Sport

Obermeyer
Case Study Analysis

Presented by: Aryan Bhat, Pravesh

Nautiyal, Shirshti Soni
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Agenda

 Introduction and background

 Product Segmentation
 Structure
 Supply Chain
 Challenges
 Analysis
 Recommendations

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Introduction
Sport Obermeyer, Ltd Sport Obermeyer

 Origin traced to 1947

 Founder : Klaus F. Obermeyer (1950)
 Sport Obermeyer is a high end skiwear
design and manufacturing company
headquartered in Aspen, Colorado.
 In 1961 the first Obermeyer factory
warehouse was opened in Aspen.
 USD 32.8 million revenue in 1992

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 History
Klaus Obermeyer Wally Obermeyer (Son)
Founder, Sport Obermeyer Vice President, Sport Obermeyer
Owner Obersport Ltd.

Raymond Tse Nome (Klaus’s wife )

Owner and President, Alpine ltd, Successful designer, Sport Obermeyer
MD Obersport Ltd.

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 PRODUCT
SEGMENTATION
Segmentation based on Gender

 Men’s Collection.
 Fred, Rex, Beige and Klausie

 Women’s Collection

 Boy’s Collection

 Girl’s Collection

 Preschooler’s Collection
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 OBERSPORT LTD.
 It was a joint venture established in 1985 by Klaus
Obermeyer and Raymond Tse to coordinate
production of Sport Obermeyer products in the Far
east.

 It was responsible for fabric and component

sourcing for Sport Obermeyer’s production.

 It operates in Hong Kong and China and specializes

in the supply side by coordinating activities like
 procuring fabric and components (e.g. zippers) and
 Arranging for production using either independent
subcontractors or factories of Alpine.

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Structure

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Supply Chain

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 CHALLENGES
 Inaccurate forecast leading to
1. Excess production of non-popular
products
2. Shortage of popular products

 Where to manufacture
1. Hong Kong or China?
2. Raw material sourcing – long lead
times

 Operational Challenges ALPINE SKI HOUSE 9

 Forecast Analysis

Problems
• Inaccurate forecast of retailer demand
• Greater product variety and intense competition has made prediction difficult
Recommendations
• Analyze historic data to determine future trends
• Use weighted average of forecasts obtained from managers
• Obtain early market demand forecast by getting feedback from retailers much before
the Vegas show to achieve better forecast accuracy

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 Production Analysis

Problems
• Quality and reliability of products produced in China
• Higher labor cost in Hong Kong and skill level of Hong Kong is much better than China
• Raw materials procured from suppliers from different countries increases lead time
Recommendations
• Improve quality of labor by cross training labors in China
• Decrease lead time by obtaining raw materials from geographically closer locations to ensure
timely delivery
• Increase production capacity by increasing sub contractors
• Overcome minimum production quantity issue by having a production unit
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 Operational Recommendations
 Promotional marketing strategies

 Increase service level

 Establish new distribution centre in Seattle to

reduce transportation cost and time

 Introduce drop shipping of popular items to

reduce delivery lead times and maximize profits
by holding popular item’s market share

 Expand South American Markets

 Promotion through social media

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 Recommendation
Summary
 Obtain early feedback from retailers and use historic data to
improve forecast.
 Improve quality of labor and decrease lead time to obtain raw
materials
 Introduce drop shipping and establish new distribution centres
 Target improvements in new markets to gain market share to
increase profits ALPINE SKI HOUSE
 References

Harvard Business Review: Sport Obermeyer Case

- Janice H. Hammond and Ananth Raman, August 2006

Obermeyer Ltd: obermeyer.com

Supply Chain Economics
-Jordan Avery, Michael Gilkenson, Alina Cornejo, Fabio Romero, Farida
Jariwala, Sara Rogovin and Eric Timm

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QUESTIONS?

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THANK YOU!!

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