Overview
The Spaghetti diagram can be used to document that motion waste in any process. It captures the amount of walking the operators must 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 also increases the stress that the operators feel when completing their daily activities.
To add this tool to 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. 
Inputs
Click on the Analysis Setup button to open the menu options for this tool. A sample screenshot of the menu is shown below. 
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, it 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 in creating your layout. | ||||||||||||||||||
2 | Select Button: Click on the Select button to search your directories to specify the file to upload. Click the Clear button to clear this background image from the worksheet. | ||||||||||||||||||
3 | 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. | ||||||||||||||||||
4 | 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 to the scaling factor. The number of columns and width setting do not affect the calculations of the spaghetti diagram. | ||||||||||||||||||
5 | 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 two 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 | 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 two 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. | ||||||||||||||||||
7 | 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. You can specify separate paths for each resource by changing the number of resources. You can create a spaghetti chart for up to 10 resources. | ||||||||||||||||||
8 | Distance Metric: Specify the units for this analysis. The default is meter. The available options are:
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9 | Time Metric: Specify the metric for the measurement of time. The available options are:
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10 | Currency Units: Specify how currency values should be reported. The available options are:
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11 | 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. | ||||||||||||||||||
12 | Help Button: Click on this button to open the help file on this topic. | ||||||||||||||||||
13 | Cancel Button: Click on this button to exit without saving any changes. | ||||||||||||||||||
14a | Create Button: Click on this button to save changes and update the worksheet layout. This will take you to the worksheet where you can update the spaghetti diagram. When you are done updating the diagram, click on Compute Outputs or click on the Analysis Setup and then click on the OK button to generate analysis results. | ||||||||||||||||||
14b | 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, the transport cost per unit of distance traveled (if any), the average speed of travel, and the number of times this path is repeated for a given period (say, in one day, one week, etc., depending on your analysis period).
1 | Same Parameters: You can enter separate parameter values for each resource or use the same value for all. 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 need to draw your factory's layout on the worksheet. You can use the standard Excel functionality to draw the layout using standard shapes or 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 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, such as the cost per hour, the travel costs for a unit distance, the travel speed, and how many times this path is repeated daily. |
3 | Cost per Time: Enter the labor rate in the specified units (such as $/hour). This factor converts the time of motion travel to labor costs. |
4 | Cost per Distance: Enter the transport costs in the specified units (such as $/m). This factor calculates the non-labor component of the transport cost - such as 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 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 period. |
Path Editor
Click the Path button on the task menu bar to add or edit the path. A dialog box such as the one shown below will be opened:
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 resources you 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 conduct a before-after study, the first resource can be named "Before," and the second can be named "After." For each resource, you will need to define the path that that resource uses for each cycle of its 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 selected the checkbox for Snap Grid, 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 must click on the connector on the current path to delete it from the path. Note that all future point numbers will be updated after the point is deleted. |
The Verify button can be used to see 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 on your worksheet. This dialog box can delete any stray or duplicate shapes you inadvertently created. You can also highlight or unhighlight portions of the map using this dialog box. A sample screenshot is shown below: 
1 | Available Shapes: The list box lists all the shapes that are displayed on the worksheet. The naming convention shows SM_ for all shapes the Sigma Magic software created. |
2 | Select Type: At the bottom of the list box are three buttons: Single will enable you to select one shape at a time, Multiple will let you pick multiple shapes, 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 the shapes you no longer need and then click the Delete button. |
Charts
You will see the following dialog box if you click the Charts button. 
1 | Title: The system will automatically pick a title for your chart. However, if you want to override that with your 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 want to override that with your subtitle, 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 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 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 determine the minimum, increment, and maximum values separated by a semi-colon. For example, if you specify 10;20, 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, the x-axis increment is set at 2. Note that this input is currently disabled, and you cannot 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 determine the minimum, increment, and maximum values separated by a semi-colon. For example, if you specify 10;20, the minimum y-axis scale is set at 10, and the maximum y-axis 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, two horizontal lines are plotted at Y = 12 and Y = 15, respectively. Note that this input is optional. |
8 | Vertical Lines: You can specify the values here if you want to add a few extra vertical reference lines on top of your chart. The format for this input is numeric values separated by semi-colon. For example, if you specify 2;5, two vertical lines are plotted at X = 2 and X = 5, respectively. Note that this input is optional. |
Verify
If you click the Verify button, the software will perform some checks on the data you entered. A sample screenshot of the dialog box is shown in the figure below.
The software checks 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, they are shown as green-colored checkmarks. If the verification checks fail, they are shown as a red-colored cross. If the verification checks result in a warning, they are shown in the orange exclamation mark, and finally, any checks that are required to be performed by the user are shown as blue info icons.
1 | Item: The left-hand side shows the major tabs and the items checked within each section |
2 | Status: The right-hand side shows the status of the checks. |
3 | Overall Status: Shows the overall status of all the checks performed. If all the checked items are okay, the status image in the header will show a green checkmark. If any checks fail, then the status image in the header will show a red cross mark. |
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 shows the total cost of this trip for each resource. You can use the spaghetti chart to compare different resources or create a diagram to compare the before and after data on a single chart.
The final message box displays a summary of the total traversed distance, time for this traversal, and total cost. 
Notes
Here are a few notes regarding this analysis:
- The number of operators you can enter for a given layout is 10 (when you use the dialog box). You may need to break up the motion into multiple worksheets if there are more than ten operators.
- 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.
- 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 nodes' center and not the connectors' length. Even if the connectors do not join the two nodes exactly at the geometric center, they will not influence the computational results.
- The nodes' size depends on the worksheet cells' size. 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 scale the image appropriately.
Examples
The following examples are in the software's Examples folder.
- Select a process, observe operator motion, and create a Spaghetti diagram for the same (Spaghetti Diagram 2.xlsx)
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