How to Use a SIPOC Diagram to Plan and Prepare a Family Meal

SIPOC Diagram Background

This is a group activity (up to 4 members), as it is best to brainstorm to gather as many ideas and perspectives as possible to ensure steps and processes aren’t missed. For this assignment you will use a simple process from your own life: preparing a meal for a large family. Family meals take much preparation. Deciding who will attend, the purpose of the meal, and whether it is a formal or informal meal all must happen before the menu is decided upon. Once the meal has been planned, groceries must be sourced, dishes assigned if it’s a pot-luck meal, and consideration must be given to the types of equipment necessary to prepare the different dishes. Will you need a BBQ? Is the propane canister full? If you require one, is your food processor in proper working order? Will you be buying your meat at the local grocery store or do you intend to contact an independent butcher? There are many decisions to be made and considerations for such a routine task as preparing a family meal. SIPOC Diagram Background The purpose of the SIPOC diagram is to illustrate, at a high level, the relationship between the outputs, the inputs, and the process that links them, in relation to the customer's requirements and limitations of the suppliers. Another visual tool, the SIPOC allows you to present the scope of your value stream map (VSM) to your team, your supervisor, the project sponsor or steering team, or whoever you need to gain agreement from regarding the mandate of this investigation. The following steps detail how to construct a SIPOC diagram to clarify the scope of your VSM: Create the SIPOC template with columns for each of: Suppliers, Inputs, Process, Outputs, Customers, and Requirements. Record in the Customer column, the name of the customer(s) in the market segment that is the focus of this analysis. Record in the Requirements column, all of the customer requirements that you have ascertained as critical to customer satisfaction for this market segment. Record in the Outputs column, the products and services that will make up the product offering required to target this market segment, that step from the process you want to investigate. Record in the Inputs column, the inputs required for the process you want to investigate. Include inputs such as: Materials (raw materials, parts, etc.) People, in terms of the job roles required, such as receivers, shippers, operators, clerks, QA personnel, etc. Procedures that provide instructions on how to do the work of the process Forms and documents for use to collect information about the process, the raw materials, or the finished products Equipment and tools required to complete the process steps Facilities, such as warehouse space, office space, parking, yard space for equipment laydown Utilities, such as heavy electrical power requirements, water, compressed air, HVAC, etc. Record in the Suppliers column, who will provide the inputs described above. Finally, review the process steps required to convert the inputs into the outputs. This is also known as the basic flow diagram. It consists of 5 to 7 mutually exclusive steps that reflect the real work of the process. Activity Grading This activity counts for 8% of your final course grade (towards the Activities category). It is graded according to this rubric. Activity Instructions Part 1: Finding and Setting-Up a Group You will be working with a group of 2-4 classmates for this activity. Select a group to work with. If you require assistance in making contact with your classmates, you can use the Activity 1: Find a Group forum on your course main page to do so. In your initial conversations with your group, establish a method of communication and collaboration for this activity (i.e. meeting face to face, via email, via Skype, via Google Hangout, via Google Docs, etc.). Part 2: Creating the SIPOC Diagram With your group, using Microsoft Word, create a SIPOC diagram and basic flow diagram for the family meal that includes all of the components listed in the "SIPOC Diagram Background" above. Part 3: Submitting Your Activity Each group member must submit a copy of the SIPOC diagram. When you are ready to submit the Microsoft Word document, click on the Add submission button at the bottom of this screen. Either drag-and-drop your file to the indicated area or click on the Add... option and select the file you wish to submit. When you are ready, click on Save changes.