John Emont

Producing a shoe is actually a lot more difficult than you might imagine.

Producing a shoe is actually a lot more difficult than you might imagine.

So there's a reason why it's always done in a very labor-intensive way. And that's because the fabrics that make up a shoe, their dimensions change based on the temperature, based on the humidity. And so if you're, say, the person who's in charge of gluing the sole of the shoe onto the upper part of the shoe...

So there's a reason why it's always done in a very labor-intensive way. And that's because the fabrics that make up a shoe, their dimensions change based on the temperature, based on the humidity. And so if you're, say, the person who's in charge of gluing the sole of the shoe onto the upper part of the shoe...

You can easily adjust if, say, you realize that this sole is a little smaller than the last sole. You'll still know where to put the glue. But a machine is going to really struggle if the dimensions of the shoe are a little different.

You can easily adjust if, say, you realize that this sole is a little smaller than the last sole. You'll still know where to put the glue. But a machine is going to really struggle if the dimensions of the shoe are a little different.

And then by the time they got it and they were feeling, I think, you know, rather proud of this fact, Nike had already moved on to a new shoe where that method no longer worked.

And then by the time they got it and they were feeling, I think, you know, rather proud of this fact, Nike had already moved on to a new shoe where that method no longer worked.

Producing a shoe is actually a lot more difficult than you might imagine.

So there's a reason why it's always done in a very labor-intensive way. And that's because the fabrics that make up a shoe, their dimensions change based on the temperature, based on the humidity. And so if you're, say, the person who's in charge of gluing the sole of the shoe onto the upper part of the shoe...

You can easily adjust if, say, you realize that this sole is a little smaller than the last sole. You'll still know where to put the glue. But a machine is going to really struggle if the dimensions of the shoe are a little different.

And then by the time they got it and they were feeling, I think, you know, rather proud of this fact, Nike had already moved on to a new shoe where that method no longer worked.