SATRA’s Digital Last Assessment service

Digital Last Assessment can help to identify mislabelled sizing and poor fit characteristics at an early stage, expediate design and production and decrease development costs.

Digital Last Assessment is a process in which the likely fit characteristics of footwear made on a last can be predicted. The volume created for the wearer’s foot within any item of footwear is predominantly determined by the shape and size of the last on which it is manufactured. Other variables also play a role in the final fit of the product, including the construction method of the footwear, the upper and soling materials and the style of footwear and fastening systems. Predominantly, however, it is the last that forms the characteristics of the final shoe.

SATRA's Digital Last Assessment service is a simple, fast and cost-effective way of measuring and analysing the shape and dimensions of 3D CAD files of men’s, women’s and children’s shoemaking lasts.

SATRA offers four digital last assessment tiers in order to help to determine fit characteristics and appropriate size marking during the digital design stage. Fixing possible problems during digital design will prove to be vastly cheaper than finding mistakes later in the physical design and manufacturing process. A three-dimensional (3D) file of the last can be sent to SATRA and precise measurements taken, to be compared to either the well-established SATRA guidelines or, alternatively, to a retailer’s or manufacturer’s guidelines.

The four tiers

Tier 1 – Verification through accurate measurements over several key dimensions to confirm they are as expected. Tier 2 – Assessment of these key dimensions against SATRA's own recommendations for improving fit at the marked size. Tier 3 – Forecasting the likely population coverage offered by the last, based on conclusions from SATRA's Global Foot Dimensions report, and guidance on how this can be maximised. Tier 4 – Adjustment of the last based on SATRA recommendations to improve population coverage while retaining the aesthetic and general shape of the original design.

The cost of this service, per last, is: Tier 1 GBP 100; Tiers 1 and 2 GBP 180; Tiers 1 to 3 GBP 350; Tiers 1 to 4 GBP 850. In addition, SATRA recognises that not every organisation has digital last models available. This is not a barrier to utilising this new service, as physical lasts can be shipped to SATRA to be scanned and digitised in STL format for GBP 100 per last.

Publishing Data

This article was originally published on page 38 of the October 2021 issue of SATRA Bulletin.

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