| Course | GB527 Global Operations |
|---|---|
| Unit | Unit 8 |
| Paper type | Network design analysis |
| Length | About 1,140 words, 7 pages double-spaced |
| Format | APA 7 student paper |
| School | Purdue University Global |
| Program | MBA |
| Updated | October 2026 |
Free sample paper for GB527 Unit 8
Weights Before Scores: A Unit 8 Network Design Analysis for an Irrigation Valve Maker's First Brazilian Site
[Student Name]
Purdue University Global
GB527: Global Operations
Unit 8 Network Design Analysis
[Instructor Name]
[Date]
The manufacturer, its dealers, the scores and every figure are composite and illustrative; the places named are real and the sources cited are real.
The Decision
Platte Valve Works sells valve assemblies to center-pivot dealers in Brazil, where irrigated area has grown across the Cerrado. Today every valve ships from Nebraska, taking six to eight weeks and paying import duties on finished goods. Dealers in Mato Grosso, Goiás, Minas Gerais and western Bahia want shorter delivery and local service. Platte plans an assembly and distribution site that will receive machined bodies and components, assemble and test valves, hold regional stock and support dealers.
Three cities passed an initial screen for road access, industrial land and distance to the main irrigated regions: Uberlândia in Minas Gerais, Londrina in Paraná and Rio Verde in Goiás.
Exhibit 1: The Weights
The weights were set by Platte's operations and sales leaders before any city was scored, with a sentence of justification for each.
Customer proximity, 30 percent: the site's purpose is faster delivery and service to dealers, most of them in the Cerrado.
Labor, 20 percent: assembly and testing need trained technicians, and turnover would undermine quality.
Logistics infrastructure, 20 percent: components arrive by sea and finished valves leave by truck, so highway links and access to a port matter.
Supplier base, 15 percent: local suppliers of fittings, coatings and packaging would reduce imports and lead times.
Risk and incentives, 15 percent: state tax incentives, permitting and local business conditions affect cost and the speed of opening.
MacCormack et al. (1994) argued that site decisions go wrong when cost factors are weighed after a favored site has been chosen. Fixing weights first, with reasons, is meant to prevent that.
Exhibit 2: The Scores
Each city was scored from 1 to 10 on each factor, with the evidence summarized below.
Uberlândia: labor 6, proximity 8, logistics 8, suppliers 6, risk and incentives 7. A regional logistics center with highway connections in several directions and distribution operations for national companies; central to the Cerrado regions Platte serves; a moderate industrial supplier base.
Londrina: labor 7, proximity 6, logistics 7, suppliers 8, risk and incentives 7. A larger industrial base and technical schools; closer to the port of Paranaguá, which shortens the inbound leg; farther from the dealers in Mato Grosso and Bahia.
Rio Verde: labor 6, proximity 9, logistics 5, suppliers 4, risk and incentives 6. Located among the irrigated farms, which suits service; a smaller industrial base, fewer suppliers and longer distances from ports.
Weighted scores: Uberlândia 7.15; Londrina 6.85; Rio Verde 6.40.
Rio Verde is closest to the farms, but Uberlândia wins because it is close enough to them and much better connected to everything else the site needs.
Exhibit 3: Sensitivity of the Result
If a modest reweighting could reverse the order, the ranking would be a weak basis for committing capital, so the weights were tested.
Proximity against suppliers: moving weight from customer proximity to supplier base, Londrina would tie Uberlândia only if proximity fell from 30 to about 22 percent and suppliers rose from 15 to about 23 percent.
Logistics against labor: moving weight from logistics to labor, Londrina would tie only if labor rose to about 36 percent and logistics fell to about 4 percent, an implausible weighting for a distribution site.
Rio Verde: to overtake Uberlândia by moving weight from logistics to proximity, proximity would need to reach nearly 50 percent and logistics almost nothing.
The lead is therefore reasonably robust. The plausible challenger is Londrina, and only if Platte decided that local suppliers mattered as much as being near dealers.
A Cost Check
Scores can hide costs, so the team also estimated annual operating cost at each site in composite figures: about $2.9 million in Uberlândia, $3.0 million in Londrina and $2.8 million in Rio Verde, covering labor, lease, utilities, inbound freight from the port and outbound freight to dealers. Rio Verde's lower lease and labor costs are offset by longer inbound freight from the port; Londrina's shorter inbound leg is offset by longer outbound delivery to dealers in the north and west. The spread is under 7 percent, which is within the margin of error of early estimates, so cost does not overturn the scoring. It does confirm that Uberlândia is not chosen at a large cost premium.
The Network Effect
The new site changes the network, not only the map. Chopra and Meindl (2019) note that adding a facility closer to customers shortens response time but adds fixed cost and inventory, because stock is now held in two places. With a Brazilian site, Platte would hold regional stock of finished valves in Uberlândia and ship components from Nebraska in larger, less frequent containers. Delivery to dealers would fall from six to eight weeks to about five days for stocked configurations. Platte's total inventory would rise, but import duties on components assembled locally would be lower than on finished valves, and the site could offer warranty service that dealers now wait weeks for.
The Site's Role Over Time
Ferdows (1997) describes how foreign plants can grow from simple production or distribution roles into sites that adapt products for their markets and eventually contribute to the company's development work. Uberlândia should start as an assembly, testing and distribution site. Within three years, it could adapt valve configurations for Brazilian pivot designs and train dealer technicians, which would raise its strategic value beyond cost and speed.
