unpredicted surge in meat consumption. The underlying factor that had not been taken into consideration was that the current mad cow crises in Europe had the British considerably reduce their consumption of European beef. When it was found that the beef was American, and no surcharge existed for extra helpings they literally depleted the ship’s entire stock of beef. What enabled the company to re-adjust quickly was the recent creation of a dedicated onboard inventory manager who was able to scramble the re- sources for a timely adjustment. It then becomes clear from such examples that even if a good model exists to predict consumption it could never internalize such irregularities in consumption. Thus, flexibility will always have to remain part of a deployment strategy.