The Footwear District of Riviera del Brenta is home to over 500 companies, where roughly 20 million pairs of beautiful shoes, mostly for women, are produced each year. Shoemakers and designers go to the Footwear Polytechnic for training. In September of 2016, the Footwear Polytechnic launched its Factory of the Future, or FFLab, a digital rapid prototyping laboratory that specializes in the latest 3D printing and scanning technologies.
“We have turned to 3DZ for the prior knowledge of the capabilities of this company, the equipment quality, the availability and excellent service,” said Alice Marcato, bio-engineer with the Footwear Polytechnic R&D department and FFLab manager. “Thanks to their on-site training, two people of the staff have been instructed about the proper use of the new equipment.”
The FFLab designs its footwear components using 3D CAD technology, and prints them using the X400 PRO V3. 3D printing allows the institute to create, with more affordable costs and a quicker timeline, an aesthetic shoe model, a functional shoe model, and a small production series, all necessary for sampling and fashion shows.
Marcato explains, “The components prototyping regards parts which make up the shoe such as forms, insoles, heels, soles, and accessories. All can be realized in reduced times.”
The other method utilized by the FFLab is reverse engineering. Both of these innovative technologies let the Footwear Polytechnic meet the needs and demands of companies that “cater to the institute.”
The Veneto region specializes in designing and manufacturing quality products, but generally lacks the technology, internal professional skills, and equipment to be truly competitive in terms of reducing production time and costs. Now, companies that may not be able to create 3D printed components on their own can utilize the FFLab and provide their own STL files for shoe components, such as heels and soles, or bring the object itself and have it scanned, modified if necessary, and 3D printed. Discuss in the German RepRap forum at 3DPB.com.“3D printing will move from mere prototyping of parts to complex design, from development to production; companies will probably exploit these technologies to its own production of components, especially thanks to the release of new materials, more resistant and sought selected, and the increasing reduction of production times,” said Marcato, when asked about the future development of 3D printing.