Flowcharting Manual Activities

1. A clerk in the sales department receives a hard-copy customer order by mail and manually prepares
four hard copies of a sales order.

2. The clerk sends Copy 1 of the sales order the credit department for approval. The other three copies
and the original customer order are filed temporarily, pending credit approval.

3. The credit department clerk validates the customer’s order against hard-copy credit records kept in
the credit department. The clerk signs Copy 1 to signify approval and returns it to the sales clerk.

4. When the sales clerk receives credit approval, he or she files Copy 1 and the customer order in the
department. The clerk sends Copy 2 to the warehouse and Copies 3 and 4 to the shipping department.
5. The warehouse clerk picks the products from the shelves, records the transfer in the hard-copy stock
records, and sends the products and Copy 2 to the shipping department.

6. The shipping department receives Copy 2 and the goods from the warehouse, attaches Copy 2 as a
packing slip, and ships the goods to the customer. Finally, the clerk files Copies 3 and 4 in the shipping
department.

The primary objective should be to provide an unambiguous description of the system. With this in
mind, certain rules and conventions need to be observed:

1. The flowchart should be labeled to clearly identify the system that it represents.

2. The correct symbols should be used to represent the various entities in the system.

3. All symbols on the flowchart should be labeled.

4. Lines should have arrowheads to clearly show the process flow and sequence of events.

5. If complex processes need additional explanation for clarity, a text description should be included on
the flowchart or in an attached document referenced by the flowchart.

Lay out the Physical Areas of Activity

Remember that a flowchart reflects the physical system, which is represented as vertical
columns of events and actions separated by lines of demarcation.