Sap signavio

SAP Signavio Process Management & Mining

Related Skills

• sap-build-process-automation — Automate processes modeled in Signavio
• sap-s4hana-extensibility — Process variants for S/4HANA scenarios
• sap-cloud-alm — ALM process monitoring complements Signavio insights

Quick Start

Choose your Signavio component:

Component	Purpose	Key Activity
Process Manager	BPMN modeling, process repository	Design & publish processes
Process Intelligence	Process mining, conformance	Analyze event logs
Process Governance	Approval workflows for models	Govern process changes
Collaboration Hub	Stakeholder communication	Share & collect feedback
Journey Modeler	Customer/employee journeys	Map experience flows

First API call — List Process Models:

curl -X GET "https://editor.signavio.com/p/revision" \
  -H "x-signavio-id: {{SESSION_TOKEN}}" \
  -H "Accept: application/json" \
  -b "JSESSIONID={{SESSION_COOKIE}}"

Core Concepts

BPMN 2.0 Modeling Standards

Element	Symbol	Usage
Start Event	○	One per process (normal flow)
End Event	◉	At least one; use multiple for different outcomes
User Task	▭ (person)	Manual human activity
Service Task	▭ (gear)	Automated system call
Exclusive Gateway	◇ (X)	Either/or branching
Parallel Gateway	◇ (+)	Fork/join concurrent paths
Intermediate Event	◎	Timer, message, signal mid-flow
Subprocess	▭ [+]	Encapsulate reusable process

Process Intelligence (Mining) Pipeline

1. Data extraction — Pull event logs from source systems (S/4HANA, ECC, SuccessFactors)
2. Data transformation — Map to Signavio event log format (Case ID, Activity, Timestamp)
3. Process discovery — Auto-generate process model from event data
4. Conformance checking — Compare discovered vs. designed process
5. Root cause analysis — Identify bottlenecks, rework loops, deviations
6. KPI monitoring — Track cycle time, throughput, automation rate

Event Log Format

CaseID,Activity,Timestamp,Resource,Variant
PO-001,Create Purchase Requisition,2026-01-15T08:00:00Z,User_A,Standard
PO-001,Approve Purchase Requisition,2026-01-15T09:30:00Z,Manager_B,Standard
PO-001,Create Purchase Order,2026-01-15T10:00:00Z,System,Standard
PO-001,Goods Receipt,2026-01-20T14:00:00Z,User_C,Standard
PO-001,Invoice Receipt,2026-01-22T11:00:00Z,User_D,Standard
PO-001,Payment,2026-01-25T16:00:00Z,System,Standard

Common Patterns

Pattern 1: Signavio API Authentication

import requests

SIGNAVIO_URL = "https://editor.signavio.com"

def authenticate(email, password, tenant_id):
    """Authenticate and get session token."""
    resp = requests.post(
        f"{SIGNAVIO_URL}/p/login",
        data={
            "name": email,
            "password": password,
            "tenant": tenant_id,
            "tokenonly": "true"
        }
    )
    resp.raise_for_status()
    return {
        "token": resp.text.strip(),
        "cookie": resp.cookies.get("JSESSIONID")
    }

def get_headers(session):
    return {
        "x-signavio-id": session["token"],
        "Accept": "application/json",
        "Cookie": f"JSESSIONID={session['cookie']}"
    }

Pattern 2: Export BPMN Model

def export_bpmn_xml(session, model_id):
    """Export process model as BPMN 2.0 XML."""
    headers = get_headers(session)
    resp = requests.get(
        f"{SIGNAVIO_URL}/p/revision/{model_id}/bpmn2_0_xml",
        headers=headers
    )
    resp.raise_for_status()
    return resp.text

def export_svg(session, model_id):
    """Export process diagram as SVG."""
    headers = get_headers(session)
    headers["Accept"] = "image/svg+xml"
    resp = requests.get(
        f"{SIGNAVIO_URL}/p/revision/{model_id}/svg",
        headers=headers
    )
    resp.raise_for_status()
    return resp.text

Pattern 3: Process Mining Data Preparation (S/4HANA P2P)

-- CDS view for Procure-to-Pay event log extraction
@AbapCatalog.sqlViewName: 'ZV_P2P_EVLOG'
@Analytics: { dataCategory: #FACT }
define view Z_P2P_EVENT_LOG as

  -- Purchase Requisition Created
  select from eban {
    cast(banfn as abap.char(20)) as CaseID,
    'Create Purchase Requisition' as Activity,
    badat as EventTimestamp,
    ernam as Resource,
    bsart as Variant
  }
  union all
  -- Purchase Order Created
  select from ekko {
    cast(ebeln as abap.char(20)) as CaseID,
    'Create Purchase Order' as Activity,
    aedat as EventTimestamp,
    ernam as Resource,
    bsart as Variant
  }
  union all
  -- Goods Receipt
  select from mkpf
    inner join mseg on mkpf.mblnr = mseg.mblnr
                   and mkpf.mjahr = mseg.mjahr {
    cast(mseg.ebeln as abap.char(20)) as CaseID,
    'Goods Receipt' as Activity,
    mkpf.budat as EventTimestamp,
    mkpf.usnam as Resource,
    mseg.bwart as Variant
  }
  where mseg.bwart = '101'

