Dorothy

Design Of CustomeR driven shOes and multi-siTe factorY

 

Introduction

The mission of DOROTHY is to “design customer driven shoes everywhere, manufacture them intelligently anywhere” as a crucial challenge for shoe industry to gain competitiveness in the global markets, also through better cooperation (and not only to compete) with low-wage countries. The customer, anywhere in the world, steps in a DOROTHY shop and co-designs the EU style shoe, which is manufactured in the multi-site-nation factory, designed thanks to DOROTHY tools.

 

Goal

Radical transformation of the European manufacturing industry through a paradigm shift from traditional resourceintensive to customer centred, knowledgebased, networked, self-learning and self-developping.

By focusing on a specific industrial sector, footwear, DOROTHY design tools and innovative business model represent valuable foundations of the future collaborative, standardised, open and service-oriented European platform for manufacturing engineering. Once the project objectives are achieved, the DOROTHY results shall be applied and extended on a trans-sectorial dimension: the European Manufacturing Engineering.

Approach

The aimed transformation relies, on one hand, on the development of tools for the design of customer driven adding value shoes (service ranging from tailor made shoe to mass produced better fit shoe) and, on the other hand, on the realization of tools for the design, configuration and reconfiguration of flexible multi-site multi-nation production factories, meant to manufacture those customer driven shoes. Additionally, a new innovative business model will be developed to successfully manage the demands of the new paradigm.

Benefit

European Shoe Manufacturing industry faces an intense and growing competitive pressure brought forth by developing countries, which are entering the global market offering low-cost workforce for the production of labor-intensive, low value added products. Moreover these countries are rapidly modernizing their production methods and enhancing their technological capacities (Manufuture, Strategic Research Agenda, p.8, 09/2006). DOROTHY aims at transforming the shoe industry and its related business model for strengthen Europe’s ability to compete in terms of high added value for the customer (as cost-based competition is not compatible with the goal of maintaining the Community’s social and sustainability standards).

Project structure

DOROTHY is part of the Seventh Research Framework Programme (FP7) of the Europan Union. In this work programme DOROTHY addresses the topic “Innovative Customer Driven Product-Service Design in a Global Environment. It belongs to NMP Theme – Collaborative Project. The project goals are also in line with the Manufuture Strategic Research Agenda.

14 European projectpartner forming a well balanced consortium consisting of industry enterprises, research organisations and SMEs. The project started at the first of July 2008 and will end by the end of June 2011.

Official Project Webpage

http://www.dorothy.ethz.ch