What we do... IN-COMPANY VISIT
As our first company visit, we were invited to the headquarters of the renowned shoe manufacturer VIBRAM. The firm specializes in producing rubber soles for footwear, and starting from its location in Albizzate, in the province of Varese, it has expanded its reach globally, with factories in North and South America, as well as China. Our main goal for the company visit was to understand how for-profit firms manage to pursue ESG objectives. Vibram is not only a major player in its market, but it is also known for its dedication to sustainability, which is why we chose it as our first destination.
We have been guided by the director of sustainability projects at Vibram and were able to tour the research laboratories and factory where they create, test, and manufacture new designs and materials for their products. The director demonstrated their working process, which is aimed at making the processes more efficient and sustainable. In every area of the factory, we met engineers, designers, chemists, physicists, and workers who were all involved in their mission. In the laboratory, they test the quality of prototypes and verify that increasingly environmentally friendly materials are still suitable for the production of a good product. In the storage center and in the factory itself, some workers illustrated the various steps of the footwear fabrication process and how they strive to develop more sustainable industrial procedures.
The visit was illuminating as we were able to see firsthand how real-world companies that care about the environment and social rights are trying to balance the pursuit of environmental, social, and governance objectives with the need to be competitive in the market. While some may think that these two dimensions are not compatible, at Vibram we saw people who are trying to prove them wrong.