Driving Process Simplification & Sustainability in Footwear Production

Footwear Industry Challenges

Rising labor costs and advances in green production are the main changes in the sports and fashion manufacturing industries. In order to address the manufacturing cost challenge, many shoemakers and brands  have relocated to regions with competitive labor cost such as Vietnam, Indonesia, Bangladesh or Cambodia and leads to the huge changes in the geographical distribution of footwear manufacture. 

The question is: Will this relocation be justifiable on long-term for the footwear manufacturing industry? If not, what could be the answer for rising labor cost and sustainability?

The solution: Henkel Water-Based adhesives

Industry experts agree that process simplification and automation are leading the change in the market, also they provide answers for challenges relating to labor cost and sustainability commitment in production process. To meet these trends, Henkel has launched the enhanced 1-component water-based adhesive and primer package, enabling process simplification in footwear manufacturing.

The solution is one of results developed from the research about single-side adhesives, Henkel innovative adhesive technology specially designed for shoemaking industry. With these products, our customers can benefit from long-term return of investment through various cost savings, including:

• Shorter production process
• Efficient labor planning
• Higher production growth
• Lesser chemical emission  

^{Robot arm is applying Henkel Enhanced Water-based Adhesive to the shoes sole} 

“Henkel enhanced 1-component water-based adhesive can be applied both manual and auto-spray. This solution also provides better performance such as tack, bonding, aging and hydrolysis. 

Improved bonding performance could make simple process without using reinforcing primer or double cementing for difficult substrates.”, shared by Mr. Yoosu Lee, Technical Customer Service Head, Sports and Fashion, Henkel APAC.