When retailers, reps and sales managers gather next month at the Salt Palace for Outdoor Retailer Summer Market, talk will turn to products — how to market them, how to merchandise them, when to bring in back-up orders. No less important, however, will be the discussions among product designers, brand managers, suppliers and a small army of compliance auditors, contractors and consultants that manage the industry’s far-flung supply chain and will be focused on the questions of where, when and how to make product and maintain margins.
Deciding how to source product has always been a complex task, but rapid changes in the global economy in recent years have sourcing executives reexamining their reliance on China like never before. Outdoor Industry Association (OIA), concerned about the implications, invited Dr. Bruce Arntzen, a senior director with MIT’s Center for Transportation and Logistics, to present his findings to the OIA board of directors meeting and participated in a panel discussion at Outdoor Retailer Winter Market last January.