SRI setting up rubber parts plant in Slovenia
Sumitomo Rubber Industries has announced it will set up a new non-tyre production site in Slovenia. The facility will manufacture rubber parts for medical applications and be set up as a subsidiary of Lonstroff AG, a firm acquired by Sumitomo Rubber in 2015. The Lonstroff Medical Elastomers plant will be built with an investment of 34 million euros and is expected to enter production in April 2019.
Continue ReadingGoodyear, union reach tentative labour agreement for five US plants
A tentative agreement has been reached on a new five-year master labour contract covering almost 7,000 workers at five Goodyear Tire & Rubber plants in the USA. The agreement between the tyre maker and the United Steelworkers (USW) union covers plants in Akron (Ohio), Danville (Virginia), Fayetteville (North Carolina), Gadsden (Alabama) and Topeka (Kansas).
Continue ReadingMajor VMI patents upheld in China
China’s Patent Re-examination Board has upheld important patents relating to tyre building technology developed by VMI. Commenting on the board’s decision, VMI Group chief executive officer Harm Voortman said “this decision further strengthens our position in the legal dispute with Safe-Run and reaffirms our confidence in the Chinese legal system.”
Continue ReadingBlackcircles founder appointed strategic advisor at US online tyre retailer
Mike Welch, the founder of UK online tyre retail website Blackcircles.com, has been appointed to the board of US online tyre retailer SimpleTire. Welch has taken up the position of strategic advisor for the company, which sources inventory from independent suppliers and ships to the customer’s chosen location.
Continue ReadingKumho Tire’s creditors accept proposal
Nothing now stands in the way of Qingdao Doublestar Tire’s acquisition of a 42.01 per cent share in Kumho Tire. Last Friday, the creditors of Kumho Tire accepted the offer made by Kumho Asiana.
Continue ReadingTriangle holds “2017 Global Summit”
Triangle Tyre held its “2017 Global Summit” in the coastal city of Rongcheng – China, not far from the firm’s headquarters in Weihai between 27 and 29 June. The Global Summit’s aim was to foster and strengthen relationships with worldwide business partners, share the next stages of the companies’ evolution and in particular the targeted acceleration of the company’s presence in the global market.
Continue ReadingZC Rubber installs artificial intelligence system
ZC Rubber has installed a smart factory project based on the ET industrial brain artificial-intelligence (AI) service system for manufacturing launched by Alibaba Cloud. The goal is to “greatly improve the production in the factories”, according to the company. The cooperation between ZC Rubber and Alibaba Cloud reportedly started at the end of 2016.
Continue ReadingBrembo reports 12% EBIT growth
Leading Italian brake maker Brembo reports that its revenues increased 10.1 per cent to 1,262.4 million euros in the first half of 2017. During the same period pre-tax profits (EBITDA) grew 12.8 per cent to 255.5 million euros. EBITDA margin was over 20 per cent.
Continue ReadingTP Commercial Solutions opens North American headquarters in San Diego
TP Commercial Solutions LLC has announced it will have a new office headquarters in San Diego, California from 1 September. The company’s move will cater for its expansion in the US and Canada for Truck, Agricultural and Off Road tyres. TP Commercial Solutions LLC is part of Prometeon Tyre Group, the fourth largest commercial tyre group in the world, which used to be part of Pirelli.
Continue ReadingGoodyear names Maureen Thune as chief procurement officer
The Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company has appointed Maureen Thune as its chief procurement officer, succeeding Mark Purtilar who is retiring from the company.
Continue ReadingCarlstar opens new distribution centre in Western Canada
Carlstar has announced the opening of a new Canadian distribution facility located in Edmonton, Alberta. The 60,000 square-foot facility offers full distribution capabilities, including assemblies in all sizes, the tyremaker said.
Continue ReadingKumho Tire proposal ‘tentatively’ accepted
Although it’s probably too early for champagne corks to pop, progress has been made in the Kumho Tire shareholding negotiations. Yonhap News Agency writes that the tyre maker’s creditors have “tentatively agreed to accept original proposals” made by Kumho Asiana, adding that this may pave the way for creditors to complete the sale of the 42.01 per cent shareholding to Qingdao Doublestar Tire.
Continue ReadingTVS Srichakra CFO resigns
Indian tyre maker TVS Srichakra Ltd. has reported the resignation of its chief financial officer. K P Rangaraj relinquished this position at the close of office hours on 24 July.
Continue ReadingUK government is pro-retreading, but what about anti-dumping measures?
Perhaps the most high profile dignitary at Michelin’s “Stoke 2018” event was Clare Perry MP, Minister of State for Climate change and Industrial Strategy. Bearing in mind that retreading and casing inspection/logistics make up such a significant part of what goes on at Michelin’s Campbell Road, Stoke-on-Trent site, and given that over-supply of low-cost truck tyres from China has had a marked effect on this part of the business, Tyres & Accessories was keen to ask Clare Perry what the government can do to help.
Continue ReadingMichelin European distribution centre launch ‘Dawning of a new era’ in Stoke
Michelin has updated local dignitaries, staff and business partners on its multi-million pound investment plans in Stoke-on-Trent. Proceedings were opened by Mike Lawton, head of communications at Michelin Northern Europe, who described what was announced in the “investing in the future” presentation as the “dawning of a new era”, before head of Michelin Northern Region John Young spoke of the “amazing” relational, business footprint and heritage of the site. To put recent changes into a single figure, productivity across the site has reportedly increased 35 per cent in the last five years.
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