For consultants mapping a client's process
SIPOC Diagram Template With Examples
A one-page SIPOC diagram that pins down a process before you map it in detail, with scope, five to seven steps and three worked examples.
Column by column
What goes in each part of a SIPOC diagram
ASQ, the American Society for Quality, defines every part of a SIPOC on its SIPOC+CM diagram page1. The rows run in the order this template fills them: the boundaries first, then right to left from the customer.
| Part | ASQ's definition | What to write |
|---|---|---|
| Start and stop points | Define "the process boundaries (i.e., the start and end points) so that everyone involved understands the limits of the analysis." | Two events you could put a date and time on, such as "a customer's order arrives" and "the payment is applied." A phase such as "invoicing" is not a boundary. |
| Customers | "The main users of the process's output." | Every group that receives an output, inside the client or outside it, named by role: "the customer's accounts payable team," not a person. |
| Outputs | "What the process produces as products, services, or technology." | Specific nouns a customer could check. "Invoice that matches the order and the delivery" says more than "invoice." |
| Process | "A high-level flowchart of the key five to seven core activities that comprise the process." | Five to seven steps, each a verb and a noun, such as "Check credit." ASQ calls this a "35,000-foot" view; the detail belongs in the flowchart. |
| Inputs | "The material or information specifications that are needed by the process." | What each step needs before it can run: a document, data, an approval or access to a system, such as the customer's PO number. |
| Suppliers | "Who or what (internal or external) provides the raw materials, information, or technology to the process." | A team, an outside company or a system. The customer can appear in both end columns, supplying the order and receiving the invoice. |
| +C and +M | "Constraints facing the system or process" and "measures being used or to be used." | Optional. A constraint might be 30-day payment terms. This template draws its measures from what each customer needs. |
Definitions quoted from ASQ's SIPOC+CM page. ASQ's procedure sets the boundaries first but doesn't say which column to fill next. Working right to left from the customer is this template's choice.
How it works
What is a SIPOC diagram, and how do you build one?
A SIPOC diagram is a one-page table of a process: its suppliers, inputs, main steps, outputs and customers. ASQ describes it as a high-level view of a process as it runs today1. Build one when a team first starts looking at a process, before anyone draws a detailed flowchart. Its main job is agreement: before anything is measured or changed, everyone should accept where the process starts and stops, what it produces and who receives it.
Fill it in with the people who do the work, not from the written procedure. James Womack, founder of the Lean Enterprise Institute, recommends gathering everyone who touches a process2 to walk it together from start to finish. He suggests discussing what problem it solves for the customer and how it actually works. The Minnesota Department of Health's customer identification worksheet3 then turns outputs into measures by asking who receives each output, what they need and how you'll know you're meeting it.
A SIPOC shows what the process is, not where it breaks, so a swimlane process map comes next. The same department's guide puts each action in the lane of the person or group responsible4 and asks where work is handed off and where it waits. When the measures point to a weak step, a root cause analysis or a quick 5 whys finds out why. Paste a description of the process above, and River drafts a first SIPOC, marking anything it adds as proposed.
How it works
How to use this SIPOC template
Download it or open it in River
Download both Word documents free, or click Edit with AI. To have River draft it, paste a description of the process above before you click.
River fills it from your notes
From your notes, River fills the template right to left, marking anything it adds as proposed. Without notes, both files open ready to fill.
Walk it with the team
Settle each proposed item with the people who do the work. River can write the questions for that walk-through.
Measure, then map the detail
Pull a baseline for each measure before anything changes, then turn the SIPOC into a swimlane map, by hand or with River.
| SIPOC | What goes here | Order to cash (example) |
|---|---|---|
| Suppliers | Who provides each input | Customer, sales, credit control, warehouse, carrier, bank |
| Inputs | What the steps need | Order and PO number, prices, credit limit, stock |
| Process | Five to seven steps, verb and noun | Enter order, check credit, ship, invoice, chase, apply cash |
| Outputs | What the process produces | Confirmation, delivered parts, invoice, payment applied |
| Customers | Who receives each output | Buyer, customer's accounts payable, finance team |
Built right to left. Starts when an order arrives; stops when the payment is applied.
