One of the shoe-making robots in Adidas’ Speedfactory (Adidas)

Adidas has announced it will be closing down its ‘Speedfactories’ in Germany and the United States and moving production to Asia.

The factories are staffed by robots that make the company’s running shoes and will both be shuttered by 2020, according to a press release.

Instead, the technology will be moved to Asia where robots there will take over manufacturing.

‘Going forward, not only running shoes, but also models of other product categories will be able to be produced in a short period of time by using the production processes tested in the Speedfactories,’ the sportswear giant said.


So, yes, Asian robots are in fact taking jobs from their European counterparts.

Adidas opened its first robot-staffed Speedfactory in Germany in 2016 (Adidas)

Ironically, the creation of the Speedfactories were meant as a way to lower reliance on Asian production lines that are too often criticised for unethical working conditions.



The German sportswear company did not give details for why it was closing the facilities, which have proved expensive and difficult to extend the technology to different products.

Martin Shankland, Adidas head of global operations, said the factories had helped the company improve its expertise in innovative manufacturing, but applying what it had learnt with its suppliers would be ‘more flexible and economic’.

Adidas started production of shoes largely by robots in the southern town of Ansbach near its Bavarian headquarters in 2016 and opened the second near Atlanta in 2017.

The robots are used to make Adidas running shoes (Adidas)

Founded by German cobbler Adi Dassler in 1949, Adidas has shifted most of its production from Europe to Asia and now relies on more than 1 million workers in contract factories, particularly in China and Vietnam.

It said it would continue to work with Oechsler, the German company which operates the two factories, in other manufacturing areas, such as producing soles for its springy Boost shoes, as well as soles for soccer shoes and advanced 3D printed soles.