How Shoes are Made and Potential Positions
Over the course of the industrial revolution, hand-made shoes gradually were replaced by factory-made footwear. Machinery could produce more shoes faster with fewer people. The work of cobblers was narrowed to custom-made shoes, special orthopedic shoes, and the repair of worn-out footwear. Today, Americans buy more pairs of shoes than ever. On average, between four and five pairs each year are bought. Most of these shoes, however, are made overseas, in Taiwan, China, Korea, Brazil, and other countries where the cost of labor is cheaper. Some domestic companies have found a niche for themselves in specialty footwear, such as cowboy boots, work shoes, and quality shoes. Hence, part time sales jobs for these products are also pretty awesome.
Note that the shoes are made in batches, not in individual pairs. These batches may consist of a dozen or more pairs of shoes, and are kept together through the entire manufacturing process to ensure that the shoes are consistent in color, texture, size, and pattern. The leather in a pair of shoes starts out from tanned animal hides that a shoe manufacturer purchase and keeps in storage. Keeping track of these hides is the job of the upper-leather sorter, who sorts, grades, and issues the hides that will be cut into shoe uppers. The leather is spread out under a cutting machine, which stamps down and cuts the leather into the various sections used for the shoe. This machine, manned by the cut-out-and-marking-machine operator, also marks patterns for stitching, beveling, and punching holes and eyelets. Care must be taken to avoid the natural imperfections that are in each hide and to cut the leather against the grain strategically to minimize stretching when the shoes are worn.
Note that this type of part-time employment involves a little complicated integration of parts and other items to form the finished product. For instance, the lining, tongue, toe, and other parts of the shoe are sewn together by machines operated by standard machine in-charge. Shoe parts can also be fastened by glue, nails, staples, and slugs applied by machine. Other workers taper leather edges, trim linings, flatten seams, and attach buckles or eyelets. The throat of the shoe is then laced together by the lacer. At this point the shoe upper is still mostly flat and is missing its insole, outsole, and heel. Before these parts are added, the shoe needs to be shaped and made into the proper shoe size. The shoe upper and lining segments are steamed to soften the leather, and then are secured to the lasts and stretched to the shape. This can be done either by hand lasting or by a lasting machine operated by the bed-lasting worker. While this is being done, workers in the sole rooms have been preparing the insoles, outsoles, and heels that will be attached to the shoe uppers. The jobs of the stock fitter is to stamp out the rough forms for the soles out of tanned hides, while the rounder’s job is to trim the soles to the proper size for the style and size of the shoe. Meanwhile, the heel of the shoe is cut out of wood, leather, or fiberboard by the grooving worker and turner. For shoes made of rubber, plastic, fabric, or other material, the manufacturing process is roughly the same.
Likewise, custom shoe makers may assemble shoes by hand individually, or they may modify shoes for special needs and handicaps. Shoe production workers are usually trained on the job, including its part time customer service jobs. This does not mean, however, that these workers do not need to complete their formal education to do the task. As more workers apply for a shrinking number of jobs, employers are more likely to hire people who have high school diplomas and a certain amount of machine skills. High-school courses in shop and sewing may come in handy when looking for a job in this field especially for a part time career purposes.
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