  We argue that the non-perturbative Schwinger mechanism may play an important
role in the hadronic production of charm. We present a flux tube model which
assumes that the colliding hadrons become color charged because of gluon
exchange, and that a single non-elementary flux tube is built up as they
recede. The strong chromoelectric field inside this tube creates quark pairs
(including charmed ones) and the ensuing color screening breaks the tube into
excited hadronic clusters. On their turn these clusters, or `fireballs', decay
statistically into the final hadrons. The model is able to account for the soft
production of charmed, strange and lighter hadrons within a unified framework.
