ASOCIACIÓN DE INVESTIGACIÓN PARA LA INDUSTRIA DEL CALZADO Y CONEXAS (INESCOP)

INESCOP (Asociación de Investigación para la Industria del Calzado y Conexas) is Spain's premier Centre for Technology and Innovation dedicated to the footwear and related industries. Founded in 1971 as a private, non-profit association and headquartered in Elda (Alicante) — the heart of Spain's footwear manufacturing belt — INESCOP has accumulated more than five decades of specialist expertise serving shoe brands, component manufacturers, material suppliers, retailers, and importers across Europe and globally. The centre operates as the primary technology hub for a sector encompassing fashion footwear, sports shoes, occupational safety and personal protective equipment (PPE), orthopaedic footwear, and all associated materials including leathers, rubber, textiles, adhesives, and polymers.

The laboratory division of INESCOP performs more than 600 different standardised tests on raw materials, footwear components, and finished footwear. All tests are accredited by ENAC (Spain's national accreditation body) under ENAC Accreditation 23/LE146, which conforms to the requirements of UNE-EN ISO/IEC 17025 — the internationally recognised standard for testing and calibration laboratories. Test methods are continuously updated to reflect the latest requirements from ISO, CEN (European Committee for Standardisation), and AENOR, ensuring results are globally recognised and commercially defensible. INESCOP actively participates in 14 Technical Committees and 26 Working Groups at national, European, and international levels, meaning its laboratory experts directly contribute to the very standards they apply on behalf of clients.

Physical and mechanical testing forms a central pillar of INESCOP's service portfolio. Footwear, uppers, soles, and components are subjected to tests for tensile strength and elongation (ISO 17706, EN 12803), flexing and cracking resistance, abrasion resistance, slip resistance, water penetration and absorption, peel strength of adhesive bonds, hardness and compression set of insoles and midsoles, and durability under repeated flexing cycles. Sample types include leather and synthetic uppers, rubber, EVA, PU, and TPU outsoles, insole boards, lining textiles, toe puff and stiffener materials, metal fastenings, and assembled finished pairs. For safety footwear and PPE, INESCOP performs the complete battery of tests required under EN ISO 20345, EN ISO 20346, and EN ISO 20347, covering toe-cap impact and compression, penetration resistance, antistatic properties, energy absorption in the heel, and sole cleated grip performance.

Chemical testing is a significant and growing discipline at INESCOP. The laboratory screens footwear materials for restricted and prohibited substances under the EU REACH Regulation (EC 1907/2006), including chromium(VI) in leather, carcinogenic azo dyes in textile and leather components, formaldehyde, phthalates (DEHP, DBP, BBP, DIBP), short-chain chlorinated paraffins (SCCPs), and heavy metals — lead, cadmium, and nickel — in metal hardware. These analyses underpin compliance with EU market access requirements and voluntary ecolabelling schemes. The chemical laboratory also performs materials characterisation including polymer identification, compounding analysis, and evaluation of coatings and finishes on synthetic and rubber substrates using appropriate instrumental techniques.

Biomechanics and functional comfort analysis represent a distinctive and advanced capability not commonly found in commercial testing laboratories. INESCOP operates a dedicated Functional Footwear Analysis Laboratory equipped with high-speed cameras, plantar pressure platforms, gait analysis systems, and 3D digitisation equipment to study the interaction between the wearer and the footwear under realistic use conditions. Plantar pressure distribution studies, motion capture, and gait analysis generate objective, quantitative data that brands use to optimise cushioning, arch support, heel stability, torsional rigidity, and fit. A specially constituted tester panel also participates in structured wear trials to provide subjective comfort ratings alongside the instrumental data. This capability is particularly valuable for sports footwear developers, orthopaedic device manufacturers, and brands seeking evidence-based comfort differentiation.

INESCOP's dual ENAC accreditations give it a uniquely authoritative position in European footwear conformity assessment. Beyond the ISO/IEC 17025 testing laboratory accreditation (ENAC 23/LE146), the centre holds ENAC Accreditation 229/C-PR438 under ISO/IEC 17065 for conformity assessment and issuance of EC type-examination certificates for footwear classified as personal protective equipment. Critically, INESCOP is the only centre in Spain designated by the Ministry of Economy, Industry and Competitiveness as a Notified Body for the certification of footwear for professional use under EU PPE Directive 2016/425. This designation empowers INESCOP to issue the CE marking documentation that safety footwear must carry to be sold legally throughout the European Single Market — a function that general-purpose commercial laboratories are not authorised to perform.

The centre's R&D and technology transfer activities reinforce its credibility as a long-term partner. INESCOP develops and licenses CAD/CAM footwear design and manufacturing software installed in more than 2,000 facilities across 39 countries and applies robotics expertise to production automation. It manages environmental programmes including wastewater treatment optimisation, solid waste management, and atmospheric emission control for tanneries and shoe factories, and leads EU-funded sustainability programmes such as LIFE GREENSHOES4ALL, advancing ecodesign, CO2 reduction, and circularity across the supply chain. INESCOP is a member of FEDIT (Federation of Technology Centres of Spain) and collaborates internationally with CTC Groupe (France) to extend quality inspection services into China, India, and Bangladesh.

For any organisation that designs, manufactures, imports, or retails footwear or footwear materials — whether fashion, sports, safety, or orthopaedic — INESCOP provides a single, ISO/IEC 17025-accredited point of contact covering physical and mechanical performance testing, chemical compliance and REACH screening, heavy-metal analysis, biomechanical comfort evaluation, PPE CE certification, quality labelling, and sustainability assessment. Its combination of ENAC-accredited laboratory status, sole Notified Body designation in Spain under EU Directive 2016/425, active participation in international standards bodies, and five-plus decades of sector-specific depth make it one of Europe's most comprehensive and credible footwear testing organisations.