6. I am the production manager. Our sales manager tells me to budget to produce 12,500 model 24X CD drives for Aprils production. I ask him how many CDX they plan to sell and they tell me 12,500! He acts like Im stupid or something for asking. A reasonable explanation for why I (as production manager) would ask that is because:

a) I know their estimates are usually high.

b) I want to check on how many 24X drives I already have in inventory. The projected sales, less what I have plus some target or safety inventory level is what I should really produce.

1. c) If I know their estimated sales this month I can use historical data to plan out the rest of this years needs.
2. D)Usually if you ask sales people the same question more than once they will give you different answers. So I just keep asking till I get an answer I like.