Manufacturing Archives - Page 159 of 257 - 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.

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Bridgestone Firestone Plant Awarded ‘Green’ LEED Certification

Bridgestone Firestone North American Tire’s (BFNT) Warren County tyre production facility in Tennessee has earned LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) Silver Certification from the US Green Building Council. LEED certification is a recognition of outstanding environmental building design and utilisation that is rarely given to existing manufacturing sites. This is, says BFNT, the first LEED certification for a tyre factory in the world.

18th November 2008/by Tyrepress Editors

Hankook Tire Nominated Member of ETRMA

Hankook Tire reports that it has been officially nominated concordantly as a corporate member by the Board of Directors of the European Tyre & Rubber Manufacturers’ Association (ETRMA), representing the interests of the European tyre and rubber goods industry. The company will become an official direct member of ETRMA as of 1 January 2009. Currently, ETRMA has 11 tyre corporate – direct members; Hankook Tire will be the 12th.

18th November 2008/by Tyrepress Editors

Nanjing a ‘Strong Partner’ for Kumho

As reported on November 7, Kumho Tires has officially opened its new $US100 million factory in Nanjing, China. This facility, with an annual capacity of more than 300,000 truck and bus tyres, will feed China’s market, which in this segment is expected to grow between 25 and 30 per cent each year.

“Kumho Tires is already the number one passenger car tyre maker in China and this state-of-the-art plant gives us an important foothold in its fast-growing truck and bus tyre market,” said Sae-chul Oh, president and CEO of Kumho Tires. “China has enormous growth potential and is a key part of our strategy to become one of the top five global tyre makers.”

17th November 2008/by Tyrepress Editors

Hankook Tire Names New Head of Europe Headquarters

There is a new man at the helm of Hankook’s European operations. On November 13 the South Korean manufacturer announced the appointment of Mr. Jin-Wook Choi, executive vice president and member of the board of Hankook Tire Co, Ltd. to the position of Head of Europe Headquarters. Mr. Choi brings to the position more than 33 years of international business experience with Hankook, including more than eight years at top management level.

14th November 2008/by Tyrepress Editors

A-V ‘Negotiating’ With Suppliers

When the Sibur/Amtel-Vredestein (A-V) merger ground to a halt at the end of September, A-V’s lack of working capital meant it was forced to suspend production at its Kirov and Voronezh Russian manufacturing facilities. According to the most recent update, released just under a month later on 24 October, production has been suspended ever since. However, the latest reports are suggesting the company is exploring a number of creative solutions to A-V’s increasingly costly production stalemate. Meanwhile production has continued at normal levels at the un-affected Dutch part of the company, Vredestein Banden BV.

In an effort to kick start production at its Kirov and Voronezh production plants (which produce nearly 9 million tyres a year) Amtel-Vredestein is negotiating a raw material for finished product barter agreement. These plans are said to be in addition to the obvious way of reducing the high levels of debt under which the Russian part of the group continues to operate -selling the company’s assets, divisions or the group as a whole.

12th November 2008/by Tyrepress Editors

Old Tyres to Tread in Timberland Shoes

When they’ve finished doing service on your car, that set of old tyres removed by the local garage or fast fit can now potentially return and see further life on your feet. Footwear manufacturer Timberland has teamed up with Green Rubber to launch two new collections featuring outsoles made using recycled rubber from discarded tyres. These outsoles will contain a 50/50 blend of Green Rubber compound and virgin rubber compound, the blend of the two materials necessary in order to maintain the durability and performance characteristics Timberland footwear is known for.

12th November 2008/by Tyrepress Editors

Part 2 of Yokohama’s Mid-Range Plan Announced

Phase II of Yokohama Rubber’s “Grand Design 100” medium-range financial plan has been announced. The next stage of the plan, which began in the 2007 fiscal year, is scheduled to commence in April 2009, following the end of Phase I in March. The company says it will determine the details of Phase II, valid for the 2010 to 2012 financial years, and release its contents, including financial targets, in March 2009.

12th November 2008/by Tyrepress Editors

Superior Industries Records $14.2M Q3 Net Loss

Superior Industries International has announced a net loss of US$14.2 million for the third quarter of 2008, including a charge linked to the December closure of its factory in Pittsburg, Kansas. In the comparable quarter of 2007 Superior recorded a net loss of $739,000. Unit shipments decreased 29 per cent in the quarter, compared with the same period a year ago, and were at the lowest level since the third quarter of 1998.

