SUPPLY CHAIN &

ECOMMERCE
MANAGEMENT

PRESENTED BY: ANJALI SHAJ

DAYA JANNATH SUHARA
DEVANARAYANAN P R
KRITI KAUSHIK
SUPRIYA SINHA
VISHNU PRIYA
 Sport Obermeyer ltd
 Since 1947

 Headqauters in Aspen, Colorado.

 Founder's Vision: Klaus Obermeyer's journey started from Germany to the U.S. and was driven by his
observations of skiers' discomfort and impractical clothing.

 Market Leadership: By 1992, Sport Obermeyer dominated the U.S. skiwear market with $32.8 million in
sales, capturing significant shares in both children's (45%) and adult (11%) segments.

 Product Portfolio: Offering a comprehensive range of ski apparel, including parkas, vests, ski suits, shells,
ski pants, sweaters, turtlenecks, and accessories, Obermeyer prioritized parkas as the cornerstone of their
collections.

 Known for pioneering products like the first goose-down vest and the ski brake.
 Segmentation Strategy: Tailoring offerings to different customer segments based on price sensitivity, skiing
preferences, and fashion-forwardness, Obermeyer categorized customers into personas like "Fred," "Rex,"
"Biege," and "Klausie."

 Gender-specific Offerings: Addressing diverse customer needs, Obermeyer provided skiwear for men, women,
boys, girls, and preschoolers, with each gender segment further divided by style preferences and skiing habits in
different colours and sizes.

 Despite competition from brands like Columbia Sportswear, Obermeyer's focus on quality, innovation, and
customer-centricity solidified its position as a leader in the skiwear market.
Obermeyer's Product Strategy Analysis:
 Total SKUs Over 16 Years: The total number of stock-keeping units (SKUs) offered by Obermeyer
during the preceding 16-year period to understand the breadth of their product range.

 Style Diversity :
- Average Number of Styles: The average number of styles introduced by Obermeyer over the specified
period to gauge the company's commitment to offering diverse options.

- Colors per Style: The average number of colors available per style to assess the level of customization
and variety offered to customers.

- Sizes per Style-Color Combination: The range of sizes offered for each style-color combination to
understand Obermeyer's efforts in catering to different body types and preferences.
 Price-Value Proposition: Obermeyer's competitive advantage in offering an excellent price/value
relationship, emphasizing functionality and style targeted at the middle to high end of the skiwear market.

 Market Focus: - Skiwear vs. Casual Wear: Obermeyer's focus on skiwear, with over 85% of products
dedicated to skiing, contrasting with competitors targeting both skiing and casual "streetwear." -
Functionality Requirements: Emphasize the importance of functionality for serious skiers, balancing
warmth, water-proofing, and freedom of movement.

 Logistics Strategy:
- Coordinated Collections: The significance of delivering matching collections of products to
retailers simultaneously, enabling consumers to purchase coordinated items.
- Early Season Delivery: The importance of early delivery to maximize product availability at retail stores
throughout the selling season.
Management Approach:

 Klaus Obermeyer's Philosophy: Klaus Obermeyer's belief in running a company "free of

tension" and achieving harmony in both personal and professional life.

 Management Styles: - Intuitive vs. Analytical: Klaus's intuitive management style is guided by
judgment and intuition, while Wally's more data-driven approach relies on formal data gathering
and analytical techniques.

 Family Dynamics: - Involvement of Family Members: The significant roles played by Klaus's
wife, Nome, and son, Wally, in the company's growth and operations.

 Trust and Collaboration: - Trust in Partnerships: Klaus's trust in key partners like Raymond
Tse, delegating production and investment decisions, emphasizes the importance of trust and
collaboration in business relationships.
 The Design Process

Sample Production

The Order Cycle Raw Material Sourcing and Production

Retailer Ordering Process

Shipment To Obermeyer Warehouse

Shipment To Retail: Replenishment Orders

Sport Obermeyers;
Distribution Channel
The Design Process

• The design process for the 1993-1994 line started in February 1992.
• Obermeyer's design team and senior management went to a big outdoor clothing show in Munich,
Germany. Because Europe often sets fashion trends for the U.S.
• In March 1992, there was also a big ski clothes trade show in Las Vegas.
• After seeing what was popular in Europe and Las Vegas, Obermeyer's team had ideas for their new
clothes.
• By May 1992, they had finished planning their new designs.
• They sent sketches of the new clothes to Obersport in July.
• Obersport made prototype clothes using leftover fabric from the previous year.
• These prototype clothes were just for Obermeyer's managers to see and make decisions about.
• Obermeyer improved the designs based on the prototypes.
• By September 1992, they had final designs ready to go.
 Sample Production

• After Obermeyer finished designing their new clothes, Obersport started making sample garments.
• These samples were small amounts of each style and color combination.
• They used the actual fabric that would be used for the real clothes.
• Companies that dye and print fabric were okay with doing small batches for making samples.
• Salespeople took these samples to a big show in Las Vegas held in March.
• At the show, they showed the samples to stores that might want to sell Obermeyer's clothes.
• After the show, the salespeople took the samples to stores all over the place for the rest of the spring.
Raw Material Sourcing
and Production

• While making the sample clothes, Obersport figured out what materials Obermeyer needed.
• They looked at Obermeyer's list of materials and decided how much fabric and other stuff they needed.
• It was important to tell the companies that dye and print fabric what to do and order other parts
fast because some companies take up to 90 days to deliver.
• The cutting and sewing of the first batch of Obermeyer's real clothes would start in February 1993.
Retailer Ordering Process

After the Las Vegas

At the big trade show in
show, Obermeyer gets
Las Vegas, most stores
orders that make up
that sell Obermeyer's
about 80% of all the
clothes put in their
clothes they'll sell that
orders.
year.

