Adidas takes the sweat out of sweater shopping with in-store machine

© Alakoo

Instant manufacture is getting ever closer: 3D printing has been much discussed in the supply chain business, with many believing it is not ready for market yet, but Adidas, at a pop-up shop in Berlin, has been testing a “make your own top” system. Customers can design their own sweaters using computers and a body scan. The tops are knitted at the shop, finished by hand and washed and dried all within four hours – although at the equivalent of $215 each, they are not cheap. The company says it wants half its products to be made and delivered in a faster time frame by 2020.