Over Delivery

This can have two contrasting meanings. The more common one might be to do with customer service and where a product or service exceeds expectations, often resulting in a customer being delighted with what they have received. This can also apply to groundskeeping where players or spectators provide high praise for the quality of the surface which has been produced.

However, regarding a manufacturing and production process, for example the provision of a football pitch, over delivery will often be the result of inefficient process and resource management.

Excess inputs have resulted in a product outcome that is better than was planned and required, so for a customer this can appear beneficial. This does not contribute to what might be termed a sustainable product because more resources have been used; sustainability requires reducing resource inputs, so clearly this is counter to what is desired for this concept to be achieved. The producer has spent more time and money on creating something that can be produced more cheaply if management had better controls in place. These extra costs would typically be borne by the producer, especially if a customer had been quoted costs that related to their requirements. Many organisations would not be able to absorb these unnecessary extra costs over a period of time. However, by showing what can be achieved with additional inputs and assuming the extra costs can ultimately be recovered in future costs, an increase in a requirements specification might be something which a customer then desires and accepts as meeting their revised needs. See also Over Engineering.