The goal isn’t the lowest stock. It’s the right stock There's a metric that gets chased in every DC I've ever worked in: inventory reduction. Leadership wants it down, finance wants it down, and whoever hits the lowest number gets the slide in the QBR. I get it. Carrying costs are real. But I've watched operations cut so deep they were air-freighting product at 9x the cost because a single supplier had a two-week delay. The savings evaporated fast. The goal isn't lowest. It's

Underbuying protects cash—but can cost sales, customer trust, and service levels Most operations are losing cash in one of two directions, and they usually don't know which one until the damage is done. Overbuying feels safe. You've got stock, you can ship, nobody's calling you at noon because a lane is empty. But that comfort costs real money — working capital locked in pallets you won't touch for 90 days, rack space you're paying for, product that edges toward expiry or obs