How does Under Armour’s innovative technology enhance athletic performance. What are the key features of HeatGear, ColdGear, and HOVR technology. How do Under Armour’s fabrics keep athletes cool, dry, and comfortable during intense workouts.
HeatGear: The Foundation of Under Armour’s Cooling Technology
Under Armour’s HeatGear technology is the cornerstone of their cooling fabrics, designed to keep athletes comfortable and performing at their best in hot conditions. This innovative material was the brainchild of Under Armour’s founder, who sought to create a solution for athletes struggling with sweat-soaked clothing during intense workouts.
Key Features of HeatGear Technology:
- Moisture-wicking fabric that draws sweat away from the skin
- Lightweight and breathable construction
- Temperature regulation to prevent overheating
- Soft, comfortable feel against the skin
HeatGear Armour, a variation of this technology, serves as a “second skin” for athletes, providing support without compromising on comfort. The lightweight construction of HeatGear Armour ensures that athletes can move freely while benefiting from its cooling properties.
The Science Behind HeatGear’s Cooling Effect
HeatGear’s effectiveness lies in its unique fabric structure. The material is engineered with special fibers that create micro-channels, allowing air to circulate and heat to escape. This design helps maintain a comfortable body temperature even during high-intensity activities.
Iso-Chill: Advanced Cooling for Extended Performance
Under Armour’s Iso-Chill technology represents the next evolution in cooling fabrics. This innovative material is specifically designed to help athletes maintain lower body temperatures, enabling them to perform at their peak for longer periods.
How Does Iso-Chill Work?
Iso-Chill utilizes ribbon-shaped nylon fibers that lie flat against the skin. This unique structure allows the fabric to disperse heat more effectively than traditional materials. The result is a cooling sensation that can be felt immediately upon contact with the skin.
Does Iso-Chill really make a difference in athletic performance? Studies have shown that athletes wearing Iso-Chill apparel can maintain lower body temperatures during intense workouts, potentially leading to improved endurance and delayed onset of fatigue.
ColdGear: Warmth Without Bulk for Cold Weather Training
While Under Armour is renowned for its cooling technologies, the brand also offers innovative solutions for cold weather training. ColdGear is designed to keep athletes warm and dry without the need for heavy, restrictive layers.
Key Features of ColdGear Technology:
- Dual-layer fabric construction
- Moisture-wicking interior to keep skin dry
- Soft, brushed interior for warmth and comfort
- Lightweight and flexible for unrestricted movement
ColdGear Infrared takes this technology a step further by incorporating a thermo-conductive coating on the interior of the fabric. This coating absorbs and retains body heat, providing long-lasting warmth without added bulk.
HOVR: Revolutionary Cushioning for Enhanced Performance
Under Armour’s HOVR technology represents a significant advancement in athletic footwear. This innovative cushioning system is designed to provide a unique combination of energy return and impact reduction, potentially improving athletic performance across various activities.
The Science Behind HOVR Technology
HOVR technology utilizes a proprietary foam compound that offers both softness and responsiveness. This foam is encased in a mesh Energy Web, which helps maintain the foam’s shape and enhance its energy return properties.
How does HOVR technology benefit athletes? The “zero gravity feel” provided by HOVR cushioning helps reduce the impact of each foot strike while simultaneously returning energy to the athlete. This combination can lead to reduced fatigue and improved performance, particularly in activities like running and jumping.
Storm and Gore-Tex: Keeping Athletes Dry in Any Weather
Under Armour’s commitment to all-weather performance is evident in their Storm and Gore-Tex technologies. These water-resistant and waterproof solutions ensure that athletes can train and compete regardless of the conditions.
Storm Technology: Water-Resistant Performance
Under Armour’s Storm technology provides a water-resistant finish to fabrics without compromising breathability. This treatment causes water to bead up and roll off the surface of the garment, keeping the wearer dry in light rain or snow.
Gore-Tex: Ultimate Waterproof Protection
For more extreme weather conditions, Under Armour partners with Gore-Tex to offer fully waterproof gear. Gore-Tex fabrics feature a microporous structure that blocks water droplets while allowing water vapor to escape, ensuring the wearer stays dry from both external moisture and sweat.
RUSH and Recover: Innovative Fabrics for Performance and Recovery
Under Armour’s commitment to athletic performance extends beyond the workout itself with their RUSH and Recover lines. These innovative fabrics are designed to enhance performance during exercise and speed up recovery afterward.
RUSH: Mineral-Infused Fabric for Enhanced Performance
RUSH technology incorporates minerals into the fabric that are claimed to reflect the body’s energy back to the muscles. This reflected energy may help improve endurance and strength during workouts.
Are the benefits of RUSH technology scientifically proven? While Under Armour states that RUSH has been “scientifically tested and athlete proven,” it’s important to note that independent studies on the effectiveness of mineral-infused fabrics are limited. Athletes should consider their personal experience when evaluating the benefits of RUSH technology.
Recover: Accelerating Post-Workout Recovery
The Recover line uses similar mineral-infused fabrics as RUSH, but is designed for post-workout wear. The goal of Recover apparel is to promote faster muscle recovery and reduce soreness after intense exercise.
Charged Cushioning and Micro G: Innovative Footwear Technologies
Under Armour’s commitment to innovation extends to their footwear line, with technologies like Charged Cushioning and Micro G designed to enhance comfort and performance.
Charged Cushioning: Energy Return for Explosive Performance
Charged Cushioning is a responsive foam that compresses under impact and then quickly returns to its original shape. This energy return can help propel the athlete forward, potentially improving speed and reducing fatigue.
Micro G: Low-Profile Cushioning for Natural Movement
Micro G technology provides a low-to-the-ground cushioning solution that offers both comfort and stability. The lightweight foam is designed to turn cushioned landings into explosive takeoffs, making it particularly beneficial for sports that require quick directional changes.
How does Micro G compare to other cushioning technologies? Micro G’s low profile design allows for greater ground feel and natural foot movement compared to thicker cushioning systems. This can be advantageous in sports that require agility and precise foot placement.
Armour Fleece: Lightweight Warmth for Cold Weather Training
Armour Fleece represents Under Armour’s approach to cold weather gear that doesn’t sacrifice mobility for warmth. This technology provides insulation without the bulk often associated with traditional cold weather apparel.
Key Features of Armour Fleece:
- Brushed interior traps heat for warmth
- Smooth exterior helps repel wind and light precipitation
- Lightweight construction for unrestricted movement
- Moisture-wicking properties to keep the wearer dry
How does Armour Fleece compare to traditional fleece materials? Armour Fleece is engineered to provide warmth with less weight and bulk than conventional fleece. This allows for greater range of motion and layering options, making it ideal for athletes who need to stay warm without sacrificing performance.
Charged Cotton: Performance Enhanced Natural Fibers
Under Armour’s Charged Cotton technology represents an innovative approach to performance apparel that maintains the comfort and feel of natural cotton while incorporating the moisture-wicking properties typically associated with synthetic fabrics.
The Science Behind Charged Cotton
Charged Cotton is a unique blend of cotton and synthetic fibers that combines the best properties of both materials. The natural cotton provides the soft, comfortable feel that many athletes prefer, while the synthetic fibers enhance moisture management and quick-drying capabilities.
How does Charged Cotton perform compared to traditional cotton? Under Armour claims that Charged Cotton dries significantly faster than ordinary cotton, helping to keep athletes cool and comfortable during intense workouts. The addition of synthetic fibers also helps the fabric maintain its shape and resist stretching or sagging over time.
Benefits of Charged Cotton for Athletes
- Soft, natural feel against the skin
- Enhanced moisture-wicking properties
- Quicker drying time compared to traditional cotton
- Improved durability and shape retention
- Versatile for both athletic and casual wear
Is Charged Cotton suitable for all types of athletic activities? While Charged Cotton offers improved performance over traditional cotton, it may not be the optimal choice for high-intensity or extremely sweaty workouts where synthetic fabrics like HeatGear might be more effective. However, for moderate activities or for athletes who prefer the feel of cotton, Charged Cotton provides an excellent balance of comfort and performance.
The Future of Under Armour’s Performance Technology
As Under Armour continues to innovate in the field of performance apparel and footwear, we can expect to see further advancements in their existing technologies as well as entirely new solutions for athletic challenges.
Potential Areas for Future Innovation
- Smart fabrics that adapt to changing body temperatures and activity levels
- Integration of wearable technology for real-time performance tracking
- Sustainable materials that maintain high performance standards
- Customizable gear that can be tailored to individual athlete needs
- Advanced recovery technologies that further speed up post-workout muscle repair
What role will artificial intelligence play in the development of future Under Armour products? As AI continues to advance, we may see it used in the design process to create more effective fabric structures or to analyze athlete data for personalized performance solutions.
Under Armour’s commitment to innovation and performance has established them as a leader in the athletic apparel and footwear industry. Their diverse range of technologies, from cooling fabrics to energy-returning cushioning systems, demonstrates a holistic approach to enhancing athletic performance. As the company continues to evolve and introduce new technologies, athletes can look forward to gear that increasingly adapts to their needs and helps them reach new levels of performance.
Technology & Innovation | Under Armour UK
This is what makes our gear work harder–and smarter–than everything else out there.
STAY COOL
STAY MOVING
STAY WARM
STAY DRY
STAY READY
STAY COOL
HEATGEAR®
WEAR THIS TO FEEL COOL, DRY & LIGHT.
The original innovation our founder dreamed up while sweating under the summer sun. This super-breathable fabric wicks sweat and regulates body temperature so you feel cooler, drier, and lighter than ever.
Shop Now
ISO-CHILL
MAKES YOU COOLER SO YOU CAN WORK LONGER.
Iso-Chill is proven to keep your body cooler, helping you stay out longer and reach your performance peak later. Made with ribbon-shaped nylon fibers that lay flat and disperse heat so it literally feels cool.
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HEATGEAR® ARMOUR
ALWAYS START HERE.
Heatgear® Armour Baselayer is the “second skin” that makes all athletes better. Its soft, lightweight construction delivers relentless support without sacrificing comfort.
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STAY MOVING
HOVR™
LIFTS YOU UP.
HOVR™ technology provides ‘zero gravity feel’ to maintain energy return that helps eliminate impact on every run.
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CHARGED CUSHIONING
ENERGY GIVEN. POWER RETURNED.
As soon as you feel Charged Cushioning under your feet, you want to run. It’s the ultimate advancement in energy, absorbing the impact of your foot strike and converting it into a level of responsive comfort you’ve never felt before.
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MICRO G®
TURNS CUSHIONED LANDINGS INTO EXPLOSIVE TAKEOFFS.
Lighter and sleeker than traditional foams, Micro G® cushioning delivers ultra-responsive, low-to-the-ground performance for better, natural stability and comfort.
Shop Now
STAY WARM
COLDGEAR®
WEAR THIS TO FEEL WARM, DRY & LIGHT.
This is the layer athlete’s trust when the mercury drops. ColdGear® eliminates the need to wear heavy, bulky gear in cold weather.
Shop Now
ARMOUR® FLEECE
WARMTH WITHOUT THE WEIGHT.
Armour® Fleece construction has a soft, bushed interior that traps heat and a smooth exterior that helps fight off the elements.
Shop Now
COLDGEAR® INFRARED
STAY WARMER LONGER.
ColdGear® Infrared lining uses a soft, thermo-conductive coating to absorb and retain body heat for lasting warmth.
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STAY DRY
STORM
ALWAYS STAY DRY.
A tiered system of water and wind protection that keeps you dry in any wet weather situation.
Shop Now
GORE-TEX
GUARANTEED TO KEEP YOU DRY.
Made of the toughest fabrics & thoroughly tested to guarantee performance even after serious wear and tear.
