Sankey diagrams depict the flows of energy through a system or enterprise using arrows whose widths are proportional to the magnitudes of the flows.

My friend and former colleague Kevin Cardall recently challenged my newsletter readers to come up with improvements on an Excel-based Sankey Diagram generator which he had devised (illustrated right, and attached here). His work was inspired by this website. Reader David B. responded rapidly with a neat enhancement but we also had a number of alternatives suggested by other readers.

Readers’ recommendations

When the subject of Sankey diagram software came up in 2003 one of my clients recommended SDRAW.  It is a commercial product but there is a free demonstration version.

Readers Colin G., Gary C. and Chris S. mentioned a free online tool, http://sankeymatic.com/ and reader Andy drew my attention to this toolkit for those who want to do it in Excel.