What you'll get
A SIPOC table with scope, right-to-left steps and an order to cash example
- A scope line with the process's start and stop points
- A SIPOC table built right to left, with each step explained
- An order to cash example, plus measures and a swimlane next step
Before and after
Your process description in. A first SIPOC out.
Order to cash at Ridgeway. Customers order by email or phone, customer service keys it in. Big orders go to credit control. Warehouse picks and the carrier delivers. Finance invoices weekly from the delivery notes and chases anyone past 30 days. Disputes are mostly missing PO numbers.
Scope: starts when a customer's order arrives by email or phone. Stops when the payment is applied to the account (proposed). Customers: the customer who orders; the customer's accounts payable team (proposed); Ridgeway finance. Outputs: delivered parts; an invoice with the PO number; payment reminders. Process: 1. Enter the order. 2. Check credit on large orders. 3. Pick and deliver. 4. Invoice from delivery notes. 5. Chase payment. 6. Apply the payment (proposed). Inputs: the customer's order and PO number; delivery notes; credit limits (proposed). Suppliers: the customer; customer service; credit control; the warehouse; the carrier. To confirm with the client: what counts as a big order, and where the process should stop.
Anything River adds is marked proposed, to check with the people who run the process.
What lands in your doc
What's inside the SIPOC template
- SIPOC Template
The Word document you fill in: a header for the client, process, owner and date, then seven numbered sections. - Scope line
The events that start and stop the process, what's in and out of scope, and why you're looking. - The SIPOC table
Suppliers, inputs, five to seven numbered steps, outputs and customers, with a hint in each column. - Right-to-left steps
Seven steps for filling it in, from setting the scope to checking it with the people who do the work. - Customer needs and measures
Each main output, who receives it, what good looks like to them and how you'd measure it. - What comes next
Lanes for a swimlane map, problems already reported by step, handoffs to check first, and a measures table. - Checks and a to-confirm list
Six checks before you share it, then every proposed or bracketed item with who can confirm it. - SIPOC Examples
Order to cash worked in full and built right to left, plus procure to pay and client onboarding.
Questions consultants ask
Common questions
What is a SIPOC diagram?
A SIPOC diagram is a one-page summary of a process, named for its five columns: suppliers, inputs, process, outputs and customers. Suppliers provide the inputs, the process steps turn them into outputs, and customers receive them. Teams build one at the start of an improvement project. ASQ's SIPOC+CM version adds the constraints the process faces and the measures to track.
How many steps should a SIPOC have?
Five to seven, the range ASQ gives for the core activities in the process column. Write each as a verb and a noun, such as "Approve the request." If you need more than seven, you're mapping detail that belongs in a flowchart or swimlane map. With fewer than five, check the steps cover everything from the start point to the stop point.
Which column of a SIPOC do you fill in first?
Start with the customers, once the scope is set, then work right to left: outputs, process steps, inputs and suppliers. Knowing who receives the work keeps steps nobody needs off the page. ASQ's procedure fixes the boundaries first but names no column order, and some teams start from the steps. Either way, check every output has a customer and every input a supplier.
What mistakes should you avoid in a SIPOC?
Watch for fuzzy edges and too much detail. A start point written as a phase, such as "onboarding," invites argument; an event, such as "the client signs," doesn't. More than seven steps means you're drawing the process map too early. Avoid naming people instead of roles, outputs with no customer, and copying the written procedure instead of walking the work.
What's the difference between a SIPOC and a process map?
A SIPOC is the one-page summary: where a process starts and stops, and what flows in and out. A detailed flowchart, the Institute for Healthcare Improvement notes, typically shows dozens of steps5 and makes rework loops easy to spot. Build the SIPOC first, then map the detail with the process map template.
Is this SIPOC template free?
Yes. Download both Word documents, the template and the worked examples, with no signup. Edit with AI opens the same files in a free River workspace, where River can draft a first SIPOC from your notes, then the swimlane map. Paid plans add more AI use and access to the most advanced models.
What does Edit with AI do?
It opens the template and examples in a free River workspace. If you pasted notes, River fills the template right to left from them, marks anything it adds as proposed and doesn't invent client facts or numbers. A to-confirm list names who can check each item. With no notes, River leaves both files ready to fill and offers to build the SIPOC with you.
Your next step