Shop Now
STAY READY
RUSH
SCIENTIFICALLY TESTED. ATHLETE PROVEN.
RUSH is a new line of workout gear created from innovative fabrics infused with minerals to reflect energy and improve performance.
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RECOVER
RECOVER FASTER.
RETURN BETTER.
Recover Is a new line of gear created from innovative fabrics lined with minerals to reflect energy and improve recovery speed.
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CHARGED COTTON®
MOTHER NATURE MADE IT. WE MADE IT BETTER.®
Unique cotton-blend performance fabric dries faster than any ordinary cotton out there…but still feels just as soft and comfortable.
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Technology | Under Armour
This is what makes our gear work harder–and smarter–than everything else out there.
STAY READY
STAY COOL
STAY DRY
STAY MOVING
STAY WARM
STAY READY
CHARGED COTTON®
MOTHER NATURE MADE IT. WE MADE IT BETTER.®
Unique cotton-blend performance fabric dries faster than any ordinary cotton out there…but still feels just as soft and comfortable.
Shop Now
Rush Infared Athletic Apparel
SCIENTIFICALLY TESTED. ATHLETE PROVEN.
This groundbreaking baselayer has been tested and proven to improve strength and endurance.
Shop Now
ATHLETE RECOVERY
RECOVER FASTER.
RETURN BETTER.
We’ve designed the ultimate post-game, post-train system to help you restore muscle faster & come back better than ever.
Shop Now
STAY COOL
HEATGEAR® ARMOUR
ALWAYS START HERE.
Armour® Baselayer is the “second skin” that makes all athletes better. Its soft, lightweight construction delivers relentless support without sacrificing comfort.
Shop Now
HEATGEAR®
WEAR THIS TO FEEL COOL, DRY & LIGHT.
The original innovation our founder dreamed up while sweating under the summer sun. This super-breathable fabric wicks sweat and regulates body temperature so you feel cooler, drier, and lighter than ever.
Shop Now
ISO-CHILL
ACTUALLY FEELS COOL TO THE TOUCH.
Iso-Chill construction helps dissipate heat from the body creating a cooling effect.
Shop Now
STAY DRY
UA STORM
WATER ROLLS RIGHT OFF.
UA Storm technology repels water without sacrificing breathability
Rain, sleet, snow…the weather doesn’t even matter.
Shop Now
GORE-TEX
GUARANTEED TO KEEP YOU DRY
Made of the toughest fabrics & thoroughly tested to guarantee performance even after serious wear and tear.
Shop Now
STAY MOVING
UA HOVR™
LIFTS YOU UP.
UA HOVR™ technology provides ‘zero gravity feel’ to maintain energy return that helps eliminate impact on every run.
Shop Now
UA MICRO G®
TURNS CUSHIONED LANDINGS INTO EXPLOSIVE TAKEOFFS.
Lighter and sleeker than traditional foams, UA Micro G cushioning delivers ultra-responsive, low-to-the-ground performance for better, natural stability and comfort.
Shop Now
CHARGED CUSHIONING
ENERGY GIVEN. POWER RETURNED.
As soon as you feel Charged Cushioning under your feet, you want to run. It’s the ultimate advancement in energy, absorbing the impact of your foot strike and converting it into a level of responsive comfort you’ve never felt before.
Shop Now
STAY WARM
COLDGEAR® REACTOR
YOUR OWN PERSONAL THERMOSTAT.
Adaptive fabric that maintains a comfortable level of warmth.
Shop Now
ARMOUR® FLEECE
WARMTH WITHOUT THE WEIGHT.
Armour® Fleece construction has a soft, bushed interior that traps heat and a smooth exterior that helps fight off the elements.
Shop Now
COLDGEAR®
WEAR THIS TO FEEL WARM, DRY & LIGHT.
This is the layer athlete’s trust when the mercury drops. ColdGear eliminates the need to wear heavy, bulky gear in cold weather.
Shop Now
Under Armour: The Business of Sweat Goes Digital
Today’s user has evolved: we toggle between physical and virtual worlds effortlessly, made possible by the ubiquity of handheld and accessible technology. Adapting to the user’s connected world is now the industry toll to compete.[1] This have never been more salient than for the fitness industry, with athletes craving more ways to be better, faster, stronger. With this changing tide, Under Armour (UA) is embracing digital transformation to create, capture, and deliver more meaningful value for the connected athlete.
[2]
UA’s Business Model Evolves to “Make Athletes Even Better”
For over 20 years, UA created value for their customers and captured that value by being a shirts-and-shoes company that simply wanted to “make athletes better.” UA saw 23 consecutive quarters of growth under this business model [3], but UA’s CEO Kevin Plank recognizes that the shirts-and-shoes company will not suffice in a world where making athletes better has evolved beyond apparel sales. UA is now focused on a digital innovation strategy that optimizes for the athletes of tomorrow, as showcased by UA’s CES 2016 presentation of Future Girl (Exhibit 1). We see from the video that UA’s digital innovation strategy is predicated on connecting athletes’ devices and daily apparel, deciphering that dataset, and providing actionable insights to produce better and healthier performers.[4]
Exhibit 1: Future Girl Ad [5]
vimeo.com/video/66195683″ frameborder=”0″ title=”Under Armour Future Girl” webkitallowfullscreen=”” mozallowfullscreen=”” allowfullscreen=””/>
Creating Value with Integrated Applications: Gone are the days of an Under Armour that makes only shirts and shoes, selling product through brick and mortar and a standalone website. Over the last several years, UA has invested $710M acquiring and developing three mobile applications to build their connected fitness platform: MapMyFitness, Endomondo, and MyFitnessPal.[6] Fully integrated into UA’s proprietary UA Record application, this collection of personal data tracking apps enables users to optimize activity levels, sync wearables, and analyze aggregated personal metrics. Altogether, these applications create value in excess of UA’s historical business model, giving users access to an action-oriented, comprehensive dashboard of their biometric statistics. As such, users are now armed with personalized tools needed to become better athletes.
[7]
Capturing Value from a Connected User Base: With UA’s latest app acquisitions, the company’s digital community tops 120M unique members worldwide.[8] This user base provides UA two value capture opportunities in excess of their historical business model: 1) accessing new markets, and 2) leveraging their existing customer base. Prior to UA’s connected fitness platform, women accounted for 30% of company sales. UA now sees 60% female users across its apps. This connected fitness platform provides UA with a new captive female audience from which to access previously unrealized dollars. Additionally, the average underarmour.com order that comes in through the connected fitness community is 26% higher than orders from external referral sources.[9] Here, UA’s vast user base enables the company to optimize value capture by leveraging existing customers’ self-reported data to send targeted customer offers.
Operationally, UA Hits a Home Run
UA’s digital transformation has evolved how the company delivers on its promise to “make all athletes better.
” Previously a standalone website with brick-and-mortars, UA did not deliver customer value in a meaningfully differentiated way from competitors. Digital tech has made UA’s value delivery smarter and user-focused. User-reported data within UA apps is spurring product innovation tailored to athlete needs. For example, UA learned from MapMyFitness data that the average run is 3.1 miles. When designing the 2016 Speedform Gemini running shoe — one of UA’s most popular running products — the company added Charged Foam padding to optimize for short-distance runs.[10] From their database of user activity habits, UA can see fitness trends emerge in real-time. This competitive advantage equips UA to design for, and proactively identify, customer needs.
At Bat: UA’s Next Steps
UA has bigger ambitions than simply selling more workout shirts than Nike, they aspire to be the go-to fitness brand. To be this, UA has room to meaningfully own the market by:
- Disrupting Apparel Wearables: UA introduced HealthBox at CES this year — this kit includes a collection of wearables that sync with UA Record.
[11] To prevent a replay of the Nike FuelBand flop of 2014, UA must supplement its hardware offering with connected clothing. These apparel wearables should have biometric tracking capabilities and seamlessly connect with UA apps.[12] As first-mover in connected clothing, UA will move closer to its vision of a Future Girl world.
[11] To prevent a replay of the Nike FuelBand flop of 2014, UA must supplement its hardware offering with connected clothing. These apparel wearables should have biometric tracking capabilities and seamlessly connect with UA apps.[12] As first-mover in connected clothing, UA will move closer to its vision of a Future Girl world.- Leveraging Apple’s Fitness Focus: UA is digitally competing with Nike and their Nike+ apps, and also faces the formidable Nike-Apple partnership.[13] But, Nike does not completely own Apple’s fitness mindshare. UA will be the first-mover in connected clothing, and the rapid adoption of Apple’s HealthKit developer platform provides an opportunity for a UA-Apple collaboration. This could materialize as UA developing clothing wearables that connect to Apple devices.[14] A partnership with Apple would expose UA to a new population of users.
Word Count: 798 (excluding citations)
[1] Marco Iansiti and Karim R.
Lakhani, “Digital Ubiquity: How Connections, Sensors, and Data are Revolutionizing Business,” Harvard Business Review (November 2014 Issue), pg. 3-5.
[2] David Trites, “How Under Armour’s Digital Transformation Will Improve Your Health,” SAP News Center, February 15, 2016, https://news.sap.com/how-under-armours-digital-transformation-will-improve-your-health/, accessed November 2016.
[3] Thomas Hobbs, “How Under Armour plans to become the world’s biggest sports brand,” Marketing Weekly, May 4, 2015, ABI/INFORM via ProQuest, accessed November 2016.
[4] David Pierce, “How Under Armour Plans to Turn Your Clothes into Gadgets,” Wired, January 5, 2016, https://www.wired.com/2016/01/under-armour-healthbox/, accessed November 2016.
[5] Under Armour MX, “Future Girl,” May 14, 2013, video file, hosted on Vimeo, https://vimeo.com/66195683, accessed November 2016.
[6] David Pierce, “How Under Armour Plans to Turn Your Clothes into Gadgets,” Wired, January 5, 2016, https://www.
wired.com/2016/01/under-armour-healthbox/, accessed November 2016.
[7] “Under Armour Launches UA Record, The Latest Addition To The Definitive Digital Health And Fitness Network,” PR Newswire, January 6, 2015, ABI/INFORM via ProQuest, accessed November 2016.
[8] “Under Armour Opens First Digital Headquarters in Austin’s Revitalized Seaholm Power Plant District: Under Armour Connected Fitness Debuts in Iconic Downtown Development,” PR Newswire, March 11, 2015, ABI/INFORM via ProQuest, accessed November 2016.
[9] Tom Foster, “Kevin Plank is Betting Almost $1 Billion That Under Armour Can Beat Nike,” Inc Magazine, February 2016, http://www.inc.com/magazine/201602/tom-foster/kevin-plank-under-armour-spending-1-billion-to-beat-nike.html, accessed November 2016.
[10] Ibid.
[11] Elaine Low, “Tech Will Massive Role in Under Armour: UA’s Robin Thurston,” Investor’s Business Daily, January 26, 2016, ABI/INFORM via ProQuest, accessed November 2016.
[12] Ibid.
[13] CNBC News, “More from Apple and Nike to come: Nike CEO,” May 8, 2015, video file, http://video.cnbc.com/gallery/?video=3000378000, accessed November 2016.
[14] Thomas Hobbs, “How Under Armour plans to become the world’s biggest sports brand,” Marketing Weekly, May 4, 2015, ABI/INFORM via ProQuest, accessed November 2016.
How Under Armour Lost Its Edge
In the summer of 2018, two top Under Armour executives traveled to the West Coast on a critical mission. Kevin Plank, the sports apparel company’s founder and chief executive, and Patrik Frisk, its president and chief operating officer, needed to persuade Stephen Curry, the Golden State Warriors star and the company’s highest-profile endorser, not to leave the brand.
