The quality of molds is equal to the lifeblood of an enterprise—especially in the footwear industry. Shoes are a daily necessity, and today’s wide variety of styles and brands bring a sense of material fulfillment to people keeping up with the times. Yet every pair of shoes produced requires a framework. For the creators of that framework—shoe mold companies—their mold quality and style development determine a shoe’s market potential. Fujian Jixinlong Mold Co., Ltd. has made a breakthrough in 2015 with its unique design philosophy and top-tier equipment, producing high-end precision shoe molds.
Capturing the high-end market boils down to three things: product, equipment, and people.
Xie Kangcheng believes there is roughly a ten-year gap between China’s mold production level and Europe’s. For a long time, Chinese mold enterprises have faced challenges such as insufficient investment in technology, brain drain, outdated facilities, and weak development. These issues are gradually being addressed, and today’s digital production technologies have sparked a revitalization battle within the mold industry. All sectors of society in China, from the government and public to enterprises and factories, are placing increasing importance on the power of technology, with growing attention and significantly higher investments in technological innovation.
Enhancing product competitiveness, improving quality, and shortening development cycles have become the goals pursued by modern mold enterprises. Long-term application experiments have shown that digital mold production technology can effectively improve mold design standards, shorten the time from design to production, reduce mold production cycles, and enhance mold quality. Due to these advantages, digital mold production technology has gradually become the mainstream in the high-end shoe mold production field. Digital mold production technology refers to the application of computer technology or computer-aided technology in the mold design and manufacturing process. As a result, in Fujian, Jixin was the first to independently develop and purchase expensive shoe mold production software systems, inviting technicians from the software company to provide training and guidance, and successfully applying it to production and management.
“In 2015, we will definitely introduce robots into our production lines—for both assisting with handling and assembly,” Xie Kangcheng shared his plans. Terms like 3D parsing, secondary development, and introducing visual systems flowed from his mouth. Due to supplier-related reasons, Xie Kangcheng has already opened another mold company in Guangzhou, but because of the comprehensive supporting industries and faster response times in the Fujian area, he decided to “walk on two legs.” Therefore, Xie Kangcheng is also unifying management of suppliers, designers, and business teams through the development of ERP systems and the Internet of Things to enable remote operations.
To achieve intelligent production as soon as possible, Xie Kangcheng has been working at Jixin for over 12 hours a day, integrating resources across technology, craftsmanship, equipment, and platforms while conducting continuous testing and repeated modifications. He said that achieving intelligent production would still be considered a success even if it took 20 years. “I’ve already spent over 20 years and so much energy in this industry. If I can’t do it well, how can I face myself?” Xie Kangcheng is very confident about 2015: “We were building up momentum before, but this year we’ll have a full-scale breakthrough!”