Reebok 2007 Annual Report Download - page 76

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072
ANNUAL REPORT 2007 --- adidas Group GROUP MANAGEMENT REPORT – OUR GROUP -- Corporate Functions - Research and Development
RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT Being a
per formance leader in our industry, product
i
nnovat
i
on leadersh
i
p
i
s cr
i
t
i
cal to the on
g
o
i
n
g
s
uccess of our
G
rou
p
. As a result, research
a
nd develo
p
ment (
R
&
D
)
is a cornerstone
f
or our business going for ward. We invest
con s
i
derable resources
i
nto cont
i
nuously
d
evel op
i
n
g
and commer c
i
al
i
z
i
n
g
technolo
gi
cal
innovations and
f
resh design ideas, in order
to best unite our brands’ values with the
unique needs of our consumers. The research
a
nd devel o
p
ment
p
rocess
i
s dr
i
ven by
i
nter
-
nal teams o
f
designers, product developers as
w
ell as in-house ex
p
erts
f
rom the
fi
elds o
f
biomechanics, materials technology, product
a
nd process en
gi
neer
i
n
g
, des
ig
n and s
i
m
i
lar
di
sc
ip
l
i
nes
.
AMBITIOUS R & D TARGETS Research and development is cru-
cial for our Group’s success as we continuously strive to meet
and exceed the expectations of our consumers and customers
with respect to technology and design. Numerous awards for
our innovative products are proof of our technology leadership
within our industry. These awards are important for our Group
as they demonstrate our innovation leadership in footwear and
apparel to consumers. Our Group’s commitment to bringing at
least one new revolutionary technology or ground-breaking
evolution to the market each year highlights that research and
development remains a cornerstone for our Group going for-
ward. see Group Strategy, p. 044
EFFICIENT R & D STRUCTURE Research and development
within the adidas Group is organized in a decentralized struc-
ture, i. e. each brand separately runs its own research, design
and development activities, with major locations in several
countries. To maximize effi ciency, our brand teams collabo-
rate closely, sharing fundamental and biomechanical research
as well as existing technologies. In 2007, we incorporated
a last from a version of the adidas Predator® football boot into
Reebok’s new Sprintfi t product. This transfer of basic football
know-how highlights the type of technology sharing we strive
to promote within the Group. Another example of intra-Group
know-how transfer is the incorporation of adidas TORSION®
techno logy throughout a current collection of Rockport foot-
wear. Within our brands, R & D teams gener ally have a dual
focus dedicated to different product categories and to new
technology platforms. Cross-category technology sharing,
such as the transfer of the adidas ForMotion™ technology from
running to basketball at the adidas brand, the KFS technology
from running to football or the Movable Weight Technology™
from metalwoods to irons at TaylorMade, helps to further
optimize and commercialize our R & D efforts in an effi cient
way. The adidas Group also purchases a limited amount
of R & D expertise from well-established research partners,
in particular fundamental research.
MAJOR TECHNOLOGY-RELATED AWARDS
W
on by the adidas
G
roup in
2007
Award Magazine Product Segment
B
est Motion Stabilizin
g
Shoe
B
est U
p
dated
S
ho
e
B
est Updated Sho
e
B
est
C
ushioning
S
hoe
B
est Debut Shoe Trail Category
B
est A
pp
arel
C
om
p
any
Running adiSTAR adidas
Network US Control 4
running
shoe
Runner’s Supernova adidas
World US Cushion
running
shoe
Runner’s adiSTAR adidas
World UK Cushion 6
running
shoe
Running Premier Reebok
Network US Road
Cushion
KFS
Runner’s Premier Reebok
World US Minocqua
TR
Golf adidas
TaylorMade
-
Week Golf adidas
apparel Golf
ADIDAS GROUP R & D STRUCTURE
TaylorMade-adidas Golf
TaylorMade-adidas Golf
categories
adidas
adidas categories
Know-how transfer
Reebok
Reebok categories
adidas Group
Know-how transfer
Know-how transfer Know-how transfer