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.

Business Process Flowchart Symbols

Business process modeling is known in the corporate world as an excellent tool which can speak. Business process flowcharts, diagrams and maps are used to define the business processes in terms of inputs and outputs, to visually represent and effectively explain complex business processes of an enterprise, and also showcase decisions on a single piece of paper. The process of business process mapping supposes the use of special business process flowchart symbols predefined by Business Process Modeling Notation (BPMN) and taking their roots from the data processing diagrams and programming flow charts. In other words the BPMN standard notation is a common language used for business process design and implementation, that guarantees a clarity of designed Business Process Flowcharts for all business analysts, technical developers and business managers. The ability to create professionally-looking Business Process flowcharts, maps and diagrams, is provided by powerful ConceptDraw PRO software and the Business Process Mapping solution included to ConceptDraw Solution Park.

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.

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.

Program Evaluation and Review Technique (PERT) with ConceptDraw PRO

Program Evaluation and Review Technique (abbr. PERT) is a method developed by Ministry of Defense of the USA in 1958 for the project of creation the missile system Polaris. PERT diagram is one of the tools for project management that lets greatly simplify the planning and scheduling of large and complex projects. PERT diagram provides evaluation of project run-time and labor forces, it helps to analyze the time necessary for execution each of project tasks and the whole project, and to calculate the project critical path. PERT chart depicts the set of tasks connected each other in order of their execution and is constructed according to one of definite rules - AOA (activity on arrow) or AON (activity on node). It doesn't give you ready concrete decisions, but helps to find them. Design easy the PERT diagrams in ConceptDraw PRO software enhanced with Seven Management and Planning Tools solution from Management area of ConceptDraw Solution Park. You have a possibility to build the PERT chart of any type, but AON variant is easier for building and perception.

UML Business Process

UML diagrams of business processes. The Rapid UML solution provides diagram examples, templates and vector stencils libraries for quick and easy drawing all types of UML 2.x and 1.x diagrams: UML activity diagrams, UML communication (collaboration) diagrams, UML component diagrams, UML composite structure diagrams, UML deployment diagrams, UML interaction overview diagrams, UML object diagrams, UML package diagrams, UML sequence diagrams, UML state machine diagrams, UML timing diagrams, UML use case diagrams.

Entity Relationship Diagram - ERD - Software for Design Crows Foot ER Diagrams

ER-model is a data model which lets describe the conceptual schemes in a specific subject area. It can help to highlight the key entities and specify relationships that can be established between these entities. During the database design, it is realized the transformation of ER model into certain database scheme based on the chosen data model (relational, object, network, etc.). There are used two notations for ERDs: Crow's Foot and Chen's. Crow's Foot notation proposed by Gordon Everest represents the entity by rectangle containing its name (name must be unique within this model), and relation - by the line which links two entities involved in relationship. The relationship's plurality is graphically indicated by a "plug" on the end of the link, the optionality - by a circle. Entity-Relationship Diagrams based on Crow's Foot notation can be easily drawn using the ConceptDraw PRO. Extended with Entity-Relationship Diagram (ERD) solution, it is the best ERD diagrams software with powerful tools and ready design elements for Crow's Foot and Chen notations.