This is an open-minded discussion question, please utilize all aspects of the information in question, and use the table or image to illustrate the consideration process.

Advanced Electronics (AE) is a manufacturer of high-performance electronic equipment. AE distributes its products through 5 regional distribution centers (RDC). In the current distribution system, the Asia Pacific market is divided into 5 major markets, each of which is served by a single RDC. Each customer is assigned to a single market and receives products directly from the RDC serving the market. The RDCs order products from the production plant in Japan. The plant normally takes about 3 months to deliver an order placed by any RDC. Currently, AE offers a service level of 80% with order fulfillment time (the time elapsed from receiving an order to shipping out the order) of not more than 1 week. In recent years AE has encountered a significant increase in competition and huge pressure from their customers to improve their service level and reduce costs.

Question: Discuss the major sources of uncertainty in AE's supply chain. And discuss how AE can improve the service level while keeping the increase in production and distribution costs as low as possible.