3d Printing In The World Of Footwear

3D printing in the world of footwear

3D printing emerges in 1976 with the birth of ink injection printer. Over the years, this would end up giving way to the impression using materials such as plastic or derived from this. Currently, the use of this new manufacturing technique has expanded to a large number of market sectors such as education, food, medicine and among them we also find fashion, a point where I will be talking to whatthroughout this work.

The process begins by making a sketch or making the design of the piece you want to print. Once it is taken, it would be taken to specialized printing machines which, through a layer’s foundry and overlap process, it is possible to create a three -dimensional object.

Throughout history, the fashion industry has experienced great changes and a large part of the evolution of this is due to the use and constant change of new technologies. In this case, 3D printing is usually linked to a sustainable model, where many of the companies ensure that in the future this would reduce costs and it would be possible that people could customize garments without any limit.

As we have said previously 3D impression is something that is having a great development, among other reasons because it is closely linked to the sustainability that is currently a rising value. This technology would reduce the great impact produced by the textile industry. And not only for that, but it allows the use of materials such as corn, sugar cane, biodegradable and natural products, so environmental impact would be reduced.

But in this case we will focus and we will be talking about the use of 3D printing in the world of footwear.

A shoe has a fairly complex manufacturing and production process which takes a long time, so the use of 3D technologies in the future could have a great impact on this sector. This technology would not only reduce production time, but could further and more effectively cover the changes and new needs that arise by the consumer.

Today the client looks for differentiating elements in their garments, something that, with this technique it would be possible, since it has greater flexibility at the time of personalization. At this point and to the great evolution that is being given, these machines are able to meet and print the piece according to the needs of the consumer through the scan of its foot and the modeling of a prototype.

Currently the income from the world footwear market that uses this technology for their manufacture would be around 0.3% of the income and it is expected to reach a figure of 1.5% at the end of this year.

Today most companies continue to use traditional methods in their production, but this is changing since many brands are gradually introducing these new technologies into their productive processes. This the case of brands like Nike, Reebok or Adidas. The latter is currently market leader in the use of this type of technology since it is the only brand that has managed to adapt it to mass production. And not only that, but this brand in one of its models (Alphaedge 4D) has been one of the first to combine 3D printing with traditional manufacturing.

But this has not only been used for the manufacture of sports shoes, but has also been used by large luxury brands even sneaking into the catwalks. It has been the case of designer Katrien Herdewyn whose designs are most exclusive and range between 400 and 700 euros and have paraded in catwalks such as Paris, London etc.

At this point, the question that would have to be asked is if this system would really be profitable, to which I would say that if. It has quite high initial costs, but who would not like to have a unique, exclusive garment and that you can design yourself. On the other hand, everything that involves a time savings in the production system will mean cost savings and therefore an increase in profitability.

In a world in which exclusivity is rewarded above all things, in which the guarantee of success or notoriety is measured by the amount of exclusive objects that you can monopolize, to have a production system that allows to obtain thisType of products will always allow us to have an advantage over the rest of our competitors.

Today is a usual policy in the big brands that seek collaborations with artists, with designers, with famous people to get a limited edition collection in order to increase their sales and benefits and therefore do it through the launch of these exclusive products. Since people seek to have garments or objects that are not massified and that only they and a very small number of people can dispose of them.

The development of this technology can mean in the future the different brands can approach potential clients sufficiently in order to know their tastes, their designs and even the production materials of these. It would be possible to make shoes tailored to each user and at a time since they were themselves who designed their own shoes so that each one could have their own, personal and unique model in the world.

On the other hand, with this type of technology production costs can be reduced exponentially. The optimization of materials is much greater in this type of production. Although it is also true that this type of technology is based on all plastic derivatives, steps are being taken to change this type of dynamics. Studies are being done in relation to the use of new natural materials, thus attending to the generalized demand that is being produced in this sense. Since today there are more consumers who take into account the origin of their products and the materials that have been used in their manufacture.

From my point of view, not everything is beneficial in 3D printing, since this type of technology leaves aside all artisan work that is currently necessary for the elaboration of footwear. It is essential to seek the balance between these new technologies and the impact they will have when implemented in the production chain. The continuous training of workers for the use of this new technology and the search for new works derived from this new implementation is essential for it not to be an oversized human cost.

We do not have to forget that new technologies are coming to help us in our jobs and make them simpler. They are not arriving to replace and leave us aside. We have to be aware that technology works for our benefit, it is here day by day and will not disappear. Treating it as an enemy is not only a mistake, but it is a lost battle.

For all the above we would agree that the use of these new technologies in the production of footwear will increase and its use will be increasing, although from my point of view I do not believe that it comes to replace traditional production, nor that it arrivesthe day each can have a printer at home, since the procedure is much more complex than it seems.