work in progress

work in progress (WIP) Materials, parts, and unfinished products within an operating system, in which they represent locked-up capital. Just-in-time techniques aim to minimize WIP, while more traditional systems see WIP as necessary to provide a head of work. WIP is normally valued at the lower of cost or net realizable value, using either the first-in-first-out cost, the last-in-first-out cost, or the average cost method of valuation. In the USA, work in process is the more common term.