Help Manual

Contents






Sigma Magic Help Version 15

Spaghetti Diagram

Overview

The Spaghetti diagram can be used to document that motion waste in any process. It captures the amount of walking that the operators have to do to get their job done in a given period. The objective of the Spaghetti diagram is to identify the non-value added activities and modify the layout so that the amount of motion waste can be reduced. Motion waste not only adds to the waiting time for the process but will also increase the stress that the operators feel to complete their daily activities.

To add this tool your workbook, click on Lean and then select Spaghetti Diagram. When the tool is opened, the main menu at the top may change to a task-specific menu as shown below. If this menu does not open, click on F4 button or the small arrow at the bottom right portion of your menu group to open this menu bar. spaghetti diagram task menu

Inputs

Click on the Analysis Setup button to open the menu options for this tool. A sample screenshot of the menu is shown below. inputs
1
Layout: You can specify an image file (png, jpg, or bmp format) as a layout of the workplace. This file is optional but if specified will be used as the background image for the layout and you can create your spaghetti diagram on top of this image. Having an image should help you provide guidance on creating your layout.

Click on the Select button to search your directories to specify the file to upload. You can also clear this background image from the worksheet by clicking on the Clear button.
2
Num Columns: Specify the number of columns on the worksheet. This will display the appropriate number of columns on the worksheet and hide the rest. The number of columns and width setting do not affect the calculations of the spaghetti diagram.
3
Column Width: Specify the size of the grid or cell on the worksheet. Adjust the width so that the dimensions of the grid match the uploaded image with respect to the scaling factor. The number of columns and width setting do not affect the calculations of the spaghetti diagram.
4
X Scale: Specify the scaling for the X axis. Ideally, the X and Y axis scales should be identical unless you have a non-proportional layout. Each cell on the worksheet is multiplied by this scaling factor. For example, if you specify the scaling factor as 2 and the unit selected for distance is meter. Then, one cell shown on the worksheet is equivalent to 2m. Two cells correspond to 4 meters etc.
5
Y Scale: Specify the scaling for the Y axis. Ideally, the X and Y axis scales should be identical unless you have a non-proportional layout. Each cell on the worksheet is multiplied by this scaling factor. For example, if you specify the scaling factor as 2 and the unit selected for distance is meter. Then, one cell shown on the worksheet is equivalent to 2m. Two cells correspond to 4 meters etc.
6
Num Resources: Specify the number of resources for which you want to create a Spaghetti chart. This corresponds to how many people are typically working in that area. The default for the number of resources is 1. By changing the number of resources, you can specify separate paths for each resource. You can create a spaghetti chart for up to 10 resources.
7
Distance Metric: Specify the units for this analysis. The default is meter. The available options are:
OptionDescription
InchUse inch to report all measurements.
FootUse foot to report all measurements.
YardUse yard to report all measurements.
MileUse mile to report all measurements.
MillimeterUse mm to report all measurements.
CentimeterUse cm to report all measurements.
MeterUse meters to report all measurements.
KilometerUse km to report all measurements.
8
Time Metric: Specify the metric for the measurement of time. The available options are:
OptionDescription
DayUse day to report all measurements.
HourUse hour to report all measurements.
MinuteUse minute to report all measurements.
SecondUse second to report all measurements.
9
Currency Units: Specify how currency values should be reported. The available options are:
OptionDescription
$Use USD to report all measurements.
Use Euro to report all measurements.
RsUse Rupees to report all measurements.
10
View Example: Click on this button to open the example file. You can view the example to get an idea of how to fill out this tool or you can use the example as a starting point and modify it to meet your project needs.
11
Help Button: Click on this button to open the help file on this topic.
12
Cancel Button: Click on this button to exit without saving any changes.
13
OK Button: Click on this button to save changes and update your analysis results.
Specify the details for each resource - such as the labor cost per hour for the resource, the transport cost per unit of distance traveled for this resource (if any), the average speed of travel of this resource, and the number of times this path is repeated for a given period (say in 1 day, 1 week, etc. depending on your analysis period). inputs 2
1
Same Parameters: You can either enter separate parameter values for each resource or use the same value for all resources. If you use the same values, the parameter values you specify here are copied for all resources. Once the parameters are set up, you will now need to draw the layout of your factory on the worksheet. You can use the standard Excel functionality to draw the layout using standard shapes or you can upload an image of the factory or workplace as described earlier. If you upload an image, make sure that it is drawn to scale and you will need to estimate the scaling factor to use for this analysis. If you have a standard distance marking on the drawing, it will be easier for you to translate this to a scale factor. For example, if a 1m marking exists on the image, you can adjust the width to ensure that your grid aligns with the markings on the image.
2
Resource Number: For each resource you will need to specify the details about the resource such as how much is the cost for the resource per hour, what are the travel costs for a unit distance, what is the speed of travel and how many times this path is repeated per day.
3
Cost per Time: Enter the labor rate in the specified units (such as $/hour). This factor is used to convert the time of motion travel to the labor costs.
4
Cost per Distance: Enter the transport costs in the specified units (such as $/m). This factor is used to calculate the non-labor component of the transport cost - such as for fuel if the transport is motorized or any other variable costs related to distance.
5
Speed: The speed is used to translate from distance units to time units using the formula (speed = distance/time). Note that the speed in the real world will usually vary - so we are only asking you to enter an average speed here.
6
Num Repeats: The number of repeats specifies how many times per day or a given time period this particular path is traversed. The total distance calculated on this path is multiplied by this number to determine the total travel distance in a day or for a given time period.

