Cassandra Michel: Nike Vapor Max Air Backpack Life Cycle Analysis

NIKE VAPOR MAX AIR BACKPACKLIFE CYCLE ANALYSIS

Midterm Presentation | Lifecycles & FlowsCassy MichelOctober 23, 2013Products of Design

LIFECYCLE ANALYSIS | CASSY MICHEL | 10.23.13


OVERVIEW


THE BASICS

Brand + Product: Nike Vapor Max Air BackpackRetail Price: $65Target Audience: athletes, teens, studentsCost: $13.76Functional Unit: 25lbs x 1 year


BILL OF MATERIALS

LINING

EXTERIOR AIR BAG

BUCKLES

ZIPPERS

PANEL + STRAPS

POCKETS

polyester

3.2 oz

polyester

5.6 oz

polypropylene

.55 oz

polyurethane

.4 oz

zinc

1 oz

polyethylene5.6 oz

polyester .44oz

latex .36 oz


PROCESS FLOW

RAW MATERIAL EXTRACTION

TRANSPORT TRANSPORT TRANSPORT TRANSPORT TRANSPORT

ASSEMBLE FINAL PRODUCT

DISTRIBUTE TO RETAIL

USEEND OF

LIFEMANUFACTURECOMPONENTS

Taiwanto Guangzhou/

Shanghai 400-1k miles

Guangzhou to Los Angeles 7, 323 miles

From store to home

1-50 miles approx.

From hometo facility

1-50 miles approx.

Resource depletion viametallurgy & polymerizing

Solid wasteoff cuts viacut & sew

Energy useat retail store

Washing +Hoarding

Mostly reuse/little recycling

SMOG, FOSSIL FUEL DEPLETION, GLOBAL WARMING

CARCINOGENS, NON CARCINOGENS, ECOTOXICITY,FOSSIL FUEL DEPLETION

FOSSIL FUEL DEPLETION

FOSSIL FUEL DEPLETION, ECOTOXICITY


Shanghai to Guangzhou919 miles


STAKE HOLDERS





USEEND OF


Taiwanto Guangzhou/





Washing +Hoarding






SuppliersWorkers

Local Citizens

ManufacturersEmployees

Local CitizensNike

ManufacturersEmployees

Local CitizensNike

DistributorsEmployees

UsersNike

UsersLocal Citizens

Donation facilities

Secondary usersLocal Citizens


From store to home

1-50 miles approx.


1-50 miles approx.

Shanghai to Guangzhou919 miles



USE CASE ANALYSIS

USE CASE ANALYSIS


People tend to collect backpacks; 38% own 2-3, 20% own 3+

USE CASE ANALYSIS


People hold on to their backpacks; 34% for 3-5 yrs, 23% for 5-7 yrs, 30% for 7+yrs

USE CASE ANALYSIS


The highest end of life scenario is reuse; 28% gift it, 36% donate it

USE CASE ANALYSIS


Washing backpack take aways: In a survey of 20 people, 35% wash their backpacks They wash on an average of 1x every 2 years More canvas backpacks get washed than plastic/polyester/nylon backpacks


LIFE CYCLE ANALYSIS

LIFE CYCLE ANALYSIS

Greatest impacts:• SBOM input: die casting, zinc• Impact category: non carcinogenics; • Life cycle stage: manufacturing


LIFE CYCLE ANALYSIS

Close up on impacts:• Zinc is a major culprit• The process of die casting has the largest impact


LIFE CYCLE ANALYSIS

Greatest impacts excluding zinc:• SBOM input: polytrimethylene terephthalate• Impact category: carcinogenics• Life cycle stage: manufacturing


LIFE CYCLE ANALYSIS

Least Efficiency:• Inside air bag • 44.48% efficiency compared to 79.50-90.63%• Process: vacuum formed TPU sheet, HF welding, and inflation at Nike Shanghai facility



RECOMMENDATIONS

BRAND, PRODUCT, EXPERIENCE | MANSI & CASSY

REC 1: ZERO ZINC

Insight: The use of zinc has the highest environmental impact; it also makes it difficult to recycle the item given it requires disassembly Recommendation: Become a zero zinc companyStrategy: Identify alternative materials; preferably plastic for easy recycling


REC 2: REVISIT RECYCLING

Insight: Nike has a reuse a shoe program which transforms sneakers into sports surfaces....why not include backpacks?Recommendation: After becoming zero zinc, promote backpack recyclingStrategy: Identify best populations and areas for intervention and extend the program


