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.
New Internet linked initiatives and on-line transfer of all Pirelli company processes were announced today by the company’s board of directors. The e-Pirelli project to has been assigned an investment of 2 billion lire for the period 2000-2002.
Michelin has announced that car tyre, van tyre and rubber mixing production will cease at its Stoke-on-Trent factory in the second half of 2001. Production of truck retreads, mould and steel cord production will continue. In total, 950 jobs of the 2,350 currently on site will be lost. The move is part of Michelin’s European rationalisation programme.
Bridgestone Corporation, the world’s largest rubber company, wants to join the electronic marketplace RubberNetwork.com as the seventh member of the group.
During the last three decades the tuning sector has become a sizeable branch of the German economy. A survey of the Verband Deutscher Automobil Tuner (VDAT) in 1994 recorded about four hundred businesses directly connected with the tuning sector. From 1994 to 1998 total turnover in the tuning industry showed an annual growth rate of just under three per cent. Compared with a 1994 turnover of 7.0 billion marks, latest estimates of the 1998 figure showed a total industry turnover of 7.7 billion marks. More recent figures are not yet available. A positive trend was also forecast for the year 1999 and estimated to be between two and three per cent to reach a figure of approximately 7.9 billion marks. This positive balance, however, is not exclusively generated by the tuning businesses, part of it is contributed by the manufacturing industry. Low-profile tyres (aspect ratio < 60) sold by the tyre manufacturing industry, for instance, are incorporated in the figures. Until the seventies the dominating theme in the industry was optimisation of engine performance, but during the last 20 years the tuners have more and more concentrated on a complete personalisation and harmonisation of the vehicle. In this context tyres and wheels take a decisive role, since this product group with its 27 p.c. turnover share in all VDAT member companies can claim the largest slice of the lucrative tuning cake.
Pirelli recently invited journalists and analysts to its factory at Bicocca, Milan in order to see first hand the company’s new manufacturing process MIRS (Modular Integrated Robotized System). MIRS reduces the steps in tyre manufacturing from 14 to 3 and a tyre can be produced every three minutes. Tyres are built round a special drum, with the instructions given to the robots (the process is totally automated) through a barcode. The tyres are said to be more uniform and consistent. As well as its speed and flexibility, MIRS has the advantage of compactness and a line capable of producing 125,000 tyres a year can be sited in an area of a mere 350 square metres. Pirelli Chief Executive Marco Tronchetti Provera said that Pirelli will invest 50 million Euro over the next three years in 80 MIRS lines, increasing output by ten million tyres a year. Two of these lines will be located at Pirelli’s Burton-on-Trent factory in the UK, concentrating on SUV and 4×4 tyres. Burton stopped making tyres in 1994 and the news is a welcome change for the UK tyre manufacturing industry. It is a large factory, and there is ample scope for more MIRS lines to be added in the future, should this be Pirelli’s strategy. The figures associated with MIRS are truly impressive; investment costs are lower than for traditional factories and the minimum economic batch size has been reduced from 3,200 units to 375. The time taken to change sizes comes down from 375 minutes to 20. Workforce productivity is increased by 80% and MIRS uses less energy than a ‘normal’ plant. The manpower needed is significantly reduced too – it is estimated that 850 staff will be needed to produce the proposed ten million tyres. There is one other figure which, in these days of competition and falling prices, is even more interesting – a MIRS tyre is 25% cheaper to produce than a conventional tyre.
Superior Industries (Van Nuys, Ca.) has taken on the Mitsubishi Motor Manufacturing of America (Normal, Il.) as a new customer for cast aluminium wheels.
The Cooper Tire & Rubber Co. has reorganised its Tire Group, naming three divisional presidents. Mark Armstrong is president of the North American Tire Division. D. Richard Stephens is president of the International Tire Division and Larry Enders is president, Commercial Products Division.
Over the years the Stahlgruber group and its international subsidiaries has sold tens of thousands of items of capital equipment to the tyre industry. The company feels that consolidation in the equipment manufacturing industry has led to a narrowing of sourcing opportunities and a consequent adverse effect on price and customer choice. The answer was to form a ‘Best Enterprise Alliance’ in which a number of companies group together to form a product range, based on their individual areas of expertise. These companies are Stahlgruber, Butler (the Stahlgruber-owned manufacturer of tyre changers), Cemb, Hunter and Rotary Lifts. Butler will make a range of tyre changers, called Promont, and Cemb a range of wheel balancers, called Probalance, which will be exclusive to Stahlgruber and its subsidiaries. Hunter wheel alignment equipment and Rotary lifts will also be sold. Stahlgruber will continue to sell Butler tyre changers alongside the Promont range. Further information on what the alliance means to the companies involved, and of the ‘own name’ ranges of machines can be found in TYRES & ACCESSORIES 6/2000.
