# Flow process chart

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Industrial engineering graphical representation

Subway Fare Card Machine Flow Process Chart (which doesn't use the ASME standard set of symbols).

The **flow process chart** is a graphical and symbolic representation of the activities performed on the work piece during the operation in industrial engineering. [1]

## History

The first structured method for documenting process flow, e.g., in [flow shop scheduling](/source/Flow_shop_scheduling), the flow process chart, was introduced by [Frank](/source/Frank_Gilbreth) and [Lillian Gilbreth](/source/Lillian_Gilbreth) to members of [ASME](/source/American_Society_of_Mechanical_Engineers) in 1921 as the presentation "Process Charts, First Steps in Finding the One Best Way to Do Work".[2] The Gilbreths' tools quickly found their way into [industrial engineering](/source/Industrial_engineering) curricula.[3]

In the early 1930s, an industrial engineer, [Allan H. Mogensen](/source/Allan_H._Mogensen), began training business people in the use of some of the tools of industrial engineering at his Work Simplification Conferences in [Lake Placid](/source/Lake_Placid%2C_New_York), [New York](/source/New_York_(state)). A 1944 graduate of Mogensen's class, [Art Spinanger](https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Art_Spinanger&action=edit&redlink=1), took the tools back to [Procter and Gamble](/source/Procter_and_Gamble), where he developed their Deliberate Methods Change Program. Another 1944 graduate, [Ben S. Graham](/source/Benjamin_S._Graham), Director of Formcraft Engineering at [Standard Register Corporation](https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Standard_Register_Corporation&action=edit&redlink=1), adapted the flow process chart to information processing with his development of the multi-flow process chart to display multiple documents and their relationships. In 1947, ASME adopted a symbol set derived from the Gilbreths' original work as the ASME Standard for Process Charts.[4]

## Symbols

Symbol Letter Description Ο O Operation to change the physical or chemical characteristics of the material. Ỻ I Inspection to check the quality or the quantity of the material. → M Transport transporting the material from one place to another. D D Delay when material cannot go to the next activity. ∇ S Storage when the material is kept in a safe location.

## See also

- [Business process mapping](/source/Business_process_mapping)

- [Control flow diagram](/source/Control_flow_diagram)

- [Data flow diagram](/source/Data_flow_diagram)

- [Flowchart](/source/Flowchart)

- [Functional flow block diagram](/source/Functional_flow_block_diagram)

- [Workflow](/source/Workflow)

## References

1. **[^](#cite_ref-kironbd07_1-0)** ["Flow Process Grids and Charts"](https://textilecourse.blogspot.com/2018/11/flow-process-grids-charts.html). Textile Course. Retrieved 1 December 2018.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-2)** Frank Bunker Gilbreth, Lillian Moller Gilbreth (1921) *[Process Charts](https://engineering.purdue.edu/IE/GilbrethLibrary/gilbrethproject/processcharts.pdf)*. American Society of Mechanical Engineers. [Archived](https://web.archive.org/web/20150509222833/https://engineering.purdue.edu/IE/GilbrethLibrary/gilbrethproject/processcharts.pdf) 9 May 2015 at the [Wayback Machine](/source/Wayback_Machine)

1. **[^](#cite_ref-3)** Graham, Ben B. (2004). *Detail process charting : speaking the language of process* ([Online-Ausg.] ed.). Hoboken, N.J.: Wiley. p. 2. [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [9780471653943](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/9780471653943).

1. **[^](#cite_ref-4)** American Society of Mechanical Engineers (1947) *ASME standard; operation and flow process charts*. New York, 1947. ([online version](http://catalog.hathitrust.org/Record/005735891))

## External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to [Flow process charts](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:Flow_process_charts).

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Flow process chart](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flow_process_chart) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flow_process_chart?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.