Adidas 1997 Annual Report Download - page 26

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24
R&D: the challenge
to match the
athlete’s quest
for perfection
Industry leadership starts with
the best ideas. Excelling in re-
search, technology and design
is the first step in ensuring top
performance. This, together
with excellence in marketing,
is the formula for leadership.
Behind it all is a combination
of the right attitude and suffi-
cient resources. The attitude
is the commitment – like the
champion athletes we outfit –
to testing ourselves, to contin-
uous self-questioning, to un-
willingness to settle for less
than the best. This attitude
is manifested in our unique
Global Technology Center in
Scheinfeld, Germany – the
ultimate sports manufacturing
think tank. The GTC brings
together under one roof four
specialized laboratories to
ensure that adidas products
are second to none.
The Mock-up Shop –
laying the foundation for fit
and performance. Designers
and pattern engineers convert
a design into technical patterns
for series production. Includ-
ing designers there allows
immediate fine-tuning and
reduces problems during the
manufacturing stages.
The House of Testing –
for ultimate performance.
New products endure tough
tests throughout the prepara-
tion and production phases,
be they material tests to
ensure conformity to perfor-
mance
requirements or bio-
mechan
ical tests to ensure
product performance.
The Made-to-Measure
Department – meeting the
demands of athletes. Athletes
know best what they need
and they rely on our experts
for tailor-made products.
Whether it is creating a spe-
cial heel for a handball goal-
keeper, red soccer shoes
for
Fredi Bobic or special shoes
for Steffi Graf, this department
fosters relations between
adidas and the world's top
athletes in a tradition started
by our founder.
The Headquarters
Laboratory – testing for qual-
ity. This group
determines and
tests the phys
ical parameters
for materials used in shoe and
ball production. All materials
undergo a variety of tests to
ensure that they meet the
highest quality
and perfor-
mance requirements.
To make certain that this R&D
leadership tradition continues
as a key competitive advan-
tage, an international training
center was added. adidas
specialists will train the next
generation of researchers and
developers to pass on knowl-
edge and the culture of excel-
lence.
The commitment to R&D con-
tinues, for 1998 will see the
addition of two new compe-
tence centers – one for new
concepts and one for re-
search in rubber.
The basic tenet remains.
The secret to leadership is Adi
Dassler's philosophy – listen
to the athlete, test and modify
– and our quest for perfection
in performance products.
Jan Ullrich made history as the first German
to win the Tour de France
JAN’S ADISTAR ROAD TT,
THE NEW SHOE MADE
WITH JAN ULLRICH
FOR JAN ULLRICH