Our innovative direct soling machinery is established in processing PU (polyurethane), RU (rubber), TPU (thermoplastic polyurethane) as well as for other thermoplastic sole materials. More than 75 years of expericence build the basis for every DESMA machine. At the same time, our experience is our driving motivation to constantly develop new technologies for the manufacturing of both high-quality and sustainably manufactured footwear. Every DESMA machine is customized to the exact needs of our customers and thus proves to serve economic, efficiency, flexibility, safety and manufacturing excellence.  

Our rotary table machines with 18, 24, 30 or 36 stations are constructed on a modular basis and may be equipped with additional extras allowing for an optimum mix of automation and manual operatability.

amir® D – ready for the future of direct soling

DESMA develops an automation solutions supporting your workforce in preparing the uppers for direct soling and finishing the shoes after the direct soling process. This is leveraging the manufacturing quality as well as the manufacturing efficiency. 

Our automation solutions consist of a network of singular production units (e.g. mechanical processing of uppers or conditioning units) which are connected through interfaces to form a unified production solution. In parallel, these interface-connected units allow the acquisition and management of data needed for or gathered from production processes. Automated manufacturing in combination with a DESMA direct soling machinery is enabled through amir® D and its automated material flows and integrated robots. 

Customer benefits of amir® D

1. Reduction of production costs.

2. Improvement of product quality

3. Improvement of working conditions

4. Increase in production output and productivity

5. Increase in production consistency and quality

6. Reduction and control of material use and consumption

Robotic and automation solutions by DESMA Schuhmaschinen GmbH help the foot-wear industry automate production processes and raise product quality, effi-ciency, flexibility and sustainability in footwear production

Manual labour still accounts for a major share of the work in roughly 90 per cent of the total shoes produced worldwide. However, the trend towards process automation and standardisation is also picking up speed in the footwear business. 

In its amir® C product portfolio (automated material supply with integrated robots – cementing), DESMA offers automated tooling cells and production lines, inclusive of supporting operations for preparing uppers and soles for the cementing process. By automating these processes, the producers can improve their manufacturing as well as product quality and control their production processes more reliably by increasing precision and repeatability. What’s more, a controlled production process also reduces the use of consumables during production and relieves staff from physically exhausting and monotonous tasks.

DESMA has developed, for example, a particularly efficient automated tooling cell for the precise and reproducible roughen of the surface of the upper following the defined tooling path: this is performed by a roughing robot, which roughens individual contours and delivers consistently good results.

In addition to these cell solutions, a typical amir® C- production line consists of several process stations and robot applications. At the start of such a line, soles and uppers are inserted manually into the production line. A camera is used to check the position of the uppers on the last, while the contours of the corresponding shoe soles are automatically scanned. Once the “production recipe” has been loaded, e.g., by RFID or barcode technology, the production and control soft-ware obtains the exact data and contour lines needed for further processing during the subsequent production stages. Amongst other things, for example, the spray robot traces the outer contours of the sole and the upper precisely and applies exactly the required quantity of water- or solvent-based primer and/or cement. Following the defined process, the soles and uppers then pass through various conditioning elements, before reaching the automatic bottom-ing cell which assists the operator to perform the sole laying operation under optimal conditions and also manages the flows up to the final pressing operation.

DESMA direct soling offers plenty of advantages having positive effect on both shoe manufacturing as well as product quality! Developed by DESMA the Particle Dosing Unit (PDU) enhances these advantages by the aspect of sustainability since granuled PU, TPU or Rubber production wastes may flexibly be added to and used in the known injection process. 

Either via retrofitting or when investing in a new machine the Particle Dosing Unit (PDU) enables you to add a maximum of 20% in solid particles to your shoes midsoles. This results in reducing the use of virgin chemicals, enables a re-use of production waste and thus activley contributes to your manufacturing sustainability when industrially manufacturing shoes. Used by many shoe manufactures - also manufacturing safety- and protection footwear - the Particle Dosing - Technology summarizingly supports you in: 

1. Re-use your production waste in your running production

2. Add granules / particles to your virgin chemicals to reduce the amount of virgin chemicals needed

3. Reduce the amount of production waste sent to landfill / thermal recycling

4. Reduce the need in virgin chemicals

5. Improve your CO2 footprint

6. Benefit from a flexible use of the Particle Dosing Unit (PDU) - neither your material tanks nor your piping system is contamined by granules as the dosing is positioned directly at the mixing chamber.