We’re Getting Rid of All the Toothbrushes
The WSJ The Journal podcast episode, Made in America? Shoe companies already tried that, describes the complexities in trying to bring shoemaking back to North America. It tells the story of the failure of the heavily automated Nike plant in Guadalajara, Mexico. This was all pre-tariffs on Vietnam, Indonesia, and China.
It turns out making sneaker requires a lot more skilled manual labor, than one originally thinks. The materials are squishy and stretchy, and are highly susceptible to changes in temperature and humidity. Humans are great at adjusting to those changes. Machines are not.
When Nike wanted to bring shoemaking back to North America, one mantra was
We’re getting rid of all the toothbrushes
This referred to the toothbrushes required to apply various glues.
Automating the process wasn’t as easy.
We spent 8 months to add the Nike swoosh onto the shoe. And then the model changed.
When design is lead dog, it is a challenging environment for technology to keep up with.
Let’s traffic the heck out of them, so that manufacturing comes back the US. Let’s use robots. Err. Let’s train manual labor. Sure. And now let’s keep the price low. Err. You see the flaw in this logic?
The only option is to all wear Mao-style outfits and shoes. One model. One design. No swoosh.