Leather Footwear Research Articles

Crafting Superior Dress Shoes

This study explores the utilization of African ostrich leg skins, sourced from South Africa, in the production of high-quality leather footwear in Ethiopia. It begins with a thorough analysis of the raw materials, particularly their fat and protein contents, while also evaluating the most effective tanning methods. The research focuses on the impact of chrome and semi-chrome tanning on the leather’s physical and structural qualities, highlighting its unique texture and durability. Through comprehensive trials conducted in Ethiopia, the study examines the leather’s thermal stability, fiber structure, and performance metrics. The results reveal that chrome tanning is better suited for producing footwear, as it enhances leather strength and yields leather with minimal stretch, making it ideal for crafting durable upper shoe components. On the other hand, semi-chrome tanning, as evidenced by scanning electron microscopy, yields softer leather with better fiber separation, suitable for luxury leather bags’ decorative features. The findings demonstrate that specialized tanning techniques can enhance both the aesthetic and functional attributes of ostrich leg leather, promoting its inclusion in high-end leather products. This approach not only broadens the variety of materials for the Ethiopian leather industry but also supports economic growth and market expansion through sustainable practices and product innovation.

Country‐level analysis of the relationships between sustainability and the textile–clothing–leather–footwear industries

Country‐level analysis of the relationships between sustainability and the textile–clothing–leather–footwear industries

‘Thinna’ as a quasi-public space: the case of leather homeworkers in Southern India

ABSTRACT Homeworkers form a significant part of the informal economy in the global South, are over-represented by women, and are defined by their place of work, that is, their ‘home’. As production and social reproduction intersect in the private sphere of the home, a woman’s mobility and access to public spaces is limited and gendered. Within this reality, in the narrow streets of the small town of Ambur in Southern India, women homeworkers stitching leather footwear access ‘public’ entities through their ‘thinna’: a porch/veranda-like structure at the entrance of the house. This article explores thinna as a quasi-public space, arguing that even while spatially attached to a private home, it allows women to place themselves and to participate in the realm of the public. Based on in-depth interviews with 62 homeworkers, I show that women homeworkers utilise the thinna to make themselves ‘visible’ – physically, socially, economically, and politically. They sit here not only for better lighting but also to chat with neighbouring homeworking women, thereby keeping themselves informed on what other women are stitching and their piece rates. They engage economically with the contractor(s), using it to showcase their stitching skills. Here, a local civil society organisation convenes meetings to organise them and here leather company representatives ‘visit’ homeworkers. For homeworkers, thus, thinna provides a public and social space where the professional and personal imbricate.

13th century leather footwear from Vilnius Lower Castle

During the archaeological excavations in the territory of the Palace of the Grand Dukes in Vilnius, the remains of leather footwear dating back to the late 13th century was discovered. These were only the cut-off lower parts of the footwear, a pair inserted one into the other and stored in a box together with other exceptional artefacts of that time. The footwear was made of expensive dyed goat leather. The luxurious leather items of footwear were reconstructed on the basis of various conducted artefact tests and studies. Based on the construction properties, it can be assumed that they were intended for indoor wear. Artefacts of analogous construction are only rarely discovered. Known examples were discovered during the excavations in Velikii Novgorod, Tver, Hrodna and several other locations to the east of the Baltic Sea. The artefacts from these territories date back to the late 11th to early 14th centuries.

Tata International Limited: expanding leather footwear in India

Learning outcomes The case study aims to provide students with an understanding of the challenges businesses face expanding into the home market after having an international presence through exports. It also throws light on operations in an emerging market economy – both rural and urban. The key objectives are to understand the leather footwear business operation in India, understand the challenges of expanding business in India, analyse strategies adopted to sustain and compete in India and identify the possible distribution strategies for the leather footwear business in India. Case overview/synopsis The case study focuses on Tata International Limited’s (TIL) leather and leather products business in India. The leather and leather products division was present in India since 1973 (Anand, 2020) and exported to more than 35 countries across the world (Anand, 2020). TIL did not want to miss the opportunity available in India and planned to expand its leather footwear business in the country. The company opened retail outlets in major Indian cities and an experience store in Dewas (Madhya Pradesh) in 2019. It aimed for a domestic presence along with the existing export business. However, the biggest challenge that was in front of V. Muthukumaran, head of leather products division at TIL, was how to go ahead with the idea of domestic expansion (Anand, 2020). Should the company expand the market through sister companies (Westside and Tata CliQ) in India? How and in what way should TIL plan for going through Westside and Tata CLiQ? Should Muthukumaran think of either the brick-and-mortar route or the online route or both? Complexity academic level This case study is designed for use in undergraduate and graduate early-stage programmes. This case study is primarily designed for use in Master of Business Administration and/or Bachelor of Business Administration programmes. The case study is ideal for courses on understanding the expansion in the domestic market, strategy, retail and international marketing. The teaching note discusses theoretical frameworks such as external environment analysis and SWOT analysis to devise distribution strategies. The case study mapped the distribution channel and decision alternatives for the company. Supplementary materials Teaching notes are available for educators only. Subject code CSS 8: Marketing.

