Celonis process mining

What it is

Celonis makes process mining software. The company was founded in 2011 as a spin-off from the Technical University of Munich by Alexander Rinke, Bastian Nominacher and Martin Klenk. It is headquartered in Munich, with a second head office in New York. In 2020 it launched its Execution Management System, which extends process analysis with tools to act on the findings, and SAP resells a version of its software.

How it works

Every time an employee creates an order, approves an invoice or ships a product in an ERP or CRM system, the software leaves a time-stamped record. Process mining collects these event logs and reconstructs the actual sequence of steps for each case, for example every purchase order from request to payment. The software then visualises the process as a map, showing the most common paths, the deviations, loops and delays. Analysts can compare reality with the intended process and identify where time and money are lost.

Why it stands out

Companies often believe their processes follow the flowcharts in their manuals, but the data usually tells a different story. Process mining makes those differences visible without interviews or workshops, based on objective data. Celonis turned an academic discipline into a commercial software category and grew into one of Germany's most valuable start-ups. The founders first developed the idea while analysing service processes for Bayerischer Rundfunk as students in a university consulting group.

Where you meet it

Celonis is used by large companies in manufacturing, retail, finance and services, typically by finance, procurement and supply chain teams that want to speed up payments, reduce late deliveries or cut manual work. Its analysis runs in the background of major transformation programmes, including migrations to new ERP systems.