| Course | OPM-4200 Supply Chain Management |
|---|---|
| Module | Module 6 |
| Paper type | Module 6 case assignment: measuring performance, managing people and fostering innovation |
| Length | About 575 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 6
Seventy-Eight Days of Cash: Measures, People and Innovation for an E-Bike Supply Chain
Student Name
B.S.B.A. in Operations Management, Thomas Edison State University
OPM-4200: Supply Chain Management
Mentor Name
Month Day, Year
Seventy-Eight Days of Cash: Measures, People and Innovation for an E-Bike Supply Chain
The Current Measures
The company tracks purchase price variance, assembly labor hours per bike and freight cost per unit. Each measure belongs to one department, and each can improve while the supply chain gets worse: purchasing hit its price targets last year by buying a full year of motors at once, which raised inventory and cash tied up. Supply chain measures, Fawcett et al. (2007) argue, should span functions and companies and reflect what customers value, or managers will optimize their own areas at the expense of the whole.
A Supply Chain Scorecard
Huan et al. (2004) reviewed the SCOR model, which organizes supply chain processes into plan, source, make, deliver and return, and measures performance on reliability, responsiveness, agility, cost and asset management. I selected one measure for each attribute.
The perfect order rate of 81 percent comes from last quarter's 3,600 dealer orders: 9 percent were late, 6 percent incomplete, 3 percent damaged and 2 percent had invoice errors, with some orders failing on more than one count.
| Attribute | Measure | Current | Target |
|---|---|---|---|
| Reliability | Perfect order rate: on time, complete, undamaged, correct documents | 81 percent | 95 percent |
| Responsiveness | Dealer order-to-delivery cycle time | 11.5 days | 5 days |
| Agility | Weeks to raise output of a model by 20 percent | 14 weeks | 6 weeks |
| Cost | Supply chain spending divided by sales | 14.2 percent | 12.5 percent |
| Asset management | Cash-to-cash cycle time | 78 days | 55 days |
Cash-to-Cash Cycle Time
Farris and Hutchison (2002) presented cash-to-cash cycle time, which adds inventory days to receivable days and subtracts payable days, as a measure that links supply chain management to financial performance.
Cash is tied up for 78 days from paying suppliers to collecting from dealers. Inventory is the largest part. The bullwhip remedies of Module 5 and the responsive chain of Module 1 both reduce inventory; cutting days of inventory to 70 would bring the cycle to 53 days and free about $2.5 million.
| Component | Calculation | Days |
|---|---|---|
| Days of inventory | $9.4 million inventory / $36.1 million cost of goods sold x 365 | 95.0 |
| Days of receivables | $3.7 million receivables / $48.2 million sales x 365 | 28.0 |
| Days of payables | $4.45 million payables / $36.1 million cost of goods sold x 365 | 45.0 |
| Cash-to-cash cycle | 95.0 + 28.0 minus 45.0 | 78.0 |
Managing People
The company's supply chain staff, eleven people, came up through purchasing or shipping and know their own areas well but not the whole chain. Fawcett et al. stress that supply chain success depends on people who think across functions. I propose rotating each planner and buyer through one other supply chain role for three months, training staff in the SCOR model and tying 20 percent of bonuses to the scorecard rather than to departmental measures.
Fostering Innovation
Innovation in supply chains often comes from suppliers. The battery supplier knows battery design better than the company does. A joint project to design a swappable battery for the commuter model, shared by both firms' engineers, could cut warranty costs and give the company a feature competitors lack. The project should have a joint team, shared cost and clear rights to the design, so both firms benefit.
Conclusion
Measures that span the supply chain, led by perfect order and cash-to-cash cycle time, show performance as dealers and owners experience it. People who understand the whole chain and innovation shared with suppliers sustain the improvements the course's earlier cases proposed.
References
Farris, M. T., & Hutchison, P. D. (2002). Cash-to-cash: The new supply chain management metric. International Journal of Physical Distribution & Logistics Management, 32(4), 288-298. https://doi.org/10.1108/09600030210430651
Fawcett, S. E., Ellram, L. M., & Ogden, J. A. (2007). Supply chain management: From vision to implementation. Pearson Prentice Hall.
