| Course | BUS 441 Small Business Operations (BUS/441) |
|---|---|
| Week | 3 |
| Paper type | Facilities, supplier and technology plan |
| Length | about 1,008 words, 4 double-spaced pages plus title page and references |
| Format | APA 7 student paper |
| School | University of Phoenix |
| Program | BS in Business |
| Updated | October 2026 |
Free sample paper for BUS 441 Week 3
A River Arts Warehouse, Six Malt and Hop Suppliers and a Brewery Management System: Facilities, Suppliers and Technology at Laurel Ridge
[Student Name]
University of Phoenix
BUS/441: Small Business Operations
Week 3 Assignment
[Instructor Name]
[Date]
Laurel Ridge Brewing and all costs and suppliers are composites written for a model paper.
In Week 2, the composite Asheville brewery Laurel Ridge mapped its processes and found that fermentation tanks limit output. The founders have leased a 9,000-square-foot former warehouse with 20-foot ceilings, a loading dock and a parking lot. They now need to plan the space, choose suppliers and select the systems that will run the business. Facilities, suppliers and technology are where an operations plan becomes concrete, and choices made now will either support growth or quietly cap it. This paper plans all three.
Facility Layout Principles
Good layouts follow the flow of materials and people, minimize unnecessary movement, separate incompatible activities and leave room to grow (Slack et al., 2022). For a brewery, grain must move easily from the dock to the mill, hot and wet brewing areas must be separated from customer spaces and beer must flow by the shortest path from tanks to taps.
The Production Area
The brewhouse will sit near the loading dock, where grain sacks and hops arrive. The fermentation room, with six tanks and space for two more, will sit between the brewhouse and the cold room holding serving tanks, so beer moves in a straight line. Floor drains, sloped floors and a glycol chilling system are essential.
The Taproom Area
The taproom will occupy the front 4,000 square feet, with a 30-foot bar, tables for 120 guests and a patio for food trucks. A glass wall will let guests see the fermentation room, turning production into part of the experience. Restrooms, storage and the office will sit along the back wall, away from both the bar and the brewing floor.
Utilities and Building Constraints
Brewing requires high-capacity electrical service, natural gas for the brew kettle, abundant water and strong drainage. The landlord will upgrade electrical service, and Laurel Ridge will install a floor trench drain and a pH neutralization tank to meet wastewater rules. These costs, about $140,000, are part of the buildout.
Room for Growth
Because fermentation is the bottleneck, the layout reserves floor space and glycol capacity for two more 30-barrel tanks, which can be added for about $60,000 without moving other equipment.
Classifying Suppliers
Suppliers differ in importance. Critical suppliers provide malt, hops and yeast, which determine beer quality and have limited alternatives for specific varieties. Important suppliers provide kegs, carbon dioxide and equipment service. Routine suppliers provide cleaning chemicals, glassware and paper goods, which many vendors can supply on short notice.
Malt and Hops
Laurel Ridge will buy base malt from a regional distributor and specialty malts from a craft maltster in North Carolina, supporting its local story. Hops, especially popular varieties, are often sold through annual contracts; the brewery will contract for its core varieties for two years and buy spot hops for experiments. A second hop supplier will be qualified as backup.
Yeast and Services
Yeast will come from a lab that ships fresh cultures, with the brewery also learning to harvest and reuse yeast. Carbon dioxide supply, which has faced shortages in recent years, will be contracted with a local gas supplier, and the brewery will consider a carbon dioxide recovery system later.
Selection Criteria
Each critical supplier is scored on quality consistency, price, delivery reliability, minimum order sizes, technical support and fit with the brewery's local identity. Scarborough and Cornwall (2019) advise small businesses to avoid choosing suppliers on price alone, since a missed delivery or inconsistent ingredient can cost far more than a small discount saves. For malt, consistency of moisture and extract matters more than a few cents per pound; for hops, access to sought-after varieties matters most.
Contracts and Terms
Contracts with critical suppliers will specify quality standards, delivery windows, price adjustment terms and notice for shortages. Payment terms of 30 days help cash flow, and the brewery will seek early-payment discounts where cash allows. Routine supplies will be bought through a restaurant supply distributor without long commitments, preserving flexibility.
Equipment Choices
The brewhouse and tanks will be bought from a domestic fabricator with local service technicians rather than a cheaper overseas supplier, because downtime at a single-brewhouse brewery stops production entirely. Used kegs and a refurbished keg washer will lower startup costs without affecting beer quality.
Supplier Relationships
Krause et al. (2007) found that buyers who invested in supplier development, through commitment and closer relationships, saw improved supplier performance. Laurel Ridge will visit its maltster and hop growers, share production forecasts and pay on time, building relationships that help when supplies are tight.
Supply Risk
Risks include hop crop failures, malt price increases, carbon dioxide shortages and equipment breakdowns. Backup suppliers, a two-month hop inventory, a service contract for the glycol system and a list of local technicians reduce the impact.
Brewery Management Technology
Brewery management software will track batches, recipes, tank status, inventory of raw materials and finished beer and produce the production and tax reports federal and state agencies require. It will also schedule tanks, supporting the bottleneck plan.
