Leather goods quality recovery for Colombia
LIFA investigated premature bag-finish wear for a Colombian buyer, established leather grading criteria and reduced finish failures to 0.8%.
- The buyer
- A Bogotá, Colombia importer of leather bags and belts for premium retail.
- The product scope
- Leather handbags, wallets, and belts; 28 SKUs, 18,000 units.
What needed to change?
Surface finish wore off within 2 months on 12% of bags; tanning tests showed corrected-grain leather finished to look like full-grain; no grading standard existed in the PO.
How LIFA managed the work
We defined leather grade standards (full-grain vs corrected) with physical test criteria.
We audited the tannery and finishing line.
We re-sourced 2 tanneries with documented grading systems.
We added finish-adhesion testing to pre-shipment inspection.
Claim recovered for 60% of the affected batch; new tanneries deliver to grade; finish failures fell to 0.8%; premium positioning restored.
From our company project database, with the work, approvals and results shown together.
What this project shows
A purchase order needs a defined leather grade and acceptance tests. Visual resemblance to full-grain leather was not a sufficient production standard.
Client identities, supplier contacts and confidential commercial terms are withheld from this public company record.
