Zellerfeld plans to massively scale up the production of 3D-printed shoes
The Atomic Layers: S9E9 (00246)
Atomic Layer of the Day:
In the background of the ongoing Rapid+TCT trade show in Detroit, an intriguing piece of news quietly made its way through the 3D printing industry today—though it may have gone slightly under the radar…
Zellerfeld—the world’s largest manufacturer of fully 3D printed shoes—has announced a collaboration with the Fraunhofer Institute for Additive Production Technologies (IAPT), aimed at scaling up the company’s production capacity to several thousand 3D printers!
In case you’re hearing this name for the first time (or just don’t associate it with anything specific), Zellerfeld is a German-American company using additive manufacturing to produce fully functional, and fully customized shoes based on individual designs. Its business model combines digitization, sustainability, and on-demand production.
Imagine something like the old-school, original Shapeways or iMaterialise, but focused exclusively on shoes. That’s pretty much how Zellerfeld operates.
Zellerfeld manufactures the entire shoe—not just the soles like in Carbon’s case. What’s more, it uses FFF technology and special elastomer filaments.
The company claims it currently operates 200 3D printers. These are—allegedly—proprietary (or at least heavily customized) systems that allow for continuous and highly automated production.
But now, Zellerfeld wants to scale—from hundreds to 5,000 3D printers.
This, however, requires careful planning of production space, legal compliance, and process optimization. That’s why the company turned to Fraunhofer IAPT to analyze bottlenecks, identify opportunities for process improvements, and develop recommendations—including fire safety protocols.
In the first phase of the project, a detailed plan was created for organizing production zones, office spaces, and resilience-enhancing solutions. Guidelines were also developed for choosing the optimal location for the future factory.
Now, the company plans to begin implementing the project.
Overall, 3D printed footwear is one of the most intriguing areas of AM development. While Zellerfeld’s designs are very niche (for example, my kids—18 and 13—don’t like them at all, regardless of whether they’re 3D printed or not), and the idea of wearing fully plastic shoes may be off-putting to many, over time it could become a significant branch of the footwear industry.
Of course, I’m thinking of a maximum of 2–3% of the total market—which, considering the current micro-scale of the AM industry, would represent an incredible leap in volume!
So far, the market seems large enough for maybe just a handful of companies like Zellerfeld. But considering their growth plans—going from 200 to 5,000 printers—this can only mean one of two things: either demand is truly that high, or someone received a massive investment they now need to spend on something.
For all our sakes, I really hope it’s the first scenario…
(Unless it's just a marketing stunt and nothing will come of this investment. The industry has seen things like this before. Eg. Zortrax once sold 5000 3D printers to DELL, which it didn't sell.)
Atomic Layer from the Past:
04-09-2014: Creality was founded.
Calling all LFAM 3D printers manufacturers!
We’re kicking off recruitment for the new edition of The 3D Printing World Guide — this time, we’re looking for the largest 3D printers from around the world!
📅 Planned release date: April 15, 2025.
News & Gossip:
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Also at RAPID + TCT, Elegoo unveiled the Jupiter 2 resin 3D printer, targeting hobbyists and professionals. Launching in Q3 2025, it features a 16K 14" LCD, 302×162×300 mm build volume, auto-leveling, modular LCD, smart resin system, heated tank, remote monitoring, and runs on Elegoo’s SatelLite slicer.