Massimo Pierini, who works at Stahl Europe’s Arzignano facility in Italy, has been named the overall winner of the Stahl Innovation Award 2005 which attracted 23 entries from Europe, India, Brazil and Asia. His entry was a water-based in-mould coating for foamed polyurethane soles.

The overall award of €5,000 together with the first prize of €2,500 in the New Product category was judged the most innovative and commercially viable process.

With a typical sole unit manufacturer producing between 60,000 and 100,000 pairs of soles every day, daily solvent emission levels are around 1,440 kg, which is unacceptable under new legislation. Reductions of up to 70% are called for and this new process will contribute to this reduction.

In-mould coating helps to overcome the difficulties in coating foam polyurethane sole units due to the presence of silicon. It also provides a method of coating footwear such as that used in hospitals, or in sports and leisure, where the uppers are also manufactured using polyurethane foam coatings. In these instances a classic coating cannot be applied and a technique such as this is necessary if the sole and upper are to function together satisfactorily.