Technical innovation is not constrained by a lack of ideas, but by a widening data divide that slows progress in ways both subtle and systemic. To move forward with purpose, the industry needs a unifying framework that empowers its people to harness both knowledge and data. The Digital Twin offers that foundation.
Dissecting the challenge: The data divide
The leather industry’s future requires decisive technical progress. Yet today, we face a growing data divide that quietly stalls innovation on two fronts.
- The external knowledge gap
An immense volume of public research now exists on materials science, process control, environmental performance and biomaterials. Yet, much of it remains disconnected from the daily realities of the drum. Valuable insights sit beyond practical reach. - The internal data waste problem
At the same time, our own operational data such as pH curves, temperature profiles, shrinkage results and uptake efficiencies are often siloed, unstructured and underutilised. In many tanneries, this data is collected routinely, but rarely transformed into usable knowledge.
This dual challenge of a lack of accessible external theory and the inefficient use of internal data erodes confidence, slows learning and increases the likelihood of repeating costly mistakes. The Digital Twin framework is the technological appliance capable of overcoming both.
The technician as the star: People before tools
The future of leather will not be secured by platforms, software vendors or abstract strategies. It will be secured by technicians: their judgement, creativity and confidence to act.
In Aotearoa New Zealand, a well-known whakataukī (a Māori proverb) expresses this simply: “He tangata, he tangata, he tangata” — it is the people, it is the people, it is the people.
Its message translates remarkably well to our own moment. Technologies matter. Tools matter. But progress is ultimately determined by the people who use them.
This is the heart of the digital renaissance, giving the technical expert the power to define and build the solutions they need, using all available knowledge and data.
Amplifying knowledge and data with dual focus
Bridging external theory (public domain)
Advanced AI tools now allow rapid literature review and synthesis across vast public research collections. Instead of months of fragmentation, technicians can extract actionable concepts in hours—grounded in current science.
Unlocking internal value (local data)
Equally important, the expert can now leverage their own historical process data to build predictive models, deriving value from information they already generate every day.
Vibe coding: Short-circuiting the disconnect
Through accessible platforms running on standard PCs, the technical expert can translate both external theory and internal data directly into functional tools, a process increasingly described as “Vibe Coding.”
This allows rapid creation of applications for:
- Predicting cooling water demand
- Optimising chemical ratios
- Anticipating shrinkage performance
- Forecasting chrome uptake or fungicide efficiency
This short-circuits the traditional disconnect between theory, practice, and data utilisation.
The Digital Twin: Amplifying progress
The Digital Twin is the virtual replica of the drum and its surrounding process, which becomes the framework that houses these custom tools and gives them industrial meaning.
Using Vibe Coding and Generative AI, experts can simulate novel product concepts, alternative chemistries, or advanced process controls before committing physical hides. This reserves the real drum for validating only the most promising, inspired ideas.
Predictive AI within the Twin, fed by local data and low-cost IoT (internet of things) sensors (such as H₂S or NH₃ monitoring), reduces decision-making risk. It enables technicians to operate with the minimum effective chemical dosage, strengthening both efficiency and verified Leather Working Group (LWG) compliance.
Perhaps most critically, the Twin captures and preserves the hard-won process controls of experienced professionals by transforming them into reproducible digital models. In doing so, it addresses one of our greatest structural risks: the loss of tacit knowledge through generational change.
A future of confidence
This is not a criticism of the past. It is a mandate for the future. The Digital Twin provides the technological scaffold, but the technician remains the star. Empowered by accessible AI, local data and global knowledge, today’s expert no longer has to choose between intuition and evidence. They can command both.
Let us work together to ensure that every technician, not just data specialists or corporate R&D units, can participate fully in shaping the future of leather.
If we succeed, our material will not merely endure. It will compete. It will innovate at pace. And it will do so with renewed confidence, environmental credibility, and inspired technical leadership.
It is the people. It is the people. It is the people.
Biography
Geoff Holmes is Director of the New Zealand Leather and Shoe Research Association (LASRA), where he leads industry-focused research, sustainability initiatives and accredited testing for the country’s hides and skins sector. With more than 30 years of global experience in leather R&D and product innovation—including roles with ECCO and Pittards—he brings a practical, science-driven perspective to improving processing technologies and supporting the competitiveness of New Zealand’s leather industry.
