Adidas is preparing to sell in London and Paris the first batches of customized running footwear made at its automated Speedfactory in Ansbach, Germany. The company is launching the AM4 project, which stands for “Adidas Made For” and consists of running shoe models designed for runners, in six cities.
The shoes are created using feedback from running communities connected with Adidas in these particular cities, in partnership with influencers who are invited to co-create the shoes in special workshops. Fitted with Boost soles and Torsion bars, the shoes can be adjusted to the terrain and running habits of the local community.
A first series will be delivered in London this week, and the second one in Paris the week after. The customized shoes should be ready early next year for the four other cities targeted by Adidas: New York, Los Angeles, Tokyo and Shanghai. The AM4 London will be available on the brand's online store and in its London flagship store on Oxford Street. Adidas explains that the AM4 project fits with its objective to rapidly produce shoes customized for individual requirements at a later stage.
The Adidas Speedfactory project started with a pilot facility in December 2015. It took about ten months to come out with a batch of 500 Adidas Futurecraft MFG (Made For Germany) shoes. The pilot factory was then dismantled, to be replaced with a larger plant nearby. The company had already started building the facility while still testing at the pilot factory, and completed the construction of the full-fledged plant in September 2016. After machinery was moved in and tested, serial production started during the summer.
As previously reported, the Speedfactory works with techniques such as computerized knitting, laser cutting and additive manufacturing technologies. They allow Adidas to build shoes layer by layer, to add structure where required, to avoid waste and to be flexible about shapes and sizes. The target is to reach a capacity of 500,000 pairs in the medium term in Ansbach and the same in Atlanta, the location for a second Speedfactory.
The plant in Ansbach employs about 160 people, although they are formally working for Oechsler, the Adidas group's partner in the Speedfactory project. Serial production is set to start at the Atlanta factory early next year, again in partnership with Oechsler and its employees.
Separately, Adidas has reportedly opened its first domestic footwear development hub, in Japan. With advanced shoe-making equipment, measuring and testing devices, The Adidas Footwear Lab is meant to develop and customize footwear products for athletes, primarily covering the creation of lasts and patterns to support the global product development. The Lab fits with the company's five-year strategy, Creating the New, which includes a focus on open source creation and key cities, including Tokyo.
