Making Eco-Friendly Shoes Using Cotton And Corn For A Sustainable Future

How to develop a business idea, complemented by brainstorming and leveraging the insights and skillsets of others.  Identify the use of cotton and corn so that it can help in manufacturing shoes.  

The Advantages of Using Eco-Friendly Materials in Apparel Industry

The recent trends in the modern world is to make products from recycled materials along with those materials that are degradable in nature so that the environment can be more safe for the people to live in. The use of the bio-degradable materials will also help the companies to be sustainable in the future, as it will provide them a competitive advantage over the rival firms that are performing in the market (Kozlowski, Searcy & Bardecki, 2015). The main purpose of this report is to identify the use of cotton and corn so that it can help in manufacturing shoes. This will help in keeping the environment safe, as the product will be free from any synthetic materials that may harm the fragile environment.  

The major problem in the fashion industry is that the apparel industry does not change its style on a continuous manner. This is due to the fact that there are huge amounts of wastage that is generated due to the mixture of the different components and materials. The major issue is that the foot wears also need to be manufactured with the mixture of various components and materials that are not degradable in the nature (Sivalogathasan & Wu, 2013). It mainly consists of more than 20 components that needs to be bonded together for a single pair of footwear to be made. This reduces the chances of recycling the materials through the natural process. Therefore some of the companies in the apparel industry have taken the initiative that are promising in the near future to reduce the carbon footprint in the nature and make the products that are friendly towards the environment (Schmitt, 2014). The major reason for this innovation technique is as follows:

• The use of energy and material will be at a minimum level
• The processes and the materials that will be implemented will be eco-friendly in nature
• The materials can be separated at an easier rate
• The life cycle of the products will be optimized as well (Shang et al., 2013)

These benefits will help the company to be sustainable in its operation as well due to the fact that it will help them in gaining a better level of advantage over the rival companies that are operating in the market. 

The idea that has been generated by the company will help in its operations through various phases so that the attraction of the products towards the prospective clients can be increased to a great extent. This process will help in increasing the level of level of efficiency of the company so that it can be sustainable in its business operations (Staritz & Morris, 2013). The other benefits that this idea would be providing is as follows:

• The materials that will be used will be sourced directly from renewable sources
• The materials will be biocompatible and recyclable so that it does not cause any harm to the environment
• The materials will be sourced locally so that it can help in keeping the costs down to a great extent (Jakhar, 2015)

The Feasibility of the Idea

The materials that will be used within the company will also help in increasing the level of profits, as the level of trust among the customers with respect to the product will be increased to a great extent. It will also result in increasing the goodwill of the company, as the products will be in great demand in the market (Nayak & Padhye, 2015). The products will be priced at a higher rate in the initial years sob that it can help in generating the funds that will be required buy the company to manufacture more number of products. It will also result in increasing the level of communication, as more number of customers will be spreading the information regarding the benefits of using this product (Mohajeri et al., 2014).  

This idea of using corn and cotton in making the shoes by the apparel company will also be beneficial to them in the following manner:

Developmental process

The company will be able to develop the new technology so that it can help them to be sustainable in the future. This would also provide them a competitive advantage over the rival companies that are doing their business in the Australian market so that the sale of the products can be increased. It would also lead to greater amount of trust among the customers as well (Taplin, 2014).

Market research

The new products that will be produced by the company will be available in the market after a thorough research has been done so that it can understand the needs and demands of the customers and the profitability of the product can be determined in the market. The feedback from the customers will be considered by the company so that the products and the services can be provided in an efficient manner. It will also help in monitoring the needs of the customers as well (Turker & Atluntas, 2014).

Use of latest technology

The idea of manufacturing eco-friendly shoes also require the advanced technologies so that it can help in keeping the cost of production at a minimum level. This will help in keeping a tab on the development of the product in the market as well. The use of the latest technologies will allow the business to be sustainable so that it can continue its operations in the future as well (Caridi, Perego & Tumino, 2013).

Social factors

The aspects on the societal upfront is very important so that the design of the product can be done in an ecological manner. The company needs to operate on a local scale so that it can require less amount of resources. This will help the company in investing less amount of resources for manufacturing larger quantities. The company will be addressing issues like Fair Trade so that it does not include child as labour within the organization. This will help the organization to work towards the society as well so that it can be trusted by more number of customers. The availability of cheap materials such as cotton and corn will also help in providing labour at a cheaper cost so that the cost of operation for the company can be decreased to a great extent (Taplin, 2014).

Key Partners

Risk control

The use of the technologies will be risky for the company as well, which needs to be mitigated through a proper contingency plan when the technology may cause disruption. The risks need to be managed in a proper manner by the company so that the functions are not hampered and the operations can continue in a smoother manner (Morris & Staritz, 2014).

The feasibility of the idea can be analysed with the Cost Benefit Analysis (CBA) so that the calculations can be done by the company before the product is being launched in the market. The financial analysis has been provided below:

The business idea is considered to be positive, as the point of break-even can be achieved within the first year of its operation. The Net Present Value or NPV will be positive for the company for the given period of time as well.

Conclusion

Therefore, it can be stated that the company will be sustainable in the future due to the manufacturing of the shoes from cotton and corn. It would also help in increasing the level of profits and the market demands of the product will increase simultaneously for the company 

Reference List

Caridi, M., Perego, A., & Tumino, A. (2013). Measuring supply chain visibility in the apparel industry. Benchmarking: An International Journal, 20(1), 25-44.

Jakhar, S. K. (2015). Performance evaluation and a flow allocation decision model for a sustainable supply chain of an apparel industry. Journal of Cleaner Production, 87, 391-413.

Kozlowski, A., Searcy, C., & Bardecki, M. (2015). Corporate sustainability reporting in the apparel industry: An analysis of indicators disclosed. International Journal of Productivity and Performance Management, 64(3), 377-397.

Mohajeri, B., Nyberg, T., Karjalainen, J., Tukiainen, T., Nelson, M., Shang, X., & Xiong, G. (2014, October). The impact of social manufacturing on the value chain model in the apparel industry. In Service Operations and Logistics, and Informatics (SOLI), 2014 IEEE International Conference on (pp. 378-381). Ieee.

Morris, M., & Staritz, C. (2014). Industrialization trajectories in Madagascar’s export apparel industry: ownership, embeddedness, markets, and upgrading. World Development, 56, 243-257.

Nayak, R., & Padhye, R. (2015). Introduction: the apparel industry. In Garment manufacturing technology (pp. 1-17).

Schmitt, J. (2014). Social Innovation for Business Success: Shared Value in the Apparel Industry. Springer Science & Business Media.

Shang, X., Liu, X., Xiong, G., Cheng, C., Ma, Y., & Nyberg, T. R. (2013, July). Social manufacturing cloud service platform for the mass customization in apparel industry. In Service Operations and Logistics, and Informatics (SOLI), 2013 IEEE International Conference on (pp. 220-224). Ieee.

Sivalogathasan, V., & Wu, X. (2013). Innovation capability for better performance: intellectual capital and organization performance of the apparel industry in Sri Lanka.

Staritz, C., & Morris, M. (2013). Local embeddedness, upgrading and skill development: global value chains and foreign direct investment in Lesotho's apparel industry.

Taplin, I. M. (2014). Global commodity chains and fast fashion: How the apparel industry continues to re-invent itself. Competition & Change, 18(3), 246-264.

Turker, D., & Altuntas, C. (2014). Sustainable supply chain management in the fast fashion industry: An analysis of corporate reports. European Management Journal, 32(5), 837-849