Opportunity
Eekual, based in Cologne, Germany, specialises in designing and manufacturing personalised footwear using customer-specific measurements captured via its app. Its design-to-production process included manual steps that made consistent execution and hand-offs difficult.
Challenge
- Cost Control: Manual, repetitive design work made per-order effort difficult to control.
- Long Lead Times: Design and production-document hand-offs slowed order fulfilment.
- Rework Risk: Unstructured processes created avoidable opportunities for mistakes.
- Manual Process Tracking: Inefficient tracking and management of orders slowed operations.
Solution
1D.works implemented an automated digital build pipeline for major parts of the production process:
- Defined and Structured Workflow: Clarified and standardized the previously vague design processes.
- Parametric CAD Templates: Created reusable, modular design templates to streamline customization.
- Automated CAD Integration: Developed a CAD plugin to automate design steps, prompting minimal manual input.
- Manufacturing Documentation: Automated the generation and distribution of standardised production documents to the shop floor.
Delivered Capabilities
- Automated Design Steps: Parametric templates and the CAD integration reduced the manual work required for repeatable design tasks.
- Faster Handoffs: Generated production documents gave the design and manufacturing workflow a more direct hand-off.
- Standardised Outputs: Automated templates and production documents reduced opportunities for manual variation; no claim of complete error elimination is made.
- Reusable Workflow: Parametric templates and the CAD integration provided a repeatable basis for onboarding and adding product variants.
The implementation automated major parts of Eekual's design-to-production workflow. Cost, error-rate, scalability, and profitability effects require owner-supplied evidence before they are stated as measured outcomes.
Explore our AI-First Product Development service. Read: Unique Products at Scale with AI Infused CAD.