Robotics

Rapid robots staff new Adidas factory

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The Speedfactory will allow Adidas to produce goods "faster than ever before," with fewer shipping emissions and with less use of adhesives
The 4,600-sq m (49,500 sq ft) Ansbach facility was set up as a pilot in December
The Speedfactory will allow Adidas to produce goods "faster than ever before," with fewer shipping emissions and with less use of adhesives
The Speedfactory will allow Adidas to produce shoes with greater precision and with new designs
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Adidas has announced that it is ready to begin commercial production of footwear at a robot-staffed factory in Germany. The so-called "Speedfactory" in Ansbach will apparently allow the firm to produce more shoes, with greater precision and with new designs.

The 4,600-sq m (49,500 sq ft) Ansbach facility was set up as a pilot in December last year, allowing Adidas to test both the new manufacturing process and a new production model. The automation, it says, allows production to be brought "to where the consumer is," presumably due the the virtual elimination of staffing costs.

Once up and running, the facility will be operated by Adidas' strategic partner Oechsler Motion. In addition to being able to produce goods "faster than ever before," the factory will help to reduce shipping emissions and the use of adhesives, the firm says.

The first pairs of footwear to be produced at the Speedfactory will be revealed later this year, with large-scale production due to begin in 2017. A second Speedfactory is being planned for the US.

Source: Adidas

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4 comments
b2p
I can't wait until automation replaces middle and upper management. Then we will begin to see real efficiencies. They can join the millions of other people that they put out of work.
Shaun Bracewell
This is a great thing for the humans. The less manual labor "they" have to do, the greater opportunities "they" will have to advance "their" species.
weissjohn
Automation is the way to bring manufacturing back to the developed world. It will limit IP stealing by developing goverments and bring jobs back to the developed world. Anyone who thinks automation means no jobs has limited knowledge of automation. There is software bugs, installing patches, updates, new design specs, service. Not to mention the logistics and material that will be delivered to the factory and from the factory. Roads will need to be constructed, buildings erected, vehicles purchased, the facility powered and cooled/heated. That means utility infrastructure, energy resources for the trucks, rents, taxes, etc.
If you don't understand that automation is the saving grace of developed nations then you don't understand much
DenisDitrichs
So I assume Adidas will lower their prices by 45%?