Prediction of leather footwear export using learning algorithms based on ANN model

Leather footwear export plays a crucial role in the Indian economy as India is the second largest footwear producer in the world. As a commodity, it is unavoidable to emphasize its export performance by forecasting. This paper aims to bring out an Artificial Neural Network based model to predict India’s leather footwear export. Towards forecasting Leather footwear export, the dataset comprising five commodities covered under leather footwear has been taken from 1996 to 97 to 2021–22. The authors have proposed India’s Leather Footwear Export - Artificial Neural Network (ILFE-ANN) model with SGD optimizer and activation functions such as Sigmoid / Logistic and Rectified linear unit (ReLU). The authors have kept null values as it is in the data than replacing them with imputation methods such as mean and median while modelling. Outliers are replaced with the mean value of the remaining data before modelling. Moreover, different learning algorithms such as Adaptive Moment (Adam), RMS Propagation (RMSProp), Stochastic Gradient Descent (SGD) and SGD with Momentum (SGDM) have been compared to choose an optimal one before being implemented in the ILFE-ANN. The validation of the ILFE-ANN model has been implemented for the prediction of livestock population and compared with the Regression model. The variation percentage confirms that the proposed ILFE-ANN model performs significantly with 0.51% RMSProp, 1.68 % SGDM and 2.54 % SGD. Further, the minimum value of performance metrics MAE, MAPE and RMSE obtained are 0.4, 0.5 and 0.5 respectively for the prediction of sheep population for the year 2017. It shows that SGD performs better with the least error rate of 8% MAPE for the export of leather Commodity 64035113. Hence, the study confirms that the ANN model with SGD optimizer performs better for the prediction of India’s leather footwear trade data.

A Study on Perception of Visual–Tactile and Color–Texture Features of Footwear Leather for Symmetric Shoes

The study applies Kansei engineering in analyzing the color and texture of leather footwear, utilizing neural network verification to mirror consumers’ visual and tactile imageries onto varieties of leather. This aids in the development of an advanced system for selecting leather footwear based on such impressions. Initially, representative word pairs denoting consumers’ visual and tactile perceptions of leather footwear were delineated. Post-evaluation of these perceptions through a sensibility assessment questionnaire was administered, using 54 samples of leather footwear provided by manufacturers, with each leather type codified in terms of visual and tactile sensibilities. Subsequently, a customized software algorithm was crafted to isolate the primary color and adhesiveness as color features from the leather sample images. Analyzing grayscale values of the images and using pixel neighborhood as a base, the associated calculation methods, such as LBP, SCOV, VAR, SAC, etc., were proposed to extract texture features from the images. The derived color and texture feature values were used as the input layer and the sensory vocabulary quantified values as the output layer. Backpropagation neural network training was conducted on 49 leather samples, with five leather samples used for testing, culminating in the verification of neural network training for three types and 17 combinations. The outcome was an optimal method for leather footwear Kansei engineering and neural network training, establishing a design process for leather footwear characteristics assisted by sensory vocabulary and a backpropagation neural network. Additionally, a computer-aided system for selecting leather footwear, based on these impressions, was designed and validated through footwear design. This study utilized symmetry in footwear design. By using the design of a single shoe to represent the imagery of a pair of symmetrical shoes, we verified whether the leather samples recommended by the leather imagery selection query system met the expected system input settings.

