Chinese doubleface specialists, Henan Prosper Skins & Leather Enterprise Co Ltd, have announced that they have become the first manufacturers in the country to mass produce finished medical skins. ‘I think that we have become the first manufacturer in China to produce medical blankets’, says Victoria Liu, vice managing director. ‘The skins can be laundered up to 50 times and they have a high level of disinfection which meets hospital infection control standards’, she added.
In total, Henan Prosper process around 5,000 skins a day from their tannery located in Zhengzhou in the central Chinese province of Henan. They also own the PPS Tannery situated close to Mechelen in Belgium.
The group also has a third processing facility in Laverton North, close to Melbourne, Australia, where they source much of their raw materials. Australian merino sheep and lambskins are ideally suited for doubleface production and they set up the subsidiary company in Australia to control and maintain their raw material supply.
‘Unlike other Chinese companies, we produce high quality leather products from within China and we are able to achieve a premium price because we use the best raw materials, chemicals and machinery available. We employ foreign technicians to meet international standards which have led us to achieve nearly 100% of our final products being exported worldwide’, says Liu. Henan Prosper’s major markets include the US, Canada and the EU and they supply some the world’s most famous brands such as Wolverine and Timberland.
The privately owned company (two major shareholders) have grown rapidly since they were established in 1994 producing footwear, rugs, paint rollers, garment, car accessories, babycare products and dusters from doubleface skins. Today, the company employ 700 people and have branch companies and warehouse facilities in a number of locations throughout the US, Australia and Europe. A new warehousing facility is due to be opened in Los Angeles soon.