Hebron Leather & Shoe Cluster Newsletter July, 2014 Issue 1 Who Are We? In This Issue Who are we? 1 Strategy Planning Workshop 2 PUM - Leather and Shoe Cluster cooperation 2 Belgian Expert Visit Production and Quality Processes Development Future Events and Projects Public Private Dialogue Tanneries Contact Information 3 3 4 4 4 T he Leather and Shoe Cluster in sory Suppliers, Designers, Mould Makers, Hebron is one of five clusters that Sole makers, Last Makers, Shoes Manufactur- receive support from Private Sector ers, and Retailers. Development Cluster Project (PSDCP) With support from PSDCP, a cluster Implemented by the Ministry of National manager, Mr. Mohammed Husain has been Economy the recruited and hosted at the Hebron Cham- Federation of Palestinian Chambers of ber of Commerce. The Chamber is one of Commerce, Industry and Agriculture the active supporting institutions for the (FPCCIA). This project is funded by the Leather and Shoe Cluster. Mr. Hussain will French animate in partnership Development with Agency. The cooperation between cluster Leather and Shoe Cluster started with a members and concerned stakeholders core group member of 18 SMEs across through collective projects toward enhanc- the leather and shoe value chain in ing the cluster Hebron in 2013. Since then, the cluster and market access. have expanded to include around 50 Recently the cluster strategy was scoped out active members with inclusive represen- using a participative bottom up approach tation for the whole value chain like following a diagnosis study carried out by the Tanneries, Chemical Suppliers, Acces- cluster manager. members’ competitiveness Strategy Workshop T he Leather and Shoe Cluster has held a strategy planning workshop in Hebron on Monday February 24th, 2014. Representatives from the MoNE, the AFD, the FPCCIA, HCCI, the Palestinian Federation Industry, Federation of Leather Industries, along with others working in the leather and shoe cluster in Hebron have attended this workshop. The workshop was launched with a presentation of the situation analysis for the Cluster, by the cluster manager Mr. Mohammed Husain. This included a detailed explanation and analysis of the cluster’s current situation, based on random samples from the value chain members. The samples were taken from the value chain and included tanneries, designers, and importers. Moreover, the cluster manager developed a SWOT analysis, detailing the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats that may face the cluster. At the end of the presentation, the guests voted and prioritized areas for improvement within the cluster. This helped to develop a strategy and a work plan. The guests were divided to working groups and discussions took place on activities and suggested projects to support the cluster in Hebron. Cluster Manager Mr, Mohammed Husain giving a presentation in Strategy Planning Workshop in Hebron PUM - Leather and Shoe Cluster Cooperation M r. Theo Verbunt, a very experienced expert in shoe manufacturing, provided by the PUM - Netherlands, visited the cluster during the period March 8th to 20th 2014. He was accompanied by the cluster manager on his visits to the cluster members. He started from the tanneries and visited various members of the value chain including, manufacturers, component suppliers and shoe shops. This was a good opportunity, for through this visit, the cluster was shown the need to enhance their quality and reduce their operating costs. Mr. Verbunt was very supportive of the cluster approach and emphasized that the Leather and Shoe cluster can solve these issues through clustering initiatives and projects. This visit was very useful in that it has pointed out the need for the cluster to work on their quality, costing and design, and at the same time it has also offered solutions for the problems through the cluster methodology. Moreover, The coaching projects and the business opportunities have played a vital part in creating a strong relationship between the clusters themselves. Page 2 Issue 1 Belgian Expert Visit A s part of its mission, PUM Netherlands, has with the aid of the Palestinian Federation of the leather Industry, provided the cluster with a Belgian expert in the leather and shoe industry. During the period of March 13th to the 27th 2014 Mr. Claude D’Anvers, an expert in tanning and leather making, visited the cluster tanneries. During his visits he was accompanied by the cluster manager to facilitate his visits and the coaching sessions provided to the cluster members. and pointed out some weaknesses in the products. Moreover, he has given advice on how to improve and solve the problems. At the end of his visit, a workshop for the tanneries was conducted in Hebron Chamber of Commerce and Industry, where all tanneries were invited. Mr. D’Anvers presented his conclusions from his visit and made recommendations for improvements. “Mr. Claude D 'Anvers promised to come back again in August 2014 to give a basic training course to the tanneries about tanning, followed up with a training in Netherlands. He also promised to look for an alternative for some of the chemical suppliers.” During this visit the expert has visited most of the cluster members, evaluated the situation and has given constructive criticism Production and Quality Processes Development A Japanese Expert Mr. Tamada, a specialist in Production and Quality management, including efficiency and effectiveness development, has visited some of the cluster members in an attempt to pick a company to conduct a training course on quality and production development. This one week training, which is under a program carried out by Japan International Cooperation Agency - JICA, will work on improving the production and quality processes, conducted by a team of trained experts, in cooperation with the company’s workers and under the supervision of Mr. Tamada. Page 3 Edited By: Miss Iman Zubeidi & Mr. Mohammed Husain PSDCP Contact Information Website: www.pal-cluster.ps E-mail: [email protected] Telephone: +970 295 5565 PO Box: 2206- Ramallah, Palestine Future Events and Projects A s the action plan was approved by the related committees, the cluster has started with the implementation phase. For the time being three projects have started. Those are: Costing and Pricing training (Will be conducted in August 2014), branding the cluster (Will be accomplished in July 2014) and tanning training which will be conducted in August 2014. Soon other projects will be announced as well such as: • Lean Manufacturing program. • Shoe designing training. • Management and leadership course. “Clusters are geographic concentrations of interconnected companies, specialized suppliers, service providers, associated institutions in a particular field that are present in a region. ”Michael Porter - Professor at Harvard University Cluster Coordination committee meeting with Mr. Pierre Paris, representative of France Cluster Public Private Dialogue - Tanneries T he Cluster is encouraging members to lobby government through a Public Private Dialogue (PPD). The first meeting with the cluster manager on this issue concerns the problem facing the Tanneries. The points to be presented to the first PPD meeting will include: 1– Access of the rawhide from Gaza. 2– Prohibit the exporting of rawhide. 3– Permission for importing of the rawhide. 4– Facilitate access to Sulfuric Acid. 5– Scarcity in the water supply. 6– New Palestinian regulations and procedures to buy chemicals. The date for this PPD is yet to be established between the cluster and members of the MoNE and other ministries. We will report on the outcomes in the next Newsletter! Leather & Shoe Cluster Contact Information Mohammed Husain Cluster Animator Leather and Shoe Cluster Hebron, Palestine Phone: +970 (2) 2228218 Mob. No.: +970-599-300-049 E-mail: [email protected] Facebook Group Page: https:// www.facebook.com/groups/ leather.shoes.cluster