SATRA online course proving its value

Outlining SATRA’s new ‘Footwear Foundations’ interactive online course for personnel working in the industry.

SATRA’s ‘Footwear Foundations’ is an online course designed to benefit both manufacturing and non-shoemaking personnel working in the industry – including marketing staff, buyers, designers, product developers, material suppliers and members of a sales team. It has been designed to provide a broad technical appreciation of footwear right across the value chain, from concept through to delivery and consumer end use. The course will benefit both existing staff looking to expand on their basic technical knowledge and staff new to the footwear industry.

The course can be accessed online 24/7 and consists of a number of different modules, each covering a specific aspect of footwear development, production and quality assurance. It is designed to deliver the equivalent of two days of on-site training and some pages from the course are illustrated in this article. While the current course language is English, a joint English/Chinese version will soon be made available.

The modules in the course have been designed to enable the learner to work in a way that best supports their style of learning – such as visual or auditory. While reviewing the text, there is an option to use an audio voiceover that can be turned on or off as required.

Students can move through the modules at their own pace, and there are interactive quizzes at the end of each module to check what has been learned. Successful completion of the full course leads to the award of the SATRA Footwear Foundations Certificate.

There is also a glossary of terms that is accessible from each slide, which will include words and phrases used in the module. If students want more information regarding specific topics covered in the Footwear Foundations course, they will have full access to the online SATRA Member’s Area where they can search for SATRA Bulletin magazine articles or view recordings of relevant webinar sessions. Help from our technical experts is also on hand.

The complete course is being made available to members for GBP 995 and bulk discounts are available. Access to the introductory module can be arranged free of charge by contacting SATRA. This gives the potential student the opportunity to review the course content in more detail and understand how the online training platform works.

Course modules

Following an introductory module, the course continues with 11 more sections:

‘Design’ – This is the very start of the shoemaking process, and a crucial stage where some key decisions are made about the footwear. The module shows how many styles have been influenced by classic types and considers some of these before examining the design process itself.

‘Upper materials’ – In this third module, the student will learn about some of the materials most commonly used as footwear uppers including leather, textiles and other synthetics. The properties of these materials are examined along with characteristics that impact the footwear manufacturing process.

‘Soles’ – The information in this module explores methods of producing soles, some of the materials commonly used and the requirements for these vital footwear components.

‘Structural components’ – Module five examines all the elements of a shoe which give it structure, shape and strength – components that are often hidden from view in the finished shoe, yet play a vital role. This section covers how these items are used and some of the materials from which they are made.

‘Closing’ – This module provides information on the processes that occur during the ‘closing’ stage of shoemaking – when the upper components are prepared and assembled into a completed upper, ready to be both lasted and soled.

‘Lasting and making’ – This part of the course explains the stages in shoemaking in which a last is put into the closed upper and the shoe is made ready for the sole to be attached. The key differences between flat lasting, string lasting and force lasting are also taught in this section.

‘Sole attachment’ – The eighth module shows some of the common methods of sole attachment, and considers the material and component preparation that is necessary to ensure good attachment.

‘Finishing’ – This module highlights the final stage of the shoemaking process, which is also one of the most important. The student will learn aspects of quality control and the steps taken in the ‘shoe room’ or ‘finishing room’ to ensure that a good quality product is therefore made.

‘Fitting and comfort’ – As everyone wants footwear that is well-fitting and comfortable, this module covers the principles of good fitting, in addition to the importance of understanding sizing systems, how fit and comfort relate to design, and the process involved in checking the fit of finished footwear.

‘Testing’ – The material presented in this module is extremely relevant to all aspects of footwear manufacture, and shoemakers should keep in mind the performance requirements of the materials, components and completed footwear within their scope.

‘Consumer issues’ – The final module, which is closely connected to testing, explores some consumer issues related to footwear. The student will be helped to differentiate between a ‘quality complaint’ and a ‘safety complaint’, and demonstrate an understanding of some of the relevant legislation.

The Footwear Foundations syllabus has recently been supplemented by a new end-of-course review consisting of randomly-drawn questions to test the learner’s knowledge of topics from each of the modules.

As mentioned, the English version of the introductory module is available for members to try – please request details using the email address below. The joint English/Chinese version introductory module will follow shortly, so please register your interest to access this when it is online.

Publishing Data

This article was originally published on page 28 of the April 2023 issue of SATRA Bulletin.

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