adidas plans growth around 'speed' principle

The company aims to make at least 50 per cent of its products in automated factories within three years.

With 2016 being viewed as successful in terms of sales, sportswear manufacturer adidas has announced that it expects revenues in the long term to be higher than predicted. The Germany-based company’s sales for the year reached $20.4 billion, which represents an 18 per cent increase on 2015. This growth is said to have been driven by a 22 per cent boost in sales for the adidas brand. Lifestyle products in this segment, led by adidas Originals and adidas Neo, are reported to have performed particularly well, resulting in a 45 per cent growth in sales. A 6 per cent increase in revenue was recorded for the Reebok brand.

Having announcing these results, adidas stated that it now expects currency-neutral sales to increase at an average rate of 10 to 12 per cent each year between 2015 and 2020. Previous forecasts had expected a high single-digit growth.

As part of the company's long-term strategic business plan, adidas aims to become what it terms the ‘first true fast sports company’. It has already launched a pilot 'speedfactory' in Ansbach, Germany, where highly-automated mass production is likely to start this year. A second speedfactory is opening in the US city of Atlanta.

Some 15 per cent of the company’s sales in 2016 were generated by products made on 'Speed' programmes. It aims to increase the proportion of adidas products made in speedfactories to at least 50 per cent by 2020.

Publishing Data

This article was originally published on page 6 of the April 2017 issue of SATRA Bulletin.

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