Imagine making a shoe by 'printing' a strong plastic skeleton that holds everything together instead of sewing it with needles and thread. This removes the need for complex stitching and overlapping seams, making the shoe more comfortable and durable. It's like switching from hand-stitching a garment to a high-tech automated assembly that happens in seconds.
Traditional footwear manufacturing is linear, wasteful, and slow, relying on labor-intensive stitching and large-scale production runs that lead to overstocking.
A Smart Production Line for footwear using 3D polymer bonding, featuring cobots and interchangeable molds.
If you are a high-end shoe brand dealing with long lead times and high labor costs — this project developed a Smart Production Line that reduces stitching and assembly labor by 72% and cuts the total number of operations from 70 down to 20.
If you are an eco-conscious company dealing with high carbon footprints — this project developed a 3D bonding process that reduces the carbon footprint by 13%, saving 7.6 kg of CO2 per pair of shoes.
If you are a startup dealing with high minimum order requirements and stockpiling — this project developed a modular, cobot-driven system that allows for small-scale production runs without minimum order requirements.
It significantly lowers costs by reducing labor associated with stitching and assembly by 72% and using 50% less material.
The developed Smart Production Line is capable of producing 100 pairs of shoes per day.
Yes, the process is based on a family of patents, specifically mentioning PCT/ES2012/07001369.
The automated, on-demand production system significantly shortens delivery times, shaving off several months compared to traditional methods.
The system uses a Smart Production Line featuring collaborative robots (cobots) and interchangeable molds to enable a circular business model.
The project is led by a single Spanish SME, Simplicity Works Europe SL. This lean structure indicates a highly focused industrial application where the company owns the IP and is directly driving the commercialization without the fragmentation of a large academic consortium.
Contact Simplicity Works Europe SL regarding the 3D Bonding patent family
Contact us to explore licensing opportunities for 3D Bonding technology.
