Running brand On made its latest move in the supershoe race on the eve of the Paris Olympics on July 25, 2024, unveiling a marathon shoe produced by a robotic arm spraying material onto a mold to create a sock-like upper, with no laces, in three minutes. On, a Swiss brand founded in 2010 and listed in New York in 2021, has been trying to muscle its way into the high-tech running shoe contest traditionally fought by market leaders Nike and Adidas. The "LightSpray" production method used in Zurich, with fewer parts required per pair, challenges the usual footwear manufacturing model which relies on shipping finished shoes from factories in Southeast Asia to shoppers in the US and Europe.
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