Refer to the Scenario Below to Answer the Following Questions

Refer to the scenario below to answer the following questions.
A- 1 Stampings,Inc.produces 14 metal stampings for the automotive industry.Due to industry design changes,for the next model year,six of those stampings will require a slight change: two will have an extra hole punched through the side,two will require an extra plating process,and two will require an additional weld operation.
In the meantime,the purchasing agent Richard Koehl has been asked to reduce the number of A- 1's steel suppliers in an effort to cut costs.After obtaining updated price quotations and steel samples from his current suppliers,Richard faced a dilemma.Until now,he had selected his suppliers based on quality and price,but a major consideration had been the type of steel required and the specialized production processes of his respective suppliers.Not all of A- 1's suppliers could produce the exact grades of steel needed;some suppliers were better at producing certain types of steel than others.
Richard contacted several employees at A- 1 who had worked with the various types of steel in the past.The quality control manager and line inspector,for example,could help to determine which suppliers had the capabilities of producing specific types of steel.The production control manager could provide input regarding which types of steel worked best in which presses.Even the warehouse foreman gave input regarding how long various types of steel could be held in inventory before rust spots began to form on their surfaces.Each person contributed the necessary information to help Richard in making his decision.
-At what stage in the buying process was Richard when he sought input from others in the firm?

A) general need description
B) supplier search
C) order- routine specification
D) proposal solicitation
E) supplier selection