In the past, missing a forecast often went unnoticed for a while. Extra inventory used to sit in the system, late shipments were manageable, and poor replenishment decisions rarely caused immediate problems. Today, that safety buffer is quickly disappearing. Reuters reported that in January 2026, U.S. business inventories fell 0.1%, wholesale inventories dropped 0.5 %, and t he inventory-to-sales ratio declined to 1.35 . Now, there is less room for mistakes . Reuters: March I