Adidas to close Speedfactories, transfer technologies to Asian suppliers

Adidas has announced it will close its two state-of-the-art ‘Speedfactories’ and will be transferring the technologies to two of its suppliers in Asia at the end of this year.

The German sportswear giant said it plans to close the high-tech "robot" factories in Ansbach, Germany, and Atlanta, USA by April 2020, in a move that it expects will result in “better utilization of existing production capacity and more flexibility in product design.”

Martin Shankland, member of the executive board of adidas AG, responsible for global operations, said in a statement: “The Speedfactories have been instrumental in furthering our manufacturing innovation and capabilities. Through shortened development and production lead times, we’ve provided select customers with hyper-relevant product for moments that matter. This was our goal from the start.

“We are now able to couple these learnings with other advancements made with our suppliers, leveraging the totality of these technologies to be more flexible and economic while simultaneously expanding the range of products available.”

Photo credit: adidas