Path Editor

To add or edit the path, click on Path button on the task menu bar. A dialog box such as the one shown below will be opened: path
1
Resource Number: Select the resource number for which you want to define the Spaghetti path. You can pick the resource number from the first drop down box. The number of resources shown in this box depends on the number of resources you have defined in your initial settings file.
2
Resource Name: You can provide a unique name for each resource to be used for the plots. If you are conducting a before-after study, the first resource can be named as "Before" and the second resource can be named "After". For each resource, you will need to define the path that that resource uses for each cycle of his operation.
3
Current Path: The current path lists the path that has currently been defined for this resource number. You can scroll through this list to see how the path has been defined.
4a
Add Point: Click on Add Point to append a path to the end of an existing path. The currently defined path is shown in the text area. If you have selected the checkbox for Snap Grid then the software will try to locate the closest grid point on the worksheet based on your mouse click. If the checkbox is not selected, the actual location of the click is selected.
4b
Insert Point: Click on Insert Point to insert a new point at the selected location. Click on the connector to specify the location after which you want to insert the new point. A new point will be inserted after this point. Note that all future point numbers will be updated.
4c
Move Point: Click on Move Point to move an existing point from one location to another. Note that you can also move the points directly on the screen but if you want to snap to a grid location, you are better off moving the point using the move point button.
4d
Delete Point: Click on Delete Point to delete a point from the path. You will need to click on the connector on the current path in order to delete it from the path. Note that after the point is deleted, all future point numbers will be updated.
The Verify button can be used to see if there are any errors on the Spaghetti diagram or if everything is okay. Click on the Outputs button to generate the outputs from this analysis. There is no specific data that needs to be entered on the worksheet. However, you can re-do the layout by moving different objects on the worksheet as required.

Format Map

Sometimes you want to format your data or look at your spaghetti diagram differently. Click on the Format button to view the shapes that are there on your worksheet. You can use this dialog box to delete any stray or duplicate shapes that you may have inadvertently created. You can also highlight or unhighlight portions of the map using this dialog box. A sample screenshot is shown below: format map
1
Available Shapes: The list box lists all the shapes that are displayed on the worksheet. The naming convetion shows SM_ for all shapes created by the Sigma Magic software.
2
Select Type: At the bottom of the list box are three buttons: Single will enabled you to select one shape at a time, Multiple will let you pick multiple shape and All will select all the shapes listed here.
3a
Select: If you want to move all the shapes on the screen, you can select all the shapes in the list box by clicking on the All button at the bottom and then clicking on Select button. This will select all the shapes available for you. You can then move these shapes as a group to a new location or choose to copy these shapes to another application.
3b
Highlight: You can highlight the shape to view the shape on the worksheet. Highlight will add a shadow to the select items on this page so that they stand out.
3c
Unhilight: You can unhighlight the shape on the worksheet. Unhighlight will remove any shadow on the selected items so that they get de-emphasized.
3d
Delete: Any shapes that you don't need can be deleted. Select that shapes that you no longer need and then click on the Delete button.

