Basic Flowchart Symbols and Meaning

Flowcharts are the best for visually representation the business processes and the flow of a custom-order process through various departments within an organization. ConceptDraw PRO diagramming and vector drawing software extended with Flowcharts solution offers the full set of predesigned basic flowchart symbols which are gathered at two libraries: Flowchart and Flowcharts Rapid Draw. Among them are: process, terminator, decision, data, document, display, manual loop, and many other specific symbols. The meaning for each symbol offered by ConceptDraw gives the presentation about their proposed use in professional Flowcharts for business and technical processes, software algorithms, well-developed structures of web sites, Workflow diagrams, Process flow diagram and correlation in developing on-line instructional projects or business process system. Use of ready flow chart symbols in diagrams is incredibly useful - you need simply drag desired from the libraries to your document and arrange them in required order. There are a few serious alternatives to Visio for Mac, one of them is ConceptDraw PRO. It is one of the main contender with the most similar features and capabilities.

Flowchart Components

The ConceptDraw Flowchart component includes a set of samples and templates. This geathered as flowchart maker toolbox which focused on drawing flowcharts of any industry standards.

Process Flowchart

The main reason of using Process Flowchart or PFD is to show relations between major parts of the system. Process Flowcharts are used in process engineering and chemical industry where there is a requirement of depicting relationships between major components only and not include minor parts. Process Flowcharts for single unit or multiple units differ in their structure and implementation. ConceptDraw PRO is Professional business process mapping software for making Process flowcharts, Process flow diagram, Workflow diagram, flowcharts and technical illustrations for business documents and also comprehensive visio for mac application. Easier define and document basic work and data flows, financial, production and quality management processes to increase efficiency of your business with ConcepDraw PRO. Business process mapping software with Flowchart Maker ConceptDraw PRO includes extensive drawing tools, rich examples and templates, process flowchart symbols and shape libraries, smart connectors that allow you create the flowcharts of complex processes, process flow diagrams, procedures and information exchange. Process Flowchart Solution is project management workflow tools which is part ConceptDraw Project marketing project management software. Drawing charts, diagrams, and network layouts has long been the monopoly of Microsoft Visio, making Mac users to struggle when needing such visio alternative like visio for mac, it requires only to view features, make a minor edit to, or print a diagram or chart. Thankfully to MS Visio alternative like ConceptDraw PRO software, this is cross-platform charting and business process management tool, now visio alternative for making sort of visio diagram is not a problem anymore however many people still name it business process visio tools.

Cross-Functional Flowchart

Use of Cross-Functional Flowchart is a clear way of showing each team member’s responsibilities and how processes get shared or transferred between different responsible people, teams and departments. Use the best flowchart maker ConceptDraw PRO with a range of standardized cross-functional flowchart symbols to create the Cross-Functional Flowcharts simply and to visualize the relationship between a business process and the functional units responsible for that process. To draw the most quickly Cross-Functional Flowcharts, Cross Functional Process Maps, or Cross Functional Process Flow Diagrams, start with a Cross-functional flowchart samples and templates from ConceptDraw Solution Park. The ConceptDraw Arrows10 and RapidDraw technologies will be also useful for you in drawing. ConceptDraw PRO supports designing both types - horizontal and vertical Cross-functional flowcharts. A vertical layout makes the accents mainly on the functional units while a horizontal layout - on the process. If you need a Visio alternative in Mac OS X, try ConceptDraw PRO. Its interface is very intuitive and it’s actually much easier to use than Visio, yet somehow it’s just as powerful if not more so. ConceptDraw PRO performs professional quality work and seamless Visio interaction.

Flowchart Examples and Templates

ConceptDraw PRO vector diagramming software and ConceptDraw Solution Park provide a wide variety of diagrams, organizational charts, business charts and flowchart examples, templates and samples. You are free to choose any example or template you are interested in from the ConceptDraw STORE, then use it to simplify your work at the designing professional-looking flowcharts and diagrams. As for flowcharts, turn your attention for the Flowcharts solution from the "Diagrams" area of ConceptDraw Solution Park, Process Flowcharts and Cross-Functional Flowcharts solutions from the Business Processes area, Accounting Flowcharts and Audit Flowcharts solutions from the Finance and Accounting area, which are completely devoted to flowcharts creation and provide an enormous collection of helpful flowchart templates and samples. Each of them is specially developed, well thought-out, dedicated to a certain thematic and carries a specific purpose. You need only to determine with your needs and to decide which one corresponds them the best and suits for you.

Examples of Flowchart

This sample shows the Flowchart of the ACC general account creation. This Flowchart describes the Start point, the process of the handling the user requests and the End point – creating of the account. The shapes represent the subprocesses and the arrows between the shapes shows the sequence of the actions. This sample was created in ConceptDraw PRO diagramming and vector drawing software using the Flowcharts solution from the "Diagrams" area of ConceptDraw Solution Park.

