Sport Obermeyer
Abstract
This report deals with the analysis of the Sport Obermeyer case, an American company, founded in 1947, specialized in the creation of ski wear. The case presents some problems faced by the company as a long time since the design to production and placement of the product for sale. In addition, the company is struggling with the sales forecast, which ends up generating excess production and inventory in stores. And yet, an important decision on how the company should schedule production, which is divided between the factories in China, where labor cost is cheaper, and Hong Kong, where there is greater efficiency in production. Therefore, among the problems identified, recommendations are presented, initially, is to tailor the order quantity according to the minimum lot size of each locality, China and Hong Kong 1,200 units, 600 units. The excess inventory of finished goods could be sold in new markets. And the demand uncertainty problem could be solved by increasing the response capacity of production. This will allow reducing mismatch costs and consolidating activities. In addition, problems with the production can be minimized by means of negotiations with suppliers, retailers and joint ventures in order to obtain better operating conditions and reduction of lead time. So, the operational changes suggested involving reduction of SKU’s and reducing the time between the product design and the first output. To change the current reality of Sports Obermeyer, some changes could be introduced, such as reducing the time between design and first production, reducing SKU's close work with retailer champions, improvement in cost reduction in China and Hong Kong. These measures would involve, for example, stakeholders in the business, such as retailers and factories. Thus, to implement these measures, the Sports Obermeyer should consider some actions in the short and long term. In the short term, the actions could be related to the reduction of time between the
This report deals with the analysis of the Sport Obermeyer case, an American company, founded in 1947, specialized in the creation of ski wear. The case presents some problems faced by the company as a long time since the design to production and placement of the product for sale. In addition, the company is struggling with the sales forecast, which ends up generating excess production and inventory in stores. And yet, an important decision on how the company should schedule production, which is divided between the factories in China, where labor cost is cheaper, and Hong Kong, where there is greater efficiency in production. Therefore, among the problems identified, recommendations are presented, initially, is to tailor the order quantity according to the minimum lot size of each locality, China and Hong Kong 1,200 units, 600 units. The excess inventory of finished goods could be sold in new markets. And the demand uncertainty problem could be solved by increasing the response capacity of production. This will allow reducing mismatch costs and consolidating activities. In addition, problems with the production can be minimized by means of negotiations with suppliers, retailers and joint ventures in order to obtain better operating conditions and reduction of lead time. So, the operational changes suggested involving reduction of SKU’s and reducing the time between the product design and the first output. To change the current reality of Sports Obermeyer, some changes could be introduced, such as reducing the time between design and first production, reducing SKU's close work with retailer champions, improvement in cost reduction in China and Hong Kong. These measures would involve, for example, stakeholders in the business, such as retailers and factories. Thus, to implement these measures, the Sports Obermeyer should consider some actions in the short and long term. In the short term, the actions could be related to the reduction of time between the