Specialty Steel, Inc., needs a particular type of brick to line its kilns in order to safely achieve the high temperatures needed for the unusually strong steel it produces. The clay to make this brick is very rare, and only two brick plants in the United States make this type of brick. Specialty Steel owns one of these brick plants and buys all of its production. The other brick manufacturer has recently developed an inexpensive new technology whereby ordinary clay can be used to make this fire brick. This significantly reduces the production cost of this type of brick. This is an example of
a. backward integration.
b. forward integration.
c. horizontal integration.
d. virtual integration.

Mountain mouse makes freeze-dried meals for hikers. one of mountain mouse's biggest customers is a sporting goods superstore. every 66 days, mountain mouse checks the inventory level at the superstore and places an order to restock the meals. these meals are delivered by ups in 55 days. average demand during the reorder period and order lead time is 8585 meals, and the standard deviation of demand during this same time period is about 1919 meals.calculate the restocking level for mountain mouse. assume that the superstore wants a 95\% service level. what happens to the restocking level if the superstore wants a higher level of service-say, 99]%? the restocking level for the 95% service level is 117 mealssuppose there are 25 meals in the superstore when mountain mouse checks inventory levels. how many meals should be ordered, assuming a 95% service level?