Adidas To Resume Shoe Mass Production In 2017

Adidas To Resume Shoe Mass Production In 2017

Adidas is set to launch mass production of running shoes at a German factory that would be operated majorly by robots.

They also plan to launch a similar plant in the United States next year.

The company founded by German cobbler Adi Dassler in 1949, closed its last shoe factory in Germany in 1993 as it shifted production to Asia, particularly China and Vietnam.

The introduction of robotics to the production process means that Adidas can now afford to bring production closer to customers to meet demands for faster delivery of new styles and to counter rising wages in Asia and lengthy shipping times.

Adidas gave the world a show of its new "Speedfactory" in Southern Germany, Ansbach, saying large-scale production will start in 2017.

  

   

With the Adidas 'Speedfactory', we are revolutionising the industry, said Chief Executive Herbert Hainer.

Our consumers always want the latest and newest product – and they want it now.

Hainer hopes that the two factories would produce a least a million pairs of shoes every year combines within the next couple of years.

In the medium term, you will see our factories in all major markets, he said.

He further stated that the new plants would supplement the plants in Asia, noting that the company currently makes about 300 million pairs of shoes a year and already needs to add two factories to keep up.

The factory is expected to employ 160 people.