The two sides had grown increasingly frustrated with the relationship, said two former Under Armour executives familiar with the matter, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the previously undisclosed meeting. In 2017, Mr. Curry took public exception to a comment by Mr.
Plank calling President Trump “a real asset” to the country, prompting the executive to take out a full-page newspaper ad to explain what he said about Mr. Trump “did not accurately reflect my intent.”
But the relationship between the two remained tense. Mr. Plank was unhappy that Mr. Curry, whose endorsement deal pays him millions of dollars a year, would rarely wear Under Armour clothing to N.B.A. games. Mr. Curry was upset that sales of the signature Curry 3 shoe had been weak.
At the meeting, participants found a solution that would showcase just how much Mr. Curry meant to the company. Mr. Plank and Mr. Frisk agreed to build a separate business around him, one reminiscent of what Nike had done for Michael Jordan two decades before. The company brought on the former executive who had overseen the creation of the Jordan brand at Nike to run the Curry brand and promised Mr. Curry much more involvement in the development of his shoes. Mr. Curry decided to remain, and a crisis was averted.
Jeff Austin, Mr. Curry’s agent, declined to comment when asked about the meeting. A spokeswoman for Under Armour, when asked about the events, said Mr. Curry had been a “fantastic partner” over the past seven years and that the company was “excited about our future partnership plans.”
In its promise and its turmoil, Under Armour’s relationship with Mr. Curry encapsulates the company’s broader struggles in recent years, and represents a critical piece of its comeback hopes.
Once heralded as the next Nike, Under Armour has faltered, hurt by slumping sales and unflattering revelations about its corporate culture. It is grasping for a hold in the fiercely competitive sports apparel market even as it undergoes the biggest management shift in its history. Investors, analysts, and competitors are wondering if Under Armour can successfully redefine itself and once again win over consumers, or whether the company’s best days are behind it.
Not long ago, Under Armour was a darling of investors.
But it has since faced tough scrutiny, resulting in lawsuits from shareholders, who accuse the company of misleading investors, and media coverage around real estate deals involving the company and Mr. Plank’s private holdings. Questions have also arisen about a culture that allowed strip club visits to be expensed on corporate credit cards and, more recently, a disclosure by The Wall Street Journal that federal authorities are conducting investigations into accounting practices.
It is a far cry from 2015, when Under Armour, founded in 1996 as a maker of high-tech athletic gear, had overtaken Adidas to become the second-largest sports apparel company in the United States by sales, behind only Nike. It posted 26 consecutive quarters of 20 percent or greater year-over-year revenue growth, and its stock more than doubled in two years’ time.
Athletes it sponsored were among the biggest names in the N.B.A. (Mr. Curry), the N.F.L. (Tom Brady), major league baseball (Bryce Harper) and golf (Jordan Spieth).
Under Armour signed U.C.L.A. to a sponsorship agreement worth $280 million, the largest ever for a university and a challenge to Adidas and Nike’s dominance of college athletics. The ballerina Misty Copeland gave the company a presence in the fine arts. It spent a total of about $700 million acquiring apps like MapMyFitness and MyFitnessPal, with visions of creating a mobile digital health and fitness community.
Now, revenue growth has slumped, increasing less than 1 percent in the first nine months of last year. The company’s stock price has collapsed to around $21 a share from a high of $51 in 2015. Worse, the brand finds itself out of step with consumer taste.
“The fashion cycle moved away from them. They stayed true to their muse, performance footwear and apparel,” said Matt Powell, an analyst with the NPD Group. “But that’s just not where the business is. Right now, it’s all about fashion and athleisure.”
There is no one cause of Under Armour’s struggles. Some factors, like the bankruptcies of the retail giants Sports Authority and Sport Chalet in 2016, were out of the company’s control.
But interviews with several current and former Under Armour employees as well as competitors, advisers to athletes, and financial analysts also point to a company that tried to do too much too fast. It expanded into sports in which it had little expertise and failed to articulate a strategy for its expensive tech acquisitions. It eschewed the athleisure trend, which has buoyed sales at Nike and Adidas, and struggled to translate its brand to an international audience.
Today in Business
April 23, 2021, 1:31 p.m. ET
And when Mr. Plank hired executives from Nike, Adidas and elsewhere to help expand or fix crucial businesses, many said they were viewed by Under Armour employees with a mixture of suspicion and disdain. It was a disconnect that played out in how Mr. Curry’s shoes were made and marketed.
“Loyalty is good, but it can also create blind spots,” said Aaron Miller, who worked as a senior director of footwear at Under Armour from 2013 to 2015, after 18 years at Nike.
Mr. Plank “was so loyal to the guys who were there before that when the Nike guys came in, suddenly, they were insiders and we were outsiders.”
This month, Mr. Plank, 47, officially stepped down as chief executive and was replaced by Mr. Frisk, 57. Mr. Plank now holds the titles of executive chairman and brand chief, and Mr. Frisk reports directly to him.
Under Armour declined to make any executives available to comment for this article. In a statement, a spokeswoman said the company was proud of the global brand that it continued to build, adding, “Like the athletes we serve, we are acutely aware of our strengths and weaknesses and the opportunities that are inherent every time we train, compete and recover.”
From its early days, Under Armour made its mark as a tech-focused sports apparel company. It didn’t just make clothes for athletes; it made clothes that aimed to improve their performance. Beginning with its first product, a T-shirt that wicked away sweat, Under Armour redefined the category, from its HeatGear and ColdGear fabrics in the late 1990s to, more recently, sleepwear intended to help athletes recover from a big game.
With Under Armour’s stock soaring in the fall of 2015, Mr. Plank and his top lieutenants believed nothing could stop the company’s rise. But others were less sanguine, concerned the company’s go-go-growth culture and its lack of discipline around product planning and expenses would result in a reckoning.
One internal debate came that same year, over how many pairs of Curry 2 shoes to manufacture.
The first Curry shoe had sold out immediately, and Mr. Miller wanted to double the number of Curry 2 shoes produced. That quantity, he believed, would also sell out, increasing demand for the next model, the Curry 3. But top executives, he recalled, requested three times the number of shoes he recommended, even as he argued that could cause a glut.
The executives won, and Curry 2 shoes eventually flooded the market, winding up on sale racks. It didn’t help that one all-white low-top version was ruthlessly mocked as a “dad” shoe. The large inventory combined with infighting over and micromanaging of the shoe’s design set the stage for the lackluster sales of the Curry 3 in 2016, Mr.
Miller said. On a 2017 earnings call, Mr. Plank blamed a “sluggish signature market” for “softer than expected” sales of the shoe.
“It’s crazy. Why recruit talented, proven people and then not listen to them?” said Mr. Miller, who left the company a few months later.
A spokeswoman for Under Armour declined to comment on the debate around the Curry 2.
Three former executives said that decisions around products were often driven by instinct, rather than consumer analysis of the market.
Two pointed to the DJ, a slip-on shoe for women that they said sold poorly. Yet, the former executives said, the DJ could not be killed because it was named for Mr. Plank’s wife, Desiree Jacqueline Guerzon, who goes by D.J., and she really liked the shoe.
Under Armour declined to respond to questions about the shoe.
Under Armour’s rush to compete for college endorsement contracts resulted in other headaches. Under the terms of the contracts, it supplied jerseys, cleats and sneakers for football and basketball teams.
But it also quickly had to manufacture apparel and shoes for other sports, like running and volleyball, in which it had much less expertise.
A former executive said some runners at Under Armour-sponsored colleges refused to train in the company’s shoes because they worried they might get hurt. Instead they took them to sporting goods stores and tried to exchange them for shoes from other companies.
A spokeswoman for Under Armour declined to comment on its college endorsement deals.
Over the last two years, Mr. Frisk, the new chief, has been given credit for introducing more controls around inventory levels as well as increased oversight on expenses and product planning. Those moves have already improved Under Armour’s profit margins.
The challenge now is figuring out how to increase revenue and recapture the magic that propelled Under Armour’s meteoric rise.
Some Wall Street analysts are skeptical of an approach that focuses too much on products marketed as performance-enhancing, especially for a public that wears basketball shoes or track pants to the grocery store or the movies.
Still, Under Armour and Mr. Plank are undaunted in their strategy. This month, the company released its latest advertising campaign, “The Only Way Is Through,” featuring the swimmer Michael Phelps, D.K. Metcalf of the Seattle Seahawks, and other Under Armour-sponsored athletes sweating and gasping through strenuous workouts.
“The world did not need another competent apparel or footwear manufacturer,” Mr. Plank recently told attendees at the National Retail Federation conference in New York. “What the customer needs is a dream.”
Under Armour – The Technology Behind the Clothing
In 1996, Under Armour was founded with one goal in mind; to keep athletes cool, dry and comfortable during activity. Their first product was the original 0039 Compress t-shirt which boosts muscle performance and wicks moisture, courtesy of the unique synthetic material.
What followed was 21 years of success and numerous revolutionary sportswear products, all of which serve a different purpose in perfecting the performance of the athlete.
In 1998, Under Armour introduced their ColdGear Mock which kept athletes dry and protected with a brushed inner layer that circulates heat.
A decade later, the company re-released their original compression shirt only this time revolutionised with their new technology – Charged Cotton. With all the comfort of cotton and the light, water repellent properties of their original compression shirt, Charged Cotton and Charged Cotton Storm changed the game.
As well as numerous other notable creations from t shirts to trainers, Under Armour now have a huge catalogue of incredible clothing designed to accommodate any athlete, keeping them cool, comfortable and performing at their peak whatever the weather.
Over time, the brand has defined four main technologies for their products; CoolSwitch, HeatGear, HeatGear Armour and Microthread. CoolSwitch is designed for warmer weather, keeping your body and skin cool so you can perform for longer. The technology utilises an exclusive coating on the inside of the fabric which pulls heat away from your skin, allowing you to feel cooler and perform at your best.
HeatGear, as the name suggests, is designed to be worn in the heat. This is the product Under Armour was originally known for – clothing designed to keep you cool, dry and fresh under any heat courtesy of the breathable fabric which wicks sweat and regulates body temperature.
HeatGear technology later evolved into the popular base layer so widely used in sports today. Utilising the same lightweight breathable fabric as the original HeatGear, the base layer acts as your second skin offering cooling, sweat wicking properties as well as undeniable support to the athlete.
Last but by no means least, Under Armour’s MicroThread technology is perhaps one of the most unique sounding, creating a microclimate around your body which draws sweat away from you allowing for quicker cooling. It’s light and flexible so you won’t even notice you’re wearing it, save for the undeniable cooling effect you’ll experience courtesy of the revolutionary technology.
Written by Aaron Thompson
Tecnhology & Innovation | Under Armour SE
This is what makes our gear work harder–and smarter–than everything else out there.
STAY COOL
STAY MOVING
STAY WARM
STAY DRY
STAY READY
STAY COOL
HEATGEAR®
WEAR THIS TO FEEL COOL, DRY & LIGHT.
The original innovation our founder dreamed up while sweating under the summer sun. This super-breathable fabric wicks sweat and regulates body temperature so you feel cooler, drier, and lighter than ever.
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ISO-CHILL
MAKES YOU COOLER SO YOU CAN WORK LONGER.
Iso-Chill is proven to keep your body cooler, helping you stay out longer and reach your performance peak later. Made with ribbon-shaped nylon fibers that lay flat and disperse heat so it literally feels cool.
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HEATGEAR® ARMOUR
ALWAYS START HERE.
Heatgear® Armour Baselayer is the “second skin” that makes all athletes better. Its soft, lightweight construction delivers relentless support without sacrificing comfort.
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STAY MOVING
HOVR™
LIFTS YOU UP.
HOVR™ technology provides ‘zero gravity feel’ to maintain energy return that helps eliminate impact on every run.
