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All participants have quoted relevant and excellent examples of Overproduction and Overprocessing. The answer that stands out from the others is that of Pradeep Kandpal for providing apt methods to deal with the two kinds of waste.

Both overproduction and overprocessing are two of the 8 wastes according to Lean. Overproduction: Producing sooner and faster than required and in more quantities than needed is overproduction. Overproduction results in waste of time, labor and materials thereby creating too much inventory which results in extra cost. If the overproduced product is seasonal, it would either end up as a scrap or would add to the storage cost and if it is perishable then it would have to be discarded. Poor estimation of customer demands often results in overproduction. Examples of Overproduction: Service Industry: a) Huge meals in the restaurants. b) Creating way too many reports and records than actually required. c) More number of beds in the hospital than required. Manufacturing Industry: a). Keeping labor and material on a standby. b) Warehouses filled with overproduced unsold goods. How to Prevent Overproduction: 1). Using TAKT time to gauge customer’s demands. 2). Practicing Just-In-Time inventory management. 3). Using production levelling by both Volume and Type. 4). Doing production control by using supermarkets where continuous flow is not possible. 5). Having a production scheduling point called as a “Pacemaker Process” in place preferably towards the end of the production line that signals a pull to the upstream processes for production thus enabling a continuous flow for the downstream processes. Overprocessing: Any additional work that does not add any more value to a product than expected is called overprocessing. Overprocessing often results in a reduced overall equipment and people effectiveness. The primary reason for overprocessing is not having a common and clear understanding on the critical to quality and critical to acceptance parameters of the end product. Examples of Overprocessing: Service Industry: a). Many approval levels warranting quite a few signatures on a document for even smaller requests. b). Recommending too many diagnostic tests to patients. c). Entering same data at multiple places. Manufacturing Industry: a). Using advanced machinery for a product that could have been easily produced using a basic machinery. b) Adding more attributes/features in a product than actually needed. How to Prevent Overprocessing: 1). To have a clear understanding and communication on the critical customer requirements and updates. 2). By doing VA/NVA analysis for each activity and develop a Standardized Work for the entire process. This should be done in an iterative manner for the entire process flow as more activities might get added due to changes in customer requirements. 3). Keeping it simple by eliminating complexities that arise out of excessive documentation, instructions, manuals etc. 4). Automate the process steps where possible to reduce or eliminate the chances of overprocessing. 5). Revisiting steps 1 through 4 periodically to ensure sustenance.