Manufacturing Archives - Page 108 of 260 - Tyrepress

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.

Tag Archive for: Manufacturing

EC approves switchable battery research project

Automotive supplier Continental and ten other European and Israeli companies active in the electric vehicle sector, have joined together to form ‘Easybat’, a consortium dedicated to furthering EV development. On March 2 the consortium announced formal approval from the European Commission for a research and development programme into means of facilitating the European production of electric cars with switchable batteries. The March 2 announcement is the first switchable battery electric car project approved by the Commission.

4th March 2011/by Tyrepress Editors

Effiplus passenger car tyres gain Nom accreditation

Chinese tyre manufacturers Techking has announced that its Effiplus passenger car tyres recently received Nom accreditation (the national Mexican Safety Certificate).

3rd March 2011/by Tyrepress Editors

Strike action may halt Hankook Hungary production

The Budapest Business Journal brings news of a potential wage related strike at Hankook’s plant in Hungary. Production apparently may come to a halt there “within days” following the establishment of a workers’ strike committee; the union representing employees at the South Korean manufacturer’s Rácalmás facility is reported as saying more than 1,700 Hankook workers there are now earning less than last year following the introduction of tax changes in January 2011. Talks with management over a potential pay increase have already begun, however the newspaper shares that Hankook Tire Magyarország Kft said a strike committee has been set up as an agreement over the size of the proposed pay rise “looked distant.”

3rd March 2011/by Tyrepress Editors

Smuggling, under invoicing rife in Pakistan tyre market – General Tyre

The CEO of Karachi based tyre manufacturer General Tyre and Rubber of Pakistan, Shahid Hussain, has told Pakistan’s Daily Times that under invoiced imports and smuggling accounts for 57 per cent of local sales for passenger car tyres, 85 per cent for light truck tyres and 97 per cent for truck and bus tyres. These two activities not only impact upon manufacturing capacities at the tyre maker, which incidentally is which is 9.78 per cent owned by Continental and operates a technical service agreement with Continental Tire the Americas; Hussain states it is costing Pakistan’s government around 7 billion rupees (£50.4 million) in lost duties and taxes.

28th February 2011/by Tyrepress Editors

Cooper quarter operating profit down, despite record sales

Reporting financial results for the quarter ending 31 December, 2010, Cooper Tire & Rubber Co saw its operating profit diminish to $55 million, $5 million down on the same quarter in 2009, though it also achieved record net sales of $920 million, $147 million, or 19 per cent, up on 2009. Roy Armes, CEO, commented that while demand for the company’s products was strong and manufacturing facilities were run “efficiently”, raw materials prices and the available inventory had limited progress in terms of operating profit. Operating profit was $55 million, or 5.9 percent of net sales.

25th February 2011/by Tyrepress Editors

Bioscience boosted rubber production the aim of Bridgestone joint research

Indonesia is the world’s second largest natural rubber producer, with figures from the Association of Natural Rubber Producing Countries putting the number of hectares under cultivation at 3,445,000 and those under tapping at 2,773,000. With an aim of further enhancing this production, Bridgestone Corporation has entered into a cooperative research project agreement with two other parties. News of the project between Bridgestone and the National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology (AIST) and the Indonesian Agency for the Assessment and Application of Technology (Badan Pengkajian dan Penerapan Teknologi, or BPPT) was announced on February 24 at a press conference held at the BPPT office in Jakarta.

24th February 2011/by Tyrepress Editors

Trelleborg launches the TM Blue sustainability concept

After the recent announcement relating to the acquisition of Watts Industrial Tyres and of new production capacity in Hebei, China, Trelleborg Wheel Systems launched a new agricultural tyre concept centring on sustainability, productivity and lower fuel consumption. The TM Blue concept reportedly results from “advanced tyre engineering and enhanced production processes to decrease the use of natural resources and environmental impact while boosting the farm productivity.” But for purposes of the press conference at the SIMA agricultural equipment show in Paris on 22 February, Trelleborg presented a tyre that was literally blue to emphasise its point.

But the concept is nothing to do with the colour of the rubber (which may have been green if the company wanted to convey the same message to UK public). Instead it is all about improving the efficiency of land machinery, which reduces emissions and has the dual effect of cutting fuel costs, and protecting soil from unnecessary compaction, which increases crop yields and in turn helps farmers’ bottom lines.

23rd February 2011/by Tyrepress Editors

Eurotire says “Romanian OTR plant is complete”

New York based mining tyre company Eurotire – not to be confused with European distributor Eurotyre – has announced the completion of its OTR manufacturing plant at Drobeta-Turnu Severin, Romania, which was first announced in 2007. The company says US$300m was invested, with “nearly 1,000,000 sq ft of high-tech manufacturing and product development space” available at the facility. Information on the capacity of the plant, the product lines manufactured there and the markets products from the plant will be shipped to has not yet been passed to tyrepress.com.