Automation of production plan generating workbook at leather footwear company of Lahore Pakistan by using VBA in Microsoft Excel

In Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs), all the reporting tasks are carried out in Microsoft Excel. The employees spend all of their time working on the reports and in the case of an error in the report; a tremendous amount of their time is incurred on the detection of that error. At one of the leather footwear companies in Lahore, Pakistan, report automation was carried out using visual basic for Application (VBA) in Microsoft Excel. The purpose of automation was to increase the reporting efficiency and minimize the chance of error. The authors automated the generation of production plan papers, which used to take 3.11 minutes to be made per plan paper. 3.11 minutes were required just for a single order of only one footwear article). This research provides the framework for the automation of manual reporting in Microsoft Excel. This automation was conducted by using VBA in Microsoft Excel. In the VBA code, the loops and conditional statements were used to program the manual activities to be performed in the report. Initially, the manual method was demonstrated in detail then way of report automation was the focus of discussion. The comparison of both methods was conducted in terms of time utilization. The manual method encompassed a series of activities whereas; the automated template included the buttons with few clicks. A time study of report-making by manual and automated method was conducted which indicated that the automated method was 1.36 minutes faster than the manual method. This research contributes to the provision of a detailed framework, with the help of which any manual work in Microsoft Excel can be automated. It was also indicated by this research that SMEs who cannot afford the implementation of Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) software, have the option of VBA in Microsoft Excel by which they can enhance their reporting efficiency and office employees` productivity.

Development of a collaborative robotic system to polish leather surfaces

ABSTRACT Patina is the natural aging process that gives leather a unique, worn appearance. However, this patina effect can also be created artificially by using specific products to rub the leather surface. This research presents a new and innovative method to automate the process of creating patina on leather footwear using collaborative robots. These types of finishing tasks on medium size objects are delicate and often require adjustments by skilled craftsmen, adding complexity to the automation process. This new solution involves designing and implementing a collaborative tool specifically created to cultivate a patina finish on shoe surfaces. The system aims to speed up the process without compromising the quality of the finished product. In order to accomplish this task, a collaborative robot that can regulate contact force and a preexisting software feature for recording manual paths are utilized together with the skills of an expert craftsman. This enables the robot’s end effector to conform to the curved contours of the shoe. Furthermore, the tool’s path and position are modified based on the data from the CAD model to ensure precise outcomes. This study introduces a novel technique for automated and partially automated patina development in the shoe industry. This work presents a system integrated into a productive facility and it is currently being used.

Empirical study on design and development of hand-crafted footwear

With its enormous potential in terms of employment, growth, and exports, the footwear industry is an important player in the Indian context, and can contribute to the nation's economic development. It is worth noting here that leather footwear in Kolhapuri style has a distinguished history spanning hundreds of years. This craft style is a labor-intensive production process in which the primitive nature of the tools and equipment are used. In the present context, this craft style is about to go extinct because of artisans' declining interest. The present study reports an attempt to improve the manufacturing procedure and productivity without changing the fundamental nature of the craft (its actual essence). The study reports on the local craft cluster's efforts to rethink the craft style in terms of technological interventions, skill development, product diversification, commercial opportunities, etc. Further, the study reports the necessity of conducting social workshops on design innovations. The study advocates the revitalization of Kolhapur's identity and the need for acceleration of this dying craft.

Root Cause Analysis of Color Migration in Footwear

The phenomena of migration and/or bleeding of colorants are one of the major concerns for the footwear and leather goods industries. The migration/bleeding of the colorants from one component to the other has been observed in many cases that spoil the aesthetics of the product, which in turn leads to economic loss for the industries. In this research article, a typical case of color migration in leather footwear has been studied in depth for root-cause analysis of the migration problem. The leather used in the shoe upper (affected due to migration), the lining fabric, and the adhesive used in making the footwear were characterized by microscopic and spectroscopic techniques. The FTIR-ATR study revealed that the leather was finished with polyurethane-based coating, the lining fabric used was an aromatic polyester and the adhesive was natural rubber-based adhesive. Though the lining fabric was colorfast to rubbing, it released color in all the organic solvents generally used in natural rubber-based adhesive. Migration studies showed that migration of the colorant (black) from the lining material to the leather (white) happened only in the presence of the adhesive. In conclusion, the organic solvent present in the adhesive used in making the footwear was responsible for the color migration from the lining material to the attached leather. Finally, recommendations have also been made to avoid such problems of color migration in products made from a variety of multiple fabrics.

