Superfeet Worldwide Inc. has launched the insole maker’s first mass-customization footwear facility, Flowbuilt.
Filled with prototyping materials, 3D printers and machines that flex from manufacturing a single custom pair of shoes to thousands of pairs, the facility is based in Ferndale, WA. Superfeet said Flowbuilt is the only USA based full-service footwear manufacturing facility to offer mass-customization through proprietary multi-section injection technology.
With an onsite prototype lab and 3D printing center, Flowbuilt creates lasts and molds in a fraction of the typical time allowing partners the ability to go to market faster than ever before. The facility allows for rapid prototyping and sampling, development, design and build services for inline footwear and the ability to create individualized footwear with a last size of one. Thanks to the only commercially available multi-section-injection (MSI) machine in the US, Flowbuilt partners’ finished product is created with high precision. MSI technology gives Flowbuilt the ability to personalize midsole responsiveness based on an individual’s unique biometric data collected through FitStation powered by HP, a technology not previously available in the U.S.
“To date your choices have been very limited when it came to finding the best resources to bring footwear from ideation to fruition in a very quick timeframe, even more so if you wanted to do so with elements of customization. That is, until now. With Flowbuilt our partners can utilize an end-to-end connected platform, in one location, in the U.S. We’ve created the new standard for footwear manufacturing and are setting up our partners for success by solving for problems that have yet to be discovered,” stated Eric Hayes, chief marketing officer at Superfeet.
Flowbuilt announced Brooks Running company as its first performance footwear partner during the 2017 The Running Event trade show in Austin, TX. Brooks plans to leverage Flowbuilt’s state-of-the-art, multi-section injection technology to bring a personalized, performance running shoe to the market in coming months. With the new facility, other footwear brands across the globe have will have access to solutions from Flowbuilt.
“As evidenced in our own experience bringing technologies like FitStation and ME3D products to market, we set out to create a clear path for brands to design and deliver their future before anyone else can. As their first partner, Superfeet is excited to push the capabilities of Flowbuilt and showcase the advanced manufacturing technologies that can be found right here in the USA,” explained Chuck Sanson, director of business development at Flowbuilt Manufacturing.
More information is available at flowbuiltmfg.com.
Photo courtesy Superfeet
