It takes seconds, not minutes, to complete various steps—15-20 pieces for each shoe are compiled by a production line of up to 32 people completing precise tasks and passing the shoes along. He says the factory’s eight teams will produce more than 4,000 pairs on the day we visit.

I let those numbers sink in as I watch for a while. Innovative tools and machines add efficiency and speed, but at every step it takes human hands to guide the process. During lunch break—there are two cafeterias open for the 300 or so workers—we meet John Poulin of Waterville, who tells us that before being hired in 2002 and trained as a cutter and then team leader, he was a chef at summer camps. Poulin sees similarities in his work at New Balance. With both cooking and shoemaking, “it’s all about preparation and timing. You’ve got a ‘recipe’ you’ve got to follow, and you always have to have the next part ready to go.”

Like everyone we’re meeting on this shoe spree, Poulin takes pride in what he’s making. When he’s around town in Waterville or down in Boston for the day, Poulin says he scans every room at foot level to see who’s wearing New Balance. Cutter Richard Cunningham of Fairfield says he does the same thing. One time he met a man visiting Maine from Minnesota who was wearing the 1540v2 model, the exact kind Cunningham had been working on. “I said, ‘Hey, I made those. I personally cut all the pieces out.” The man explained that he was diabetic, “and he said he had never had a pair that made his feet feel so comfortable. That made me feel good, knowing it was something I had made and that I’d once had my hands on.”

Cunningham is personally devoted to the shoe brand, and he says he likes the most colorful shoe models the best. “I’m not a plain person.” And while he’s had chances to train for other positions at the company, he’s content where he is. “I’m fortunate to be with the same team for the past 13 years. I love cutting. I love what I do.”