Chinas Reform Essays - Supply Chain Management, Klaus Obermeyer

Chinas Reform Sport Obermeyer Sport Obermeyer is a high-end fashion skiwear design and merchandising company headquartered in Aspen, Colorado. Over the years, Sports Obermeyer has developed into a dominant competitor. Sports Obermeyer's estimated sales in 1992 were $32.8 million. The company holds 45% share of children's skiwear and 11% of adult Skiwear market. Sport Obermeyer produces merchandise ranging from: parkas, vests, ski suits, shells, ski pants, turtlenecks, and accessories. These products are sold throughout U.S. department stores in urban areas and ski shops. With increasing demands and rising competition, Sport Obermeyer needs to have and edge on the market. Starting in 1985 with a joint venture in Hong Kong called Obersport, the company began to increase productivity to meet their new demands. Recently, a number of contractual ventures were added and a new complex in Lo Village Guangdong China have enhance production but increase the level of difficulty on the planning and production stages. The Spo rt Obermeyer case describes the forecasting, planning and production processes of a global skiwear supply channel. The case provides an in-depth description of the planning and production processes Sport Obermeyer and its supply channel partners undergo each year to develop and deliver Obermeyer's product line. The case will emphasis on the nature of the information that flows among the members of the supply chain and the timing of key decisions and events in order to have a successful inventory line. Sport Obermeyer, was founded in 1947 by Klaus Obermeyer. Klaus Obermeyer, a German immigrant began teaching at the Aspen Ski School in 1947. During his time teaching, he observed his students being unprotected by impractical clothing during frigid weather. The clothing worn by his students were less stylish and provided little shielding than clothes made in his native Germany. These experiences led Klaus to introduce a variety of skiwear products. He is credited in making the first goose down vest out of an old down comforter. Klaus also introduced turtlenecks, wind shirts in the U.S. and in 1980 he popularized the ski brake. Klaus products are targeted for serious skiers. Eighty five percent of the Sport Obermeyer's market is a serious skier that utilizes the products for winter activities. Sport Obermeyer's produces manufactures for five different genders: men, women, boys, girls, and preschoolers. Each gender market offers an excellent price/value relationship, where value was def ined as both functionality and style. Sport Obermeyer's focuses on the middle to high-end ski-market. Functionality was critical to the serious skier-products, which had to be warm and waterproof, yet not constrain the skier's ability to move his or her arms and legs freely. Management believed that the effective implementation of its product strategy relied on several logistics-related activities, including delivering matching collections of products to retailers at the same time (to allow consumers to view and purchase coordinated items at the same time), and delivering products to retail stores early in the selling season (to maximize the number of square-footage days products were available at retail). Since the beginning Klaus has been actively involved in the company's management. Klaus management approach was described as, Free of tension. Klaus ultimate goal was to achieve harmony by emphasizing trust to the customers and providing quality and value to all consumers. Klaus's decision-making skills were based on intuition and his overall industry experience. The Obermeyer family was actively involved in making sure new innovating products; color and styles were being produced. Lately, Wally Obermeyer has become more actively involved with the management and production stages. Wally's approach relies heavily on formal data-gathering and analytical techniques. Wally's continues to believe that quality and value are high priorities but as of late Sport's Obermeyer's product lines have not been as successful. Wally decisions are centered on which styles to make in China and which styles to make in Hong Kong. Will production in China constrain Obermeyer's ability to manage production and inventory risks? Wally's decisions are based on the Obermeyer's overall order cycle, supply chain, strategy and structure. Sport Obermeyer's, structure is formulated through a two-year planning and production process. The design process for the 1993-1994-inventory line begins in February 1992. This task involves careful analysis, experience, intuition, and utter assumption. The market's key goal to is