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CHARGED CUSHIONING
ENERGY GIVEN. POWER RETURNED.
As soon as you feel Charged Cushioning under your feet, you want to run. It’s the ultimate advancement in energy, absorbing the impact of your foot strike and converting it into a level of responsive comfort you’ve never felt before.
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MICRO G®
TURNS CUSHIONED LANDINGS INTO EXPLOSIVE TAKEOFFS.
Lighter and sleeker than traditional foams, Micro G® cushioning delivers ultra-responsive, low-to-the-ground performance for better, natural stability and comfort.
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STAY WARM
COLDGEAR®
WEAR THIS TO FEEL WARM, DRY & LIGHT.
This is the layer athlete’s trust when the mercury drops. ColdGear® eliminates the need to wear heavy, bulky gear in cold weather.
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ARMOUR® FLEECE
WARMTH WITHOUT THE WEIGHT.
Armour® Fleece construction has a soft, bushed interior that traps heat and a smooth exterior that helps fight off the elements.
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COLDGEAR® INFRARED
STAY WARMER LONGER.
ColdGear® Infrared lining uses a soft, thermo-conductive coating to absorb and retain body heat for lasting warmth.
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STAY DRY
STORM
ALWAYS STAY DRY.
A tiered system of water and wind protection that keeps you dry in any wet weather situation.
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GORE-TEX
GUARANTEED TO KEEP YOU DRY.
Made of the toughest fabrics & thoroughly tested to guarantee performance even after serious wear and tear.
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STAY READY
RUSH
SCIENTIFICALLY TESTED. ATHLETE PROVEN.
RUSH is a new line of workout gear created from innovative fabrics infused with minerals to reflect energy and improve performance.
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RECOVER
RECOVER FASTER. RETURN BETTER.
Recover Is a new line of gear created from innovative fabrics lined with minerals to reflect energy and improve recovery speed.
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CHARGED COTTON®
MOTHER NATURE MADE IT.
WE MADE IT BETTER.®
Unique cotton-blend performance fabric dries faster than any ordinary cotton out there…but still feels just as soft and comfortable.
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Kevin Plank Is Betting Almost $1 Billion That Under Armour Can Beat Nike
“Have you seen Kevin’s whiteboards?”
If you spend any time at Under Armour headquarters, you’ll hear that question again and again. Founder and CEO Kevin Plank really likes whiteboards, and his favorite use for them is to write out leadership maxims for his team. Inside and outside his office, whole walls of floor-to-ceiling whiteboards contain dozens of curt principles he’s scrawled over the years: Expedite the inevitable. Perfection is the enemy of innovation. Respect everyone, fear no one.
These commandments are meant not as simple inspiration or hard rules, he says, but together make up a system of “guardrails” that allow everyone under him to operate as entrepreneurs by channeling his thinking. The Plank principles are drilled into new employees during a weeklong orientation, and they’re painted all over the hallways at company headquarters, a former Procter & Gamble factory on the Baltimore waterfront.
Think like an entrepreneur. Create like an innovator. Perform like a teammate.
Plank has the affect and intensity of a head coach–direct eye contact, military analogies, the air of someone you do not want to disappoint. “Winning is a part of our culture–it’s who we are,” he says in his lofty office overlooking the harbor. (The only artwork behind his desk: a giant UA logo, its letters stacked to evoke arms raised in victory.) “And culture is formed on habits.” Perhaps the most important guardrail, and the company’s official mission, is seeking to “make all athletes better.” It has long equaled thinking about clothes as high-performance gear, but recently it’s taken on a big new meaning.
Over the past two years, Under Armour has spent close to $1 billion buying and investing in three leading makers of activity- and diet-tracking mobile apps. By doing so, the company has amassed the world’s largest digital health-and-fitness community, with 150 million users. Plank envisions all of those users, and their metrics, as a big data engine to drive everything from product development to merchandising to marketing.
Many observers, though, balked at the $710 million cost of the acquisitions, questioning whether Under Armour could quickly produce any return on investment–two of the three companies were unprofitable–let alone succeed in a space that shares little with making shirts and shoes. Longtime staffers worried the moves would crimp company performance, affect bonuses, or divert focus from the core business. Plank spent more hours than he cares to count, including a large chunk of his winter vacation last year, in one-on-one conversations to persuade them otherwise. “It was important,” he says, “that this not just be my decision.”
Plank likes to say that the key to Under Armour’s success is that he never focused on all the reasons it couldn’t happen. A former Division 1 college football player, Plank famously bootstrapped Under Armour’s launch in 1995 armed with one simple insight: The cotton undershirts football players wore under their pads slowed them down when they became soaked with sweat.
After prototyping a moisture-wicking, formfitting alternative–made of fabric for women’s undergarments–and testing it on ex-teammates, Plank set up shop in his grandmother’s basement and, just before he went broke, scored his first big sale, to Georgia Tech. The company went on to create a whole new market for performance apparel, IPO’d in 2005, and now sponsors some of the world’s greatest athletes, including Jordan Spieth, Stephen Curry, and Lindsey Vonn.
Today, Under Armour has 13,500 employees around the world and nearly $4 billion in revenue. But Plank is still every bit the entrepreneur, chasing audacious dreams–chief among them overtaking Nike as the world’s largest sportswear maker. Under Armour leapfrogged the longtime number two, Adidas, in the U.S. sportswear market in 2014, but worldwide it’s still third. And Nike remains far larger, with more than $30 billion in revenue in 2015 Which is part of why Plank wants to move so aggressively. Nike has about a fifth as many users on its Nike+ platform as Under Armour does on its apps, and in 2014 the shoe giant shut down its FuelBand fitness-tracker business.
The real work is only beginning, though, as Plank has adopted the kind of world-changing ambitions more common to a Google or Facebook. He envisions that Under Armour Connected Fitness will “fundamentally affect global health.” This month–doubters be damned–the company will start selling a pair of biometric fitness devices and a smart scale made in partnership with the Taiwanese smartphone company HTC. The move will put Plank in direct competition with Fitbit and Apple in the fast-growing wearables market. It’s a bold, characteristically Plankian bet–and a “very risky” one, says Morningstar retail analyst Paul Swinand. (Morningstar and Inc. are both owned by Joe Mansueto.)
“Under Armour has been a phenomenal success story,” Swinand says. Its stock has risen steadily–almost 2,000 percent in the decade since its IPO. “But when you’re hitting a home run every quarter on the core apparel business, why mess around with a moon shot?”
Plank rarely admits to much uncertainty or doubt, so it’s telling that he echoes Swinand in describing Connected Fitness’s ambitions as a “moon shot.
” But another of his whiteboard sayings comes to mind, this one courtesy of his friend and former U.S. Special Operations commander Admiral Eric Olson: Nobody ever won a horserace by yelling “Whoa!”
Robin Thurston, co-founder and then CEO of Austin-based app maker MapMyFitness, got his first taste of Plank’s high-speed force-of-will approach when the Under Armour founder cold-called him in July 2013. Plank explained that he loved Thurston’s app MapMyRun. “I run five miles three times a week, I log everything, I look up routes when I travel,” Plank began. “What are you doing with the company?”
Thurston replied that he was about to raise more venture capital to pursue ambitious expansion plans: The company had bought several hundred domains based on every physical activity, and planned to launch new products for each. Thurston and his investors saw MapMyFitness as poised to become the leading digital health-and-fitness network.
“Don’t do that,” Plank shot back.
“Come talk to me instead.”
A couple of weeks later, Plank and three key lieutenants showed up early at the New York City offices of Allen & Company, where Thurston and his team were huddling with their bankers. The MapMyFitness team got about 20 minutes into a detailed PowerPoint presentation when Plank interrupted. “This is awesome,” he said, “but I want to stop you and go talk to Robin myself for a few minutes”–without any bankers running interference. Forty minutes later, Plank and Thurston returned, and Plank asked the MapMyFitness team if they’d like to go to Baltimore, right away, to check out the Under Armour campus.
It wasn’t 11 a.m. when the group–along with NFL veteran and sportscaster Boomer Esiason, who’d been waiting at the airport to hitch a ride on Plank’s jet–pulled up at Under Armour headquarters. Former Washington Redskin LaVar Arrington opened Thurston’s door, and offered a tour of the campus, as well as some oatmeal cookies, to the stunned app makers.
Within two weeks, the parties had agreed that Under Armour would acquire the startup for $150 million, and Thurston would remain atop MapMyFitness and become Under Armour’s chief digital officer.
Thurston, a onetime professional cyclist who maintained MapMyFitness’s position as a top fitness app from the iPhone’s earliest days, tells the story in his new office in downtown Austin, in a brand-new building where giant images of Under Armour athletes adorn the walls (amid, of course, motivational mantras) and several hundred new engineers and other tech employees work. At first, Thurston says, Under Armour’s interest was a puzzler. He’d entertained partnering with insurance companies and media companies, but he always worried they’d exploit all the data MapMyFitness gathers about people’s personal habits in ways that would violate the trust he’d built with the community. Under Armour had simply never occurred to him as a home for his company.
But the first thing Plank did in that private meeting in New York was pull up a concept video Under Armour had created earlier that year called “Future Girl.
” It showed a young woman starting a morning workout in clothes that were touch-sensitive and could call up data displays and even change color with the tap of a finger. “I made this for you,” Plank said to Thurston. (In truth, it had run as a TV commercial; Plank told me it was made for someone like Robin even though “I didn’t know who Robin would be.”) He wanted to be sure that Thurston wouldn’t bolt after the sale, but would instead see an exciting opportunity and lead it. Under Armour had always been a tech company, in its way, Plank explained–but it had struggled with digital.
None of the products in the “Future Girl” video existed then–and a variation of one is hitting the market now–but merging performance products with performance data and interactive technology was a top Under Armour priority, given Plank’s instinct that that’s where the world was going. Plank had directed a team several years earlier to create an “electric” product, and they’d come up with the E39 compression shirt, which had sensors embedded in the fabric to track an athlete’s heart rate.
The shirt launched at the 2011 NFL training combine to much fanfare, but a simplified consumer version–a sensor-equipped chest band–had only niche appeal. That experience made Plank realize Under Armour couldn’t compete with hardware companies that employ thousands of engineers and constantly turn out incremental innovations.
“It’s absurd that you know more about your car than you know about your body,” says Plank. He’s betting athletes’ personal data will turbocharge their fitness and Under Armour’s future.
“It’s very normal for a product company–which is really what Under Armour is–to have gone down the path of trying to create hardware,” says Thurston. “They know the distribution channels, they know how to sell products, they know how to market them. But as they started doing their homework on what was happening in the space, they realized that the strength [of digital fitness] was actually in the community.”
Plank also knew it would take years to build a community like Thurston’s.
“It wasn’t that I didn’t know the right answers to be seeking from engineers. I didn’t even know the right questions to ask,” Plank admits. “I’m a sporting goods guy.”
After the MapMyFitness acquisition closed in late 2013, Plank and Thurston proceeded uncharacteristically slowly, taking time to set priorities for Under Armour’s digital transformation. Thurston identified four key pillars of health–sleep, fitness, activity, and nutrition–that he based on Plank’s “make all athletes better” mission. Once that vision snapped into focus, Plank saw an opportunity not just to be a collector of human activity data but also to be the central processor that turns that data–regardless of whose device or app collected it–into useful insights. “OK. Let’s do it,” he told Thurston one day in late 2014. By the following March, they had spent more than half a billion dollars acquiring two more companies: San Francisco-based MyFitnessPal, a nutrition-tracking system for people to log their meals, and Copenhagen-based Endomondo, a personal-training program whose users are almost entirely outside the U.
S. Under Armour suddenly had not only the world’s largest digital fitness community but hundreds of engineers and reams of user data as well.
