product developers are masters of managing complexity. They are artists, footwear historians, trendsetters, material experts, amateur kinesiologists, clear communicators, marketability spotters and much more. With so many responsibilities, product developers need to uncover every possible efficiency.
The most direct route? Work with suppliers and products they can trust.
“At OrthoLite, we never take our brand partners’ trust for granted; we work to earn it every day,” said Dan Legor, global director of marketing at OrthoLite, the world’s leading supplier of open-cell foam technology. “We actively look for opportunities to build and maintain the confidence our brand partners have in us and our products. Testing and third-party verifications are one of our most important tools to achieve that.”
In addition to its extensive in-house testing, OrthoLite pursues outside verifications and accreditations that cover product and materials, manufacturing processes and performance qualities.
The company then provides full transparency of internal and external results to footwear brands and their Tier 1 factory partners. This full suite of testing and verifications provides the data, backup and proof product developers need to make confident purchasing decisions.
“We’re proud of the consistency of results between our internal reporting and outside verifications,” said Legor. “That matters because a primary outcome of these protocols is to further validate our promises of comfort, performance, quality, reliability and consistency.”
The importance of outside testing from supply chain to consumers
Every brand wants to sell shoes to consumers who will love the product and become brand loyalists. Marketers need a hook to promote the shoe and consumers need the shoe to deliver on that promise. Product developers and suppliers complete that circle of trust by marrying form with function, and design with materials.
“The claims we make ultimately contribute to how your customer will experience the shoe,” explains Legor. “This is yet another reason we take testing so seriously for ourselves and on behalf of our brand partners. While we stand behind every claim we make from our own rigorous testing and standards, we view outside testing as an added level of confidence in every insole and product we make.”
Additionally, when evaluating testing quality, brands should look for accredited labs that test for elements consumers will experience, such as durability, comfort and performance.
Testing and verifications
Outside verification should not be a rubber stamp of approval. It should be truly independent, and based on industry standards, whenever applicable.
When OrthoLite introduced the glueless top cover system, ESD Shield® with FiberFusion™ technology, the company worked with third-party testing laboratory Intertek to quantify the technical parameters for electrostatic discharge (ESD) Shield’s exceptional performance.
Intertek followed SATRA TM240–2001 protocols to conduct testing based on ISO 20344 – 2011, which requires ESD footwear to have electrical resistance of less than 100 milliohms (mΩ). Intertek validated that ESD Shield measures less than 0.01 milliohm mΩ. That represents a 1,000 times improvement in ESD performance over the required standard.
For OrthoLite O-Therm™, internal testing showed the off-the-chart ability to block cold and heat underfoot. Third-party testing from Vartest Laboratories verified it, confirming the thermal barrier is 54 percent more effective than other thermal insoles.
Additionally, OrthoLite engages in a wide range of third-party testing, including—but not limited to—wear, abrasion resistance, die migration and peel strength as relevant to each product. OrthoLite Cirql™—a biodegradable and industrially compostable comfort and performance foam technology—alone, holds seven different accreditations, including a life cycle analysis.
A sampling of testers and goals include MESHO1 for go-to-market product testing their partners can leverage, SATRA to validate universal global standards, Heelux for durability and cushioning testing, BETA Analytic Testing Laboratory to verify the percentages of bio-oil derived from castor in OrthoLite products and Bureau Veritas to attain scope certification for the Global Recycling Standard (GRS) in its Vietnam facility.
“We accept nothing short of reliable and consistent excellence,” Legor said. “Testing begins in-house as part of research and development (R&D) and regular manufacturing, then we seek outside testing for additional assurance that our results are ironclad. The third-party testing and accreditations serve as an added layer of validation, protection and proof.”
But it doesn’t stop there. Operationally, all five of OrthoLite’s factories—located in China, Indonesia, India, Spain and Vietnam—follow the Higg Index Factory Environmental Management (FEM) guidelines, with their three top-producing factories scoring in the 85th to 95th percentile, as verified by outside parties.
Socially, OrthoLite follows rigorous environmental health and safety protocols to ensure all employees enjoy safe, empowered, and dignified work environments. This year, OrthoLite factories will begin reporting to the Facility Social & Labor Module (FSLM) of the Higg Index to further illustrate the company’s commitment.
In conclusion, outside testing and verifications for footwear product designers can help distinguish between puffery and legitimate claims that influence how consumers experience the product. They help to build a stronger, more transparent supply chain for all.
To learn more about OrthoLite, click here.
This article was written by Brook Sutton, writer and content strategist, Verde Brand Communications, a digital marketing agency.
