Adidas Unveils Shoe Created at Machine-Staffed Factory
Charlie Carballo
Executive Digital Director
The first shoe out of Adidas’ innovative factory has arrived.
The sportswear brand unveiled the Futurecraft M.F.G. (Made for Germany) sneakers on Sept. 21 and provided a behind-the-scenes look at its machine-led manufacturing process in a new video.
It is the first footwear produced at its new Speedfactory, which aims to turn customized shoe manufacturing into an automated process.
Designed for high performance, the Futurecraft M.F.G. will be a part of the Adidas Running line and will be sold in the German market. Adidas plans to roll out launches of Speedfactory shoes in other categories and across more markets soon, starting with U.S. consumers.
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The Futurecraft M.F.G. incorporates the brand’s BOOST technology, which enhances energy return, and features a Primeknight upper that improves comfort around the foot. The sneaker utilizes a new torsion bar that’s fitted into the outsole, which provides greater flexibility.
Adidas settled on the design after analyzing insight from its ARAMIS motion capture technology, which the brand used to evaluate how the foot moves while running.
Some of the analytics supported an intelligence-based design, including replacing its three-stripes cage and traditional heel counter with a series of patches placed across different parts of the shoe to improve support.
Though machines take care of most of the Futurecraft M.F.G.’s manufacturing at the Speedfactory, a human worker is seen in the video assisting in the production.
In a statement, brand vice president of strategy creation James Carnes called the launch of the shoe a “defining moment for the industry.”
“With Speedfactory, we have an industry-changing innovation that can be placed anywhere in the world – taking the lab to the street,” Carnes explained. “It gives us the opportunity to combine unique manufacturing speed with the flexibility to rethink conventional processes. The starting point on this journey is the Adidas Futurecraft M.F.G. and our ambition is we will give consumers what they want, when they want it.”
In July, the brand announced plans to launch a Speedfactory next year in Atlanta, and previously revealed a prototype of shoe featuring the Futurecraft 3-D printed midsole technology.
