Comparative studies and performance evaluation – Reebok

INTRODUCTION

Reebok International Limited is a producer of athletic footwear, apparel, and accessories and is currently a subsidiary of German sportswear giant Adidas. The name comes from the frikaans spelling of Reebok, a type of African antelope or gazelle. The company, founded in England in 1895, was originally called J.W. FOSTER & SONS but was renamed Reebok in 1958. The company’s founders, Joe and Jeff Foster, found the name in a dictionary won in a race by Joe

Foster as a boy; the dictionary was a South African edition, hence the spelling. Reebok surged in popularity in 1982 after the introduction of the Freestyle athletic shoe, which was specifically designed for women and came out when the aerobics fitness craze started. Not only was the Reebok Freestyle popular as athletic wear, but also on the streets as casual wear because of its comfort and styling. As a result the Freestyle became an icon of the 1980s fashion scene with hi-top versions (including two velcro straps at the top) and colors including white, black, red,
yellow, and blue. Reebok contines to produce the Freestyle to this day as it is popular
with cheerleading, aerobic dancing, the gym, and other consumers.

HUMAN RIGHTS AND PRODUCTION DETAILS

In the past, Reebok had an association with outsourcing through sweatshops, but today it
claims it is firmly committed to human rights. In April 2004, Reebok’s footwear division became
the first company to be accredited by the Fair Labor Association. In 2004, Reebok also became a founding member of the Fair Factories Clearinghouse, a non-profit organization dedicated to improving worker conditions across the apparel industry.

Supplier information, according to the Reebok website as of May 2007:

“Footwear Reebok uses footwear factories in 14 countries. Most factories making Reebok footwear are based in Asia-primarily China (accounting for 51% of total footwear production), Indonesia (21%), Vietnam (17%) and Thailand (7%). Production is consolidated, with 88% of Reebok footwear manfactured in 11 factories, employing over 75,000 workers.” “Apparel Reebok has factories in 45 countries. The process of purchasing products from suppliers is organized by region. Most (52%) of Reebok’s apparel sold in the US is produced in Asia, with the rest coming from countries in the Caribbean, North America, Africa and the Middle East. Apparel sold in Europe is typically sourced from Asia and Europe. Apparel sold in the Asia Pacific region is typically produced by Asian-based manfacturers.

The company holds exclusive rights to manfacture and market both authentic and replica uniform jerseys and sideline apparel of the teams of the National Football League (Gridiron) since 2002, the Canadian Football League since 2004, and is the official shoe supplier to the NFL Gridiron and Major League Baseball. In addition Reebok acquired official National Hockey League sponsor CCM in 2004, and is now manfacturing ice hockey equipment under the CCM and Reebok brands, and has signed popular young stars Sidney Crosby and Alexander Ovechkin to endorsement deals (Crosby for Reebok, Ovechkin for CCM). Reebok has phased out the CCM name on NHL authentic and replica jerseys in recent years, using the Reebok logo since 2005. Reebok is also endorsed by Allen Iverson, Yao Ming, Carolina Klüft, Amélie Mauresmo, Nicole Vaidišová, Shahar Pe’er, Ivy, Thierry Henry, Vince Young, Iker Casillas, Ryan Giggs, Andriy

Shevchenko and Amir Khan It maintains its relationship with its origins in England through a long-term sponsorship deal with Bolton Wanderers, a Premiership football club. When the team moved to a brand new ground in the late-1990s, their new home was named the Reebok Stadium.

Several other English clubs had Reebok sponsorship deals up until the purchase by Adidas,
but most have since switched to either the parent brand (which has a long history in football) or another company altogether.

PRODUCT RANGE

Reebok has many variety of products which is as under:-

Cricket teams with kits manfactured by Reebok

Asia

Chennai Super Kings
• Isasthan Royals
• Bangalore Royal Challengers
• Kolkata Knight Riders

Football (soccer) clubs/leagues with kits manfactured by Reebok

Europe

• Bolton Wanderers
• Aris FC
• KF Drenica
• 1. FC Köln
• PFC CSKA Moscow

Africa

• Bloemfontein Celtic
• AmaZulu F.C.

Reebok technologies

• Hex Ride
• Play Shield
• Play Dry
• Rbk Edge Uniform System
• Hydro move
• DMX
• DMX10
• DMX6
• Griptonite
• The Pump
• DMX Foam
• DMX Reflex
• Hexalite
• 3D Ultralite
• E.R.S. (Energy Return System)

TRANSFORMATION PROCESS

Every organization, be it a product or service organization, transforms certain inputs into outputs. For getting the desired output, the quality of these inputs are to be monitored regularly, and also a comparion is to be made for the real output and the desired output. This all process is done in an environment of random disturbances which are unexpected and therefore sometimes not planned too. This all process is hence known as transformation process in context to operations management.

Reebok adopt transformation process which creates input into output. This process creates good product of reebok.

