SHOEDES - Footwear Design for the Circular Economy (MOOC) (SHOEDES-MOOC OPEN)

“Sustainable footwear manufacturing” involves all methods allowing to produce shoes in an environment-friendly way, with environment-friendly materials (such as biodegradable or recycled / recyclable materials), with less resources (in terms of operations, labour, materials, energy).

“Sustainable footwear manufacturing” on shop-floor level means to apply up-to-date processes and to strive for optimum work results. It means to put the emphasis on quality, to eliminate waste, reworks, and rejects. It means to finish orders in time to avoid air shipping. It means to organise processes, operations and workplaces in a way to enable the workers to achieve the best possible quality. It means to go deeper into the sustainability movement of circular supply chain practices and moving on from the 'cradle-to-grave' supply chain practice of product manufactured, distributed, used and thrown out, into a philosophy of “cradle-to-cradle” supply chain practices.

A “sustainable shoe” does not only depend on the materials used but also on the construction method, on the circular design practices adopted, on the decision on a circular logistical lifecycle. For example, and in general, a shoe with a stitched-on sole is more sustainable than a shoe with a cemented sole because it can be repaired and is therefore more durable − but also a lot more expensive. Footwear in the reverse logistics flow can be redistributed, repaired for continued use, remanufactured in case of defects, or recycled into parts and materials that have been carefully selected for this purpose.

When a production technician starts his/her job, the decision on design, construction method, etc. has already been made, the materials and equipment are already defined a circular supply chain.

The management of a company must imperatively understand the concrete needs on the production floor, i.e. the importance of a thorough production planning, of organising a constant and smooth production flow, of organising the workplaces, and of the machines and tools needed to perform each operation. The focus should be set on delivery in time, without overproduction, and possibly without rework or reject.

A sustainable approach in shoe manufacturing is always to concentrate on supply chain and operations which add value and maintain the logical sequence of the work flow.

When going through the production steps (such as cutting / stitching / making / finishing room), the emphasis will not only be put on quality, productivity, or energy saving but also on best practices, explaining the general equipment set-up and how to execute the operations in a way to ensure a maximum service life of the machines and optimum work results.

This Training Unit will focus on what is possible to do at the supply chain and shop-floor level combined with design decisions, to make footwear manufacturing more sustainable.

Following these best practices given in this course will help to make footwear production more sustainable, and they have a direct impact on results, processes, and decision making.