![]() ![]() Traditional additive manufacturing can cause products to be inconsistent on a molecular basis and therefore structurally weak in a particular axis. In this case, Adidas should focus its activities on serious amateur athletes and those with unique foot related issues that would be ideal initial customers for a premium margin product.ĭespite its potential, questions remain about Carbon’s proposed shoe manufacturing technology. Because of the low barriers to entry, Adidas needs to ensure it markets the shoe and its process to the right consumer and solidify its “mind share” in the “future of footwear” market. Both Nike, New Balance, and Under Armour are producing shoe models specific to elite level sports performance in soccer, baseball, and cross training. It should not come as a shock that the 3-D footwear space is hotly contested. While the specifics of Adidas long-term plan are purposefully vague, the goal is to make a uniquely customized shoe that is manufactured and delivered in a fraction of the cycle time required by traditional shoe manufacturing. It plans to produce 100,000 pairs of Futurecraft 4D by the end of 2018 and is beginning to shift 3-D shoe production to a factory near Adidas’s headquarters in Herzogenaurach, Germany as well as out of Carbon’s silicon valley plant. Pathways to Just Digital Future Watch this tech inequality series featuring scholars, practitioners, & activistsĪdidas manufactured roughly 5,000 pairs of its $300 Futurecraft 4D shoe with Carbon in 2017 and officially announced a formal partnership in April of 2018. Carbon’s 3-D printer will allow Adidas to relocate production plants from Asia, to more advantageous distribution locations that can provide just in time manufacturing and a quick customized response. In fact, Adidas sourced 68% of its shoes from Asian manufacturing centers in 2016. Shoe manufacturers traditionally look to low cost of labor markets like Asia to source the manufacturing of its shoes. The benefits of additive manufacturing go well beyond the custom fit shoe creation and improved cycle times. If a completely new shoe design is desired the cycle time required for design, prototyping, testing, manufacturing, and shipping can push design to delivery time on the order of 15-18 months. While it is difficult to compete with traditional manufacturing on scale, 3-D printing has a massive advantage when considering the cycle time of design, prototyping, production, and delivery. ![]() Ultimately, this technology can scan consumers feet in stores, gather data about their gait, and deliver personalized shoes in a printing process that is “100 times faster” than the roughly 24 hours required of traditional 3-D shoe printing utilized by competitors like Under Armour. The 3-D printer receives input from cloud based software that can be easily customized. Unlike traditional 3-D manufacturing which overlays two dimensional layers of material on top of each other to create a three dimensional product, DLS uses light and oxygen to make plastic objects like sneaker mid-soles from a pool of resin without waste or a need for injection molding. Carbon uses a form of 3-D printing, or additive manufacturing, that it calls “Digital Light Synthesis (DLS)” – a method of continuous liquid interface production. In order to do so, Adidas is in investing heavily in 3-D printing through a partnership with Silicon Valley based startup Carbon. ![]() With a look towards the future, Adidas is investing in 3-D additive manufacturing to produce the footwear that may just unseat the market heavyweight that is Nike. It’s focus on scale, online presence, and success in recognizing trends are just a few reasons behind its’ surging performance. Nevertheless, Adidas has recently taken market share from Nike, doubling its 2016 share of 6% to 12% in 2017. With roughly 35% of a $64 billion market that is expected to grow at a Compound Annual Growth Rate of slightly over 5% from 2018 to 2025 – Nike sits in a dominate position. For the past two decades Nike has absolutely dominated the global athletic footwear market. ![]()
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