INDIAN SHOE BAZAAR

The long felt gap in the area of footwear design & development was bridged with the setting up of the Footwear Design & Development Institute (FDDI), under the aegis of Ministry of Commerce, Govt. of India, in the year 1986. It is an ISO 9001 certified premier institution in the core competence area of human resource and infrastructure development for the footwear and allied industry.

During the short span of time FDDI has become a premier footwear fashion and technology institute in the world. FDDI is also the first footwear school in the world to get ISO 14001 certification. International Testing center of FDDI again is the first to get ISO 17025. Courses offered by the Institute are of International standard. Students apart from SAARC countries, such as Philippines come for training in FDDI. At FDDI the emphasis is given on practical training so that students are very well prepared to take up the responsibility in the shoe industry as Designers, Supervisors and Managers.

The institute conducts long term as well as the short- term courses to suit the various needs of the individuals and the industries. The long- term courses are having the duration of two to three years (full time-regular). These courses are highly specialized courses dealing with specific areas of the footwear manufacturing which are as follows: P.G. Diploma in Footwear Technology and Management - 2 years and Diploma in Footwear Technology- 3 years.

In addition to the long-term courses, the institute also runs the short-term course for the individuals to cater the demand for other functional aspect of the footwear manufacturing. The duration of these courses are from one week to the six-month. These courses are further divided in to the department specific & then level basis also. The institute trains in the following categories /levels: EDP, managers, workshop, supervisors training, operators training, lab technicians, designer's training and on quality control.

Students passed out from FDDI are highly successful in the industry due to its adoption of latest training methods and course contents. The syllabus, training software and teaching materials has been prepared by experts from Melbourne College of Textile, Australia & Southfield College, UK and management syllabus by IIM, Ahmedabad and FMS, New Delhi. The teaching faculty at FDDI consists of foreign experts in designing and technology and highly experienced Indian Instructors who have been trained in some of the best institutes in the world. FDDI has close interaction with major footwear institutes in the world for getting latest technology and designs. Some of the companies who have come for campus interview are Reebok, Adidas, Nike, Bata, Tata, Ecco, Liberty, Lakhani, Mirza, Drish, Bawa and many more.

For practical training FDDI has a full-fledged workshop with latest machines in cutting, closing, components, lasting, finishing operations. FDDI is the first footwear-training institute to have machines on all constructions like, Goodyear welted, DIP, DVP, Stitch Down, Stuck - On, Sole & Mould Designing. It has also the CNC machining center for mould making facility. Thus students are able to learn latest technology in shoe making. Rubber technology, marketing & sales and merchandising have also been included in the syllabus from the current session.

FDDI has most advanced laboratory, set up in collaboration with Bally, Switzerland. The chemical lab has been setup in collaboration with PFI Germany, a leader in this field. The FDDI lab ranks best among the labs in the world.

The partial lists of the associate members of FDDI are as follows:
Multiprod (India) P. Ltd., Narman Leather Ltd., Kurt O John Shoe Comp, Taj Rhein Shoes Co. Ltd., Addidas India (P) Ltd., Amar Shoe Leatherwears, A.P.I. Polymers, Moja Shoe (P) Ltd., Welcome Shoe (P) Ltd., Gorz-Beckert Asia Ltd., Mahavir Polymars (P) Ltd., Super Tannery (India) Ltd., Drish Shoe Chandigarh, Rus Exim (P) Ltd., Arvind Footwear (P) Ltd., Sree Leather Calcutta, I.F.C.O.M.A. (IFCOMA), Mirza Tanners Ltd. M&B Footwear (P) Ltd., Reebok Technical Services (P) Ltd., Spary Plast Ltd, Delhi, Bellini Fashion Pvt. Ltd., RH-Design, Schfenacker Motherson Ltd, Relaxo Footwear Ltd., Avanti Leather, Tinna Overseas, Pidlite Industries, Tryshoera India, Liberty Shoes, Sarup Tanneries, Mayur Leather Products Ltd., Klick International Pvt. Ltd.

The Computer Aided Design Center (CAD-CAM) trains the students in designing and fashion in collaboration with PROCAM, Shoe Master, Crispin, DELCAM and IDEAS and assists the Industry in range building, designing and grading of shoe design.

In order to improve the quality of the product & to increase the productivity of the companies on the shop floor as well as in the designing, product development FDDI provides technical consultancy to the footwear companies in India & abroad in the different segments of the footwear industries this also includes the trouble shooting during the production. FDDI has served more than 100 companies in the field of footwear from last 7 years in the different areas of production.

FDDI has an extensive information center backed by a technical library. FDDI has modern Computer Center with Internet facility in each computer. FDDI trains students in computer skill. Computer knowledge is compulsory for all our students.