Local balls ready for soccer World Cup

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.