A pallet is transported from goods receiving to the central warehouse, moved to an intermediate storage area two hours later and subsequently transferred to the production supply area. Three movements, multiple inventory transactions and additional labour. But were all these steps actually necessary?
Industrial companies with extensive intralogistics operations carry out numerous stock transfers and internal transport movements every day. However, not every movement adds operational value. Inefficient storage location assignments, poor coordination and recurring intermediate stops can unnecessarily extend material flows.
Process Mining helps companies investigate these workflows using actual process data. Instead of examining individual transport orders in isolation, businesses can reconstruct how materials move through warehouses and production logistics, identifying where avoidable process loops occur.
Why Traditional Warehouse KPIs Are Not Enough
Many manufacturers already monitor their daily stock transfer volumes, average transport times and workforce utilisation.
However, these indicators do not necessarily explain why particular materials are moved several times.
A high number of stock transfers might result from seasonal replenishment requirements. Alternatively, it could indicate that goods are initially assigned to unsuitable storage locations.
Understanding the actual sequence of activities is therefore essential.
While traditional Business Intelligence reporting primarily focuses on quantities, durations and trends, Process Mining examines the relationships between individual process events.
This provides a more detailed understanding of how warehouse and transport processes operate in practice.
Turn Warehouse Transactions into Reconstructable Material Flows
COSYS Warehouse Management Software documents goods receipts, putaway operations, stock transfers and order picking through mobile data capture.
Each relevant transaction can provide information about the activity performed, its timestamp and the associated process.
These event records form the foundation for COSYS Process Mining.
The software combines related events into event logs and reconstructs the actual sequence of activities.
For example, an analysis might reveal that certain components are regularly moved into a buffer storage area after putaway before eventually reaching their designated production supply location.
Such recurring sequences may indicate inefficient warehouse organisation.
For manufacturing companies operating large production facilities in Sheffield and the wider South Yorkshire region, identifying these patterns can help improve material availability and reduce unnecessary handling.
Include Internal Transport in Process Analysis
A stock transfer does not necessarily end when the inventory transaction is recorded.
Particularly across large industrial sites, materials must physically move between warehouse areas, buildings or production halls.
COSYS Internal Transport Management enables companies to centrally dispatch transport orders and process them using mobile devices.
Collections, status changes and deliveries generate additional process information.
When these events are linked with warehouse transactions, companies can examine the entire workflow from the initial stock transfer request to completed delivery.
For example, delays between material preparation in the warehouse and actual collection may become visible.
Repeated transport movements between the same departments can also be identified.
Whether these movements create unnecessary travel distances must be assessed using the available location, route and movement data.
Process Variants Reveal Unnecessary Operational Effort
Comparing different workflows for similar material movements is particularly valuable.
One production department may receive required components directly from the central warehouse. Another order involving identical items might pass through two intermediate storage locations.
COSYS Process Mining can reveal these process variants and compare their throughput times.
By highlighting individual process sequences, unusual deviations can be investigated in greater detail.
Relevant findings may include additional stock transfers, repeated processing steps, reversed transactions or unusually long waiting periods.
However, not every additional movement is automatically unnecessary.
Quality inspections, safety regulations or production requirements may make certain intermediate stages essential.
The purpose of Process Mining is therefore not simply to eliminate activities, but to distinguish necessary process steps from avoidable operational effort.
Use Root Cause Analysis to Improve Transport Planning
Process Mining findings provide practical starting points for warehouse managers, production logistics teams and internal transport coordinators.
If the analysis shows that materials frequently move back and forth between a buffer warehouse and central storage, the existing storage allocation strategy should be reviewed.
If delays occur primarily before transport collection, the underlying issue may instead involve order prioritisation or coordination between warehouse operations and internal logistics.
Transport orders repeatedly created for the same destination may also indicate opportunities to consolidate material movements.
Once improvements have been introduced, new event data can be compared with previous workflows.
This allows companies to assess whether throughput times, recurring process loops and the number of handling steps have actually changed.
Conclusion: Understand Material Movements Instead of Simply Recording Them
Unnecessary stock transfers create additional work and can delay material supply to production. However, their underlying causes cannot be identified through individual warehouse KPIs alone.
COSYS connects Warehouse Management, Internal Transport Management and Process Mining within a shared intralogistics platform.
Mobile data capture, COSYS WebDesk, Business Intelligence and AI-supported process analytics provide a data-driven foundation for optimising internal factory logistics.
Suitable mobile data collection hardware, implementation support and hardware services complete the modular solution.
For UK manufacturers managing complex material flows across warehouses and production facilities, this creates opportunities to improve operational transparency and make better-informed logistics decisions.
Tip: Want to identify unnecessary stock transfers and inefficient internal transport workflows? COSYS Process Mining helps you analyse actual process sequences and uncover opportunities for improvement. You can also explore COSYS Warehouse Management Software and test its mobile warehouse functions free of charge and without obligation using the COSYS demo apps on Google Play or the Apple App Store.
