For consultants mapping a client's process
SIPOC Diagram Template With Examples
Suppliers, inputs, five to seven process steps, outputs and customers on one page, built right to left from a clear start and stop point.
| SIPOC | What goes here | Order to cash (example) |
|---|---|---|
| Suppliers | Who provides each input | Customer, sales, credit control, warehouse, carrier, bank |
| Inputs | What the steps need | Order and PO number, prices, credit limit, stock |
| Process | Five to seven steps, verb and noun | Enter order, check credit, ship, invoice, chase, apply cash |
| Outputs | What the process produces | Confirmation, delivered parts, invoice, payment applied |
| Customers | Who receives each output | Buyer, customer's accounts payable, finance team |
Built right to left. Starts when an order arrives; stops when the payment is applied.
What you'll get
A SIPOC table with scope, right-to-left steps and an order to cash example
- A scope line with the process's start and stop points
- A SIPOC table built right to left, with each step explained
- An order to cash example, plus measures and a swimlane next step
Before and after
Your process description in. A first SIPOC out.
Order to cash at Ridgeway. Customers order by email or phone, customer service keys it in. Big orders go to credit control. Warehouse picks and the carrier delivers. Finance invoices weekly from the delivery notes and chases anyone past 30 days. Disputes are mostly missing PO numbers.
Scope: starts when a customer's order arrives by email or phone. Stops when the payment is applied to the account (proposed). Customers: the customer who orders; the customer's accounts payable team (proposed); Ridgeway finance. Outputs: delivered parts; an invoice with the PO number; payment reminders. Process: 1. Enter the order. 2. Check credit on large orders. 3. Pick and deliver. 4. Invoice from delivery notes. 5. Chase payment. 6. Apply the payment (proposed). Inputs: the customer's order and PO number; delivery notes; credit limits (proposed). Suppliers: the customer; customer service; credit control; the warehouse; the carrier. To confirm with the client: what counts as a big order, and where the process should stop.
Anything your description doesn't state is marked proposed, to check with the people who run the process.
Why it works
What is a SIPOC diagram, and how do you build one?
A SIPOC diagram is a one-page table of a process: its suppliers, inputs, main steps, outputs and customers. ASQ describes it as a high-level view of a process, with five to seven core activities in the process column, to build before a detailed flowchart. This SIPOC template starts with a scope line: the event that starts the process and the one that stops it. A team that can't agree on the edges won't agree on the steps. Then comes the table, with a guidance line for each column.
The template builds the table right to left. Start with the customers, then what each one receives, so the steps describe work someone needs. Next come five to seven steps, each a verb and a noun, such as "Check credit". Then the inputs each step needs, and who supplies them. A section on what each customer needs turns outputs into measures. The worked example maps order to cash at an invented parts distributor, and two shorter SIPOCs cover procure to pay and client onboarding.
A SIPOC shows what the process is, not where it breaks. Next comes a swimlane map, one lane per team, where the handoffs show; the process map and rework register adds the wait before each step. Paste a description of the process, and River drafts a first SIPOC, marking anything you didn't state as proposed. When the measures show where the problem is, the root cause analysis template or a quick 5 whys finds out why. To plan how it should run, a gap analysis sets today's process beside the target.
What lands in your doc
What's inside the SIPOC template
- Scope line
Where the process starts and stops, what's in and out of scope, and why you're looking at it. - The SIPOC table
Suppliers, inputs, five to seven process steps, outputs and customers, with a guidance line for each column. - Right-to-left steps
Seven numbered steps for filling it in, from naming the process to checking it with the people who run it. - Customer needs and measures
What good looks like to each customer, turned into measures with a baseline to pull. - What comes next
The lanes for a swimlane map, problems already reported by step, the first handoffs to check, and a measures table. - Three worked examples
Order to cash in full, built right to left with notes, plus procure to pay and client onboarding.
How it works
How to make a SIPOC diagram
Set the scope
Name the process by its start and end, such as order to cash, and write the events that start and stop it.
Start with customers
List who receives something from the process, then what each one gets. Optional: paste a description, and River drafts a first SIPOC.
Add steps, inputs and suppliers
Write five to seven steps, each a verb and a noun. Then list what each step needs to run, and who or what provides it.
Check it, then go deeper
Walk it with the people who do the work. Then draw the swimlane map and pick the measures.
Questions consultants ask
Common questions
What is a SIPOC diagram?
A SIPOC diagram is a one-page table that shows a process's suppliers, inputs, main steps, outputs and customers. Teams use it early in a process improvement project to agree what the process is and where it starts and stops, before mapping or measuring it in detail.
What does SIPOC stand for?
Suppliers, inputs, process, outputs and customers. Suppliers provide the inputs, the process turns them into outputs, and customers receive the outputs. ASQ also describes a SIPOC+CM version, which adds the constraints the process faces and the measures to be used. This template covers measures in its fifth section.
Why build a SIPOC right to left?
Starting with customers ties the map to what the process is for. Once you know who receives what, the steps describe the work that produces it, and steps nobody needs stand out. Some teams start with the process steps instead. Either way, check every column against the others before you share it.
How many steps should the process column have?
Five to seven, the number ASQ gives for the core activities. Each is a verb and a noun, such as "Check credit". If you need more than seven, you're mapping detail that belongs in the swimlane map. With fewer than four, check that the scope covers the whole process from start to stop.
What's the difference between a SIPOC and a process map?
A SIPOC is the one-page summary: the edges of the process and what flows in and out. A process map, often drawn as a swimlane, shows every step, who does it and each handoff. Build the SIPOC first. To map the current state, the process map pack records where the time goes and what comes back.
How do I get the information to fill it in?
From the people who run the process, not only the written procedure. Walk the process with them step by step, and ask what they need and who they hand work to. If you've recorded those conversations, interview synthesis turns them into findings, with every quote linked to its interview.
Will River invent parts of the process?
No. River builds the first SIPOC from your description. Anything the process plainly needs but your notes don't state is marked proposed, and facts it can't know stay in brackets on a list to confirm. The download gives you the template and the examples as Word files, with no account needed.
Your next step
More for your project
See the whole process on one page
Open the template with worked examples beside it, or paste a description of the process for a first SIPOC.