Layout Diagram

also known as Spaghetti Diagram or Standard Work Chart

The Spaghetti Diagram template can be used for simple floor planning purposes,
but it really shines as a Lean process improvement tool for creating a spaghetti map.

You start out by drawing a spaghetti diagram of your current "as is" process,
and then copy it to serve as a starting point for your "to be" process.

Since your people already own and know how to use Microsoft Excel, your people have a much
higher probability of actually using this powerful standardized work chart.

The greatest power of your layout diagram is when you print it out and post it on the shop floor
along with printed Standard Work Instructions. Each circled number on the standard work chart
corresponds with the operation sequence number on the Standard Work Sheet. And you can
easily paste your Layout Diagramm right on the same page with your Standard Work
Combination Sheet - which then gets printed and taped up right in front of each worker at their
work station - to remind people of the right way to do each job - thereby eliminating costly
quality mistakes.

The spaghetti diagram is even more effective when used with the rest of the lean, kaizen, and
business process improvement templates. Just think of how different your continuous
improvement program results might be if your leaders could spend more time actually improving
processes - rather holing up in their office "inventing a template for that".

And once your people learn how to use any one of the Excel drawing templates, then they are
fully trained to use every one of the other powerful drawing tools - like the Swim Lane Flow
Chart and the Value Stream Map.

So why spend thousands of dollars for expensive drawing software? When you can have an
Excel drawing tool that does almost everything that Visio can do.

And why ask your valuable people to waste their time trying to learn proprietary drawing
software? When they could be learning to truly master the tool they already own and know
something about.

Excel has far more drawing capabilities than most people realize.