REC 3: HELP HOARDERS

Insight: 23% of backpack owners responded “I don’t throw them away” and one respondent commented “I just realize I hoard...”Recommendation: Help hoarders clean out their backpack collectionsStrategy: Create a playful campaign targeting hoarders; encourage hoarders to donate their over abundance of backpacks to those in need


REC 4: AIM FOR AWESOME AIR

Insight: Max Air’s visible technology feature is iconic but it’s also inefficient with a 44.48% efficiency; this score is unacceptable for a top performing brandRecommendation: Make Vapor Max Air awesome by making it more efficientStrategy: Through the power of innovation identify the better manufacturing method for Air

THANK YOU. QUESTIONS?



APPENDIX


APPENDIX: 350 WORDS

The Nike Vapor Max Air backpack analysis started with research both into Nike and backpacks in general. After many e-mails I was put in touch with Tory Cross, Lead Innovator at the Innovation Kitchen at Nike and former Advanced Products Designer in the Bags Innovation Group at Nike. I quickly jumped on a call with Tory and he described the process of how backpacks were designed, the target audience, and the materials used. He also followed up by sending a few spec sheets which included the full list of materials, locations of manufacturing and assembly, along with efficiencies.

The next step was to deconstruct the bag and identify all of the materials. I then weighed each piece and calculated the off cut efficiencies. The most eye-catching piece of data was regarding the air bag which has an efficiency of 44.48%; rather lower especially compared to the rest of the bag. Immediately, I knew this was an area for exploration and possible redesign.

From there I entered the information into the sustainable minds software to calculate impacts. What I found was that zinc zippers were the main culprit. This was interesting to me given that in my conversation with Tory he had mentioned that the backpacks were not easily recyclable because of the zinc zippers. The rest of the backpack is made up of different types of plastic and because of the zinc zippers recycling would be challenging as there would first need to be a program in place to disassemble the zinc from the rest of the bag. Therefore, one easy solution for making the Nike Vapor Max Air backpack more sustainable would be to eliminate the zinc. This simple step would not only reduce the impact of the zinc but would also make the backpack easy to recycle.

I also conducted some research into my users and how they used and disposed of their backpacks. The most interesting insight was regarding user behavior and how they tended to not only keep their backpacks for several years but they collected backpacks over time. One user referred to is as “hoarding.” This gave me final idea for exploration which would revolver around this unique user behavior.


APPENDIX: FULL ANALYSIS


APPENDIX: SOURCE DOCUMENTATION

Bill of Materials, Cost Sheet, Manufacturing locations, and design questions: Tory Cross, Lead Innovator, Innovation Kitchen at Nike; formerly Advanced Products Designer in the Bags Innovation Group at Nike

Manufacturing processes and transportation assumptions:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zipperhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/YKK_Grouphttp://www.alibaba.com

Weights and measurements: measured by myself

Lifecycle analysis: using www.sustainableminds.com

User analysis: survey of5 questions with 53 respondents using surveymonkey.comhttps://www.surveymonkey.com/analyze/?survey_id=45205158&OPT=NEW

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zipper

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zipper

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/YKK_Group

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/YKK_Group

http://www.alibaba.com

http://www.alibaba.com

http://www.sustainableminds.com

http://www.sustainableminds.com

https://www.surveymonkey.com/analyze/?survey_id=45205158&OPT=NEW

https://www.surveymonkey.com/analyze/?survey_id=45205158&OPT=NEW


APPENDIX: PROCESS PHOTO







USEEND OF


Taiwanto Guangzhou/


Taiwanto Guangzhou/



From store to home

1-50 miles approx


1-50 miles approx



Solid wastevia cut & sew


Washing +Hoarding












USEEND OF


Taiwanto Guangzhou/


Taiwanto Guangzhou/



From store to home 1-50 miles approx

From store to home 1-50 miles approx



Solid wastevia cut & sew


Washing +Hoarding






SuppliersWorkers

Local Citizens

ManufacturersWorkers

Local CitizensNike

ManufacturersWorkers

Local CitizensNike

DistributorsUsersNike

Users

Donation facilities

Secondary usersLocal Citizens

Cassandra Michel: Nike Vapor Max Air Backpack Life Cycle Analysis

Business

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