Most of the 258 million pairs of shoes produced each year by adidas "are made in low-cost Asia," according to Emma Thomasson of REUTERS.
That could soon change as cheaper, faster and more flexible robots mean manufacturing -- including producing fiddly footwear -- "could be brought closer to consumers in high-wage countries like Germany, speeding up delivery and slashing freight costs in what some call a fourth industrial revolution."
Adidas "is working with the German government, academics and robotics firms on new technologies it hopes will trigger as significant a shift in the footwear industry as the move led by its arch rival Nike to produce in Asia decades ago."
The project "is part of a broader drive by Adidas to catch up with Nike." Adidas CEO Herbert Hainer:
"We will bring production back to where the main markets are. We will be the leader and the first mover there."
Key to moving footwear manufacturing closer to Western markets "are technologies which cut the need for workers to piece together shoes." A machine can now "knit" an upper like a sock, robots "can already complete more of the final assembly of the shoe, while 3-D printing could soon allow the production of a customised sole."
That could "threaten millions of jobs in the footwear industry" in countries like China, Brazil and Vietnam, but potentially "create new positions elsewhere, albeit for more highly skilled labourers working alongside robots." Nike and adidas each "rely on more than 1 million workers in contract factories worldwide to make their shoes."
While the need for speed is one motivating factor, "rising wage costs, particularly in China, are also driving the shift." Adidas Head of Global Operations Glenn Bennett: "That element is going up dramatically" (REUTERS, 6/10).
