From the standpoint of wood floor manufacturers, production requirements should closely reflect supply and demand. The manufacturers continuously adjust their projections of demand for their products. Even so, hardwood flooring products that were considered burning hot at the time they traveled down the production line, face the prospect of cold storage in a warehouse facility when consumer demand for them wanes unexpectedly.
That said, the art of estimating arguably assumes its purest form in the hands of the dealer/contractor. In theory, manufacturers' and/or distributors' excess inventory of particular products should be temporary and subject to swift reduction through corrective planning. Unfortunately, the margin for error is far narrower for the stand-alone independent contractor. When it comes to the estimating and bidding process, small oversights or miscalculations on the dealer's or contractor's part may constitute the difference between a profit or a loss on the job.