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What is a Material Flow Diagram?

Definition & areas of application
A material flow diagramis used to illustrate material and mass flows in a visually appealing way. Thus they can show e.g. the distribution of goods or the consumption of resources within a production system. Furthermore they are applicable for holistic material flow analyses. They can cover a great number of areas, such as:

Material flow analysis and management
Supply chain management
Plant planning
Process engineering
Logistics

Visualized by so called Sankey diagrams – with flow widths proportional to the flow quantity – material flow diagrams draw the attention to the biggest mass flows of the system.

Advantages of material flow diagrams
Material flow charts provide a lot of benefits for the visualization of material usages. Rising material costs and a sustainable consumption of resources are the most important challenges of the time. Material flow diagrams support you identifying losses, closing loops and increasing resource efficiency in a sustainable way.

Holistic view on material streams
Illustration through Sankey diagrams with widths proportional to the amount
Clear distinction through color sets
Balance check of input and output flows
Combination with energy and cost flows

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Mass Flows in Material Flow Management

Sankey diagrams are well suited for an effective material flow management and analysis. Within the flow diagram all relevant material and energy flows as well are visualized.

The focus is on improving energy and material efficiency and on the creation of closed loops. By doing this, companies can save resources as well as costs which leads to a more sustainable production.

Distribution of Goods and Logistics

Material flow charts can also be quite helpful for the visualization of the distribution of goods, within a factory hall, an entire location or for regional and supra-regional transportation.

The benefit is evident: ways and flows containing a high level of traffic volume can be identified and later on modified. Bottlenecks can be reduced and the distribution of goods can be handled more efficiently.

Our Software Solutions to Analyze Material Flows

e!Sankey - #1 Sankey Diagram Software

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