Editorial

Editorial nº 77

Editorial

In October 2008, the first International Leather Forum was held in Paris, organized by the IULTCS (International Union of Leather Technologist and Chemists Societies)
The attendants were representatives from the most famous brands of leather goods, footwear, automotive, chemical companies and suppliers of machinery for the leather industry and members of international organizations and suppliers of leather chemicals and technical associations.
The purpose of the meeting was to talk about the actual image of leather, markets, training and support for innovation, research and development.
Marc Folachier, IULTCS president at the time, said “there are times and places to compete and times and places to cooperate.”
One of the conclusions of the Forum was that the actors of the Leather World, whatever their position in the value chain is, must maintain ongoing communication: customers and suppliers, Institutions engaged in research, development and innovation and all of them be involved in market needs.
One of the topics treated as of particular interest was the need for training of future experts who work in the Leather Industry.
In meetings conducted regularly by the Executive Committee of AAQTIC we have been talking about the need to extend the training courses throughout the country.
Frequently we receive calls from people from within Argentina working at tanneries or with enterprises linked to the Leather Industry who express interest in learning more about the theory and practice applied to the transformation of a skin in leather.
For many of them the distance from Buenos Aires is an impediment to attend the classroom courses offered by AAQTIC. Others, still living in Buenos Aires, for economic reasons and/or work, find it difficult to leave their workplace for a few hours.
This led us to consider offering a distance course in Leather Technology, forming a group on the web.
The course will be composed of several modules of approximately two months each. Participants will have access via email to weekly classes, when they have free time, and they must meet regular assessments and / or prepare practical works.
Our idea is ambitious: if it results in Argentina, our intention is extend it to other Latin American countries.
We need AAQTIC partners and all those who receive our magazine to spread this initiative and to collaborate by sending us suggestions and / or proposals.
On all of us depends the success of this venture, which aims to make LEATHER known.

Lic. Patricia Casey - Presidente

A call for greater participation in our magazine

This issue of Tecnología del Cuero introduces actions aimed at inviting companies, authors and members to have a greater participation in our magazine.
Each sector has different characteristics:
-Updates on companies and institutions
-Technical articles
- Advertisements
Updates sent by companies and institutions become a source of information for the “Leather World” section.
Our editorial staff writes the articles of that section, based largely on the reports sent by companies. Our team selects the reports that best fit tour readers’ interest.
These reports are summarized and re-written to match our magazines’ guidelines. Participation is free of charge.
This issue informs us about a meeting at AAQTIC’s premises oriented to encouraging companies to send information more frequently.
AAQTIC has also been working to spread its activities through the sector’s international media, preparing and sending press releases.
With regard to technical articles, this issue explains which type of articles can be sent to the magazine and their characteristics. Our team will be very pleased to analyze them for publication purposes.
They are works of authorship, belonging to Centers, Universities or companies.
In many cases, works are related to presentations in Congresses, Symposia and Conferences in AAQTIC.
Nonetheless, written works can be received to be published in the magazine directly.
Companies decide what to publish in their articles and they pay for appearing; we rarely modify advertising materials, if ever at all.
Advertisements are the financial support of our magazine. We also expect higher company participation in advertising, that is, that more companies have their ads published, especially companies that invest in advertising in other media, but which choose not to participate in Tecnología del Cuero.
Last but not least, the Commission of this magazine opens its doors to any member who wishes to participate, even through completing small tasks such as writing, evaluation or correction, according to their possibilities.
This issue No. 77 continues with the usual sections: “Institutes,” where we reflect the activities of the
traditional Igualada School, “Did you know…?” this time about Green Chemistry, “Costs,” with an interesting work prepared in Brazil, presented at the Congress in China. We start a new section, “Hygiene and Safety,” which explains measures oriented to handling chemical products. The magazine keeps its usual sections, such as “Bibliography,” “CITEC” and “Enterprises.” Last, “Science and Technology” has replaced the “Research” section, since the former is a more suitable headline, as shown in our Publication Policy.
We look forward to your participation.

Claudio Salvador Director