Just one big question loomed: How would any of that help Under Armour chip away at Nike’s dominance, or at least sell a lot more workout shirts?
Across the railroad tracks from the Under Armour campus, a low redbrick building houses the company’s innovation lab, where president of product and innovation Kevin Haley leads a team of biomechanists, designers, engineers, and a psychologist to develop shoe and apparel concepts. There are weather chambers to re-create different exercise scenarios, devices that stretch and compress materials, gait-analysis systems, washers and dryers, 3-D printers, laser cutters, and countless other machines. The deeper you go into the long, narrow lab space, the more secretive the operations. The prototyping room is locked down from all but a few select employees and executives, who must pass a biometric scanner to enter.
Before taking over the innovation lab, Haley created the Under Armour consumer insights department. Early on, “the secret of our success was that we were the consumer,” Haley says. “Kevin was a football player. He just knew. But slowly, we got older than our consumer.” The company stopped bragging about not using focus groups and started tapping its sponsored athletes for product insights, sending researchers to look in people’s closets, and running online surveys.
What Under Armour didn’t know with much precision, though, was how people used its products after buying them. “You just know if a person swipes a credit card or not,” as Haley puts it–and even that only happens a couple of times a year for any customer. “We call something a basketball shirt, but is the guy wearing it to football practice? Is the boyfriend shirt he gives to his girlfriend something she wears as pajamas?”
But armed with data from Connected Fitness apps, Haley says, he can take design cues from 150 million people who, having downloaded a fitness app, are exactly the target audience: “There’s unbelievable data in there.
You know their running pace, how far they go, how often they go. You literally know what brand of Greek yogurt they use.”
It’s too early to see many new products as a result of all the new data–developing a piece of gear typically takes 18 months–but Haley points to one. The company learned from MapMyFitness data that the average run is 3.1 miles–“not one or two miles, not five miles, but 3.1,” Haley says. So when it came to making the Speedform Gemini running shoe, which was released last January to largely rave reviews, the company added “charged foam” padding tailored to that kind of run.
“The toughest question for us is not, Are there cool technologies out there?” says Haley. “It’s, What do you want me to work on? This gives us unbelievable insight that’s both incredibly broad and deep, with the same group of people we’re marketing toward.” That could be especially helpful in the two huge growth opportunities for Under Armour. More than 60 percent of Connected Fitness’s users are women, who account for just 30 percent of Under Armour’s apparel sales.
And while only about 11 percent of its sales are international, 35 percent of the Connected community is outside the U.S.
Still, the high-stakes bet on Connected Fitness will be slow to pay off. Under Armour recently increased its projections for the next two years, estimating that it would nearly double net revenue by 2018, to $7.5 billion (up from a previous estimate of $6.8 billion). Only $200 million–a paltry 2.7 percent–will come from Connected Fitness. But Thurston likens his digital community to “having a Super Bowl-size audience every day,” and one of the most immediately practical moves will be using those apps as a marketing channel. A feature called Gear Tracker, for instance, allows MapMyFitness users to log the shoes they use every time they go running, and get a reminder when their mileage suggests it’s time to buy new ones. A partnership with Zappos makes ordering replacements easy.
“Imagine you’re traveling in Chicago for work,” Plank says. “You went for a run one morning, and you had a cold the day before.
It’s 7 degrees in Chicago, so I know your nose was probably running the whole time. Well, we make this great run glove–we call it the snot finger glove, because it’s got basically a microfiber personal Kleenex attached to it so you can rub your nose. Imagine if I could send you an ad that says, ‘Hey, are you going to be in Chicago for another day? Would you like us to send you a pair of gloves?'” Chris Glode, a key digital executive for the company, told a conference last year that the company has learned that consumers are 83 percent more receptive to fitness messages after a workout–so an ad could hit you right as you log your run. The average Underarmour.com order coming via a Connected Fitness app is 26 percent higher than those from other external sources, the company says, so one big priority is to build e-commerce into the apps.
If it all sounds eerily like those ads that, because of your browsing history, follow you around the internet, that’s exactly the point–except Under Armour is tracking real behavior and the data is more specific.
Everyone in the company says personal data mining will give customers better fitness insights and better shirts and shoes–so they become better athletes. Another way to look at it is that making people better athletes makes them need more gear. As Plank told analysts last July: “Ultimately, the more people exercise, the more athletic footwear and apparel they will buy.”
“I love Monopoly,” Plank tells me. “You know why? When I play Monopoly with you, I’m going to buy everything from Baltic Avenue to Marvin Gardens. If you get to my side of the board, you’d better roll boxcars or you’re going to pay rent.”
He’s trying to describe why buying MapMyFitness was never going to be enough; the real opportunities would come only if he controlled every part of the digital health experience, even if nutrition, say, has only tangential relevance to the sportswear business. If you’re trying to truly understand athletes, you need to see what they do 24 hours a day. “It’s absurd that you know more about your car than you know about your body,” says Plank.
Hence an app called UA Record, a kind of overall health dashboard that relaunches this month in conjunction with the co-branded HTC devices–a Fitbit-like wrist strap, a chest-worn heart-rate monitor, and a connected scale, all sleek black and knobby red plastic, with scoreboard-inspired readouts. Record is an open platform for people to process their fitness data from any device, and Record exec Glode calls it “the ultimate digital expression of Under Armour.” Plank gets especially animated talking about the relaunch of Record and the related devices, which will be sold together under the name Health Box. It’ll be the first time users get to experience his full vision, and it’s where he sees the potential to “affect global health.” Roughly one in five Americans has downloaded one of Plank’s apps, Plank has said, so he wants not only to help users keep track of their running times or weight loss but also to compare their data with that of millions of other people like them and offer valuable insights.
Whether the system sounds ingeniously simple or a bit too clever for its own good may depend on your dedication to fitness. To Plank, it’s the former, of course: “It’s like, I wake up in the morning, my wearable device tells me how long I slept, and data point one beams to the cloud. I go to the bathroom and step on the scale, and data point two beams to the cloud. I’m going to exercise, so I put on my heart-rate strap, and data point three beams to the cloud. And as I walk around all day, the fitness tracker beams how many steps I take. Finally, what did I eat for the day? If I want to go deep into MyFitnessPal and track everything, great, but if not, I just answer if I had a light or average or heavy day.”
I am the opposite of a moderate man reads one key Plankism scrawled on a company whiteboard.
“This is where it gets really exciting,” Plank says, and launches into a series of scenarios. If you are ill one day in October, you might learn that you get sick around the same time every year and that it correlates with your sleep or diet patterns or any number of patterns that you share with others your age and of similar height and weight.
If you go to the doctor, all that information might be a lot more useful than the hand-scrawled note the physician has from your last visit 24 months ago and a couple of basic measurements the nurse took a few minutes earlier. “Nobody owns this,” says Plank. “And I’m sitting here thinking, who should? Humana? CVS? You’re going to trust them with your data? Why not us?”
Fair enough, says Morningstar’s Swinand, but he questions whether Under Armour can win that battle when the competition includes Fitbit, Apple, and even Google. “The way tech works is you have four companies, three end up zeros, and the one that wins wins everything.” He raises the possibility that Under Armour could end up the MySpace of fitness tech–and expresses concern about the recent departure of longtime COO and CFO Brad Dickerson. “I think Brad was the voice of reason, and Kevin is the flamboyant entrepreneur,” Swinand says.
Plank likes his chances, in part because the wide appeal of Under Armour’s locker-room aesthetic and barking brand voice could transfer to any number of connected products (think: Future Girl), but also because he now has more fitness data about users than even the leading tech companies.
“If I’m right,” he says, Connected Fitness “becomes a force multiplier that takes us from shirts-and-shoes company to true technology company. If I’m wrong, it costs us some money–we have $710 million on the table.” A flicker of doubt from the unflappable Plank? No. “The one thing we know,” he concludes, “is we can always make more money.” He didn’t need to point out another whiteboard commandment–the one that reads Don’t forget to sell shirts and shoes!
From the February 2016 issue of Inc. magazine
Production of armor steel abstract on technology
Production of armor steel Along with mobility and firepower, one of the main combat qualities of a tank is reliable armor protection, which provides it with relative invulnerability from enemy fire. The presence of relatively light and sufficiently strong steel armor mastered in production was one of the most important technical prerequisites for creating a tank. The ability to manufacture armored steels depended on the methods of steel production used, the level of development of metallurgy and the metalworking industry.
Steelmaking Steelmaking required lowering the carbon content of cast iron to less than 1.5% and minimizing the presence of impurities. For the first time this was achieved by the English watchmaker Benjamin Huntsman in 1742. He melted mild steel in a clay crucible and added the required amount of carbon. However, his method was very expensive and was only suitable for small-scale production. In 1850, it was replaced by a process that was invented independently of each other, first by the American William Kelly, and a little later by the Englishman Henry Bessemer.But he received widespread use under the name Bessemer, since financial difficulties prevented Kelly from completing his research. Around 1864, Frenchman Pierre Martin and German-born naturalized Englishman William Siemens invented the open-hearth process for smelting steel. In the 19th century, Zlatoust high-quality steel, which was used for the manufacture of edged weapons, became world famous. Steel production at the Zlatoust factories is associated with the name of the outstanding Russian metallurgist Pavel Petrovich Anosov (1797 – 1851).
). Before Anosov, the production of high-quality steel both in Russia and abroad was considered an art that was passed down from generation to generation and was available to only a few steelmakers. Anosov was the first to put the production of high-quality steels on a scientific basis. He was the first to investigate the effect of additives – platinum, gold, manganese, chromium and other substances – on the properties of steel and in 1833 made a “blade of real damask steel”. The steels that Anosov created were later called alloyed.Academicians. S. Kurnakov wrote: “Mining engineer P. P. Anosov, head of the Zlatoust factories in the Urals, was the first researcher who used a microscope back in 1831 to study the structure of a steel surface polished and acid-etched, precisely to determine the characteristic structure of damask blades obtained by the way he worked out. ” For such purposes, Anosov used a microscope 30 years earlier than the Englishman Sorby. World fame was brought to Anosov by his work “On Bulat”, which appeared in 1841 and became a classic among metallurgists.
Another remarkable Russian metallurgist of the mid-19th century was Pavel Matveyevich Obukhov. He created in St. Petersburg the famous steel cannon factory, which went down in history under the name of Obukhovsky. Following in the footsteps of Anosov, Obukhov studied the effect of additives on the quality of steels. As a result of Obukhov’s work, they began to make cuirasses from his steels, which could not be pierced by a bullet even from a fairly close distance. Of great importance was the method developed by Obukhov for producing large homogeneous steel castings. This method allowed him to successfully master the manufacture of steel cannons, the barrels of which could withstand up to 4000 rounds.In 1866, Dmitry Konstantinovich Chernov came to work at the Obukhov plant, whose name is associated with outstanding discoveries in the field of metallurgy and metallurgy. In 1868 he published his work “A critical review of the articles of Messrs. Lavrov and Kalakutsky on steel and steel tools and DK Chernov’s own research on this subject.
” This work made a revolution in metallurgy, and with its appearance Chernov is rightfully considered the founder of modern metallurgy, “the father of metallography”, as he was called during his lifetime.Studying the reasons for the marriage of gun barrels at the Obukhov plant, Chernov discovered that structural transformations take place in heated steel, that is, changes in its crystalline structure in the solid state, as a result of which the properties of steel also change. He determined the temperature points corresponding to these transformations, now known as “Chernov points”. The discovery of critical temperatures made it possible to explain the phenomena occurring during hardening of steel, and to accurately designate the heating temperature for hardening, depending on the composition of the metal.In addition, Chernov discovered deformation lines in metals, investigated the nature of the structure of ingots and conducted other studies that were important for the theory and practice of metallurgy.
