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 Goodyear factory in Tyler, Texas, will close earlier than originally anticipated following a union vote on July 18. United Steelworkers union members have chosen to waive the clause that required the facility, which has been used as a rubber-mixing centre following the end of tyre production in 2007, to remain in operation until after the closure of the company’s plant in Valleyfield, Canada.
China’s Qingdao region is firmly established as a tyre and rubber product manufacturing region of growing significance, and in recent years numerous domestic and global operators have set up facilities there. Newly added to the list of companies with a presence in Qingdao is chemical producer Lanxess, who on July 17 opened a joint operated rubber research centre. Established in cooperation with Qingdao’s University of Science and Technology (QUST), the Rubber Research Center (RRCQ) will conduct work for the company’s Technical Rubber Products, Butyl Rubber and Performance Butadiene Rubbers business units. Lanxess has invested 10 million euros in the centre’s establishment.
When it comes to the low rolling resistance debate, the gloves are off. This is particularly the case amongst the world’s leading tyre manufacturers, who each have their own brand of high-level tyre technology to offer, but are very much at odds about the benefits and theoretical pay-offs their tyres’ exhibit. In July’s Tyres & Accessories we examined Michelin’s argument that it’s all a question of technology. Or to put it another way, there needn’t be a pay-off between strong wet braking performance and low rolling resistance characteristics if you research and development department is sufficiently advanced. Until recently this concept had been taken as read, but Michelin’s various generations of Energy saver tyres claim to have out-teched this dichotomy.
Last month there was something of a disagreement between Michelin and Bridgestone with regard to the energy saving properties of their tyres. The “discussion” followed tyre test results in the French press, which found that there was “no significant difference” between fuel consumption results on the two manufacturer’s truck and bus tyres. This month Tyres & Accessories reports from the ContinentalSafetyExperience – a showcase of Conti’s latest technology including the chance to see the company’s response to the pay-off question in action. Continental was demonstrating its technologies as part of a ContiSafetyExperience event, which the company held at the OAMTC (Austrian AA equivalent) centre in Teesdorf, Austria.
Following the announcement that its Carlisle plant would be shedding 60 jobs – as reported here on Tuesday – Pirelli has released a statement that it has begun consultation with the site’s senior Union officials. It remarks that, as suggested on Tuesday, the declining price of commodity tyres and identical products made in lower cost countries have led to the necessity to lose 60 employees from the site, taking effect at the end of October 2008.
A spokesman for the company said that “Although difficult for all concerned, this course of action will help safeguard the future of the plant and the Company will strive to minimise the impact on our workforce. On a more positive note, we continue to invest in the Carlisle plant, with the installation of 10 new large presses and the upgrade of some building machines, to increase our capacity in large tyres. Within the next few months we anticipate signing a contract for delivery of a wind turbine, to improve our costs.”
GM Daewoo, the third largest auto manufacturer in South Korea, has released a statement to news sources saying that the company has stopped auto production at its Bupyeong manufacturing plant after OE tyre suppliers halted shipments to the factory. Hankook and Kumho, who between them provide over 85 per cent of the tyres fitted to vehicles at the GM Daewoo facility, have suspended supplies in a dispute over tyre prices.
The two tyre manufacturers have been requesting a hike in tyre prices of 12 per cent in the wake of soaring production costs. According to sources within the industry, GM Daewoo has agreed in theory to a price rise, but does not accept the figure placed on the rise by the manufacturers. However, Hankook’s spokesman has stated that “GM Daewoo refuses to negotiate and told us to withdraw the request.”
H. David Overbeeke, a former GE executive, has been named president of Affinia’s Global Brake & Chassis Group.
“David’s exceptional operations and manufacturing expertise will be of tremendous benefit as we continue with our transformation of Affinia into a market driven, customer centric organization,” said Terry McCormack, Affinia Group president and CEO. “David possesses the leadership abilities to assure that the full benefits of our global restructuring translate into added value for our customers and channel partners.” (Tire Review/Akron)
(Aftermarketnews.com) Delphi Corp. has retained W.Y. Campbell & Company to assist it in exploring sale opportunities for its brake business.
Delphi’s Brake business has estimated 2008 revenue of $295 million and more than 1,000 employees globally throughout three manufacturing and assembly facilities located in Juarez, Mexico, and Shanghai, China.
