Applications
Start from the shoe, not the material.
Six footwear segments, the sole system each one points at, and the tests that actually gate it. Three carry a guide of their own; the rest lead straight to the sole family that suits them.
Six segments, and where each one leads
Three segments have a guide of their own, because we hold measured hardness windows for them and can say something specific about what passes. The other three go straight to the sole family that suits them — a page written to fill a slot would tell you less than the sole page it links to.
Rubber where it wears, foam where it lands.
Deep lug geometry, wet rock grip, cold flexibility
The standard changed. Most supplier sites have not.
The season is the specification.
Grip without transferring pigment to the floor
Light, latex-free, softer compounds for younger age groups
What drives the spec, and what gates it
The tests below are the ones a buyer in each segment writes into the specification. Eight rigs run on site and the rest go to an accredited laboratory; the full mapping is on the quality page.
| Segment | What drives the spec | Tests that gate it |
|---|---|---|
| Running & Athletic | Cushioning under the forefoot, rubber only where the shoe wears | Abrasion ISO 4649 · flex ISO 17707 · outsole-midsole peel SATRA TM404 |
| Outdoor & Hiking | Deep lug geometry, wet rock grip, cold flexibility | Footwear slip SATRA TM144 · abrasion ISO 4649 · low-temperature flex |
| Work & Safety | Slip, heat and fuel-oil exposure; long wear life on hard floors | EN ISO 20345:2022 (slip now mandatory, SR marks the enhanced test) · HRO · FO |
| Casual & Lifestyle | Weight, colour fidelity and unit cost at seasonal volumes | Colour hold · shrinkage & yellowing · abrasion |
| Court & Indoor | Grip without transferring pigment to the floor | Non-marking / scuff (SATRA TM223) · abrasion |
| School & Children's | Light, latex-free, softer compounds for younger age groups | Hardness SATRA TM205 · chemical compliance (REACH SVHC, Prop 65) |
Not sure which segment you are in?
Plenty of programmes sit between two. A trail shoe borrows from outdoor and from running; a service shoe worn on a hard floor all day is closer to safety footwear than to casual. If the shoe does not fit a row above, the sole still will — the six sole systems compares them side by side, and EVA, rubber and TPR compared runs the material properties against each other.
Tell us what the sole has to survive.
The shoe, the market it ships to and the standard it certifies against. We come back with the sole system, a compound and hardness recommendation, and a tooling plan.