Jean$-$Michel is the CEO of Kronos Timepieces, a retailer and manufacturer of fashion watches and watch accessories. The company, which was founded in $1925,$ is based in Switzerland and employs around $1,000$ people in five countries. It currently sells its watches in $27$ countries, with a recent expansion into several Middle Eastern and far Eastern countries. Kronos has decided to introduce a lower$-$priced unisex wristwatch. Jean$-$Michel has been considering contracting a brand new factory located in Singapore to manufacture the lower$-$priced line of wristwatches, rather than using Kronos$$ older, main factory, which is located in nearby Grenchen. Which of the following factors best supports Jean$-$Michel$$s decision to outsource production of the watches?

Select one:

a$.$ The company$$s ability to rapidly and reliably deliver its watches will be increased by the state of the art facilities in the Singapore factory.

b$.$ The manufacture of watches is standardized and the company is sufficiently well$-$established, making outsourcing an attractive option.

c$.$ Automation can often achieve significant labor cost savings, increasing the advantage of moving production abroad.

d$.$ The current supply chain is not as highly efficient and routine as it could be; using the Singapore factory could address that problem.

e$.$ Even though Kronos will incur additional costs of sending staff from Switzerland to manage the Singapore factory, costs will be lower in the long run.