Use the Variant Explorer in Views

In this course, you'll learn all about the Variant Explorer in Views - including hands-on exercises!

This course is part of the Use and Interpret Views Training Track. We highly encourage you to take all the courses in the track, in the order that is predefined for you to help you gain a holistic understanding of Views.

It should take you about 30 minutes to complete this course.

Are you ready? Let’s get started! 🚀

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In Courses: Switching languages will not affect your progress. If you are multilingual, comparing languages can even help deepen your understanding. In Exams: Do not switch the language once you start the exam. If you switch the language when you're already reviewing questions and answers, the page will refresh, causing your exam attempt to end prematurely. (Note: Once inside the exam course, you can switch the language anytime before clicking the Start Exam button.)

If you encounter any technical or access issues during this course, check out our FAQs in the Support area or reach out to us via our Academy contact form.

The Variant Explorer (also “VE” for short) is a View component that allows you to discover all of the different ways in which the business processes flow within your organization. Each of these unique ways is called a “variant”. In other words, a variant represents objects that follow the same path and sequence of events within your process.

Reviewing the Variants allows you to understand whether the ways in which processes run in your organization follow your desired flows.

With the Variant Explorer, you can:

Review variants individually.

Compare multiple variants to one another.

Review the variants with process metrics or the Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) available in your dataset.

Use the various filtering options.

Get your hands dirty and interact with the Variant Explorer yourself!

In the following hands-on exercises, you will imagine yourself stepping into the role of a Process Lead in the order management department at SecureNet Data Centers. As part of your daily work, you leverage a Celonis App to investigate and refine the order management process, aiming to boost efficiency and ensure timely delivery.

For the hands-on exercises, you’ll have three key objects in your View: (1) sales order, (2) sales order item, and (3) delivery. If you are not familiar with these objects, check out their descriptions below.

Sales Order

Originated from the "Sales Order Header Document", containing an agreement between a seller and a customer concerning the sale and delivery of goods, as well as any services that are associated with these processes. The different entries are split into sales order item entities.

Sales Order Item

A line item in the sales order header document detailing a specific piece of a sales order agreement.

Delivery

Originated from the "Delivery Header Document", which is the central object in the delivery process providing general information about goods movement. The different entries are split into separate Delivery Item entities.

The challenge: You have been informed that there are big issues with on-time delivery. It is possible that the order processing cycle is slowed down by manual interventions, frequent order changes, blocks, and cancellations, which create tedious rework. However, the root causes or when these events happen are unclear.

Let’s jump into the exercises to understand what is happening at SecureNet Data Centers. Follow the steps listed on the next page to go to the Business User Training Environment and find the View dedicated to the Use and Interpret Views Training Track!

In this course, you’ll have the opportunity to have hands-on experience using a View in a custom training environment. Go through the following steps to get access.

If you're coming from a previous course within the Use and Interpret Views training track, then you can jump to Step 3.

Step 1

Click on the button to be added to the custom training team.

Add me to the environment

Step 2

In the custom training team, go to Apps.

Look for the Space “Business User Training”.

In that Space, there should be an “Use and Interpret Views” Package, which you will use for this course.

Click on it, and you'll open the "Use & Interpret Views - Order Management Hands-on Exercise" App.

The video below shows you how to do it. ⬇️

Step 3

For the exercises in this course, go to the Variant Explorer tab within the View.

After completing these steps, you're ready to begin the hands-on exercises! 🚀

If you encounter any issues, you can contact us here.

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Before getting started with the exercises of this course, please remove any filters that might be remaining from the previous course.

When you’re working with an object-centric data model (OCDM), you will be able to review multiple different objects types.

When using the Variant Explorer, you’d view one object at a time. Thus, the first step you would need to take when working with a Variant Explorer in a View, is to choose which object type you’d like to dive deeper into!

The OCDM that you'll be working with for the exercises in this course has three key object types that belongs to the Order Management process.

Now, let’s get to work!

Go to your training environment and use the Controls to select the Sales Order object type.

Now that you have selected the object type, you’re ready to explore the variants!

First, let's clarify what you're seeing on the Variant Explorer component of this View:

Press O for more options

2:06

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As mentioned before, the Variant Explorer displays the most common variant by default.

Let's get started by reviewing the most common variant in this dataset, which means the largest group of objects going through the same set of events, following the same sequence. The number of objects going through each connection is the same throughout the process, as you're viewing only one variant at this time.

What is the percentage of objects covered by this variant?

Answer

79%. A big majority of the sales orders go through this exact set and sequence of events!

Here is where you find the answer. ⬇️

When you review the events from start to end, you'll see that most often in this process, (1) sales order headers are created, (2) sales order items are created,  and then, (3) the sales order is approved.

In this VE, under each event header you see the amount of times each event has occurred. Please note that, depending on how your Data Analyst configured your View, you might see other relevant KPIs in this area as well.

It’s time to review another variant! Go over to the controls, and select variant #3 (and deselect variant #1). Take a look at the variant, and then come back to answer the question below:

What is the number of objects covered by the 3rd most common variant?

Answer

1.58K.

Here is where you find the answer. ⬇️ (Note: This video has no audio; detailed solution steps are provided below the video.)

Using the control panel, click the box next to the 3rd variant to select it, and then, de-select the 1st variant. Next, check the object count.

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It’s time to compare multiple variants with each other! To do so, you have the option to superimpose (i.e., layer, combine) multiple variants and thus, view them at once.

In your training environment, use the controls to select the variants #1 and #3 at the same time.

What is the number of objects going from "Approve Sales Order" event directly to process end?

Answer

21.4K.

Here is where you find the answer. ⬇️

Check out the number on the connection between the two events.

