Footbed Production

When Marcus Friedrich talks about his footbed production, his eyes light up. It’s little wonder. He loves the constantly changing challenges of his broad field. He coordinates the flow of raw materials through the production facility; he oversees the creation of the cork-latex mixture; he leads the all- important process of footbed ‘baking’ as well as quality control across the whole process. He is responsible for around 350 employees and a perfectly functioning set of bespoke machinery, which has been developed for decades to produce the unique BIRKENSTOCK footbed. No two days are the same for Marcus, but quality is always his top priority.

Marcus Friedrich motivates his employees to achieve perfection. For this purpose a team meeting takes place every morning at 8.30 am. The point of this meeting is to ensure errors are worked out of the system and that the highest quality is always assured. This applies to every single one of the approximately 80,000 pairs of footbeds that are produced every day in Marcus’s station.

From the very beginning, BIRKENSTOCK has relied on the highest quality standards and natural raw materials. Cork, latex and jute are cleverly mixed to create an outstanding, long-lasting product – the original BIRKENSTOCK footbed. Marcus Friedrich lovingly calls it “the soul of the BIRKENSTOCK sandal”.

The birth of every footbed begins with the insertion of the jute. Then the machine-filled cork-latex mixture is ‘modelled’ by hand into the right places. Then the oven closes and the 10-minute vulcanisation process begins.

Natural raw materials are always subject to fluctuations of quality. This is why the production of the cork-latex mixture is regularly adjusted by Marcus and the team. Once a batch of footbeds are baked, each pair is checked by hand and trimmed where necessary by a highly skilled worker. Only then can it fulfil its function of supporting natural walking for everyone who is sensible enough to wear a BIRKENSTOCK. The whole process is at once simple and ingenious.