Sport Obermeyer Case Study Supply Chain Management

SPORT OBERMAYER

MANAGERIAL REPORT

PROBLEM

Sport Obermeyer was founded by Klaus Obermeyer in the year 1947 with its head quarter in Aspen, Colorado. Sport Obermeyer Supply Chain consisted of following chain:

• Textile and accessory suppliers: Raw materials, zipper, fabric, etc.

• Apparel Manufacturers: Cut and sew, Dying and printing, etc.

• Obersport: Supervises productions, Manage operations, ensure quality, etc.

• Sport Obermeyer: Forecast, design, ship to retailers, etc.

• Retailers: Customers, Market feedback, etc.

The disruption in the supply chain can be attributed to three factors and they are:

• Inaccurate forecasts for the demand of the product of Sport Obermeyer. This leads to excess production of non-popular products and a shortage of popular products. Also, greater product variety and intense competition has made predictions difficult.

• Long lead times of the products that the company is offering. Raw Materials procured from suppliers from different countries increases lead time.

• Where to Manufacture? China or Hong Kong. Quality and reliability of the products produced in China are in question but labour cost in China is lower. The scenario is reversed in case of Hong Kong

DISCUSSION

The aforementioned problems can be tackled by focussing on the below outlined factors:

• Improvement in the design process: This can be done by reducing the SKUs. It can also be done by separations of the design process and the fashion shows in Las Vegas and Munich.

• Fostering cooperation between Supply Chain’s partners: Through better pricing and integration of Supply Chain’s Partner this objective can be achieved.

• Application of combination of Wally & Klaus Strategy: Sport Obermeyer will be benefitted by a mixture of Klaus’ intuitive style with extensive industry experience and Wally’s formal data-gathering with analytical techniques.

• Establishing a Green Manufacturing Plant (Near-shoring): This move will certainly result in improved Supply Chain responsiveness, which will result in reduced cost and reduced lead time for late orders.

Production Advantages in China:

1) 95 % Lower wage. 2)