Flow, process and networks

Directed flow network

Shows movement or influence between nodes with an explicit direction.

Diagram
Flow
Relationship

What it answers

What moves or influences what in which direction?

Shape: Nodes with directed arrows
What it shows: Sources, sinks and directed connections.

Example

The question

How do goods flow from our warehouses to the stores?

Weekly pallets from warehouses via hubs to stores

Arrows from the port through two hubs to four stores; line width and labels give pallets per week. Port to Hub A 120 and Hub B 80; Hub A to Malmö 70 and Lund 50; Hub B to Ystad 35 and Kalmar 45.

Illustrative data. It belongs to no company.

When to use it

Use it when

Directed relationships or transfers.

Avoid it when

When arrow overlap makes direction unclear or weight semantics are missing.

How to read it

Follow arrowheads and inspect link labels/weights.

Note

Arrow width is optional and needs a defined meaning.

The data you need

Layout: Edge list plus optional node table
Fields: Source: text ID; Target: text ID; Value: nonnegative number
One row is: One directed source-to-target quantity. What is the grain?
Rules: Use consistent node IDs and units. Aggregate duplicate pairs deliberately. Check balance where flow conservation is expected.
Optional: Separate node table: NodeID,Label,Group.
Preparation: Resolve node identities and endpoint joins; define direction and duplicate/self-link handling. Aggregate weights only under a stated relationship or flow definition.
Units: Unweighted links encode presence. Weights need a unit; flow shares divide by stated source, destination or network totals, not an assumed common denominator.

An edge list: one row per link, from one node to another, often with a node table beside it.

Worked example

A->B30 and B->C20 means movement followsA to B to C. The 10 difference needs context if conservation is expected.

Source	Target	Value
A	B	30
A	C	20
B	D	30

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