With this information,

They place another
Obermeyer can figure
order for the rest of the
out exactly how much
clothes they need to
more clothes they need
make.
to make.

Stores also ask for more

Other regular orders
of the popular clothes
from stores come in
during the busiest time
during April and May.
for selling.
 • June to July: Obermeyer's clothes shipped from Hong Kong to Seattle by sea.
• Trucks transported clothes from Seattle to Obermeyer's center in Denver, taking
approximately six weeks.
Shipment To Obermeyer
• August clothes were usually air-shipped to Denver for timely delivery to stores.
• Clothes made in China often had to be air-shipped due to import rules into the United States.

Warehouse • The U.S. government regulates the number of clothes imported from China; excess goods may
be returned.
• Companies rushed shipments to avoid missing out on quota limits for Chinese imports.
Shipment To Retail:
Replenishment Orders

• End of August: Obermeyer ships orders to stores using carriers like UPS.
• Sales peak gradually from September to November, with the highest sales in December and January.
• By December or January, stores request more of certain items if they anticipate higher demand.
• Obermeyer fulfills requests if items are available in stock.
• In February, Obermeyer starts offering items to stores at discounted prices to facilitate sales.
• Stores markdown prices on remaining inventory to clear stock before the season ends.
• Discounts increase as the season progresses.
• Unsold clothes are kept for the next year and sold at a loss.
• Obermeyer explores various methods to sell leftover inventory, including selling to markets in South America or engaging
in barter trade for company needs like hotel rooms or flights.
 The Supply chain: Process

TEXTILE &
APPAREL SPORT
ACCESSORIES OBERSPORT RETAILERS
MANUFACTURERS OBERMEYER
SUPPLIERS
 SOURCING: Textile and Accessories

 Obermeyer sourced its outerwear products from Obersport.

 Preferred keeping “pre-position” greige fabric to cope with manufacturing lead times.
 Fabric suppliers manufactured a specified amount of fabric of a given type and later dyed or printed
it based on specifications.
 Different fabrics were purchased for use as shells (approx. 10 types) & lining fabric.
 Vendors of shell fabric: US, Japan, Korea, Germany, Austria, Taiwan & Switzerland.
 Vendors of lining fabric: Korea & Taiwan.
 Vendors of insulation materials: DuPont ( Licensees in Hong Kong, Taiwan, Korea &
China)
SOURCING : Textile and Accessories

The greige fabric was dyed or Obersport worked with its

printed as required and the shell subcontractors to prepare small
fabric offered 8-12 colours & batches for each colour that was
prints. required in the fabric.

Obersport worked with printing

Lab-dip took 2 weeks, and the
subcontractors to develop
procedure was repeated if the
“screens” and this procedure took
result wasn’t satisfactory.
2 weeks.
SOURCING : Textile and Accessories
AFTER THE PRODUCTION QUANTITIES GET FINALISE:
Obersport asks subcontractors to dye or print fabric.
1. Shell fabric: Requirement=2.25-2.5 yards of 60” width
Dyeing lead time:45-60 days & Minimum order quantity: 1000 yards.
Printing lead time: 45-60 days & Minimum order quantity: 3000 yards.
2. Insulation material: Requirement=2 yards
Lead time for sourcing: 2 weeks ( Obersport gave them its annual requirement at the beginning
of the year)
SOURCING : Textile and Accessories
 The zipper varied in length, tape colour, and slider shape as well as the gauge, colour and
material of zipper teeth.
 ZIPPER: sourced from YKK (Japanese Manufacturers)
 Lead time of standard zippers: 60 days (sourced from Hong Kong)
 Lead time of non-standard zippers: 90days ( sourced from Japan)
 Minimum order quantity= 500 yards if dyeing color is standard and 1000 yards if it is not
standard.
 After all production materials were received by
Obersport:

 Materials for any given style were then collected &

dispatched to the manufacturing unit in Hong Kong &
APPAREL China.
 Parka Require many cutting & sewing steps
MANUFACTURING  The allocation of operations to workers differed from
one factory to another depending on the skill & degree
of worker cross-training.
 Parka line in Hong Kong required 10 workers to
complete all operations and, in China, 40 workers
were required.
 Hong Kong sewer's actual output during the given
period was twice that of the Chinese workers.
Payment , Production Speed & Quality:
 Workers were paid on a piece-rate basis in both China & Hong Kong.
 Wages in China US$0.16 was lower than that of Hong Kong US$3.84.
 Workers in Hong Kong were capable of working faster than the Chinese.
 The shorter production line enabled Hong Kong factories to produce smaller quantities efficiently.
 Minimum production quantity: 1200 units in China & 600 units in Hong Kong.
 Obermeyer produced 2lakhs parkas in a year and a maximum capacity of 30000 units/month.
 Obersport was responsible for monitoring production and quality at all subcontractor factories.
 Workers from Obersport inspected randomly selected pieces from each subcontractor’s production before the
units were shipped.
CONCLUSION

Ultimately, Wally Obermeyer and Sport Obermeyer

confront a variety of difficulties in the supply chain
management and fashion skiwear manufacturing domains.
Crucial roles include navigating complicated manufacturing
decisions between Hong Kong and China
CONCLUSION

sustaining the company's tradition of innovation, and

striking a balance between the requirement for precise
forecasts and market uncertainty. With the ultimate goal of
providing clients with high-quality skiwear and maintaining
its competitive edge in the market, the company uses both
intuition and data-driven ways to optimize manufacturing
while minimizing risks.