"American robots lose jobs to Asian robots as Adidas shifts manufacturing ", 11 November 2019

Adidas plans to close high-tech “robot” factories in Germany and the United States that it launched to bring production closer to customers, saying...that deploying some of the technology in Asia would be “more economic and flexible.”

The Adidas factories were part of a drive to meet demand for faster delivery of new styles to its major markets and to counter rising wages in Asia and higher shipping costs...

...[Adidas] did not give details on why it was closing the facilities, which have proved expensive and where the technology has been difficult to extend to different products...

...Adidas’ head of global operations, said the factories had helped the company improve its expertise in innovative manufacturing, but it aimed to apply what it had learned with its suppliers...