Verona upholstery conference success

The first joint-venture Upholstery Leather Conference, held at the hotel Leon d'Oro, Verona, Italy, May 1-2 and organised by Leather International and TheSauerReport, ended with a very enjoyable trip to the Lamborghini factory. Following two-days of presentations and discussion delegates were also shown the famous Galleria Ferrari in Marenello. The lively and smooth running conference, sponsored by DuPont, was attended by over 80 participants including car, aquatic, aviation and furniture leather specifiers through to major upholstery tanners, chemical producers and hide suppliers. The carefully selected speakers provided lots of interesting topics for discussion. Those which excited most debate were the thorny old questions of when does a natural marking become a defect and are they acceptable in leather upholstery, the necessity to standardise testing for automotive leather and how will Europe survive in the face of increasing competence and competition from China. One popular presentation was that of Zhu Kasen who founded the most successful tannery in China, which he says is currently working 24/7. He good naturedly and humourously countered the many criticisms of his homeland, which stands accused of endangering the European leather industry. He said that the large potential market for automotive leather in China is so attractive that around twenty domestic shoe upper or garment leather tanneries have geared up to produce upholstery and automotive leathers. He concluded that you cannot always copy others because that way you always follow but never lead. He said: 'We want to be the best.' One particular recurring topic for discussion was that of the acceptability of natural markings in leather for automotive use. John Williams of Ford Motor Company said they were interested in getting consumers to accept marks and that it was necessary to go to dealerships and train the staff to market the leather by explaining why a mark on the seat was desirable. Jeff Baron, a furniture industry consultant said that the rejection of all defects by the automotive industry led to huge amounts of waste. He put it as high as 60%. Dr Bernard Angermaier of Audi said they provided catalogues illustrating what levels of markings are acceptable. They train dealers and issue handbooks to help those customers with extra wear needs so that dealers know, for instance, that aniline leathers need extra care. They also provide samples for customers to see, feel and smell and information on after-care products. Audi have regular discussions with suppliers to re-adjust perceptions and sign off examples for reference. Angermaier said that if a customer pays a lot of extra money for leather in his car, he expects resistance to abrasion and ageing. It should also be relatively easy to keep clean and it should smell of leather. Therefore, they also need to include the chemicals industry in the mix which can be resented by some tanners. For Audi and the whole VW Group, there are certain technical demands. For instance they fly cars out to the Arizona Desert for a couple of years to assess how they will age. Pure aniline is more sensitive to environmental conditions such as sunlight and needs to be protected. Solar roofs and tinted screens which keep the interior cooler can extend the life of the leather. Obviously no one wants to get into an overheated car and burn their legs on the upholstery and customers also want the leather to be stain resistant. While they reject defects, they do accept certain natural markings. Since certain parts of the seats are not on view, they have different zones and take the croupon section of the hide for parts of the seat which are on view. An area surrounding the croupon is taken for the lesser seen parts and the outer edges of the hide are discarded. They want a chrome feel to their leathers but have moved away from chrome because, in the future, new EU directives will require that they burn their waste. They are not saying that chrome is toxic but that the market does not want it. They expect more of the automotive companies to follow their example. According to the impending EU directive, if you have more than 3% chrome, you will only be able to burn your waste in a combustion plant due to the risk of creating chrome VI. This will add to costs. They prefer their suppliers to work from the raw material so that people cannot pass the buck back down the line. Audi like to know where the raw material has come from and they are about to implement a new specification. Under present conditions, they do not believe it is clear where the raw or crust is coming from. Audi are increasing their leather thickness from 1.2mm to 1.4-1.7mm. They say it makes no sense to split a leather and then laminate it to make it the required thickness and think that a thicker leather will be more durable. This makes better sense because thicker leathers suffer less from wrinkles and other forms of damage. Bernardo Finco of the Vicenza tanners' association told delegates that it costs the same to produce top quality leather in Italy as it does in China. Despite lower labour and energy costs, technology is harder to source and more expensive in China. Chinese tanners need to invest heavily in spare parts in order to avoid down time when replacements are needed. When it comes to lower grades, however, China is in a much better position to produce as it is more labour intensive to finish poorer raw materials. Finco said that the biggest problem for tanners was that half of the world's supplies are subject to protectionist measures with the Chinese duty three times higher than that of Europe. Vicenza has a long history of tanning and currently accounts for 57% of national production, 20% of global. For every 3 sq m of leather produced in Europe, 2 sq m are produced in the Vicenza region; 100,000 hides/day are processed in the Vicenza area and taking the average hide as 4 sq m, this equates to 400,000 sq m/day. The 4 million domestic cattle hides satisfy only 18% of demand, leaving 82% to be imported. They principally work from wet-blue bovine but some wet-white is also used. He said that wet-white provided two risks. If the final consumer believes that wet-white is environmentally-friendly, they may see chrome as the enemy but this is not true. Also there are problems of disposal of effluent with wet white; 98.8% of leather is chrome tanned in the Vicenza area. In 2002, more than 50% of output was exported but 2003 saw a drop in values. Early 2004, January-March, has also seen a big drop with the exchange rate between the dollar and the euro causing major problems for exporters. However, complaining about the invasion of Chinese and Asian products is useless, he said, 'if we don't take measures to stigmatise the differential in terms of environmental protection, workplace safety and treatment of employees. When it comes to these issues, the entire European Community appears to be deaf, with a vision of reality that is completely disconnected from what we observe every day.' Lorenzo Arduino is the purchasing manager for Fincantieri CSI SpA, who build cruise, merchant and naval ships with more than half their activity in cruise ships where there is great potential for the use of leather, both in cabins and in public areas: seating for 12,000 per ship plus other items. Obviously the leather must be smoke and fire retardant and smoke must be non toxic. Price is increasingly important as specifiers are continually looking to reduce costs. He said that the use of leather is on the decline because leather simply has not kept up with the ever more stringent regulations so it is being superceded by alternative materials which can comply. John Williams, Ford Motor Company, said that they are still debating the question of chrome-free leathers. The 2012 directive will be a deciding factor. It depends on whether it favours burning or recycling because you cannot burn chrome in an oxidising situation. Ford, which includes Jaguar, Land Rover and Volvo, are currently reviewing their leather specifications in an attempt to standardise test methods, equipment and requirements in order to control costs, minimise testing and provide uniformity. He said that a multitude of test methods has resulted in a complexity of testing equipment which in turn leads to higher capital costs and, therefore, a higher product cost. He said that the draft specification has been written and there is 95% agreement. The question of whether to use chrome or chrome-free tanning is still under discussion. According to Williams, only 2% of hides are suitable for automotive leather and less than 30% of automotive grade hides are suitable for 'premium' leather, although lower grades can be enhanced by heavy embossing and other methods of finishing.