The BIRKENSTOCK Group’s new central chemical laboratory will be based in Bernstadt. Construction work at the industrial park on the outskirts of the municipality in Saxony is already well underway. The laboratory is scheduled to go into operation at the end of 2019. The laboratory manager and his deputy have already been selected, and both have strong roots in the region of Eastern Saxony. Up to five laboratory positions will also be created. The investment sum totals around EUR 4 million and represents a clear commitment to the site, which already experienced a significant upgrading in the past two years. Unlike the two final assembly plants in Görlitz and St. Katharinen (Rhineland-Palatinate) and the footbed production plant in Steinau-Uerzell (Hesse), the plant in Bernstadt focuses exclusively on the manufacture of what are known as components, in other words the uppers, buckles, and rivets that characterize what the end customers perceive as the fashion element of the world-famous Birkenstock sandals and therefore very much shape the brand image.

“We are proud to be further expanding our commitment to this site and to be increasing our footprint within the region,” explains Sean Harris, Chief Admin Officer of the BIRKENSTOCK Group and Managing Director of Birkenstock Productions Sachsen GmbH. “And it is with good reason that Bernstadt was chosen as the location of the central laboratory. Although this area falls under the auspices of centralized quality management at the BIRKENSTOCK headquarters, the need for laboratory capacities is greatest here at this site,” says Harris. “More than two thirds of all chemical laboratory analyses are performed in Bernstadt because component manufacture primarily involves the processing of surface materials like leather, fabric, metal, or synthetic materials.”

Product quality and safety have always been a priority for Germany’s largest footwear manufacturer. “We subject all the materials that we process to rigorous testing,” emphasizes Dr. Andreas Ludwig, Director of Quality Management within the BIRKENSTOCK Group. “This is obviously about complying with legal thresholds. Product quality and customer safety come first for us, so we have set ourselves binding standards which are in many cases significantly more stringent than the statutory requirements. Having our own laboratory up and running will make us a lot more flexible, faster, and more efficient than before.” All the materials are tested for possible harmful substances when the goods are received. Physical tests are then likewise performed, for example to check the durability of the upper materials. Only materials that pass both the chemical and physical tests with flying colors are approved for processing.

The three main reasons why the BIRKENSTOCK management decided to invest in a new laboratory are to reduce testing costs, shorten the analysis time, and build up material expertise. “In opening a laboratory we also wanted to communicate outwardly that we take consumer protection very seriously,” says Dr. Andreas Ludwig. “After all, BIRKENSTOCK is a quality brand.” The laboratory will be able to handle approximately 6,000 analyses a year – tests which are currently primarily outsourced to external institutes. According to Ludwig, external laboratories will continue to be contracted with analysis work, but the character of the cooperation will change. “We will not be in a position to entirely dispense with external testing services, but the way we work with external institutes will change and will be mostly limited to specific issues and analyses that lead to a certification mark being issued.”

In creating its own centralized chemical laboratory, BIRKENSTOCK is going its own way in Europe, if not even globally, as most global footwear brands have their products manufactured primarily in Southeast Asia. And in general, much of the chemical analysis work is then performed there, too. But that’s not the case with BIRKENSTOCK – the materials for its sandals are not only processed at its own production plants in Germany, but will henceforth also be tested at the company’s own laboratory in Germany. This is likely to be unique, at least certainly in terms of production scale – BIRKENSTOCK manufactured (and sold) some 25 million pairs of shoes last year. By creating its own laboratory capacities on such a scale, BIRKENSTOCK is expanding its value chain in the area of procurement and is also taking a stand against the European footwear industry’s business model which is essentially founded on the principle of job order production in low-wage countries, with all the problems that entails.

This task was so appealing to the certified food chemist Dr. Stefan Kittlaus that in summer 2017 he decided to leave his job with an international laboratory service provider in Hamburg and return to his home region of Saxony with his family to become BIRKENSTOCK’s laboratory manager in Bernstadt. He is currently primarily coordinating the construction work and organizing the laboratory equipment. Covering an area of 500 square meters, the laboratory will offer plenty of space for state-of-the-art laboratory technology. Half of the investment sum is being spent on creating modern laboratory rooms including all the necessary complex building services, a quarter is for building refurbishment, and the remaining quarter is earmarked for buying high-tech equipment, including a number of gas and liquid chromatographs with mass spectrometers.

He is also busily looking for additional members of staff. He has already found his deputy manager – Dr. Nicole Beitlich, who, like Kittlaus, has extensive experience in the area of chemical analysis and who likewise comes from the region. By the time the laboratory goes into operation in November 2019, the team may have grown to comprise six or seven highly qualified employees. And then the motto in Bernstadt will not only be “Made in Germany,” but also “Tested in Germany.”