Rick Magness, vice president of procurement for Tiger Golf Unlimited {TGU}, is looking to bring his company out of a slump. Sales have been at and TGU is a mere six months away from the most important industry event of the year, the PGA Merchandise Show. During the trade sow, TGU will introduce a new line of golf clubs that almost magically correct the most common maladies of golfers slices, worm burners and duck hooks. The company is very excited about the product line and has staked its future on the rollout. Demand is expected to be very high and prots will soar if Magness can nd a low cost manufacturer to build the product and ll the US supply chain immediately following the PGA Merchandise Show. Magness has travelled the globe in search of high quality, low cost supplier for the clubs. He is also wart of product espionage that can lead to copycat clubs lling the market too quickly. After conducting a thorough analysis of twelve different manufacturers, Magness has narrowed his consideration to three potenal suppliers: ' Supplier 1 is located in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. The company has experience making golf products, boasts excess factory capacity, and produces a tremendous illegal copy of the Calloway Big Bertha line of golf clubs. Product prices are reasonable but ocean freight rates and insurance costs are high due to required transit through the Malacca Straits. The product is made available at the Port of Kelang and is 67"0 MYR [Malaysian Ringgit}. - Supplier 2is located in Wulumuqi, China. The company is a former stateowned maker of Red Army military supplies. The far inland location creates a very low labour cost but increase the length of supply lines and the distribution channel. The factory based cost of the producy is $149 US per set. 0 Supplier 3 is located in Edinburgh, Scotland. The company is a world-class manufacturer of golf clubs and is used by nearly every major club manufacturer in the US and Europe. They are somewhat constrained by factory capacity and road congestion to port, but promise to meet all deadlines. The cost of the product, delivered to the Port of Charleston, South Carolina is 165 BPS [British Pound Sterling} . Before making a nal supplier selection, Magness thought that it would be wise to confer with Moe Hanna, TGU's vice president of logistics and Larry Himmer, the director of transportaon. The three executives met at company headquarters to compare the options. Hanna was impressed by the II I rII I' I J' I I I- I I - I I II I'