3D printing reduces time to market for shoe manufacturer

While shoemakers traditionally use paper sketches, factory manufactured samples and design reviews to move concepts toward production, the new 3d printing method, courtesy of the ZPrinter, has enabled Clarks' digital development team to create detailed, colourful, physical shoe models in hours instead of weeks. "Rather than wait two or three weeks for a costly prototype to arrive, we now have a full, multicolour prototype in our hands in a day," said Ross Authers, Clarks' digital development manager. "We save a lot of time and money in both production and shipping. This more efficient process significantly enhances the quality of the final shoe, which arrives in the store much earlier in the style cycle." Authers believes the new method will allow the company to respond to the market faster than its competitors and faster than ever before. "We're on the verge of a revolution in efficiency and approaching the reality of 'fully engineered' shoes," he noted. "3d printing is the technology that brings all of our development advances together, helping us evolve from the best shoemakers in the world into the best innovators in the world."