Offside
Lado B

Pedal to the metal with Tiago Soares Costa.

Corporate

INESC TEC, in the words of our partners – Statement by João Maia from APICCAPS

Limelight

"An institution with the current dimension of INESC TEC needs Design to be framed in a systemic vision.", Pedro Regadas (SCOM)

Free Nonsense

"While times change, what we see as true is also constantly changing and as such, the problem of 'fake news' has emerged.", Nuno Guimarães (CRACS)

Gallery of the Uncommon

If you think there is something wrong with this picture of the Super Bock Group’s visit to INESC TEC...

Where are you now?

Every month INESC TEC sends highly qualified individuals into the market...

Jobs 4 the Boys & Girls

In this section, the reader may find reference to public announcements made by INESC TEC offering grants, contracts and other opportunities.

Biptoon

More scenes of how life goes merrily on...

 
 

Corporate

Corporate

This section gives voice to companies and organisations that have worked with INESC TEC in various projects and activities. A good relationship and good examples are fundamental ingredients for science and technology to serve society with equal amounts of enthusiasm and professionalism.

 

João maia, General Manager, apiccaps

  • "The skills of INESC TEC in the areas of new technologies and the deep knowledge of the industry that have been acquired over the years resulted in APICCAPS challenging INESC TEC into coordinating the design work of a Footwear Industry strategy under the Industry 4.0."

Business areas

Business Association

History of the relationship between the company and INESC TEC

Over the years, the footwear industry has developed a wide network of entities that work towards a policy of promoting innovation, being coherent with a global and strategic thought of this industry. The innovation network of the footwear industry involves a large number of universities, interface infrastructures and technology providers. However, in the core of this network are the footwear companies. These companies, along with the Portuguese Footwear Technological Centre (CTCP) have already implemented a wide range of research and development projects, which, by their scope, allowed the sector to develop innovative technologies in different areas.

In the early 1990s, APICCAPS and CTCP started this partnership network, and, for more than two decades, they have always considered INESC TEC the ideal partner for the development of a range of initiatives that allowed to strengthen the competitiveness of the industry in different aspects.

Description of the projects developed in collaboration with INESC TEC

The strategic thinking of the footwear industry that was developed during the 1990s focused on high value-added products in order to avoid price competition, which was already expected to be stiff. The globalisation and China’s entry into the World Trade Organisation reinforced the role of Asia in this industry, and this continent started to concentrate more than 80% of the world production, with special emphasis on China that accounts for about 60% of the world production of footwear.

The programme “A Fábrica de Calçado do Futuro” (Future Footwear Factory) created in the 1990s and the “ShoeInov” and “FOOTinov” programmes intended to develop technologies that allowed to increase the productivity and the competitiveness through the improvement of the flexibility and the companies’ responsiveness, and to make a new paradigm of concentration in small orders, dispatched without delay for the small distribution and retail. INESC TEC had an important role in all these projects of the industry.

Relevant results

It’s not easy to highlight specific results of one project or another, but the footwear industry, which was seen primarily as a traditional and labour- intensive industry, has been recognised as deeply modernised, externally oriented and highly competitive.

In 2017, the Portuguese footwear industry reached a new historic record with the exportations growing 52% since 2010 and the number of workstations being reinforced in that same period by 25%.

Statement about the experience working with INESC TEC

INESC TEC has been assuming an important role in the implementation of an RTD policy for the footwear industry. While on the one hand INESC TEC is one of the main partners in the operationalisation of a strategy based on innovation, nowadays it’s also a vital link for the design of that same strategy.

With a set of technological changes on the table that could radically change the competitiveness of the different industrial sectors in the different countries at a global level, APICCAPS felt that it should promote a strategic thinking on the opportunities created by these changes.

The skills of INESC TEC in the areas of new technologies and the deep knowledge of the industry that have been acquired over the years resulted in APICCAPS challenging INESC TEC into coordinating the design work of a Footwear Industry strategy under the Industry 4.0. The result of this project, FOOTure 4.0, was then presented as an example under the national strategy for implementing the principles of Industry 4.0.

Possibility of future collaborations with INESC TEC

The future of Portuguese footwear needs innovation and entrepreneurship. The launch of FOOTure 4.0, which provides for a total investment of € 50 million – and the design of which INESC TEC played an important role - is the sector's response to a number of technological changes that are coming and that will transform many industrial sectors. In this sense, the implementation of FOOTure 4.0 is allowing the development of new areas of collaboration between INESC TEC and the institutions of the Footwear Industry.