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.