Concept in Definition ABC

A flow chart, also called Flowchart, is a visual display of a line of action steps involving a certain process. That is, the flow chart consists of graphically represent situations, events, movements and relationships of all kinds from symbols.

Basically, the flow chart makes it much easier to analyze a certain process for the identification of, for example, the inputs of the suppliers, the outputs of the customers and those critical points of the process.

Typically, the flow chart is used to: understand a process and identify opportunities to improve the current situation; design a new process in which those improvements appear incorporated; facilitate the communication between the intervening persons; and to disseminate clearly and concretely information on the processes.

One of the characteristics of flowcharts is the use of symbols to represent the various stages of the process, the people or sectors involved, the sequence of operations and the circulation of documents and data.

Among the most common symbols are: ellipse-limits (identifies the beginning and end of a process), rectangle-operations (represents a stage of the process; both the name of the stage and the person in charge of executing it, are registered within the symbol), square cropped underneath-documents (document resulting from the corresponding operation; the corresponding name is noted inside) and diamond-decision(represents the point in the process at which a decision must be made. The question is inscribed within the rhombus and two arrows coming out of it show the direction of the process based on the real answer.

There are different types of flowchart: according to the form (vertical, horizontal, panoramic or architectural), by the purpose (form, labor, method, analytical, space, combined).