Geiss helps Nike make thermoformed soles

Geiss, the German thermoforming machinery supplier, has developed a method for making training shoe soles using twin-sheet thermoforming. The company has sold a number of machines to Nike, which thermoforms the polyurethane soles and heels in the US and then ships them to the Far East for assembly.

“Processing PU sheet is almost impossible because the sheets stick together,” said the company’s chairman Manfred Geiss. Geiss has overcome this difficulty by using a roll-fed process. It has developed modifications to this basic process, allowing Nike to incorporate injection moulded inserts with the thermoformed parts.