Bridgestone breaks ground on Wilson plant expansion

A five-year, US$164 million project to expand Bridgestone’s 42-year old Wilson passenger car tyre factory in the US state of North Carolina got officially underway yesterday with a groundbreaking ceremony at the site. During phases one and two of the investment, which will involve an investment of nearly $100 million, 167,000 square feet (approximately 15,500 square metres) of manufacturing space will be added to the plant. The new factory building will accommodate new tyre assembly machines, materials handling systems, curing presses and associated equipment. Bridgestone expects production capacity to increase by 3,000 tyres per day to a daily total of 35,000 tyres by 2018. The company states that the new equipment also will allow the plant to respond to the increase in global demand for higher rim size tyres, as well as improve quality and productivity while reducing costs.

“Today is a momentous day for all of us at the Wilson plant and across Bridgestone Americas Tire Operations, as we break ground on this important expansion that will allow us to grow our production and manufacturing capabilities to meet the changing needs of our customers,” said Michael Darr, plant manager at the Wilson facility. “We’d like to thank the Wilson community for its support over the last 42 years, and we’re excited to begin this next chapter in our plant’s history.”