The business also has technical centers in Shanghai; Brighton, Mich.; and Dayton, Ohio. (Tire Review/Akron)
Michelin Training Centre is celebrating delivering its 500,000th hour of high training. The centre, which is close to Michelin’s UK headquarters in Campbell Road, Stoke-on-Trent, was set up at the start of 2002 and sees an average of over 3,000 people from all over the world come through its doors each year. The modern teaching environment provides both internal and external training on everything from basic time management to tyre related aspects of crash scene investigation.
In addition to the company’s own manufacturing and business staff, Michelin’s Training Centre is used by organisations such as the Police, the MOD and retailers to train staff about tyre design, construction and performance. The amount of training now being held at the Centre is being seen as a good indicator of how important Michelin believes the MTC will be for its ongoing success.
Continental has launched an electronic components manufacturing plant in India’s IT hub. The production line will cater to the needs of the expanding auto-market on the subcontinent. The facility, which is located in a greenbelt location in Bangalore, is a high-tech venture including a research and development wing, costing the company in the vicinity of 2.2 billion rupees.
Speaking to journalists at the launch, Jay Kunkel – President Asia for the company – said that the firm has been planning to set up a retail and distribution system in Indian and – while there are no concrete plans – that the German giant would look into the feasibility of a manufacturing unit. The company is looking to provide tyres for the high-end segment of after-market sales in India.
Pirelli’s Carlisle factory, which employs 1,000 workers, is set to cut back 60 jobs from the firm’s operation due to foreign competition and lost orders, say local news sources. The redundancies are to come into effect in the autumn of this year.
Pirelli’s spokesmen have told news sources that the cuts are necessary to ensure the future survival of the large facility. They also stressed that there are no current plans to move out of the factory and that the company is pursuing an ongoing investment plan bringing machine upgrades and increased production capacity to the plant. Talks with the trade union over the redundancies are underway, though union officials declined to comment on news of the job losses.
Dunlop, the last tyre manufacturer with a factory in Nigeria, is set to leave the country, favouring the importation of tyres from other nations such as South Africa. The decision is said to be inspired by the persistence of power cuts, unreliable gas supply, a rise in manufacturing costs and inconsistent governmental tariffs, which allowed imported tyres to gain the upper hand in the domestic market.
The company stated that it had reached an impasse with the Nigerian government, after failing to persuade it to alter the prohibitive tariff structure. The government said that local manufacturing could not meet the market demand, though Dunlop argued that the current tariffs, coupled with energy costs and unreliability, made the improvement of production capacity impossible.
Forbes magazine has bestowed the honour of being named one of the Reputation Institute’s most respected American companies upon the Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company. Goodyear is 16th on the publication’s list, details of which can be found on the publication’s website.
The RI’s criteria for ranking include the organisation’s “seven dimensions of reputation”, which comprise products/services, innovation, workplace, citizenship, governance, leadership and performance. The ratings were generated by the RI’s Global Pulse consumer opinion survey, while the company’s score of 76.0 shows an impressive 7.54 increase on 2007’s score. Goodyear is the sole representative of the tyre manufacturing industry on the list.
Bridgestone Europe has invested 32 million euros in increasing production capacity at its Béthune, France, passenger-car tyre plant. According to the company, the investment will extend the plant high performance tyre production output by up to 1000 tyres a day from 2009. The Bridgestone Béthune plant currently produces around 25,000 passenger-car tyres a day and employs more than 1,250 people. Bridgestone Europe operates seven manufacturing plants (in France, Spain, Italy, Poland and Hungary), producing both passenger car and truck and bus tyres. The new production facilities will manufacture Bridgestone’s latest generation passenger-car tyres including ultra high-performance tyres and winter tyres.
Since Continental’s acquisition of 51 per cent ownership of Matador in early November of last year, the German giant has merged its own Mould and Machine Factory with the Slovakia-based Matador Machinery division. The resulting company is now a world leader in designing and producing machinery and equipment for the whole tire industry, while Conti upped their stake in Continental Matador to 66 per cent on July 1 this year (as reported on tyrepress.com).
Hall Six’s Booth 307 at Reifen 2008 housed Industrias del Neumatico, S.A.U. from Aspe (Alicante) Spain, who were presenting their new Insa Turbo hot remoulded truck tyres, 4X4 off road tyres and winter car tyres. Also this year, the company exhibited their own private brand Rodatec, which is available in sizes between 15” and 19” and is manufactured by Nexen tyres.
The Spanish company’s focus for the future will be trained on Insa Turbo off road tyres and truck tyres to a large extent, with many new models due for release soon. The firm owns 70 workshops and their wholesale distribution covers all of Spain. However, over 60 percent of tyre production is exported to over 30 countries throughout the world.
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