Pattern 4: BPMN Best Practices Template

<!-- Well-structured BPMN process -->
<bpmn:process id="P2P_Standard" name="Procure-to-Pay Standard" isExecutable="true">
  <!-- Single start event -->
  <bpmn:startEvent id="Start" name="Purchase Need Identified"/>

  <!-- Clear task naming: Verb + Object -->
  <bpmn:userTask id="T1" name="Create Purchase Requisition"/>
  <bpmn:userTask id="T2" name="Approve Purchase Requisition"/>

  <!-- Gateway with labeled outgoing flows -->
  <bpmn:exclusiveGateway id="G1" name="Approval Decision"/>
  <bpmn:sequenceFlow id="F_Approved" name="Approved" sourceRef="G1" targetRef="T3"/>
  <bpmn:sequenceFlow id="F_Rejected" name="Rejected" sourceRef="G1" targetRef="T_Reject"/>

  <bpmn:serviceTask id="T3" name="Create Purchase Order"/>
  <bpmn:userTask id="T4" name="Confirm Goods Receipt"/>
  <bpmn:serviceTask id="T5" name="Process Invoice"/>
  <bpmn:serviceTask id="T6" name="Execute Payment"/>

  <bpmn:endEvent id="End_Success" name="Payment Completed"/>
  <bpmn:endEvent id="End_Rejected" name="Requisition Rejected"/>
</bpmn:process>

Pattern 5: Process KPI Configuration

{
  "kpis": [
    {
      "name": "Cycle Time",
      "description": "Average time from requisition to payment",
      "formula": "AVG(EndTimestamp - StartTimestamp)",
      "target": "< 15 days",
      "dimension": "days"
    },
    {
      "name": "First-Time-Right Rate",
      "description": "Percentage of cases without rework loops",
      "formula": "COUNT(cases_no_rework) / COUNT(all_cases) * 100",
      "target": "> 85%",
      "dimension": "percentage"
    },
    {
      "name": "Automation Rate",
      "description": "Activities executed by system vs. total",
      "formula": "COUNT(system_activities) / COUNT(all_activities) * 100",
      "target": "> 60%",
      "dimension": "percentage"
    },
    {
      "name": "Maverick Buying Rate",
      "description": "POs created without prior requisition",
      "formula": "COUNT(po_without_pr) / COUNT(all_po) * 100",
      "target": "< 5%",
      "dimension": "percentage"
    }
  ]
}

Error Catalog

Error	Message	Root Cause	Fix
401	Session expired	Token timeout (default 30 min)	Re-authenticate; implement token refresh
403	Access denied	Missing workspace permissions	Check Signavio role assignments
404	Model not found	Wrong revision ID or deleted model	Use directory API to get current revision
409	Conflict	Concurrent model edit	Reload model, merge changes manually
Mining: No data	Empty process graph	Event log has no matching cases	Verify CaseID linking across activities
Mining: Spaghetti	Too many variants	Missing activity normalization	Standardize activity names; filter outliers
Export: Timeout	Large model export failed	Model too complex (>200 elements)	Split into subprocesses; export parts
Import: Invalid BPMN	Schema validation error	Non-standard BPMN extensions	Remove vendor-specific extensions before import

Performance Tips

1. Event log size — Keep under 10M events per analysis; sample or partition by date range
2. Activity normalization — Standardize naming before import; "Create PO" and "PO Creation" = same activity
3. Case linking — Use document flow tables (VBFA, EKBE) to link cross-module cases
4. Incremental mining — Schedule delta extracts (changed since last run) for ongoing monitoring
5. Model complexity — Keep BPMN models under 50 elements per diagram; use subprocesses for detail
6. Variant analysis — Focus on top 20 variants (usually 80%+ of cases); group rare variants as "Other"
7. Collaboration Hub — Publish only approved models; use governance workflow for version control

Gotchas

• Signavio vs. BPA: Signavio models are design-time reference; SAP Build Process Automation is runtime execution — they complement, not replace each other
• BPMN compliance: Signavio enforces strict BPMN 2.0; models from other tools may need cleanup before import
• Event timestamp granularity: Second-level timestamps required for accurate mining; day-level creates artificial parallelism
• Process Intelligence licensing: Mining capabilities require separate PI license; Process Manager alone doesn't include mining
• S/4HANA connector: Pre-built extractors exist for O2C, P2P, AP — custom processes need manual event log setup