Product Quality Control Using the Six Sigma method and Seven Tools in the PDL Shoe Industry

CV Yunanda is one of the companies whose manufacturing process is in the form of shoes and sandals, CV Yunanda has one of PDL's main products in the field of leather footwear. The problem with this company is a production defect. Based on these problems, the purpose of this study is to determine the extent of the defects, determine the underlying causes of defective products, and make recommendations for improvement to reduce the number of defective products. This study uses seven tools and six sigma methods to identify the key factors that cause defective products and identify corrective actions to be taken based on the underlying factors. The results showed that there were 4 types of product defects, namely 13% overlapping skin defects and 11% flexed skin, 10% wrinkled skin, 7% scratched skin. The proposed solution is to control, inspect and perform maintenance on machines or equipment used in the production process, establish SOPs for each machine area, improve human resources through training and improvement of the work environment.
 Keywords Defect , Quality,

A Study On Factors Affecting Exports Of Leather Footwear As A Strong Initiative Of Make In India

A Study On Factors Affecting Exports Of Leather Footwear As A Strong Initiative Of Make In India

Export Resilience of Indian Leather Footwear: Post-COVID-19 Context

This study examined the factors influencing Indian leather footwear exports during the COVID-19 pandemic and prioritized the key challenges. By analyzing the literature of the crisis period (2019-2021) and consulting industry experts, the study identified and ranked challenges using the Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP), a commonly used method for project prioritization. Microsoft Excel's built-in functions, including average, sum, MMULT, and GEOMEAN, were used to calculate criteria weights and determine their global priorities. The research revealed that the pandemic significantly impacted export revenue, supply chain disruptions, and export operations and incentives in the leather footwear industry. Based on the findings, the study recommended CLE extend existing promotional schemes, such as the Integrated Development of Leather Sector (under IFLDP), to mitigate the pandemic's disruption on Indian leather footwear exports.

Development of pneumatic shoe press machine with integrated real-time cloud database system for SMEs footwear productivity

Abstract. This innovative effort focused on advancements in the shoe-making process by introducing a state-of-the-art pneumatic shoe press integrated with a real-time cloud database system tailored to the needs of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). This research aims to design and engineer a state-of-the-art pneumatic shoe press capable of printing complex designs on leather footwear. This machine can collect, send, and store production data in a cloud-based database, so as to monitor and analyze their manufacturing operations in real-time. The research methodology utilizes a structured approach from the design, manufacturing, assembly, operational testing, performance evaluation, and data analysis stages. The application of a pneumatic shoe press integrated with a real-time cloud database system provides various benefits for SMEs in the footwear industry. The system’s advantage lies in the use of a real-time cloud database that allows SMEs to gain immediate access to production data. The machine is capable of printing complex designs with high precision in one minute per pair of shoes. The product quality is good, so it can meet the standards of the shoe industry. This research successfully developed a pneumatic shoe press integrated with a real-time cloud database system, which can improve the productivity and quality of SMEs in the shoe industry. This technological innovation simplifies the manufacturing process, ensures the best product quality, and provides real-time production data.

System of indicators and the classifier of methods for quality control and evaluation of agricultural products in the structure of multidimensional inter-industry production cooperation

The article deals with the main issues of product quality management and control in multidimensional inter-industry production cooperation. Regulatory requirements and industry methods for assessing the quality of agricultural raw materials and finished industrial products on the example of leather and foot-wear industry are analyzed. The article presents the structural and logical scheme of the integrated classifier of methods for comprehensive quality assessment of objects and processes in multidimensional organizational structure of interindustry production cooperation. The conditions of digital transformation of agro-industrial complex aiming at improving the quality of leather footwear production on the basis of information-organizational inter-branch interaction between industrial and agricultural enterprises are formed int he article.

Unnao Tanneries Limited: Post COVID Business Strategy

Unnao Tanneries Limited (UTL), formerly known as Monir Leather Works, was set up in the 1980s and has been a family-owned business for over four decades. The primary activity of UTL in the initial years was leather jackets and purses. It sold its products under the brand name Brown Cliff. It shifted its manufacturing units from Kanpur to the nearby town of Unnao to cut costs and increase capacity in 1990. It later expanded its product range to primarily include leather footwear, targeting the menswear market. It became one of the top players in the northern part of the country with a proper business strategy. The footwear segment was growing rapidly and profitably for UTL. The business was smooth for almost four decades with minor hiccups until the government imposed a ban on its functioning due to a sparse wastewater disposal system in May 2019. The initial ban was prolonged further due to the COVID-19 pandemic in the country in March 2020. As a result, UTL suffered a significant loss in sales and clients. Reviving demand for the products after the easing of partial lockdown in the country was a daunting task. UTL became a contractual manufacturer for CONTE to utilize its idle resources and reduce its financial burden. Later, UTL got an offer from Batla Leather Products Limited (BLPL) to become its contract manufacturer. BLPL was one of the top players in the national and international market and it was looked for facilities to quickly scale up its operations. This case allows the readers to put themselves in Mr Sadiq Monir’s shoes and analyse an unforeseen business situation. The choice between short-term profits and sustainability versus long-term growth of the family brand Brown Cliff had to be made. The case gives several macro and micro factors supporting the choices and the decision to be made. The decision dilemma has two facets—to gain expertise in improving operations and to have a steady flow of income for the next 2–3 years versus risking the loss of independence and dilution of the family brand Brown Cliff.

