So, that Made-in-USA Adidas thing was short-lived. According to Reuters, the sports apparel company is closing its Atlanta “Speedfactory.”
Per the story, the company is also closing its German “robot” factory, saying that “deploying some of the technology in Asia would be ‘more economic and flexible.’” Yup.
The factories — open since 2016 in Germany and 2017 in Atlanta — were built to “meet demand for faster delivery of new styles to… major markets,” as well as to “counter rising wages in Asia and higher shipping costs,” and were the first in what was to be a “global network” of Speedfactories
However, the factories have “proved expensive” and the Speed manufacturing technology has been “difficult to extend… to different products.” And so, that’s that.
To be fair, robots were doing most of the work, but there was a human benefit, too: the Atlanta factory employed nearly 160 people, all of whom are now losing their jobs.
You can read more about it at Reuters.
