Prepare footwear samples

Create, test and verify prototypes or samples of footwear against a predefined set of criteria throughout all stages of the manufacturing process. Revise the initial design concepts and implement technical improvements.

perform footwear prototyping
perform footwear sampling and prototyping
prepare footwear prototypes
prepare footwear samples and prototypes
prototype footwear
perform footwear sampling

skill/competence

sector-specific

Prepare footwear samples is an essential skill of the following occupations:

Bespoke footwear technician: Bespoke footwear technicians perform activities in small production environments (e.g. workshops) where footwear is typically custom-made. They design, prepare, cut and sew, assemble and finish custom made footwear.
Footwear product developer: Footwear product developers provide interface between design and production. They engineer the footwear prototypes previously created by designers. They select, design or re-design lasts and footwear components, make patterns for uppers, linings and bottom components, and produce technical drawings for a various range of tools (e.g. cutting dies, mould, etc.). They also produce and evaluate footwear prototypes, grade and produce sizing samples, perform required tests for samples and confirm the customer’s qualitative and pricing constraints.
Footwear production machine operator: Footwear production machine operators tend specific machines in the industrial production of footwear. They operate machinery for lasting, cutting, closing, and finishing footwear products. They also perform routine maintenance of the machinery.
Footwear production technician: Footwear production technicians perform a wide range of activities regarding footwear manufacturing. They are involved in all phases of the process including product engineering and different types of construction. They aim at maximising productivity and reducing production costs, assuring the functionality and quality of product and customer satisfaction.
Footwear production manager: Footwear production managers plan, distribute, and coordinate all necessary activities of the different footwear manufacturing phases ensuring the adherence to quality standards and production and productivity pre-defined goals.
Footwear product development manager: Footwear product development managers coordinate the footwear design and the product and collection development process in order to comply with design specifications, deadlines, strategic requirements and policies of the company. They track style development and review design specification in order to meet the design vision, the manufacturing environment, and the company’s financial goals.

Prepare footwear samples is optional for these occupations. This means knowing this skill may be an asset for career advancement if you are in one of these occupations.

Footwear designer: Footwear designers perform fashion trends analysis, forecasting and market research, create footwear concepts and build collection lines by operating mood or concept boards, colour palettes, materials, drawings and sketches etc. They conduct the sampling process, make footwear prototypes and samples for presentations aimed to promoting the footwear concepts and collections. They identify the range of materials and components, define the design specifications by collaborating with the technical team and review the footwear samples, prototypes, and collections.
Orthopaedic footwear technician: Orthopaedic footwear technicians design footwear and make patterns, using manufacturing technology. They compensate and accommodate foot and ankle fitting problems, design and manufacture footwear and its orthopaedic components, including orthoses, insoles, soles and others.
Footwear CAD patternmaker: Footwear CAD patternmakers design, adjust and modify patterns for all kinds of footwear using CAD systems. They check laying variants using nesting modules of the CAD system and material consumption. Once the sample model has been approved for production, these professionals make series of patterns (grading) to produce a range of the same footwear model in different sizes.
Footwear patternmaker: Footwear patternmakers design and cut patterns for all kinds of footwear using a variety of hand and simple machine tools. They check various nesting variants and perform material consumption estimation. Once the sample model has been approved for production, they produce series of patterns for range of footwear in different sizes.
Footwear assembly supervisor: Footwear assembly supervisors check and coordinate activities of operators in the lasting room. They are in charge of coordinating lasting room activity with the previous and following activities of the production chain. They examine uppers and soles to be lasted and give instructions to produce them. These supervisors are in charge of supplying the lasting room with uppers, lasts, shanks, counters and small handling tools, and they are also in charge of the quality control of the lasting.
Footwear production supervisor: Footwear production supervisors monitor and coordinate day-to-day production activities of a footwear manufacturing plant. They oversee quality control to ensure that the end product is in alignment with production specifications, and manage the footwear staff. The work also involves negotiations with suppliers as well as taking care of the production plan and production costs.

References

1. Prepare footwear samples – ESCO