SIPOC diagrams

I am a huge fan of a SIPOC which stands for suppliers-inputs-process-outputs-customers. A SIPOC diagram is a quick broad overview of all the elements of a process and serves as a great visual tool.

Blank SIPOC

Start with the process

Provide the key steps of the process in the middle column and briefly describe its key steps.  A SIPOC diagram is a high-level process map and is designed to get a birds-eye overview of the process. Do not include decision points or feedback loops.

Identify the outputs of the process

Focus on the key outputs of the process. In this step, write down the three or more main outputs. Use nouns for the most part and avoid categorizing your outputs into good or bad ones – that’s not the point of the diagram.

Identify the customers

List the people who benefit from the process. These don’t have to be the literal “customers.” E.g., if you are working on a diagram for an internal process, the “customers” are your coworkers. Think of who benefits from this process. Who would be upset if the process is not complete?

List the inputs for the process

List the inputs required for the process to function properly. Just like with every previous step, focus on the most important ones. Three to six main inputs should do.

Identify the suppliers of the inputs

List the suppliers based on what inputs the process uses. Be sure to mention any specific suppliers whose input has a direct influence on the output.

The template I use is here.

Examples of SIPOCs:

2 thoughts on “SIPOC diagrams

Leave a Reply

Fill in your details below or click an icon to log in:

WordPress.com Logo

You are commenting using your WordPress.com account. Log Out /  Change )

Twitter picture

You are commenting using your Twitter account. Log Out /  Change )

Facebook photo

You are commenting using your Facebook account. Log Out /  Change )

Connecting to %s

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.