Preparing classic and stretch leather
Most of our customers’ leather arrives as crust hides; the manufacturing process then begins. Our know-how begins with milling. This stage makes the hides or finished leathers more flexible before being worked on. Next, the hides and leathers are graded, then they’re sorted by type and thickness - a legacy from our elders who used their sense of touch.
The unique expertise of grading hides
The sensory nerves of our hands are on the alert. As soon as we touch the flanks, the hide’s strength is estimated. The machine operator then strokes the grain of the leather with his or her thumb and index finger by touching the palm of the hand. This age-old gesture where each worker has their own technique then makes it possible to grade the hides based on strength from the lightest to the strongest, i.e. up to 8 or 10 strength leather.
Splitting « The splitting stage »
Splitting leather and hides
We split our customers’ leather and hides according to their thickness requirements within a tenth of a millimetre depending on the item’s final purpose while taking various factors into account, i.e. origin, nature and hide tanning. It’s thus possible to obtain up to 3 or 4 different thicknesses depending on the type of hide.
Thinning leather to minimal thicknesses
This service is entrusted to a team of two workers highly qualified in production techniques, involving thinning the hides by carefully adjusting the splitting machines based on the selection, origin, tanning and thicknesses required by our customers.
The receiving machine operator is constantly checking and 3 of his senses are on alert - touch, sound and sight to verify the cut. Then the thickness is checked using a measuring device called “la pige” in French – an indispensable tool in our trade.
Our machines allow us to have a production capacity of 3,500 hides a day; we thus split crust hides to make stretch leather.
Our third splitting machine is used to dry split large hides, bovine and all types of leather, vegetable tanned, semi-vegetable tanned, semi-finished chrome, or finished, up to 175 cm wide regardless of the thickness chosen.
Providing services for finished hides
Fields and trades: Automobile/Aeronautical, Leather Merchants, Leather Craftsmen, Furniture, Clothing Manufacturers, Bookbinders, Saddlers, Upholsterers, Tanners, etc. Euréka takes care of splitting finished hides (lamb, goat, cow).
Bonding
Bonding
The formulas of our in-house water-based glues are developed based on the nature of the textile and hide thickness. Bonding is done consistently, per kilometre. Depending on the expected result, we take various factors into account such as pressure, temperature and drying time.
We can therefore provide our customers with many kinds of canvasses including our bestsellers – the Light Canvas and the Strong Canvas. A line entirely designed for clothing and shoes such as our Denim, organza, embossed organza, silk, shoe, Mélissa and Galucha canvasses as well as 3 smocking references, Wools, Jacquard, etc…
Laminating
We can laminate sheep, goat and bovine leather or exotic leather such as crocodile, python, etc. or even fur such as mink, square pelts, skin-out fur pelts, shagreen, fish leather, etc. This stage is after the splitting stage. This is when leather and a fabric are perfectly combined. The hides are laid on a conveyor belt rotated by a cylinder at a set temperature.
After the lamination is finished, the hides are taken to dry before being dyed. Then they’re returned to us. Next, the hides go through the cylinder grainer called "satigrain"; this stage brings out the selection by masking the pique wool, and adjustments are made based on the item.
After this, the hides are sent off for the finishing process and come back to us for currying. We send them through our staking machine to recover leather shrinkage during the river stage (we can recover up to 10 cm).
Next is the smoothing stage to make the finished leather shine whether it’s stretch or classic leather. We trim them again with electric scissors carefully following the contours of the hide.
Transfers
A multitude of leather and hide transfers
Another type of bonding involves the Mostardini press which provides an assortment of transfers, using thermo-adhesive film or applying a primer on the leather. Depending on the temperature and material, we provide a multitude of gold, silver, printed, cracked, varnished, smooth varnished, etc. transfers according to the customer’s request. It is also possible to bond 2 leathers together to make a reversible product.
Leather embellishment
Leather embellishment techniques
Euréka has now taken it a step further by providing a comprehensive leather embellishment service or “decorated leather” with textiles, synthetic materials, synthetic leather (pleather), skin-out fur and felt. Our machines are specially designed to provide the most diverse and original results. Our Evo model can provide you with a wide range of perforations, micro-perforations, scales, hole-punching and transfers with only one application on the pattern, light printing, precisely-placed perforations, etc.
Leather engraving - one-of-a-kind creations
Give your creativity free rein! Our ALFA marking and engraving machine, specially designed for leather, makes it possible for us to engrave, hole punch and mill on many different kinds of materials. We can also work together with you using your own designs.
End of the manufacturing process and delivery of the leather
Recutting, measuring and packaging of the hides
We cut the hides for our customers again before measuring them. “Measuring gives us the square footage of each hide"
For packaging, depending on the quality we use:
Cardboard rolling tubes and tissue paper
Brown kraft paper, corrugated cardboard and standard cardboard (for large quantities
A product’s release takes effect as soon as the delivery receipt is printed. The delivery receipt lists the machine operator’s name authorising the customer’s product to be released. We then send the delivery receipt to the customer and notify them that the package or packages are ready to be picked up. We also provide guaranteed speedy deliveries worldwide to facilitate logistics for our customers.
ISO
Euréka, ISO 9001 Certified
The ISO standard is an integral part of our company. Every member of our team has adopted the objectives of continuously satisfying our customers and a commitment to excellence.
In maintaining our focus on customers at all levels, “quality” meetings allow us to report the results of our targets and objectives.
Our areas of application are defined by various processes:
Management
Sales, Development and Marketing
Implementation of services
Quality human resources
Material resources
Improving performance
Process evaluations have been put in place, as well as management evaluations and internal audits to make our Quality Management System coherent. This system is constantly evolving with our objectives and identification of actions for improvement is continuous. In order to ensure this, we have ERP production software that facilitates company management and allows us to fully control traceability.
Eureka is not about to stop there and intends to obtain the French Living Heritage Label in 2018.