Flowmould by Lenz
The market for perfectly customised shoe insoles has been revolutionised by this system. The customer’s concept should make the customisation process quicker and at the same time minimise the error rate for its ‘users’ in the sport and shoe business.
After 18 months of development and testing the first series was available.
We assist our customers in the production of machines as well as the mass production of various insoles. Our team also provides technical support for the company Lenz in Vorarlberg.
This was carried out in several phases to stimulate the brainstorming process, and the product designer was already closely involved early on.
Different points were formulated
There was no existing technology that was on the market already and no suitable component parts that could be repurposed. For this reason, two concepts were drawn up for this project in the feasibility study. This approach promotes the degree of innovation and speeds up the development process.
The results of the feasibility study were summarised. From this the first design prototype emerged. Develeopment progress was made in ergonomics for both users and end customers (people purchasing insoles).
The innovation of the Flowmould concept originated in
warming the insole before the customisation process.
This happened directly in the insole. And the process of customisation became a customer experience: during the whole process the buyer is standing on the machine and can feel every bit of the process.
As the forming process is carried out, it is “experienced” by the customer as a wave-like movement. The whole process takes only 3 minutes!
Following the market tests with the pre-production models, the machines were augmented with LED elements.
These make it easier for users to see which direction their legs should be facing so that they are standing correctly on the machine. It influences the quality of the customisation to each individual’s foot considerably.
We carried out certification for both the European and the North American markets. Guidelines were created at the same time, which needed to be followed to correctly put the machine into operation in salesrooms.
The Flowmould machines are built in Europe, and the control software, which runs on a built-in tablet computer, is also developed in Europe.
This is updated via a mobile connection as required and is also used for analysis purposes in the event of errors.
Further development and production of the insoles is managed 100% from our side. The customer receives packages in their central warehouse that are ready to ship to Europe and North America.
Technical support for the machines is provided directly by Lenz. Our team supports the service employees of the customer where necessary. Through ongoing processes the machines are continually improved.
Tell us about your idea and then we can develop innovative products together.
