Lecrown records impressive growth in production

Exploring this Taiwanese-owned company’s facility which houses various production buildings and a fully-equipped SATRA-accredited laboratory.

Located north of Phnom Penh, the bustling economic, industrial and cultural capital of Cambodia, Lecrown – which was known as Carlington until mid-2023 – was founded in 2011 as a producer of footwear components. The company opened its first production building manufacturing solings that year, and a second facility was built two years later.

Having moved into manufacturing finished footwear, Lecrown made one million vulcanised shoes for Vans in 2014. This annual figure grew to six million in 2016 and ten million produced just two years later. Over the years, other international brand owners started to also use Lecrown, and at this time, the company manufacturers up to 1.5 million pairs of vulcanised shoes each month and 150,000 pairs of sandals in the same time period.

Significant expansion

Under chief executive Mike Tsai, the factory complex has grown to encompass a number of production facilities. In Building A, workers on 16 cutting and preparation lines and 50 stitching lines produce an average of 38,000 to 48,000 pairs each day. Building B houses the carton/inner box warehouse, as well as 16 lines dedicated to assembly and packing of Vans footwear. As with Building A, this facility has an average daily output of up to 48,000 pairs.

In the third building – designated ‘C’ – are the incoming warehouse, two lines for cutting and preparation, ten stitching lines, three lines for assembly and a packing section. Building D houses areas for printing, footbed sole attachment, cutting, stitching and assembly, all of which have an average daily sandal production of 5,000 to 6,000 pairs.

Elsewhere on the site are areas used for the die-cutting of EVA, EVA injection-moulding, the production of rubber outsoles and foxing, and injection moulding in rubber. A three-storey finished goods warehouse includes a warehouse, an inspection room and a repacking area. The company’s development centre, administration site, lamination room, chemical warehouse and laboratory are also nearby. The laboratory began operation in August 2013 and applied for SATRA accreditation two years later. Twenty members of staff are currently employed in this laboratory, which is audited by SATRA on a yearly basis in order to achieve continuous accreditation.

The photograph at the top of this page shows Lecrown’s conditioning and flex testing room, with a view into the main laboratory.

Publishing Data

This article was originally published on page 22 of the July/August 2023 issue of SATRA Bulletin.

Other articles from this issue »

---