Point of Sale and Integration
The taproom point-of-sale system will record sales by beer and connect to the brewery software so finished-goods inventory updates automatically. Both systems will feed accounting software, reducing manual entry.
Data Security and Backups
Sales and production records must be protected. Cloud-based systems with automatic backups, two-factor authentication for managers and role-based access for staff will reduce the risk of data loss or theft, which could disrupt tax reporting and payroll.
Technology Costs
Software subscriptions will cost about $6,000 a year, with point-of-sale hardware about $8,000. Integration saves an estimated ten hours a week of manual reporting, time the founders can spend on brewing, sales and training instead of spreadsheets.
Conclusion
Laurel Ridge's facility follows the flow from dock to tap, separates brewing from guests while letting them watch and reserves room for more fermentation tanks. Suppliers are classified by importance, with contracts and backups for critical ingredients and relationships that build reliability. Integrated brewery and sales software supports scheduling, compliance and decisions.
References
Krause, D. R., Handfield, R. B., & Tyler, B. B. (2007). The relationships between supplier development, commitment, social capital accumulation and performance improvement. Journal of Operations Management, 25(2), 528-545. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jom.2006.05.007
Scarborough, N. M., & Cornwall, J. R. (2019). Essentials of entrepreneurship and small business management (9th ed.). Pearson.
Slack, N., Brandon-Jones, A., & Burgess, N. (2022). Operations management (10th ed.). Pearson.
What the BUS 441 Week 3 instructions ask
The third BUS 441 assignment usually asks students to plan a small business's facilities, suppliers and technology. Common requirements include location and facility layout, equipment and utilities, capacity for growth, supplier selection criteria, supplier relationships and contracts, supply risk, technology systems for operations, sales and accounting and costs. Some prompts ask for a layout sketch or supplier comparison table. Connect each decision to the operations analysis, compare options on cost, quality and risk and cite sources in APA format. Plan for growth and for disruptions, since a small business has little slack when a supplier fails or space runs short.
How this BUS 441 Week 3 example is built
A brewery's building, suppliers and software determine how well its process runs, and the paper plans all three. The layout places the brewhouse near the loading dock and the fermentation room next to the serving tanks, with a glass wall so taproom guests see brewing. Space is reserved for two more fermentation tanks, the known bottleneck. Suppliers are grouped by importance: malt and hops are critical and get contracts with backup sources, while cleaning supplies are routine. Research on supplier development shows that investing in relationships improves performance. Technology includes brewery management software for batches, inventory and tax reports, linked to the point-of-sale system, and the paper estimates costs and the time the integration saves.
BUS 441 Week 3 grading rubric: where the points go
Strong papers on facilities, suppliers and technology link each choice to the business's processes and goals. Instructors credit a layout that supports flow and growth, supplier selection based on clear criteria, relationship and contract terms suited to each supplier's importance, plans for supply risk and technology choices that integrate operations, sales and accounting. Cost estimates and comparison tables show practical judgment. Recognizing that a facility decision locks in costs and capacity for years demonstrates long-term thinking. Good organization and properly cited sources complete the work. Explaining what happens if a critical supplier fails, with a named backup and a stock level that covers the gap, adds credibility, as does showing how software choices reduce manual work rather than adding another system to maintain.
BUS 441 Week 3 help: mistakes to avoid
Students often describe a facility without explaining how its layout supports the process. Show the flow. Another frequent gap is treating all suppliers the same. Classify them by importance and risk. Students also choose software without considering integration. Explain how systems connect. Avoid ignoring utilities and building constraints, which can limit equipment. Plan room for growth at the bottleneck identified in the process map. Include supply risk and backups. Estimate costs. Finally, explain how the choices support the operations plan, since facilities, suppliers and technology exist to serve the process. Put rough costs on each choice and say which can be deferred if cash is tight.
Related BUS 441 sample papers
Other BUS 441 week samples
- BUS 441 Week 1: Regulatory Requirements
- BUS 441 Week 2: Mapping Operations and Processes
- BUS 441 Week 4: Planning Human Resource Needs
- BUS 441 Week 5: The Small Business Operations Plan
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BUS 441 Week 3 questions, answered
What does BUS 441 Week 3 usually cover?
It usually covers planning a small business's facilities, suppliers and technology: location and layout, equipment and utilities, supplier selection and relationships, supply risk and technology systems.
Where can I find a free BUS 441 Week 3 sample paper?
This page presents a complete facilities, supplier and technology plan for a brewery and taproom, with notes. A free draft of your own Week 3 paper can be requested.
How should a small business choose suppliers?
By comparing quality, price, reliability, capacity, service and risk, and by matching the depth of the relationship to how critical the supplier is to the business.
What is supplier development?
Efforts by a buyer to improve a supplier's performance or capabilities, such as sharing information, training or long-term commitments, which research links to better performance for both.
Why does facility layout matter?
Layout determines how materials, people and products move, affecting efficiency, safety, quality and the ability to add capacity later.
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