| Course | ISCOM 370 Strategic Supply Chain Management (ISCOM/370) |
|---|---|
| Week | 1 |
| Paper type | Supply chain strategy analysis |
| Length | about 1,010 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 ISCOM 370 Week 1
One Plant, Two Supply Chains: Matching Strategy to Products at a North Carolina Sofa Maker
[Student Name]
University of Phoenix
ISCOM/370: Strategic Supply Chain Management
Week 1 Assignment
[Instructor Name]
[Date]
Catawba Ridge Furniture, its plant, products and figures are composites written for a model paper.
Catawba Ridge Furniture, a composite company, builds upholstered sofas, sectionals and recliners in a 400,000-square-foot plant in western North Carolina. It employs about 650 people and had sales of about $140 million last year. Hardwood frames come from local mills, foam from a regional supplier and fabric and reclining mechanisms mostly from mills and factories in China and Vietnam. Finished pieces travel on the company's own trucks to about 300 independent retailers in the Southeast and by contract carrier to designers and online buyers across the country. On-time delivery has fallen to 78 percent while finished goods inventory has risen to 41 days. This paper asks whether the company's supply chain fits what it sells and what should change if it does not.
What the Supply Chain Includes
Mentzer et al. (2001) defined a supply chain as the set of organizations directly involved in the flows of products, services, finances and information from a source to a customer, and supply chain management as the coordination of those flows across functions and companies. For Catawba Ridge, the chain runs from fabric mills in Asia, sawmills in the Carolinas and foam producers to the company's cutting, sewing, frame and upholstery departments, then through its warehouse and trucks to retailers, designers and homes. Information flows the other way: retailer orders, online sales and designer quotes.
Competitive Strategy
The company competes on two different promises. Its core line, 40 sofa and recliner styles in 60 fabrics, is sold to regional retailers on price and reliability; retailers expect delivery within three weeks of an order. Its custom line lets designers and online buyers choose any of 500 fabrics and dozens of options, sold on choice and style at prices about 45 percent higher, with a promised delivery of six weeks. The core line is about 70 percent of revenue; the custom line is 30 percent but growing about 15 percent a year.
Two Kinds of Products
Fisher (1997) argued that products fall roughly into two groups. Functional products have stable, predictable demand, long life cycles and low margins; innovative products have unpredictable demand, short life cycles and higher margins. Functional products call for a physically efficient chain that minimizes cost, while innovative products call for a market-responsive chain that holds buffers of capacity or inventory to meet uncertain demand. Lee (2002) extended the idea by adding supply uncertainty, separating stable supply processes from evolving ones.
The core line fits the functional category: sales of the top 20 styles vary by less than 10 percent month to month, and forecasts at the style level are accurate within about 15 percent. The custom line is innovative: half of its fabric choices sell fewer than ten yards a month, trends change each season and forecast error at the fabric level exceeds 60 percent. Supply uncertainty also differs. Core fabrics come from two long-standing mills with steady quality; custom fabrics come from dozens of smaller mills, some with lead times that range from six to sixteen weeks.
The company sells a functional product and an innovative product through a chain designed for neither.
Where the Single Chain Fails
Every order today goes through the same weekly production schedule, the same fabric buying rules and the same delivery routes. Chopra and Meindl (2016) describe supply chain drivers, facilities, inventory, transportation, information, sourcing and pricing, as the levers that set a chain's position between efficiency and responsiveness. Catawba Ridge sets each lever the same way for both lines, and the results show the mismatch.
For the core line, the company holds high finished goods inventory because planners build ahead to fill trucks, yet it still misses dates because custom orders interrupt the schedule. Core fabric is bought in small, frequent lots to save warehouse space, losing volume discounts. For the custom line, fabric is not stocked, so each order waits for a mill; the six-week promise is met only 58 percent of the time. Custom pieces ride the regional routes, which leave each city once a week, adding days of waiting.
Recommendations
Two planning streams. Build core styles to a level schedule based on forecasts, with finished goods targets set by style; build custom pieces to order in a dedicated cell of four sewing and upholstery teams.
Different fabric sourcing. Buy core fabrics in large lots under annual contracts with the two main mills to cut cost about 6 percent; for custom, hold a small stock of greige goods with a domestic finisher that can dye and print to order in two weeks, and drop the slowest 150 fabrics.
Separate delivery promises. Keep weekly regional routes for core orders; ship custom orders by contract carrier as soon as they are finished.
Shared information. Give retailers and designers online order status so they stop calling the plant.
