that due to the algorithmic complexity, the conformance issues are reported on a best-guess basis. This means, there may be more reasons for non-conformance than PPM reports.
The conformance issue types are contained in the Conformance issue type dimension. The conformance issue itself is characterized by the type and one or two PPM function names contained in the dimensions Non-conforming function and Preceding function (only for ShouldNotFollow).
Example
In the example below, there are two conformance issues. Both are caused by the Authorize payment function that follows the Create contract function in the process instance, although the process was modeled in a different order.
Non-conforming function |
Conformance issue type |
Preceding function |
Number of conformance issues |
---|---|---|---|
Authorize payment |
ShouldNotFollow |
Create contract |
2 |