The success of any business depends on several things, and it’s essential to grab every opportunity you can to make it run smoother and improve customer satisfaction. There are many processes, management tools, and strategies you can adopt, one of which is the SIPOC Diagram.
In this article, we’ll look at what this is and how it can help your business achieve the desired level of success.
What is a SIPOC Diagram?
SIPOC is an acronym for Suppliers, Inputs, Process, Outputs, and Customer. With information from these five areas, it’s possible to create a process map or diagram that provides an overview of your business processes.
It allows you to visualize the process by identifying all the relevant elements of your business process improvement project and is drawn up before any work begins. It is also a tool that’s commonly used to inform a Six Sigma project.
When is SIPOC Most Useful?
SIPOC highlights relationships between your customer requests, what your suppliers provide, and how the two are united in a process. It helps you find the answer to several questions, such as:
- Are customer requests directly translated into services and goods?
- Do your suppliers deliver exactly what you require?
- How well do you actually know your customers?
- When creating your product, are your team following the most straightforward route?
SIPOC diagrams can also help when new team members need to be introduced to an unfamiliar process, as well as planning new concepts for your business.
How to Make SIPOC Diagrams
A SIPOC map or diagram is straightforward, and that is one of its most endearing strengths. SIPOC forms are available, and these are what people generally use, but it’s not essential.
You have to make a list of elements under each category as follows:
Customers
Who are your customers, and what might they be looking for? Customers can be both internal and external. Identifying your customers correctly means you can ensure you’re working to meet their validated and specific requirements.
Outputs
These are the result of your processes and should closely match your customer requirements. In this list, it’s usual to include delivered service, produced goods, information gained, or actions completed.
Process
This section includes the high-level steps which constitute your process. By capturing the steps, you’re providing an overview of the process, from start to finish, and what the process involves. You only need to list a few of the most vital and general steps. Going into too much detail is not required.
Inputs
Inputs come from the supplier, usually as materials, whether physical or informational. They are essential for your company to function.
Suppliers
The suppliers are where your inputs come from. You only need to concentrate on suppliers who directly impact process outputs.
How to Complete Your Diagram
Follow these steps when you want to create your SIPOC Diagram.
Create a location for your diagram that is accessible and easy for team members to add any necessary additions. Flip charts work very well, as do post-it notes stuck on the wall.
- Map your process into four/five high-level steps.
- Identify the process outputs.
- Identify which customers receive the process outputs.
- Identify inputs that are required for the process to properly function.
- Which suppliers can provide the inputs?
There is one last step you can add if necessary. Try to identify the requirements of your customers. When the diagram is complete, it should be discussed with the sponsor of the project and other stakeholders.
Managing Business Processes Checkify
Business processes are important for the smooth running of a business for both product and service. Here at Checkify, we enable you to document business processes in the form of checklists to follow step by step. This enables everyone to know how to best complete a process, reduces errors and missing steps and process automation.
Checkify also allows you to continuously improve processes and know who is doing each task at any time. Offering accountability, improved productivity and efficient workflow of tasks with business process management software (BPMS).