Trade-offs and Costs
The custom cell needs about $350,000 in equipment and training and reduces scheduling flexibility between lines. Holding greige goods adds about $400,000 in inventory. Dropping 150 fabrics may cost a few designer accounts. Against these, the plan should cut core finished goods from 41 to about 25 days, freeing about $3 million in working capital, and should lift on-time delivery for both lines.
Measures
On-time delivery by line, target 95 percent core and 90 percent custom; finished goods days of supply for core, target 25; custom order lead time, target four to six weeks; and fabric cost per yard for core styles. Results will be reviewed monthly by the operations, sales and purchasing leaders together, so that no single department can meet its own target at another's expense.
Conclusion
Catawba Ridge sells a predictable core line and an unpredictable custom line through one chain, and each suffers for it. Research matching efficient chains to functional products and responsive chains to innovative ones explains the high inventory and late deliveries. Splitting planning, sourcing and delivery by product line lets the company compete on cost where customers value it and on speed and choice where they pay for them.
References
Chopra, S., & Meindl, P. (2016). Supply chain management: Strategy, planning, and operation (6th ed.). Pearson.
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
Mentzer, J. T., DeWitt, W., Keebler, J. S., Min, S., Nix, N. W., Smith, C. D., & Zacharia, Z. G. (2001). Defining supply chain management. Journal of Business Logistics, 22(2), 1-25. https://doi.org/10.1002/j.2158-1592.2001.tb00001.x
What the ISCOM 370 Week 1 instructions ask
ISCOM 370 opens with an assignment on what supply chain management is and why strategy shapes it. Prompts may ask what a supply chain includes, how supply chain strategy supports competitive strategy, how products with different demand patterns call for different chains and what drivers, such as facilities, inventory, transportation, information and sourcing, a firm can adjust. Some versions ask students to choose a company and evaluate how well its chain fits its strategy. Use a real or realistic organization with specific figures, apply a recognized framework rather than a general description and cite supply chain research and texts in APA.
How this ISCOM 370 Week 1 example is built
Our worked paper follows a sofa and recliner maker with about $140 million in sales and one plant near Hickory. About 70 percent of revenue comes from 40 core styles in a set range of fabrics, sold steadily through regional retailers. The rest comes from custom pieces in hundreds of fabrics, sold through designers and online, where demand swings with trends. The company runs both through the same sourcing, scheduling and delivery system. Using research that matches efficient chains to predictable products and responsive chains to uncertain ones, the paper shows why the core line carries too much cost and the custom line ships too late. It recommends two planning streams, different fabric sourcing and separate delivery promises.
ISCOM 370 Week 1 grading rubric: where the points go
Instructors reward papers that apply strategy concepts to evidence. Strong work describes the supply chain from suppliers to customers, classifies products by demand and supply uncertainty using a recognized framework and explains where the current chain fits or misfits each product. Credit goes to recommendations tied to supply chain drivers, such as inventory, sourcing, facilities, transportation and information, with costs or trade-offs stated, and to measures that would show improvement. Figures that support the analysis and research beyond the textbook strengthen the paper. Graders also notice whether the paper treats supplier uncertainty as seriously as customer demand. Clear organization and APA citations complete it.
ISCOM 370 Week 1 help: mistakes to avoid
Supply chain strategy papers often describe the company's chain step by step without saying whether it fits the strategy. Make a judgment and support it. Another frequent gap is treating all of a firm's products the same; many companies sell items with very different demand patterns that need different chains. Separate them. Students also recommend becoming both cheaper and faster without naming the trade-off. Say what you would give up. Some papers ignore suppliers' uncertainty, which matters as much as customers'. Finally, define measures such as fill rate, lead time and inventory turns so the plan can be judged. A tutor can help you choose a framework that fits your company and test whether your recommendations match it.
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ISCOM 370 Week 1 questions, answered
What does ISCOM 370 Week 1 usually cover?
It usually covers supply chain management and strategy: what a supply chain includes, how strategy fits products and markets and which drivers a firm can adjust.
Where can I find a free ISCOM 370 Week 1 sample paper?
The Week 1 paper above analyzes supply chain strategy at a North Carolina furniture maker and anyone can read it in full, notes included.
What is the difference between an efficient and a responsive supply chain?
An efficient chain minimizes cost for predictable products; a responsive chain holds capacity or inventory buffers to react quickly to uncertain demand.
What are the drivers of supply chain performance?
Common lists include facilities, inventory, transportation, information, sourcing and pricing, each of which a firm can adjust to trade cost against responsiveness.
Why should products with different demand patterns use different supply chains?
Because the cost of being out of stock or stuck with leftovers differs; predictable items reward low cost, while uncertain items reward speed and flexibility.
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