Stratsys brochure for the Danish ECCO for integrating innovative 3D printing technologies in the shoe manufacturing industry.

The use of Origin One 3D printers in unique materials developed by Henkel will reduce costs and shorten production times.

Stratiss (NASDAQ: SSYS), a world leader in 3D printing platforms, a booklet for ECCO, one of the world’s leading shoe brands. The connection between the companies will allow the well-known shoe manufacturer to make use of 3D printing technology and Stratiss’ Origin One 3D printers, speeding up the development procedures of shoe models, while allowing close examination of proposals for new models in the very early stages of design and development. The move will be made with the help of 3D prints in special resin materials developed by Henkel Locite and will allow both the molds and mechanical foot configurations, which mimic the human foot, to be printed for fit testing.

Shoe production today is largely manual, but in recent years ECCO has incorporated quite a few innovative technologies in its manufacturing processes, such as the use of automation and direct injection processes, which have been proven to be highly efficient for connecting shoe parts to a single unit. Stratsys’ Origin One 3D printers now make it possible to produce shoe molds and foot models from Henkel’s highly durable photopolymer material, with the entire process faster and cheaper than the shoe industry’s use of aluminum molds and CNC manufacturing procedures. According to the company’s VP of Development, Jacob Müller Hansen, a number of 3D printing solutions have been tested in terms of print quality, speed and accuracy, and the Origin One 3D printers were the ones that successfully met the strict requirements. ECCO currently has over 14,000 points of sale and its products are sold in approximately 2180 brand stores in 89 countries.

“ECCO is a fine example of how the shoe manufacturing industry is adopting 3D printing production for functional shoe parts beyond what is already accepted today – printing soles for sports shoes,” says Chris Procha, P3 Product Line Technology Director and co-founder of Origin (acquired By Stratiss). “Our solution has introduced innovation into production processes and shortened development times.”

Printing the models in 3D allows shoe designers and developers to more easily and quickly examine the functionality of the shoes, while examining their comfort for end users. Beyond that, with the new technology brand customers can more easily and quickly produce new models and configurations and test them among prospects for feedback, as well as produce new templates at a variety of remote sites, without having to transport heavy automation to the production site.