Reebok 2014 Annual Report Download - page 77

6
adidas Group
/
2014 Annual Report
Group Management Report – Our Group
73
2014
Research and Development
/
02.6
/
Research and Development
Creating innovative products to meet the needs of professional and everyday athletes and
consumers is a prerequisite to strengthening our market position in the sporting goods
industry. In a rapidly changing world, our culture and passion for innovation and consistent
investment in research and development (R&D) is essential to the development of new
product concepts, processes and production methods that are beneficial to our business
objectives and our long-term sustainability ambitions.
R&D an integral part of the product and user experience creation process
R&D within the adidas Group follows a decentralised approach. In line with their strategic and
long-term visions and distinctive positioning, each brand runs its own R&D activities. However,
fundamental research as well as expertise and competencies in sustainable product creation are
shared across the Group.
For the adidas brand, R&D is closely integrated with the sourcing, design and product marketing
functions. At the beginning of the product creation process, marketing defines a development
priority, which, in recent years, has increasingly included sustainability targets. This is derived on a
case-by-case basis from a combination of consumer research and feedback, competition analysis
and own product testing.
Based on this, employees in our so-called FUTURE teams analyse new materials, production
processes and scientific research to increase the exchange and scope of idea generation. Their
scope also extends to areas such as consumer insights and social media. This helps promote a
holistic and innovation-focused culture which gives deeper consumer insights, while also fuelling
creativity and synergies across the organisation. To identify innovative materials as well as integrate
sustainability, cost and production process aspects into the development phase, the FUTURE teams
are in close contact with our sourcing and material teams within product development who, in turn,
work closely with our suppliers.
Once conceptualised, new product technologies are engineered using state-of-the-art systems.
Furthermore, by embracing entirely new production technology and material approaches,
product creation and development can be decoupled from traditional processes. Extensive virtual
prototype testing and engineering loops are carried out on every technology, which promotes faster
development phases as well as improved concept and quality, while simultaneously reducing
physical material and resource requirements. Once a new product technology is deemed viable,
it is produced as a physical sample. These samples are then comprehensively tested by a broad
range of users, including top athletes. Only when these comprehensive tests have been successful
are the technologies handed over to product marketing, which commercialises the technology to a
final product.