Kathy Saxton, a new buyer at Hansen Equipment, had received bids for Hansens cable and wire business and was evaluating what action to recommend. The case provides an opportunity to assess supplier bids quantitatively and qualitatively. A bid assessment framework provided in the case demonstrates the challenges of setting up supplier bid evaluation criteria and assigning weights. While the main point of this case is supplier selection, data in the case provides an opportunity to assess the financial implications of the bids presented. However, students should also consider non-financial factors when selecting suppliers. Dual sourcing can be another alternative. That is, Kathy may choose the best-priced supplier for wire and the best-priced supplier for cables. This would allows Hansen to save an additional $30,000 from the lowest bid price submitted by any supplier (Babcock). Combining the best-priced supplier for wire (Babcock) with that for cable (PCC) would create a total price of $1,584,914. Do you think that the suppliers respective bid prices will remain as they appear currently when the total requirements are split between cable and wire? If not, why