Home › Blog › Process or process instance: what is the difference?
Process or process instance: what is the difference?
When people talk about a “process” in a company, they often mix up two things: the blueprint and its runs. In ProcNest the two have different names, on purpose.
The process: the blueprint
A process is drawn once in the visual editor: steps, conditions, roles (who does what), documents to produce. It is your organization’s “how we do it”: onboarding a new hire, approving an order, a purchase request.
The process instance: a real run
Each time you launch that blueprint for a concrete case — Marie’s onboarding, order #42 — ProcNest creates a process instance. It has its own tasks, due dates, owners and history. The blueprint is not changed: a hundred instances can run in parallel on the same process.
| Process | Process instance | |
|---|---|---|
| Role | The blueprint | A run for one specific case |
| Created | Once, in the editor | Each time it is launched |
| Contains | Steps | Tasks with due dates and owners |
| Followed in | The Processes page | My tasks, Activity, Process instances |
Why the distinction matters
- Improve without breaking: you fix the blueprint, new instances benefit, running ones carry on.
- Measure: how many instances are late, which are blocked, who is waiting for whom.
- Delegate: everyone sees their tasks in My tasks without having to understand the whole blueprint.
Go further: create a process, then start a process instance.