The outstanding Russian scientist Alfons Aleksandrovich Rzheshotarsky, a disciple and follower of DK Chernov, put a lot of work into the further development of metallography and its introduction into factory production. Rzheshotarski’s activities took place during the period of rapid development of capitalism in Russia after the abolition of serfdom.The 90s of the 19th century were marked by extensive construction of railways and the rapid development of shipbuilding, in particular, the construction of an armored fleet and cruisers. The current situation led to the development of metallurgy and the fuel industry. The old methods of making cast armor were replaced by new ones, much more productive. The outstanding metallurgist conducted a number of studies on open-hearth and Bessemer processes, paying the greatest attention to the microstructure of steel and its quenching. For the first time in Russia, he created a metallographic laboratory for the needs of the steel industry, and introduced the use of a pyrometer and a microscope into daily factory practice.
Production of steel armor In the 1980s, for the needs of the Russian navy, armor was manufactured, which was obtained by welding a layer of solid carbon steel to armor made of mild steel. But by the beginning of the 90s, such armor no longer met the requirements of the navy. In 1892, the Obukhov plant was ordered to master the production of steel armor with better properties than previously manufactured. The production of steel armor was organized by Rzheshotarsky, who put the entire technology of its manufacture on a scientific basis.He determined the composition of the armor steel, developed a regime for its heat treatment (hardening of the armor by spraying). After the creation of carbon steel armor, Rzheshotarski conducted a series of studies to determine the composition of alloy steels suitable for the manufacture of high-quality armor. Much research work bore fruit, and in 1893, the production of armor made of nickel steel 10 inches thick, which was intended for the Russian battleships under construction, began.
This armor withstood field tests well and became one of the main products of the Obukhov plant.For the manufacture of nickel steel armor, a special thermal workshop was created, in which cementation and hardening of armor plates were performed. For the production of armor from nickel steel, the naval ministry awarded A.A.Rzheshotarsky with a gold medal. In 1898, the production of chromium-nickel heterogeneous (cemented) armor was organized at the Admiralty Izhora factories.
Lesson two: you need to think before the fight
In the previous article, we talked about the successful adaptation of the system of conveyor-line production of cars and tractors borrowed in the USA to Soviet conditions.However, it turned out to be impossible to directly use this system for the production of tanks, primarily due to the huge differences in the requirements for military and civilian vehicles.
Let’s remind that on the serial domestic tanks of that time type BT or T-28 engines with a capacity of 400-500 horsepower were used, while on tractors and cars – no more than 100 horsepower.
This meant very different loads on the drivetrain and chassis and therefore different manufacturing methods.But the main thing is that auto-tractor technologies were completely unsuitable for the production of armored hulls and turrets. The resistance welding machines received from abroad coped well with auto parts made of structural steel, but were powerless in front of sheets of even relatively thin bulletproof armor. Armored structures had to be assembled on rivets or, at best, using manual arc welding. Both the second and especially the first processes were incredibly labor-intensive. It is no coincidence that it was in the 1930s that a saying was developed at tank-building factories: “If there is an armored hull, there is a tank.”
Nevertheless, during the very first year of the Great Patriotic War, all the technologies and materials necessary for the conveyor belt production of armored vehicles appeared as if by magic. As you know, there are no miracles in industry. The innovations relied on unique scientific developments independently carried out in the USSR and prepared for serial use just at the time when Germany was crushing Poland and France. Without trying to grasp the immensity, we will give just a few of the most striking examples.
Armor masterpiece: steel 8C
It was not possible to buy or steal a used brand of anti-cannon armor steel in the pre-war period, if only because it was still being created. The few developments were kept more than the eye, not only probable opponents in a future war, but also the closest allies were not allowed to them.
“Casting one T-34 tower took five to seven days and was impossible without high-quality molders”
In pre-revolutionary Russia and then in the USSR, smelting of armor steels was separated from tank building and concentrated in the shipbuilding industry, primarily at the Izhora and Mariupol plants …Historically, warships were the first to “put on” armor in the second half of the 19th century, respectively, and its release was intended primarily for naval needs. Therefore, it is no coincidence that during the First World War it was these enterprises that supplied steel protection for armored vehicles and armored trains. By the way, in terms of bulletproof resistance, Russian metal of that time was not inferior to the best foreign counterparts.
In the 30s, the Izhora, Mariupol and Kulebak plants provided armored rental for the entire tank industry of the USSR.An alloyed metal with a high carbon content (up to 0.5%) and a hard cemented surface guaranteed the durability set by the military when fired from rifles and machine guns. However, as the experience of the war in Spain and our own proving grounds showed, this did not meet the requirements of the upcoming war. And the point is not only that projectile protection was already needed, capable of withstanding at least small-caliber artillery shelling. Technological parameters were of no less importance.And they left much to be desired, and this is putting it mildly: due to the complexity of the processes of surface hardening and heat treatment, up to 90 percent of the armor parts went into marriage!
The creation of anti-cannon tank armor required a new organization of business. In 1936, at the Izhora and Mariupol factories, two central armored laboratories (No. 1 and No. 2) were created with broad research capabilities. In 1939, they merged into the main Soviet armored institute – NII-48, headed by A.S. Zavyalov.
Andrey Sedykh’s collage
Concentration of efforts and countless experiments made it possible to develop and in 1939–1940 introduce into serial production several new brands of armored tank metal, including the famous 8C steel. It was created at TsBL-2 under the leadership of G. I. Kapyrin and initially mastered at the Mariupol plant. Later, 8C was produced by many metallurgical enterprises of our country, it was from it that the vertical (subject to shelling) parts of the hulls of all Soviet “thirty-fours” were made.In addition, steel 8C was used on self-propelled guns and in the frontal projection of some light tanks. In general, it was the Soviet armor metal No. 1 during the Great Patriotic War.
In contrast to the previous samples, steel 8C was homogeneous (homogeneous in composition) and therefore relatively easy to manufacture. Excellent resistance when fired by high-speed armor-piercing shells of small-caliber artillery was provided by hardening to high hardness.
Reduced carbon content compared to German armor metal gave good weldability of 8C steel parts.It is no coincidence that in the T-34 tank, almost all the joints of the armor parts were originally designed as welded.
Contrary to popular belief, 8C steel did not surpass the German metal of the initial period of the war in terms of the content of expensive alloying substances, such as nickel. Quite the opposite: the high plasticity, impact strength and durability of our metal under repeated shelling were explained by an excellently selected “bouquet” of various and mostly inexpensive alloying additives and unique heat treatment technologies.Due to the moderate consumption of scarce ferroalloys, Soviet factories were able to significantly increase the volume of armor steel smelting. In Germany, they thought about the need to switch to economically alloyed armored steels only in 1942-1943.
In general, it must be said that the armor case on the eve of the war was higher in the USSR than in Germany. An interesting example: in October 1939, a Soviet delegation headed by I.F. Tevosyan (during the war years – the people’s commissar of ferrous metallurgy) negotiated the possibility of buying German armored steel (in this case, ship steel).The technical requirements were taken from those actually operating at the Izhora and Mariupol factories, and in a slightly reduced version. However, a representative of the German side, director of the Krupp research institute, a well-known metallurgist and author of the famous book “Special Steels” E. Gudremont, after a thorough study of the documentation, said: “Gentlemen, you probably did not have to make and hand over the armor. Under such technical conditions, not a single company in the world can supply armor because of the excessively high requirements for projectile resistance. “
Technology for wartime
In the pre-war period, domestic methods of smelting armor metal were slow and laborious. Steel was brewed in small open-hearth furnaces with sour hearth: either by a monoprocess from pure charcoal iron, or by a duplex process (main + sour furnace) from ordinary coke iron. Monoprocessing on high-performance large open-hearth furnaces with a main hearth was considered impossible due to strict requirements for the purity of the final product.Since little charcoal iron was produced in the USSR, the duplex process prevailed. Nevertheless, in case of wartime, at the Izhora, Mariupol and Kulebak plants in 1936-1940, a number of experimental melts were carried out in the main furnaces. The accumulated experience turned out to be enough for decisive action in the first months of the war: already in July 1941, at the Magnitogorsk Metallurgical Combine (on the initiative and under the guidance of NII-48 scientists), the transition to work as the main process began.The first melt was received on 23 July. In September, armored steel was produced by the main open-hearth furnace of high power of the Kuznetsk Metallurgical Plant. In October, by order of the People’s Commissar of Ferrous Metallurgy, all production of armored steel grades in the USSR was transferred to the main process. Bottom line: the productivity of the existing units has almost doubled.
Armor from foundries
The advantages of large armored parts cast from liquid steel are clear and obvious. First, they are more reliable under shell fire due to the absence of weakened zones near welds.Secondly, armor casting is less laborious compared to the assembly and welding of rolled steel armor assemblies. It allows you to free up pressing, welding and other equipment for other needs. And finally, the last, but very important circumstance: in castings it is easier to achieve a rational differentiation of the thickness of the armor, strengthening the areas most susceptible to shelling and weakening others.
It cannot be said that this technology was something fundamentally new: the cast turret was installed on the French Renault FT tanks of the 1918 release.In the interwar period, French tank builders widely used cast turrets and hull parts on Renault R-35, Hotchkiss H-35 and S-35 medium tanks. Our Anglo-American allies did not neglect armor casting either.
But we must not forget that the foundry in relation to armor steel had many nuances. Casting of parts with subsequent processing to low and medium hardness was considered relatively simple, as was the case on American, British and some French tanks.The hardening of the casting to high hardness was more difficult. In the USSR and Germany, high hardness armor was chosen to protect medium tanks at the end of the 30s. Therefore, German metallurgists preferred not to take risks and until 1945 used castings only for relatively small parts, such as cannon masks or commander’s turrets.
Soviet specialists took a conscious risk and began to master armor casting with subsequent hardening to high hardness. It all started with timid attempts in 1937-1938 to cast armored cannon masks of the central tower of T-35 tanks at the Kharkov steam locomotive and Mariupol metallurgical plants.Then, in 1938, a cast turret was made for the first T-46-5 tank with anti-cannon protection in the USSR. In 1939-1940, the experiments of armored casting were headed by NII-48, which made it possible by June 1941 to organize the mass production of cast towers and armored masks for KV tanks, and for the T-34 – towers, bow beams, driver’s hatch covers, protection of the DT machine gun, protection of the crankcase and the bases of the viewing devices. If for heavy combat vehicles armor of medium hardness was used, then for “thirty-fours” – a cast version of 8C steel of high hardness.
At first, the technology of armor casting was not perfect. For example, in pre-war Mariupol, T-34 towers were molded by hand in dry molds. Casting one piece took five to seven days and was impossible without high-quality molders. Therefore, it is not surprising that on the eve of the war, Kharkiv and Mariupol metallurgists studied the possibilities of the large steel casting workshop of the Uralvagonzavod with its machine molding and conveyor casting of molds.
Automatic welding
Electric welding for joining armored structures attracted the attention of domestic tank builders back in 1930, when a special experimental group appeared at the Izhora plant.Compared to the fastening of armor plates at the corners with rivets, the new technology looked more than attractive. The path from intentions to mass production took several years: in the production of hulls and turrets of T-26 tanks, electric welding was introduced only in 1935, and BT tanks – by the beginning of 1937. The case was accompanied by a host of problems: during a conference held at the Izhora plant in 1938, technologists sadly stated that almost all welded structures were damaged by cracks. The metallurgists had to adjust the composition of the 2P (bulletproof) armor steel in order to improve its weldability.Steel 8C, as already mentioned, was originally designed for welded joints.
