Tipskey - Advanced Flowchart

Posted: 2008-04-10; updated: 2008-10-24

Advanced Flowchart

I mainly talk about advanced flowchart here where the process involves many people and time may be stated on the flow lines. This flowchart has three columns: flowchart, responsible and comment. The overall flow is from top to bottom.

I think flowchart is the basic but yet the best manufacturing quality tool (the second best is checklist). Flowchart should be the basis on which we perform our work especially when our team is not small. We can say that no work shall proceed if there is no flowchart or if the flowchart is not clear enough. And you may wonder how such a factory can survive without flowcharts. Some benefits of flowchart:
1) The problem in manufacturing (e.g. illogical operation, communication breakage) can be surfaced when producing a flowchart. So actually you should not just map the current process, but also finetune it.
2) It can be used to train up new staffs faster.
3) It creates a process-oriented environment.
4) It can be used as documented procedure for ISO 9001.
5) Sentences cannot describe manufacturing like a flowchart can. One page of flowchart is able to equal with at least two pages of written procedure.
6) It can be a basis to set job description or department responsibility.
7) Scribbling a flowchart can help us make decision.
8) It can be used to benchmark with other factory.
9) It helps in time management.
10) It is a map that prevents the team from losing direction.

Take note that the ownership of processes (illustrated by flowcharts) does not belong to quality assurance (QA) department although often QA has the bird's-eye view of processes. QA draws flowchart. Each process is owned by the related department manager(s). Managers should be sensitive towards the content of the flowcharts. Any doubt in mind for the flowchart should not be ignored. When there is any argument, refer to the flowchart. If the flowchart is not precise enough, get QA to improve it. Ultimate decision of how the flowchart will look like shall be made by process owner and QA. The big boss may give suggestion.

Do not expect that a flowchart can be completed on the first attempt. Disagreement among staffs is very common. The person drawing the flowchart should be able to solve the disagreement. Also new things can pop up in mind for example exceptional situation that needs to be specially addressed in the flowchart.

After a flowchart is completed, it should be communicated in the meeting formally to the persons who are in the process of the flowchart. After the meeting it should be assigned with a document number, revision number, a start date, a record of signing off by the process owner(s) and a place where the staffs will regard all the law and constitution are. Of course a test run for a period can be arranged before it is formalized. After assigning a revision number, for any change that informally cannot move the people to work according to the change, you will need to change the revision number.

For the flowchart to be followed, of course it must be agreed by all related department leaders. Any flowchart displayed publicly is deemed to be already being followed by the process owner.

Whenever there is option for checking something (often denoted by a diamond shape), there should be some data output on the failure rate at that point.

In daily work, if something cannot be fulfilled at a particular flowchart step, we should stop at that step. Always loop back the error to the previous step. Wait until everything is corrected before proceeding to the next step. If the process always stops (or even going backward due to the activity of looping back the error) at a particular step, then we will know there is a bottleneck to improve. A KPI (key performance indicator) should be measured at this bottleneck, e.g. process stopping rate.

During audit, when we want to write reference to a particular box in the flowchart in audit note, just utilize the row number on the left in the spreadsheet window. The row number for a box will not change unless there is addition / deletion of boxes before that particular box. Modified flowchart should have a new revision number.

Note that efficiency of process flow may still be affected by staff's attribute even there is a perfect flowchart. If a staff is found to be more careless than others since the date he joins the company, than we should look at human resource instead of the flowchart.

By the way, there is an ISO standard for flowchart: ISO 5807.

Getting input for flowchart
Do interview with related personnel before and during drawing a flowchart. The interview during drawing a flowchart is quicker. You go to that person, directly ask flowchart question, get the answer, thank the person and go back to your flowchart. Do not show the person the flowchart yet to avoid misunderstanding that the flowchart is already finalized. Just ask your question.

If there is disagreement on certain point, a meeting should be arranged. If only three persons involve, the meeting can be an informal one in which when the person drawing the flowchart comes across Person A, he can invite Person A to go together to Person B and discuss the particular disagreed point.

Sometimes a staff may want to have the process shaped into his preference. His preference is usually rather minor or even personal. The person drawing the flowchart should be able to sense this. Such type of flow portion is neither downright correct nor incorrect. The staff should seek agreement with other staffs himself before telling the flowcharter to depict it. If an agreement cannot be reached, he should accept that the flowcharter shall make the decision.

Drawing out flowchart
Mindset when drawing flowchart: minimize
a) branches.
b) bridges of communication.
c) number of staffs attending a meeting.
d) sentences written in one box (try avoid full stop mark).

Also think of drawing it for robots. Do not expect that everyone will have common sense. Actually flowcharts initially were used to create logic diagram for computer to execute commands.

If you want you can have a 'Before' flowchart and an 'After' flowchart to show the improvement. Map the process and draw the flowchart as it is first, then draw the flowchart as it should be.

If a step is not prerequisite for the next step to proceed, then it should run parallel instead of serial.

No overlapping step vertically because you want to define the responsibility for each box under the "Responsibility" column.

Less major but important flow is denoted by thin arrow. Dotted arrow means flow of info.

Try write length of time on the flow line. Adding the time up and you can estimate the amount of time needed for that process.

For better appearance,
a) Avoid crossed flow lines although they may cross (denoted by a "jump-over" symbol in some flowcharting software). I personally just allow dotted flow line to cross other line.
b) The decision option boxes (e.g. Yes and No) for diamond shape should be near to the root of the arrow.
c) Avoid having two elbows for a flow line except if it is a return line e.g. one of the flow line that comes out from from a decision option box.

Because the flow is from top to bottom, there is no problem identifying the start point and the end point. Thus the start and end points are not necessary to be in terminator shape (horizontally elongated circle or oblong).

If a non-standard document without document number (e.g. a template of complaint monitoring list) is mentioned, you can put it beside the process box for user to click on it for reference. For standard document with document number, a document shape process box is used for quick identification.

Spreadsheet tips for flowchart
No special software is needed, just use spreadsheet (e.g. Excel) to create flowchart.

To insert a file into the spreadsheet for reference, go to Insert > Object... > Create from File.

If you already have a flowchart, to expand some space to add more step, select the rows by clicking on the row number, right-click and choose Insert.

The row height in the spreadsheet should be all the same. I use the default 12.75.

To copy a box or line, select it with mouse pointer, hold down 'Ctrl' and move the mouse pointer.

Hold down Shift to move vertically or horizontally according to pointer movement speed.
If you want to move multiple boxes without messing up the alignment, click on Select Objects function

and drag a box to include all of them and move.

To fit the flowchart to full pages when printing to avoid waste of paper, adjust the scaling and see the adjustment outcome in print preview:

Download: 1) flowchart_example.xls 2) flowchart_template.xls

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Measuring Cost Of Poor Quality In Manufacturing
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Misconception Of Quality Assurance
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