SATRA manager speaks at VF footwear event

SATRA Membership Manager Alan Drage discussed in-house laboratories and testing at source.

The second annual VF Asia Outdoor Footwear Vendor Summit recently took place at the Westin Hotel in Macau, China. The VF Corporation – said to be the world’s largest apparel company and worth more than $7 billion – has a diverse portfolio of brands internationally, and uses its broad knowledge of art and science to create quality products.

Topics discussed at the event focused on the business activities over the last year, which included the improvement of sales figures. VF’s three main footwear divisions (Vans, The North Face and Reef) have all seen a double-digit increase in annual sales. All three businesses faced the challenge of significant rises in material costs, with cotton, polyester, nylon, rubber and EVA all approaching historic price highs. This was further exacerbated by the high amount of labour supply and wage increases in the company’s key manufacturing markets of South China, Ho Chi Minh and Jakarta. Natural disasters, including a number of earthquakes, have played a disruptive role in commodity supplies.

Fortunately, customers remain enthusiastic and continue to support sales. “This is down to the company’s ethic of delivering great products, on time and at a reasonable price, with product quality and innovation being the cornerstones of all of our brands,” said a VF spokesperson.

The footwear summit provided an opportunity for key VF employees, as well as some of their significant component suppliers – such as Gore-Tex and Vibram – to meet with core Asian footwear manufacturers. SATRA’s Membership Manager, Alan Drage, gave a presentation on the benefit of having in-house laboratories and how SATRA can help in setting up an internationally-recognised programme for testing at source. He also outlined the relevant research projects that SATRA is carrying out in 2011, including foot scanning, shoe sizing, mould growth and preventation, and cold rating for footwear. Alan’s presentation was followed by an open forum later in the day when SATRA’s Dean Ashworth, who looks after SATRA’s Far East business development, discussed visions for the future.

Publishing Data

This article was originally published on page 4 of the June 2011 issue of SATRA Bulletin.

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