New Sumitomo Tyre Plant in Thailand to Produce Falken Tyres

(Akron/Tire Review) More than 40 attendees – including tyre dealers and journalists – were invited by Falken Tire Corp. to tour its parent company’s new Sumitomo Rubber (Thailand) Co. (SRT) tyre plant in Rayong, Thailand, southeast of Bangkok.

Established in May 2005 at the Amata City Industrial Estate, the factory officially began production in December 2006.

The plant features the “Sun Production System” (also known as the Taiyo Production System), billed by Sumitomo officials as a breakthrough in automated tyre manufacturing. Three components of the Sun System – jointless process, computer control and process coupling system – result in a rounder, more uniform tyre, according to Yutaka Kuroda, president of SRT.

Initially, the Thai plant will produce only 14- through 18-inch Falken ZE-912 tyres, but other brands and sizes may be manufactured in the future, said Kuroda. Ninety-five percent of the tyres built at the factory will be exported to the U.S.

The plant currently produces 3,000 tyres per day, but that number will rise to 4,000 per day by the end of May, added Kuroda. “By the end of 2007, our target is 12,000 tyres per day,” he said.

SRT is currently planning the construction of a second plant at the Amata City Industrial Estate. This second plant, which is slated to begin construction in November 2007, will produce tyres for passenger cars, vans and four-wheel-drive vehicles.

The company has set a target of producing more than 100,000 tyres per day at the two Thai plants combined by 2010.