Adidas received the German Innovation Award 2018 for Speedfactory, the company’s manufacturing concept focusing on  increasing automation.

The reward was one in the category Large Enterprises for its Speedfactory on April 13.

Adidas built its first Speedfactory pilot factory in Ansbach as early as the end of 2015. With the AM4LDN, the first completely automated shoe series from a Speedfactory was released in 2017.

The Speedfactory makes it possible to adapt the design, cut and fit of each individual shoe to individual customer requirements with underlying algorithms. The new technology also shortens production cycles and strengthens Germany as a production location.

Federal Minister of Economics Peter Altmaier, said in a statement, “Innovations are the basis of our prosperity and the problem solvers for our social, demographic and ecological challenges. The award underlines the importance of innovations for strengthening Germany as a business location. I thank the organizers for shedding light on these achievements and congratulate the winners for their outstanding innovations.”

The German Innovation Award is an initiative launched in 2009 by Accenture, Daimler, EnBW and WirtschaftsWoche. The prize, sponsored by the Federal Ministry of Economics and Energy, honors outstanding and forward-looking innovations by German companies.