Shoe Sole Industry Attaches Great Importance To Design.

A few days ago, a piece of news was heard in the shoe and shoe industry. "Now, there are 4 designers in our development room. If it goes well, we hope to set up a design team of about 15 people to make up the short board of Maotai in the design. Ding Sien, deputy general manager of Mao Tai, told reporters.

In fact, not only Mao Tai, but also many shoe makers have consciously increased their input in the design field. The importance of design for shoe sole industry has reached an unprecedented level.

Personalized demand enhancement for downstream shoe factories

All along, in the eyes of the world, the design of this problem has always been a short board of sports shoes. Although there are famous brands such as "361", "but", they rarely produce classic shoes like the Trifolium series and the flying trapeze series. But for this problem, the sports shoes practitioners also have a headache.

"Take the shoe sole area as an example, where would you ever think of asking a design team before? In the sole industry, the most common practice is: the boss runs through the three to five times, and buys a bunch of shoes from the international brands such as "Qi", "Qi" and "Qi", then disconnects, and makes some minor adjustments to the soles of the shoes for OK. Ding Sien said frankly that he is also a regular runner, and on the product exhibition rack of Mao Tai Company, there are also a row of international famous brand sports shoes.

In Ding Sien's view, in the stage of rapid development of industry, this "bring ism" is really helpful, and this method has been approved by the downstream finished shoe factory. Even in a specific period, the downstream finished shoe factory also requires the shoe factory to adopt such a mode of operation. The reason is simple: our R & D capability has been recognized by consumers. The shoes they design are definitely the most recognized by consumers. "Under such circumstances, even if we can design beautiful shoes, it is estimated that shoe factories are afraid to place a large order. After all, our products are not recognized by the market."

However, in the recent one or two years, downstream manufacturers of shoes have gradually begun to attach importance to product design. Brand enterprises such as "Qi" and "Qi" have launched products with distinct brand names, such as the "light running" series, which have been recognized by consumers after they have been launched in the market. Correspondingly, the downstream finished shoe factories also put forward more personalized demands in sole design.

"In fact, it is not just the big enterprises such as China and India, including some small and medium-sized shoe factories, which are beginning to have such awareness. Now many of our customers are asking us to provide more personalized products when placing orders, rather than simply changing the sole of shoes as before. Ding Sien told reporters.

There is still doubt about whether the market can be accepted.

There are quite a few people who are interested in the designers who hire the designers in the shoe factory, but some people have questioned the practice. The focus of the doubt is simply whether the products designed by the shoe factory can stand the test of the market.

"In 2008, a local shoe factory set up an R & D center in a high profile and hired a designer to design sneakers for them. However, when the products designed by these designers are taken to the order meeting of enterprises, the winning rate is very low, less than 20%. The reason is that designers often emphasize the concept of products and are hard to be recognized by the market. Shoe factory's experience is still so, let alone shoe factory? " Jin Yuan, manager of Development Department of shoe industry Co., Ltd., Huang Yuan, told reporters.

Another person familiar with the trend of the sports shoe industry recognises this behavior. "This behavior is generally good, after all, it represents the enhancement of enterprise consciousness and strength. This is the demand for the development of the whole sports shoes industry. " However, while appreciative of this behavior, the above-mentioned persons also said that such behavior would encounter more difficulties in the beginning time. "After all, the products designed by the sole factory are not tested by the market, and they will encounter greater resistance when persuading the shoe factories to buy them."

In fact, this problem is also considered by Ding Si en. Ding Sien told reporters that Mao Tai would not step in place, and directly launch new and independently designed soles to merchants. Instead, it would adopt a gradual way to allow merchants to accept new products developed by Mao Tai step by step. "We expect to take four steps. The first step is to make small modifications to the classic shoe soles, such as changing the pattern from round to square. This step should be done by the shoe factories at present. The second step is to make great changes to the bottom flowers of those classic soles. Now we are working in this direction. The third step is to be able to replace the bottom flowers. The fourth step is the replacement of the side wall. If we can make the final step, we will be able to make our own product. " {page_break}

Lack of local creative talents is the biggest bottleneck

At present, the development team of Mao Tai is 4 people, and Ding Sien's goal is to set up a stable team of about 15 people. However, although the recruitment advertisement has been posted for a long time, the news has also spread in the industry, but it is still far from the goal of the 15 people.

"Not only did we encounter this problem, many colleagues encountered this problem. Now our embarrassment is: we are willing to spend money to invite designers, but we can not find the right people to do it. Speaking of this question, Ding Shin shook his head helplessly. Ding Sien's idea also represented the views of most people in the industry. Shun Shun Plastic Shoes Co., Ltd. is a cork sole as the main product of the enterprise, for the current solo industry design personnel serious shortage of this fact, Shun Yi general manager Lin Shiping also has a headache. "From the concept of product design, to the creation of the mold, to the modification of the product, any one step is indispensable to those professional designers. If only a small change is made in one of the links, then there will be no design. But if we want to design and produce our own products on the whole line, the demand for professionals in this field will be a great quantity. "

At present, the domestic sports shoe industry recognized that the best design talents are mainly concentrated in the area, while the majority of people still seem to be a lack of creativity. In this case, is it possible to put the design center of the enterprise in the right place?

Ding Sien did not consider this point. But in his view, at least this idea is still hard to achieve at present. "The biggest obstacle is the communication between the two places. Especially our suppliers of raw materials often need to adjust their products according to the requirements of customers. Although all kinds of communication tools are very convenient nowadays, some problems need to be clearly stated in person. Therefore, although there are many design talents there, we dare not rush the R & D center to the end. Ding Sien said frankly.