Sankey charts are a type of visualization that is commonly used to represent the flow of quantities between different categories or nodes. Named after Scottish engineer and inventor Thomas Sankey, who used this type of chart in the late 19th century to demonstrate the energy efficiency of steam engines, these charts have evolved to become a valuable tool in many fields, including data analysis and business intelligence. In this article, we’ll explore how to create Sankey charts and discuss their various applications.
Creating a Sankey Chart

Creating a Sankey chart requires you to have a dataset that contains information about the flow of quantities between different categories or nodes. The data should be in a tabular format with columns that include the source node, target node, and the quantity or value of the flow between the two nodes.
Once you have your data, you’ll need to use a data visualization tool or software that supports the creation of Sankey charts. There are several free and paid tools available, including data visualization libraries such as D3.js, Tableau, and Qlik Sense.
To create a Sankey chart using D3.js, you’ll need to have some coding skills. Here is a simple example code using D3.js to create a basic Sankey chart:

“`
// Data for the Sankey chart
var data = {
nodes: [
{ id: 1, name: ‘A’ },
{ id: 2, name: ‘B’ },
{ id: 3, name: ‘C’ },
{ id: 4, name: ‘D’ },
{ id: 5, name: ‘E’ }
],
links: [
{ source: 1, target: 2, value: 12 },
{ source: 1, target: 4, value: 6 },
{ source: 2, target: 3, value: 2 },
{ source: 3, target: 5, value: 8 },
{ source: 4, target: 5, value: 5 }
]
};

// Create a Sankey layout
var sankey = d3.sankey()
  .size([600, 400]);

// Create a Sankey diagram
var diagram = sankey.layout();

// Create nodes and links
var nodes = diagram.nodes(data.nodes);
var links = diagram.links(data.links);

// Create nodes container
svg.selectAll('.node')
  .data(nodes, function (d) {
    return d.id;
  })
  .enter().append('g')
  .attr('class', 'node')
  .attr('transform', function (d) {
    return 'translate(' + d.x + ',' + d.y + ')';
  })
  .on('click', function (d) {
    console.log(d);
  });

// Create links container
svg.selectAll('.link')
  .data(links, function (d) {
    return d.id;
  })
  .enter().append('path')
  .attr('class', 'link')
  .attr('d', function (d) {
    return sankey.link(d);
  })
  .style('stroke-width', function (d) {
    return d.dy;
  })
  .style('fill-opacity', 0.3);

“`

This code creates a basic Sankey diagram with five nodes and links between them. The flow values between nodes are represented by the width of the links. When you run this code, you’ll see a basic Sankey diagram with nodes and links.

Applications of Sankey Charts

Sankey charts have various applications across different fields. Here are some examples:

Business intelligence: Sankey charts are commonly used to visualize the flow of resources between different stages of a business process. For example, you can use Sankey charts to represent the flow of customers
Energy analysis: Sankey charts are used to represent the flow of energy between various sources and sinks in power grids. This helps to visualize the energy flow and identify areas of inefficiency.
Supply chain analysis: Sankey charts can be used to represent the flow of goods and materials between different stages of a supply chain. This helps to identify bottlenecks and improve efficiency.
Marketing analysis: Sankey charts can be used to represent the flow of website visitors between different pages or landing pages. This helps to identify the most popular pages and the path that visitors take on a website.
Environmental analysis: Sankey charts can be used to represent the flow of pollutants or resources in different ecosystems. This helps to identify the sources of pollution or the sources of resources.

Conclusion
Sankey charts are a powerful tool for visualizing flows between different categories or nodes. They are widely used in data analysis and business intelligence, and there are several free and paid tools available for creating Sankey charts. By using Sankey charts, you can easily identify patterns and trends in your data and gain insights that can help you make better decisions.

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SankeyMaster is your go-to tool for creating complex Sankey charts . Easily enter data and create Sankey charts that accurately reveal intricate data relationships.

Unleashing the Power of Sankey Charts: Visualizing Flows like Never Before

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