What Flowchart Software Do You Use for Procedures and other Documentation?

I've used smart draw, word, powerpoint and visio previously, all good depending upon the companies requirements/resources, but at the moment I'm evaluating 4TQ from Axion (it was mentioned much earlier in this thread).
I'm currently implementing management systems in a local government council.

Early indications look good, the flow charts are easy to draw and a lot of detail can be included in the background at each point in the flow chart, which then converts to a word document at the click of a button to produce different formats of work instructions / SOP's, as well as internal audit check sheets for the process.
It also enables drill downs to sub-processes and links to other documents or even web pages!
There are a heap of other features, including review period, document control, process owner, process checksheets and this is just in the flow charting module!
There are also a heap of other modules that can be "added" on, including the ability to convert existing word document work instructions into flow charts, upload to internet/intranet, policy & compliance, action records and risk management.

The negatives - the obvious one is the cost, anywhere from A$5k to A$20k, depending upon the modules purchased, so it does really demand a big commitment from the organisation (which can't be a bad thing!). As I said before, I'm still evaluating, but have not yet come across any more points to add to the "negative" side of the equation.

If anyone else has used this software, I'd love to compare notes ...

The only other negative I can think of concerns the end user. Years ago many ot the Admins used Org Plus to create the various business units Org Charts - it was Greek to many others who didn't have the Org Plus license - including Quality when trying to prepare for Internal Audits. Make sure the customer and end user have read only rights without incurring expense. I'm still using Visio. My two cents

I broke down and bought MS Visio 2007 for my LSS project. It works great and is simple to use. Tried sample download of SmartDraw and I didn't care for some of the functions. Unfortunately I bought Visio with my own money and the agency (US Army) I work for wanted me to save them millions of dollars but could not spare a couple hundred bucks for Visio.

keiko01 said:

I broke down and bought MS Visio 2007 for my LSS project. It works great and is simple to use. Tried sample download of SmartDraw and I didn't care for some of the functions. Unfortunately I bought Visio with my own money and the agency (US Army) I work for wanted me to save them millions of dollars but could not spare a couple hundred bucks for Visio.

Click to expand...

I'm amazed a US government agency would allow any employee or contractor who hooked into their network to have ANY "rogue" software on laptop or desktop - very bad breach of security. (rogue meaning anything not checked and approved by the agency.)

Sorry Wes, I misled you about loading a "rogue" software onto a Gov't computer/network. I loaded it onto my personal home laptop to work on a gov't project and the material is not FOUO or classified.

No, we can't load any software without approval and if we tried, we get an error message saying we don't have admin priveledges to load software unless approved by our Garrison's IT directorate.

Aloha

keiko01 said:

Sorry Wes, I misled you about loading a "rogue" software onto a Gov't computer/network. I loaded it onto my personal home laptop to work on a gov't project and the material is not FOUO or classified.

No, we can't load any software without approval and if we tried, we get an error message saying we don't have admin priveledges to load software unless approved by our Garrison's IT directorate.

Aloha

Click to expand...

I'm even surprised they allowed you to load files created with unknown (to them) software on the network.

Continuing on the old theme on this post, I am looking to create process maps that have some sort of information associated with each of its components. Specifically, I am trying to create components in Process Maps that you can attach documents and controls to. So if you were to click on a component of a process, it would pop up information like what kind of controls are applicable for that component?

Ideally, I'd like to be able to do this with Visio 2007 - if not then another piece of software is fine too. Any thoughts are much appreciated.

Try TeamFlow.

John, can you give us a little more info on why you recommend this? It's always helpful to have something more than just a link. Have you used this? Can you compare to other software?

As independent management systems consultants we have to be free to recommend the best process management software we can find.

Since 1988 we have found nothing to beat TeamFlow.

Our clients use TeamFlow to analyze their systems and identify their key processes. They then use TF to analyze their key processes and result in deployment (swimlane) flowcharts as documented procedures. These XML documents are hyperlinked to each other and the work instructions (as necessary for additional control) and to forms or databases to collect data.

Visio is a drawing package that sloooooows collaborative process analysis with the process expert(s). Using TeamFlow and a projector the process analysis session rarely takes longer than two hours with a well prepared process expert.

TeamFlow is designed by CFM who were the first in my knowledge to adopt the published recommendations of Dr Deming. Behind the 4 color flowcharts it creates little Oracle databases.

If anyone knows of better process management software (@ $300 per seat) then we would like to hear about it here so we can share it with our clients.