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"wanted: entertaining examples of industrial espionage!"
"In the nature of things, [unrestricted access to competitors' factories] is generally denied; thus in seeking to close the technology gap with more advanced competitors, manufacturing companies often resort to amazing - and often highly controversial - tactics. Take,for instance, some Japanese aerospace executives who wanted to acquire American aerospace know-how. As recounted by Larry Kahaner in "Competitive Intelligence", these executives wore shoes with especially soft soles when touring American aerospace factories. Their objective was to pick up from the factory floor microscopic metal shavings, which were later analyzed for clues to the Americans' manufacturing secrets." Eamonn Fingleton, "In Praise of Hard Industries" (1999)