DESMA says FitStation is a customisation breakthrough
23/10/2017
Speaking at the start of A+A 2017 in Düsseldorf (October 17-20), DESMA managing director, Christian Decker, said FitStation represents “the shortest way between product individualisation and the manufacturing process”.
Detailed analysis of a wearer’s foot and gait will allow footwear brands to offer different characteristics in different sections of a single PU midsole, produced using DESMA’s Multi-Section-Injection (MSI) technology. MSI, in combination with the FitStation platform, converts consumer’s needs into what DESMA calls “individualised production parameters”, with a customised mix of PU’s major components: polyol, isocyanate and additives.
“This customised mixing process, enabled by a specific configuration of material values along the mixing head and chamber, is adaptable shot-by-shot,” the company has said, “resulting in an individualised production of ‘lot size 1’ while all benefits from mass production, such as production speed and cycle time, are kept upright.”
At A+A, Mr Decker said: “It [FitStation] is currently one of the best showcases for Industry 4.0 scenarios. It is a closed loop with full integration between the consumer and the manufacturing process.”
DESMA said the concept will be rolled out at the beginning of 2018 and that “multiple producers” are already in the final stage of product development. “The year 2018 will be underlined with multiple milestones in the footwear business and this will be one of the most advanced,” Christian Decker concluded.
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