Sankey charts are an essential tool for business visualization, offering an intuitive and engaging means to illustrate complex flows of data. They are highly effective at depicting processes that involve multiple connected components, making it easier to understand the energy, material, and information flows within a business. Here are eight key features of Sankey charts, followed by their best use cases as tools for business visualization.
1. **Stream Navigation**: Sankey diagrams allow for the visualization of the quantity of a process by using width. The wider the stream, the more substance, energy, or flow is involved.
2. **Efficiency & Direction Indicators**: By highlighting different widths of streams, users can immediately discern where there is high efficiency and where the flow is more sluggish or inefficient.
3. **Heat Map Interaction**: Sankey charts can be integrated with heat maps, allowing for the addition of color to the streams based on additional data, enhancing the understanding of processes further.
4. **Flexible Data Layers**: They are suitable for multi-layered data visualization, where multiple data sets representing various aspects of a process can be layered over the top of a single chart.
5. **Customization**: Sankey charts are customizable to fit the unique context of your business, with the ability to create flows and nodes that represent your specific data points and processes.
6. **Interactivity**: Modern data visualization tools make Sankey diagrams interactive, allowing users to filter and categorize data easily, creating a dynamic understanding of data flows.
7. **Process Flow Visualization**: Their unique design makes Sankey charts ideal for visualizing complex processes step-by-step, tracking the flow of resources, materials, information, or energy.
8. **Comparative Analysis**: Users can compare Sankey charts of different time periods or scenarios, revealing trends, changes, and potential improvements in their processes.
**Best Use Cases for Sankey Charts in Business Visualization:**
1. **Energy Consumption Analysis**: Demonstrate where and how your business is using energy, revealing opportunities for improvement and investment in efficiency.
2. **Material Flow Analysis**: Track the flow of raw materials, components, or finished goods within an organization to understand supply chain dynamics.
3. **Resource Allocation**: Show how resources are allocated across different departments or projects to optimize resource management.
4. **Workforce Allocation**: Visually represent the division of labor across various job roles and projects, helping to identify overburdened or underutilized areas.
5. **Financial Flow Mapping**: Represent complex financial data within a corporation, detailing the flow of money across different areas of the organization.
6. **Data Center Cooling and Power Usage**: Track energy flow within data centers, showing how and where power is used and identifying areas for efficiency improvements.
7. **Water and Waste Management**: Understand water usage and waste generation pathways within an organization for sustainability initiatives and waste reduction programs.
8. **Technology Development Processes**: Illustrate the stages and flow of ideas from conception to market launch in the tech industry, providing a clear path and identifying bottlenecks.
Sankey charts provide a valuable tool for businesses aiming to streamline operations, improve decision-making, and communicate complex information effectively with key stakeholders.
