Shun Ping Pek is the name of a shoe designer from Singapore who demonstrates how the shoe industry can meet the current challenges with 3D printers and meet the increasing demand for individual, sustainable and affordable shoes.
3D printers and improved shoe designs
The footwear industry is currently facing several challenges in customization and sustainability. But there is a solution to all of these problems: 3D printing. Because today the latest scan technologies can deliver high-quality CAD data that represent an exact, digital image of the tested foot. Running behavior is analyzed through simulations and transferred to an individualized digital shoe sole. This data is used as a design template for 3D printing.
The shoe industry can meet the current challenges with 3D printers and meet the increasing demand for individual, sustainable and affordable shoes.
The data and the shoe sole in a test can also be optimized with regard to their material consumption. Material is only used where it makes sense and is needed. Thanks to new, complex shapes and structures, new functions can also be integrated directly into the shoe. Material properties can be optimally adjusted without the need for tools.
Now, with 3D printing, a technology that has developed (and continuously developing) over the past few years, the path for automated series production of individualized products has become possible.
Shun Ping Pek, a shoe designer from Tokyo, was fascinated by the idea of making custom shoes with 3D printers and has been working on this topic for several years. The shoe designer likes to draw his inspiration for new designs from his environment – from objects, patterns, or naturalistic elements that he encounters in his daily life. This is how the idea for the “Coral Runner” shoe concept came about.
In summary, After scanning the foot and analyzing the running behavior, an individual shoe can be produced with a 3D printer. It makes it possible for any designs to be reacted to at the shortest time possible in order to improve product designs for better quality. The evaluation of the right wall thickness was among the biggest challenges in the shoe manufacturing industry. Determining the right wall thickness helps ensure enough shoe flexibility and also reduces the weight and the material required to make the shoes. However, this could be mastered in such a short time thanks to the rapid digital adaptation of the design and the subsequent 3D printing.
Today, thanks to improved shoe designs, online stores can proudly offer ergonomic techwear shoes, specially designed for healthier happy feet.