Charts

If you click on the Charts button, you will see the following dialog box. Charts
1
Title: The system will automatically pick a title for your chart. However, if you would like to override that with your own title you can specify a title for your chart here. Note that this input is optional.
2
Sub Title: The system will automatically pick a subtitle for your chart. However, if you would like to override that with your own subtitle you can specify a subtitle for your chart here. Note that this input is optional.
3
X Label: The system will automatically pick a label for the x-axis. However, if you would like to override that with your own label for the x-axis you can specify a different label here. Note that this input is optional.
4
Y Label: The system will automatically pick a label for the y-axis. However, if you would like to override that with your own label for the y-axis you can specify a different label here. Note that this input is optional.
5
X Axis: The system will automatically pick a scale for the x-axis. However, if you would like to override that with your values for the x-axis, you can specify them here. The format for this input is to specify the minimum, increment, and maximum values separated by a semi-colon. For example, if you specify 10;20 then the minimum x-axis scale is set at 10 and the maximum x-axis scale is set at 20. If you specify 10;2;20, then the x-axis increment is set at 2. Note that this input is currently disabled and you will not be able to change this setting.
6
Y Axis: The system will automatically pick a scale for the y-axis. However, if you would like to override that with your values for the y-axis, you can specify them here. The format for this input is to specify the minimum, increment, and maximum values separated by a semi-colon. For example, if you specify 10;20 then the minimum y-axis scale is set at 10 and the maximum y-axis scale is set at 20. If you specify 10;2;20, then, in addition to minimum and maximum values, the y-axis increment is set at 2. Note that this input is optional.
7
Horizontal Lines: If you want to add a few extra horizontal reference lines on top of your chart you can specify the values here. The format for this input is numeric values separated by semi-colon. For example, if you specify 12;15 then two horizontal lines are plotted at Y = 12 and Y = 15 respectively. Note that this input is optional.
8
Vertical Lines: If you want to add a few extra vertical reference lines on top of your chart you can specify the values here. The format for this input is numeric values separated by semi-colon. For example, if you specify 2;5 then two vertical lines are plotted at X = 2 and X = 5 respectively. Note that this input is optional.

Verify

If you click on the Verify button, the software will perform some checks on the data you have entered. A sample screenshot of the dialog box is shown in the figure below. Verify The objective of this analysis as well as any checks that are performed is listed in this dialog box. For example, the software may check if you have correctly specified the input options and entered the required data on the worksheet. The results of the analysis checks are listed on the right. If the checks are passed, then they are shown as a green-colored checkmark. If the verification checks fail, then they are shown as a red-colored cross. If the verification checks result in a warning, they are shown in the orange color exclamation mark and finally, any checks that are required to be performed by the user are shown as blue info icons.

Outputs

Click on Compute Outputs on the main menu bar or the Analyze button on the task menu bar to compute the analysis outputs. Three graphs are generated. The first is the total distance traveled by each resource. The second is the total time taken by each resource for the travel. The third chart is the total cost of this travel for each resource. You can use the Spaghetti chart to compare different resources or create a spaghetti diagram for comparing the before and after data on a single chart. outputs The summary of the total traversed distance, time for this traversal, and the total cost is displayed at the top of the worksheet.

Notes

Here are a few notes regarding this analysis:
  • The total number of operators you can enter for a given layout is 10 (when you use the dialog box). If there are more than 10 operators, then you may need to break up the motion onto multiple worksheets.
  • You can update the data on the worksheet or use the dialog box. Changes in the worksheet will be reflected in the dialog box for positional moves. However, do not delete or add new points directly on the worksheet, use the dialog box instead.
  • Note that you have to save this file as a Macro-enabled workbook (*.xlsm) if you want to software to autodetect and open the right task pane menus when you open this file the next time around.
  • If you want integer locations for your traversal points, click on Snap Grid when you create the Spaghetti diagram or after the diagram is created, click on Snap Grid and move the points using the Path Editor.
  • Note that the distance between different nodes is calculated based on the center of the nodes and not the length of the connectors. Even if the connectors don't seem to be joining the two nodes exactly at the geometric center, they will not influence the computational results.
  • The size of the nodes depends on the size of the worksheet cells. Choose a smaller column width on the Analysis Setup page if you want smaller size nodes. However, if you need to match the scale to a background image your options may be limited unless you can also scale the image appropriately.

Examples

Following examples can be found in the Examples folder within the software.
  • Select a process, observe operator motion and create a Spaghetti diagram for the same (Spaghetti Diagram 2.xlsm)