Companies

FAIST Voices: meet Rodiro

May 29, 2026 Portugal

With the support of the software company Mind, the Portuguese footwear manufacturer Rodiro has been developing its design products and manufacturing processes as part of the FAIST project

The FAIST (Agile, Intelligent, Sustainable and Technological Factory) consortium brings together over 40 Portuguese partners across footwear and leather goods, technology providers and research centres. Running from June 2022 to June 2026, the programme channels about 50 million euros of investment into projects that modernise the industry and sharpen its international competitiveness.

Rodiro In Focus

Rodiro is a Portuguese footwear manufacturer with over three decades of experience. Founded as a family business by three siblings, it is currently managed by a member of the second generation, Ricardo Costa.

Fourteen years ago, in response to the declining domestic market, the company reinforced its internationalisation strategy, consolidating its position as an export-oriented manufacturer. Thanks to this long-term strategic focus, Rodiro has enjoyed sustained growth and now exports around 99% of its production, primarily working with multinational brands that operate in global markets.

The company produces a balanced range of men’s and women’s footwear and is characterised by its flexibility in terms of product types, constructions and designs. “One advantage for our customers is the flexibility we give them in terms of the products they can buy from us”, says Ricardo Costa. This enables them to respond effectively to fast-changing fashion trends and diverse requirements.

Another distinctive factor is that “while remaining family-owned, the company follows a professional management model with clearly defined roles and decision-making structures”. This has been central to its sustained growth, innovation capacity and competitiveness in the footwear industry.

Under FAIST

Rodiro’s focus is on activities related to digital tools that support both product design and manufacturing processes. These include computer-aided design (CAD), realistic rendering and automatic cutting and sewing, in collaboration with the software company Mind.

Thanks to the integrated Online-Offline Render solution in MindCAD 3D for Footwear, it is possible to visualise highly realistic digital shoe models at any stage of the design process. The system enables the user to switch seamlessly between fast, interactive views and high-quality final renders, using advanced graphics and scanned material data to accurately reproduce materials, colours and textures.

In cutting operations, the Automatic Nesting digital system optimises the arrangement of shoe components on leather or synthetic materials. Combining cloud-based services and artificial intelligence, it automatically evaluates multiple layout options online or offline and provides real-time feedback to help manufacturers select the most efficient cutting solutions.

Rodiro has also adopted the Mind Sewing Studio solution, which automates sewing operations in the production of footwear and leather goods. This enables the definition of sewing pallets and the automatic generation of stitching paths, while remaining compatible with standard industrial formats and sewing equipment.

Outcomes

“In today’s fast-paced world, time is of the essence, particularly when working with fashion brands. The ability to respond to clients quickly is paramount. These technological developments help us to meet client needs more efficiently and quickly, providing the kind of service that makes us indispensable and sets us apart from our competitors”, explains Ricardo.

In this context, the Online-Offline Render solution streamlined the design process by enhancing design validation, supporting digital catalogues and reducing reliance on physical samples reducing the time to present the first concept from weeks to hours or to a day.

Tests have shown that the Automatic Nesting solution can increase efficiency by between 0.5% and 2%, which could lead to significant cost savings on an industrial scale. These improvements also contribute to more sustainable production processes, particularly during material-intensive stages such as leather cutting.

Finally, the automatic sewing solution made the sewing process faster and more flexible. It enables Rodiro to standardise and scale up sewing operations for different sizes and product variations, while also representing an important step towards the creation of semi- or fully automated sewing islands, to be further developed in future projects.