Baer Belly Bikinis, Inc. (BBB) is a small business located in Santa Monica, California. It sells swimwear and related products to specialty stores throughout
the United States. It also sells its products to individuals over a company website. Paige
Baer founded BBB almost 10 years ago after she graduated from the Fashion Institute of
Design and Merchandising. She recognized the need for swimsuits sold as separates. Her
business has grown rapidly, and now BBB has a large following of customers who want to be able to mix and match to find their ideal swimsuit. Currently, BBB products are carried
in more than 1,000 specialty swimwear boutiques and online retailers.
During an initial interview with Paige Baer, she outlined BBB’s business processes.
She acknowledged that she doesn’t know much about accounting and information technol-
ogy. As the business grew, her accounting suffered and information systems were added
piecemeal. So, she is looking forward to an assessment of her requirements and recom-
mendations that would position BBB for substantial further growth.
This case examines BBB purchases of fabric. BBB’s production staff selects the fabric
and materials for the swimsuits. This case also examines BBB purchases of and miscella-
neous supplies and services.
BBB works closely with local fab-
ric vendors to determine the color
themes for each season’s products.
When BBB has received enough
orders from the retailer customers
to estimate the quantity of swim-
suits and products to manufac-
ture, BBB then orders the required
quantities of fabric and related
materials from the fabric vendors.
BBB pays each fabric vendor at the
end of the month for all purchases
during the month. For each fabric order, there is one receipt. For each receipt of fabric, there
is one order. Consequently, the order and purchases (receipts) can be modeled as one event.
1. The Production supervisor places an order for fabric according to internal estimates of
production quantities (the estimates are not part of the project).
2. Fabric vendors ship fabric in bulk to BBB usually within 2 weeks of the order.
3. A Shipping and Warehouse employee receives the bulk fabric and verifies quantities
received.