New Balance formed a manufacturing partnership with Formlabs to bring 3D printing to large-scale, Massachusetts-based footwear manufacturing.
The relationship between the two Boston-based companies includes the development of footwear-specific materials, as well as printers to create products to improve athlete performance. Production will be powered by Form 2, the SLA print engine.
The announcement came during the MIT Media Lab’s Digital Factory manufacturing conference on Monday and followed the launch of Formlabs’ first SLS 3D printing platform, Fuse 1 and an automated production system.
Formlabs, an international company founded by engineers and designers at the MIT Media Lab in 2011, will use its Form 2 three-dimensional printer to create personalized products for customers.
“New Balance is excited to work with fellow Boston-based Formlabs on our next evolution in 3D printing,” said Rob DeMartini, New Balance’s president and CEO. “We have been a leader with 3D printing technology for many years, when we were the first to bring customized spike plates to our professional runners and have expanded into other sports since then. Now we look forward to taking this technology to consumers to further improve athlete performance.”
Max Lobovsky, CEO of Formlabs, stated, “We’re proud to work with New Balance to provide cutting-edge 3D printing technologies for large-scale domestic manufacturing. 3D printing gives companies the ability to provide higher performance, better fitting, and more personalized products. With New Balance, we are demonstrating that it can be done at scale for consumer goods.”
Continuous production using the new materials and machines within New Balance owned manufacturing facilities is expected to begin in 2018.
Livestreaming and video replays of the Digital Factory’s sessions will be available at formlabs.com.
Photo courtesy New Balance
