Streamlining Your Process with Sankey Charts: A Beginner’s Guide
Looking for ways to streamline your process? One tool that can help is Sankey charts. A flowchart that uses arrows and nodes to represent the movement of materials or information, Sankey charts can be used to visualize and optimize business processes.
In this article, we will go over the basics of Sankey chart creation and explore some of the many applications it can be used for.
Sankey Chart Basics
Sankey charts were first developed in the 1930s by Arthur W. Sankey, a British engineer. They are used to represent the flow of materials or information through a system, and are often used in process improvement, logistics, and supply chain management.
Sankey charts consist of a series of nodes (also called “shapes”) and arrows that are used to represent the movement of materials or information. The nodes represent the different steps in the process, while the arrows represent the flow of materials or information from one step to the next.
To create a Sankey chart, you will need to define the input and output nodes for your process, along with the flows (or arrows) between them. You can then use a Sankey charting tool to draw the chart and assign properties to the nodes and arrows.
Applications of Sankey Charts
Sankey charts can be used for a variety of purposes, including:
- Process improvement: Sankey charts can be used to identify opportunities for process improvement, such as bottlenecks, inefficiencies, or unnecessary steps. By visualizing the flow of materials or information through a process, you can identify areas where changes can be made to improve efficiency.
- Logistics and supply chain management: Sankey charts can be used to visualize and optimize logistics and supply chain processes, such as transport, storage, and distribution. By identifying the flow of materials or information through a supply chain, you can identify areas where improvements can be made to reduce costs and improve delivery times.
- Flow analysis: Sankey charts can be used to analyze the flow of materials or information through a system, and identify opportunities for optimization. This can be particularly useful in fields such as finance and accounting, where optimizing the flow of information can help to improve accuracy and reduce errors.
Conclusion
In conclusion, streamlining your process is a key element of improving efficiency and productivity. Sankey charts are a powerful tool that can help you visualize and optimize your business processes. By using a Sankey charting tool, you can create a visual representation of your process that can help you identify areas for improvement, and make informed decisions to improve efficiency and reduce bottlenecks.
SankeyMaster
SankeyMaster is your go-to tool for creating complex Sankey charts . Easily enter data and create Sankey charts that accurately reveal intricate data relationships.