A look at another industry: Drones in Ukraine

Forgive my tangent for a second – it will be worth it, I promise.

The only place I can see ManufacturingAI in the real world today, albeit in its infancy, is in Ukraine. Similar to what we saw in the US during the start of COVID when everyone began open sourcing mask patterns and print files for PPE, Ukraine has needed to accelerate domestic drone production, lower costs, and increase the learning and improvement rate of new hardware and software capabilities at a rapid rate to stay ahead of the Russians.

To do this Ukraine modularized drone production and open sourced whatever it could, allowing for companies, teams, and individuals to build specific hardware improvements or software fixes for immediate deployment across a range of products. This networked, modular approach has led to new product generations launching every three weeks and the rapid acceleration of product evolution.

How might that look with footwear?

1. Design will surpass what can be created by two hands, while the cadence of performance milestones will rapidly accelerate
   From designs that are impossible to achieve through traditional molds and tooling to design details that are digitally carved and etched at a resolution that would be prohibitive when done manually, there is no question that design is surpassing what can be created by two hands with this approach.Beyond another level of design precision and flexibility, the integration of real time testing and performance data delivers a rapid evolution of product engineering to achieve new levels of fit, comfort, and performance at a speed unchained from compounding or molding.
2. Product personalization will enter a new era, allowing for unique SKUs for smaller and smaller customer communitiesThe ability to quickly launch new designs into market and the lower costs of developing new SKUs and design iterations means the long tail will only get longer. We’re used to thinking about customers by geography, size, or profession – what about city or neighborhood, team position or style of play, weddings or concerts?
3. Seasonal calendars and a top-down approach will give way to a more bottom-up, decentralized, and iterative retail exchangeA faster and more personalized world for product not only empowers but embraces individual stores and merchants’ proximity to your customer. They’re on the front line hearing what customers love and curating for them – now they can co-create with them.
4. Faster development and manufacturing cycles mean higher efficiency and less waste
   We make 24 billion shoes every year; 1 out of 5 go straight to landfill. Long lead times, high MOQs, and the necessity of long-tail SKUs to accommodate all the sizes and colorways in this market translate to a huge amount of overproduction and waste. At any given time there are more shoes in transit or inventory than there are on shelves. A massive reduction in this waste will translate to lower costs for brands and customers, especially given the environmental regulation passed in the EU.

We live in a world that is the product of nonlinear acceleration in software capabilities. Stepping into a world where physical products evolve at that same nonlinear pace will deliver vastly better, more efficient, and less wasteful product. It’s an exciting future, and it’s upon us.