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Traceability of hides and skins: from field to leather

Content:
Quality of leather is deeply dependant on the origin of the livestock including breeding, transportation and slaughter. Ten years ago, the French leather industry have commissioned CTC, the French Leather, leather goods and footwear research centre to improve the quality of hides and skins. In order to improve raw material, a unitary link is required between the quality of leather and its origin that is to say the raw material. This was the beginning of a huge project: traceability of hides and skins through the supply chain, from breeding to wet-blue (and even leather). Data is captured from the animal’s ear tag at the point of slaughter which is then transfer on to a paper bar code. Hides and skins traders will then transfer definitively the code from the paper tag to the hides or skins thanks to an automatic high-pressure CO2 marking device on the hair side of the fresh or salted hide in the neck region. That unitary traceability is resistant to water, acid, alcalis, grease, solvents but also mechanical impacts such as splitting, shaving and even buffing. It is visible throughout all the process and fast enough. Once the permanent number code has been added, it can be visually or automatically read throughout the subsequent tanning process steps. The automatic code reader takes the algorithm of the number and the data is collected by mean of artificial intelligence. This technology has been implemented by several abattoirs, trader and tanners.
Traceability is the essential tool for quality management throughout the supply chain. It helps the identification of the origin of defects for improvement and provides the origin of grade 1 hides and skins.
This realistic industrial solution is a major issue for the leather industry whether it is for the improvement of quality or mastery of the supply chain and sustainability.
Take-Away:
In order to improve the quality of raw material, a unitary link is required between the quality of leather and its origin that is to say the raw material. This is the objective of that project: traceability of hides and skins through the supply chain, from breeding to wet-blue (and even leather) thanks to CO2 laser marquing.

Identiferoai:union.ndltd.org:DRESDEN/oai:qucosa:de:qucosa:34315
Date28 June 2019
CreatorsPoncet, T., Vigier, Cédric
ContributorsInternational Union of Leather Technologists and Chemists Societies
PublisherVerein für Gerberei-Chemie und -Technik e. V., Forschungsinstitut für Leder und Kunststoffbahnen (FILK) gGmbH
Source SetsHochschulschriftenserver (HSSS) der SLUB Dresden
LanguageEnglish
Detected LanguageEnglish
Typeinfo:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion, doc-type:conferenceObject, info:eu-repo/semantics/conferenceObject, doc-type:Text
Rightsinfo:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess
Relationurn:nbn:de:bsz:14-qucosa2-340872, qucosa:34087

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