Opportunity Flowchart

Structure

The Opportunity Flowchart splits a process into two bands: value-added steps (VA) on top, non-value-added ones below — rework, waiting, inspecting, correcting (NVA). The chain runs left to right as in every flowchart; the band is purely the vertical position. The more cards in the lower band, the more effort the process spends without creating customer value.

When to use

The Opportunity Flowchart fits the Analyze phase when the waste in an already-documented process needs to become visible. It answers "which share of our steps actually creates value?" and hands the Improve phase its candidates. Unlike the process map it drops input/output classification and swim lanes; unlike the Activity Flowchart it shows no branching, but one classification per step.

How to use

Use "Add step left (VA)" or "Add step right (NVA)" to append a step to the end of the chain in that band. The arrow button on a card (↓ or ↑) moves it to the other band without changing its position in the chain. The `»` button between two columns opens a small menu and inserts a step there, top (VA) or bottom (NVA). Cards are grabbed by their blue number: drop one on an arrow between two cards to reorder the chain — the card keeps its band, even when the arrow sits in the other one. Drop it on a band's empty area to re-classify it without changing its position. "Detail steps" expands any card into sub-steps. "Import from …" pulls steps in from an existing Process Map or SIPOC instance.

Import and value classification

Importing from a Process Map maps its three-level value classification onto the two columns: "value-added" stays in the top band, "non-value-added" moves down, and "business-necessary but non-value-added" (BNVA) also moves down — it is effort the customer does not pay for, even if it cannot be dropped today. Steps without a classification land on top. SIPOC carries no value information, so all its steps arrive in the top band and are classified by hand afterwards via the arrow button.

Examples

This module ships with the following example datasets — load any of them in the app with a single click.

Available in the following cycles

• DMAIC: Analyze
• DMADV: Analyze
• 8D: D4 — Root Cause Analysis