Practical guide · Value stream mapping and flow
Flowchart: what it is, the symbols, and how to draw one on the shop floor
Short answer
A flowchart is a diagram that shows the steps of a process in order, using standard shapes joined by arrows, so everyone can see what happens, where a decision is made and where the work goes next. The first structured version, the flow process chart, was presented to the American Society of Mechanical Engineers by Frank and Lillian Gilbreth in 1921.
Draw each step as a shape and join the shapes with arrows in the order the work happens. A rounded oval marks the start and the end, a rectangle is a step, a diamond is a yes or no decision, and an arrow shows the direction. On the shop floor, draw it by walking the process with the product, not from the written procedure, and add the moves, checks and waits as well as the work. A chart that shows the waits and moves is the one that finds waste.
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What is a flowchart? Types of flowchart
A flowchart is also called a process flowchart, a flow diagram or a process map. In a plant they mean the same thing: a picture of the order of the work. What changes is the detail. A high level chart has six boxes. A detailed one has every move, check and wait.
The idea comes from industrial engineering. Frank and Lillian Gilbreth introduced the flow process chart in a 1921 presentation to the American Society of Mechanical Engineers, titled Process Charts: First Steps in Finding the One Best Way to Do Work. In 1947 ASME adopted a symbol set derived from their work as the standard Operation and Flow Process Charts. The general flowchart symbols that software uses today are described in ISO 5807:1985.
| Type | What it shows | Use it when |
|---|---|---|
| Process flowchart | Steps and decisions in order, in one column or row | You need to agree or explain how a process runs |
| Flow process chart (ASME) | Every operation, move, check, wait and storage, with times and distances | You are hunting waste in a physical flow, as in the example below |
| Swimlane (cross-functional) flowchart | The same steps, in a lane for each person or department | The work passes between teams and handoffs are the problem |
| Troubleshooting or decision flowchart | Yes or no questions that lead to an action | An operator must decide what to do when something goes wrong |
| SIPOC | Suppliers, inputs, process (four to seven steps), outputs, customers | You are setting the boundaries of a project, see the SIPOC template |
| Value stream map | Material and information flow with cycle times, inventory and lead time | You want the flow of a whole product family, see value stream mapping |
Start with the simplest chart that answers the question. A flow process chart is the next step when you need to count the waste, and a value stream map is the step after that.
Flowchart symbols and what they mean
Most flowcharts need five shapes. Draw top to bottom or left to right, and give every shape one arrow in and one arrow out, except a decision, which has one in and two out.
| Symbol | Name | Use on the floor |
|---|---|---|
| Rounded oval | Start or end (terminator) | Material received, order shipped |
| Rectangle | Process step | Cut, weld, assemble, pack |
| Diamond | Decision | Label correct? Weight in tolerance? Two exits, yes and no, each labelled |
| Arrow | Flow line | The order of the work and its direction |
| Parallelogram | Input or output | A form, a work order or data coming in or going out |
| Small circle | Connector | Continues the chart on another page or sheet |
The ASME flow process chart uses five different symbols, because it classifies what happens to the product. An operation changes it. A transport moves it. An inspection checks it. A delay is a wait for the next step. Storage is held on purpose until it is called for. Only the operations change the product; the other four are the places to ask why.
How to draw a flowchart on the shop floor
- 1
Name the process and set the start and the end
Write one line: from where to where, for which product. For example, from the last wrap on the line to the truck door. Agree these edges before anyone draws.
- 2
Pick the people who do the work
Take an operator, a material handler, the supervisor and someone who receives the output. People who only manage the process draw how it should run, not how it does.
- 3
Walk it with the product
Follow one pallet, batch or order from start to end with a clipboard. Write each thing that happens in the order it happens, including the waits and the walks. Do not use the written procedure.
- 4
Draw one shape per step
Put it on sticky notes on a wall or a big sheet, so the team can move them. One step is one change of person, machine, move, check or wait. Use a diamond wherever the work can go two ways.
- 5
Draw the no path from every decision
Where does a part go when the check fails? Rework, scrap, hold, call the supervisor. A chart with only yes paths hides the loops that cost the most.
- 6
Add time and distance
Write the time each step takes and the wait before it, and the metres on each move. Use averages from a few observations, and mark guesses as guesses.
- 7
Check it on the floor and date it
Walk the finished chart with an operator who was not in the room. Fix what they say is wrong. Write the date and revision on it, and keep one master.
Worked example: a pallet from the end of the line to the truck
Illustrative example. A plant ships finished cartons on pallets. The team walks one pallet from the last wrap on the line to the truck and draws it as a flow process chart, one row for each step.
| Step | What happens | Type | Minutes | Metres |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Wrap the pallet at the line end | Operation | 3 | 0 |
| 2 | Wait for a forklift | Delay | 9 | 0 |
| 3 | Move the pallet to the staging area | Transport | 2 | 40 |
| 4 | Scan the label against the order | Inspection | 1 | 0 |
| 5 | Hold in the staging lane until the truck is called | Storage | 120 | 0 |
| 6 | Move the pallet to the dock door | Transport | 2 | 25 |
| 7 | Load the truck | Operation | 4 | 0 |
Totals: 7 steps (2 operations, 2 transports, 1 inspection, 1 delay, 1 storage), 141 minutes, 65 metres.
Add the columns. Time: 3 + 9 + 2 + 1 + 120 + 2 + 4 = 141 minutes. Distance: 40 + 25 = 65 metres. The two operations take 3 + 4 = 7 minutes, which is 7 / 141 = 5.0% of the time. The delay and the storage take 9 + 120 = 129 minutes, which is 129 / 141 = 91.5%. The two moves and the check take the remaining 5 minutes.
