Bridgestone’s ‘Steady Growth’ in Europe

At the recent IAA motor show in Frankfurt Bridgestone discussed details of its ongoing major investment programme for 2007, supporting its long-term plan for steady growth in Europe. Following on from expansion in production capacity at existing plants during 2006, this year will see trial production at Europe’s first fully-automated tyre plant, completion of a new European supply chain system and inauguration of the final phase of the Bridgestone European Proving Ground.

With Bridgestone’s focus on added-value products, such as run-flat and high-performance tyres, and the shift in demand towards larger rim-sized tyres in the European passenger car tyre market, heavy pressure has been placed upon current production resources. Capacity at the Poznan, Poland plant has already been boosted plant by 50 per cent to 23,000 units a day and Bridgestone Europe is currently constructing a new fully-automated plant at Tatabanya, Hungary, which will be ready by early 2009.

The £130 million Hungarian facility features the new BIRD (Bridgestone Innovative and Rational Development) production system that automates the entire production sequence from material processing through to final inspection of finished tyres. Trial production will begin in the near future.

Bridgestone has also started construction of a truck & bus tyre manufacturing plant at Stargard, Poland. Combined with the existing plant at Bilbao, Spain – where capacity has already been expanded by 30 per cent to 5,000 units a day – this new plant will meet the growing demand for Bridgestone commercial vehicle tyres. Output from the two new plants is anticipated to reduce dependence on imported tyres and improve the efficiency of Bridgestone’s European supply chain. A major step towards this goal was taken this year with the completion of Bridgestone’s three European Logistics Centres (ELC’s) in the Czech Republic, Belgium and Spain. They will form the hubs of a European supply chain aimed at raising stock flexibility, cost efficiency and customer satisfaction.

Under a new two-tier distribution system, the three ELC’s will serve a network of 20 Regional Distribution Centres (RDC’s) close to their markets, enabling the company to hold allocation and gain flexibility in locating inventory. This will improve the match between production and market demand, while providing customers with the lower stock levels and faster delivery they now demand.

Higher upstream, Bridgestone intends to ‘significantly develop’ its research and testing resources following the opening of the final phase of its European Proving Ground (EUPG) in Aprilia, Italy. New facilities, which now complete the complex, have been constructed, including: a skid pad with 5 circles of various surfaces for wet traction measurement and a groove-wandering lane on the North Straight operative since May 2006; a bi-directional corner hydroplaning test facility opened in June 2006; a new dry and wet braking test lay-out in use since September 2006; truck and bus tyre garages, fully equipped with the most advanced technology and machinery, opened at the end of 2006; and a 1.8 km wet handling track completed earlier this year. Bridgestone reports that this new 144-hectare proving ground, which has been specially designed for testing new-generation high-performance tyres, gives it the most modern and advanced year-round tyre testing facilities in Europe.

The Technical Centre Europe (TCE), just south of Rome and near the EUPG, is the driving force behind Bridgestone’s European activities. It is a key component of Bridgestone’s global tri-polar technology network, working closely with facilities in Japan and the USA. This is where Formula One technology is applied to passenger-car tyres, where run-flat technology is developed and where new Bridgestone tyres and pre-cured treads are designed and tested for all types of vehicles. A total of 400 engineers, chemists and technicians work at the 32-hectare site which includes more than 16,000 square metres of covered floor space housing chemical, physical and technical laboratories, a pilot plant and an indoor drum tyre-testing complex. The TCE is a key component of Bridgestone’s global tri-polar technology network, working closely with facilities in Japan and the USA.

These technical facilities are being expanded to meet increased demand from car manufacturers and the after-market across Europe. The three-year program will add new state-of-the-art equipment and technology, as well as significantly increase pilot plant, drum testing and laboratory capacity. Testing activities at the TCE proving ground are being progressively transferred to the new EUPG facility.