The Buffer Storage Advantage: Why Chasing Frictionless Inventory Flow Can Cost You More Than It Saves
Cross-docking and just-in-time inventory models have dominated supply chain thinking for years, but mid-market businesses are increasingly discovering that aggressive flow-through strategies introduce vulnerabilities that undermine their original efficiency gains. Strategic buffer storage, long dismissed as an outdated practice, is reasserting itself as a practical hedge against the unpredictability that now defines North American supply chains. This piece examines when holding inventory is not