Customer success: Footfalls Smartex Ltd.

Simon McMaster founded Footfalls Smartex Ltd. in 2010, with a goal to provide a new kind of smart textile. Their innovations forego the need for mini electronics, wires, and more. The skills at work contribute to intelligent textile research, technical knit design, and beyond.

The challenge

When Footfalls Smartex Ltd. began experience supply issues, they turned to Bekaert to meet demand. Due to the nature of their sensors, found in socks, cushions, mattresses, and wheelchairs, a high level of durability was crucial. Footfalls needed a conductive yarn that met the demands of repetitive pressure, that was capable of maintaining pressure, while producing very little signal noise.

The yarns we currently use from Bekaert are amazing, but we do believe that with your assistance they can be world leading with our technology

Simon McMaster

Founder
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Finding the solution

Thanks to combined efforts, the Footfalls team developed a proprietary process for manufacturing smart textiles. Footfalls produces pressure sensors via knitted conductive yarns. Doing so enables the creation of a repeatable sensor network, with mathematically determined textile structures.

Bekaert created a customized yarn for Footfalls Smartex Ltd. consisting of several components. This proprietary product puts a spin on Bekinox® yarn. Designed to offer precise resistance through pressure, our smart yarn provides a higher difference in electrical resistance under applied pressure. Ultimately, the teamwork between Footfalls Smartex Ltd. and Bekaert fosters innovation to provide optimal results in healthcare applications and beyond.