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German RepRap Oberle
The German RepRap X350pro at work at Oberle - Gesunde Schuhe
Oberle, a German orthopaedic footwear manufacturer, has harnessed the German RepRap X350pro 3D printing platform to enhance its production processes, saving time and money.
The family-run business was founded in 1859 by the great-great grandfather of current General Manager, Achim Oberle. In its beginnings, Oberle opened as a cobbler’s shop serving locals in and around the town of Ettenheim, near the Germany/ France border. In 2006, Oberle began to specialise in the orthopaedic footwear market, and is today renowned as one of its leaders. A status being strengthened by the company’s ability to produce ‘healthy shoes’ with reduced costs and lead time.
Incorporating the X350pro machine, though, wasn’t Oberle’s first adoption of 3D technology. Behind the products it has been delivering to market over the last decade, is a highly technical process, involving 3D posture analysis and 3D walking analysis. These involve measurements of the entire body posture and measurements of gait, body angles and forces.
The key to Oberle’s success has been a proactivity, and a knowledge of the latest technologies and how they can benefit the company. Yet, an important factor in Oberle’s eventual purchase of a 3D printer goes back years, to a time when, to manufacture a shoe, a foot was modelled by creating a plaster of it, before being filled with foam to create a positive mould of the foot to be used as a shoe last. This would model the shape of the foot, and be used to build the shoe. Achim Oberle, however, had an allergy of the foam used. Instead, he turned to 3D scanning technology, such is its ability to produce 3D measurements of a foot, and then be sent to a contractor to mill the shoe lasts from wood.
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German RepRap Oberle
A positive of the foot's shape printed with the German RepRap X350pro
Even then, with an alternative solution in place, Oberle wasn’t satisfied. He wanted to remove the outsourcing of the wooden lasts production. And so, already with a knowledge of the capabilities of 3D printing technology, he was encouraged by friends to make the leap and purchase an X350pro from German RepRap.
Installed in September 2016, the machine has become an integral part of the company’s processes and is used on a daily basis. The company often uses the printer through the night and is even considering the purchase of a second machine.
Operating with just the one, solitary 3D printer, the company has seen significant cost-savings, thanks to minimal wastage. Oberle initially used German RepRap PLA material, but has since switched to PET-G filament, which is odourless during processing, and can print at high speed because of its viscosity. While the cost savings are welcome, this counts as only the second biggest benefit of having an X350pro in the Oberle manufacturing setup.
“The main advantage is that we can work considerably faster,” said Oberle. “Even the foot shell can be produced with a 3D printer. This foot shell is used to verify that the earlier 3D scan is a perfect fit. Clear plastic makes this easier. Once the shape fits perfectly, the final product can be printed. Adjustments are fast and easy, and so are fittings. With 3D printing, the first fitting can be done in as little as an hour.”