Public Governance and Technological Capabilities in the Kenyan Leather Industry

ABSTRACT This article focuses on small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in Kenya’s leather sector. It explores how public governance impacts SMEs’ technological capabilities and access to global value chains (GVCs). By public governance, we mean all government regulations and interventions set in place to shape the organization of value chains. Drawing on interview data, the article compares Kenya’s leather handbag and footwear manufacturers. On the one hand, handbag SMEs have succeeded in upgrading and entering GVCs through a combination of foreign knowledge and partnership with local universities. Despite meeting with public governance barriers, this process has enabled the transfer of technological capabilities from foreign-owned firms to a number of emerging SMEs owned by Kenyan nationals. On the other hand, leather footwear production was developed during the 1970s by large firms under state support. As protectionist measures were lifted in the 1990s, firms shut down and producers moved into the informal economy, replicating outdated capabilities in a context of price-driven competition, thereby limiting upgrading and participation in GVCs. The article concludes by comparing these findings with the experience of Kenya’s apparel manufacturers and highlighting the critical need for GVC research to account for the role of public governance in shaping firms’ technological capabilities and access to global markets.

Prevalence and factors associated with occupational health problems among leather footwear manufacturing workers in Ambur town, Thirupathur district, Tamil Nadu, India

Background: In India, the leather footwear manufacturing sector contributes to a significant segment of leather products, and workers were exposed to a wide range of hazardous substances during the manufacturing process. The present study was conducted to identify the prevalence of various work-related health complaints and the factors associated with occupational health problems among leather footwear workers in Tamil Nadu. 
 Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted among 275 leather footwear workers in Ambur town, Thirupathur district, Tamil Nadu from June 2019 to July 2019. Data was collected using a semi-structured questionnaire consisting of socio-demographic and workplace characteristics, work-related self-reported health complaints, and use of personal protective equipment (PPE). Descriptive analysis and multivariate analysis were performed to identify factors associated with work-related health problems at a 5% level of significance. 
 Results: The study demonstrated a prevalence of 19.33% respiratory disorders, 16.4% skin ailments, and 37% musculoskeletal complaints. Workers involved in the scouring/finishing process had nearly two times the odds (95% CI: 0.977-3.923); workers who do not use PPE like gloves or masks had two times the odds (95% CI: 1.307-4.346); workers who reported inadequate windows/fans or blowers in their work station had four times the odds (95% CI: 1.421-12.413) and workers who reported lack of regular work training had 3.5 times odds (95% CI: 1.954-6.531) of occupational health problems. 
 Conclusions: Implementation of strict protocols on the use of PPE, periodic monitoring and safety training should be regulated to prevent the workers from these health problems.

Sustainable Entrepreneurship in India: A Comparative Case Study of Social, Economic and Environmental Outcomes

There is an increasing interest in how sustainable entrepreneurship can balance people development, profit generation and planet protection to create better social, economic and environmental outcomes. Firms need to develop sustainable business processes, stakeholder engagement and sustainable innovations to achieve venture success. This comparative case study method uses primary research, literature review and the evaluation of secondary sources to bring more depth to the cases. Primary data are collected through detailed interaction with the Indian founders and the key stakeholders to study the phenomenon of sustainable entrepreneurship. One company designs and produces premium handmade leather footwear using traditional techniques, while the other firm designs and creates fabrics for global fashion houses using artisanal methods. The sustainability practices are contributing to social upliftment and positively impacting the environment as both the ventures were set up with a desire to support India’s artisanal networks. The social, economic and environmental outcomes create the theoretical framework of sustainable entrepreneurship. The sustainable innovation processes implemented by these companies filter out the detrimental effects of innovation to create socially responsible and environmentally friendly products. While sustainability-driven costs are higher for both companies, they are creating value-added products to build long-term profitability and growth. Some sustainability challenges like reduction in carbon footprint through greater efficiency in power consumption and transportation remain to be tackled. This applied research on sustainable best practices adds to the area of entrepreneurship. The cases may guide other entrepreneurs on how they could build and grow sustainable ventures. Policy implications for promoting sustainable entrepreneurship, the governmental role in supporting local artisan networks and the need for greater environmental awareness are discussed.