We Craft · Inside the product

Merckens · Schwertberg, Upper Austria · Founded 1888

The insole is the heart
of the shoe. This is what
goes inside it.

Merckens has been manufacturing shankboard in Upper Austria since 1888. Four premium grades — CJM 888, CJM 188, CJM 158UB and CJM 120 — for every insole application from economy men's footwear to high-heel women's fashion. Electronically controlled production. Daily laboratory testing.

Founded

1888

Years

136

Origin

Schwertberg, Austria

Request a shankboard sample Talk to our team

Austrian board.
Since 1888. Schwertberg · Upper Austria

What it is

The structural
core of the shoe.

The insole is the structural core of a shoe. It determines shape retention, comfort, longevity, and how the shoe behaves across thousands of steps and every weather condition it meets. The material it is made of is not incidental — it is fundamental.

Shankboard must satisfy a set of performance requirements that most structural materials cannot deliver simultaneously: nail and pin holding, bending stiffness, hardness, shape retention under load, controlled flexibility, clean machinability on industrial cutting equipment, and water repellency.

Getting all of these right, in a material made from recycled paper, is what Merckens has been doing since 1888.

Every batch is monitored under continuous electronic process control and tested daily in the in-house laboratory.

01The four CJM grades

Four grades.
One for every shoe.

CJM 888The benchmark

High-heel women · premium men's dress. The top specification — when a brand specifies Merckens by name, this is usually the grade. Highest combination of stiffness, shape retention and nail-hold in the range. Print: black.

CJM 188The standard

Low-heel · volume production. 100% waste paper — most economical and most ecological in the range. All core performance for lower-heel applications where structural demands are less extreme. Print: red.

CJM 158UBPrecision premium

1.0–3.0 mm · widest range. The broadest thickness range of any Merckens grade — the specifier's choice when construction demands a precise board outside the standard. Premium feel, premium finish. Print: black.

CJM 120Specialist premium

Custom-tunable. Not a fixed spec — a starting point that Merckens will adjust for stiffness, thickness or surface finish on request. Send your spec; they will respond with a tailored solution. Print: black.

02Grade selector

Match the grade
to the shoe.

Premium women's high-heel footwear	CJM 888
High-quality men's dress shoes	CJM 888
Low-heel men's & women's, volume production	CJM 188
Precise thickness spec required (1.0–3.0 mm)	CJM 158UB
Specialist construction — custom spec	CJM 120
Pattern & template manufacture (1.2–1.8 mm)	Patternboard
Heel counters — boots & high-heel shoes	Counterboard
Not sure	Send us your footwear spec — we'll match the grade.

03Beyond shankboard

Pattern &
counter boards.

Two adjacent specifications, made on the same Merckens lines.

Patternboard

1.2–1.8 mm. The standard material for cutting patterns and templates in footwear production. Dimensionally stable, clean-cutting, consistent thickness sheet to sheet.

Counterboard

For heel counters where high rigidity is the primary requirement — boots, high-heel women's shoes, any construction where the counter must hold its shape under sustained lateral force.

04Heritage

136 years of
Austrian making.

Merckens was founded in Schwertberg, Upper Austria, in 1888. Not as a startup, not as a division — as a dedicated paperboard mill, in the same location, doing the same thing for 136 years.

That longevity is not accidental. Merckens has survived because it has invested continuously in process technology — today, shankboard production is monitored by a computerised electronic control system, with quality tested in an in-house laboratory every single day.

The brands that specify Merckens CJM 888 do so because when a shipment arrives, it performs the same as the last one. That reliability, over 136 years, is the Merckens proposition.

05Sustainability

A factory that runs
on its own river.

Most paperboard mills are energy-intensive and water-intensive. Merckens addressed both — not as a marketing exercise, but as a structural decision that has defined how the factory operates for decades.

Own hydroelectric power.

Three in-house hydroelectric plants on the Aist river. The factory's electricity is renewable by default — not purchased offsets, not green certificates, but water flowing through their own turbines.

Zero water discharge.

A fully closed water system. Water is recycled within the plant — nothing is discharged into watercourses. The Aist runs past the factory as clean as it arrives.

100% waste-paper raw material.

Every sheet starts as recovered waste paper, predominantly sourced from Austria. Short supply routes, minimal transport emissions.

Zero waste from production.

Rejected material from waste-paper processing goes directly to the thermal plant. Nothing leaves the facility as landfill.

Reduced natural gas.

Continuous investment in innovative drying technology has cut natural gas consumption — recognised as a Climate Alliance company.

100% recyclable product.

Shankboard can be fully recycled at end of product life — for a material made of recovered paper, the natural conclusion of the cycle.

✓ Blue Angel eco-label ✓ FSC® certification ✓ Climate Alliance company

06Specifications

The numbers
behind the board.

Sheet size (standard)	155 × 104 cm · 159 × 104 cm
Thickness range	1.0 – 3.0 mm (grade dependent)
Patternboard thickness	1.2 – 1.8 mm
Raw material	100% recovered waste paper
Production control	Fully electronic, continuous monitoring
Quality testing	In-house laboratory, daily batch testing
Print option	Grade designation in black or red
Certifications	Blue Angel · FSC® · Climate Alliance
Custom specs	Available within each grade on request

07From sample to supply

Five steps
to a stocked grade.

Sample.

Request samples of the grade(s) relevant to your footwear spec.

Test.

Run them through your pattern-cutting and insole construction.

Spec lock.

Confirm grade, thickness and sheet size.

Order.

Standard grades stocked in Mumbai — same-week despatch.

Custom.

Non-standard thickness or specification — 4–6 weeks lead time from Merckens Austria.

The insole is the heart
of the shoe. This is what
goes inside it.

1888

4 grades

3 marks

The structural
core of the shoe.