"The second major challenge, said Sheffi, is coordinating disruption-prone supply with hard-to-predict demand. That is, you don't want to buy too many of one part, or one sweater - because then you will have to discount them when they pile up on the shelves of your factory or store. But you don't want to buy too few of that part or those sweaters, either, because customers might not find what they want when they go shopping, and you may lose not only a sale that day but a customer for life. Both challenges are exacerbated by the short life cycle of products today, particularly fashion and consumer electronics products. Innovation is happening much faster, and so products go in and out of fashion much faster, which makes forecasting demand much more difficult.

“第二大挑战，Sheffi说，是协调非确定的产品供应量与难以预知的市场需求。也就是说，你不想买进太多的单一产品，如一件毛衣 – 因为当它们堆在你的工厂或是商店的货架上时， 你就必须打折甩卖。然而你又不想进货太少，因为顾客可能找不到他们购物时所想买的，以至于你不光失掉一次商机甚至永远失去一名客户。产品生命期较短的现实使得这两种挑战更加残酷了，尤其是时尚服装以及消费电子产品。创新的速度加快，产品一时走俏而后落伍的速度跟着加剧，使得预测需求变得更加困难。