A system (+00) is provided for determining a manufacturing network topology and fault propagation information. During operation, the system stores data associated with a processing system which includes machines (104) and associated processes, wherein the data includes timestamp information, machine status information, and product-batch information. The system determines, based on the data, a network topology which corresponds to the processing system, wherein the network topology indicates flows of outputs between the machines as part of the processes. The system determines utilization information of a plurality of the machines of the processing system. The system displays one or more of the flows of outputs based on the utilization information, thereby facilitating diagnosis of the processing system.