22nd February 2011/by Tyrepress Editors

Hankook, Goodyear, Yokohama winners at Tire Technology awards

The products and activities of three tyre makers have been acknowledged at the Tire Technology International Awards for Innovation and Excellence 2011. This year’s awards were presented at a ceremony in Cologne, Germany on February 16 and saw Hankook Tire take the Tire Manufacturer of the Year award and Goodyear the award for Tire Technology of the Year. Last but not least was the Yokohama Rubber Company, whose award was for Environmental Achievement of the Year. Also acknowledged were Oerlikon Saurer and CureSense, who respectively received the Tire Industry Supplier of the Year and Tire Manufacturing Innovation of the Year awards.

17th February 2011/by Tyrepress Editors

Starco begins online store rollout

Details of the comprehensive Starco range of tyres and related products have long been available in catalogue form, and the company has now taken the first step in transferring this information online. Customers in Germany are the first to experience the company’s new “STARCOshop” and Starco intends to roll out online catalogues for its aftermarket customers throughout the whole of Europe within two years.

17th February 2011/by Tyrepress Editors

Tata Motors to build Nano car factory in Indonesia in 2013

Tata Motors is considering building a manufacturing unit in Indonesia which will be used to manufacture the famous Tata Nano model. According to Indian motoring sources, the plan is under “constant vigilance” by the various study teams. The report cited a Tata spokesperson as saying “Yes, we will be establishing a manufacturing unit in Jakarta. We will be announcing this piece of news shortly, but till then it is all under wraps.”

16th February 2011/by Tyrepress Editors

Starco gains exclusive European distribution of Buco range

Denmark’s Starco has announced the formation of a joint venture with Buco S.A., a family-owned company located in Buenos Aires, Argentina. Buco specialises in the development of rubber parts for agricultural machinery, and under the joint venture’s terms the Starco Group receives exclusive European distribution rights for the entire Buco product range – including a comprehensive range of semi-pneumatic tyres and wheels, corrugated hoses and telescopic tubes for seed drills. Starco Europe group marketing manager Brian Lorentzen states that with the joint venture both companies will “benefit from their combined product expertise and market knowledge, all of which supports a strategy of expanding further into the agricultural segment in Europe.”

14th February 2011/by Tyrepress Editors

European operations a highlight of Apollo results

During the most recent quarter turnover at Apollo Tyres increased by just 3.2 per cent to Rs 23.68 billion (£319.39 million), and this modest growth in turnover in the three months to December 31, 2010 is in line with growth throughout the first nine months of the current financial year. During the nine months to the end of last year the company achieved net sales of Rs 61.38 billion (£827.89 million), a year-on year growth of 2.7 per cent. The strongest performer in Apollo Tyres’ global operations proved to be the Netherlands based former Vredestein unit, whose turnover grew 11.7 per cent to Rs 6.49 billion (£87.54 million) in the third quarter and 13.1 per cent to Rs 16.11 billion (£217.29 million) in the nine months to December 31, 2010. Apollo Tyres’ net profit for the third quarter decreased 36.8 per cent to Rs 1.2 billion (£16.19 million) while it decreased 35.9 per cent to Rs 2.5 billion (£33.72 million) in the first months of the year.

14th February 2011/by Tyrepress Editors

Yokohama to increase North American prices

Prices for Yokohama’s consumer segment tyres will increase by up to eight per cent as of March 1. Yokohama Tire Corporation says the price rise will include passenger car, high performance and light truck tyres and that other in-line adjustments will be announced at a later date.

14th February 2011/by Tyrepress Editors

Michelin sales up 20.8% to 17.9 billion euros, operating margin now 9.5%

Compagnie Generale des Etablissements Michelin has announced that the tyre major’s sales shot up 20.8 per cent in 2010, while operating income swelled to 1.695 billion euros, representing a 9.5 per cent operating margin. Net income totalled 1.049 billion euros. According to Michelin the growth was driven by a 13.4 per cent increase in sales volumes, led by the group’s global presence and the rebound in mature markets. However managing partner Michel Rollier warned investors “In light of our capital expenditure commitments and the increase in raw materials costs, free cash flow is expected to be temporarily negative in 2011.” Nevertheless, Michelin confirmed its objective of generating positive free cash flow over the entire 2011-2015 period.

The manufacturer also sought to emphasise its “responsive pricing policy” in the face of rising raw materials costs; sustained productivity gains and cost discipline; not to mention “robust free cash flow.” At the same time the company proposed a dividend of 1.78 euros subject to approval.

11th February 2011/by Tyrepress Editors