The two giants of the sporting goods industry indicated last week that they plan to introduce shortly new technologies that will enable consumers to get customized shoes, using sophisticated software, 3D printing and other new technologies that will revolutionize the traditional manufacturing process.
At its meeting with investors last week, Nike announced its intention to open this month a new Advanced Product Creation Center at its campus in Beaverton, Oregon. The 125,000-square-foot facility is designed to facilitate interaction among designers, engineers, material scientists and product developers, while reducing the time from concept to product. It will also house some manufacturing capabilities, including advanced knitting machinery.
Nike also disclosed the signing of three strategic partnerships in related domains. The contract signed with Pixar will combine the studio's understanding of movement in animation with Nike's knowledge of human performance. A partnership formed with DreamWorks and its newly formed technology company, Nova, will transform its product creation process, building a 3D digital design system that will enable better visualization of the ultimate product and “ultra-rapid” prototyping.
Another deal has been signed with Flextronics International (Flex), a $26 billion consultancy with expertise in supply chain and manufacturing that operates in the automotive sector and in consumer electronics and medical devices. Nike said it has been working with Flex at its innovation campus at Milpitas, California over the past few months to test new automation techniques and other disruptive technologies, and Flex will undertake a product customization program at Nike's distribution center in Memphis, Tennessee.
In a press release embargoed for release on the same day as Nike's investor conference, Adidas unveiled an open-source partnership with Materialise, a pioneer in 3D printing, for the development of a new 3D-printed midsole for running shoes where the cushioning can be tailored to the specific needs of each of the individual's feet. The customer would walk into a store and run briefly on a treadmill to generate the data required to produce the midsole, called Futurecraft 3D, exactly matching the contours and pressure points of the foot.
Adidas and Materialise, a Belgian company that operates in many other sectors, worked together on the development of a proprietary TPU material from Bayer. The pictures of the white prototype produced by Adidas show a mesh-like midsole. Adidas said the new technology is a combination of materials and processes that opens unique opportunities for immediate in-store fittings, adding that it is only the first chapter in a Futurecraft series that will impact innovation in all areas of production.
Adidas said it is relatively easy to make lifestyle footwear with 3D printing, but the Futurecraft project is meant to make more comfortable and technologically advanced midsoles suitable for running – taking advantage of 3D printing to actually add performance benefits. This concept could be all the more relevant for running shoes, enabling the brand to customize the product based on foot and running analysis.
Futurecraft3D is part of Futurecraft, a project spearheaded by Eric Liedtke, executive board member in charge of global brands, and Paul Gaudio, creative director. It fits with the “Open Source” component of the strategy unveiled by Adidas managers earlier this year for the next five years. More design innovations are to be unveiled in the next six months.
Meanwhile, Eric Sprunk, chief operating officer of Nike, reportedly told the Geekwire Summit in Seattle that advances in robotics and automation will allow the brand to send a file with the customer's data to a Flyknit knitting machine and produce a single shoe with virtually no waste. Reinforcement and ventilation will be placed exactly where the customer wants them to be.
Customized shoes could be made in a store or at the customer's home, Sprunk said. Nike would use the database with the customers' physical data and preferences to market new products and create digital communities, while avoiding the risk of counterfeits and grey market activities.
The use of 3D manufacturing technology in the production of prototypes and customized shoes was already showcased at the first Manufacturing Forum of the World Federation of the Sporting Goods Industry (WFSGI) in Taipei two years ago, and it will no doubt be a subject of discussion at its next manufacturing forum in Hong Kong in December.
The technology is already pretty well established for prototypes. It has already started to be used commercially by small companies like Feetz in the U.S. or Mykita in Belgium within the eyewear sector. A former executive of Adidas, Uli Becker, has invested in Feetz and the former chief executive of Puma, Franz Koch, has invested in Mykita, where he acts as one of the two joint chief executives.
Neither Adidas or Nike gave a timeline or a location for the introduction of their new manufacturing technologies. Adidas said the timeline for the commercial launch of 3D midsoles would become clearer at the beginning of next year. It seems likely, however, that some of their new customized products will be used by athletes at next summer's Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro to enhance their image of innovators ahead of a possible commercial roll-out in 2017. The two companies used the London Olympics as the stage for their new knitted-upper shoes, the Primeknit and the Flyknit.
The new automated manufacturing technologies will place the production sites for these kinds of products closer to the markets they serve. They are likely to be introduced in sports shoes before their application to sports apparel. Walmart and other big players are investing in robotics for the manufacturing of apparel, however, and it would not be surprising to see that happen in the sports segment, where muscle compression and other distinctive functional features make customization an interesting area for investment.