Huan, S. H., Sheoran, S. K., & Wang, G. (2004). A review and analysis of supply chain operations reference (SCOR) model. Supply Chain Management: An International Journal, 9(1), 23-29. https://doi.org/10.1108/13598540410517557
What the OPM 4200 Module 6 instructions ask for
The Module 6 case covers measuring performance, managing people and fostering innovation, and the material also appears on the proctored final exam covering Modules 4 to 6. Expect to evaluate a firm's measures, propose supply chain metrics, compute measures such as cash-to-cash cycle time and explain how people and innovation sustain supply chain performance. Show calculations in tables, connect measures to customers and finances, and propose practical steps for people and innovation. Choose a small set of measures, one for each performance attribute, and set a baseline and a target for each. Compute cash-to-cash from balance sheet and income statement figures. Use real or realistic financial figures for cash-to-cash.
How this OPM 4200 Module 6 example is built
The paper shows how the company's departmental measures mislead. A table proposes a scorecard with one SCOR-style measure for each attribute, current values and targets, and the text explains the perfect order rate. A table computes cash-to-cash cycle time and the text links it to earlier modules. Sections propose rotations, training and bonus changes for people and a joint battery project for innovation. The conclusion ties measures, people and innovation together. The cash-to-cash section shows how earlier changes, the bullwhip remedies and the responsive chain, would shorten the cycle, and estimates the cash freed. The perfect order rate is built from late, incomplete, damaged and miscoded orders, so the reader can see what drives it.
Reading the OPM 4200 Module 6 grading rubric
Mentors grade this case on appropriate measures, correct calculations, links between operations and finance, practical proposals for people and innovation, and clear writing. Papers that replace departmental measures with cross-functional ones show understanding of supply chain measurement. Computing cash-to-cash and linking it to earlier changes demonstrates integration. Proposals that align incentives with the scorecard show how measurement shapes behavior. Tying incentives to the scorecard shows how measurement changes behavior. Linking operational improvements to cash freed demonstrates the financial side of supply chain management. Showing how a composite measure is built from its failure types makes it useful for improvement, and selecting one measure per attribute keeps the scorecard short enough to manage. Clear tables make every figure checkable.
Common OPM 4200 Module 6 mistakes, and how to avoid them
Students lose points by listing measures without targets, by computing cash-to-cash incorrectly or by treating people and innovation as afterthoughts. Others choose measures that one department controls. Choose cross-functional measures. Compute each with real figures. Link measures to customers and cash. Align incentives with the scorecard. Link each measure to customers or cash, and show the cash an improvement would free. Show how each composite measure is built so managers know which failures to attack. Keep the scorecard to five or six measures so managers can act on every figure. A free first sample on your own OPM-4200 Module 6 case is available on request.
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More OPM 4200 and B.S.B.A. in Operations Management sample papers
- OPM 4200 Module 1: Case Assignment: Two Supply Chains for Two Kinds of E-Bike
- OPM 4200 Module 2: Case Assignment: Mapping the Order-to-Delivery Process for Dealer Orders
- OPM 4200 Module 3: Case Assignment: Should the E-Bike Maker Assemble in Mexico?
- OPM 4200 Module 4: Case Assignment: Total Cost of Ownership and a Leaner Supplier Base
- OPM 4200 Module 5: Case Assignment: Taming the Bullwhip With Dealer Data
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OPM 4200 Module 6 questions, answered
Where can I find a free OPM 4200 Module 6 sample paper?
A supply chain scorecard, cash-to-cash calculation and people and innovation plan for an e-bike maker are in the case above.
What is cash-to-cash cycle time?
The days cash sits in inventory and receivables, minus the days the firm takes to pay suppliers.
What is the perfect order rate?
The share of orders delivered on time, complete, undamaged and with correct documents.
What is the SCOR model?
A supply chain operations reference model organizing processes into plan, source, make, deliver and return, with performance attributes.
What does the OPM-4200 final exam cover?
Modules 4 through 6, in a two-hour proctored exam of essay questions worth 15 percent.