With lighter steps
TEXT: Johan Croon & Robert Långström

With lighter steps

October 09, 2023

What would you do if your customers burdened their feet with 2000 tonnes every day? Maybe you could do the following?

“WE KNOW OUR CRAFT”. It’s a common comment you get if you ask someone at Alligo about their various services.

It’s not just about getting your logo printed or embroidered on your work clothes, or having your garments re-sewn according to certification requirements. These are important, but it’s also about doing extra of everything. Extra resources and extra ambition. If you want to work for skilled craftsmen, it is good to love the craft.

One such example are soles for safety shoes. In Swedol’s and TOOLS stores, you do not meet your usual shoe salesperson. Instead, your foot is analyzed using digital technology to help create specially adapted soles that prevent wear and damage.

“A work shoe is used eight to ten hours per day. Some cover up to 30,000 steps, while doing physically demanding and heavy work. A good sole should provide support and stability. It should reduce the strain on the feet and knees and also relieve other parts of the body,” says Adam Strandsten, sales manager at Alligo’s partner Customized.

“After the day’s work, feet should feel good and legs and body should not be tired. You must have energy left to exercise or play with your children.”

Customized are specialists in creating customized products for its customers. It is also Alligo’s primary sole supplier. Together, they have developed a technology that creates personalized soles with the help of a 3D scanner. You can go to a TOOLS or Swedol store and scan your foot, which creates a 3D version and matches its values against prefabricated soles in its range before recommending the sole that best fits your foot. These values can also be sent to Customized’s certified orthopedic technicians, who cast specially adapted soles specifically for your feet. The orthopedic soles are certified and adapted for safety shoes and it takes about a week to get a molded sole.

 

CUSTOMIZED CAN ALSO help with foot-related issues, such as heel spurs. When you scan your foot, you can also fill out a form if you experience any discomfort. Customized can then make further adaptations to the sole.

“We have the knowledge and can do a lot to help with the soles. If you have had problems for a long time, however, it is important to point out that the sole is probably not the solution. Then it is best to go to an orthopedist,” says Adam Strandsten.

Customized collaborates with Alligo’s salespeople and tries to be on site as often as possible, especially at larger workplaces. This creates the chance to try both shoes and soles, and also to get feet scanned.

“All of our orthopedic technicians are licensed. Most have a background as physiotherapists, have worked in clinics for many years and have extensive product knowledge.”



Scanners creates a 3D version of your foot