Manz, a German engineering company, has formally signed a partnership agreement with Adidas to contribute to its Speedfactory project. The company, based in Reutlingen, says the deal builds on the development of new automated production technology for sports equipment, allowing the design of custom-tailored shoe components, textiles and accessories to be transformed into production data and produced on a fully automated basis in the future. Adidas announced earlier this year that a partnership had been formed with several German firms and institutions, supported by German government funding, to work on automation in production. Manz is among the partner companies, along with Kurtz-Esra in Kreuzwertheim as a technology partner and Oeschler in Ansbach as a production partner, among others. Construction has started on the first Speedfactory under the supervision of Oeschler in Ansbach, which should turn out its first batch of products in the first half of next year and increase production in the second half. Another Speedfactory should be established in the U.S. in 2017. Manz says the global development of automated production based on individual customer requests in the regional target markets is to be implemented in several steps by 2020. As an extension of the Speedfactory project, Adidas is also preparing a pilot Store Factory, with production of footwear and apparel to take place at store locations, probably starting in Germany. An important point of these investments is to manufacture more customized products, and closer to the consumer. Nike and Under Armour have both announced far-reaching plans to invest in automation and local production as well.

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