The following example shows us the transformation of reebok and it starts from learning and ends with interpretation.

Reebok is main player in the market. It has its own image in the market
Reebok creates good working environment for their employees

Several months were taken out of the product developmentprocess, which allowedReebokto bring new and more relevant products to market much faster.

FACILITY LAYOUT

Whether your company is looking to incorporate new processing equipment, expand facilities or integrate a data collection system into your existing, expanded, or planned facility, reebok can help you realize the maximum benefit from your efforts.

Proper Facilities Layout of reebok includes optimally locating equipment, materials, people, infrastructure and data collection points to minimize movement, handling and travel distance of the material and labor while increasing overall productivity.

Reebok Facilities Layout Approach
Develop and/or verify a baseline drawing

Reebok and will develop and/or verify a baseline drawing of your existing facility, to include, if applicable:

Production

Production area drawing will show production equipment, personnel, locations and routing of primary utilities (electrical, pneumatic, vacuum, coolant, data, etc.), lighting, cranes, column locations, transportation aisles, material storage areas, docks, doors

Warehouse/shipping

Warehouse/shipping will show racks, columns, aisles, electrical, material handling equipment, computer workstations, data collection points, printers, inventory location and quantities

Office

Data infrastructure, electrical, personnel locations, solid and partition walls, common equipment (copiers, printers, etc.),

Facilitate employee input meetings

reebok will facilitate meetings to gain input and identify the facilities layout requirements with regard to:

• Product/process flow
• Facility / infrastructure
• Data transfer
• Equipment
• Inventory levels and management

Develop, design and present potential new layout(s)

Reebok will work to improve the process flow and efficiency based upon underlying principles of lean manfacturing and process flow efficiency. Efforts will focus on dock locations, equipment configurations, inventory management and handling practices, and expansion. The team will develop facilities layout options, showing the current operation best arranged within the facility, and offer recommendations to accommodate future growth.

FACALITY LOCATION

Facility location, also known as location analysis, is a branch of operations research concerning itself with mathematical modeling and solution of problems concerning optimal placement of facilities in order to minimize transportation costs, avoid placing hazardous materials near housing, outperform competitors’ facilities, etc

• Input
• validation
• assumption
• output

PRODUCTION PLANING SYSTEM

PRODUCTION PLANNING AND INVENTORY CONTROL includes the analysis of six key factors. Forecasts of future demand for both new and existing products provide information for developing production plans. In capacity planning, the firm analyzes how much of a product it must be able to produce. Location planning for goods and for low-contact services involves analyzing proposed facility sites in terms of proximity to raw materials and markets, availability of labor, and energy and transportation costs. Layout planning includes designing a facility so that customer needs are supplied for high-contact services and so as to enhance production efficiency. In quality planning, systems are developed to ensure that products meet a firm’s quality standards. Finally, in methods planning, specific production steps and methods for performing them are identified. The training program provides in-depth conceptual and practical skills about PRODUCTION PLANNING AND INVENTORY CONTROL

Objectives of Reebok in planning

• It is the key concepts of Production Planning and Inventory Control.
• Explain the meaning of the term production or operations.
• Describe the four kinds of utility provided by production and explain the two classifications of operations processes.
• Describe the FIFO & FILO concepts and processes.
• Identify opportunities in inventory management.
• Learn how to apply the tools by participating in a simulation.
• Explain factors in operations scheduling, operations control, materials management and the use of operations control tools.

QUALITY SYSTEM

First of all I m telling that why quality system needed:-

• How is customer satisfaction achieved?

Two dimensions: Product features and Freedom from deficiencies.

• Product features – Refers to quality of design.

Examples in manfacturing industry: Performance, Reliability, Durability, Ease of use, Esthetics etc.

Examples in service industry: Accuracy, Timeliness, Friendliness and courtesy, Knowledge of server etc.

• Freedom from deficiencies – Refers to quality of conformance.

Higher conformance means fewer complaints and increased customer satisfaction.

Reebok take in mind all these things before designing product. It has good quality system .

INVENTORY MANAGEMENT

Inventoryis a list forgoodsandmaterials, or those goods and materials themselves, held available in stock by abusiness. It is also used for a list of the contents of a household and for a list for testamentarypurposes of the possessions of someone who has died. In accounting inventory is considered anasset.

In business management, inventory consists of a list of goods and materials held available in stock.

Inventory Management of reebok includes:-

Inventory Control

Must tie together the following objectives, to insure there is continity between functions:

• Company Strategic Goals
• Sales Forecasting
• Sales & Operations Planning
• Production & Material Planning

Reebok adopt this inventory management.

CONCLUSION

We analyze the overall structure of the Reebok company so we conclude the it is in good position in the market. The transformation process adopted by Reebok is very good and quality of his products is very good and finally we can say the overall position of Reebok is very good.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

• www.reebok.com
• www.en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Facility_location
• www.invatol.com

Books

• Stevenson
• Philip Kotler