Before a process is described, analysed or improved, one short question pays off: where does it actually start, and where does it end? A SIPOC diagram answers it on a single page. It records who feeds something into the process, what goes in, which high-level steps happen, what comes out and who receives it. With that boundary in place, everyone involved talks about the same process, and the real documentation starts in the right place.
This guide explains what the five letters stand for, when SIPOC helps and how to build a SIPOC diagram in five steps. You also get a worked example from manufacturing, a template to copy and a comparison with the turtle diagram and the process description. SIPOC is the first step of process documentation, and the guide there shows what comes next.
What is SIPOC?
SIPOC is a process scoping tool. The five letters name the five columns of the diagram:
| Letter | Stands for | The column lists |
|---|---|---|
| S | Supplier | who provides what the process needs |
| I | Input | what goes into the process |
| P | Process | the high-level steps of the process |
| O | Output | what comes out of the process |
| C | Customer | who receives the result |
Suppliers and customers are meant broadly. A supplier can be an external vendor, but just as well the in-house engineering team, an ERP system or the customer, when they send a drawing. A customer is anyone who works with the result: the end customer, shipping, accounting or the next production stage.
The process column deliberately holds only four to seven high-level steps. A SIPOC shows the process from above, with a trigger at the start and a result at the end. Decisions, loops and exceptions belong in the process description or the flowchart below it.
SIPOC became widely known through Six Sigma, where it sits in the Define phase of the DMAIC cycle (Define, Measure, Analyze, Improve, Control), when an improvement project pins down its subject. The tool works just as well outside Six Sigma, wherever a process should be clearly named and bounded before anyone writes it down.
SIPOC or COPIS?
Some teams read the diagram from right to left and call it COPIS. The columns stay the same; only the order of filling them in changes. You start with the customer and their requirements and work back to the supplier. This order suits redesigning a process, when customer value sets the frame.
When SIPOC helps: choosing and scoping a process
A SIPOC diagram is quick to make and saves a lot of back and forth afterwards. It is especially useful in four situations.
Before process documentation. If you want to describe a process, you first need to know what belongs to it. Is incoming inspection still part of purchasing, or already part of production? Does order processing end with shipping or with payment received? The SIPOC often settles these questions in half an hour, and the later description has a fixed frame.
Before as-is mapping. When you capture workflows in interviews or workshops, the SIPOC shows whom to talk to: the suppliers and customers of the process as well as the people doing the work. How the capture itself works is covered in the guide to as-is process mapping.
As a bridge between the map and the detail. The process map shows all of a company's processes as boxes. A SIPOC opens one of those boxes and shows what goes in and out, without breaking down every step yet.
Before process analysis or improvement. Evaluating a process needs a clear subject. The SIPOC makes visible which outputs the customer really needs and which inputs regularly go missing or arrive late. That is where process analysis picks up.
ISO 9001:2015 requires in clause 4.4 that the organization determine the inputs required and the outputs expected from its processes, determine the sequence and interaction of these processes, and assign responsibilities and authorities. A SIPOC is a simple way to record inputs and outputs. The standard does not prescribe the tool, and responsibilities and control criteria need further information.
How to create a SIPOC diagram in 5 steps
A SIPOC works best in a small group of three to six people who know the process from different directions. A table, a whiteboard or sticky notes are all you need.
Step 1: Name the process and set its boundaries
Give the process a verb-object name, such as "Process production order" or "Handle complaint". Then define the start point (trigger) and the end point (result). These two boundaries matter more than anything else in the diagram. Write them above the table so every later discussion can be measured against them.
Step 2: Write the high-level steps in the middle
Fill the process column with four to seven steps, each as a verb with an object: "Schedule order", "Stage material", "Machine parts". If you end up with twelve, merge some. Aim for a level of detail where someone from another department understands the flow in a minute.
Step 3: Identify outputs and customers
Now work to the right. What does the process deliver, and who receives it? Besides the main result, note side outputs such as inspection reports, ERP confirmations or scrap reports. Every output has at least one customer. An output without a customer is a hint that perhaps nobody needs it.
Step 4: Identify inputs and suppliers
Then move to the left. What does the process need to start and run? Material, information, approvals, drawings, data from systems. Every input has a supplier. This is often where the first gaps appear, for example an input everyone takes for granted but nobody feels responsible for supplying.
Step 5: Check with the people involved
Show the finished SIPOC to someone from the customer column and someone from the supplier column. Does it match their view? Does the customer really get what the output column says, in the form they need? This check takes a few minutes and turns the diagram into shared ground.
SIPOC example from manufacturing
The following example (typified) is a composite of typical companies of this size and does not describe a real business. A machining shop with 45 employees produces turned and milled parts in small and medium batches for machine builders. The process "Process production order" starts with the released customer order in the ERP system and ends with inspected, packed parts at the shipping area.
| Supplier | Input | Process (high-level steps) | Output | Customer |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sales | Released customer order with delivery date | 1. Schedule order | Inspected, packed parts | Shipping, end customer |
| Customer, production planning | Drawing, CNC program, routing | 2. Stage material and tools | First-article and final inspection report | Quality assurance, end customer |
| Purchasing, warehouse | Raw material with mill certificate | 3. Set up machine and inspect first article | Quantity and time confirmation in the ERP | Production planning, accounting |
| Tool crib | Tools, fixtures | 4. Machine parts | Scrap and rework report | Quality assurance |
| Quality assurance | Calibrated gauges, inspection plan | 5. Perform final inspection | ||
| Maintenance | Machine ready for operation | 6. Label and pack parts |
The rows are not linked across. Each column is a list of its own, and the process column reads from top to bottom.
