BCN3D Camper
Multinational footwear manufacturer Camper is harnessing 3D printing technology from BCN3D to develop prototypes of new products.
The company has sought to integrate the Sigma and Sigmax extrusion systems from BCN3D to help streamline its design processes. Camper designs and produces hundreds of models of shoe every year for men, women and children, but with printed prototypes being turned around within 24 hours is now able to move through the creative process in significantly less time.
Before Camper’s adoption of 3D printing technology, designers would spend a lot of time working in a 2D conceptual environment but are now enjoying having parts in their hands much sooner. These parts are often printed in rigid materials, though flexible materials have come in handy when designers want to produce more realistic prototypes. 3D printing is also enabling Camper’s designers to experiment with shapes and dimensions that have not previously been possible with traditional moulding techniques.
The BCN3D printers are both desktop machines with the Sigma representing the entry-level platform and the Sigmax representing a step-up with an increased build volume. These platforms are backed up by a growing portfolio of materials, which currently includes ABS, PET-G, Nylon, TPU and more.
BCN3D Camper
With several of these printers now installed, it should mean Camper’s customers benefit from a boost in the company’s creativity and the company itself can generate more designs, more quickly.
“Working with a BCN3D printer is very useful because if we have an idea in mind, together with a technician, we can obtain quick and direct results for the dimensions of components,” commented Job Willemsen, Senior Designer at Camper. “This enhances our ability to be reactive.”
“With various 3D printers on site, Camper’s designers now have new designs literally in the palms of their hands. This is a huge advantage for designers because they can now validate volumes, dimensions and geometric shapes they could not visualise with a digital model,” added Xavier Martinez Faneca, CEO of BCN3D. “If designers can print a shoe model in 3D the next day, the design team has the ability to take their creative potential further. With collaboration, they can really achieve the product they are looking for. Before, design processes were much slower.”
