HP announces FitStation, a new platform that allows the company's customers to produce shoes with custom-made soles and custom-made insoles. The platform is being rolled out in a pilot project at German safety footwear manufacturer Steitz Secura and US insole supplier Superfeet.
FitStation allows companies to produce custom-made shoes and soles for customers. This involves imaging both users' feet individually from each other with a 3D scanner, which also measures foot pressure and analyses the customer's walking motion. Based on this, a unique digital profile of both feet is developed. This profile can then be used by companies to produce a custom-made insole and shoes with custom-made soles for their customers. These are thus not only customised for each customer, but also tailored to a customer's left or right foot. These shoes and insoles are then 3D printed using HP's HP Multi Jet Fusion technology.
HP says its FitStation will not only allow shoe and insole suppliers to develop custom-made products for customers, but also change the companies' supply chain. For example, companies no longer need to stock large quantities of insoles to deliver the desired insole directly to a customer, but can print it directly for the customer. This means companies no longer need to invest in stockpiling, avoids being stuck with unsold products and also saves storage space.
Bespoke eyewear
With FitStation, HP is marketing a solution that allows companies to develop custom-made products on-site for customers through additive manufacturing. This method is currently only sparsely used by companies worldwide. An example of another company that has embraced this method is Roger Bacon. This company develops custom-made eyewear for customers, whose fitter gets a fit tailored to the shape of the customer's head.
Roger Bacon customers can use an app on their smartphone to view existing designs and customise them to create a personalised design. They can share this design with their immediate environment to get feedback on it and arrow their opinions. Once they have completed this design, they will visit a Roger Bacon optician, where the glasses will be customised using a 3D printer.
Shoes for athletes
Adidas has long deployed additive manufacturing to produce shoes with custom-made soles for customers. The company has been deploying Digital Light Synthesis for this since April, a technology developed by the company Carbon. In this technology, a programmable liquid resin is irradiated with ultraviolet light to create durable polymeric products.
Adidas uses this technology in its FutureCraft 4D shoe. Targeted at athletes, these shoes are customised to meet athletes' needs for freedom of movement, cushioning, stability and comfort. The FutureCraft 4D shoe is the second shoe developed by Adidas using additive manufacturing. Back in 2015, the company launched the Futurecraft 3D Runner, a running shoe that featured a 3D-printed sole. This shoe is now no longer being produced; Adidas claims to have said goodbye to 3D printing and switched completely to Digital Light Synthesis.
Author: Wouter Hoeffnagel
Source: HP
Source: Roger Bacon
Source: Adidas
