Overview
The Activity Copy Latest EventValue enrichment propagates event attribute values forward through the chronological sequence of activities within each case. This powerful data propagation tool captures the most recent value from specified source activities and copies it to a target activity whenever it occurs, creating a "forward fill" pattern that ensures critical information flows through your process timeline.
This enrichment solves a common process mining challenge: maintaining context across activities when important data appears at specific points in the process but is needed for analysis at later stages. For example, when a customer places an order, their priority level might be recorded at the "Order Received" activity, but you need that priority information available at subsequent "Quality Check" or "Ship Order" activities. The enrichment tracks values as they appear and intelligently carries them forward to where they're needed.
Unlike simple attribute copying that requires exact activity sequences, this enrichment is robust to process variations. It maintains the latest known value throughout the case, regardless of how many events occur between the source and target activities. This makes it ideal for scenarios where data appears intermittently but needs to be available at multiple downstream points for filtering, analysis, or decision-making.
Common Uses
- Propagate customer priority levels from order entry to all fulfillment activities for priority-based analysis
- Carry forward the latest approved budget amount from approval activities to subsequent spending activities
- Copy the most recent quality rating from inspection activities to shipping and delivery activities
- Propagate the last known inventory location from check-in activities to all subsequent handling activities
- Carry forward pricing tier information from quote activities to order processing activities
- Copy the latest assigned resource from assignment activities to execution activities
- Propagate risk assessment scores from evaluation activities to approval and execution activities
- Carry forward the most recent status update from checkpoint activities to completion activities
Settings
Filter: Optional filter to apply the enrichment only to specific cases. The enrichment will process only cases that match the filter criteria. Leave empty to apply to all cases in your dataset. This is useful when different processes require different value propagation rules.
Activity Name: The target activity where the latest known value will be written. Every time this activity occurs in a case, it will receive the most recent value captured from the source activities. Choose the activity or activities where you need the propagated information available for analysis or filtering.
New Event Attribute Name: The name for the new event attribute that will be created on the target activity. This attribute will contain the latest value from the source activities. Choose a descriptive name that clearly indicates both the source and purpose, such as "Latest_Customer_Priority" or "Current_Approved_Budget".
Copy Activities: The source activities from which to capture values. The enrichment monitors these activities in chronological order and tracks the most recent value encountered. You can specify multiple activities, and the enrichment will update its tracked value whenever any of them occurs. Select all activities that can provide or update the value you want to propagate.
Copy Activity Attribute: The event attribute from the source activities whose value should be propagated forward. This attribute must exist on the source activities and will determine what data is carried forward. The attribute can be numeric, text, date, or boolean type, and its data type will be preserved in the new attribute.
Examples
Example 1: Customer Priority Propagation in Order Fulfillment
Scenario: Your e-commerce process captures customer priority level (Gold, Silver, Bronze) at the "Order Received" activity. You need this priority information available at "Quality Check" and "Pack Order" activities to identify high-priority shipments and apply appropriate service levels, but the priority attribute isn't naturally present on these downstream activities.
Settings:
- Filter: (empty - apply to all cases)
- Activity Name: Quality Check, Pack Order
- New Event Attribute Name: Customer_Priority_Level
- Copy Activities: Order Received, Update Customer Status
- Copy Activity Attribute: CustomerPriority
Output: Creates a new event attribute "Customer_Priority_Level" on all "Quality Check" and "Pack Order" activities. For each case, the enrichment tracks the latest priority value from "Order Received" or "Update Customer Status" activities. When "Quality Check" or "Pack Order" occurs, it receives the most recent priority value seen in the case. If a customer's status is updated during order processing, the new priority flows forward to subsequent activities.
Insights: This enables filtering quality checks by customer priority to ensure Gold customers receive extra attention, analyzing pack times by priority tier to verify service level compliance, and creating priority-aware performance dashboards that show throughput and cycle time segmented by customer importance.
Example 2: Budget Tracking Through Approval Process
Scenario: A procurement process involves multiple budget approval stages. Each "Budget Approval" activity records an approved amount, which may be revised through the process. You need the current approved budget available at "Create Purchase Order" and "Issue Payment" activities to validate spending against authorized amounts.
Settings:
- Filter: Department = "Procurement"
- Activity Name: Create Purchase Order, Issue Payment
- New Event Attribute Name: Approved_Budget_Amount
- Copy Activities: Initial Budget Approval, Revised Budget Approval, Final Budget Approval
- Copy Activity Attribute: ApprovedAmount
Output: Creates "Approved_Budget_Amount" on purchase order and payment activities containing the most recent budget approval. If a case has approvals of $10,000, then a revision to $12,000, the purchase order and payment activities will show $12,000. If multiple approvals occur, each subsequent approval updates the tracked value, and the latest one propagates to downstream activities.
