Laying the Foundation of Industry 4.0 by Forward-Looking Planning of Innovation
Haptic 3-D additive coating technology is laying the foundation for further development of Huafeng’s company into Industry 4.0 business environments. The current business model of the sports footwear industry is explained. This business model needs to be
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Huafeng’s Haptic—a Selective Additive 3D Coating Technology for Sport Shoes Thomas W. Schmidt, Li Chuan Lillian Tseng and Christina Rothenhaeusler 13.1 Current Business Model in Sport Shoe Industry Today the global supply chain for sport shoes operates mainly in a linear business model (Fig. 13.1) with suppliers located all over the world. Traditionally the supply chain is structured in TIER-1, TIER-2 and TIER-3 suppliers. The international sport brands operate mainly as marketing companies within that environment identifying trends, creating designs and selling their shoes either directly or indirectly via retailers. The market demands are transferred to the shoe factories (TIER-1)—mainly OEM manufacturers exclusively linked to one of the sport brands -who do the final development, commercialization and production in close cooperation with the brands. Although the brands also foster links to materials suppliers (TIER-2) or raw material suppliers (TIER-3) usually the link to TIER-1 is clearly dominating the business by exclusive partnerships and long term commitments. The TIER-1 shoe factories have to coordinate purchasing of multiple materials in full range of colors and color combinations, cutting them to size, stitching the patterns together and finally assembling the shoes by bonding sole and upper together. A typical upper component consists of three to ten different materials supplied by different TIER-2 suppliers. All quantities and delivery times have to be coordinated well meeting ever shorter lead time requirements in shoe manufacturing. This is a task, which can be hardly achieved, according to modern market requirements.
T. W. Schmidt (*) · L. C. L. Tseng · C. Rothenhaeusler Putian, China E-Mail: [email protected] © Springer Fachmedien Wiesbaden GmbH, ein Teil von Springer Nature 2018 P. Granig et al. (Hrsg.), Mit Innovationsmanagement zu Industrie 4.0, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-658-11667-5_13
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Fig. 13.1 Communication chains in a linear business environment
In the past and up to now China is playing the strongest role in the supply chain of upper textiles and finished shoes. However, there is market pressure either moving to more advanced and less labor intensive manufacturing technologies or moving out of China into countries with lower labor costs. If Chinese companies want to keep their dominating manufacturing positions and western sports brands want to continue utilizing the advantages of manufacturing in China, new technologies and new business models are needed to adjust to modern market demands. Quality, speed-to-market and flexibility are the new driving forces business has to face to satisfy ever changing consumer needs. Innovation is required!
13.2 Changing the Business Model Preparing for Industry 4.0 Innovation enabling Industry 4.0 is not only needed in technology. First, innovative business models need to be created allowing modern technologies to unfold their full advantages. Huafeng, as a typical Chinese TIER-2 textile supplier to sp
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