As a shoe material manufacturing company, to achieve sustainable development in market competition, it is necessary to continuously innovate in terms of product characteristics and physical properties, as well as to develop more new products that adapt to market trends. When products meet the demands of market development, the direction for sustainable corporate growth becomes relatively clear.
Quanzhou Luchu Shoe Material Co., Ltd. has also recognized this point. In recent years, the company has been committed to the research and development of new shoe materials—KPU/CPU composite materials. The product quality has reached international advanced levels, and all materials used have passed international environmental certifications such as RoHS, REACH, and SGS.
The new shoe material KPU upper has become a sharp tool for market expansion
The KPU process is also known as the FRPU process. Taking the shoe upper as an example, unlike traditional processes, the KPU process allows patterns and designs that require printing or engraving to be directly produced on the upper in a single injection molding step, eliminating the hassle for companies of secondary attachment of logos and patterns during shoe manufacturing.
KPU process products matured abroad as early as 2005, but few domestic manufacturers possess this capability. In Jinjiang, Luchu Shoe Material is the only manufacturer capable of integrated operations including mold development, raw material research, production equipment manufacturing, and process production. This process eliminates the need for cutting threads, resulting in lightweight finished shoes, higher product grade, and also significantly reduces labor costs for enterprises.
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Huang You’an, General Manager of Quanzhou Luchu Shoe Material Co., Ltd.
Enterprises must have their own innovative technological products to gain a certain advantage in the market. Speaking through innovative products, the future development of shoe material companies can stand firm in the entire market; from a developmental perspective, having innovative products that differ from others can, on one hand, attract downstream enterprises to choose and purchase them; on the other hand, it will contribute to the scientific and technological innovation of traditional industries.
Huang You’an frankly stated that Luchu still needs to make more efforts in the future. On one hand, due to the limitations of the KPU process, its production volume is smaller compared to traditional processes, so it is necessary to increase production to meet market demand; on the other hand, quality management must be strengthened to ensure product quality. In addition, Luchu needs to further accumulate customer resources and strive to achieve automation and mechanization in product production. In Huang You’an’s view, “Enterprise development cannot rely on shortcuts; it must be down-to-earth.”
Next year, Luchu will also add production lines to expand output. It is worth mentioning that the company will also explore the field of finished shoes. “Using our own KPU process to make our own shoes.” Huang You’an said, this is our goal for next year.