What is Process Mapping and When to Use It?
Process Mapping, as taught under the Six Sigma umbrella, creates visualizations of processes to understand the interactions of complex processes – both technical and organizational. It is heavily used in Six Sigma and other methodologies such as ISO and Standard Operating procedures. These maps identify all the inputs and factors that can have an effect on the process or the problem we may be working on. Think “elegant” – process mapping is very effective for complex inter-related processes that cross-over many functions, both physical and virtual. There are many variations in the symbology used, but there are some basic conventions to help with visualizations with square or rectangle boxes for major task steps, “diamonds” for decision points, and others to standardize the view of what is happening in the process, all connected by directional lines. If you do a web search on “SIPOC” or “Process Mapping” you will be able to find many examples and pretty detailed explanations on how they are used.
The SIPOC tool is very useful because it suggests you will examine the key elements of a business process and break-out a process map to add visualization. These key elements include Suppliers, Inputs, Process, Outputs, Customers, and Requirements. Typically the “Process” is broken-out into a process map as described above. By having “all” of the important aspects of the overall process on a single page with the process map it is much easier to understand everything that needs to be considered before we make any changes – a good thing. Then, if we are looking at making changes, we can re-draw the process map and then have an easy way to compare the “before” to the “after.”
Process maps are a wonderful way to provide a clear understanding of all the interrelationships in complex processes – like software coding, processing of calls in a toll-free operation, product and process design cycles, chemical and pharmaceutical processing, and many others where there are many interactions and “cause and effect” relationships. Six Sigma as a technique heavily uses process mapping and SIPOC together to attach variation in processes and improve quality.
