DEER SKIN TANNING WITH A PRODUCT FOCUS David Simek Simco Leather Corporation

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DEER SKIN TANNING WITH A PRODUCT FOCUSDavid
SimekSimco Leather Corporation

• Today, I would like to address two topics the
  procedures of tanning exotic leathers,
  specifically deer, and the viability and the
  future of exotic leather and the future of exotic
  leather markets in the U.S.
• Simco Leather was founded in 1960 as a family
  business on a new and environmentally clean site
  in Johnstown, New York. We would come to realize
  the importance of this in the 1980s when
  regulatory and monitoring procedures were
  required by the government.

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• Initially, we had 4 employees and a 5,000 square
  foot building. Over the years, we have grown to
  62,000 square feet with a 15,000 square feet
  warehouse with approximately 30 to 40 employees
  varying with seasonal production. In the 60s,
  we processed sheep from Iran for garment leather
  as well as some cow hide for garments and
  handbags. Do to changes in the marketplace and
  the Iranian embargo, we expanded to include
  processing deer, suedes, and other apparel
  leathers along with military leathers. Today,
  deer production is approximately 50 of our
  total.
• Tanning Process
• With the following slides you can see the
  processes we use at Simco Leather. For those of
  you who are in the tanning industry or are
  familiar with tanning this will be just a rerun
  of what you already know. For the others who have
  not been involved in this industry it will help
  explain some of the complexities of making deer
  and other exotics into fine leather.

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• Our deer warehouse will contain up to 80,000
  hides at one time. Seasonally, we process over a
  quarter of a million hides. Since deer harvesting
  takes place in the fall and winter during hunting
  season, we must have a capacity to store these
  hides safely throughout the winter. By the end of
  June, all of the deer will be processed at least
  to the pickle stage.
• The first step is to trim the hides to remove
  non-essential parts and to cull poor or damaged
  hides for special treatment.
• This is a typical white-tailed deer from the
  mid-western states. These are the largest found
  in the U. S. The first week of production is
  involved in the removal of unwanted proteins and
  fats from the hides that cannot be made into
  leather. The beam shop procedures are the
  preparation steps for the tanning which is to
  follow.

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• These two pictures are of the soak bays. They are
  used for re-hydration of hides.
• Soaps, alkalis and fungicides are added during
  this stage to retard bacteria growth and to begin
  breaking down natural fats in the hides. Earlier,
  we used tanks or drums to soak. They were too
  labor intensive. By using the soak bays, handling
  was reduced by 50.
• After 24 to 48 hours of soaking, fleshing is the
  next step. Here we remove the flesh from the
  hides so chemicals in the next step will
  penetrate the skin properly. Most animal hides
  can be un-haired by placing them in a paddle or
  drum with chemicals to dissolve the hair. Deer
  has to be handled differently because of its
  sensitive grain and the problems of floatation
  caused by the hollow hair. Keeping them
  underwater is a major problem. Our soak bays have
  1/4 chains every 3 feet to hold down the soaking
  raw hides. My first experience, about 20 years
  ago, I had to improvise because we

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• did not have the proper equipment. I placed the
  hides in a paddle, put plywood over the top, and
  wedged 2x6s to the ceiling. I added water and
  chemicals and went home. Several hour later, I
  got a call from the plant to come back. The 2x6s
  had literally raised the roof due to the pressure
  from the floating hides.
• Following the fleshing, un-hairing chemicals are
  sprayed on the flesh side and then the hides are
  piled overnight.
• The chemicals are absorbed and the hair follicle
  sufficiently weakened to allow mechanical removal
  of the hair.
• By removing hair in this way, we can use it as a
  by-product for horse padding and collars which
  are manufactured by the Amish or for padding for
  hockey uniforms manufactured in Canada.
• After the hair is removed the hides are placed in
  a paddle with a weak lime and sulfide solution
  for 24 hours. After they are removed from the
  paddle, they are fleshed a second time.

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• The last step in the beam shop is the bating
  and pickling procedure. An enzyme is added to
  remove the protein elastin and clean the residual
  hair scud. This is one of the most critical
  points of production. Enzymatic strength is very
  temperature and time sensitive. A 5o temperature
  difference can either double or reduce by
  one-half its active strength. A process time
  variation of 5 to 10 minutes can also result in
  too much or too little bating with a resulting
  piece of leather that is not suitable for its
  desired end use. At this point, sulfuric acid and
  salt are added. The hides are now in the pickled
  state. From the point of re-hydration,
  approximately 4 days prior to this step, the
  process is continuous. The chemicals added to
  perform their functions must be deactivated by pH
  or temperature change as in the bate, or rinsed
  clear as in the lime and sulfide stage but
  continued to the next stage without stopping
  until pickled. We process some deer which are
  transported to us from New Zealand and Australia
  in the pickle. As long as temperatures never
  exceed 90o F or is diluted by fresh water, the
  hides can be held for long periods of time.

