Nokian Tyres producing 24/7 in the USA

Nokian Tyres has added a fourth production shift at its North American factory in Dayton, Tennessee, and is now producing tyres around the clock at its 2019-opened facility. The switch to 24/7 production coincides with the Dayton plant’s ISO 14001 certification.

“ISO 14001 certification is another testament to the fact that we are one of the most sustainable tyre manufacturers in the world,” comments Darren Bakkestuen, environmental, health and safety manager of the Dayton factory. “It’s pretty rare that we got through the assessment without any major findings.”

The production building in Dayton holds LEED v4 Silver certification; Nokian Tyres shares that it is the only tyre production facility in the world to have achieved that mark. In addition, its solar-powered administration building is LEED v4 Gold. Earlier this month, Nokian Tyres gained a local honour when it won the Tennessee Governor’s Environmental Stewardship Award for Sustainable Performance for its environmental efforts in Dayton.

Ramp-up to 4 million

Nokian Tyres began producing tyres 24/7 in Dayton on July 12. The company has hired nearly 150 team members there since the start of 2021 and added a third production shift in mid-May. The creation of a fourth shift is in line with the tyre maker’s long-term ramp-up plans at the factory, where it plans to make as many as four million tyres annually and employ up to 400 workers once the facility reaches full capacity.

“Adding third and fourth production shifts allows us to keep pace with production goals that will help us grow our presence in North America,” says David Korda, operations director at the Dayton factory. “We’re pleased with the quantity and quality of workers we’ve added this year, and we’re eager to help them thrive as our company grows.”

Nokian Tyres opened the plant in Dayton to meet rising demand for its products in North America. Production commenced in January 2020. All-season and all-weather tyres are a strong production focus. The company aims to use 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 One, the all-season car tyre it launched in the region in January 2021.