BASF (Ludwigshafen / Germany; www.basf.com) is opening additional footwear development centres in the US, while at the same time launching an innovation centre for shoes in Taiwan and expanding its footwear development centre in Italy. All of the centres, employing process engineers, shoe specialists and technicians, are equipped with the latest technologies and machinery and jointly serve as a global platform to formulate and test new material innovations, refine processes and evaluate concepts in large-scale production environments, BASF said.

The US facility in Wyandotte, Michigan, focuses on advanced machinery for outsole, midsole and unit sole applications. Its new material testing and prototype production via polyurethane direct injection moulding is aimed at driving innovation while leveraging the latest designs and enhancing customers’ speed to market.

Set to open in 2020, BASF said its new footwear innovation centre in Taiwan will help to strengthen its capabilities and customer co-development approaches in Asia Pacific. The intent is to give shoe professionals in the region first-hand experience about how the German group’s materials can help develop future footwear using the latest manufacturing processes in areas such as comfort, performance, quality and design.

Utilising its PU technology and materials, BASF recently introduced “X-Swift", a multipurpose “athleisure” shoe featuring its performance technologies, in collaboration with Longterm Concept, a Taiwanese shoemaker specialising in an automated and intelligent production process.