There's no business like shoe business!

For the wealthier sections of the population of our planet, shoes are an item to be purchased, worn for a certain time and then discarded. They have long been a symbol of status, now they are an item of fashion and part of the leisure culture. However, this fully ignores the complexity of a product that has rapidly evolved from the domain of the craftsman to the high-tech production line.

The most striking feature of the modern footwear industry is its diversity and magnitude. There are quite literally shoes for any occasion, situation, age group and activity. Such an explosion in consumption has logically had major consequences, two of which are the development of sophisticated manufacturing techniques and the substitution of expensive and limited supplies of traditional materials.

It is in this latter regard that the textile industry has come to exert a major influence on shoe production, providing non-wovens for every conceivable shoe component from back stay to toe cap lining, which have thereby replaced conventional felts and flannels. This has resulted in better yields, greater shoe strength, improved design capabilities and economics for the shoe manufacturers. In addition, a new market has sprung up for the supply of synthetic leather and other materials such as velours for the uppers.

Footwear components are the products of a complex variety of manufacturing processing, including saturation, extrusion, lamination, needling, calendaring, coating and bonding with other fabrics, plastics and foams. This means that the basic materials must be stable, flexible, porous, steam absorbent, wear resistant, soft, easy to cut and ideal for sewing, glueing and printing. A stunning array of requirements and one that can only be fulfilled through teamwork between textile manufacturers and machine builders. It is here that FEHRER is in its element. As the world's top supplier of production lines for footwear industry products, the company offers a range of solutions to meet every manufacturing situation and the inventive capability needed for the creation of new shoe-related products. FEHRER supplies "classic" lines comprised of a preneedler and 2-3 needle looms for the production of all types of shoe components, as well as synthetic leather lines with 4-8 machines for pre-needling, high density entangling and surface finishing. In addition, special variations for items such as tongue material, which has to be extremely soft, are available along with the NL 21/SRV "SUPERLOOPER" for children's shoe velours and linings, and lines for the production of "ALCANTARA/ECSAINE". Furthermore, special FEHRER features such as "H1" needling technology and "F9-10,000" needle patterns contribute to the achievement of unique physical properties and surface quality.

Small wonder therefore that FEHRER is the number one address for the world's leading non-woven and synthetic leather producers. Indeed, when it comes to footwear, there is nobody capable of filling FEHRER's shoes!