I. Major Facts
Fauquier Gas Company is one of the largest supplier of gas in the United States. Bill Murphy is the manager of Supply Management and is responsible for purchasing of materials used in distribution of gas such as pipes, meters, and fittings as well as other various materials. The supply organization falls directly under the vice-president for operations. II. Major Problem

Fauquier Gas Company is slated to begin a new project to turn an area once used for agricultural work into a residential and commercial property. This means that new gas lines must be installed. In January, Mr. Murphy overheard Mr. Byers, the project manager, discussing the requirement to add 3.5 miles of new gas lines slated to begin in June with an estimated completion date of September (3 Months). Having worked with the procurement of gas lines before, Mr. Murphy knew that the mills needed substantial lead times in order to accommodate Fauquier Gas Company's timeline. Mr. Byers advised Mr. Murphy the purchase request would be sent as soon as the design engineer was finished with the specifications and the project engineer approved it, both work areas fall under the vice-president of operations. When Mr. Murphy contacted Pat Wilson, the design engineer, he learned that the specifications of the pipes being ordered were changing from past orders. Instead of 3/8" wall thickness they were drawn at 3/4". This was done because the operation of the line would be governed by less stringent specification. The length of the pipes was also extended from 40'(+/-5') to 57' in order to reduce cost of welding. Lastly, the wrapping has yet to be determined which is supplied by the mill. As of April 14th, the purchase request has not been received by Mr. Murphy and no order for pipes has been made. Construction is scheduled to start in 6 weeks. III. Possible Solutions

A.One possible solution