| Course | OPM-4200 Supply Chain Management |
|---|---|
| Module | Module 1 |
| Paper type | Module 1 case assignment: introducing supply chain strategy |
| Length | About 592 words, 5 pages |
| Format | APA 7 student paper |
| School | Thomas Edison State University |
| Program | B.S.B.A. in Operations Management |
| Updated | October 2026 |
Free sample paper for OPM 4200 Module 1
One Company, Two Products, Two Supply Chains: Matching Strategy at an E-Bike Maker
Student Name
B.S.B.A. in Operations Management, Thomas Edison State University
OPM-4200: Supply Chain Management
Mentor Name
Month Day, Year
One Company, Two Products, Two Supply Chains: Matching Strategy at an E-Bike Maker
The Case
The company designs e-bikes in Bordentown, buys frames from Taiwan and motors and batteries from China, and assembles bikes in a 60,000 square foot plant. It sells two kinds of product. The commuter model, a sturdy bike with a mid-range motor, has sold about 9,000 units a year for four years with few changes. The performance line, mountain and gravel e-bikes, changes every season, sells at twice the price and faces demand that swings with reviews and rival launches.
Both products move through one supply chain designed for low cost: components ordered in large ocean shipments every quarter, assembly in long runs and inventory held at the plant. Last year the company ran out of commuter bikes for only two weeks, but it wrote off $1.4 million of unsold performance bikes from the previous season while missing sales of the new model that reviewers praised.
Strategy and Supply Chain Fit
Fawcett et al. (2007) argue that supply chain management begins with strategy: the supply chain must be designed to deliver the value the firm promises its customers. Fisher (1997) gave a widely used test. In Fisher's terms, a functional product sells in steady, forecastable volumes over a long life at thin margins, and it calls for a physically efficient supply chain that minimizes cost. An innovative product sells unpredictably, is replaced quickly and earns high margins, and it calls for a market-responsive supply chain that can react quickly to what sells, because the cost of stockouts and markdowns outweighs the cost of production.
| Feature | Commuter model | Performance line |
|---|---|---|
| Demand | Stable, about 9,000 a year | Volatile; swings with reviews |
| Life cycle | Four years and counting | One season |
| Margin | About 18 percent | About 35 percent |
| Forecast error at order time | About 10 percent | About 45 percent |
| Fisher's category | Functional | Innovative |
| Right supply chain | Efficient | Responsive |
Diagnosis
The company's single, efficient supply chain fits the commuter model well. It fits the performance line badly. Quarterly ocean shipments and long assembly runs lock in volumes months before reviews come out, so the company builds too much of what does not sell and too little of what does. Fisher calls this mismatch the root of many supply chain failures: firms treat innovative products as if they were functional.
Recommendation
Keep the efficient chain for the commuter model: large ocean shipments, level assembly and a focus on unit cost. Build a responsive chain for the performance line. Three changes would do it. First, buy performance frames and motors partly by air and in smaller lots, accepting higher freight for faster response. Second, assemble performance bikes to order in short runs once early sales data arrive, holding components rather than finished bikes. Third, ask the Taiwanese frame supplier to hold capacity for a mid-season reorder, paying a reservation fee. Lee (2002) argues that firms should match supply chain strategies to both demand and supply uncertainty; for the performance line, the uncertainty is on the demand side, and speed and postponement address it.
Expected Results
If the responsive chain halves the performance line's write-offs and captures half the lost sales of its best-reviewed model, the extra freight and reservation fees, about $300,000 a year, would be repaid several times over.
Conclusion
The company's problem is not that its supply chain is bad but that it is one chain serving two strategies. Splitting it to fit each product's demand is the first step toward a supply chain strategy, and the later cases build on that split.
References
Fawcett, S. E., Ellram, L. M., & Ogden, J. A. (2007). Supply chain management: From vision to implementation. Pearson Prentice Hall.
Fisher, M. L. (1997). What is the right supply chain for your product? Harvard Business Review, 75(2), 105-116.
Lee, H. L. (2002). Aligning supply chain strategies with product uncertainties. California Management Review, 44(3), 105-119. https://doi.org/10.2307/41166135
OPM 4200 Module 1 instructions, in plain terms
OPM-4200 includes opening story and case assignments in most modules, together worth 40 percent of the grade, alongside exercises, discussions and proctored midterm and final exams. Case assignments ask you to apply the chapter's concepts to a real-world setting with deeper analysis than the exercises. This first case covers supply chain strategy. Expect to link a firm's competitive strategy to its supply chain, classify its products and judge whether its supply chain fits. Answer in your own words, drawing chiefly on the textbook and adding outside sources where they help. Use numbers from the case, such as demand stability, margins and forecast error, to classify each product, and say which features of the current supply chain fit or fail it.
How the OPM 4200 Module 1 example is put together
The paper sets out the case with figures on sales, write-offs and stockouts. A section explains how strategy drives supply chain design and Fisher's test, and a table classifies the two products. A diagnosis section explains the mismatch. A recommendation sets out three changes for a responsive chain, supported by research on uncertainty, and a short section estimates the payoff. The conclusion restates the case's lesson. An estimate of the payoff compares the cost of extra freight and capacity reservation with the write-offs and lost sales the responsive chain would prevent, so the recommendation is tested against its cost. Each product is classified with four measures from the case, demand, life cycle, margin and forecast error, so the categories rest on evidence.
Where the marks sit in the OPM 4200 Module 1 rubric
Mentors grade case assignments on accurate application of chapter concepts, depth of analysis, sound recommendations and plain writing in your own words. Papers that classify products with evidence, rather than assertion, show command of Fisher's framework. Recommendations that change specific practices, such as lot size and postponement, demonstrate practical understanding. Estimating whether the changes pay for themselves shows business judgment. Comparing a recommendation's cost with the losses it prevents shows business judgment. Separating the two products, rather than giving one answer for the firm, shows command of the framework and earns the strongest marks. Specific changes, such as air freight in small lots and reserved supplier capacity, show the practical side of strategy.
OPM 4200 Module 1 help: mistakes that cost marks
Points are lost for retelling the case without analysis, by applying a framework without evidence or by recommending general improvements. Others treat all products alike. Classify each product with data. Explain how the current supply chain fits or fails each. Recommend specific changes. Estimate their costs and benefits. Test whether your recommendation pays for itself by comparing its cost with the losses it prevents, using the case's own figures where possible. Explain why one supply chain cannot serve products whose demand behaves so differently. A free first sample on your own OPM-4200 case assignment is available on request.
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OPM 4200 Module 1 questions, answered
Where can I find a free OPM 4200 Module 1 sample paper?
An e-bike maker's supply chain strategy matched to functional and innovative products is the case above.
What is the difference between functional and innovative products?
Functional goods sell steadily at thin margins; innovative goods sell erratically, change often and earn fat margins.
What supply chain suits an innovative product?
A market-responsive supply chain that can react quickly to actual demand.
What supply chain suits a functional product?
A physically efficient supply chain that minimizes cost.
What textbook does OPM-4200 use?
Fawcett, Ellram and Ogden's Supply Chain Management: From Vision to Implementation, from Pearson Prentice Hall.