I need help analyzing case26 (The Tank Case Page 530) in my Purchasing and Supply Chain Management book 3rd edition, W.C. Benton, Jr.

Case Facts
In accordance with the given data, American Pride Moulded Plastics has been awarded the
contract by US government to provide 15,000 tires to be used for the MI Abrams Tank. In
order to fulfil this prestigious contract, the company needs to import requisite quantity of
black carbon from outside suppliers as the company does not currently manufacture the same.
There are primarily three companies in the fray to win the contract for the supplier as they
tend to meet the strict quality standards set forward by the US government. Additionally, a
Chinese supplier Hsu & Hsu has offered to provide carbon black of the requisite quality at a
significantly lower price in comparison to the bids of the three American suppliers. Santiago
Menendez is the company’s vice president and also general manager who is responsible for
key decision making with regards to the sourcing of tank grade rubber.
Case Problems
The key issue for the given sourcing order for black carbon is to ensure that the overall cost
should be minimised without compromising on the quality which could prove to be a
daunting task. Further, it needs to be explored whether cost alone should be used as the basis
to determine bid winner even though their quality standards may differ while at the same time
all seem to confer with the restrictive quality standards. Also, the response to the Chinese
company bid also need to be framed as they are offering the lowest cost from amongst the
bidders. Besides, the various other parameters besides cost that would impact quality and
hence the final decision must also be considered.
Case...