DITEPCA Digitisation of advanced footwear pattern-engineering techniques
The most common construction method in footwear manufacturing is cemented construction, which encompasses a wide variety of shoe models and prototypes. However, there are other non-conventional construction types such as moccasin, Strobel or glove types, for which the industry lacks specific digital pattern-engineering tools. This forces manufacturing companies to carry out additional operations and manual adaptations during the footwear design and pattern-engineering process, which results in a loss of competitiveness in the market. In response to this situation, INESCOP, with funding from IVACE, is developing the DITEPCA project to create digital methodologies for non-conventional footwear construction patterns.
The wide variety of footwear types and construction methods in the industry requires a broad range of tools and pattern-engineering methodologies, which are currently not addressed by existing market solutions. Although several digital tools for footwear pattern-engineering exist, most are focused on conventional cemented construction, as it is the most commonly used method for developing a large number of footwear types.
This means that the design and pattern- engineering process for non-conventional constructions such as kiowa, Strobel or California can become labour-intensive, requiring extra operations for assembly, which affects both the efficiency and quality of the manufacturing process. Therefore, there is a clear need in the footwear industry for specific digital pattern-engineering tools that can address the different types of construction in a more efficient and accurate way.
In this context, INESCOP, with funding from IVACE, has launched the DITEPCA project to optimise the design and pattern-engineering processes of footwear manufacturers.
DITEPCA OBJECTIVE
The main objective of the DITEPCA project is to identify the pattern-engineering mechanisms and processes that can be digitised to create and validate digital methodologies that allow the development of non-conventional footwear patterns for constructions such as kiowa, Strobel or California.
EXPECTED RESULTS
Through this research, INESCOP expects to develop a set of digital methodologies, derived from traditional manual pattern-making techniques, to create a collection of validated methodologies enabling the generation of digital patterns for non-conventional footwear constructions.
Start date: 01/01/2024
End date: 31/12/2024
Reference: IMDEEA/2024/54
Digital leaflet Results report and Dissemination report (deliverables)
Collaborating companies:
The DITEPCA project contributes to the following SDGs:
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