Artecola produces added-value safety shoes
Campo Bom, Brazil-based shoe and adhesives manufacturer The Artecola Group has started producing safety shoes. The shoes will be customised to satisfy individual safety specifications depending on the work environment they will be worn in.
The group has invested R$6.5 million (US$3.25 million) in development and equipment costs for the new project. The shoes will be sold under the Polistep brand.
“As we will not undertake mass production of these shoes, the result of this investment will be seen in three years' time," forecasts Bruna Klauck, manager at Artecola's Footwear Unit. Ms Klauck explains that initial production of 2,000 pairs per day is very low considering that the Brazilian market requires approximately 100,000 pairs of safety shoes per day. "We identified a niche for high-added-value safety shoes in the domestic market which was not covered", she said.
The range includes Gore-Tex linings, which do not let water into the shoes but allow the feet to breathe. The new shoes were worn by the members of a recent Brazilian mission to Antarctica and successfully withstood temperatures of below 15 ºC. “Comfort is everything in this type of footwear", Ms Klauck said. She also pointed out that the price of the new range is 30% to 40% higher than that of other safety shoes on offer in Brazil.
