Buffer & Safety Stock

Buffer
1) A quantity of materials awaiting further processing. It can refer to raw materials, semifinished stores or hold points, or a work backlog that is purposely maintained behind a work center.
2) In the theory of constraints, time or material and support throughput and/or due date performance. Can be maintained at the constraint, convergent points (with a constraint part), divergent points, and shipping points.

Buffer stock
Synonym: safety stock.

Safety stock
1) In general, a quantity of stock planned to be in inventory to protect against fluctuations in demand or supply.
2) In the context of master production scheduling, the additional inventory and capacity planned as protection against forecast errors and short-term changes in the backlog. Synonym: buffer stock. See: hedge, inventory buffer.


Sumber : APICS Dictionary