Lean Six Sigma Green Belt training covers many Six Sigma tools. Process Mapping is an important part of the Six Sigma Define phase. Six Sigma courses that cover process mapping are free and will be covering it soon. Let’s begin at the beginning by asking the most important question. Let’s now move on to Process Mapping Techniques.
Participate in our 100% online and self-paced Six Sigma training.
What is Process Mapping Six Sigma?
Process mapping and flowcharting are not new topics. LEAN Six Sigma uses process mapping as one of its key quality and process improvement tools. A workflow diagram is used to help you understand a process or series.
The following are reasons why process mapping has gained more importance in recent years:
The complexity of processes
The ability to visualize and capture knowledge is a fundamental part of the job.
A flow chart or process map is a visual representation that illustrates a process.
Which activities are completed by whom and in what order?
Hand-offs between departments and individuals
Swaim lanes: Internal and exterior operational boundaries
You can create process mapping both informally or formally.
The informal approach is the best way to get started and secure buy-in.
The formal method ensures accuracy and rigor
A well-executed process map provides a process roadmap that:
Communicates process-related information, ideas, and data in a visual format.
Identifies ideal or actual paths, revealing problem areas and potential solutions
A process is broken down into steps using consistent, easy-to-understand symbols
Process mapping can be done in a structured way
This is the truth. Process mapping is usually viewed as a process that involves drawing boxes and arrows, then filling them with text. This results in process maps that are too long and difficult to read. These process maps are difficult to modify. To make process maps easier to understand and use, you can apply some ground rules.
Using flowcharts
Let’s now take a look at process mapping techniques. The first method is called flowcharts. First, it is important to understand the fundamental differences between flowcharts and process maps. The act of creating a flowchart from process mapping is called process mapping. A flowchart is simply a flowchart. The flowchart can also be called Process Flow Diagram, Functional diagram, and others. A process map shows the sequential order of each step of a process. A process can be described in any way: it can be a manufacturing, non-manufacturing, or administrative or service process. The basic principle is that any process that can easily be mapped or charted can be improved. The first step in an improvement project is process mapping!
There are four types of flowcharts
Document Flowchart. A document flowchart tracks the movement of a document through a system, such as interoffice mail, payroll information and internal memos. The chart is divided by vertical lines. Each column represents an employee, section, department, or unit within a company. The flowchart illustrates how a document moves from one part to the next. Document flowcharts are usually very simple and show only the route that the document takes from one location to another.
Data flowchart: A data flowchart shows how data move through a system. Symbols represent the operations involved in data flow and the storage, input, and output materials required to keep it going. This is a great way to track where data originated and ends. Data flowcharts focus more on the movement of data than how it is processed.
System F