The Age Of Machine Change Has Arrived. Where Is The Machine Superior To Others?

The application of intelligent production in sports products has been very promising.

Recently, Adidas launched the first pair made by robots.

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In December 9, 2015, Adidas was put into operation in Speedfactory, a concept factory in Bavaria, southern Germany.

In addition to a small number of technical personnel, the factory is made of intelligent robot shoes production.

Recently, Speedfactory's first product was officially unveiled. The running shoes, called Futurecraft M.F.G., became the first pair of sneakers produced by robots.

The first batch of products produced 500 pairs, using ARAMIS motion capture technology, according to individual skin or bone pressure and relaxation degree.

Better shoes.

Adidas said the shoes "foreshadowed a new era, providing more precise, unique design and high performance for footwear manufacturing", which shows its importance and optimism in the field of sports shoes.

Adidas expects to start second Speedfactory in Atlanta, USA, in 2017. By the second half of next year, the output of Atlanta plant will reach 50 thousand pairs per month.

If all goes well, Adidas's robot factory will produce 1 million pairs of sneakers every year in the future.

McKinsey, an American research firm, has analyzed more than 2000 jobs in over 800 jobs. The possibility of being replaced by robots is analyzed from factors such as time, skills and automation components.

The report points out that in the manufacturing industry, 59% of the work can be automated, and 90% of the work that can be automated can be carried out by robots.

In the trend of intelligent concepts and technologies being applied more and more widely in all walks of life, what can robot factories bring to Adidas?

Lower labor costs

In the 80s and 90s of last century, a large number of overseas enterprises pferred their products to China and Southeast Asian countries, relying on the local abundant and cheap labor force to produce at low cost, and sporting goods companies such as Nike and Adidas were among them.

Today, twenty or thirty years later, wages of workers in China and Southeast Asia have doubled, and are still in a sustained growth state.

In the face of rising labor costs, Adidas and other enterprises have long been considering the possibility of re pferring production sites.

So robot factory has become a good choice.

In Adidas, Germany, Speedfactory has a total of about 160 technical staff, which is a huge expense compared to the hundreds of thousands of workers in the factory.

Although robot production equipment is expensive, maintenance and ancillary facilities also require continuous investment.

But in the long run, for Adidas, which produces about 300 million pairs of sports shoes every year, the robot factory will provide lower production costs than traditional factories.

In addition, robots can perform 24 hours of continuous production with high and stable efficiency, and do not ask for a raise or job hopping.

Compared with the human workers with greater uncertainty, unstable efficiency and the risk of personnel turnover, they are less "affordable", and the management cost of workers is also a factor to consider.

Closer distance

Because it does not need to consider the impact of human cost, Adidas can theoretically drive its robot factory to any country or region.

For Adidas, it is undoubtedly the best choice to place production in its largest market, which will help significantly improve the speed of product design, production and listing.

In recent years, apart from the fierce competition among sports brands, its market space has been further squeezed by fashion brands such as Zara, H&M and Uniqlo.

The biggest competitiveness of these brands is "fast". Taking Zara as an example, it compresses the design, production and delivery process to 15 days through a unique communication and logistics distribution system.

Because of the rapidly changing trend, consumers obviously don't want to pay for the fashion of last season.

Therefore, Adidas's Speedfactory in Germany and next year's Atlanta will help to get closer to the main market and meet the fast changing demand of consumers.

Herbert Heiner, chief executive of Adidas, said: "the flexibility of automated production is unmatched by traditional production models.

This will lead the trend and narrow the distance between Adidas and consumers. "

At present, more than 74% of Adidas's sales come from new products within one year, and this proportion will continue to grow.

More personalized products

Gerd Mans, director of Adidas technology innovation, said, "customized personalized products will become the mainstream in the future."

For a younger generation of consumers, what the vendor offers is no longer applicable.

They do not want to bump their shoes with the passers-by on the street, but they also yearn for their clothes to have their own design and style.

The sports brand has long been eyeing the market of customized products. Nike's Nike ID business enables consumers to build their own sports shoes with color matching and pattern on their official website.

Although Adidas has launched a similar custom business mi adidas to help consumers design personalized products, Nike still dominates the market.

But Adidas's robot factory may change the situation.

Unlike traditional production, robots are more capable of learning, and only need to adjust the following programs, so that they can quickly adapt to the production of new shoes. Models, sizes and materials are not difficult for them.

The flexibility of intelligent production is unmatched by traditional workers, and Adidas's Speedfactory will mainly produce customized products in the future.