SatraSumm
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Leather is a natural substance and as such will have areas that exhibit scars,
scratches, brands and insect damage. As tanners we need to align ourselves with our
customers in a standardized system of leather assessment.
SATRASumm allows us this common standard to better understand the cuttability of our leathers. SATRASumm is a world wide accepted standard for leather assessment. Since it’s inception some 20 years ago SATRA has been widely accepted for setting and achieving goals of leather utilization. The prime objective of leather assessment is to measure leathers in such a way as to obtain a percentage of cuttablility. Secondary objectives of leather assessment are to be able to check our quoted area measurements and to be able to use a standard way of settling discrepancies. It also allows us to determine the average skin size, shape of skin, and advise usage factors that change based on different footwear patterns. Depending on different types of leather we can summarize SATRASumm in two ways. The first is the method suitable for leathers that show little variance from skin to skin or shipment to shipment. In the case of highly cuttable material such as polyurethane coated splits there would only be a small percentage of material that would need to be inspected. In this way the assessor would select a ten percent random sample and inspect each side. When each side has been assessed it then becomes possible to calculate a quality coeffiencent. The second method is suitable for leathers that vary significantly in terms of appearance. Natural milled leather, or aniline finished leather, vary considerably due to their natural characteristics. In instances where there are large variances of appearance from one hide to the next it may be necessary for the assessors to sort for grades. These grades would be assessed and graded at a 5 point grading system. This means that each grade would cover 5 different coefficient points as detailed in the chart below. After all the sides have been assessed they would then be packaged according to grade.
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Quality Coefficient |
Representative Coefficient |
100-96 |
97 |
95-91 |
93 |
90-86 |
88 |
85-81 |
83 |
80-76 |
78 |
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Since leather assessment is the first step in footwear manufacturing, SATRA
assessments could eliminate the customer’s need for resorting incoming shipments. The
Irving Leather Group has three full time certified assessors on staff, and because
of our SATRA training and certification the Irving Leather Group has the
knowledge to better understand our customer’s needs.
SATRASumm removes the guesswork in determining cuttability for prototypes, customer samples and production and will allow our customers to more accurately determine leather costs. Irving Leather Group can also help our customers customize any product to maximize savings. The Irving Leather Group has the ability to assess and calculate the cuttability of every production pack by SATRA method 1. (A random 10 percent of every shipment.) If the customer chooses this method we will upon request, ship the random 10 percent separate from the rest of the shipment so our customer can verify how the assessment was determined. If our customer chooses option two, 100% 5 point grading of the entire shipment will allow the flexibility of shipping a TR run of leather separated and marked into grades. This option is available for an additional $0.02 per foot and will quickly pay for itself in reduced handling costs associated with grading done at the shoe factory.
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