Case types and exceptions: mapping more than the standard

A case type is a variant of the process with its own share of the volume and often its own path, such as standard orders, custom-made orders and export orders. Map the standard case first, then add the few case types that take a different route or much more time. They are frequently a small share of the cases but a large share of the work.

Why the standard case is not enough

Many mapping guidelines recommend recording only the regular process and adding deviations when they are frequent. That is sensible advice for a first picture: it keeps the workshop short and the diagram readable. For an analysis it has a blind spot. Exceptions often run through more steps, more handoffs and more approvals. If they are left out, the map looks tidy while the team spends its days on the cases that are not on it.

The answer is not to draw every exception. It is to name the two or three variants that change the path or the effort noticeably, give each a share and let the calculation show what they cost.

Case types in the app

Every process starts with one case type, the standard case, with 100%. Further case types are added in a small table with a name, a share of the total volume and a color. Shares should add up to 100%; if they do not, the calculation normalises them and a check reports the difference.

At each decision you can give each case type its own share. In the order processing template, the decision "Order type?" sends 100% of standard and export orders to scheduling and 100% of custom-made orders to the preparation of production documents. The later decision "Export?" sends only export orders to the export documents. The case type therefore decides the path, not chance.

Different times per case type

Sometimes the path is the same but the effort is not. A custom-made order still has to be picked and packed, but it takes longer. For such steps you can enter a time per case type that replaces the step time for this case type completely. In the template, picking and packing is typically 20 minutes, and 40 minutes for custom-made orders.

Keep this to steps where the difference is real and known. If every step has three different times, nobody will maintain them. What the extra minutes cost shows up directly in the cost per case of each case type.

Colored paths and line width

As soon as a process has more than one case type, each connection in the diagram is drawn as one colored strand per case type, side by side. The line width grows with the volume that case type carries on that connection, so the main flow is thick and the export path is thin. You can highlight a single case type: its strands stay in full color, everything it does not touch fades, and the metric bar shows the values for that case type alone.

This is the quickest way to answer questions in a workshop such as "Which steps do export orders go through that standard orders do not?" without reading the whole diagram.

Metrics per case type

All metrics are calculated per case type and as a weighted total: lead time, processing and waiting time, cost per case, handoffs, media breaks and the share of cases without queries. The totals are the averages weighted by the case-type shares. Comparing them shows where the effort really sits.

One check looks for exactly this pattern: it gives a hint when a case type with less than 20% of the cases takes more than 40% of the processing time. That is a strong reason to look at that variant separately, for example with a simpler path, a standard form or a different team.

Which variants become case types?

A variant earns its own case type when at least one of these applies:

• It takes a different path at a decision, for example custom-made orders that need production documents.
• It takes noticeably more or less time at one or more steps.
• It involves other roles, such as export orders that need the shipping department to prepare customs papers.
• It is the reason for a decision about the future process, for example whether a special path should be split off.

Asking about case types in the session

Ask after the standard path is on the wall: "Which cases do not go this way? Roughly how many out of ten?" Then follow each answer once through the process. Write down the share as the people involved state it; if the shares are uncertain, say so and refine them later from a system report. The order processing template is a ready example with three case types; the lesson on volumes and case counts explains how to get the shares.

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