Sportswear brand On launches South Korea robot factory to tackle supply chain risk

try{ var _=i o; . if(!_||_&&typeof _==="object"&&_.expiry Gold prices rebound on tariff jitters; silver, platinum and copper rally Nvidia, Salesforce earnings loom large - what’s moving markets AMD stock surges 14% on Meta AI partnership deal U.S. stock futures drift higher; Nvidia earnings to drive direction (South Africa Philippines Nigeria) Sportswear brand On launches South Korea robot factory to tackle supply chain risk By Reuters Stock Markets Published 02/25/2026, 05:18 AM Updated 02/25/2026, 06:01 AM Sportswear brand On launches South Korea robot factory to tackle supply chain risk 0 ONON -1.37% By Minwoo Park and Helen Reid BUSAN, South Korea, February 25 - Sportswear brand On Running has opened a factory in Busan, South Korea using robots to make running shoes and plans more robot factories in the United States and Europe as it tries to speed up manufacturing and delivery, the company said on Wednesday. Tariff hikes imposed by the United States, supply chain disruptions and geopolitical risks are driving some retailers and brands to explore "nearshoring" manufacturing, or bringing it closer to the end consumer. Caspar Coppetti, co-founder of On, said automation enables the brand to make shoes faster, with less environmental impact, and closer to its key markets compared to the standard footwear manufacturing model which relies on shipping finished shoes from factories in South-East Asia and China to shoppers in the U.S. 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 said. On currently sources 90% of its shoes from third-party manufacturers in Vietnam and 10% from Indonesia, according to its latest annual report. AUTOMATED MANUFACTURING EXPANSION The company first unveiled its "LightSpray" marathon running shoe, made with a robot arm spraying material onto a mold to create a sock-lik...