Step for construction of string Diagram
To construct a diagram the following steps are required.
1. Step 1 produce a scale map of the work area identifying all machines furniture and other equipment in the diagram that can be moved. These could be shaped as piece of card that can be pinned to the work area map.
2. Step2: Indentify the point in the process where actions take place and mark the positions of these on the map with map pins and action symbols.
3. Step:3: Tie the end of piece of string to the pen wheel the process starts and then wrap it around each pen in turn following the movement around the process.
4. Step 4: Mark the string at the start and finish points using a pen.
5. Step 5: Measuring between the pen marks will give the total distance travelled during the process.
6. Step 6: Rearrange the movable items on the map aiming to reduce the total distance.
The objectives of marking out a string diagram are three fold:
a. To control backtracking,
b. To reduce excessive travel,
c. To bring out points of traffic congestion,