The shift to category management was consistent with the company’s efforts to simplify and standardize operations and product lines. Many unnecessary SKUs were eliminated when SKU differences did not provide significant incremental value to the consumer. At the same time, new SKUs were added as new products and innovative extension of existing product lines were developed. In total, the number of SKUs P&G offered remained about the same during the early 1990s, but the restructuring of SKUs provided consumers with greater choice of products that were specifically tailored to their needs, and eliminated a proliferation of product variety that was base simply on labeling or packaging differences.