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Does Nature buffer all our critical requirements?
When we face an emergency situation, our body needs to produce Adrenaline on an urgent basis. Adrenaline gives us that extra energy to fight or flight for survival. Since it is such a life-saving chemical, should the body carry some inventory buffer?
Since the requirement of Adrenaline is so sporadic and huge when needed, buffering it through inventory is infeasible. Inventory buffers are not a panacea for all types of demand fluctuations. In this case, it is much better to develop production flexibility so that the body can produce it instantaneously and in large quantities whenever needed.
The same holds true in supply chain as well. If the demand for a product or from a customer is so sporadic and substantial, it is better to convert its fulfilment from Make-to-stock to Make-to-order and work on improving the backend production flexibility for faster service.