OLYMPIC Engineering

Shoe back-part molding—some folks call it first lasting—is a big deal in making shoes. Here, you’re shaping the back of the upper so the shoe feels good, fits right, and holds up over time. The trick is to get the upper, the counter (that’s the stiff bit that hugs your heel), and the lining to bond together and take on that snug, three-dimensional shape of the last. Do it wrong, and you end up with wrinkles, weird bumps, or just a sloppy fit. The back seam needs a good squeeze, too. If you skip that step or rush it, all kinds of flaws pop up later, and fixing them is no fun.

Then there’s crimping—sometimes called blocking. This one’s tough. You’re turning a flat piece of material into something that actually looks and feels like part of a shoe. Traditionally, it takes a sharp eye and a steady hand, not to mention a lot of patience. You end up wasting material, trimming things down, and sometimes just hoping for the best. The old-school way? Stretch the material roughly into shape with some extra margin, then try to cut it to the final pattern once it’s formed. It’s hardly precise. So you get wrinkles, cracks, surface mess-ups, and results that change from shoe to shoe. Honestly, it’s more like a craft than a science.

That’s where we come in. For years, we’ve focused on 3D crimping systems that take out most of the headaches. Instead of just blasting the surface with heat, our machines work right through the material, so you get consistent shaping and way less waste. You don’t need a master shoemaker at every station, either. We use the same smart approach for toe molding—getting the front of the upper to fit the last just right. Mess up this stage, and you’re looking at repairs or shoes that just don’t look sharp. Our machines keep stitching lines straight, avoid weird stretching, set up quickly, and handle pretty much any material you throw at them. Even the tricky designs. After more than 50 years in this business, we’ve seen it all—and built machines that can handle anything shoemaking throws our way.