Israeli Founder Applies Missile-Tracking Technology to Shoemaking Machines

ORISOL Precision Industrial’s General Manager Kobi Michaelov (center in photo) began his entrepreneurial journey in Israel and established a branch in Changhua, Taiwan, in 1999.
Inside the U.S.-based New Balance factories—where sneakers proudly bear the “Made in USA” label—about 80% of the equipment comes from ORISOL. Thanks to its ability to merge advanced technology with shoemaking expertise, ORISOL is often the go-to candidate when global sportswear brands such as Nike, Adidas, and New Balance seek to develop new machinery.
Michaelov says, “Sometimes, I think we're more of a technology company than a shoe-machine manufacturer”. Walking into ORISOL’s factory, one finds engineers working in temperature- and humidity-controlled rooms, testing robotic arms and vision positioning systems—a scene that feels more like a high-tech lab than a traditional machinery plant.
Taiwan's early shoe-machine makers mostly came from mechanical backgrounds, learning through apprenticeships. Michaelov, however, took a different approach—he modeled his startup after tech companies. He equipped computerized stitching machines with two CCD cameras for vision positioning. “This allows the machine not only to sew but also to see the material,” he explains.
Traditional sewing machines follow a fixed stitch path, but ORISOL's vision-guided sewing machine can automatically adjust when the fabric shifts or stretches, reducing defect rates.
According to ORISOL's Assistant General Manager, Vincent Hsiao, the vision system technology originated from Israel's missile-tracking systems.
Michaelov notes that while many Asian competitors excel at improving existing machines to make them faster or more efficient, his strength lies in developing new technologies. However, innovation requires educating the market, a process that takes time and persistence.

One-Fifth of Employees Focus on R&D

In ORISOL's early years, a single vision-guided sewing machine cost US$100,000, while a Chinese worker's weekly wage was only US$80. The company ran at a loss for several years, surviving by selling traditional computer sewing machines and through investments from Asian footwear manufacturers. By 2011, as China announced annual wage increases of at least 15%, Michaelov foresaw the coming wave of automation in the footwear industry. He began developing an automatic adhesive system to replace manual gluing.
Traditionally, workers applied two or three layers of glue to the shoe sole before bonding. ORISOL collaborated with a Brazilian powder manufacturer to create a custom polyurethane (TPU) powder, which could be sprayed onto the outsole and then heated in an oven to activate adhesion—reducing labor requirements by about 6%. The project took five years to develop, but the risk was significant: if no major brand adopted it, all the effort would have been wasted.
Michaelov commented, “That's business competition—without taking risks, there's no profit.” He believes Taiwanese shoe-machine makers often rely on mature technology, but once technology matures, differentiation fades and profit margins shrink.
A CEO of a mid-sized footwear OEM remarked that ORISOL leads with R&D—in emerging technologies where others can only reach 60 points, ORISOL achieves 80. However, when the automatic adhesive system was first introduced, frequent breakdowns caused frustration among contract manufacturers—an inherent risk of adopting cutting-edge technology.
Michaelov reflects, “In Asia, people often see failure as shameful, but I always tell my team: making mistakes isn't shameful—repeating them is".
After three years of refinement, ORISOL’s automatic adhesive machines achieved greater stability and received certification from Adidas, New Balance, Under Armour (UA), Mizuno, and Asics, successfully entering their contract manufacturing lines. Despite the recent decline in Taiwan’s shoe-machine export value, ORISOL continues to achieve annual revenue growth of around 10%, proving that innovation remains its strongest advantage.

Source: Business Weekly