Cassandra Michel: Nike Vapor Max Air Backpack Life Cycle Analysis

NIKE VAPOR MAX AIR BACKPACK
LIFE CYCLE ANALYSIS
Midterm Presentation | Lifecycles & Flows
Cassy Michel
October 23, 2013
Products of Design

LIFECYCLE ANALYSIS | CASSY MICHEL | 10.23.13

OVERVIEW


THE BASICS
Brand + Product: Nike Vapor Max Air Backpack
Retail Price: $65
Target Audience: athletes, teens, students
Cost: $13.76
Functional Unit: 25lbs x 1 year


BILL OF MATERIALS
EXTERIOR
LINING

polyester
3.2 oz

AIR BAG

polyester
5.6 oz

polypropylene
.55 oz

ZIPPERS

BUCKLES

zinc
1 oz

polyurethane
.4 oz

PANEL +
STRAPS

polyethylene
5.6 oz

POCKETS

polyester .44oz
latex .36 oz

PROCESS FLOW
SMOG, FOSSIL FUEL DEPLETION, GLOBAL WARMING

Taiwan
to Guangzhou/
Shanghai
400-1k miles

Shanghai to
Guangzhou
919 miles

Guangzhou to
Los Angeles
7, 323 miles

From store
to home
1-50
miles approx.

From home
to facility
1-50
miles approx.

TRANSPORT

TRANSPORT

TRANSPORT

TRANSPORT

TRANSPORT

RAW MATERIAL
EXTRACTION

MANUFACTURE
COMPONENTS

Resource
depletion via
metallurgy &
polymerizing

Solid waste
off cuts via
cut & sew

ASSEMBLE
FINAL PRODUCT

Solid waste
off cuts via
cut & sew

CARCINOGENS, NON CARCINOGENS, ECOTOXICITY,
FOSSIL FUEL DEPLETION

DISTRIBUTE
TO RETAIL

USE

Energy use
at retail store

Washing +
Hoarding

FOSSIL FUEL
DEPLETION

END OF
LIFE

Mostly reuse/
little recycling

FOSSIL FUEL
DEPLETION, ECOTOXICITY


STAKE HOLDERS

Taiwan
to Guangzhou/
Shanghai
400-1k miles

Suppliers
Manufacturers
Workers TRANSPORT Employees
Local Citizens
Local Citizens
Nike

Distributors
Manufacturers
TRANSPORT Employees
TRANSPORT Employees
Users
Local Citizens
Nike
Nike

RAW MATERIAL
EXTRACTION

MANUFACTURE
COMPONENTS

Resource
depletion via
metallurgy &
polymerizing

Solid waste
off cuts via
cut & sew

ASSEMBLE
FINAL PRODUCT

Solid waste
off cuts via
cut & sew


From home
to facility
1-50
miles approx.

From store
to home
1-50
miles approx.

Guangzhou to
Los Angeles
7, 323 miles

Shanghai to
Guangzhou
919 miles

Donation
Users
facilities
TRANSPORT
TRANSPORT
Local Citizens
Secondary users
Local Citizens

DISTRIBUTE
TO RETAIL

USE

Energy use
at retail store

Washing +
Hoarding

FOSSIL FUEL
DEPLETION

END OF
LIFE

Mostly reuse/
little recycling

FOSSIL FUEL


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


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 company
Strategy: Identify alternative materials; preferably plastic for easy recycling

BRAND, PRODUCT, EXPERIENCE | MANSI & CASSY

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 recycling
Strategy: 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 collections
Strategy: 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 brand
Recommendation: Make Vapor Max Air awesome by making it more efficient
Strategy: 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/Zipper
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/YKK_Group
http://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.com
https://www.surveymonkey.com/analyze/?survey_id=45205158&OPT=NEW


APPENDIX: PROCESS PHOTO



Taiwan
to Guangzhou/
Shanghai
400-1k miles

Taiwan
to Guangzhou/
Shanghai
400-1k miles

Guangzhou to
Los Angeles
7, 323 miles

From store
to home
1-50
miles approx

From home
to facility
1-50
miles approx

TRANSPORT

TRANSPORT

TRANSPORT

TRANSPORT

TRANSPORT

RAW MATERIAL
EXTRACTION

MANUFACTURE
COMPONENTS

ASSEMBLE
FINAL PRODUCT

DISTRIBUTE
TO RETAIL

USE

Resource
depletion via
metallurgy &
polymerizing

Solid waste
off cuts via
cut & sew

Solid waste
via cut & sew

Energy use
at retail store

Washing +
Hoarding


FOSSIL FUEL
DEPLETION

END OF
LIFE

Mostly reuse/
little recycling

FOSSIL FUEL



Taiwan
to Guangzhou/
Shanghai
400-1k miles

Taiwan
to Guangzhou/
Shanghai
400-1k miles

Suppliers
Manufacturers
Workers TRANSPORT Workers
Local Citizens
Local Citizens
Nike

Guangzhou to
Los Angeles
7, 323 miles

Manufacturers
TRANSPORT Distributors
TRANSPORT Workers
Users
Local Citizens
Nike
Nike

RAW MATERIAL
EXTRACTION

MANUFACTURE
COMPONENTS

ASSEMBLE
FINAL PRODUCT

Resource
depletion via
metallurgy &
polymerizing

Solid waste
off cuts via
cut & sew

Solid waste
via cut & sew


From store
to home 1-50
miles approx

From store
to home 1-50
miles approx

TRANSPORT

DISTRIBUTE
TO RETAIL

Energy use
at retail store

FOSSIL FUEL
DEPLETION

Users

USE

Washing +
Hoarding

Donation
facilities
TRANSPORT
Secondary users
Local Citizens

END OF
LIFE

Mostly reuse/
little recycling

FOSSIL FUEL


Cassandra Michel: Nike Vapor Max Air Backpack Life Cycle Analysis

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