WIP stands for Work In Progress. A WIP limit in FlowSharp is a configurable capacity cap on an entire flow or a single phase, limiting how many cases can be in that state simultaneously.
Why it matters:
Without WIP limits, a process can accumulate dozens of cases in a phase without anyone noticing. The team appears busy, but real throughput (cases completed per day) drops. Bottlenecks remain hidden.
With WIP limits, FlowSharp makes the problem explicit: when the limit is reached, new cases are queued, diverted to another path or released by priority. The team cannot "forget" that there is an accumulation.
How they work in FlowSharp:
- Configuration — the FlowDesigner sets a WIP limit on a phase (e.g. max 10 cases simultaneously in "Under review").
- Behaviour at limit — new cases arriving at that phase can: wait in queue, be diverted, or trigger an alert for the team.
- Visibility — the operational dashboard shows in real time how many cases are in each phase relative to the configured limit.
- Analytics — historical data shows how many times the WIP limit was reached and for how long, indicating where more capacity or automation is needed.
WIP limits are one of FlowSharp's most powerful tools for making capacity problems visible before they become emergencies.