Whether its raw materials, machinery, research and development or the latest manufacturing trends, this tag provides up-to-the-minute insights into the upstream part of the tyre industry.
The July edition of Tyres & Accessories is now online our e-paper format. July's magazine features special reports on EDIWheel, EM/OTR tyres and manufacturing machinery, plus reviews of Automechanika Middle East, Autopromotec and a preview of the forthcoming CITExpo in Shanghai. Subscribers can simply click more to view the latest issue.
Commenting on Continental’s 18.5 million euro purchase of Modi Tyres Company Limited (MTCL), Nikolai Setzer, head of the German manufacturer’s Passenger and Light Truck Tire division, said Conti’s acquisition of a 100 per cent shareholding “underlines our commitment to the Indian market.” Both parties have agreed to keep commercial details of the transaction confidential, however the key points are that MTCL has now become a fully-owned Continental Corporation subsidiary and will be renamed Continental Tyres India Limited. The new entity will focus on the local production and distribution of cross-ply and radial truck and bus tyres as well as radial passenger car tyres for the Indian market.
Toyo Tire North America has signed a deal with the state of Georgia and Bartow County to help expand the county’s bonding capacity and Toyo’s Georgia plant, reports Tire Review. The $910 million bond deal will add 470 new jobs to the plant, which first opened in 2006. Georgia governor Nathan Deal, Toyo Tire North America Manufacturing president Jim Hawk and James Jarrett, chairman of the Bartow-Cartersville Joint Development Authority signed the deal at a press conference on 12 July.
On July 15 the very first course will commence at the new Michelin Training Centre at the tyre maker’s Chennai site. The centre, which officially opened on May 30, has been set up to improve the employability of people in the local area; the first course held there will impart English language skills, and other courses, including computer skills, accounting and vocational programmes, are already planned. The Michelin Training Centre is located within the Thervoy Kandigai Industrial Park in Chennai’s Thiruvallur district, where the Michelin is investing Rs 40 billion (£560 million) in a truck and bus tyre facility.
Women in Saudi Arabia are now excluded from working in tyre manufacturing jobs following the release of a list of over 20 jobs deemed unsuitable by the country’s Ministry of Labour. Job number ten on the list compiled by labour minister Adel Fakeih is “Working in the rubber industry for making tyres,” and at a press conference Fakeih claimed the aim is to prevent women from working in jobs they may not be physically suited to undertake. “The Saudi woman has every right to work,” Fakeih stated. “We are only implementing regulations that will protect her and ensure her rights.”
The US Department of Energy's (DOE) National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) recently awarded three industry teams a total of US$7 million to aid the development of computer-aided software design tools for producing the next generation of electric vehicle batteries. The three teams’ projects support the DOE’s Computer-Aided Engineering for Electric Drive Vehicle Batteries (CAEBAT) program, a project aimed at helping the automotive and battery industries design and develop electric vehicle batteries more quickly, thereby lowering unit cost.
Recently, Aeolus Tyre Co. announced a first in China –100 per cent environmentally friendly tyre production. The Jiaozuo-based company has taken steps in its manufacturing process so that all tyres produced from now on are REACH-compliant, and it claims to now produce medium truck/bus radials that boast longer tread life, greater retreadability and lower rolling resistance – as much as 24 per cent lower, according to Aeolus.
American Le Mans Series drivers on Dunlop tyres took two victories from pole position at Lime Rock this weekend in the Le Mans Prototype (LMP) class and the GT category in the gruelling 2h45m race. Sanjay Khanna, managing director, Dunlop Brand EMEA, stated: “Dunlop focuses on endurance racing to build longer lasting tyres for road performance.
On June 30 a groundbreaking ceremony was held to mark the start of work to convert the former Winnebago Industries factory in the US state of Iowa into a production site for Mitas agricultural tyres. A number of civic representatives attended the ceremony in Charles City, which was hosted by project leader Vladimir Dusanek, vice-president of Mitas Tires North America.
Lassa tyres, produced by Brisa Bridgestone Sabancı Tyre Manufacturing and Trading Inc, (Turkey’s largest tyre producer and Europe’s seventh largest producer), exhibited its range of products at Autopromotec.
Visit a tyre plant anywhere in the world, and the chance of encountering equipment manufactured by the VMI Group is very high; the Dutch company, which began business in 1945 repairing war-damaged industrial equipment, is today easily one of the top producers of machinery for the global rubber industry. These days equipment produced for the tyre industry accounts for around 80 per cent of VMI’s global sales and the company has been a dominant force in tyre building machinery since its development of the single-stage process in the 1970s. This landmark concept brought about a revolution in production process quality, and in the years since its release VMI has repeatedly shown its strengths as an industry innovator; the latest developments from VMI, and those just around the corner, suggest the company’s tradition of innovation still remains very strong.
Last year, sales of tyres accounted for just under three quarter of Toyo Tire & Rubber’s total net sales. The remainder came from a portfolio of other rubber and chemical products. Included within this non-tyre business is the manufacture of anti-vibration rubber components for railway vehicles; Toyo has now furthered its activities in this area by entering into a joint venture arrangement with Chinese firm Wuxi Meifeng Rubber Products Manufacturing Co., Ltd. On July 5 the two firms signed an agreement to form a new company, “Wuxi Toyo Meifeng Rubber Products Manufacturing Co., Ltd.” This new entity is to be based in Wuxi City, Jiangsu Province, China, and will manufacture and distribute air springs and anti-vibration rubber for railway vehicles. Toyo has invested 30,484 million yen (£234.6 million) in the venture, giving the company a 51 per cent shareholding.
Michigan-based business L-Ray has been manufacturing non-destructive tyre testing equipment for almost 40 years – previously under the names IHI (International Holographics, Inc) and Grant Engineering. While a small business, it operates on the global stage in manufacturing and retreading segments – in total, the company says it provides over 250 machines in more than 24 countries – first producing holography machines and then shearography machines. In 2007 L-Ray introduced its new Differometric Technology, which president Lee Petrimoulx says is “much faster and provides high quality digital images for checking tyres or retread casings”.
Since being relaunched in its present trading format eight years ago, Rochdale-based Carter international says it has evolved into a “leading manufacturers of mixing room machinery” and other tyre manufacturing products; the upwards curve in the company’s development has led to the organisation’s current plan to relocate to a greenfield site. Carter says its “ongoing success in a highly competitive market” has encouraged the company to improve its manufacturing and operational facilities for greater “professionalism and efficiency”.
As of July 1 the per tonne price for Lanxess’s Perbunan and Krynac synthetic rubber ranges and its Baymod and Nanoprene products increased by 150 euros. The given reason for this price adjustment is a rise in manufacturing costs.
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