Danish shoe manufacturer ECCO combines 3D scanning and 3D printing to tailor custom design sneakers in just a few hours.
3D printing in the shoe industry has not been news for a long time, Nike and Adidas have long been using 3D printing to produce some components of their running shoes, but tailoring of shoes to order has been available until now mainly for top sports players.
Now ECCO has decided to take it to a new level. The ECCO Quant-U pilot project combines 3D scanning and 3D printing and enables consumers to independently design a shoe model and produce sneakers in just a few hours. The customization process focuses on the inside of the sole, which is between the insole (on which the foot rests) and the sole (which touches the ground). This part will be produced using 3D printing, with silicone replacing 75% polyurethane, from which it is currently being produced. The choice of a new material is due to its durability, temperature stability and viscoelasticity.
It took about two years to develop the project. The shoe manufacturing process includes three stages: collecting real-time data, creating a design based on the statistics received, and 3D printing in the store.
The first stage takes only 30 seconds. Data is collected from two sources. The first is touch sensors built into the soles of test shoes, which were developed in the UK in partnership with Cambridge Design.
They collect data using gyroscopes, pressure sensors and an accelerometer, and record temperature and humidity inside the shoe. Information is also obtained using 3D scanning based on a solution developed in Stockholm.
All this allows ECCO to get a unique consumer footprint with information about its orthopedic features and foot movement features.
The second step is to develop an 3D sole model. ECCO uses software developed in partnership with Dessaunt Systèmes' FashionLab technology incubator, as well as machine learning and structural modeling for a perfect fit. Using a 3DEXPERIENCE Dessaunt cloud storage platform, the Danish company is converting bio-mechanical data into geometry suitable for 3D printing.
Finally, the inner sole is printed in the 3D version based on medical silicone materials that were specially developed by the Dow Chemical Company. This last step takes 2 hours, but ECCO is trying to reduce it to one hour.
ECCO is currently taking an extra 100 Euro for adjusting the inner sole. So far, the service is available only to selected customers.
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