11th November 2008/by Tyrepress Editors

American Tire Land Deal Reportedly Signed

According to the news website wenatcheeworld.com, a site that calls itself the ‘fiercely independent voice of North Central Washington’, American Tire Corporation has signed a $960,000 purchase agreement with the Port of Ephrata that could bring 300 new jobs to the region. This deal, says the site, will provide ATC with 96 acres at the port’s industrial site to build an OTR tyre manufacturing facility. According to port manager Mike Wren, the port is currently attempting to secure $5.5 million for infrastructure improvements to this and other property to help convince the tyre company and others to build at the port’s industrial site. The funds are already trickling in; on November 6 the Ephrata City Council, despite facing a tough budget year, pledged $100,000 to the project, said Wes Crago, Ephrata city manager.

11th November 2008/by Tyrepress Editors

Pirelli Results Reflect Current World Economy

Pirelli’s released results for the first nine months of 2008 show a company affected by the international crisis. According to the company, during the course of the first nine months of the year the tyre market registered increasing weakness due to a combination of factors. In volume terms, the replacement channel, which determines most of Pirelli’s tyre sales, was affected by a reduction in consumer and industrial segment demand, especially in Western markets. The original equipment channel, says the company, was hurt by the strong contraction of new car sales, especially in Western Europe (10 per cent in the third quarter, 5 per cent in the first nine months compared with 2007) and in North America (15 per cent in the third quarter, 11 per cent in the first nine months compared with 2007).

10th November 2008/by Tyrepress Editors

Cooper Reports Q3 Net Loss

Cooper Tire & Rubber has reported a net loss of US$55 million, or 94 cents per share, for the financial quarter that ended September 30, 2008. This result contrasts markedly from the company’s result for the same period in 2007, in which it recorded a net profit of $30.2 million. The company says its results were pressured by unprecedented raw material cost increases, higher utility costs, and production curtailments due to raw material shortages caused by hurricanes in the Gulf Coast region.

10th November 2008/by Tyrepress Editors

Pirelli – Russian Technologies JV Agreement Signed in Moscow

On November 6 Pirelli & C. SpA and Russian Technologies State Corporation signed an agreement formalising a joint venture between the two companies. Although details of the JV are still to be finalised, Pirelli reports that the production of tyres in Russia will begin before the end of 2010.

7th November 2008/by Tyrepress Editors

Uncle Sam to Benefit from New Cooper Tire JV

Efforts on the part of Cooper Tire & Rubber to develop custom tyre solutions have resulted in a joint development agreement with Resilient Technologies, LLC to produce a prototype of a new, state-of-the-art, non-pneumatic military tyre.

The US military currently serves in numerous locales, and during its operations a growing number of army vehicles have become disabled through flat or punctured tyres, leaving occupants vulnerable to attack. To remedy this potentially lethal scenario, Resilient has been working on a bullet and shrapnel resistant non-pneumatic tyre (NPT) for more than two years.

6th November 2008/by Tyrepress Editors

Schaeffler: Conti Share Sale ‘Cannot be Ruled Out’

Maria-Elisabeth Schaeffler, the joint owner of the ball bearing manufacturer in control of 90 per cent of Continental AG, may sell some of the company’s Conti shares. Schaeffler told journalists at an automotive business conference in Berlin that the financial crisis was hindering her company’s plans to take over Continental AG. “It cannot be ruled out that a long-term orientated investor could take a larger stake in Continental,” the Financial Times quoted Schaeffler as saying.

5th November 2008/by Tyrepress Editors

VMI Releases Two-Drum Tyre Builder

Netherlands based tyre manufacturing equipment maker the VMI Group reports it has designed and built a completely new type of tyre building machine. Called the VMI Maxx, the newly introduced unit is said to operate very differently from the company’s previous tyre building machines, such as the 248 and 348.

The Maxx is a two-drum machine for passenger car radials that operates according to the single stage building process. It combines, says VMI, a high level of flexibility with a substantial higher output and a better green tyre quality. The unit is designed to build tyres between 13-inch and 24-inches.

4th November 2008/by Tyrepress Editors