Now the chart asks the questions. Why does a pallet wait 9 minutes for a forklift when, in this example, the line makes a pallet every hour? Why is it moved to staging and then moved again? The scan in step 4 has a no path, a pallet that does not match its order, which is not in the table but is on the drawing as a diamond with a hold lane. The team here picked two ideas, a pallet jack at the line end and a staging lane next to the dock door, and redrew the chart to check what they would remove.
Common flowchart mistakes
- Drawing the procedure, not the process. The procedure leaves out the waits, the rework and the walks. Walk it and draw what you see.
- Steps at the wrong size. 'Make the part' is too big to learn from, and every hand movement is too small. One step per change of person, machine, check, move or wait.
- Decisions with one exit. Every diamond needs both a yes and a no, and both must lead somewhere.
- A chart drawn once and filed. If the process changes and the chart does not, people stop trusting it. Put the revision and date on it.
What to do with the flowchart once it is drawn
Mark every step that is not an operation and ask three questions: can it go, can it be combined with another step, can it be done at the same time. Each answer is an improvement idea. Count the types before and after, as in the example, to see what was removed.
The same chart is the base for other documents. A process failure mode and effects analysis (PFMEA) and a control plan should follow its steps in the same order, so number the steps once and use the numbers everywhere. When the flow crosses several processes, use a value stream map.
AI Value Stream Mapping
Map your flow in LeanSuite
AI value stream mapping from video: LeanSuite turns phone footage of each process step into a current-state value stream map with measured cycle times, counted inventory, the lead-time ladder and process cycle efficiency
Go deeper
This page is the short version. These guides cover each part in full.
- Value Stream Mapping: A Beginner's Complete GuideHow to move from a process flowchart to a map of the whole product family, with cycle times and inventory.
- VSM Symbols and Icons: Complete Reference GuideThe icons used on a value stream map, which are different from the flowchart symbols above.
- Value-Added vs Non-Value-Added Time in ManufacturingHow to classify each step on the chart you just drew and what to do with the non-value-added time.
All our articles on this subject are in the value stream mapping and flow topic.
Free templates and tools
- SIPOC diagramFive columns for suppliers, inputs, process, outputs and customers, to frame a process before mapping it, as a Lean Studio board.
- Process flow diagram templateA squared sheet to draw the flow with a symbol key, and a step table that counts operations, moves, checks, waits and storage.
- Future state value stream map worksheetThe eight future-state questions worked through in order: takt, pitch, flow, supermarkets, the pacemaker and the mix, with an EPEI check and current against future lead time.
- PFMEA template (process FMEA)Failure modes, effects and causes rated for severity, occurrence and detection, with RPN before and after action.
- Value stream plan (VSM action plan)The future-state map cut into loops, each with an objective and a measurable goal, and its kaizen bursts turned into owned, dated projects on a 12-month timeline.
- Cycle time calculatorCycle time against takt, units per hour, capacity per shift and the gap to daily demand.
- Lead time calculatorManufacturing lead time from WIP and throughput (Little's Law), and the share of it that adds value.
- Bottleneck calculatorThe step that limits your line, from each step's cycle time, machines and uptime, with daily capacity and the gap to demand.
Doing this in LeanSuite
Value Stream Mapping
Turns video of each process step into a current-state value stream map with cycle times, inventory and lead time.
See Value Stream MappingLean Studio
LeanSuite's whiteboard for lean teams, with 30 ready-made boards including the fishbone, 5 Whys, A3 and 8D.
See Lean StudioKaizen & Projects
Manage every improvement project in one visual hub, from a small kaizen event to a full DMAIC project, and track each one through to results.
See Kaizen & Projects
See it on your own lines
Bring the problem you are working on to a 45-minute demo. Or look around with sample data first, or pilot LeanSuite on your own lines for 90 days, with the setup done by our team.
FAQ
Questions about flowchart
A flowchart is a picture of a process. Each step is a shape, and arrows join the shapes in the order the work happens. A diamond marks a decision with a yes path and a no path. It lets a team see, agree on and improve how work flows, without reading a long procedure.
A rounded oval is the start or the end, a rectangle is a process step, a diamond is a decision, an arrow is the direction of flow, a parallelogram is an input or output, and a small circle is a connector to another page. The general set is described in ISO 5807. The ASME flow process chart used in manufacturing has five symbols instead: operation, transport, inspection, delay and storage.
In practice the three words are used for the same thing. Some companies reserve process map for charts with swimlanes. What matters is the detail, so write at the top what the chart shows, from where to where.
Use a swimlane chart when the work passes between people or departments and the handoffs are where it goes wrong, such as an order moving from sales to planning to the line to shipping. Every arrow that crosses a lane line is a handoff to question.
Detailed enough to find the problem and no more. For a project scope, four to seven boxes is right. To find waste in a physical flow, use one step for each change of person, machine, check, move or wait. If the chart needs more than a page, draw a high level chart first and a detailed one for the part that matters.
Related guides and tools
- Process flow diagram template: a squared sheet with a symbol key and a step table that counts operations, moves, checks and waits
- Value Stream Mapping in LeanSuite: turn video of each step into a current-state map with cycle times and lead time
- SIPOC diagram: the one-page, high-level view to draw before the detailed flowchart
- FMEA guide: the process flow is the first input to a process FMEA
- APQP guide: the process flow diagram is one of the outputs of the process design phase
- Lean tools: every lean method in one place, with the guide that owns each
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