Flip flops, house slippers, thongs, flip-flops…call them what you would. They are really utilitarian in their design, and in most cases they are pretty easy to production also.
So given their straightforwardness of design and manufacture, why on the planet would anyone want to 3D print them? Sure, it could be a fun test to put on your 3D computer printer at home, but is the earth looking for 3D printed flip flops?
Sportswear company ASICS thinks so, plus they have teamed up with processing company LuxCreo to manufacture generatively designed flip flops to establish it! You can view what the flip flops appear to be in the image below.
The Thong Remains the Same
Yes, shoes have continued to be essentially unchanged since their inception way back in antiquity, this means we can legitimately say that the thong has continued to be the same for a long time. Why wreck havoc on excellence, right?
ASICS disagrees plus they want to provide the open-shoe the Industry 4.0 makeover that it richly deserves. And they did so with the assistance of LuxCreo and their generative design software LuxGen.
“There is strong demand for custom footwear that is way better performing and ecological,” said Norihiko Taniguchi, Standard Director of Future creation section, ASICS Company.
“With LuxCreo’s 3D producing and Smart Factory alternatives, mass customization of high-performance shoes should come true in the near future.”
The customization begins at the ASICS Future Experience Lab where would-be customers have their foot scanned. The scan is then matched up to the arch elevation and shoe size of the wearer, and then tell you the generative design software, which creates the lattice structure you can view in the sole.
Such as a Sandal in the Blowing wind…
The data files are then sent to the LuxCreo Smart Factory, where they could be stated in any variety from small personal requests to large operates.
The Smart Factory is equipped with a number of printers from resin printers to thermoplastic printers, and can produce shoes to any development scale or level of customization.
“Over the last calendar year, many companies are experiencing significant disruptions in their processing supply chains,” said Michael Strohecker, chief revenue officer at LuxCreo.
“With LuxCreo Smart Factories and cloud-connected 3D printers, our customers across the world have increased versatility in product designs, where they manufacture, and can easier and speedily move from prototyping and small batch production to high quantity making.”
Sustainability
Sustainability is a key expression here, as ASICS says that organisations can lessen costs by placing your order only the quantities of products that are needed, alternatively than spending money on a minimum creation run on a huge general order.
1 / 3 of the global society can afford only flip flops, and the common life span of a set of flip flops is just couple of years. Following the old flip flops have been exhausted, they typically end up in landfill. Most are discarded in to the ocean, or more to 90 tons of flip-flops per season end up cleaned through to the coasts of East Africa. Increasing the life span of your average sandal would definitely lessen the waste in that regard.