Report

Teaser, summary, work performed and final results

Periodic Reporting for period 1 - 3DBonding (New industrial process for shoe manufacturing using 3dbonding technology)

Teaser

Footwear and other leather articles manufacturing remains labor intensive despite the great technological advances in the industry , being two of the main constraints the intensive use of stitching to join/weld pieces and the number of manual operations done. Consequently, it...

Summary

Footwear and other leather articles manufacturing remains labor intensive despite the great technological advances in the industry , being two of the main constraints the intensive use of stitching to join/weld pieces and the number of manual operations done. Consequently, it has forced manufacturers in the past to locate their production plants in many cases away from their customers in low labour cost locations (Asia). The assembly and construction method also imply high waste production. Depending on the construction method between 10-40% in material area is wasted, very often leather material, with a cost of 4-6 eur/sq feet and typically wasting 4 eur/pair of shoes as material lost.

The 3D BONDING project addresses a multidisciplinary disruptive process, based on a patent (Simplicity Works- PCT/ES2012/07001369), for highly automated manufacturing of high end leather footwear (it can be extended to other stitched leather artciles) reducing labour costs associated to stitching and assembly by 48%, reducing the total number of operations from 70 (traditional manufacturing) to 20 (proposed 3D Bonding system) and using 20% less leather material (on average) than current processes. In the final configuration we plan to keep manual just input/ouput of moulds and uploading cutted leather pieces to the manufacturing line (done either manual or with co-bots). 3D Bonding simplifies a complex process, such is footwear manufacturing.
Currently, the building blocks of current shoe industries are recognizable in a number of very clear elements: the splitting of complex processes into a number of elementary tasks , sequenced in a serial way with a classical Fordist type manufacturing chain approach (organization) , the availability of machines of various complexity to support the operators in the execution of the different production steps (mechanization) , the specific layout of the work places dedicated to the execution of the manufacturing tasks, according to the different main phases of the production process and to the systems used to transport raw materials, components, semifinished and finished items from one point to the other of the factory floor (layout and transportation). If we had to summarize the key features of such setups, we could say:
• The presence of workers is still abundant and pervasive in virtually all phases (cutting, stitching-closing, making and finishing rooms).
• Even though some of the machines nowadays available are capable of automatic, NC controlled operations (hence in theory they could perform the tasks they were designed for by themselves), workers are anyway there to supervise and control their operations.
• Despite some attempts to think of more modern systems that might overcome the limitations and the rigidity of mechanical conveyors , these are still dominant in all shoe factories. Solutions for the making (lasting) room haven’t reached yet the desired level of evolution, with these departments typically featuring more “classical” mechanical conveyors with little or none flexibility.
• A classical compartmented organization made of units and warehouses, in which the process units (say stitching for example) are fed by stock of materials stored in the input warehouse and they send semi-finished items (uppers in this case) to an output warehouse;

Therefore, there is a clear need for a more reliable, minimally operated by workers and simplified production system for leather shoes, without stitching, aided by robots in manipulation steps and more important, a scalable manufacturing solution for shoes bringing production back to EU, close to customers and local markets, more sustainable and using less resources.

The Overall Objective of the 3D BONDING innovation project is to bridge the current gaps in the innovation stage of a sustainable and innovative disruptive manufacturing process for footwear (it might be used for other 3D articles) avoiding stitching and bringing a traditi

Work performed

During Phase 1, our team worked as planned on this feasibility study of our project 3D BONDING, covering a technical analysis of its deployment (usability, scalability, and security) to ensure the viability of the proposed technology (Task 1), and marketing and commercial aspects, including the development of our business plan (Task 2), and a financial feasibility study (Task 3). The main scope was to determine the best route for development and future exploitation of 3D BONDING, and to define the optimal strategy to be followed with our product such to ensure the growth of our company SIMPLICITY WORKS.
After the feasibility study, we have concluded to continue with 3D BONDING project as it has been proven to be a competitive and unique footwear manufacturing solution applicable to footwear and all kind of consumer goods (bags, fashion complements, etc.) featuring the very first 3-D Bondng tyechnology. Furthermore, we have carried out successful pilots that demonstrate in the field the usefulness of our approach. Finally, the technical assessment leads us to believe that the foreseeable risks are manageable, and we developed specific mitigation actions to cope with them.
The revised objectives are stated as follows:
Commercial Objectives
Start product commercialization in Q4 2021.
Sell more than 100 licenses an manufacturing systems by Q4 2022 achieving revenues exceeding €8.8M.
Obtain a balanced global presence on the long term (50% Europe, 50% USA).
Accomplish payback by Q4 2022.
Achieve an ROI of 2 in 2022.

Final results

Currently, the well-known Direct Injection Process (DIP) for the manufacture of injected footwear (safety footwear, casual and comfort footwear, sports footwear) is completely established in the industry as it allows a higher product quality and a more automated process thus reducing the labour costs associated to the traditional lasting and gluing method. Nevertheless, this method also presents some limitations as it uses stitching and a rotary injection machine which assures the injection of the polymer (usually polyurethane) and a properly closed mould. This rotary injection machine allows considerable production rates but, on the other hand, it is a very little flexible step of the shoe production.

SIMPLICITY, in collaboration with DESMA, has developed a more flexible system for manufacturing footwear using the patented technology 3D BONDING.The new manufacturing line is based on the core “ASSEMBLY STATION-AS”, where all the operations are done in the new moulds. A multidisciplinary approach based on Advanced manufacturing (UMH and DESMA), Chemical engineering (Hunstman) and process design and set up (SIMPLICITY).
To deliver the 3D Bonding system as complete manufacturing process, we need to fine tune/optimize design and set-up a full prototype line (precomercial) basead on the AS. This system consists on a two-level main SoA conveyor line for the movement of the mould through the different process steps. Moreover, the conveyor line will be directly connected to several sub-systems or units. The most important units are called “Assembly Stations”. They have been designed-built with the aim of performing the injected shoe removal in a first step as well as the placement of upper pieces and the last (mould to make the shoe) inside the mould in a second step. After performing both tasks, the mould is closed and sent back to the main conveyor line, where it will be injected (one or two shots).

During AMF-Portugal factory September’18 tests, we have done trials with one Assembly Station with excellent results, after testing and adjusting the system core and getting data for scaling up the whole process, reducing engineering uncertainties, mitigating potential risks and enhancing scale up process. Models produced have been cerfified acordong to ISO 20345-2011.

On the other hand, the main conveyor line will be also connected to a smart SoA warehouse and any other production line required for the process. It is also important to outline that these systems would be able to replace the conventional rotary injection machine by using a special set of auto-clamping moulds. These auto-clamping moulds are self-contained and independent of external forces, mechanisms or machinery. That allows to curate the PU meanwhile the moulds are moving along the conveyor even after the injection when the polyurethane expansion force is considerably high.

Website & more info

More info: http://www.simplicity.works/.