http://www.businessweek.com/articles/2012-03-15/is-nikes-flyknit-the-swoosh-of-the-future
- …a 5.6-ounce running shoe called the Flyknit, made from synthetic yarn ingeniously woven together by a knitting machine.
- The computer-controlled weaving technology, which knits the entire upper part of the shoe in a single piece thats then attached to the sole, promises to cut labor costs and production time while also increasing profit margins and opportunities for personalization.
- Flyknit, which will cost $150 and hits U.S. stores in July…
- In a process Nike calls micro-level precision engineering, proprietary software instructs the machine to minutely alter a shoes stability and aesthetics.
- …the software uses multiple layers of yarn of varying thickness. Nike plans to patent the process.
- …the amount of material wasted manufacturing each pair weighs only as much as a sheet of paper, or about one-100th of a pound. Nike says the Flyknit produces 66 percent less waste than the Air Pegasus+ 28.
- Nike makes 96 percent of its shoes in Vietnam, China, and Indonesia, where labor costs are low.