3D Printing of Consumer Goods

More Diversity in Design and Engineering

Make Any Shape Into a Product With Additive Manufacturing

3D printing, or additive manufacturing, opens up a whole universe of new possibilities: Users can make any conceivable shape into a real product cost-efficiently, flexibly and quickly with minimal consumption of materials. Additive manufacturing builds objects up layer by layer in a single step. This targeted application of material makes it possible to manufacture products that are both stable and very lightweight.

AM is based on a digital process. This guarantees consistently high quality, ideal scalability and short lead times. Product designers can count on the manufacturing process to make furniture such as lamps or chairs, but also fashion items such as jewelry, handbags or glasses with complex shapes and structures.

Any conceivable form is possible, and new business ideas can be quickly realized. 3D printing enables local on-demand production: You can manufacture your parts exactly where you need them. You can configure a pair of shoes or a watch online, then print them on site.

Design Freedom

3D printing allows you to achieve maximum design freedom when making complex geometries that cannot be manufactured by conventional processes.

Customization

With additive manufacturing, custom or anatomically tailored products can be made at no extra cost, creating added value for customers.

Development Rhythm

Products and development cycles for consumer goods can be accelerated with additive manufacturing processes.

Sustainability

By avoiding technology and process-related material waste and overproduction, and by using raw materials from renewable sources, additive manufacturing enables you to manufacture sustainable products.

Flexibility

Demand-driven production: digitally configured products can be made exactly when they are needed with 3D printing – even at the point of sale.

Eyewear
Shoes & Soles
Sports

Industrial 3D Printing for Made to Measure Eyewear

Every person’s face is as unique as their personality. To meet the highest fitting standards, glasses frames need to be made to measure. However, they are comparatively expensive to manufacture by hand. Industrial 3D printing can change this. As an alternative to traditional manufacturing processes, it offers a range of advantages.

3D manufacturing systems enable you to make metal and plastic glasses frames that meet the highest demands with their lattice structure, design and aesthetics. After recording the shape of the customer’s face with a scanner and processing the data, the 3D printing system can quickly build a glasses frame that is tailored to the wearer. This makes it possible to quickly implement custom design requests and even manufacture small series products in a cost-efficient setting. Stylish and exclusive, but also cost-efficient: additive manufacturing unlocks deep-reaching potential when manufacturing glasses frames.

Success Story

3x More Sustainable 3D Printed Eyewear

The innovative start-up You Mawo develops and designs glasses that are individually tailored to the customer. The glasses frames are made with EOS 3D printing technology. Since they are based on a scan of the customer’s unique face shape, they are completely tailored to the specific needs of the wearer. The glasses are made from the material PA 2200 on the EOS P 396.

30 % lighter than acetate and more durable
Significantly reduced time-to-market
Less overproduction and shorter delivery paths

SUCCESS STORY

Raytech | Hoet

Additive Manufactured Titanium Eyewear

The results of the three-way collaboration between Hoet, Raytech and EOS not only help customers to see, they are clearly visible themselves: the diverse delicate and complex lattice structures of the frames would not have been possible with conventional methods.

Additive manufacturing with the EOS M 290 3D printing system allowed the classical design to be made with a certain extra something for the first time ever. The innovative technology also achieves optimizations in terms of sustainability, cost reduction and comfort.

SUCCESS STORY

BRAGi

Scan-to-Print Solution for 3D Printed Eyewear

BBRAGi rapidly established a business model that enables the quick and easy production of individual eyewear using the industrial 3D printers FORMIGA P 110 Velocis. This is particularly useful for glasses wearers who have problems with standard frame shapes due to the shape of their noses. But all other users of BRAGi eyewear will also enjoy the very comfortable fit, which at the same time guarantees optimum optical support and low weight. In addition, the glasses are robust and have a long service life. Another very important feature for wearers: they are hypoallergenic.

