https://j.people.com.cn/n3/2025/0822/c95952-20356348.html

Putian in Fujian Province is home to more than 4,200 shoe manufacturing and shoe material-related companies, employing over 500,000 people. In recent years, the city has been actively exploring the development path of innovation and smart manufacturing. In the traditional OEM model, the profit margin per pair shoes was around 5%, but with personalized, made-to-order shoes, the profit margin exceeds 10%. A factory may sell 100,000 pairs of custom shoes per year.

At Shuangchi Technology’s custom factory store in Putian,  consumers simply remove their shoes and socks and stand on a scanner for 15 seconds. Multidimensional foot data, including foot length, width, and arch height, is displayed on a screen in front of them. Based on this data, AI automatically matches the customer with a shoe last and insole that best suits them. The customer can then freely choose the color and design. Once the order is confirmed, the factory’s smart production line immediately begins operation, and the custom-made shoes are completed in as little as two hours, ready to take home.

To achieve this, fully automated Flyknit knitting machines and smart production lines that can handle everything from cutting and gluing to finishing and packaging were introduced.