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• After a period of 7 to 14 days of storage to
  achieve a uniform pH, the hides are ready for
  tanning.
• Chromium is used to tan with supplemental
  additions of replacement syntans and resins to
  enhance the unique grain characteristics.
• The hides are dried after tanning by first
  wringing excess water from them and then hanging
  them individually in a tunnel dryer for 24 hours.
• On the right you can see a pile of deer hides
  that have just been taken down from hanging.
  Those of you who experienced the feel of clothes
  dried on a clothes line can appreciate the need
  for this next step.
• We now have to dampen the leather and let it rest
  for another 24 hours. Heat is generated by
  dampening and piling.

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• We then mill the hides in a dry drum until soft.
• Once softened, the hides are stretched on a
  staking machine. We have three different types of
  staking machine the first is a multi-step
  machine designed and built locally,
• The second and third are feed-through machines,
  one from Italy,
• And the other from Czechoslovakia. Following
  staking, the hides are ready to be graded and
  sorted into different categories for quality and
  size depending on their final use, such as shoes,
  garments, gloves, or work gloves. After grading,
  the hides are split to level thickness. Without
  this procedure, manufacturers could not achieve
  straight, even seams. Large hides will produce a
  second, less valuable, but saleable split from
  the bottom half of the hide. Deer splits are used
  for clothing, gloves, and other small leather
  goods.

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• Coloring and finishing is determined by the
  customers end use. Custom coloring is a highly
  skilled craft and requires an artistic
  sensibility as well as the technical knowledge to
  address the range of customers needs.
• In addition to creating hundreds of color
  variations, the leather may also have to meet the
  need for sheen, firmness, flame retardant, water
  and perspiration resistance and other
  use-specific characteristics.
• This slide shows just our current custom colors
  being made for the month of April this year.
• Drying procedures are the same as in the tanning
  stages but an added process of toggling is
  sometimes used to stretch and firm the hides.
• Final trimming to customers specifications
  brings the hides to completion.

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• We also must remember that hides are purchased by
  the unit (per hide) and sold, after finishing, by
  the square foot or square meter.
• This slide is of our measuring machine or cash
  register as we refer to it. It is the last step
  before shipping.
• Also, not to be overlooked is the importance of
  machine maintenance. The hardware we utilize in
  all of these processes can be just as critical to
  producing a quality product as the skills of the
  tanners and the formulations.
• Along with normal production equipment, we
  utilize small sample paddles and drums for
  research development or processing
  one-of-a-kind hides for trophies or exotic
  leathers.
• Over the years we have tanned everything from a
  yak with the hair on for a mountain climber in
  Nepal to a 200 pound bison hide which was a blue
  ribbon winner at a state fair. Some of these
  unique items have led to new customers, some have
  not.

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• Our ostrich tanning started this way - after 10
  years of working with small numbers of ostrich,
  we were asked to assist in a joint ostrich
  program in South Korea. American ostrich has the
  potential to become a profitable domestic
  leather, so we continue to support it as much as
  time allows us.
• This last slide is one which I take exceptional
  pride in. Our states Business Review wrote an
  article last year about the elevation of Simcos
  six department managers to company shareholders
  and managing partners.
• Now, Id like to share some thoughts about
  building an industry in exotic leathers. As you
  saw from our slides, the manufacture of fine
  leather from a wild animal is an intricate and
  complicated process. Some factors that occur in
  its production are not a consideration in packing
  house hides. Proper curing, storage, flaying or
  hide removal can detract from the final quality
  but cannot be controlled by the tanner or the
  purchaser. We can go to all the extra work to
  make a quality product but if markets are not
  there we still do not have a viable industry.

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• Lets look at some of the things which have to
  be in place to be successful in the deer
  industry.
• 1. The raw hides should be readily available and
  as consistently uniform as possible.
• 2. The market must be researched to find a niche
  for the product. Small processors must find a
  manufactured product that is either overlooked or
  deemed unprofitable by large multi-national
  corporations. Products that are usually not
  produced by large companies include those that
  have too small production runs, too small profit
  margins, too tight time frames, or which demand
  too much attention to detail.
• 3. At each stage, from farm production to
  slaughtering, tanning, and manufacturing, we all
  must be diligently cost-conscious, or we will
  drive the end cost too high. Simco Leather is
  profitable in spite of massive changes in
  domestic leather production, very expensive
  regulatory mandates, union wages and benefits,
  and ever increasing chemical and equipment costs.

