A firm needs a screen that local suppliers cannot make. A specialist supplier abroad can make it. Which reason for placing this stage abroad is supported?

• Access to the required specialist production skills
• Lower wage costs at the overseas component supplier's factory
• Shorter delivery distances between the supplier and its customers

Fictional supplier records say a sweater uses wool from New Zealand, yarn spun in India and sewing in Vietnam. Which trace follows the material through production?

• India: wool; Vietnam: yarn; New Zealand: sewing
• New Zealand: wool; India: yarn; Vietnam: sewing
• Vietnam: wool; New Zealand: yarn; India: sewing

A blocked port must stop a factory even when replacement parts arrive by another route before its stock runs out.

A new tariff raises the cost of imported steel parts. Which method gives a firm the strongest basis for deciding whether to change suppliers?

• Compare total delivered costs and suitable alternatives
• Compare domestic factory prices with taxed import prices, leaving freight costs aside
• Compare the original supplier quotes, retaining the prices recorded before the tariff

An overseas supplier pays lower wages than a nearby supplier but has higher shipping and delay costs. Which decision method accounts for this trade-off?

• Choose the overseas supplier using wage rates as the cost comparison
• Compare unit production costs, shipping and expected delay costs
• Choose the nearby supplier using shipping charges as the cost comparison

Orders rise while a parts shipment is delayed. Which plan best coordinates production with the parts needed to meet those orders?

• Increase production to match orders using the original shipment arrival date
• Buy extra parts at the lowest quoted price before checking suitability or arrival
• Check stock and arrival dates, then match production to orders

Using the March 2024 Baltimore bridge-collapse case, which plan best reduces exposure to another closure of the same main shipping channel?

• Book a second shipping line that reaches a different terminal through that same channel
• Split deliveries between two terminals that both receive ships through that same channel
• Use a port with separate sea access, after checking capacity and inland delivery

A car firm has one approved chip supplier and no spare chips. Deliveries stop. A manager proposes restarting assembly when another seller offers chips. Which check is needed before setting a restart date?

• Compare sellers' prices and use the lowest quote as the basis for restarting assembly
• Check that suitable approved chips can arrive before the planned restart
• Compare sellers' countries and choose a foreign seller as the replacement supplier