Success Story

3D Printed Soles Ensure Comfort & Fit

Personalization has been more than just a trend for a while now. As well as offering greater comfort to their wearers, custom shoe soles open up completely new possibilities for fashion customization.
Additive manufacturing has the solution: Thanks to a fully digital process, trendy designs can be put together using scans of the sole of the foot, then transformed into custom-fitting shoe soles made from polymer materials by industrial 3D printing.

For contract manufacturers and shoemakers, the advantages are obvious. They can reliably deliver custom soles to their customers, allowing them to react quickly to new trends. At the same time, industrial 3D printing is extremely suitable for series production. It is characterized by high flexibility of material strength and structure, so that the products can be perfectly fitted to the wearer’s anatomy. The manufacturing process is also relatively cost-efficient.

3D printed shoe soles combine personal style with the demands of fashion. The manufacturing process guarantees maximum flexibility while also being cost-efficient.

The Path to a Customized Mass Product

Aetrex uses customer data collected using the Albert program, an innovative foot scanning system. The captured data is then sent to the EOS polymer 3D printer. Based on the measurements of the individual pressure point distribution, the maschine then 3D prints an insole. The result is a product that is precisely tailored to the customer’s foot.

Mass customization – adapting individual products to many different variants
Rapid availability – the sole is ready in less than 2 weeks
Improved ergonomics – the product fits better than conventionally manufactured soles
Sustainability – less material consumption, since any leftover material can be reused

SUCCESS STORY

Under Armour

Revolutionizing the Sports Footwear Market

"With EOS’s industry-leading 3D printing technology, Under Armour has found a meaningful way to bring shoes to the market by creating truly amazing and high-quality products that meet the needs of our customers in ways that we never imagined. Together, our two organizations make an outstanding team."

Clay Dean | Under Armour

Industrial 3D Printing of Sports Articles

With additive manufacturing product innovations are becoming faster, and customization is becoming more efficient and economically viable. To remain competitive, the sports equipment industry is increasingly turning away from classically mass-produced items. With new ideas for product improvements, businesses are approaching their goal of optimizing athletes and their equipment as an integrated system.

By taking advantage of innovative production technologies such as additive manufacturing, these ideas can be made into product innovations. For example, additve manufactruing can be used to make hard-wearing and lightweight variants of complex sports equipment that would not be possible with conventional production technologies.

Shin Guard Application

Maximum shock absorption while minimizing material consumption and weight

SUCCESS STORY

Bauer

Hockey Helmet for Maximum Shock Absorption

Ice hockey helmet liners are an optimal example of a historically traditional product – evolving for more than 50 years, but until now, with minimal overall design changes. With new 3D printing technologies opening up product development doors and allowing for design limitations to be stripped away, the MyBauer REAKT hockey helmet with a Digital Foam insert was able to provide a new way of producing a more customized and individually tailored helmet product.

SUCCESS STORY

Wilson

Innovative Airless Basketball

Another product that has stood the test of time with minimal changes is the basketball. With known performance and relatively low production costs, the basketball is easily overlooked for design updates. The Wilson Innovation Center is constantly seeking ways to revolutionize the sports equipment we use and enjoy every day, which is why they turned to EOS and Digital Foam for the Airless Prototype. By leveraging Digital Foam and our network of partners, Wilson was able to successfully produce an Airless Prototype, nearly equal in performance to a traditional basketball, with customized Digital Foam material, a digitally optimized lattice structure, and industrial 3D printing solutions such as the EOS P 396.

Sports, Lifestyle and Consumer Goods

3D Printing Optimizes Design, Functionality and Customization

Raytech & Hoet Eyeware

With 3D printing on additive manufacturing machines Hoet is able to produce eyeglass frames with complex designs and on demand at the same time. This shortens the time-to-market and reduces storage costs.

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Canto & Thor Dive Light

Using additive manufacturing Canto produces a robust dive light with functional integration. A particularly stable and at the same time lighter weight dive light was the result.

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Hansgrohe Dog Shower

Rapid and cost-efficient production of a series production-ready, drinking water-approved shower head for dogs, made from just a few components, offering quality, design, and convenience functions that will impress dogs and their owners alike.

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