Knowledge Base · Tools & Terms
What is a SIPOC, and how do I build one?
A SIPOC is a one-page map of a process seen from the outside in: Suppliers, Inputs, Process, Outputs, Customers. It is the standard first step in improvement work because it gets a whole team agreeing on what the process is, who it serves, and where it starts and ends, before anyone argues about solutions.
SIPOC takes its name from its five columns. Suppliers are whoever provides what the process needs. Inputs are what goes in: materials, information, requests. Process is the work itself, written as a short sequence of steps at a level the whole team can agree on. Outputs are what the process produces, including the by-products nobody ordered. Customers are whoever receives the outputs, inside or outside the organisation.
To build one, start with an inventory rather than the columns. List everything that happens in the process: steps, people, materials, paperwork, handoffs. Then sort each item into the column it belongs to, and arrange the process steps in order until the sequence reads the way the work actually flows. Finally, add a stakeholder analysis: everyone involved, their role, and their influence on the process.
The value of a SIPOC is the argument it prevents. Teams often discover they were picturing different processes, different starting points, or different customers. One page that everyone has agreed on gives the improvement work that follows a shared foundation, and it prints cleanly enough to put on the wall where the work happens.
Build one in the free SIPOC Builder
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Source: ADX site content: the SIPOC Builder and ClarionEX tool guidance.