Japan's earthquake spilled over to shoe materials

Recently, according to market sources, due to the impact of the earthquake, Japanese imports of chemical raw materials represented by Japan’s Mitsui have experienced a certain degree of shortage. As a result, the prices of chemical raw materials for shoe materials are just like arrows on the strings. Faced with price increases. No one would have thought that a huge earthquake in Japan will have a huge impact on the Jinjiang shoe industry chain, and a new wave of price increases will be staged again.

"EVA prices and natural rubber prices together, the rubber, EVA and other chemical materials to be purchased in a few days will certainly rise." Recently, Mr. Ding Chen, a shoe processing company in Jinjiang, is a bit worried: a variety of chemicals in the factory inventory There is not much material left.

However, unexpectedly far more than this, due to fluctuations in the prices of chemical raw materials, some source suppliers digested the rising costs through doping additives, which directly led to a decline in the purity of chemical raw materials, coupled with the dampness of spring weather, a group of shoe materials gradually There are changes in physical properties, of which the quality of soles represented by the secondary MD is extremely unstable, and the normal delivery period cannot be guaranteed, which seriously affects the progress of the production of the upper footwear enterprises.

A shoe industry chain affected by the earthquake in Japan, as a supplier of shoe materials, how should they deal with the quality crisis caused by this chemical raw material panic, and what predictive methods will be used to add a security quality lock to the supply chain? Perhaps the practice of shoe manufacturers such as Xinquanshun and Guofa is worthy of reference in the industry.

The purity of chemical raw materials mainly based on EVA declines. Nowadays, most of the chemical raw materials for shoe materials companies come from Japan, South Korea, and China Taiwan. According to Jinjiang footwear industry insiders, EVA is used in rubber and EVA footwear. As the main material in the public shoe materials, the price fluctuation will directly affect the cost of the local shoe materials companies. Although the price is higher than the domestic chemical raw materials, but its physical properties are stable, the quality is more assured, most of the shoe companies in Jinjiang The favor.

After the earthquake in Japan, Mitsui's shortage of imported chemical raw materials became an inflection point. Once again, the price of chemical raw materials such as EVA was pushed onto the soaring roller coaster. Under such a dilemma, Jinjiang shoe material companies had to temporarily substitute domestic brands of chemical raw materials.

"There are dozens of chemical raw materials to be used on a pair of soles. Any tiny chemical impurities that appear on the soles of the soles may affect the production quality of the foam, oil pressure, etc. of the soles of the shoes. What's more, it is the main chemical material for EVA granulation. "Ding Guozhi, general manager of Xinquanshun Shoes Co., Ltd. told reporters that whether it is a one-time EVA shot soles, or two MD, EVA granulation purity has a direct impact on their quality.

“At present, even if we can buy imported chemical raw materials, most of the purity is not enough. Because of the price and material shortage, our source suppliers have recently experienced a decline in the purity of this batch of raw materials. Therefore, due to the Insufficient purity can not suppress the elastic body, the bubble does not reach the standard and other conventional quality problems come one after another, their shoes have also appeared one after another quality instability,” he said, after inquiries found that the surrounding peer sole plant also appears different The degree of quality problems, especially in the South Wind days, the quality of frequent defects, had to slow down the production rate.

Ding Jinrui, deputy general manager of Guofa Footwear Co., Ltd., said that although the wave of buying triggered by Japan's Mitsui Chemicals' stock panic has calmed down, chemical raw materials are closely related to the shoe industry chain, and industry insiders are constantly analyzing and estimating. However, the purity of chemical raw materials cannot be immediately improved in the short term.

After trying to replace the material in this energy crisis, a number of material innovators represented by Chengchang and Xin Quanshun emerged in Jinjiang shoe materials. Joint shoe research institutes started to study new materials to replace traditional EVA granulation. Hopefully, It can solve the problem of insufficient purity of EVA chemical main material in essence, and ensure the stability of physical properties, even in bad weather.

Ding Guozhi said with a smile that after joining hands with a scientific research institution, during this period of time, he took various chemical materials every day to consult with the teachers, and he personally felt that he was determined to thoroughly study the chemical properties and physical properties of these new materials. Try to replace the modified formula on the basis of raw materials to avoid the quality problems caused by the purity of chemical raw materials.

Coincidentally, following the introduction of consultancy management companies in the footwear foaming industry to standardize the production process and create the first lab in the industry, Cheng Chang Foam will start researching new materials to replace traditional EVA granulation this year.

Of course, the real intention of honesty and long foaming lies in the desire to be able to get rid of the limitation of EVA granulation as the main material. Whether it is raw material price or quality control, it is expected to have a relatively mature new material substitute, so as to reach the end The purpose of reducing product costs. Under this premise, whoever can develop new materials to replace the raw material of traditional EVA main materials will be able to hold more chips in the market competition. "For this, Cheng Chang, general manager of Ding Changgang see very clearly.

In fact, Dongyuan Industrial Co., Ltd. was established in 1978. It is a Taiwanese company that specializes in the import and export trade of various plastic materials and chemicals. “The cooperation between Chengchang and Dongyuan is not simply a supply-supply relationship. In particular, Dongyuan will become a think tank for the experimental material of Chengchang New Materials, and will collect more development ideas and trends for Chengchang.” Ding Changgang introduced .

Increase the scope of control or self-injection granulation production line, whether it is Xinquanshun, or long sincerely, without exception, hope to try through new materials, to avoid purity affect the quality, effectively improve product quality and stability, but also hope that the raw materials can fluctuate too much, Stable supply price.

However, a pair of soles, even if it is a small piece of foamed material, requires the formulation and proportioning of dozens of chemical materials. From experiment to production, to final mass production, this road is not easy to go.

Therefore, some people believe that, instead of being directly proportional to input and output, it is better to control the quality of the source and eliminate the quality problems caused by the purity of chemical raw materials. Ding Jinrui believes that it is not easy to change formula and proportion. Once it is replaced, it takes a long time to test it before it can be put into the market. This time, the quality tends to fluctuate. It is better than to strictly control the source of production.

The reporter recently stepped into the spacious production workshop of Jinyi Shoes Material Co., Ltd., and saw Jin Yi’s efforts to control the source of raw materials.

Here, the production line and the floor are spotless. Ye Yexiong, sales manager of Jinyi Shoes Co., Ltd. told the reporter that the company always put quality and safety first. In order to make EVA production truly meet the quality standards of downstream suppliers, Jinyi Production adopts strict quality control measures before, during and after production. From the beginning of the first process feed, the supplier must provide EVA pelletizing inspection report of the relevant local authorities; before selecting the material, EVA granulation must be cleaned and sieved again to remove impure impurities, remove debris and other debris, ensure that Each chemical raw material meets the standard of purity.

It is understood that in the more than 20 processes that EVA controls and controls production, the company has established a corresponding inspection quality supervision system, mainly importing raw materials, shutting off production links, and checking product quality, from raw materials to products entering the market. The entire process has implemented the tracking of product quality.

In fact, as long as we can tighten the string of quality and safety, and insist on creating quality assured shoes, this raw material storm, I believe it will soon disappear!