“Best Practice in Footwear Manufacturing – The
Italian Experience”
Within the framework of the UNIDO Consolidated
Project for SMEs Development in India, UNIDO ITPO
Italy, in coordination with Unioncamere and
Confindustria Marche, and with the collaboration of
PISIE, a research centre devoted to leather and
footwear, organized a study tour and training
activity for an Indian delegation that meant to
improve its knowledge of the Italian footwear
production system and of the sustainable
technologies in use by several leading footwear
companies known for their high standards of quality.
The
Indian Delegation consisted of 14 production
managers and technical experts from different SMEs
of Chennai and 4 trainers from Indian footwear
training institutes who visited several companies in
the Marche Region. The delegation participated also
in the LineaPelle exhibition which is the most
important international event dedicated to leather,
from components and accessories to tanned leather.
The fair consists of three segments, Lineapelle,
Simac, and Tanning Tech with around 300 exhibitors
from all over the world. Lineapelle fair is an event
mainly addressed to footwear and leather goods
designers, leather products, materials, components,
accessories, and chemicals. Simac Fair is organized
in particular around the marketing of footwear and
leather goods machinery. It focuses primarily on
CAD/CAM/DieLess cutting systems, computerized
lasting (uppers), and lasting and sole-making
machines with robotic controls. During the visit,
the delegation had the opportunity to test the
latest shoe production technology such as the new
3D optical/laser scanner which can scan a shoe and
create the data needed for lasting. Another
important innovation was the new foot scan which
detects the shape of the foot and gives the data for
lasting (much superior to the conventional cast
process).
The study tour and training course were held in
Italy from October 28th to November 9th, 2008. The
activity was developed in the context of the
collaboration agreement entered into by the Indian
Shoe Federation and Unioncamere Marche, that
improves opportunities for SMEs of both countries
to achieve better standards of production and have
easier access to technology transfer and
investment.
The main results of this study tour were that this
delegation, consisting of senior production managers
and trainers of the Indian leather and footwear
institutions, familiarized itself with the
production process of companies meeting exacting
standards of quality, observed directly how 5
companies deal with the management of human
resources in their production system, appreciated
the benefits of innovative technologies, and saw
production methods that, if imitated or adopted,
would help Indian companies to become more effective
manufacturers.
It was important for the delegation to experience
the different stages of the leather and footwear
industry, starting from production, to evaluate the
importance of European and Italian standards in
conjunction with the use of innovative technologies
that are also environment-friendly, and to
understand the relationships between companies of
the same industry as they participate in an
international fair.
