Mary states at your team meeting your firm must manufacture 300,000 units of Metaware next month. Assuming that your firm currently has 50,000 units of Delta in inventory and can only order a maximum of 250,000 units of Delta this month, which of the following replies is most reasonable in the circumstances?

(A) “The only way to meet the necessary production of Metaware is to use air transportation. The benefits of air transportation outweigh the added expense in these circumstances.”

(B) “I agree that we absolutely need the Delta components next month. However, we have received several surface shipments in the recent past that have had no delayed Delta units. We can save money by using surface rather than air transportation for this Delta procurement.”

(C) “Let’s order the Delta procurement via surface and then order some extra Epsilon (again via surface). If some Delta is delayed in surface shipment, we can use the Epsilon as a substitute for the missing Delta sub-assembly components.”