With all the progressiveness of the transition from riveted to welded structures, it must be borne in mind that manual welding could not ensure the flow-conveyor production of tanks both due to insufficient productivity and due to the acute shortage of highly qualified welders in the USSR. The Soviet Union could not acquire automatic machines for welding thick metals, although they were already available in the world, for example, in the United States.
For the same reason, serious problems arose not only in the tank industry, but also in other engineering industries. For example, according to the Uralvagonzavod project, 30 percent of all welding operations on carriage conveyors were to be performed by automatic and semi-automatic machines. At the time of the start-up of the enterprise in 1936, the latter were not in the workshops of UVZ at all.
The Institute of Electric Welding of the Academy of Sciences of the Ukrainian SSR under the leadership of EO Paton became the initiator of the development of automatic arc welding.It is known that at his suggestion in the spring of 1936 a special conference was convened in Kiev. Following its results, on May 23 of the same year, the People’s Commissariat of Heavy Industry issued an order on the development of automatic welding and identified six industrial bases for its implementation: the Mariupol Azovstal plant, the Leningrad Severnaya Verf, the Kiev welding plant of the Orgometall trust, as well as carriage plants: “Krasny Profintern”, Mytishchensky and Nizhny Tagil.
The new business required several years of work, and by the middle of 1940 the employees of the Kiev Institute were able to independently recreate the method of automatic welding under a layer of flux, patented in 1936 by the American company “Linde”.V.I.Dyatlov was engaged in the technology of the new process at the institute, special equipment was developed by P.I.Sevbo. The release of automatic welding heads of the PP Bushtedt system in 1940 was established by the Leningrad plant “Electric”. Uralvagonzavod received a set of equipment for automatic submerged-arc welding in the spring of 1941.
However, both the Americans and the Patonov Institute used their method to join structural steel parts, for welding armor it needed serious improvement.This is exactly what the scientists of NII-48, together with the workers of the Izhora plant, did at the beginning of 1941. By the summer, thanks to the introduction of ferrotitanium and ferrosilicon into the flux, it was possible to achieve a consistently high quality of the welded seam of the armor structures. This made it possible to introduce into serial production the automatic welding of several units of the T-50 tank. A technological process for automatic welding of straight seams of the KV tank was also developed, but it was not possible to master it due to the evacuation of the enterprise.
In parallel with the Izhora Plant, automatic welding of armor under a layer of flux was introduced at the Kharkov Tank Plant No. 183.We do not know for sure whether the employees of the Research Institute-48 or the Electric Welding Institute were directly involved in this. It is only known for certain that the Kharkovites received the drawings of the machine from the Electric Welding Institute and independently manufactured three R-72 units. One of them was launched and used to weld the sides of the T-34 tank with the bottom of the fender liner, the other two did not have time to install before the plant was moved to Nizhny Tagil. According to the testimony of the plant director Yu. E. Maksarev, academician EO Paton was present at the test of the first machine gun.The new method has demonstrated excellent quality: when testing the welded structure by shell fire, it was not the seam that was broken, but the armor plate.
At Uralvagonzavod, the first automatic welding unit appeared in the spring of 1941 and was intended for joining long carriage parts. After the outbreak of the war, the employees of the Electric Welding Institute did not waste their time and by October they were able to readjust the R-70 units of carriage production to work with the sides of tanks.
It remains to add that on November 6, 1941, the People’s Commissar of Tank Industry V.A. Malyshev, being in Nizhny Tagil, signed order No. 0204/50, containing an instruction to all enterprises in the industry: “Due to the need to significantly increase the production of hulls for tanks in the near future and the lack of qualified welders at hull and tank factories, the only reliable means of ensuring for the execution of programs for hulls is the use of the already proven and tested at a number of factories automatic welding under a layer of flux according to the method of Academician Paton.I consider it necessary in the near future for all directors of hull and tank factories to seriously engage in the introduction of automatic welding for the manufacture of tank hulls. ”
P.S. Significant addition
Combining the principles of line and conveyor production mastered in the civilian sector and the latest defense technologies is an incredibly difficult task. But in the USSR there was an appropriate “tool” for its solution, hidden under the code 8GSPI. It was created in Leningrad in 1933.The name “State Union Design Institute No. 8” (8GSPI) appeared in 1937. All domestic pre-war tank and tank engine factories were built or modernized according to the projects of the 8GSPI. The institute had to work in sometimes extreme conditions. So, in 1935-1939, the design of the hull for diesel production at the Kharkov Tank Plant and the development of technologies for the newest V-2 engine were carried out simultaneously with the creation of the diesel itself, so that the 8GSPI can be safely included in the list of the creators of the engine of the T-34, KV and IS tanks.The scope of the Institute’s activities extended far beyond the design itself. In the Central Bureau of Standardization and Interchangeability, which appeared in 1935 at the 8GSPI, all standards and normals in the field of tools, fixtures, stamps, as well as parts and assemblies of tanks were developed. The Institute provided the army and repair plants with normative materials for the repair of the most massive pre-war T-26 and BT tanks, as well as their engines.
And one more fact. Together with the technologists of the Kharkov steam locomotive plant, specialists from the 8GSPI designed and in 1933-1934 put into operation the first in the USSR and in the world, a conveyor for the final assembly of BT-type tanks.One of the leaders and organizers of this event, G.Z.Pavlotsky, in 1935 was appointed director of the still unfinished, but preparing for launch, the largest conveyor-type enterprise – the Ural Carriage Works. In six years, it will become the Ural Tank Plant No. 183, the main manufacturer of thirty-fours.
And this is not accidental. To win, you need to think before the fight.
Sergey Ustyantsev,
Candidate of Historical Sciences, Scientific Editor of OJSC NPK Uralvagonzavod
4 popular technologies in running clothes and footwear
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Running has never been so accessible and comfortable as it is now.
In the second half of the last century, running with a heart rate monitor and functional diagnostics of runners was the prerogative of professional athletes. Now everyone has the opportunity to use these technologies at a very affordable price.
Each major brand has its own technology for waterproof, windproof and sweat-wicking fabric. But some companies have gone so far ahead that their technologies are bought and used in their products by the world’s most famous brands.
How do they work? Why are they needed and in what products are they used? Go figure it out!
Terms
Waterproof – the highest protection against moisture. Whether you’re looking for reliable, quality-assured, best-in-class protection against mountain thunderstorms or city rainstorms, or if you want to be prepared for the unexpected turn of the weather on a sunny day, you need waterproof items.
Water resistance does not mean 100% impenetrable protection like “water resistance”.But such protection is not needed for every day or for every occasion.
Water repellency – addition to the previous two. Achieved by treating the outer surface with durable DWR (Durable Water Repellent), on which water collects in drops and immediately flows down without penetrating through the outer layer of the material.
GORE-TEX ™
Membrane fabric is a very popular technology that has migrated from mountaineering to sports, and from there into ordinary clothing.The essence of the membrane fabric is to allow the steam (heat) generated by the body to pass through and not to let the wind / moisture from outside.
The waterproofness of membranes depends on the pressure they experience: the higher it is, the more difficult it is for the membrane to retain water. The numbers 5000, 10,000 and 20,000 indicate the pressure in millimeters of water. For example, rubbing a drop of water into the fabric with the strap of a backpack can create a pressure of 10,000 mm of water (example from the wiki).
Gore-Tex ™ is the name of the membrane patented by W.L. Gore & Associates in 1969. The Gore-Tex ™ membrane fabric has a water resistance rating of 28,000 mm. This is a high figure that provides a good level of water resistance. I can confirm this from my own experience, as sometimes I run UA Horizon RTT GTX.
For those who understand English and who are interested in getting to know the technology, I suggest watching a video about Robert Gore and his invention.
WATCH VIDEO
This is how a layer cake looks like in outerwear with Gore-Tex ™:
Scheme of Gore-Tex composite fabric for outerwear
The membrane itself consists of Teflon (the same as in pans, but with slight differences) and has a very porous structure.Really very porous: there are 1.4 billion (!) Pores per square centimeter. Each pore is about 1 / 20,000 water droplet in size, which prevents water from penetrating through the membrane.
Gore-Tex ™ membrane under the microscope:
Gore-Tex ™ under the microscope
Have you seen the “5,000”, “10,000”, “20,000” readings on your snowboarding jackets or pants? These are indicators of the quality of the membrane tissue. The higher they are, the higher its water-repellent and breathable properties.
It is very easy to distinguish clothes or shoes with Gore-Tex ™: they will always have an inscription with the name of this membrane, and the name itself should contain something like GTX:
Gore-Tex ™ technology is used by hundreds (and maybe thousands) of brands in their clothes.
I can confirm the effectiveness of this technology used in footwear: it is not hot with Gore-Tex ™ and it really protects well against water ingress.
Outerwear with this technology is quite expensive, so it is not very easy to find it here.
There are Gore-Tex ™ alternatives developed by other companies:
- The North Face FUTURELIGHT
- eVent
- Columbia OutDry Extreme
- Adidas Climaproof ™
Alas, very little is known about them. I think if they were as good as Gore-Tex ™, the official websites of these brands would have a little more information than “good moisture protection and sweat wicking.” On myself, I test the Adidas Climaproof ™ (in my adidas TERREX Voyager CP CW, which I took for walks in winter) – it’s hot in it, but it really protects against moisture well.
Garment / Shoes with GORE-TEX ™
It is immediately apparent that this shoe uses Gore-Tex ™. Check the price – Under Armor Verge 2.0 Low GTX
When choosing clothes, I recommend that you find them on the official website of the manufacturer and make sure that the clothes use a specific technology. For example, I have often come across clothes with the word “WINDSTOPPER” in the name, which do not use this technology.
Ortholite®
Before the advent of OrthoLite, insoles were made primarily of foam that has not been technologically changed for decades.The TONA did not breathe, quickly deformed and caused the accumulation of sweat and odor.
The guys from Ortholite in 1997 chose the niche of the production of high-tech shoe insoles and today more than 350 brands choose them. Among them are Adidas, Asics, Salomon, Hoka and even Crocs.
You might be wondering: How does pronation affect the choice of running shoes?
Alas, there are not many details about their technologies, so if you have experience using these insoles – share them in the comments!
Shoes with Ortholite®
Vibram
Like many others, this technology comes from mountaineering.In 1935, 6 people died from frostbite on an expedition to the Italian Alps. The most pressing problem at that time was shoes and, in particular, the sole. In search of a balance of stiffness, protection and good traction, Vitale Bramani invented its first Vibram Carrarmato outsole. I think many will be familiar with it:
Vibram Carrarmato sole
You can recognize the Vibram sole by the yellow rubber insert.
Since 1937, Vibram has been developing soles and shoes. That is why many brands trust them to make soles for their shoes.
Michelin
A super famous tire manufacturer that created its first product, bicycle rubber, in 1891. But the first shoe sole was created in 2003.
Michelin is committed to innovation and is said to create soles for the harshest conditions.
Shoes with Michelin
Besides Gore-Tex ™, Michelin is also used here. Check Price – Under Armor Verge 2.0 Low GTX Beautiful Garmont Grid 9.81. Michelin outsole is immediately visible
Sources:
Put an asterisk, write a review, I will be grateful ?
[Total: 3 Average: 4.7/5]
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brand history and unique production technologies
The history of the Under Armor brand began in 1996. Former student team captain Kevin Plank traveled in a car full of sports gear. By personally meeting coaches and amateur players, Kevin was able to secure his first $ 17,000 sportswear contract.
Kevin Planck’s athletic background laid the foundation for his business.While still a player, Kevin noticed that the shirt he wore under his uniform was wet and soaked in sweat after each game. The compression shorts remained dry even after hours of play. This prompted Kevin to create synthetic fabric clothing that will not absorb sweat and allow the body to breathe.
