Adidas, in partnership with logistics robot company Geek+, has opened a new automated distribution center in Suzhou, China.
The fully automated center stretches 139,000 square meters and has the capacity to process more than a million pieces a day and store more than 10 million pieces of apparel and footwear. The goal of the center is to help Adidas improve its supply chain efficiency and experience for workers.
“With the establishment of this center, Adidas aims to ramp up supply chain responsiveness, boost operational efficiency and elevate the consumer experience,” Adidas CFO Harm Ohlmeyer said in a statement. “We envision these logistics advancements to provide valuable insights for Adidas’ global expansion.”
Geek+ has outfitted the center with robots designed to help Adidas with item location detection and operational safety. The center is designed to facilitate the interaction between workers and robots and elevate the overall experience of working there.
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“As a pioneer in smart logistics, Geek+ is delighted to support Adidas in advancing warehouse logistics flexibility, ultimately enhancing the consumer experience,” Geek+ founder and CEO Yong Zheng said in a statement. “Adidas and Geek+ have a longstanding and robust collaborative foundation, and this inauguration marks a significant milestone in the partnership between the two and stands as a crucial innovation within the industry.”
Adidas CEO Bjorn Gulden in a call with analysts in August praised the company’s new distribution center in China as a way to help grow the brand’s presence in the recovering region.
“The investment in the new distribution center that we opened in Suzhou is highly technical, automated and, of course, a major vehicle for us to do the growth that we plan and hope to have in the Chinese market,” Gulden said.
Adidas in July raised its full-year guidance, citing tailwinds from its decision to start selling Yeezy merchandise again after parting with Yeezy head Kanye West and his brand in October in light of repeated antisemitic statements.
