Household Products, Inc. ( HPI ) , a leading consumer products company with sales mainly in the US , UK , and the EU ,

Household Products, Inc. $($HPI$),$ a leading consumer products company with sales mainly in the US$,$ UK$,$ and the EU$,$ designs its products in$-$house and contracts with suppliers in multiple countries. HPI is attempting to streamline its supply chain and has decided to improve its IT systems to provide real$-$time transparency across the supply chain and to improve its Supply Chain Planning. As a result, it believes it can change the operation of some of its newer Distribution Centers to Cross$-$Docking facilities. This implies that the newer distribution centers will: