Profession leather goods product development manager

Leather goods product development managers coordinate the leather goods design and product development process in order to comply with marketing specifications, deadlines, strategic requirements and policies of the company. They communicate and collaborate with other cross functional teams or professionals involved in leather goods production, such as logistics and marketing, costing, planning, production and quality assurance. They are responsible for the leather goods product collections development which involve activities such as tracking style development, reviewing design specification in order to meet the design vision, the manufacturing environment, and the rent-ability of the companies.

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Personality Type

• Enterprising / Investigative
• Investigative / Enterprising

Knowledge

• Leather goods manufacturing processes

  The processes, technology and machinery involved in the leather goods manufacturing.  

• Footwear and leather goods marketing planning

  The principles and methods used in creating a marketing plan and how a company can best position itself compared to its competitors, taking into account the specifities of the footwear and leather goods market. 

• Leather goods materials

  The wide range of materials used in leather goods production: leather, leather substitutes (synthetics or artificial materials), textile, etc; the way of distinguishing among various materials based on their properties, advantages and limitations.

• Leather goods components

  The various procedures and methods in the processing of leather materials and leather goods components like manufacturability and properties.  

• Footwear creation process

  Footwear creation projects starting from inspiration to technical design and manufacturing by following several stages. Latest trends in footwear materials, components, processes, and concepts.

• Health and safety in the workplace

  The body of rules, procdeures and regulations related to safety, health and welfare of people in their workplace. 

• Leather goods quality

  The quality specifications of materials, processes, and final products, the most common defects in leather, quick tests procedures, laboratory tests procedures and standards, and the adequate equipment for quality checks. 

Skills

• Implement footwear marketing plan

  Implement marketing plans according to company specifications, complying with market demand.

• Use IT tools

  Application of computers, computer networks and other information technologies and equipment to storing, retrieving, transmitting and manipulating data, in the context of a business or enterprise.

• Manage staff

  Manage employees and subordinates, working in a team or individually, to maximise their performance and contribution. Schedule their work and activities, give instructions, motivate and direct the workers to meet the company objectives. Monitor and measure how an employee undertakes their responsibilities and how well these activities are executed. Identify areas for improvement and make suggestions to achieve this. Lead a group of people to help them achieve goals and maintain an effective working relationship among staff.

• Reduce environmental impact of footwear manufacturing

  Assess the environmental impact of footwear manufacture and minimise environmental risks. Reduce environmentally harmful work practices in different stages of the footwear manufacturing.

• Prepare leather goods samples

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

• Monitor operations in the leather industry

  Operational monitoring refers to collecting key system performance of leather production at periodic intervals or at the end of some specific phases of the leather process. This information gives a basis for observing, detecting and recording the operation of the machines and systems. The activity provides also the critical data to check the correct performance of the process and to monitor quality and throughput against product and production requirements.

• Apply development process to footwear design

  Understand the needs of the consumer and analyse the fashion trends. Innovate and develop the footwear concepts from an aesthetic, functional and technological point of view by using a wide range of methods and techniques, selecting materials, components and suitable technologies, adapting new concepts to manufacturing requirements and transforming the new ideas into marketable and sustainable products for mass or customised production. Communicate visually the new designs and ideas.

• Communicate commercial and technical issues in foreign languages

  Speak one or more foreign languages in order to communicate commercial and technical issues with various suppliers and clients.

• Work in textile manufacturing teams

  Work harmoniously with colleagues in teams in the textile and clothing manufacturing industries.

• Develop footwear and leather goods marketing plans

  Be able to develop marketing plans and provide directions for marketing strategies of the company, as well as be able to identify potential markets and to perform marketing activities to promote the footwear products of the company.

• Distinguish accessories

  Distinguish accessories in order to determine differences among them. Evaluate accessories based on their characteristics and their application in wearing apparel manufacturing.

• Distinguish fabrics

  Distinguish fabrics in order to determine differences among them. Evaluate fabrics based on their characteristics and their application in wearing apparel manufacturing.

• Use communication techniques

  Apply techniques of communication which allow interlocutors to better understand each other and communicate accurately in the transmission of messages.

• Apply fashion trends to footwear and leather goods

  Be able to stay up to date on the latest styles, attending fashion shows and review fashion/clothing magazines and manuals, analysing the past and present fashion trends in areas such as footwear, leather goods and clothing market. Use analytical thinking and creative models to apply and to interpret in a systematic way the upcoming trends in terms of fashion and life styles.

• Develop leather goods collection

  Transform leather goods design ideas and concepts into prototypes and, finally, a collection. Analyse and check the designs from various angles like functionality, aesthetics, performance and manufacturability. Manage the development process of all the leather goods prototypes in order to meet the customer’s needs and to properly balance quality with production costs.

• Plan supply chain logistics for footwear and leather goods

  Plan, organise and monitor logistics and supply chain activities based on the footwear or leather goods company's main objectives regarding quality, cost, delivery, and flexibility.

• Practice innovative thinking in the footwear and leather goods industries

  Innovate and create in the footwear and leather goods sector. Evaluate new ideas and concepts to turn them into marketable products. Use entrepreneurial thinking in all stages of the product and process development to identify new business opportunities for the targeted markets.

Optional knowledge and skills

Source: Sisyphus ODB