Johan Steenwyk – pioneer of CAD - Outsourcing of production

Outsourcing of production

So the next logical step was the outsourcing of the production. Today Steenwyk cooperates with a service provider from the Philippines headed by Dutch people. Steenwyk personally visited the company in order to be sure of high-class working standards and of good working conditions.

Work itself has not changed much for Johan Steenwyk, he now just has to define all information on the upper and the shoe more exactly. Once the data are in the Philippines, he cannot intervene in the production anymore, like he used to in his own workshop, in order to correct something. "This is the challenge: I have to put everything exactly on paper, so that somebody else can implement my ideas."

"It always depends on the plaster cast quality". Steenwyk describes the biggest obstacle on the way to a last that fits and is functional. If it is taken expertly, he can translate the mould quickly and easily in a last with the help of the scanner and the CAD. Unfortunately, this is not always the case. Sometimes he receives plaster casts with a foot position that is not a good base for a last. In that case, his know-how and expertise are needed to design a fitting last from other available information such as the blueprint, the photos of the foot and the diagnosis. If Steenwyk is not completely sure of the outcome, he has a trial shoe made to be on the safe side. Once all data are collected, they are sent via Internet to the Philippines, where everything from the last until the bottom construction will be worked upon. Three or four weeks later he receives the finished shoes. He receives 15 to 20 pairs weekly, more than he used to be able to make in his workshop. All shoes are checked by him before they are sent on to his customers. Johan Steenwyk of course still supplies customers with shoes in his own company. But also the production of these shoes is outsourced. "We also have many difficult cases, but it works very well," Steenwyk says.