Delcam CRISPIN will demonstrate the potential of its ShoeMaker design software in the mass customisation of footwear by displaying hybrid shoes at the SIMAC exhibition to be held in Milan from 25th to 27th February. The hybrid shoes feature a leather upper, with the sole and heel produced by 3D printing, bringing together traditional and new methods of shoemaking in their creation.
The complete shoe model was developed in ShoeMaker, the only footwear design system that integrates fully 3D designs of lasts, uppers and soles, so allowing the complete CAD model of the shoe to be developed and visualised in a single system. This comprehensive functionality makes ShoeMaker the perfect solution for projects like Delcam’s hybrid shoe.
The new materials and increased design freedom offered by 3D printing are expanding the creative opportunities for footwear designers. Unhindered by the restrictions of conventional manufacturing, designers can let loose their creativity, paving the way for more projects in mass customisation and in meeting the most unusual and individual bespoke requests.
Delcam CRISPIN has always invested its development resources into providing a flexible design solution for its customers and is committed to providing software able to support the more extreme shapes that have been made possible by 3D printing. At the same time, the company recognises that more traditional methods will still provide the most appropriate manufacturing route for the majority of footwear projects.
"The situation with 3D printing is similar to that with many other technologies when they are first introduced,” claimed Delcam’s Chris Lawrie. "There are advocates claiming that it is the only future for the industry and more conservative commentators that regard it as the latest bit of hype.”
"The real position is, as always, between the two extremes, with many projects where 3D printing will be the only possible approach able to meet the complexity of the design and just as many where only traditional methods will produce cost-effective results. The hybrid shoe project is intended to show that the two approaches can be complementary, rather than having to be competitive, and that Delcam CRISPIN software can provide a full range of product development tools for designers, regardless of the manufacturing route they wish to take.”
