Buffer Stock
Goods held, usually at the downstream end of a facility or process, to protect the customer from starvation in the event of an abrupt increase in short-term demand that exceeds short-term production capacity.
The terms buffer and safety stock often are used interchangeably, which creates confusion. There is an important difference between the two, which can be summarized as: Buffer stock protects your customer from you (the producer) in the event of an abrupt demand change; safety stock protects you from incapability in your upstream processes and your suppliers.