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Work in Process (WIP)

Work in process or WIP is the set of entities that are partially transformed within any given process. WIP does not include stock inventory which is composed of completed entities.

WIP typically accumulates while waiting for available capacity in front of an operation. Stock accumulates between two or more processes (e.g., finished inventory between a process and its demand).

Chart showing the relationships among Throughput, Cycle Time and WIP

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