Nike approves Genon AI system to automate outsole defect checks, rollout planned for 2027

Nike has approved the use of an artificial intelligence inspection system from South Korea-based Genon to automatically detect defective outsoles during footwear production, according to a report published by Yahoo Finance.

The approach is designed to use computer vision to flag problems on the shoe’s outsole, the rubber or similar bottom component that makes contact with the ground. In Nike’s description of the plan, the goal is to reduce reliance on manual checks by catching defects earlier in the manufacturing workflow.

Nike’s implementation is expected to start with factories in Indonesia. The report says the first rollout is planned for 2027, marking Nike’s earliest stated deployment date for this specific AI-based inspection use case.

The announcement also suggests Nike intends to expand AI inspection beyond traditional quality-control processes, moving toward more automated, repeatable checks at scale. For a retailer and brand with high-volume, globally distributed manufacturing, inspection accuracy and speed can affect both quality outcomes and how quickly issues are contained before products move to packaging and distribution.

While the report identifies Genon as the technology supplier and Indonesia as the initial launch location, it does not provide further disclosure on performance results, such as the detection rate, false-positive rate, or measurable impact on scrap, rework, or customer returns.

It also does not detail whether the system will replace human inspectors entirely or operate in parallel, nor does it specify the exact production lines or shoe categories targeted first within the Indonesian factories. Those choices typically influence training requirements, integration costs, and how defects are handled downstream, but they were not described in the Yahoo Finance article.

For Nike, automation and data-driven quality control align with broader industry efforts to improve manufacturing consistency, especially as supply chains remain complex and product lines change frequently. AI inspection is often positioned as a way to make quality control more uniform across factories and shift more decisions to near-real-time screening.

The company did not disclose, in the report, any timeline milestones between the 2027 Indonesian start date and later expansions, nor did it provide commercial terms with Genon or whether similar systems are already under consideration elsewhere in its manufacturing network. Those gaps leave unanswered how quickly Nike expects to scale the technology and how it will validate results before broader adoption.