What is overprocessing?

Over-processing is called performing unnecessary activities in the course of work that do not add value. That is, such activities for which we will not be paid by the customer, and which generate costs in general. Overprocessing is one waste that, unlike other muda (e.g., overproduction or defects), is difficult to notice at first glance. Therefore, in this article we will also answer the question, “How to notice overprocessing?”.

Examples of overprocessing           

1. Excessive control by superiors and extensive decision-making structure

One example of overprocessing can be excessive control. Such a situation is encountered when the decision-making process in a company is very extensive. Making a trivial decision is preceded by a multi-step approval path. Managers at various levels have the need to control their subordinates, completely taking away their autonomy. The decision-making process then takes a long time and discourages employees from taking bottom-up initiatives.

2. Unnecessary documentation

Another example of waste can be the passion for creating more and more new documents, extensive procedures and instructions – often incomprehensible to other employees. And consequently not used by anyone but the author.

3. Unnecessary reporting

Next example of overprocessing can be the creation of multiple, unnecessary reports. Employees often create elaborate reports, wasting a lot of time doing so. Unfortunately, overly elaborate reports cause managers to simply not read them. As a result, they are not used and provide no value to the organization.

4. Lack of separation of duties among employees

Overprocessing can also be a lack of clear distribution of responsibilities among employees in an organization. This often results in different people performing the same activities.

5. Keeping duplicate documentation

An example of over-processing is keeping double records – that is, documenting the same things in both paper and electronic form.

Overprocessing often goes unnoticed or ignored due to the fact that it does not reflect negatively on the quality of the product or service. Of course, this is a mistake, because the consequences of overprocessing are significant. First and foremost, it results in longer individual processes, generates unnecessary costs and consumes valuable resources.

How to notice overprocessing?

The way to identify this loss is to make a value stream map (VSM for short). This involves a thorough analysis of the process flow.

When analyzing a process, look at all the activities performed, consider whether they can be eliminated and whether eliminating unnecessary activities will negatively affect the quality of the product or service. With the help of a value stream map, we are able to assess which activities are necessary and add value, and which are not. To make the aforementioned map, all you will need is a piece of paper, a pencil and knowledge of labels and standards. If you want to learn more about the VSM tool watch this course.

VSM is a fairly simple tool that identifies potentials for process optimization. VSM was developed in the 1980s by Taiichi Ohno and Shigeo Shingo on behalf of the Toyota corporation, and is still used today in organizations of various business profiles.