DESMA opens doors for latest House Fair

The latest in footwear machinery and products were on show at the German company’s open event.

The sixth biannual DESMA House Fair was recently held at the company's facilities in Achim, Germany – an event that was also part of the footwear machinery producer’s 70th anniversary celebration. Visitors were able to examine DESMA's automated production lines for industrial shoe manufacture. As well as learning more about integrated robots and transportation systems. The fair also included a special show of DESMA’s own mould designs.

While showcasing the equipment that the company is famed for, this year’s big theme was actually a DESMA footwear product – 'Wrap NX' – a development of the 'Quadwrap' shoe from 2014. Quadwrap was an all-moulded polyurethane (PU) shoe in four parts, and Wrap NX has taken this to the next stage (hence the 'NX' suffix) by customising the footwear in terms of fit under the heel, as well as the colouring of the components.

The principle behind the product is that each Wrap NX shoe is bespoke and made individually, based on a 3-D scan, underfoot pressure mapping and colour selection for upper, lining, midsole, outsole and lace eyelets. The lining is a cotton sock, the upper and midsole are PU, the outsole and eyelets are vulcanised rubber. The rear-lower part of the last is machined out of medium-density fibreboard (MDF) in a shape that is unique to the customer. This is then slid onto a metal rail on the underside of the last, allowing it to blend into the main standard plastic part. The PU midsole is injected to give three different hardnesses – at the toe, midfoot and heel – tailored to suit the weight and pressure mapping needs of the individual.

Direct moulding on a carousel machine was demonstrated, with scouring, roughing, priming and adhesive application being done by robot (forced drying of adhesive on the upper). Laser roughing was explained on a video presentation.

According to DESMA, 680 visitors attended the 2016 House Fair – up from 600 in 2014. A variety of seminars were presented during the event, by representatives from DESMA, Chem Trend, Henkel, Huntsman, Lubrizol, Progenso and Teco. Subjects covered included the use of reactive hot-melt adhesives for sole bonding, and mould release agents for PU soles and rubber soles. Other topics considered were the selection of cushion footbeds and memory foam, and the energy return of reaction-moulded PU soling.

The next DESMA House Fair is scheduled for 2018.

Publishing Data

This article was originally published on page 8 of the November 2016 issue of SATRA Bulletin.

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