EP 32 - New Balance's Duncan Scott on How Marketing Decisions Reshape Supply Chains

Duncan Scott, Sr VP of Strategic Sourcing & Quality at New Balance, manages sourcing and quality for a company that introduces thousands of new footwear and apparel products annually, each requiring specialized manufacturing capabilities that generic suppliers cannot provide. His approach rejects commoditization in favor of deep category expertise and multi-decade supplier partnerships.

The athletic footwear industry operates at a complexity level that surprises outsiders. While automotive manufacturers might produce one mold per model, New Balance requires 39 different molds for a single shoe design to accommodate size and width variations. This specialization demands supplier relationships built on technical expertise rather than cost alone.

Topics discussed:

• How athletic footwear manufacturing requires dozens of molds per product, creating unique infrastructure and sourcing challenges.
• How 40-year supplier relationships with specialized factories deliver competitive advantage over generic sourcing tools flooding the market.
• The cultural differences between Korean vertical integration and Taiwanese interdependent manufacturing models.
• Why New Balance operates US manufacturing facilities despite higher costs, focusing on efficiency improvements, not pure labor arbitrage.
• How 3D printed molds enable faster production and complex undercut designs but create new technical challenges.
• The infrastructure limitations preventing scaled US footwear manufacturing.
• Why continuous lean efficiency improvements offset inevitable labor rate increases better than chasing the lowest-cost locations.
• Staying ahead of material science trends by monitoring other industries 3 to 5 years before technologies become cost-effective.
• The importance of collaborative price point negotiations with suppliers, recognizing that consumer acceptance determines whether cutting-edge features achieve volume scale.
• Why maintaining objectivity and ethical supplier relationships produces superior problem-solving outcomes.
• How Asia's emergence as a major consumer market is shifting traditional export-focused manufacturing toward regional onshoring and nearshoring strategies.