Risks of the Choice
Opening a first site abroad brings risks the scores only touch. Brazilian labor rules, tax rules and import procedures differ from those Platte knows, so it should hire a local plant manager with experience in a multinational's operation and use local advisers for tax and customs. The site's success also depends on dealer demand holding up through a period of commodity prices that can fall sharply. Starting with a leased building and modest stock limits the cost if demand grows more slowly than planned.
Recommendation
Choose Uberlândia for Platte's first Brazilian site. Before committing, confirm the state incentives available, visit two candidate industrial parks and interview potential technicians and suppliers. Revisit Londrina if a local supplier base turns out to matter more than expected, for example if import costs on components prove higher than planned.
Limits
The scores are composite judgments by Platte's team, and some, such as the supplier base, rest on limited information. Tax incentives and labor conditions can differ widely within a state and change with local government. The analysis should be updated after site visits, with the weights kept unchanged so that the scoring stays honest.
References
Chopra, S., & Meindl, P. (2019). Supply chain management: Strategy, planning, and operation (7th ed.). Pearson.
Ferdows, K. (1997). Making the most of foreign factories. Harvard Business Review, 75(2), 73-88.
MacCormack, A. D., Newman, L. J., III, & Rosenfield, D. B. (1994). The new dynamics of global manufacturing site location. Sloan Management Review, 35(4), 69-80.
What the GB527 Unit 8 assignment asks for
GB527 Unit 8 asks you to analyze where to locate a facility in a global network. State the decision and how candidates were screened. Set the weights for your criteria before scoring any location, with a reason for each. Score each candidate with the evidence behind the score and compute weighted totals. Then shift the weights in turn and report the point at which the leading candidate would lose its place. Check the result against an estimate of operating cost, and explain how the new site changes the network's delivery times and inventory. Consider the site's role over time and its risks. Close with a recommendation and limits. Expect about six pages, citing location and supply chain sources in APA 7.
How the GB 527 Unit 8 example is put together
The analysis describes Platte's Brazilian dealers and the six-to-eight-week delivery from Nebraska. Exhibit 1 sets five weights with reasons, citing MacCormack and colleagues on choosing factors first. Exhibit 2 scores Uberlândia, Londrina and Rio Verde with evidence, and the highlighted sentence explains why the city nearest the farms does not lead. Exhibit 3 tests three weight shifts. A cost check finds operating costs within 7 percent of each other. A section on the network effect, citing Chopra and Meindl, shows delivery falling to about five days while inventory rises. The site's future role cites Ferdows. Risks and a recommendation to choose Uberlândia after site visits close it.
Reading the GB527 Unit 8 grading rubric
GB527 rubric points for this analysis go to weights set and justified before scoring, evidence behind every score and a sensitivity test that shows how robust the ranking is. Stating weights first earns early credit. Scores supported by evidence for each city show care. A sensitivity test that reports exactly how far weights must move carries significant weight. A cost check confirms that the leader is not chosen at a large premium. Explaining how the site changes delivery and inventory shows network thinking. Considering the site's future role and risks shows strategic judgment. MacCormack and colleagues, Ferdows on foreign factories and Chopra and Meindl supply the analysis's APA 7 references.
Common GB527 Unit 8 mistakes, and how to avoid them
Many GB527 Unit 8 analyses score candidates first and set weights afterward, which can make the favored site win. Others present a weighted score without testing whether a small change in weights would reverse it. A frequent gap is the network: a new site changes delivery times and inventory across the whole system, not only at the new location. Some writers ignore operating cost once scores are computed. Set weights first with reasons, score with evidence, test the ranking, check costs, describe the network effect and plan the site's role over time. Keeping the weights unchanged when scores are updated after site visits keeps the analysis honest.
Get a GB527 Unit 8 example written to your instructions
Send the location decision, the candidate sites and the criteria the Unit 8 prompt names, plus the rubric. Weights justified before any scoring, evidence for every cell, a second method as cross-check and the sensitivity breakpoint all appear in the free first custom sample, written in 24-48h. Distances and wage figures are sourced and dated. The paper above is an original model document written by our desk, not a submitted student paper and not an official Purdue University Global document.
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GB527 Unit 8 questions, answered
How do I choose the weights?
From the firm's strategy and constraints, before looking at the candidates. A company shipping heavy goods to just-in-time customers weights proximity and logistics highly; a labor-intensive assembler weights wages and workforce availability. Write one sentence of justification per weight. If unsure, report the result under two weightings and say which reading of the strategy each assumes.
What is a load-distance calculation?
It multiplies the volume moving to or from each location, such as tonnes a year, by the distance to each candidate site, then sums the products. The site with the lowest total minimizes transport effort. It ignores cost differences between routes and modes, so treat it as a cross-check on the weighted scores rather than as the decision.
How much sensitivity analysis is enough?
Enough to find the breakpoint that matters. Identify the criterion most likely to be disputed, shift weight toward or away from it, and report where the ranking changes. One well-chosen test, stated in a sentence and a small table, usually satisfies the rubric better than a grid of every possible combination.
Where can I find a free GB527 Unit 8 sample paper?
This page carries a full GB527 Unit 8 network design analysis for an irrigation valve maker's first Brazilian site, with weights set first, three scored cities, sensitivity tests, a cost check and APA 7 references.
Why does Rio Verde lose despite being closest to the farms?
Its scores for logistics and suppliers are much lower. To overtake Uberlândia, customer proximity would need a weight near 50 percent and logistics almost none, which does not fit a site that must receive components and ship finished valves.