AMHERST, Mass. (October 23, 2024) – OrthoLite®, the global leader of branded, high-performance, comfort footwear solutions, announces the hire of Raj Santhana as the new Vice President of Operational Excellence. As part of OrthoLite’s global operations management team, Santhana will be responsible for OrthoLite manufacturing excellence and innovation as well as automation and digital transformation. He will work closely with the company’s industry-leading Global Foam Innovation Team in a new satellite office located in Singapore to further OrthoLite’s global commitment to innovate and manufacture the world’s best and most proven footwear foams.
With more than two decades of experience in footwear and manufacturing, Santhana most recently worked at Bata as the Global Head of Quality in Singapore. Prior to that, Santhana spent seven years at Adidas where he served in director roles overseeing quality footwear and manufacturing excellence in footwear.
“In addition to his vast expertise in the footwear industry, Raj holds two engineering degrees and he will be critical to driving operational excellence programs for our global team of 3,200 people at OrthoLite’s owned manufacturing facilities around the world,” said Richard Bevan, COO of OrthoLite.
Additional personnel moves include the promotion of Shaw Kiat Phua to Vice President of Global Foaming, leading OrthoLite’s Global Foam Innovation Team. SK’s team is committed to advancing OrthoLite’s market leadership as the first and most trusted name in comfort, performance and less impactful footwear foams. In his new role, SK leads the strategic direction for OrthoLite PU material development with a focus on sustainable innovations in footwear and will continue to report to Bevan, COO at OrthoLite. SK is also based in Singapore and regularly travels to OrthoLite’s manufacturing facilities in China, Vietnam, Indonesia, Europe, India, and Brazil.
Since 1997, OrthoLite continues to drive innovation and continual improvement to build excellence in foam footwear products and materials consistently, at scale and with on-time delivery to more than 550 footwear brand partners.
OrthoLite has built a rock-solid reputation for innovation, reliability, capacity and is known for its collaborative approach in development with the world’s best footwear brands to create custom insole formulations that deliver unrivaled comfort and performance. OrthoLite insoles are the key interface between how a shoe is designed to perform and the discerning consumer, and its products can be found in more than 600 million pairs of footwear a year.
About OrthoLite®
OrthoLite is the world’s leading supplier of open-cell foam technology, and the innovator and creator of Cirql™, the sustainable materials solutions provider that provides footwear brands and their factory partners with the most sustainable, circular choice in materials. OrthoLite is found in more than 550 footwear brands across all categories of footwear and is the first name in comfort and performance foams with a stalwart commitment to an ongoing journey toward producing excellence with less-impactful manufacturing practices. The company also has a long-standing history of meaningful partnerships and sponsorships that demonstrate a dedicated commitment to supporting its customers, consumers, brand partners and the footwear industry. OrthoLite is the Official Insole sponsor of the New York Yankees, supporter of The Conservation Alliance, The European Outdoor Conservation Association, Textile Exchange, and is a founding supporter of the Two Ten Foundation. Stay up to date with company news by visiting OrthoLite.com and following OrthoLite on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and LinkedIn. To learn more about the benefits of OrthoLite, visit www.ortholite.com.
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MEDIA CONTACT:
Verde Brand Communications
Julie Evans
julie@verdepr.com
