Getting fashion to market fast is essential—what’s hot can cool quickly—so the product development 33% time reduction that Timberland, the footwear and apparel producer, is realizing is of considerable competitive advantage. It’s being realized through the use of 3D printing technology from Z Corporation (www.zcorp.com). An additional advantage: it is cutting manufacturing times for lasts—models used to assure the shoes accommodate various foot sizes—by 92%.

Timberland is deploying a ZPrinter 650 to develop multi-color 3D models from CAD files, eliminating the need for outside service providers. “We now simply press ‘print,’ remove our models from the ZPrinter, and continue to move our product concepts to market. Every time we print, we shorten the development cycle and help get news styles to consumers while they’re hot. That’s typically six months earlier than if we outsourced our models, and at a fraction of the cost,” says Toby Ringdahl, CAD manager in Timberland’s global footwear product development division.

Timberland says the efficiencies gained by using 3D printing have already paid for the investment in the hardware: model development has been cut by a fraction of 10, scrap volume has fallen by 20%, staff travel costs to Asia for design and manufacturing meetings have declined by 10%.