Industrial companies with extensive intralogistics operations carry out numerous stock transfers and internal transport movements every day. However, not every movement adds operational value. Inefficient storage location assignments, poor coordination and recurring intermediate stops can unnecessarily extend material flows.
Process Mining helps companies investigate these workflows using actual process data. Instead of examining individual transport orders in isolation, businesses can reconstruct how materials move through warehouses and production logistics, identifying where avoidable process loops occur.
Why Traditional Warehouse KPIs Are Not Enough
Many manufacturers already monitor their daily stock transfer volumes, average transport times and workforce utilisation.
However, these indicators do not necessarily explain why particular materials are moved several times.
A high number of stock transfers might result from seasonal replenishment requirements. Alternatively, it could indicate that goods are initially assigned to unsuitable storage locations.
Understanding the actual sequence of activities is therefore essential.
While traditional Business Intelligence reporting primarily focuses on quantities, durations and trends, Process Mining examines the relationships between individual process events.
This provides a more detailed understanding of how warehouse and transport processes operate in practice.
Turn Warehouse Transactions into Reconstructable Material Flows
COSYS Warehouse Management Software documents goods receipts, putaway operations, stock transfers and order picking through mobile data capture.
Each relevant transaction can provide information about the activity performed, its timestamp and the associated process.
These event records form the foundation for COSYS Process Mining.
The software combines related events into event logs and reconstructs the actual sequence of activities.
For example, an analysis might reveal that certain components are regularly moved into a buffer storage area after putaway before eventually reaching their designated production supply location.
Such recurring sequences may indicate inefficient warehouse organisation.
For manufacturing companies operating large production facilities in Sheffield and the wider South Yorkshire region, identifying these patterns can help improve material availability and reduce unnecessary handling.
Include Internal Transport in Process Analysis
A stock transfer does not necessarily end when the inventory transaction is recorded.
Particularly across large industrial sites, materials must physically move between warehouse areas, buildings or production halls.
COSYS Internal Transport Management enables companies to centrally dispatch transport orders and process them using mobile devices.
Collections, status changes and deliveries generate additional process information.
When these events are linked with warehouse transactions, companies can examine the entire workflow from the initial stock transfer request to completed delivery.
For example, delays between material preparation in the warehouse and actual collection may become visible.
Repeated transport movements between the same departments can also be identified.
Whether these movements create unnecessary travel distances must be assessed using the available location, route and movement data.
Process Variants Reveal Unnecessary Operational Effort
Comparing different workflows for similar material movements is particularly valuable.
One production department may receive required components directly from the central warehouse. Another order involving identical items might pass through two intermediate storage locations.
COSYS Process Mining can reveal these process variants and compare their throughput times.
By highlighting individual process sequences, unusual deviations can be investigated in greater detail.
Relevant findings may include additional stock transfers, repeated processing steps, reversed transactions or unusually long waiting periods.
However, not every additional movement is automatically unnecessary.
Quality inspections, safety regulations or production requirements may make certain intermediate stages essential.
The purpose of Process Mining is therefore not simply to eliminate activities, but to distinguish necessary process steps from avoidable operational effort.
Use Root Cause Analysis to Improve Transport Planning
Process Mining findings provide practical starting points for warehouse managers, production logistics teams and internal transport coordinators.
If the analysis shows that materials frequently move back and forth between a buffer warehouse and central storage, the existing storage allocation strategy should be reviewed.
If delays occur primarily before transport collection, the underlying issue may instead involve order prioritisation or coordination between warehouse operations and internal logistics.
Transport orders repeatedly created for the same destination may also indicate opportunities to consolidate material movements.
Once improvements have been introduced, new event data can be compared with previous workflows.
This allows companies to assess whether throughput times, recurring process loops and the number of handling steps have actually changed.
Conclusion: Understand Material Movements Instead of Simply Recording Them
Unnecessary stock transfers create additional work and can delay material supply to production. However, their underlying causes cannot be identified through individual warehouse KPIs alone.
COSYS connects Warehouse Management, Internal Transport Management and Process Mining within a shared intralogistics platform.
Mobile data capture, COSYS WebDesk, Business Intelligence and AI-supported process analytics provide a data-driven foundation for optimising internal factory logistics.
Suitable mobile data collection hardware, implementation support and hardware services complete the modular solution.
For UK manufacturers managing complex material flows across warehouses and production facilities, this creates opportunities to improve operational transparency and make better-informed logistics decisions.
Tip: Want to identify unnecessary stock transfers and inefficient internal transport workflows? COSYS Process Mining helps you analyse actual process sequences and uncover opportunities for improvement. You can also explore COSYS Warehouse Management Software and test its mobile warehouse functions free of charge and without obligation using the COSYS demo apps on Google Play or the Apple App Store.