Boundaries: the process starts with the customer order released in the ERP and ends with packed parts at the shipping area. Shipping and invoicing belong to other processes and appear only as customers.
Two observations show what a SIPOC delivers. First, the supplier column lists eight parties, and only one of them, the customer with their drawing, sits outside the company. Almost everything production needs comes from in-house, and each of those handovers can cause waiting time. Second, the ERP confirmation has two customers, production planning and accounting. In daily work it is often entered late, and only the SIPOC shows who is waiting for it.
SIPOC template to copy
Copy the table into Word, Excel, PowerPoint or your wiki and fill it in following the five steps. The header block above it records the boundaries and the version.
SIPOC: [process name, verb + object]
Process owner (role): [e.g. Head of Production]
Start (trigger): [What starts the process?]
End (result): [What completes the process?]
Version date: [date] | Participants: [roles in the session]
| Supplier | Input | Process (4 to 7 high-level steps) | Output | Customer |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | ||||
| 2. | ||||
| 3. | ||||
| 4. | ||||
| 5. |
If you like, add a sixth column on the right for "Customer requirements" (in Six Sigma projects often called SIPOC-R or SIPOCR). It records, for example, that parts must be dimensionally correct to the drawing and at the shipping area on the confirmed date. This column helps later evaluation, because it captures how the customer recognises a good output.
SIPOC vs. turtle diagram vs. process description
In quality management you will meet two other ways to present a process alongside SIPOC. They complement each other, because each answers a different question.
| SIPOC | Turtle diagram | Process description | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Purpose | Scope a process, clarify inputs and outputs | Conditions of a process on one page | Record the workflow completely and bindingly |
| Content | Suppliers, inputs, 4 to 7 high-level steps, outputs, customers | Input, output, resources, people, methods, metrics | Goal, scope, roles, steps, interfaces, metrics |
| Sequence of steps | rough | none | complete, with decisions and exceptions |
| Typical use | Project kick-off, preparing documentation | Audit, management review | Onboarding, holiday cover, audit |
| Size | one table | one page | several pages |
In practice the three usually follow one another. The SIPOC fixes what the conversation is about. The process description then records how the workflow runs in detail, and the turtle diagram summarises it on one page for audits. When several departments are involved and the handovers take centre stage, a swimlane diagram shows the flow with roles and lanes.
From SIPOC to living process documentation
A SIPOC is the opening move. Then the real work begins: talking to the people who run the process and recording how it works today. Here the SIPOC makes a good interview list, because the supplier and customer columns name exactly the roles whose view you need.
An AI can take on this step. At wissa.ai it runs the interviews with employees in chat, in sessions of around 15 to 20 minutes, whenever it suits them. The statements become process documentation with steps, roles, handoffs and a source for every statement, as a basis for your process descriptions, and further conversations continue the documentation. Find out more on the process documentation software page. To get started there is a free trial package (10 credits, once per company, terms) that is usually enough for a first interview: Try one interview for free.
Conclusion
SIPOC scopes a process in five columns: suppliers, inputs, high-level steps, outputs and customers. It often takes about half an hour, needs nothing more than a table and creates shared ground for everything that follows, from as-is mapping to the process description and improvement. Set the start and end, stay with four to seven steps and check the result with the suppliers and customers of the process.
FAQ
What is a SIPOC diagram?
A SIPOC diagram is a five-column table that scopes a process: Supplier, Input, Process (four to seven high-level steps), Output and Customer. On a single page it shows where a process starts and ends, what it needs and what it delivers. It is created before the detailed process description or at the start of an improvement project.
What does SIPOC stand for?
SIPOC stands for Supplier, Input, Process, Output, Customer. The order follows the flow through the process from left to right. Read from the customer's side, the same diagram is also called COPIS.
How do you create a SIPOC diagram?
First name the process and define its start and end. Then write four to seven high-level steps in the middle, identify the outputs and customers, and after that the inputs and suppliers. Finally, check the result with one person from the customer column and one from the supplier column. In a small group this takes about half an hour.
What is the difference between SIPOC and a turtle diagram?
SIPOC scopes a process and shows suppliers, inputs, high-level steps, outputs and customers. The turtle diagram describes the conditions of a process, such as resources, people involved, methods and metrics, comes from the automotive industry and is now common in ISO 9001 environments. SIPOC comes at the start of documentation, while the turtle summarises a finished process description.
Is SIPOC part of Six Sigma?
SIPOC is closely tied to Six Sigma, where it is used in the Define phase of the DMAIC cycle to pin down the subject of an improvement project. The tool can be used independently as well, for example to prepare process documentation or in quality management under ISO 9001.
How many process steps should a SIPOC have?
Four to seven high-level steps are usual. Fewer steps say too little about the flow, while more steps cost the SIPOC its overview and turn it into a flowchart. Details, decisions and exceptions belong in the process description below it.
Sources
- ISO 9001:2015, clause 4.4 (Quality management system and its processes)
- ISO 13053-1, Quantitative methods in process improvement. Six Sigma. Part 1: DMAIC methodology