The criterion defining a supply-side gap expressly states that the total cost of performing all flows jointly is higher than need be. This means that a supply-side gap may not exist, even if one flow is performed at an unusually high cost, as long as this minimizes the total cost of performing all flows jointly. 12 For example, one electrical wire and cable distributor expanded across the United States and internationally, acquiring many other independent distributors and eventually building an international network of warehouses. Some of the products it stocked and sold were specialty items, rarely demanded but important to include in a full-line inventory (i.e., end-users demanded a broad assortment and variety). To stock these specialty items in every warehouse around the world was very costly. Thus, the distributor chose to stock such items in just one or two warehouses. This minimized the cost of physical possession of inventory (in the warehousing sense). However, sometimes an end-user located far from the warehouse but valuing quick delivery very highly demanded the specialty product. To meet that service output demand, the distributor chose to air-freight the required product to the end-user, incurring what seems like an inefficiently high transportation cost to ship the product. However, the key here is that the high transportation cost is still lower than the cost of stocking the specialty product in all possible warehouses while awaiting the rare order for that product. Such a situation does not present a true supply-side gap because the total cost of performing channel flows is minimized.