Bär Shoe: Sustainability and Digital tools in Shoe manufacturing
DESCRIPTION OF INSTITUTION - SHORT HISTORY AND MAIN ACTIVITIES
Bär Shoes was founded in 1982 and is still owned by the Bär family. The main focus of the company is on creating footwear for customers that value health, well-being and comfort without making compromises in the design. Bär Shoes have a special shape, the so-called “toe-freedom” that denies the common, more pointed design and creates a wide shoe that allows the toes to move freely and a zero heel. Bär Shoes also has a daughter brand named Joe Nimble, which focusses on barefoot shoes.
What was the challenge or the problem?
The company became aware of the problems the shoe industry creates regarding sustainability on different levels (Energy, materials socially) early on and has been working on solutions ever since. Typical manufacturing scenarios in the shoe industry involve a lot of material waste, high energy consumption, pollution via dyes and chemicals as well as precarious work conditions in third-world countries.
WHAT SOLUTIONS HAVE BEEN IMPLEMENTED?
Bär decided to build their shoes specifically in a long-lasting manner, offering re-soling services and even exchange programs for shoe laces, which helped to create a strong binding and recommendation culture among customers. On the production site, Bär has developed procedures to integrate recycled shoe parts and materials into their products, especially the soles. Via upgrading their facilities, the were able to reduce their CO2-emissions by almost 120 tones and gain 60% of the energy from renewable sources. The production plant in India is supervised by Bär directly, leading to a high standard of safety, good working conditions and good payment. It features its own sewage cleaning facilities, special flooring to avoid dust contamination and exposure, the use of photovoltaics for energy production as well as measures to improve the overall conditions in the area like providing water filtration, solar-lamps for streets and public transport for the workers. In product development, Bär is adopting new technologies like 3D Scanning and Additive Manufacturing to make the company ready for future challenges.
WHO WERE THE COLLABORATING ACTORS?
As Bär Shoes has always been on the forefront of sustainable actions it implemented its own measures. In India a Council of Representatives is directly discussing work-related issues with the companies directors board. To increase the use of recycled materials in their products, Bär is cooperating with Vox Maris, a project that collects waste form the oceans and recycles it to re-usable materials. Bär is also actively seeking contact to research institutions like KIT to establish new processes to further their readiness for the future.
What is the evidence of success?
Bär measures it success mainly by customer satisfaction. They conduct customer surveys, which show a recommendation rate of about 97% and very positive comments on the quality and philosophy of the companies’ products. Bär Shoes was able to grow slowly, but steadily, over the company’s history and has reached world-wide market presence as of now.
Potential for learning or transfer:
The example of Bär Shoes shows how a persistent, sustainable growth of a company can be performed while keeping sustainability on a high standard, in both the ecological and socio-economic area. The companies’ vision for their products as well as the willingness to look for unusual solutions in cooperation with academia or other companies shows that an open-mindedness can be a benefit for all collaborating actors.