From Early Adoption to Industry Leadership: How iOrthotics Scaled Additive Manufacturing

For many manufacturers, adopting additive manufacturing (AM) is an important first step. For Australian podiatry company iOrthotics, it was only the beginning.

Last year, the Mackay-founded business produced over 200,000 custom insoles for patients across Australia and the United States, supplying over 1,000 clinics and diverting more than 200 tonnes of plastic waste from landfill through its additive manufacturing approach.

The facts and figures might impress, but they don’t tell the whole story. According to founder and Director Dean Hartley, success has never been about simply owning 3D printers. It has been about early tech adoption backed by practicality and validation, incremental change, and the requirement of delivering better outcomes for patients.

Speaking at Australian Manufacturing Week, Hartley reflected on the company’s journey from an ambitious regional start-up to a global leader in digitally manufactured orthotics.

Building the foundations

Founded in 2009, iOrthotics embraced digital technologies long before additive manufacturing became mainstream.

Early investments included CAD software and one of the first generation of 3D foot scanners — technology that was expensive and relatively limited by today’s standards.

“Now, literally there’s no hardware expense: just collect your phone, collect your iPad, and you’ll get something that’s 50 times better resolution than that,” Hartley explained.

As scanning technology improved and became more accessible, iOrthotics continued investing in digital design and manufacturing capabilities, initially using subtractive manufacturing processes to produce custom devices.

The company recognised early that digital workflows had the potential to transform the orthotics industry. The challenge was identifying the right manufacturing technology to realise that vision.

Proving additive manufacturing could perform

At first glance, custom orthotics appear to be an ideal application for additive manufacturing.

Every device is unique, volumes are high and patient-specific customisation is essential.

However, replacing established manufacturing methods in a highly performance-driven healthcare environment is far from straightforward.

“The industry has always just typically used polypropylene to make devices, because it’s pretty much indestructible,” said Hartley.

Traditional manufacturing methods rely on plaster moulds, large blocks of MDF, milled polypropylene sheets and significant material waste. Producing a single pair of orthotics can generate up to two kilograms of discarded plastic.

More than a decade ago, iOrthotics began exploring whether additive manufacturing could offer a viable alternative.
Initial trials using FDM technology showed promise but also highlighted challenges around part strength and durability.

“We tried a whole lot of different materials, but it’s always hard to get that strength in the part, just because of how FDM is,” Hartley recalled.

To validate the technology, iOrthotics partnered with researchers at the University of Queensland, beginning a long-term collaboration focused on mechanical testing and performance validation.

“These parts are in people’s shoes. They’re running on them, they’re jumping on them. They have to take a lot of force.”

The research program involved extensive fatigue testing, tensile testing and materials analysis to understand how additively manufactured orthotics would perform under real-world conditions.

“We used all the material data testing that we did early on to then obviously do finite element analysis of parts to understand where stresses occur. That’s never really been done in our industry.”

The result was a robust evidence base that gave both clinicians and patients confidence in the technology.

More than a machine purchase

A major milestone came when iOrthotics became the first company in the Asia-Pacific region –  and the first orthotics manufacturer globally  –  to invest in HP’s Multi Jet Fusion (MJF) technology.

The decision represented a significant commitment for an SME, with the initial investment exceeding $600,000.

However, Hartley is quick to point out that purchasing advanced equipment was only one part of the journey.

The real work came afterwards through continued research, process development and optimisation, supported by both the University of Queensland and HP.

Today, iOrthotics operates manufacturing facilities in Brisbane, Adelaide, New York and New Jersey, producing custom orthotics using MJF technology and PA11 materials across multiple density profiles.

The printers themselves are critical, but they represent only one component of a much larger manufacturing system.

The real advantage: digital integration

According to Hartley, the company’s greatest competitive advantage is not additive manufacturing itself, but the digital ecosystem built around it.

Over more than a decade, iOrthotics has progressively digitised every stage of its operations, creating an integrated workflow that connects clinicians, designers, manufacturing systems and business processes.
This includes a custom-built clinician ordering platform, automated production workflows, quality management systems, maintenance tracking and enterprise resource planning tools.

The result is a highly efficient production environment capable of delivering custom orthotics to patients significantly faster than traditional models.

While lead times in the United States can often exceed two weeks, iOrthotics has reduced turnaround times to just four days.

“Our biggest KPI is lead time,” Hartley said.

“That we are somewhat successful as a business is not so much the printing, but it’s actually the digital workflow and that ERP, that custom application that I wanted to build about 10 years ago.

“And it’s become the lifeblood of what we’ve done.”

Lessons for manufacturers

The iOrthotics story highlights an important lesson for manufacturers considering additive manufacturing.

Success rarely comes from adopting a new machine alone. It comes from integrating technology into a broader strategy that combines research, validation, digital capability and business transformation.

For iOrthotics, additive manufacturing enabled a step change in how orthotics are designed, produced and delivered. But unlocking that value required a willingness to invest in evidence, collaborate with researchers and continually refine the systems surrounding the technology.

It is a reminder that additive manufacturing delivers its greatest impact not as a standalone tool, but as part of a connected digital manufacturing ecosystem.