Part of East/West's production includes the manufacturing of sheet metal parts. One particular customer order required the use of a milled forming die. However, the die was damaged shortly before the job was due to start. As East/West's machine shop was already busy producing parts, a new die could only have been manufactured externally, which would have jeopardized the customer's delivery deadlines. Even if the machine shop had sufficient capacity, a new die would require the purchase of tool steel and time to machine the complex die shape, which would also jeopardize the delivery schedule.