Local balls ready for soccer World Cup

Nana Rukmana, The Jakarta Post, Majalengka

The 2002 Soccer World Cup in South Korea and Japan is coming closer and people are gearing up to witness the great event, which runs from May 31 to June 30.

Soccer fans throughout the world will be anxious to see their idols -- including Brazil's Ronaldo, David Beckham of England, Zinedine Zidane of France and Italian Alessandro Del Piero -- in action.

But who would ever guess that the balls being used during the quadrennial event are made in Liang Julang, a small village in Kadipaten district, Majalengka? Majalengka is a regency located some 280 kilometers to the west of Jakarta.

In Liang Julang, about 65 km to the south of the town of Cirebon, PT Sinjaraga Santika Sport (usually abbreviated as Triple S) produces the soccer balls.

The company's manager, Irwan Suryanto, has been able to both provide employment for local people as well as gain a reputation as a producer of quality soccer balls.

In 1998, for example, the international soccer association (FIFA) purchased at least 100,000 balls from this company to be officially used in the World Cup in France.

"Based on FIFA evaluations, the quality of our balls' is much better than the ones made in Pakistan, Vietnam or South Korea," he said.

"Our balls can be used continuously for up to four months while the balls from other countries only last for a month based upon the same level of use," he said proudly in his office, which is decorated with numerous soccer balls of differing sizes.

Triple S has also received an order from FIFA for the upcoming World Cup. This time, however, the balls will only be used for training and as souvenirs for the spectators.

A number of multinational companies in their capacities as the official sponsors of the World Cup have placed large orders with Triple S.

Coca Cola has ordered 85,000 balls while South-Korean electronics company LG has bought 50,000 balls. Leading Finnish cellular telephone company Nokia has placed an order for 10,000 balls.

Triple S has also received orders for its balls from several other international companies like Gillette (25,000), Duracell (25,000), McDonald's (50,000) and Dunkin Donuts (100,000).

All the balls will bear the companies' trade-marks and logos.

"The sponsors will use these balls during training sessions or display them while the competition is underway," Irwan said.

Due to the huge number of orders, Irwan admitted that his company was hard pressed to cope.

" We have refused many orders, especially those being placed at the same time. We won't be able to meet them all," he said.

Apart from fulfilling special orders placed by official sponsors of the World Cup, Irwan said his factory continued to produce balls to meet supply its regular customers.

These orders come from Dubai, which needs 100,000 balls a month. He also has to supply 50,000 balls per month to PT Ramayana Department Store and 25,000 balls to PT Yogya Department Store. There are also regular orders from a number of wholesalers in Jakarta and some other major cities across Indonesia.

"We supply at least four containers of soccer balls to our domestic and foreign buyers every month," Irwan said.

To fulfill these orders, Triple S employees over 2,000 workers from Majalengka, Cirebon, Sumedang and Sukabumi. Despite the number of employees, Irwan still complained that he could not fulfill all the orders.

He said he planned to build a new factory in Sukabumi, West Java, and that construction would kick off next year.

The new factory will be able to increase by 100 percent the current monthly production capacity of between 100,000 and 125,000 balls.

As to the high quality of the balls, Irwan said that the balls were made from synthetic leather instead of real leather. The synthetic leather was more water-resistant and could be exposed to the sun for quite a long time.

To make a ball, a worker needs leather, cloth and an inner tube. The process involves lining, cutting, silk-screening, sewing, laundering and packaging.

A worker can produce four balls a day. All balls must pass through quality control where each of them is scrutinized.

"As 90 percent of our products are exported, we have to be strict with quality control," Irwan said.

He said the standard of the balls has been internationally tested. "Our products have also received a license from Italy and are of world-class quality. Each ball must go through a strength test in which it is kicked up to 2,000 times by a machine with the power of 200 joules," said Irwan, who was known as a tennis coach before becoming a soccer ball producer in 1994.

Irwan always sees his success as being a blessing from God.

"When FIFA placed a big order, we were very proud. It didn't only help glorify our country's name but also was a recognition of our hard work. We are sure we will maintain this reputation by producing only quality balls," he said.