After graduating from university, Kevin created his first T-shirt, which was created with microfibers that absorb moisture and provide comfort and dryness.
The Under Armor brand’s fame came after Oakland Raiders defender Jeff George was featured in an Under Armor turtleneck. Native advertising and word of mouth allowed us to conclude many contracts with professional teams and collect pre-orders for new collections.
Cooperation with Warner Brothers, the creation of equipment for the Olympic Games, the supply of clothing for the new XFL football league, brought the brand to key positions in the sports goods market.
Today Under Armor is not only sports shoes, professional equipment, but also specialized clothing and footwear for hunting, which is odorless and allows you to approach the game as quietly and imperceptibly as possible!
So what sets Under Armor apart from other sportswear and footwear manufacturers?
The main mission of the company is to create the most comfortable conditions for athletes, follow innovations and translate them into reality.
Under Armor shoes have won the hearts of sports enthusiasts not only for their stylish design and comfortable wear. In the manufacture of sneakers, unique technologies are used: high-quality breathable and high-strength materials, a special technique for cutting patterns, shoes are made on high-tech equipment under strict quality control.
The most famous patented technologies that have revolutionized the concept of footwear:
Under Armor Spine – technology allows you to create the maximum lightness of the sole, providing excellent support for the foot.
Micro G (toe) – Provides a comfortable fit during long-term use.
Micro G (Foam) – Helps create excellent cushioning in the midsole, the capsules located in the interlayer push the foot out with every step.
ColdGear Infrared Technology – Helps release excess heat generated while driving.
UA Micro G foam – used to create a skeletal sole that makes a smooth transition from heel to toe and provides excellent adhesion to the surface.
Charged Cotton is a special material that combines the properties of cotton and polyester. The material is perfectly washable and ensures long-term use.
UA Scent Control – thanks to this technology, your sneakers will not accumulate bacteria and will retain a fresh scent for a long time.
Charged Cushioning is a special padding over the heel that provides the most comfortable fit.
The special technology of making the lining without seams will save your feet from chafing.
Each technology is unique in itself, but combined in one pair of shoes, provides you with comfort for the longest distances. When making a sole pattern, Under Armor designers and designers take into account not only system calculations and algorithms, but also the structure of the human skeleton. Thanks to this, the load is correctly distributed not only on the sole, but also on the body as a whole.
You can buy Under Armor shoes and check the level of comfort on the website multisports.by
The technologies used in the manufacture of Under Armor clothing are no less unique:
ColdGear Infrared – a special heat transfer layer that helps to condense excess heat.
ArmourBlock is a technology that keeps your clothes dry and fresh during extended workouts.
UA Scent Control – Zeolite and silver contained in synthetic fabric reduce hygroscopicity and prevent unpleasant odors.
Charged Cotton – a synthesis of cotton and polyester, the fabric is easier to wash and dries faster.
HidroArmour is a hydro-armor for your clothes. The fabric does not allow moisture and ultraviolet light to pass through, it does not get dirty for a long time.
HeatGear – removes excess moisture and maintains a comfortable body temperature (used for light equipment).
AllseasonGear is a breathable fabric used in demi-season clothing.
Tech – anti-allergenic fabric, easy to wash and dry.
Other technologies (Catalyst, Odor, Control, Ultraviolet Protection, Ventilation, 4-Way, Stretch Moisture, Transport System, MPZ, 360 ° Reflectivity, 4D Foam, Microg) are used in the manufacture of sports equipment, which provide maximum comfort and durability.
Choose professional equipment at multisports.by
Creation of blacksmith armor steel. Events from history. # Novokuznetsk400
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1941
The secret recipe for blacksmith armor could not be repeated by the enemy’s metallurgists.Quality control was rigorous: steel sheets were fired from a cannon.
Dry bath brooms were one of the ingredients of Russian steel. They were thrown into the rolling mill. Burning, the birch buds burst, creating the effect of a microexplosion, which well cleaned the scale from the hot sheets of armor.
“Peaceful” and “military” metal have different properties. Weapon steel must be reliable, strong, resistant to mechanical stress. It is much more difficult to manufacture.
Each batch of armor was shot from a cannon: there was an artillery range at the KMK training ground. If the projectile pierced a sheet of armor 45 mm thick, the entire batch was considered a marriage and was melted down.
In the first months of the war, when engineers were just experimenting with technology, the percentage of defective armor was high: out of 120 tons, only 20 were suitable for the needs of the front. But three months later, by the beginning of the fall of 1941, the share of scrap was already calculated in tenths of a percent.
The properties of steel depend on the “recipe” for its preparation, in particular – on the mixture of alloying additives, temperature, cooking time in the oven and other factors. The secret recipe of the Kuznetsk steelmakers was never repeated by the engineers of the German factories. The armor, produced at the vaunted Krupp factories, was as fragile as glass, it crumbled from the impact of shells. In Russian armor, enemy shells stuck, as in a test, and lost penetration.
In total, over the war years, the plant mastered the production of 70 new steel grades.
Do you know more about this? Write to us!
Museum guide. How Magnitka’s armor steel defeated German metallurgy
1929 was a turning point in the history of the village of Magnitnaya: the construction of a metallurgical giant began, people from all over the Union came here, a new city appeared on the map, which this year celebrates its 90th anniversary.
Design work for the future plant began in 1925.For several years, research was carried out, wells were drilled, ore reserves were determined, and the construction of railways was projected. On January 17, 1929, the Council of People’s Commissars and the Labor and Defense Council decided to start the construction of the Magnitogorsk Metallurgical Plant, which was planned to be completed by January 1, 1934.
First Builders
The date of birth of the city is June 30, 1929, when the first train arrived at the Magnitogorsk station along the new railway line.The construction of the enterprise and the city proceeded in difficult conditions: there was no general plan, it was not clear on which bank of the Ural River the dwelling houses of metallurgists would be built. Therefore, at first the city resembled a group of workers’ settlements, each of which was located next to its own enterprise.
The first builders lived in dugouts and tents (that’s why in 1966 the monument “The tent of the first builders” was unveiled in Magnitogorsk). They carried with them simple belongings, some of which can be seen in the museum: a wooden suitcase, a kerosene lamp, kerosene gas, someone had a mandolin and even a gramophone.By the fall of 1930, almost 20 thousand people worked at Magnitostroi, and in 1932 the city’s population reached 205 thousand!
Construction tools were also quite simple. The plant was erected by hand with the help of a pick, shovel, hammer, saw, and a vehicle from the times of the first builders is also preserved in the exposition: it is a cart with high sides for transporting land. Numerous photographs convey the enthusiasm and atmosphere of the building.
On January 31, 1932, despite the objections of American specialists, the first blast furnace was blown out in the harsh Ural winter, and on February 1, it produced the first cast iron (several tiles with the image of V.I. Lenin, which were awarded to the best builders). On June 7, 1932, the second blast furnace, Komsomolskaya Pravda, produced pig iron; it became one of the first shock Komsomol construction projects in the country.
Everything for the front!
The Great Patriotic War showed the importance of the Magnitogorsk Iron and Steel Works for the country’s economy and defense. The equipment of 34 evacuated enterprises, including an armored rolling mill from Mariupol, was placed at MMK’s production facilities.
On July 23, 1941, the first armor steel was melted at MMK. By January 1942, the volume of its production had increased almost 100 times! During the war years, the plant produced 33% of pig iron, 25% of steel and rolled products, 56% of iron ore and 30% of coke in the USSR.
During the war years, the industry was transferred to a war footing: smelting of alloy steel grades, ammunition and weapons was ensured, the release of shells and aerial bombs was launched. Every second tank and every third shell in the USSR was made of Magnitogorsk steel.“Magnitogorsk defeated the Ruhr,” the commander of the German tank army, General Heinz Guderian, later wrote in his book, comparing Magnitogorsk with the Ruhr industrial district, the heart of German metallurgy.
Behind all labor exploits were people, their faces can be seen in photographs in the museum. Here in the exposition there are shells of shells and aerial bombs, a real machine gun, and above them are red replacements of the State Defense Committee – awards of the enterprise for heroic work during the war years.
Blacksmith’s son
Grigory Nosov was in charge of the enterprise during the war years.He was born at the Katav-Ivanovsk plant in 1905 in the family of a blacksmith. Graduated from the Tomsk Technological Institute, worked at the Kuznetsk Metallurgical Combine, where he worked his way up from a shift supervisor to a chief engineer.
In 1940, Grigory Nosov was appointed director of the Magnitogorsk Iron and Steel Works, which he headed until the end of his life (he died in 1951). During the war years, he carried out a technical revolution in the practice of world metallurgy: smelting of armor steel was carried out in open-hearth furnaces, and rolled armor plates on blooming, ferromanganese and ferrosilicon were obtained in powerful blast furnaces.
For his labor success, Grigory Nosov was awarded three Orders of Lenin, the Order of the Red Banner of Labor and two Stalin prizes. The museum exhibits a bust of the legendary director, as well as his personal belongings: a cigarette case, an elegant smoking pipe, a dagger, a folder for papers.
In an atmosphere of creativity
When visiting the Magnitogorsk Museum of History and Local Lore, you should not miss the branch – the museum-apartment of the writer Boris Ruchev, which is located in the city center.There is a memorial plaque on the house: the poet lived and worked here in 1960-1973 … (Lenin Avenue, 69, apt. 1).
The museum was opened shortly after the death of the writer on June 25, 1975. The idea of its creation belonged to the poet’s widow, who provided archives, part of the library, and her husband’s personal belongings. There are three halls in the museum: “The childhood and youth of B. Krivoshchekov”, “The youngest miner I came to Magnit-mountain”, “The stronger the pain, the more memorable the temper” (the period of repression), “The last years of the poet’s life.”
The museum has about 12 thousand exhibits: manuscripts, diaries, notebooks of Boris Ruchev, as well as manuscripts, books, personal belongings of other Magnitogorsk writers and poets.The museum has preserved the simple furnishings of the writer’s office: a desk, chairs, a sofa, a typewriter and a telephone, a bookcase, all surrounded by the writer’s personal library. Here in the room is a carved cane, and on the table is a loose-leaf calendar, on which the day of Boris Alexandrovich’s death, October 24, remains.
The poet of his native land
Boris Ruchev is a man with a difficult fate. Ruchev is a pseudonym, the real name of Krivoshchekov. He was born in 1913 in Etkulskaya stanitsa in the family of a teacher, ethnographer, writer Alexander Krivoshchekov.In the late 1920s, Boris Ruchev lived in Kurgan, where his first poems were published. In 1930 he came to the construction of Magnitka.
Here he worked as a carpenter, concrete worker, then as a journalist for a Komsomol newspaper. His poems were published in many newspapers, magazines and collections. In 1933, the first collection of his works “The Second Homeland” was published in Sverdlovsk.
In the mid-30s, Boris Aleksandrovich took courses for young writers and moved to Sverdlovsk, studied in absentia at the Literary Institute… In 1937 he was arrested, convicted and exiled to the Yakut village of Oymyakon. There he continued to write …
He returned to Magnitogorsk in 1957 after rehabilitation. In the creative biography of the writer there are about 20 books. In the 1970s, the performance of the Chelyabinsk student theater studio “Mannequin” based on the poem “Lyubava” by Boris Ruchyov, dedicated to the builders of Magnitka, became famous.
Museum address: Magnitogorsk, st. Soviet Army, 51a; Museum-apartment of B.A. Rucheva: Lenin Ave., 69, apt.1
Working hours: Monday-Friday from 09:00 to 18:00, Saturday from 10:00 to 16:00
Phone: (3519) 31-83-22, 22-83-44
E-mail: [email protected]
Website: www.mkmuzei.chel.muzkult.ru
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