Sankey diagram
The material flow is drawn as bands of different widths: the wider the band, the larger the quantity. The Sankey shows the where-to, the floor plan the where.
What is a Sankey diagram in material flow?
A Sankey diagram shows material flows between places. The wider a band, the larger the quantity transported. Main flows, bottlenecks and return flows become visible quickly.
What can you see with it?
You see which material flows are the largest, which places have the highest throughput and where returns, rework or empties run against the main direction of flow.
Common questions
What does the width of a band say?
The width of a band is the quantity transported. Bands of the same width stand for material flows of the same size.
How do I spot a bottleneck in the material flow?
At the place with the highest material throughput. That shows a quantity bottleneck; it says nothing yet about capacity, waiting time or shift patterns.
Does the Sankey diagram replace the hall plan?
No. The Sankey shows relations and quantities, the hall plan shows positions, routes and distances. The two complement each other.