Thanks to the authors

1. Sport Obermeyer, Ltd Group 8

2. About Obermeyer Founded in 1947 in Aspen, Colorado Sport Obermeyer was born of necessity by Klaus Obermeyer. As an Aspen ski instructor, he became aware of the need to keep his ski school students warm and dry . Today, Obermeyer continues to design and produce innovative and technically responsible authentic skiwear from the heart of the Rocky mountains

3. 3 3 Issues Question: What are the issues driving this case? How to measure demand uncertainty from disparate forecasts How to allocate production between the factories in Hong Kong and China

4. 4 4 Describe the Challenge Long lead times: 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 First real signal at Vegas trade show in March Inaccurate forecasts Deep discounts Lost sales

6. Cheaper

7. Larger lot sizes

8. Slower

10. Design process Design process began in 1992 Europe more fashion forward than US Major trade show for ski equipment and apparel was held in Las Vegas Sketches were sent to Obersport for prototype production in July and designs were finalized by September

13. Retailer ordering process During the Las Vegas trade show, most retailers placed their orders; Obermeyer usually received orders representing 80% of its annual volume by the week following the Las Vegas show. Retails placed replenishment orders for popular items during peak retail season

14. Shipment to Obermeyer warehouse Transported by ship from Obersport's Hong Kong warehouse to Seattle, from which they were trucked to Obemreyer's Denver distribution center. Air freighting was essential for goods from China Quota restrictions were imposed on products from China

15. Shipment to retail; Retail Replenshipment order Towards end of august orders were sent to retailers By February Obermeyer started to offer replenishment items to retailers at a discount. Items remaining at the end of the season were held over to the following year and sold at a loss.

17. Obermeyer would specify how it wanted the fabric to be dyed or printed.

18. Obersport purchased shell fabric from vendors in the United States, Japan, Korea, Germany, Austria, Taiwan, and Switzerland.

21. Insulation materials were purchased from DuPont, whose licensees in Hong Kong, Taiwan, Korea and China could provide them within two weeks.

23. Approximately 6O% of Obersport's zipper requirements were sourced from YKK's Hong Kong factory, where standard zippers were manufactured.

25. Workers were paid on a piece-rate basis in both China and Hong Kong

26. Wages in China were much lower than in Hong Kong

28. Problems;Larger minimum order limit the company’s ability to increase the range of product Is increased production in China risky due to its uncertain trade relationship with US