Nokian Tyres ramps up production at US factory to meet increased demand

Nokian Tyres is adding third and fourth production shifts at its US factory to increase output capacity to 24/7 production at the facility, in response to rising demand in North America.

The company launched its third production shift the week of May 17 and will add the fourth shift in mid-July. Adding shifts is on pace with Nokian Tyres’ plans to produce as many as one million tyres at the Dayton factory in 2021.

The expansion caps a hiring campaign that saw Nokian Tyres nearly double the factory’s workforce in the first half of 2021; the company now employs approximately 300 in Dayton. Once the facility reaches full capacity in the coming years, it will make up to four million tyres annually and employ as many as 400 workers.

“The demand for our premium tyres is rising in North America, and we are proud to offer products that are tailored to fit the needs of drivers in the region. We are advancing with our growth plans and offer a versatile range of tyres for demanding conditions. Last year we launched a record number of new products globally, and we will reach a new record in 2021,” says Nokian Tyres’ President & CEO Jukka Moisio.

Nokian Tyres started production at the Dayton factory in January 2020 to serve rising demand for its products in the North American market. It manufactures all-season and all-weather tyres at the state-of-the-art facility, which was the first in the tyre industry to earn LEED v4 Silver certification earlier this year.

Nokian Tyres aims to leverage the factory to reduce delivery lead times to North American customers and build tyres tailored to the needs of drivers in the region, such as the Nokian Tyres One; an all-season passenger tyre it launched in North America in January.

“The expansion to third and fourth shifts will allow us to greatly increase our production capacity while gaining efficiencies from continuous operation,” says SVP, Supply Operations Adrian Kaczmarczyk.

“We’re focused on serving our customers by increasing our volume while maintaining the premium quality of the tyres we’re making here,” says Dayton Factory Operations Director David Korda.

The factory expansion follows a quarter in which Nokian Tyres set a record for sales volume, increasing year-over-year net sales by 28.5 per cent globally compared to 2020 and 27.5 per cent in North America, with comparable currencies.

In addition to increasing output in Dayton, Nokian Tyres is operating its Russia factory at full capacity and announced in March that it will increase production capacity by 30 percent at its Finland facility. The company also announced the beginning of testing at its new test centre in Spain in May 2021.