| Course | MT498 Bachelor's Capstone in Supply Chain Management |
|---|---|
| Unit | Unit 4 |
| Paper type | Problem statement |
| Length | About 570 words, 5 pages double-spaced |
| Format | APA 7 student paper |
| School | Purdue University Global |
| Program | BS in Business Administration |
| Updated | October 2026 |
Free sample paper for MT498 Unit 4
A Gap, Its Cost and a Two-Sided Target: An MT498 Unit 4 Problem Statement for Lowry Filter's Eastern Flow
[Student Name]
Purdue University Global
MT498: Bachelor's Capstone in Supply Chain Management
Unit 4 Problem Statement
[Instructor Name]
[Date]
Lowry Filter Company, its customers and every figure are composite; the sources cited are real.
The Statement
Over the past twelve months, Lowry Filter Company filled 93.1 percent of the cases its eastern customers ordered, against the 97.5 percent its largest home-center account requires, leaving 27,324 cases a year short. Those shortages cost about $407,494 a year: $311,494 in lost contribution and customer chargebacks at $11.40 a short case, and $96,000 in expedited freight. Within 18 months, eastern fill rate should reach 97.5 percent while landed cost per eastern case stays at or below today's $32.30.
Support: The Gap
The fill-rate figure comes from the largest home-center account's vendor portal, which records each purchase order, the cases shipped complete and on time, and any shortfall. The monthly readings over the year ran from 91.4 to 94.6 percent, with the lowest months in the autumn, when heating season orders peak. Eastern volume was 396,000 cases, so 6.9 percent short is 27,324 cases. Even at the 97.5 percent target, 2.5 percent of cases, about 9,900 a year, would still fall short, and the statement admits that rather than promising perfection. Simchi-Levi et al. (2008) distinguish fill rate, the share of demand met from stock, from the probability of never running out, and the portal measures the first, which is the figure the customer's contract uses.
Support: The Cost
A short case costs Lowry the contribution it would have earned, about $8.90 on an average case, plus a chargeback the largest account levies for each case shipped short or late, which averages about $2.50 across all eastern accounts. Together they come to $11.40 a case. Expedited freight to cover urgent shortfalls added $96,000 over the year. Putting a single figure, $407,494, on the problem gives every later option a cost to beat.
A target with two sides blocks both easy answers: more stock everywhere, or fewer buildings and worse service.
Support: Freight Climbing Faster Than Cases
Outbound freight per eastern case rose from $2.96 two years ago to $3.53 last year, a 19.3 percent increase, while eastern volume grew about 6 percent. This is treated as a second symptom of the same network, not a separate problem, and it is the reason the cost side of the target matters.
Why Two Sides
A fill-rate target alone would invite the simplest fix, holding more inventory everywhere, which would raise cost. A cost target alone would invite closing the Columbus warehouse and accepting worse service. Chopra and Meindl (2016) describe the basic trade-off in network design as one between responsiveness and efficiency, and the paired target forces any option to improve one without giving up the other.
Boundary and What Is Left Out
The statement covers eastern accounts only, matching the Unit 2 scope. It names no cause. Long replenishment from Kansas is the obvious suspect, since five weeks of stock still produce shortages, but arguing it here would decide the alternatives analysis before any alternative is costed. Fisher (1997) cautions that a supply chain's problems are often misdiagnosed when the cure is chosen before the product's demand pattern is understood, and the statement leaves room for that analysis.
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.
Simchi-Levi, D., Kaminsky, P., & Simchi-Levi, E. (2008). Designing and managing the supply chain: Concepts, strategies, and case studies (3rd ed.). McGraw-Hill/Irwin.
The Purdue Global MT498 Unit 4 instructions
Unit 4 in MT498 asks you to state the network's problem as a number with a target. Write the statement itself in two or three sentences: the measure, its baseline period and source, the gap against a requirement, what the gap costs and the target with a date. Pair a service target with a cost ceiling, or the reverse, so that no lopsided fix can satisfy it. Keep the statement inside the scope set in Unit 2. Put supporting evidence on separate pages: monthly readings, how the cost was calculated and any related symptoms. Avoid naming a cause or a solution, since the alternatives analysis has not happened yet. A short paragraph explaining what the statement deliberately leaves out shows you held back on purpose.
Inside the MT498 Unit 4 example
Lowry's statement runs three sentences covering gap, cost and two-sided target. The first support page gives the portal source, monthly readings from 91.4 to 94.6 percent and the 9,900 cases still short at target, with Simchi-Levi and colleagues on how fill rate is defined. The cost page builds $11.40 a case from lost contribution and chargebacks. A highlighted line explains how a paired target blocks both easy answers. Freight rising 19.3 percent against 6 percent volume growth is treated as a second symptom. A section on why the target has two sides cites Chopra and Meindl's responsiveness and efficiency trade-off, and the boundary paragraph holds back the obvious suspect, long replenishment from Kansas, citing Fisher on choosing cures too early.
Reading the MT498 Unit 4 grading rubric
The heaviest deduction comes from prose that describes difficulty without measuring it, such as freight being too expensive or service slipping. Instructors look for a measure, a baseline period, a source and a target with a date. Statements that bundle the cause into the problem, asserting that a warehouse sits in the wrong place, tend to be marked down because they close off alternatives before any are studied. A cost attached to the gap earns credit by giving later options a figure to beat. Pairing service with cost shows awareness of the trade-offs in network design. Brevity counts, so the statement should be short enough to quote whole in the final report, with evidence on support pages and APA citations for concepts.
MT498 Unit 4 help from the desk
Many MT498 Unit 4 drafts sound urgent and contain no number at all. Another is a target with no date, which cannot be tracked. Students often state a single target, usually service, and then propose a fix that raises cost without anyone noticing. Causes creep into the statement, typically through phrases like due to or because of. Cost of the gap is frequently omitted, leaving the problem without a size. Some statements cover the whole company when the scope covered one flow. Before submitting, read your statement aloud and check that it contains a baseline figure, a requirement, a cost and a dated target on two sides, and that the words because and due to do not appear in it.
Get an MT498 Unit 4 example written to your instructions
Send the service and cost figures you have for your network, the target your company or case sets, and the Unit 4 prompt with its rubric. Back comes a composite one-page statement with a measured gap, a dollar size and a two-sided target, plus support pages. The first custom sample carries no fee; expect it in 24-48h. 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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MT498 Unit 4 questions, answered
Can the problem be about cost rather than service?
Yes. Many MT498 projects start from freight or inventory cost rather than fill rate. The key is a target naming the other side as a constraint: a cost problem should state the service level that must not fall, and a service problem the cost ceiling it must respect. One-sided targets tend to produce one-sided redesigns later in the term.
Where does a per-unit stockout cost come from?
Usually from lost contribution margin on the missing units plus any customer penalties. Many large retailers charge suppliers for short or late shipments under their vendor compliance programs, and those charges appear on deduction reports. If your data lacks them, a stated estimate in brackets works, provided the method sits beside it where a grader can check it.
Should the statement mention a likely cause?
Briefly, if at all, and outside the statement itself. A sentence noting what the analysis will test is acceptable. Naming the cause as settled, for example blaming a warehouse location, makes the alternatives look predetermined. Keep the statement to the measured gap, its cost and its target, and let the next units argue about why it exists.
Where can I find a free MT498 Unit 4 sample paper?
The full MT498 Unit 4 problem statement is on this page, setting a composite filter maker's eastern fill rate and cost targets with supporting evidence.
Why does the MT498 Unit 4 sample set two targets instead of one?
A fill rate target alone invites holding more stock everywhere, and a cost target alone invites closing a warehouse and letting service slide.