From a Piece of Wood to World-Class Performance: Design Lessons from Elan
During a recent visit to Elan's manufacturing facility in the Slovenian Alps, I expected to learn how world-class skis are made. Instead, I left with three lessons about engineering design: innovation, sustainability, and attention to detail. A ski is fundamentally a simple object. But transforming that "piece of wood" into world-class performance requires innovation, responsible material choices, incredibly precise manufacturing, and attention to seemingly insignificant details.
Figure 1: Elan’s production facility in the mountains [1].
Elan has been a center of innovation throughout their 81-year history. This spirit began with their founder Rudi Finžgar who was full of courage and faith in a brighter future. Throughout its history innovation has remained the core of the company. Reflecting on both Elan's history and the evolution of the ski itself, one comment stood out: “You could say very simple product – piece of wood, but innovation has taken it so far.” This innovation included the development of carving skis, which could “turn by themselves,” a change embraced by beginners and competitors alike. Other examples include Amphibio technology, which uses dedicated left and right skis, and the folding ski that improves transport and use in difficult terrain [2]. Their most recent innovation has led to what they call “Carving 2.0”, an integrated active suspension ski, which they report to make you ski better, than traditional carving skis [3]. For engineers, this serves as a reminder that innovation does not require inventing an entirely new product. Sometimes the greatest advances come from rethinking a familiar one.
Elan's approach to innovation also challenged my assumption that improvement is only about performance. A better ski is not simply one that turns faster or performs better; it is one designed with greater responsibility for the resources required to make it. At Elan sustainability felt like so much more than just a marketing slogan. It appeared as a genuine design priority rooted in the company's connection to the mountains that surround it. “Energy is a value because we are mountain people, so this is near and dear to our hearts.” This is seen throughout the process of how they design and manufacture their skis. They use prepreg fiberglass, to reduce the energy needed to bake their skis, and are 100% powered by renewable energy in their factory. They have installed 7,000 solar panels on their factory roofs to aid in this process. Elan focuses on sustainable and locally sourced materials, to reduce the company’s global carbon footprint, throughout the life cycle of their product. Lastly, they use wood and waste byproducts from ski core manufacturing as fuel in their boiler system to provide factory heating [3]. Effective design requires considering not only how a product performs, but also how it impacts the environment throughout its life cycle.
Figure 2: An inside look at the factory floor [5].
That same mindset of looking beyond the obvious appeared again on the manufacturing floor. Sustainability at Elan was not simply a broad company goal; it was the result of paying attention to hundreds of small decisions about materials, energy, tolerances, and waste. On the manufacturing floor, attention to detail was particularly evident in two areas: precision tolerancing and waste reduction. Marko Kozjek, who is the head of research and development, shared a few fascinating insights into how they keep their manufacturing competitive and innovative. First, he talked about the efforts in precision and how some parts of the ski have a tolerance of just ±0.005 mm. Because being off by less than a percent of a millimeter affects the way the ski runs. Knowing which tolerances are critical, and how they affect the system, is a key detail in order to design and manufacture their product well. Not every dimension on a ski requires such precision—in fact, very few do. The important lesson is knowing which dimensions matter and how deviations in those dimensions affect the overall system. Another key detail they focus on is waste. Elan tracks waste as a percentage of material used in the product and works to minimize it, because “no one buys the waste.” That statement captures an important principle of lean manufacturing: waste adds cost without adding value to the customer. What impressed me was not simply that Elan tries to minimize waste, but that they measure it and track their improvement. Great manufacturing requires understanding what matters to the customer and designing the system around it.
I arrived at Elan expecting to learn how skis were manufactured. Instead, I came away with a different understanding of what makes engineering design great. Innovation pushes engineers to rethink what a product can do. Sustainability asks us to consider the consequences of how we make it. Attention to detail turns those ideas into a product that actually works. Elan's skis may begin with something as simple as a piece of wood, but transforming that simple material into world-class performance requires all three.
References
[1] "Elan & the Future of Skiing." Mountain Life, 26 Sept. 2022, www.mountainlifemedia.ca/2022/09/elan-the-future-of-skiing/.
[2] "Heritage & Innovation." Elan Sports, elansports.com/en-us/pages/heritage-innovation.
[3] "ACE Skis – Ski Better, Ski ACE." Elan Sports, elansports.com/en-us/pages/ace-skis-ski-better-ski-ace.
[4] Elan Skis [@elanskis]. Instagram photo, 2026, www.instagram.com/p/DXcX9wcFGGX/?img_index=2.
[5] Sagan, Crystal. "Inside the Elan Ski Factory." SKI Magazine, 16 Dec. 2020, www.skimag.com/ski-resort-life/inside-the-elan-ski-factory/.
To cite this article:
Mecham, Rebecca. “From a Piece of Wood to World-Class Performance: Design Lessons from Elan.” The BYU Design Review, 19 Aug 2026, https://www.designreview.byu.edu/collections/from-a-piece-of-wood-to-world-class-performance-design-lessons-from-elan.
