By tracking the inputs and outputs of a process, a process map can show the route to a problem's source.
Manufacturers who are serious about quality, those companies that actually want to find out why and where a problem occurs, have found process mapping an efficient way to track down production problems.
Process mapping is a technique that identifies the "world" of a process. It shows all of the inputs, such as subassemblies and materials, machining processes and machine operators -- basically anything that happens inside a process -- and all of the outputs of that process, including the finished product or the individual manufacturing or handling steps along the production line.