Automated Apparel & Footwear Manufacturing
- Exponential Industry
- Technology Area
- 7 Milestones
Robot- and software-driven production of performance footwear and sportswear, especially knitted or sprayed one-piece uppers, replacing cut-and-sew that On says can take some 200 steps. On LightSpray sprays 1.5 km of filament into a one-piece upper in about three minutes; Nike Flyknit is a digitally engineered knit Nike says cuts waste about 60 percent versus cut-and-sew. Adidas Speedfactory, opened with Oechsler in Ansbach and Atlanta in 2017, tried robotic near-market production before both plants were slated to close by April 2020. Most Nike footwear volume still comes from Vietnam, Indonesia, and China (FY2025 mix 51, 28, and 17 percent).
Hidden Factory
Automated Apparel & Footwear Manufacturing
On inaugurates LightSpray factory in Zurich
On inaugurated the first LightSpray production facility in Zurich, with four robots making performance-shoe uppers in Switzerland. Traditional uppers take some 200 steps; LightSpray uses a robot arm and 1.5 km of filament for a one-piece upper in three minutes. Co-founders Caspar Coppetti, David Allemann, and Olivier Bernhard unveiled the plant to about 100 guests. Further plants were planned worldwide /On On opens the world’s first LightSpray™ production facility in Zurich/ /CNBC How On Makes Spray-On Sneakers In Minutes/.
On starts second LightSpray machine at On Labs NYC
On said a second LightSpray machine was fully operational at On Labs NYC, 350 W Broadway, for the New York City Marathon, and that Cloudboom Strike LS returned to members on 30 October 2024 at selected stores in New York, Paris, Tokyo, Shanghai, and Seoul /On On Drops Limited Edition Cloudboom Strike LS with Revolutionary LightSpray™ Technology/.
On unveils LightSpray and Cloudboom Strike LS
On introduced LightSpray, a robot-sprayed one-piece upper made in about three minutes at On Labs in Zurich, on the Cloudboom Strike LS (170 g men's, 30 g upper, 330 USD/EUR). The company reported a potential 75% cut in upper carbon versus a conventional equivalent, excluding bottom unit, packaging, and use, and said a patent-pending thermal fuse bonds the upper without glue /On Swiss Sportswear Brand On Unveils LightSpray™: a new High Performance Upper technology crafted by a Revolutionary single step Manufacturing Process/.
Adidas announces Speedfactory closures and Asia transfer
Adidas said it would close the Ansbach and Atlanta Speedfactories within six months (by April 2020 at the latest) and use Speedfactory technology at two Asian suppliers the next year. Global operations head Martin Shankland called the plants instrumental; Oechsler CEO Claudius Kozlik said the firm understood the decision. Adidas later wrote that both plants had opened with Oechsler in 2017 /TechCrunch Adidas backpedals on robotic shoe production with Speedfactory closures/ /adidas Global Operations - adidas Annual Report 2019/.
Nike launches 360-degree Flyknit uppers
Nike announced a Flyknit generation that knits a closed 360-degree anatomical upper and then thermoforms it. Flyknit debuted at the 2012 London Games on the Flyknit Racer as a digitally engineered knit; Nike says it produces 60 percent less waste than cut-and-sew /Nike Nike Launches Next Generation of Flyknit for Footwear/.
Adidas unveils Futurecraft 4D midsoles with Carbon DLS
Adidas announced Futurecraft 4D, a shoe whose midsole is made with Carbon Digital Light Synthesis (light projection, oxygen-permeable optics, and programmable liquid resins). About 300 pairs were slated for a friends-and-family drop that month, about 5,000 pairs by end-2017, and more than 100,000 pairs by end-2018. Adidas was working with Carbon to put DLS into Speedfactory /Retail Dive Adidas leaps beyond 3D printing, unveils Futurecraft 4D shoe/.
Adidas announces Atlanta Speedfactory
Adidas detailed a second Speedfactory in Atlanta, 74,000 square feet of robotic shoe-making with a 50,000-pair annual capacity and about 160 jobs, targeting full operations by the end of 2017. It would join the original German Speedfactory /TechCrunch Adidas will open a new robot-staffed shoe factory in Atlanta in 2017/.