Nike Value Chain
Companies often use the term “value chain” to refer to the actors and
stages needed to bring their product or service to market and ultimately
to its end of life. At Nike we use this term too, though we also find the
“chain” metaphor a bit linear and limiting for something that is actually
interconnected in multiple ways, like an ecosystem or a web.
The connections in this chain drive our decision making. For
example, the quality of our planning shapes the choices we make for
manufacturing. Efficient manufacturers create little to no scrap and
turn what remains back into material inputs for new products. Nearly
85 percent of our footwear manufacturing waste is now diverted from
landfill or incineration through recycling and other efforts. Also,
insights we gain in the use phase impact how we design our products.
Our design decisions, in turn, determine whether a product can be
recycled at the end of its life. Design choices can also eliminate the
need for toxics in the manufacturing process, and our ability to get
toxics out of products determines whether materials can be recycled in a
closed loop. Working with the right manufacturers means better insight
and control of quality and in performance for the environment and
their workers. Choosing the right partners for moving our products
around improves our ability to gather and track data on transportation
emissions and to get products where they need to be at the right time.
Each choice has financial, environmental and social impacts that are
intertwined and mutually dependent.
These are just a few examples of the interconnections. We invite you to
explore Nike’s value chain through the graphic below and online where
you will find additional detail about impacts and relevant stories. This
value chain outlines each phase, where the greatest impacts occur, and
some of the key tools we are using to increase efficiencies, reduce
impacts and improve working conditions throughout the system.