The goal is lean inventory—not empty shelves There's a particular kind of pain that comes from a cycle count revealing six pallets of a SKU nobody's ordered in four months, sitting in prime rack space, while a fast-mover is shorted three weeks running. Both problems exist at the same time. That's not bad luck, that's a visibility gap. Reducing excess without triggering stockouts is less about purchasing strategy and more about knowing your actual inventory position before you