Waste often hides in the walking. The Spaghetti DiagramA visual tool tracing the path of a product, document, or person through a process, to identify excessive travel. Click term for full definition makes every trip visible, so you can shorten the path. Watch the short video, then work with the toolkit PDF: it explains the method, shows a worked example and gives you a blank template to fill in.
Tool video
The short tool video will appear here.
Spaghetti Diagram in short
- Choose the noodle. One person, product or document. Set clear start and end points.
- Get the map. A floor plan or sketch with all stations, machines and storage.
- Trace the movement. Follow it live, one continuous line, arrows for direction, dots for stops. Work in pairs.
- Analyze the tangle. Look for crossings and bunching, measure the distance, ask why for every detour.
- Test a better layout. Draw the ideal path, move things closer, then trace again to confirm.
Key points
- One noodle, one continuous line.
- Crossings and tangles show waste.
- Measure the distance before and after.
- Re-trace to prove the new layout.