Obermeyer Case
John H. Vande Vate
Issues
• Question: What are the issues driving this case?
o How to measure demand uncertainty from disparate forecasts
o How to allocate production between the factories in Hong Kong and China
▪ How much of each product to make in each factory
▪
Describe the Challenge
• Long lead times:
o It’s November ’92 and the company is starting to make firm commitments for it’s ‘93 – 94 season.
• Little or no feedback from market
o First real signal at Vegas trade show in March
• Inaccurate forecasts
o Deep discounts
o Lost sales
Production Options
• Hong Kong
o More expensive
o Smaller lot sizes
o Faster
o More flexible
• Mainland (Guangdong, Lo Village)
o Cheaper
o Larger lot sizes
o Slower
o Less flexible
The Product
• 5 “Genders”
o Price
o Type of skier
o Fashion quotient
• Example (Adult man)
o Fred (conservative, basic)
o Rex (rich, latest fabrics and technologies)
o Beige (hard core mountaineer, no-nonsense)
o Klausie (showy, latest fashions)
The Product
• Gender
o Styles
o Colors
o Sizes
• Total Number of SKU’s: ~800
Service
• Deliver matching collections simultaneously
• Deliver early in the season
The Process
o Design (February ’92)
o Prototypes (July ’92)
o Final Designs (September ’92)
o Sample Production, Fabric & Component orders (50%)
o Cut & Sew begins (February, ’93)
o Las Vegas show (March, ’93 80% of orders)
o SO places final orders with OL
o OL places orders for components
o Alpine & Subcons Cut & Sew
o Transport to Seattle (June – July)
o Retailers want full delivery...