Sportswear brand On Running has unveiled a new robot-powered factory in Busan, South Korea, marking a significant shift in its manufacturing strategy.
The move, which includes plans for further automated facilities in the United States and Europe, aims to drastically accelerate production and delivery times, responding to growing pressures on global supply chains.
This strategic pivot towards “nearshoring” – bringing manufacturing closer to the end consumer – is driven by a confluence of factors, including recent tariff hikes imposed by the United States, persistent supply chain disruptions, and escalating geopolitical risks.
Caspar Coppetti, co-founder of On, highlighted the advantages of automation, stating it allows the brand to produce shoes more rapidly, with a reduced environmental footprint, and in closer proximity to its primary markets.
This contrasts sharply with the conventional footwear manufacturing model, which typically involves shipping finished products from factories across South-East Asia and China to consumers in the US and Europe.
“The speed to market and the sustainability of it and also the fact that basically we’re running out of places with cheap labour are all speaking for automation and going closer to where consumers are,” Coppetti explained.
Currently, On sources 90 per cent of its footwear from third-party manufacturers in Vietnam and the remaining 10 per cent from Indonesia, according to its latest annual report.
The company first showcased its innovative “LightSpray” marathon running shoe during the Paris Olympics in 2024.
This groundbreaking design features a robot arm that sprays material onto a mould to create a seamless, sock-like upper.
The Busan facility, equipped with 32 robots, represents a substantial expansion from On’s initial automated factory in Zurich, which began production in July last year with just four robots.
The South Korean plant boasts a daily output of approximately 1,000 pairs of shoes, with the spray-on method condensing what was traditionally a 200-step upper manufacturing process, spread across multiple factories, into a single, highly efficient automated operation.
The Swiss-founded company, established in 2010, indicated that planned robot factories in the US would also help mitigate its tariff costs.
Steep tariffs levied by the US on sportswear manufacturing hubs such as Vietnam and China have significantly impacted the industry over the past year, driving up operational expenses.
A recent Supreme Court ruling against tariffs has further complicated matters for retailers and importers, prompting Mr Coppetti to call for greater clarity and a push for free trade.
In a fiercely competitive market, where brands like Nike and Adidas vie to produce the fastest marathon shoes for both elite athletes and amateur runners, On has positioned its LightSpray as a revolutionary product due to its exceptional lightness.
On-sponsored athlete Hellen Obiri notably wore the shoes when she triumphed at the New York Marathon in November.