IDEF0 Flowchart Symbols

The modeling of business and business processes is not quite a simple process for both small-size businesses and large businesses. The IDEF0 method is one of the popular and easy methods of modeling the business as a complex system. It is based on the functional modeling language Structured Analysis and Design Technique (abbr. SADT) and is concentrated on the activity modeling. According to this method are constructed the IDEF0 Diagrams and IDEF0 Flowcharts, which are succesfully used not only for documenting the business, but also for analysis, development, integration of information and software systems, reengineering, etc. This method suggests the use of special IDEF0 Flowchart Symbols from the IDEF0 notation for construction the IDEF0 Flowcharts. ConceptDraw PRO diagramming and vector graphic software extended with IDEF0 Diagrams solution from the Software Development area of ConceptDraw Solution Park is rich for the powerful drawing tools, built-in templates and samples, and predesigned IDEF0 flowchart symbols.

Cross-Functional Flowchart (Swim Lanes)

Cross-Functional Flowchart is a type of chart which shows the series of process steps connected by the arrows to depict their order and applies the swim lanes to provide an extra dimension with means of assigning each process step to certain category. Often the category or the functional unit is a stakeholder (department, person, role), resource, project, phase, or any other attribute. Cross-Functional Flowcharts visually illustrate relationships between the business processes and the functional units responsible for this processes. ConceptDraw PRO is a powerful diagramming and vector drawing software for professional design Cross-Functional Flowcharts using the common notation of shapes and swim lanes. Cross-Functional Flowcharts solution included to the Business Processes area of ConceptDraw Solution Park provides numerous well-designed vector objects and connector tools for quick, easy and effective organizing information, representing process flows and relationships, and drawing Cross-Functional Flowcharts for business, science, education, technology, etc.

Types of Flowcharts

A Flowchart is a graphical representation of process, algorithm, workflow or step-by-step solution of the problem. It shows the steps as boxes of various kinds and connects them by arrows in a defined order depicting a flow. There are twelve main Flowchart types: Basic Flowchart, Business Process Modeling Diagram (BPMN), Cross Functional Flowchart, Data Flow Diagram (DFD), IDEF (Integrated DEFinition) Flowchart, Event-driven Process Chain (EPC) Diagram, Influence Diagram (ID), Swimlane Flowchart, Process Flow Diagram (PFD), Specification and Description Language (SDL) Diagram, Value Stream Mapping, Workflow Diagram. Using the Flowcharts solution from the Diagrams area of ConceptDraw Solution Park you can easy and quickly design a Flowchart of any of these types. This solution offers a lot of special predesigned vector symbols for each of these widely used notations. They will make the drawing process of Flowcharts much easier than ever. Pay also attention for the included collection of ready Flowchart examples, samples and quick-start templates. This is business process improvement tools. If you are looking for MS Visio for your Mac, then you are out of luck, because it hasn't been released yet. However, you can use Visio alternatives that can successfully replace its functions. ConceptDraw PRO is an alternative to MS Visio for Mac that provides powerful features and intuitive user interface for the same.

Flow Chart Creator

ConceptDraw PRO is a flowchart design software. There are large collections of professional flowchart symbols for process flow diagrams, standard flowchart symbols and colored basic flowchart symbols. Built-in examples and video lessons allow users to get started immediately and do drawing of virtually any type of flowchart or process flow diagrams

Flow chart Example. Warehouse Flowchart

Warehouse Flowcharts are various diagrams that describe the warehousing and inventory management processes on the warehouses. Typical purposes of Warehouse Flowcharts are evaluating warehouse performance, measuring efficiency of customer service and organizational performance. This type of Workflow diagrams can be used for identifying any disconnection between business activities and business objectives. They are effectively used by warehouse-related people and organizations, manufacturers, wholesalers, exporters, importers, transporters, and others. Standard Warehousing process flow diagram and standard Workflow diagram are used for process identification for further evaluating effectiveness and profitability of overall business process. Use the ConceptDraw PRO vector graphic software extended with Flowcharts solution to design your own professional-looking Workflow diagrams and Flowcharts of any types, including the Warehouse flowchart, Process flow diagrams which depict in details all steps of Warehouse packages flow. Microsoft Visio, designed for Windows users, can’t be opened directly on Mac. But fortunately, there are several Visio alternatives for Mac which will help Mac users to work Visio files. With ConceptDraw PRO, you may open, edit and save files in Visio format.

How to Build a Flowchart

The ConceptDraw PRO is a professional software for quick creating great looking flowcharts. The vector stencils from object libraries allows you to use RapidDraw technology. By the clicking on direction arrows one can add new object to flowcharts. This technology gives to users the ability to fast creating visualization for the structural data. Learn the basics of flowcharting and see how to build create a flowchart using ConceptDraw automatic drawing tools.

UML Component Diagram

UML Component Diagrams are used to illustrate the structure of arbitrarily complex systems and illustrates the service consumer - service provider relationship between components.