By the name of spaghetti diagram, only spaghetti comes to mind which is straight, thin and hard if uncooked. Cooked spaghetti are flexible, soft and moldable. So, yes this diagram is made of the elastic and moldable pattern. Cooked spaghetti looks messy in a dish; it can also bend and playing crisscross the same happened when a manager is explaining a chart to the employees with colored pencils. He used to show all possible ways to boost up production of the department.

Spaghetti diagram is a roughly scaled work for the employees of the department which shows them all possible paths and they have to make a quick decision of choosing an efficient way which will result in better performance or time management. It also shows a direction taken by a person, material or information as it moves through a process.

Spaghetti diagram is a visual representation of the physical flow of materials, paper, and people through the task or activities of a process. It also traces the walking patterns of people, shuttling back and forth of materials between functions and workstation.

Let’s have a look at the image below which shows the possible ways of communication between employees so that communication hurdle won’t come and problems come up with the interactive solutions.

communication spaghetti diagram

How to draw a Spaghetti diagram

  1. Plot the departments or layout of organization on a paper by approximately scaling down the distance between task and workstation.
  2. Now, ask from actual workers who use the system and ask them to draw the flow of material, walking pattern of people and waiting time or stoppage if any.
  3. All lines should be drawn in different colors to distinguish the exact problem or gaps.
  4. Draw lines for every movement and right
  5. Repeated motions and small trips should not be drawn thicker; otherwise, it will be more complicated.

In the end, the complete diagram looks like a real spaghetti, and it also reveals all inefficiencies and hurdles in the department. Now, this layout will be contributing towards a Lean process.

Uses of Spaghetti Diagram

  • We can identify the waste of a process in a real
  • All the confusing flows of products and services will be resolved by this activity.
  • It will also depict a present state of work and enhance productivity.
  • We can also get future state goals which will be helpful for further projects.
  • It will also provide a blueprint for lean ideas to make a picture clear at the end.
  • Helps to make quicker decisions to maximize customer satisfaction.
  • It will also determine the effects on various metrics come after this process.

Benefits of Spaghetti Diagram

  • It identifies inefficiencies in area and layout of the whole process.
  • It identifies opportunities to enhance the workflow of the specific
  • It identifies opportunities for better workforce communication between all other departments.
  • It identifies Resource Allocation Opportunities which will minimize the wastage.
  • It identifies opportunities for safety improvements of material, machines, and people.