McCain Inc. is considering a move toward completely on-line retailing. This would mean closing its eight independent brick and mortar stores, and replacing them with a single fulfillment center. Currently, each store maintains 50 units of safety stock on average for each of the products it sells.

a. Assuming demand is unchanged and McCain will maintain the same level of in-stock availability, how much safety stock will be needed on average for each product at the fulfillment center?
b. McCain would like to buy some robots for its new fulfillment center. It they are currently paying $200,000 per year in safety stock carrying cost, how much free capital will inventory savings from consolidation create?
c. Should McCain expect proportionately to see more, less, or about the same savings in cycle stocks? Why?