Cutting Department

In this department, the top part of the shoe or the "upper" is cut. The cutting operative is given

material and using metal strip knives, the worker cuts out pieces of various shapes that will take

the form of "uppers". Components are cut as per cutting requirements provided by the planning

department.

Machines in Cutting Department:

Various cutting machines are used in cutting department for cutting operations. These are:

a. Press Cutting Machine

These machines are 20 in total in cutting division-I. They have a cutting arm that rotates

about a pivotal point. Press cutting machines are used, for the most cases, for cutting of

leather. They are also used for cutting of synthetic materials such as lining materials,

magic strips, stiffeners etc. cutting knife is placed on the material and then cutting arm of

machine is brought over it and buttons are pressed, through hydraulic system cutting

head is pressed on the cutting die.

b. Travel Head Cutting Machine

These are two in total in cutting division-I. They are used for the cutting of synthetic

materials. Material is cut in form of layers on travel head cutting machines.

c. Splitting Machine

Splitting operation is performed on pieces of upper. Splitting machines are used to

reduce the thickness of leather pieces so as to meet design requirements. Some leathers

have thick layers, so they need splitting operation. Splitting machines are 2 in total in

cutting division-I. They have different gauges.

 i. Splitting machine I: this has gauge of 1-10 mm, which means thickness of

material can be reduced up-to 1mm only, not beyond that.

ii. Splitting machine-II: this machine has gauge of 0.1-1.0mm, which means that

thickness of material can b reduced up-to 0.1mm using this machine. This is

called fine splitting.

Splitting is done for the better finishing of the final product. If material is too thick, it

may create problems in stitching and lasting operations. Most common gauges in

splitting operation are 1.4-1.6 mm and 0.7-0.9 mm.

a. Skiving Machine

Skiving operation is performed on pieces of upper. These machines are 13 in total in

cutting division-I. They are used to reduce thickness of leather on edges so that when

two pieces are stitched together, joint does not become too thick or bulky because in that

case upper will look odd and proper finishing and look of the article might not be

achieved. Skiving operation can’t be performed before splitting.

Most common gauges used in skiving operation are 0.5-0.7 mm.

b. Stamping Machine

Stamping machine is only 1 in cutting division-I. This machine is used to emboss brand

name on upper, wherever required as per design of article. This machine is also used for

stamping of insoles. Every article has its own stamping insert which contains the name

of the article. These inserts are removable. Insert of article is inserted in stamping die

and insert of size of the article is also inserted in stamping die, and die is adjusted in
 machine. Stamping operation on sole is performed if required, but stamping of insole is

regularly done.

c. Numbering Machine

These machines are 4 in total in cutting division-I. They are used to number the article

pieces. Numbers that are printed on pieces contain information such as plan #, article

size and code of closing line to which that article will be fed.

Numbering of pieces is done so that they don’t get mixed up. This also helps in proper

management of W.I.P inventory so that right material is fed to right closing line.

Embossing
Counting
Marking
Numberi
Splitting
Skiving
Travel
Upper Head
Cutting
ng
&Cutting
Packing
Machine
(Lining,
Tongue, Tricard
and Cloth
cutting)

(if required)

(if required)
 Current Process Flow in Cutting Department

Materials Cut in Cutting Department

Materials cut in cutting department are mainly of two types:

i. Leather (cow, buffalo, goat leather)

ii. Synthetic materials (PVC coated materials, foams, cloth, magic strips, lining materials)

i. Leather

Leather is basic material in manufacturing of shoes. Cutting of leather requires a lot of

skill and experience because leather layers are not always up-to quality standard

throughout. Quality considerations in cutting of leather are

i. There must be no rugs on the leather

ii. There must be no butcher cuts or other damages on leather

iii. There must be no discolor

Keeping these considerations in mind while cutting the leather is very important because

leather is very expensive component and it must be used very efficiently in order to

optimize material utilization. Leather is cut in single layer form so as to make sure no
 damaged material becomes part of upper components, because in that case a lot of

quality material will be lost only because of small amount of bad material.

i. Synthetic Materials

Synthetic materials are also vital in manufacturing a quality shoe. Synthetic materials are

of various types and are used for various purposes in shoe manufacturing. These

materials are also cut in cutting department according to design specifications. Synthetic

materials are cut in form of layers in order to optimize production, since there are less

quality issues in case of synthetic materials.

Cutting Knives

Cutting dies/knives are designed in model room according to design specification. Every article

has its own cutting knives for upper and lining materials. Code of the article and size of the

article is present on every cutting knife in order to make it easy for the cutting operator to

choose the knife and cut material. Cutting knives are basically of two types:

i. 32 mm cutting knives: they are used for soft material cutting such as leather, cloth,

lining materials (playboy, T.R mash, cambrella, PVC coated material), magic etc

ii. 50 mm cutting knives: they are used for hard material cutting. They are mostly used for

tricard cutting. Tricard is used as insole and is stitched to upper before lasting.