People are making far too many assumptions regarding the Stern production process.

I had a conversation with the Vice President of Stern Production & Engineering amongst other hats he wears, and George Gomez taught me a lot. A lot of things about the business and the complexities of running multiple lines for multiple products which are all in high demand & then accomodating the different country models.

A lot of dealers are given lead times to give as many numbers as they can for certain titles and then the lines are filled with that product to make life efficient. Stern can run single item Orders no problems at all if need be but batch production is obviously more efficient.
Talking to guys directly like George or Steve or Gary or Jody can be educational and a great experience.
You leave with a great positive factual understanding of how things are happening right now at Stern.
That's why the pilgrimage to Stern can be a dream come true.