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• To give you some examples of the above
• a) Fashions in the apparel industry change with
  the seasons and frequently in mid-season. Samples
  that are submitted will not all be in demand for
  a production run, however, those that are well
  received by the buyers will have to be produced
  in a short time frame.
• b) Smaller operations can economically produce
  small runs of specialty items which can not be
  done by large volume manufacturers. As an
  example, Simco spends more than 1,000 a week on
  BASF chemicals, however, our volume is not
  sufficiently high enough for BASF to sell to us
  directly. Their costs to administer our account
  make it prohibitive. For small accounts like
  ours, BASF has to use an independent distributor.
• c) If the production is domestic, the time frame
  is much less than from a Pacific Rim area and
  makes domestic contracts feasible for small
  producers. Conversely, small operators cannot
  compete successfully with standard colors and
  finishes for high volume

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• leathers. Typically they are the black and brown
  jacket leathers, pig suedes, white athletic shoe
  leather, etc. These products can have a
  manufacturers lead time of 6 to 9 months and are
  being produced in countries with lower wage
  structures, less environmental restrictions and
  all the other factors that make large scale, low
  skill production hugely profitable for
  multi-nationals.
• d) There is no area in our tannery that has not
  been made more efficient in the past decade. In
  addition, we never stop looking at ways to
  partner with others to get the job done better,
  faster, or cheaper depending on what is being
  demanded by the customer. If we neglect any area
  of production, we risk our profitability.
• After being in business for 40 years, it is
  apparent to me that in the future, our large U.S.
  corporations will be heavily invested in the
  service sectors, emerging technologies, and
  finance. Smokestack industries will be secondary
  and most operations relegated to third

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• world countries. Small companies, like mine,
  will have to be committed to highly specialized
  fields filling niche markets such as fashion and
  military leathers or those which require extra
  care and a higher level of skills than can be
  attained in large-volume operations. Exotic
  leather fits all of these general parameters.
• Our area of New York had been active in tanning
  Texas deer for many years but with the move of
  glove leather production and manufacturing
  overseas, it completely stopped. The small size
  of Texas deer makes it uncompetitive to northern
  white-tail in the traditional deer markets. Texas
  deer promoters will have to develop new markets
  within the limitations of the product.

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• Three areas come to mind immediately chamois
  leather, foil-faced, and printed leather. All of
  these can be used with hides which have grain
  defects to produce a quality product. Texas deer
  sold to China gains some return on investment but
  selling retail instead of wholesale ultimately
  will produce a larger profit margin which may
  mean the difference between success and failure
  in the long run.
• In less than two decades, Simco has watched some
  of our customers go from 95o domestic
  manufacturing and 5 imports to just the
  opposite. The majority of our leather is going to
  be manufactured into products abroad and imported
  back into this country. However, our area
  supports several, highly successful manufacturing
  operations. Some sewing operations are done in
  the mid-Atlantic states, but custom work is still
  done locally. Weve seen large volume, high end
  leather manufacturers move to offshore
  facilities, move again to Pacific Rim countries,
  and ultimately go out of business. Success does
  not always follow cheap overhead.

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• One good idea with the proper groundwork, can
  create a profitable business. Chamois, which I
  mentioned earlier, is selling in catalogs and
  automotive centers for up to 20.00 a square
  foot. Normally, nowhere on the packaging does it
  mention what type of hide is used to create this
  chamois. Traditionally it has been an end-use for
  poor grained sheep, but some of the finest
  chamois Ive produced is from deerskin.
• Foils and prints which are applied to leather
  are another unique product with endless
  possibilities in the fashion industry. Ive
  brought some samples of these with me. Although
  not all of these are in demand at this time, it
  does give one an idea of potential uses.
• Recently, we developed a nonchrome-tanned
  leather. which replicates brain-tanned leather
  used by Native Americans. This is being made into
  Native American products being sold through

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• their casinos all across the country. We learned
  of this tannage through a university seminar,
  years ago, in Regina, Canada. The aldehyde
  tannage mimics the incomplete combustion or
  smoky tannage of the past.
• In my experience, there is no one, big solution
  to establishing a domestic industry in exotic
  leather, but a series of small solutions. An
  example of an exotic leather business getting off
  to the wrong start, in may opinion was the
  ostrich industry. The ranchers weve done
  business with have been pursuing contracts with
  U.S. boot manufacturers. If this market had been
  properly researched, Im sure that most ranchers
  would have seen that the lack of uniformity of
  their hides would be a deterrent to a large
  volume buyer. Even if a hide seller had a decent
  inventory of grade ones and twos, without an
  outlet for the balance of their inventory, it
  wouldnt be long before they were out of business
  or in a serious cash shortfall. The variety of
  ostrich breeds and mixes across the

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• country and even within the same flocks, demands
  national standards before the industry can truly
  move forward. The exotic deer industry can learn
  valuable lessons from these mis-steps.
• Basically, each region of the country will have
  different resources, different contacts, and
  different outlets. The successes in one area will
  enhance the chances of success for those in
  another. The key is not to lose sight of the goal
  which is to establish farm-raised deer as a
  quality leather. An industry starts by sharing
  knowledge as we are doing here today - and Im
  very pleased to have been asked to contribute to
  your conference.