Sankey charts are a type of flow diagram that visually represents the flow of entities from one source to another. They are named after Captain Matthew Henry Phineas Riall Sankey, an Irish engineer who used them to illustrate the energy loss in steam engines in the 19th century. Today, Sankey charts are used in a wide range of applications, from visualizing the flow of products in a supply chain to illustrating the economic flows between different sectors of an economy. In this article, we will explore the power of Sankey charts and how to create and use them effectively.
Power of Sankey charts
Sankey charts can help you visualize complex flows and understand the movement of entities across different stages or systems. This makes them an excellent tool for any organization that has to manage, analyze or communicate about flows of goods, services, money, data, etc. Here are some of the reasons why Sankey charts are so powerful:
Visualization of complex flows: Sankey charts can illustrate complex flows in an easy-to-understand way, using color, width, and flow direction to represent different aspects of the flow.
Highlighting key flows: Sankey charts can help you identify the most important flows in a system, the largest contributors to each flow, or the flows that have the greatest impact on the system as a whole.
Comparing flows: Sankey charts allow you to compare different systems or different time periods, by using the same chart style to illustrate multiple flows.
Interactive and dynamic: Sankey charts can be designed to be interactive, allowing users to explore the chart in more detail, drill down into specific flows, or filter out certain flows to focus on particular aspects of the system.
Creating Sankey charts
There are several tools and software that you can use to create Sankey charts, both online and off-line. Some of the most popular ones include:
Microsoft Excel: Excel has a built-in Sankey chart template that you can use to create simple Sankey diagrams easily.
Tableau: Tableau is a powerful data visualization tool that offers many customization options for Sankey charts, including color, labels, and annotations.
D3.js: D3.js is a JavaScript library for data visualization that can be used to create custom Sankey charts with HTML, CSS and JavaScript.
PySankey: PySankey is a Python library for creating Sankey diagrams. It allows you to create Sankey diagrams using Pandas data frames, which can be easily integrated into Python scripts for data analysis.
Applications of Sankey charts
Sankey charts can be used in a variety of applications, from visualizing supply chains and data flows, to illustrating energy conservation measures, or assessing social networks and knowledge flows. Here are some of the most common applications of Sankey charts:
Supply chain analysis: Sankey charts can help organizations visualize and identify bottlenecks in a supply chain, as well as highlight the most significant suppliers and customers.
Data pipeline visualization: Sankey charts can help data analytics teams understand and optimize the flow of data through their systems, by visualizing the input and output of data sources.
Economic analysis: In economics, Sankey charts can be used to illustrate the flow of industries’ economic activities, the interdependencies between sectors, and the impact of policy decisions.
Environmental impact assessment: Sankey diagrams can help environmental scientists assess the environmental impact of different industrial processes and identify the sources and destinations of pollutants.
Social network visualization: Sankey charts can help sociologists visualize and analyze the flow of ideas, information, or social interactions between different actors in a social network.
Conclusion
In conclusion, Sankey charts offer a powerful visual tool for understanding and communicating complex flows in a wide range of applications. Whether you are an engineer, data analyst, economist, environmental scientist, sociologist, or any other professional who deals with flows, Sankey charts can provide valuable insights into your data. By using specialized software, you can easily create Sankey diagrams that showcase the flow and dynamics of your data in a visually appealing way. So the next time you need to present data that has flows and movements, try using a Sankey chart to unlock its full potential and make it more understandable and engaging.
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.
