Reebok 2008 Annual Report Download - page 79

adidas Group Annual Report 2008 075
Major R & D locations and activities
Main activities Location
adidas Global Development
Centre (ait)
Herzogenaurach,
Germany
Global Development
Centre (ait)
Portland /Oregon,
USA
Global Research and
Testing Centre (ait)
Scheinfeld,
Germany
Asian Design and
Development Centre
Shanghai,
China
Asian Product
Creation Centre
Tokyo,
Japan
Reebok Global Development
and Testing Centre
Canton /Massachusetts,
USA
Reebok-CCM
Hockey
Development
and Testing Centre
Montreal /Quebec,
Canada
Development
and Testing Centre
Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu /
Quebec, Canada
Rockport Global Development
and Testing Centre
Canton /Massachusetts,
USA
TaylorMade-
adidas Golf
Global Development
and Testing Centre
Carlsbad /California,
USA
The Team is divided into groups that focus on individual prod-
uct categories such as basketball, football or cross-category
project areas such as intelligent products or energy manage-
ment systems (cushioning technologies). Approximately half of
the groups are located in Portland /Oregon, USA. The other half
is based in Herzogen aurach, Germany. Dedicated innovation
development centres in Asia focused on the production of pro-
totypes support the product creation process.
R&D activities at Reebok follow divisional segment structure
Within the Reebok segment, each division runs separate R&D
teams due to their heterogeneous product offerings.
— At brand Reebok, the Reebok Advanced Concepts (RAC)
and Reebok Equipment teams located in Canton /Massachu-
setts, USA, create footwear, apparel and equipment with the
primary focus on developing products that provide maximum
comfort and fi t for the consumer.
— The R&D team at Reebok-CCM Hockey, located at two dif-
ferent locations in Canada, is dedicated to continuously creating
state-of-the-art hockey equipment for both professional and
recreational players.
— Rockport’s R&D function located in Canton / Massachusetts,
USA, is a vertically integrated organisation that covers all
aspects of strategy, research, design, engineering and testing,
while incorporating the Group’s advanced proprietary athletic
footwear technologies into casual and dress shoes.
In all Reebok divisions, R&D includes a development /engi-
neering team as well as a design and commercialisation team,
a human performance laboratory and a prototype sampling
group with the product marketing teams in each strategic busi-
ness unit. Major projects involve extensive fi t, wear and materi-
als testing to qualify and assess the durability and functionality
of Reebok products.
Industry-leading R&D at TaylorMade- adidas Golf
TaylorMade- adidas Golf’s R&D team is focused on continually
designing and developing industry-leading products. The team
is structured according to the different product categories in
golf and is located in Carlsbad /California, USA.
Selective purchase of external R&D expertise
In addition to its internal R&D efforts, the adidas Group
also purchases a limited amount of R&D expertise from
well- established research partners. We enter into external
collaborations to gain access to highly specialised knowl-
edge in certain areas of expertise we have decided not to fi ll
internally. This strategy allows for greater fl exibility and faster
access to know-how that may otherwise require considerable
time and resources if built up within the Group. To increase
effi ciency and protect research results, collaborations are
usually long-term and exclusive. All projects carried out with
external partners are based on a clearly defi ned mandate out-
lining the project scope to ensure consistency with the Group’s
R&D focus. Major adidas relationships exist with the Univer-
sities of Loughborough, England, the University of Calgary,
Canada, the Universities of Fribourg and Erlangen-Nuremberg,
Germany, and the Fraunhofer Institute, Germany. The brand
has also built up a network of medical experts advising adidas
on relevant new fi ndings in their respective areas of expertise.
In 2008, the further development of compression apparel,
for example, was based on a scientifi c analysis carried out in
cooperation with the University of Calgary on how different
muscle groups work together. adidas also acquired Textronics,
Inc., a specialist in the development of wearable sensors for
use in fi tness and health monitoring, to strengthen the brand’s
leading position in the intelligent product category. Reebok
partnered with the University of Delaware in the develop-
ment of the EasyTone™ shoe. Using electromyographic tests,
the activity of individual muscles was measured. TaylorMade-
adidas Golf has cooperations with the Universities of Calgary,
Canada, and Portland, USA.