Prior to the Munich Agreement of 1938, Shorts had received a pair of orders for the Stirling, each for the production of 100 aircraft; however, as a result of Munich, the Ministry of Aircraft Production (MAP) enacted 'Plan L', under which Stirling orders were rapidly increased to 1,500 aircraft. In addition to contracts extending the projected work at Rochester and Belfast; some of the additional contracts were placed with Austin Motors to be produced at their Longbridge facility and with Rootes, who were to manufacture the type at their new shadow factory in Stoke-on-Trent. At its height, manufacturing activity on the Stirling was being performed at a total of 20 factories. According to Norris, while the aircraft's design had incorporated an inherent ability for production of the Stirling to be broken down: in practice, strict supervision of the work remained necessary. In order to coordinate the dispersed production approach adopted for the Stirling, Shorts and MAP operated a travelling team of 600 production engineers and draughtsmen that routinely travelled throughout the United Kingdom to the manufacturing facilities involved.