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Manufacturing Leather Goods in Arab Countries
Some thoughts of A. S. Shakiry, an Iraqi who owns a shoe-manufacturing business.For a long time, people have been accustomed to inherit their trades and professions, which are acquired in the Arab world at a very early age, as I experienced myself. I learnt my trade in the shoe business when I was only eleven. Thanks to the various publications and catalogues which reached the Arab countries during the forties, I had become familiar, by the age of twenty, with most aspects and developments of this industry on an international scale. .. Luckily my senior managers as well as the work force were appreciative of my interest in learning everything about the technical and scientific developments of the shoe industry. In 1955, I made my first study and training trip to a number of European countries when I joined one of the international companies and made full use of that golden opportunity to expand my knowledge and experience to the advantage of my future work. I had acquired the ability to develop new ideas in the production field, and participated in the development of a new product which has become essential for manufacture -- namely, the sheets made of leather fiber and waste material used in the internal sole of sandals. . The days when the shoemaker used to make the shoe from first to last are gone. Today specialization is the chief feature of this industry. . Specialization has reached such a high degree that even the smallest part of the shoe has become the business of an independent factory and company. Thus the shoemaking industry has become now an assembly process rather than an integral manufacturing industry. Posted by: Mike Sylwester 2007-10-07 |
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