What is the number of objects going from "Approve Sales Order" event to "Set Billing Block event"?

Answer

1.58K.

To sum up, at the “Approve Sales Order” event, you have a total of 23K objects (from both variants). Out of these objects, 1.58K (which belong to Variant #3) go through the additional steps of “Set Billing Block”and “Release Billing Block”. And the rest (21.4K which belong to Variant #1) directly go to the process-end.

Here is where you find the answer. ⬇️

Check out the number on the connection between the two events.

So far, so good! But the object counts tell us only so much about what is going on in our business processes. It’s time to switch the process metric that is being displayed.

Go over to your View, and switch to the Throughput Time (Median) metric. Take a look at the new numbers being displayed, and then, come back to the course to answer the question below.

How much longer does it take when the sales order goes through the "Set Billing Block" and "Release Billing Block" events (compared to the sales orders where the process ends right after the "Approve Sales Order" event)?

Answer

9 + 4 = 13 Days.

Here is where you find the answer. ⬇️

Check out the numbers on the connections between the events!

Great job! You have now successfully used the Variant Explorer to get a valuable process insight about how setting and releasing billing blocks increase throughput time. But we’re not done yet! This discovery needs to be further investigated!...

To dive deeper into the data and reveal further process insights, let’s focus on the "Set Billing Block" event.

Click on this event to reveal more information about it, and then filter your dataset to show you only the objects that go through this event.

After applying the filter, pay attention to the upper right corner of the View. It informs you that you have filtered your data to only show you the subset which includes only the sales orders that go through the  Set Billing Block" event.

You can always edit this filter to make adjustments. You can also remove it to go back to viewing the entire dataset, or opt for disabling the filter so that you can easily enable it again if you wish to come back to it.

Note that once you add a filter, the entire View updates to show you the data that corresponds to the subset you have filtered for. For example, check out the new numbers on the KPI list.

What’s the Net Order Value of the sales orders that go through the  Set Billing Block" event?

Answer

64.4M € That's quite a lot of value for orders that are going through an event that is associated with increased throughput time!

Here is where you find the answer. ⬇️

Check the Net Order Value KPI card.

When you want to filter for a certain event, you can always use the built-in event filter from the top of the View, instead of interacting with the Variant Explorer. You can also leverage the various options here to customize your filter.

Remember to remove or disable any filters you have applied before moving on!

You can also filter your dataset by using connections.

To do so, simply click on the connection that you’re interested in, just like how you filtered on the objects using an event.

Time to try it for yourself! Start by removing any filters and superimpose variants #1 and #3 again. And then, filter for the sales orders that go from the "Approve Sales Order" event to the "Set Billing Block" event.

Note that once you apply a filter, the entire View updates to show you the data that corresponds to the subset you have filtered for. This time, let's check out the updated variant list.

What is the median throughput time for the most common variant of the dataset you filtered for (i.e., the sales orders that go from the Approve Sales Order directly to the Set Billing Block event)?

Answer

14 days.

Here is where you find the answer. ⬇️ (Note: This video has no audio; detailed solution steps are provided below the video.)

Click on the connection between the two events, and then, select “with this connection”. The View will update according to your filtering. Next, check the controls for the most common variant of the data you filtered for.

When you want to filter for a certain connection, you can always use the built-in process flow filter from the top of the View, instead of interacting with the Variant Explorer. You can also leverage the various options here to customize your filter.

Remember to remove or disable any filters you have applied before moving on!

Check out Celonis Docs for in-depth information on all filter types. We will be releasing even more filtering options, so stay tuned!

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Another filtering option you have is to use the filter bar (if your Data Analyst has configured it for you).

Use the “Show filter bar” button to display the filter bar. Check out what filters have been configured for you in this View.

For example, in this View, you can filter your data to only display the sales orders that belong to a specific plant or material group. Or only show the sales orders that occurred within specific dates that you are interested in.

Let’s try it out! Please make sure to delete any filters that were already applied

What is the Net Order Value of the sales orders that were delivered late?

Answer

5.92B €

Here is where you find the answer. ⬇️ (Note: This video has no audio; detailed solution steps are provided below the video.)

Using the Filter Bar, click on the “Late” filter. Then, check the KPI card for Net Order Value.

Even more filter options will be explained in the “Use the Process Explorer in Views” course up next in this training track!

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Next Lesson Hide Events

Sometimes, you may not be interested in every single event in your process. For example, some events might be generated automatically or occur in every single object. The events menu in the upper-right corner of the Variant Explorer allows you to hide specific events so you can focus on the events that are most relevant to you.

From this menu, you can use the checkboxes to show or hide any event. You can also use the search bar to find specific events or use the “Select all” and “Clear all” buttons to manage your selections. Once you’ve made your choices, click “Update” to refresh the process graph.

It’s important to keep in mind that hiding an event does not filter out the objects associated with it; it only prevents it from being displayed. More details on filtering will follow on the next pages - stay tuned!

Here is how you do it: Click open the events menu. Then, deselect the events that you’d like to hide and hit the “apply” button.

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You have reached the end of the “Use the Variant Explorer in Views” course. 🎉

You are now able to:

Choose which object type you’d like to review.

Select which process metric you’d like to review.

Explore individual variants.

Compare multiple variants.

Filter on objects using events and connections.

Filter on objects using the built-in filters.

Filter on objects using the filter bar.

But before you go, did you notice this loop around the Create Sales Order Item event during the exercises you did?

Curious what that’s about? Well, maybe you’ll find out in the Process Explorer course up next 👀

We look forward to seeing you there!

Please feel free to share your feedback with us on the next page so that we can further improve our content. Thank you!

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