Insights: Enables validation that purchase orders don't exceed approved budgets, analysis of how often revised budgets are needed, identification of payments that occurred after budget changes, and tracking of spending patterns relative to authorized amounts.
Example 3: Quality Rating Propagation in Manufacturing
Scenario: A manufacturing process conducts quality inspections at multiple stages ("Initial Inspection", "Mid-Process Check", "Final Inspection"). Each inspection assigns a quality rating. You need the latest quality rating available at "Package Product" and "Ship Product" activities to ensure only properly rated items are shipped.
Settings:
- Filter: Product_Line = "Electronics"
- Activity Name: Package Product, Ship Product
- New Event Attribute Name: Latest_Quality_Rating
- Copy Activities: Initial Inspection, Mid-Process Check, Final Inspection
- Copy Activity Attribute: QualityRating
Output: Creates "Latest_Quality_Rating" on packaging and shipping activities showing the most recent inspection result. If a product receives ratings of "A", "B", and "A" at successive inspections, the packaging and shipping activities will show "A" (the final rating). This ensures downstream activities always have access to the current quality assessment.
Insights: Allows filtering of shipping activities to identify products shipped with low quality ratings, analysis of whether quality improves or degrades through the manufacturing process, tracking of how quality ratings correlate with customer returns, and validation that shipping only occurs after acceptable final inspections.
Example 4: Inventory Location Tracking in Warehousing
Scenario: A warehousing process moves items through multiple locations. "Check In", "Transfer", and "Relocate" activities update the warehouse location. You need the current location available at "Pick Item" and "Load for Shipping" activities to optimize routing and identify picking inefficiencies.
Settings:
- Filter: (empty)
- Activity Name: Pick Item, Load for Shipping
- New Event Attribute Name: Current_Warehouse_Location
- Copy Activities: Check In, Transfer Warehouse, Relocate Inventory
- Copy Activity Attribute: WarehouseLocation
Output: Creates "Current_Warehouse_Location" on picking and loading activities showing where the item currently resides. As items move through check-in (Zone A), transfer (Zone B), and relocation (Zone C), the picking activity receives "Zone C" - the latest known location. This provides accurate location context for each picking operation.
Insights: Enables analysis of picking efficiency by warehouse zone, identification of cases where items were picked from suboptimal locations, tracking of how many transfers occur before picking, and optimization of warehouse layout based on actual picking patterns.
Example 5: Risk Score Propagation Through Loan Processing
Scenario: A loan application process includes risk assessment activities that calculate and update risk scores. "Automated Risk Check" provides an initial score, "Manual Risk Review" may revise it, and "Final Risk Assessment" provides the definitive score. You need the current risk score at "Generate Loan Terms" and "Approve Loan" activities for risk-appropriate decision making.
Settings:
- Filter: Loan_Type = "Business Loan"
- Activity Name: Generate Loan Terms, Approve Loan
- New Event Attribute Name: Current_Risk_Score
- Copy Activities: Automated Risk Check, Manual Risk Review, Final Risk Assessment
- Copy Activity Attribute: RiskScore
Output: Creates "Current_Risk_Score" on loan terms and approval activities containing the latest risk assessment. If a loan receives an automated score of 72, manual review adjusts it to 68, and final assessment confirms 68, both the loan terms generation and approval activities receive 68. This ensures decisions are based on the most current risk evaluation.
Insights: Allows analysis of how loan terms vary by risk score, identification of cases where approvals occurred despite high risk scores, tracking of how often manual review changes automated risk assessments, and validation that high-risk loans receive appropriate oversight.
Output
The Activity Copy Latest EventValue enrichment creates a new event-level attribute on the specified target activity or activities. The attribute contains the most recent value captured from the source activities as of each target activity's occurrence time.
Attribute Properties:
- Location: Event table, specific to the target activity or activities
- Data Type: Matches the source attribute (numeric, text, date, boolean)
- Derivation: Marked as a derived attribute for lineage tracking
- Display Format: Inherits formatting from the source attribute
- Scope: Only populated on the specified target activity events
Value Assignment Rules:
- The enrichment processes events in chronological order within each case
- When a source activity occurs, its attribute value is captured and held as the "latest known value"
- When the target activity occurs, it receives the current latest known value
- If the target activity occurs before any source activity, the new attribute remains null
- If multiple source activities occur between target activities, only the most recent value is propagated
- Each case maintains its own independent tracking of latest values
Integration Points:
- New attribute available in event filters for the target activity
- Can be used in event-level calculators and filters
- Appears in event data exports when target activity is included
- Available for visualization in variant analysis and timeline views
- Can be referenced in subsequent enrichments as source data
- Enables activity-specific filtering and analysis based on propagated values
Performance Characteristics:
- Processes events sequentially within each case (single pass)
- Memory efficient as it tracks only one value per case at a time
- Suitable for large event logs as it doesn't require cross-case lookups
- Execution time scales linearly with total event count
This documentation is part of the mindzie Studio process mining platform.