Kitchenthings inc. is a company that manufactures plastic kitchenware. it operates at an output level that allows it to keep its unit cost per output to the lowest in the industry. this in turn allows kitchenthings to be the price leader. other competing companies cannot operate at the same level due to a lack of consumer demand for their products. this puts them at a competitive disadvantage. in this scenario, the cost driver behind kitchenthings's strategic position is superior customer service. availability of complements. learning-curve effects. economies of scale.

Galwaysc electronics makes two products. model a requires component a and component c. model b requires component b and component c. new versions of both models are released each year with updated versions of all components. all components are sourced overseas, and abc contracts annually for a quantity of each component before seeing that year’s demand. components are only assembled into finished products once demand for each model is known. for the coming year, alwaysc’s purchasing manner has proposed ordering 500,000 units of component a, 630,000 of component b, and 1,000,000 units of component c. her boss has asked why she has recommended purchasing so much of components a and b when alwaysc will not have enough of component c to fully use all of the inventory of a and b. what factors might the purchasing manager cite to explain her recommended order? explain your reasoning.