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The announced decisions were more specific than “leave the U.S.”
In November 2019, adidas said production at its Atlanta and Ansbach Speedfactories would cease by April 2020. It planned to use developed processes at two Asian suppliers, continue process work in Germany and retain collaboration with OECHSLER in other manufacturing areas.
This is a historical company announcement. The expected benefits were management’s expectations; the source does not establish a single cause of the sites’ performance or the final financial result of the change.
List what has value independently of the present facility
For your business, separate the building, equipment, software, process settings, trained people and customer commitments. They may have different owners, uses and transfer restrictions. A decision to stop one activity should not silently answer all the other questions.
ELN’s table below is an exercise for your proposed change. It is not a reconstruction of adidas’ private supplier terms.
| Item | Owner decision | Evidence before transfer or closure |
|---|---|---|
| Physical equipment and premises | Sell, move, retain or close? | Actual ownership, remaining commitments, removal costs and the receiving site’s capability |
| Process knowledge and records | What remains useful, and who may use it? | The documented method, permissions, training and unresolved technical limits |
| Supplier relationship | Which work ends, and which may continue? | The actual agreement and a clear scope for ongoing work |
| Customer obligations | Who delivers the remaining work? | Accepted orders, service needs, proposed handover and customer communication |
Retaining a method does not make another team ready
Fictional example: a trial line has produced a useful process record, but the proposed replacement supplier has not run it. The owner can preserve the record without treating production at the new site as proved. Funding the next test is a separate decision from funding the old line indefinitely.
Ask what must be repeated, adapted or measured at the receiving operation. Include the cost of teaching, testing and correcting the transfer. Do not book an expected saving before you have costed those jobs.
Ask management for four separate decisions
Request a short close/retain/transfer/test list with a responsible person and cash date for each item. Keep past spending visible as history, but base the next commitment on the work and obligations still ahead.
Use Launch dependencies to assign the change tasks. Before promising use of methods or software to another company, verify the actual rights and the technical scope; this case supplies neither a contract permission nor a universal exit rule.
Scope
- Company-reported historical facts are attributed. The public record does not establish private contract terms, U.S. net profit or a result another business can expect.
- ELN’s tables and decision exercises are original planning suggestions. Actual product, people, contract and operating requirements need their own checks.
Next step
Use Launch dependencies to separate closure, retained know-how, transfer testing and continuing customer work. Give each item a lead, cost assumption and evidence needed before the next commitment.
Sources & review notes
adidas Group
Passage, dates and research notes
company-announcement · 11 November 2019 release: planned Speedfactory cessation, transfer of processes and continued OECHSLER work
Read full historical release. Expected capacity and design benefits are attributed plans, not verified results. No single failure cause or project return is established; technology learning and a particular production arrangement are kept separate.
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