Champion Shoes Limited, a leading shoe manufacturing firm situated in Thika town is perhaps one of the oldest establishments in leather footwear manufacturing in the area, having existed for over 15 years. It is run by entrepreneur Mr. James Mwaura.
The firm is an eco-friendly shoe model that has reduced waste by 70% and inspired other businesses. Before SWITCH Africa Green programme came calling, Mwaura avers that he did not quite know how to run his business efficiently. The project was an eye opener for him and his workers as it sought to equip MSMEs with both technical skills in footwear and leather goods production as well as administrative skills. The collection of samples from his establishment and subsequent exposure to a footwear expert and Kenya Bureau of Standards (KEBS) Standards test revealed a lot about his products something that he had not known for the past 15 years. As a result of the analyses and subsequent trainings on footwear and leather goods production, costing and pricing conducted under SWITCH Africa Green, his enterprise was able to re-strategize and re-work both their products and business model.
Poignantly, Mwaura remembers a time in 2016 when Champion Shoes had to recall thousands of shoes from hundreds of outlets spread out across Kenya. As a firm that sells footwear in bulk to various shops and retail outlets in Kenya, this was a difficult moment.
“We discovered that the quality of our products in terms of material used, stitching and finishing was not at per with the lessons we were learning under the SWITCH Africa Green Programme,” Mwaura recalls. “As such, we felt that these products were not up to standard and therefore, we made the drastic decision to recall these products, at no cost to our clients and provide them with quality shoes.”
Since then, the entity has not looked back, and quality assurance has become a critical aspect in the footwear production process. Two artisans have been trained under the SWITCH Africa Green project Greening SMEs Leather Clusters And Leather Tanning Industry by COMESA/LLPI and the Kenya Leather Development Council (KLDC) with a ten day training yielding maximum impact in the company’s work and operations. The aspect of quality is addressed at each level of the production process from the actual purchase of leather to the final output prior to packaging.
“We felt the loss. However, the drive to ensure quality products for our clients who have walked with us on a journey spanning over 15 years was enough to propel us to ensure the quality of our products,” adds Mwaura staring boldly. “This is what Switch Africa Green did for us!”
The firm now has a supervision section where the finished shoes are critically checked for any stitching or gluing issues which may not have been done well and if any problems are identified, then the shoes are returned to the production process for rectification.
As a result of the trainings the enterprise has substantially reduced its waste as they have now embraced proper cutting practices to minimize leather wastage in the cutting process. The solid waste has reduced by 70% due to embracing of proper cutting practices and reusing the offcuts in making of other products.
As a result of training on solid waste management, the firm has expanded its product line and is currently producing sandals, dog collars, key holders and other small items from leather offcuts. This has maximized the firm’s returns and utilized the profits to meet its overheads.
The supervision section at the factory has created four jobs as he now needs staff to be responsible for this aspect. Additionally, the firm has employed an accountant, as a result of the trainings on record keeping offered under the project. The accountant is responsible for proper record keeping of the firm’s transactions, profits, among others.
From the training on clustering and resource optimization conducted under SWITCH Africa Green, Champion Shoes has opened its doors to other MSMEs who would like to utilize their machines and equipment. This, Mwaura says, has reduced the idle time for the firm’s machines resulting to more profits given that they charge a fee for the use of the machines by MSMEs. The firm has also embraced energy saving techniques which have resulted in about 40% reduction of their energy bills.
