Author: justinas301s12

Nike’s Holly Grail

Posted on by justinas301s12

As we have learned in class, there are many aspects that affect the making of a product. Companies are always working on improving their products, while at the same time trying to reduce their production costs. Nike is one out of many companies that is trying to achieve both with their newest invention, a shoe called the “Flyknit”.

For a long time now Nike has been working on achieving the request to “make shoes as comfortable as socks”. While they have been unsuccessful in the past, their new discovery is considered by Nike “the Holy Grail —a 5.6-ounce running shoe called the Flyknit, made from synthetic yarn ingeniously woven together by a knitting machine”.  While the new product could possible be their biggest seller, the executives of Nike are more exited about the manufacturing of the product.  The new computer controlled weaving technology “promises to cut labor costs and production time while also increasing profit margins and opportunities for personalization”.  The new process eliminates the part that is most labor intensive, and knits the upper part of the shoe in one piece. It also provides some customization options that can alter a shoe’s stability and aesthetics.  Due to the new and improved process, the “Flyknit” has fewer pieces to assemble and also fits in with Nike’s sustainability push, because it uses a lot less waste in comparison to the popular Air Pegasus+ 28.  It is so efficient that eventually these shoes could be made all around the world and maybe even bring back some of the work to US. At this point, 96 percent of Nike’s shoes are being made outside the US in countries that have lower labor costs. I think now, since Nike has figured out a new and more efficient way of making shoes, they should work on where to manufacture. While the company is saving money on the production by outsourcing, at the same time they are facing time issues of getting the product out in the market. If they would be able to reduce the amount of time that it takes for a product to get to the store, they would be more successful at filling their demand faster.

http://www.businessweek.com/articles/2012-03-15/is-nikes-flyknit-the-swoosh-of-the-future#p2

 

What do you think about Nike’s new and improved manufacturing process?

What are some other ways that the new technology could be beneficial?

Samsung Galaxy S III isn’t quite an iPhone Killer

Posted on by justinas301s12

Recently I have read a review article on the newest Samsung phone, the Galaxy S III which came out this month. The Galaxy S III is the latest and the most ambitious phone from Samsung, which is available in most of the US, carries such as AT&T, Sprint, T-Mobile and a few others for around 200$ with a 2-year contract. While Samsung was aiming high with their newest phone and introducing a lot of new features, trying to cater to the customer’s wants and needs, according to the review it felt short due to some of its features not working properly.(http://www.cnn.com/2012/06/20/tech/mobile/wired-review-samsung-galaxy/index.html)

This week we have learned a lot about the design of goods and services, from the product decision process, to the ethical considerations involved in it. There are many decisions that have to be made and many aspects that have to be taken into consideration when creating something new or even when trying to improve a product. Samsung newest innovation the Galaxy S III has definitely undergone many decisions involving the price, software, design, as well as the different apps that are designed to use on only for this phone. The price of the phone is pretty affordable, as long as the customer would be willing to sign up for a contract with their service provider. The other good thing about the phone is that it is sold across the five US carriers. The phone also offers fast processing, a new voice recognition feature called S Voice, a display that is sharp and bright and a very light body. While this newer version of the Samsung Galaxy has been a big improvement, it still is not quite enough to over shine some other phones such as iPhone or One X. Some negative things that were pointed about the phone were, that the new feature S Voice is not really working properly and is no match to Apple’s Siri, also the sharing features are not really thought through out and could be improved upon. As many other phones out in the market place, this phone is not perfect, all of the phones have some features that still might need to be improved on. Even with its few flaws, I believe that this phone is a great new product that caters to most of the customers needs with its low price, easy accessibility and newly innovated features.

 

What do you think about the Galaxy S III?  Is it a product worth buying?