On Running Bets on Robots and Nearshoring to Reshape Sneaker Manufacturing

Quick Facts

On’s second LightSpray factory near Busan, South Korea, adds 32 robots and increases global production capacity 30-fold in 2026.
The Busan facility produces roughly 1,000 pairs of shoes per day using a fully automated process that replaces 200 traditional manufacturing steps.
On plans to build LightSpray factories in North America and Europe, with infrastructure work potentially starting in 2027.

On Running is moving fast to industrialize robotic sneaker manufacturing. The Swiss brand opened its second LightSpray production facility near Busan, South Korea, in February 2026, adding 32 fully automated robots and scaling global output of its Cloudboom Strike LS racing shoe by 30 times compared to its original Zurich plant.

The Busan factory produces around 1,000 pairs per day. A robotic arm sprays 1.5 kilometers of specialized filament onto a mold, creating a one-piece upper in roughly three minutes. The process collapses what traditionally requires 200 steps across multiple factories into a single automated line. Quality control remains the one task done by human hands.

On built LightSpray entirely in-house. A team of roughly 20 engineers in Zurich spent four years developing the robots, spray paths, and software. The company debuted the technology at the 2024 Paris Olympics and opened its first production facility in Zurich in July 2025 with four robots.

Co-founder and Co-CEO David Allemann described the strategic upside plainly. “We can put robotic-arm factories into Switzerland. We can put it in Korea. You can put it in any other place really close to our consumers,” he said, adding that proximity would allow On to respond to demand “very fast and flexibly.”

Co-founder Caspar Coppetti made a direct claim about On’s position in the market. “We’re not the first brand to try automation of sneaker manufacturing, but we’re the first to succeed and do it at scale,” he said at the Busan facility. He added that the company can replicate the factory setup “anywhere in the world” within months.

The tariff environment is adding urgency to On’s expansion plans. The company currently sources 90% of its shoes from third-party manufacturers in Vietnam and 10% from Indonesia. Proposed U.S. tariffs on goods from those countries create direct cost pressure. On has said planned robot factories in the United States would help reduce tariff exposure.

Infrastructure work on European and U.S. facilities could begin as early as 2027, with production potentially coming online in 2028. Locations, operating models, and timelines have not been finalized. On is also exploring additional sites across Asia.

Chief Innovation Officer Scott Maguire said South Korea was a deliberate choice. “South Korea represents the perfect territory to learn and implement learnings for our global expansion,” he said, citing the country’s strength in robotics and automation.

The LightSpray upper weighs around 30 grams, compared to 70 to 90 grams for a conventional upper. On says the process generates minimal waste and fewer carbon emissions than its other racing shoes. Prototyping runs up to three times faster than traditional methods.

Co-founder Olivier Bernhard framed the shift in direct terms. “We are not just shoe designers now, we are robot designers,” he said.

For brands watching from the sidelines, the Busan factory is a proof of concept. On has demonstrated that fully automated, nearshore shoe manufacturing is operational at scale. The question now is how fast it can build out the network and whether the model holds as it moves into higher-volume, lower-price-point categories beyond elite racing.