Continuity and innovation are the DNA of Neskrid 4Allfeet

 In 2013 Joost Pijnenburg simply grabbed a plane to Portugal. At the time, Joost was convinced that this was the only way left to get skilled workers. At first, Joost started with his shoe-clog factory Gerla. In good spirits with what we call “Brabants flair”, he headed south, towards the future. In 2016 Joost  would repeat the trip and start another factory in Portugal for his other shoe company Neskrid.

A story of two companies in a nutshell

 Neskrid and Gerla are two separate companies with a different focus. But there is a strong integrated management of the two. It started as a collaboration between Gerla and Neskrid. Gerla, founded in 1904, has become the market leader in shoe-clog production and has been recognised by the Dutch state as an 'Official Court Supplier'. Neskrid BV 4Allfeet started in 1924 and since 1977 has focused on orthopaedic safety footwear that meet the highest European Safety standards. Since the two companies joined forces, Jan Dirksen (former Neskrid) has remained by Joost Pijnenburg’ s side as Chief Technical Officier (CTO). 

The manual craft of shoemaking

 In the Netherlands the craft shoemaking has been a faltering industry for decades. The craft of shoemaking used to be a flourishing industry, especially in recent decades. There are less and less skilled professionals on the labour market to make shoes.  Gerla and Neskrid have tried to keep the shoemaking craftmanship in the Netherlands, but ultimately decided to move the manual labour to Portugal, a well-known “shoemaking country”.  

Lessons learned in the Portuguese Companies

In no time, Joost had found a factory for Gerla and started his shoe-clog production in Portugal. A few years later, in 2016, Joost opened a factory for Neskrid (orthopaedic safety footwear).  This sounds like a simple story, but it was in fact a process of trial and error. Especially in the first few years. A key point was the difference in management styles. Initially, this was done in the Dutch way. Making agreements and trusting that things will work out accordingly. But this approach did not work and led to a huge drop in productivity and quality. This management style was therefore adjusted to the more traditional hierarchical model. That simply works better in a Portuguese production company.

Dutch management by walking around

Joost and Jan have chosen Dutch-speaking management for both factory sites. The factory managers can often be found on floor, where the focus is on quality. The final check is done by specialized staff during the finishing and packing stage. Especially for the custom-made orthopaedic products that Neskrid supplies, quality is of paramount importance: after all, the shoe must fit the end user perfectly! The approach is always to keep a cycle of learning and improving. Jan Dirksen is still very active in managing both companies and goes to Portugal about once a month to support and guide the local management team.

100th Anniversary celebrations

Gerla and Neskrid are both companies with long histories. Whereas Gerla has been around for 120 years and is a Royal Court supplier, Neskrid is celebrating its 100th anniversary in 2024. Time for a big party! The festivities started with a very first customer day in Rijen, and what a great success it was! But the crowning glory undoubtedly came when Joost Pijnenburg and Jan Dirksen had the honour of talking to Her Majesty Queen Máxima at the Schoenenkwartier. But the festivities did not end there. The Dutch team went on a jubilee trip to Portugal to visit the Neskrid factory, the Gerla factory and their local partner. But the best part of the trip was the fantastic diner, followed by a dancing party with all Dutch and Portuguese employees. Everyone was chatting and dancing together and everything came together. A truly touching and memorable moment for Joost, Jan and many others. 

The future is in Portugal

 Though Research and Development, Marketing, Sales and Customer care will remain in the Netherlands. Neskrid sees few  options to develop their company activities in The Netherlands. The original idea to build a new location with sustainable energy (through solar panels) has dwindled in the bureaucratic constraints and severe limitations of connecting to the Dutch power network. Family-owned businesses have to wait for years on end (current estimates are 2028) to be able to get a power connection. But nonetheless Neskrid keeps investing in innovation.

Innovation remains key

A huge step has been the efforts in the development of 3D technologies like 3D scanning, 3D modelling and 3D printing. In the future Neskrid will 3D-print the lasts from consumers directly in Portugal. In this way the company is able to reduce the carbon footprint, by cutting out shipping of the heavy lasts from 15 countries. This is also a big step in terms of both cost and efficiency. The lead time will also decrease by at least 10%. So, all in all a significant win for employees that need safety footwear for their daily work.

This will also ease the fulfilment of customer demand in European countries outside of the EU borders (for example Switzerland, Norway and the UK). Currently Neskrid 4Allfeet is focusing in further developing new products, using the newest technologies available, to improve of the internal processes. In the vision of Joost: focus on continuity, blended with developing new products, such as specialised footwear for specific occupations; 4Allbrands insole and the whole new range of outdoor shoes,  is the key for Neskrid to remain at the top of shoemaking craftmanship.