Adidas robots to make shoes in Germany

11:01 • 25.05.16
Science/tech

Adidas, the German maker of sportswear and equipment, has announced it will start marketing its first series of shoes manufactured by robots in Germany from 2017, The Guardian reports.

More than 20 years after Adidas ceased production activities in Germany and moved them to Asia, chief executive Herbert Hainer unveiled to the press the group’s new prototype “Speedfactory” in Ansbach, southern Germany.

The 4,600-square-metre plant is still being built but Adidas opened it to the press, pledging to automate shoe production – which is currently done mostly by hand in Asia – and enable the shoes to be made more quickly and closer to its sales outlets.

The factory will deliver a first test set of around 500 pairs of shoes from the third quarter of 2016.

Large-scale production will begin in 2017 and Adidas was planning a second “Speed Factory” in the United States in the same year, said Hainer.

Hainer insisted the factories would not immediately replace the work of sub-contractors in Asia. “Our goal is not full automatisation,” said Gerd Manz, head of innovation and technology.

Adidas produced 301m pairs of shoes in 2015 and needs to produce 30m more each year to reach its growth targets by 2020.

Six subcontractors of Adidas in China declined to comment on the new factories or said they were not aware of them.

In the longer term Adidas is planning to build robot-operated factories in Britain or in France, and could even produce the shirts of Germany’s national football team in its home country, said Hainer.

The shoes made in Germany would sell at a similar price to those produced in Asia, he said.

Adidas is facing rising production costs in Asia where it employs around one million workers. Arch-rival Nike is also developing its robot-operated factory.

 

LATEST NEWS

Videos

15:20 • 24.05.21

Interview with Francis Malige, EBRD Managing Director

11:39 • 24.04.21

Armenians Commemorating 106th Anniversary of Genocide

09:40 • 23.04.21

Biden Under Pressure to Recognize Armenian Genocide - KTLA 5 News

15:34 • 22.04.21

Governance and Oversight Capacities Account for Our Bank's Robust Management System - Philip Lynch, Independent Board Member at Ameriabank

14:09 • 21.04.21

'Mr. President, It Is Now in Your Power to Right Decades of Denial' - US Congressman Adam Schiff Urges Joe Biden to Recognize Armenian Genocide

12:37 • 03.04.21

Armenians of Nagorno-Karabakh in Despair After Trauma of Military Defeat - France 24

17:33 • 11.03.21

Interview with Kakhaber Kiknavelidze, an Independent Member of Ameriabank Board of Directors

17:57 • 26.01.21

Only Terrorists Keep Hostages, Putting Forward Preconditions for Their Release - Edmon Marukyan

13:33 • 22.01.21

Rep Adam Schiff Says Congress Should Recognize Artsakh

09:42 • 29.12.20

UN's Guterres Issues Global Appeal to Make 2021 'Year of Healing'

18:41 • 24.12.20

NASA's Mars 2020 Perseverance Rover Landing Animations

13:33 • 31.10.20

Azerbaijan Uses Prohibited Phosphorus Chemical Munitions - Defense Army Video

16:37 • 30.10.20

Artsakh Defense Army Units Neutralizing Azerbaijani Arms Supplies

11:25 • 28.10.20

Artsakh Defense Army Units Neutralizing Azerbaijani Drone

13:45 • 24.10.20

Nagorno-Karabakh's Status Has Been At the Heart of Our Approach - Zohrab Mnatsakanyan

11:51 • 24.10.20

Artsakh Defense Army Releases Video Featuring Damaged Azerbaijani Military Equipment

11:40 • 24.10.20

Artsakh Defense Army Units Inflicting Manpower Losses on Azerbaijan

10:39 • 24.10.20

Gas Pipeline Damaged in Azerbaijani Fire Targeting Nagorno-Karabakh's Capital

12:41 • 23.10.20

President Armen Sarkissian Meets Emmanuel Macron at Élysée Palace

12:16 • 23.10.20

Artsakh Defense Army Neutralizes Azerbaijani Military Hardware

12:02 • 22.10.20

Artsakh Defense Army Units Neutralizing Azerbaijani Military Infrastructures

10:35 • 22.10.20

President Armen Sarkissian Meets with NATO Secretary-General in Brussels

10:51 • 17.10.20

Buildings and Homes Lying in Ruins in Nagorno-Karabakh's Capital After Azerbaijani Shelling

15:09 • 15.10.20

Artsakh Defense Army's Precision Fire Gives Deadly Blow to Enemy

13:13 • 13.10.20

Artsakh Defense Army Units Destroying Azerbaijani Tank

12:56 • 12.10.20

Zohrab Mnatsakanyan: Ceasefire Does not Mandate Azerbaijan to Kill Civilians and Hit Civilian Settlements

12:23 • 12.10.20

Armenians Protest Outside Turkrish Embassy in Los Angeles

17:23 • 09.10.20

Losses in Azerbaijan's Military Featured in Defense Army Footage

15:53 • 09.10.20

Artsakh Defense Army Neutralizing Adversary's Transport Column

14:11 • 09.10.20

Turkey openly backs Azerbaijan 'far more aggressively than in the past' - ABC News on Syrian mercenaries fighting in Karabakh

15:52 • 08.10.20

Iconic Armenian Church Hit in Azerbaijani Attacks in Nagorno-Karabakh City (photos)

10:57 • 08.10.20

Artsakh Defense Army Continues High-Precision Strikes

14:24 • 07.10.20

War Situation in Karabakh on European Parliament's Agenda

19:31 • 05.10.20

Call for Urgent Action: Armenian Journalist Brings Intn'l Colleagues' Attention to Situation iin Artsakh After Azerbaijani Attacks

16:17 • 04.10.20

Turkey's Support to Syrian Mercenaries Fighting Against Artsakh: Facts About Azerbaijani Aggression

12:39 • 04.10.20

Nagorno-Karabakh's Capital Under Azerbaijani Strikes

13:49 • 03.10.20

Armenian Armed Forces Neutralize Azerbaijani Defense Positions

10:12 • 29.09.20

ArmenianTroops Destroy Azerbaijani Armored Fighting Vehicle on Frontline

23:42 • 28.09.20

There is a solid evidence that Azerbaijan has launched a thoroughly planned attack on the NKR

18:45 • 28.09.20

EU calls for Immediate End to Hostilities over Nagorno-Karabakh

Show all

Most popular articles Today Yesterday For a week

Politics

Law

Economy

Event

Press digest

Science/tech

Sports

Culture

Entertainment