Dr. Paolo Masera, the current boss of Pirelli Reifenwerke, is convinced that Pirelli has every reason to look to the future as a profitable, independent tyre manufacturer. The revolutionary production method MIRS will not only make it possible for the Italian manufacturer to gain cost leadership, he believes, but the automated production process also promises a great improvement even on today’s quality. He stresses Pirelli’s role as the well-accepted technology partner of the motor manufacturing industry in Europe, supplier to Porsche, BMW, Rover, DaimlerChrysler, Ford, Volkswagen, Audi, Opel and others. Pirelli will not offer a multi-brand strategy because users are less interested in so-called cheap brands; they would rather buy first-class brands at a more favourable price. That does not exclude arrangements with larger customers for the supply of certain group house brands, e.g. Courier, if there is a call for it. The German organisation is facing a fundamental change. In future the emphasis will be more on key accounters, and so-called “channel marketing” is to be strengthened.
The current Firestone recall has led to many in the USA calling for tougher standards in tyre testing. It has been revealed that, following the Firestone recall in 1978, new regulations were drawn up, incorporating more stringent safety criteria. However, the suggested changes were scrapped when Ronald Reagan became President as it was considered that their implementation would adversely affect the car manufacturing industry.
At the beginning of April the sixth round-table conference about tyres and tyre technology organised by the Tip Top Stahlgruber company took place in Munich. This year’s 85 participants came from many varied backgrounds: There were tyre dealers, retreaders, material suppliers, representatives of associations (ADAC, BRV, DEKRA, TÜV etc.), scientists and representatives of the vehicle and tyre manufacturing industries. Some of the highlights of the event included Hans-Jürgen Drechsler, deputy managing director of the BRV (Association of Tyre Traders and Non-Industrial Vulcanisers), speaking about development tendencies in the tyre trade with plenty of figures to back up the claim that the general tendency to concentration in the tyre trade is accelerating and manufacturer dependence or orientation also on the increase. Dieter Hatzfeld, formerly Michelin, now in a leading position with RuLa GmbH, the truck tyre cold cure retreader, spoke about the lop-sided pricing policy in the truck tyre field. The gist of his talk was: The price relation between new and retreaded tyres is no longer right. The subject of Mobile Fitting was also under discussion. “Long-term participation in the truck tyre business means participation in the large fleet business and offering comprehensive service schemes”, Drechsler said. Norbert Schygulla (Deutsche Goodyear), Michael Zoeppritz (Bridgestone/Firestone), Dr. Bernd Löwenhaupt (Dunlop), Ludwig Nelke (Michelin) and Hugo Verschoore (Butler Engineering) then introduced their own companies’ tyre run-flat systems (EMT, DSST, PAX) complete with practical fitting and maintenance suggestions. All in all, the range of subjects was far-reaching, offering something interesting for each of the guests present. Read more in NEUE REIFENZEITUNG 5/2000.
Sylvain G. Valensi (58), who has 34 years’ service with Goodyear, latterly as Vice President Goodyear Europe, has, since the joint venture with Sumitomo Rubber Industries (SRI), assumed the role of Vice President of Goodyear Dunlop Tires Europe. Talking to this magazine during the recent “Reifen 2000” exhibition in Essen, he stressed that the major brands Goodyear and Dunlop will remain independent and will almost be in competition with each other.
Bridgestone has announced the formation of a strategic alliance in antivibration automotive components with Paulstra, the automotive antivibration sector of Hutchinson, a subsidiary of TotalFina in France. The objective of the alliance is for both companies to jointly develop new antivibration products at both the companies manufacturing plants around the world.
Two agreements have been signed by Nokian and Michelin concerning the off-take manufacture of Nokian brand agricultural, industrial and truck tyres at Michelin’s Polish factory. The agreements will last for three years and will be renewed annually thereafter. Sales of agricultural and industrial tyres will start this year and truck tyres early in 2001.
In the 1999 business year Michelin Reifenwerke KGaA (workforce: 6,747) increased its turnover by 3.2 p.c. or approximately 100 million DM to 3.215 billion DM (1998: 3.115 billion DM). The largest part of total turnover was generated in the German market, where it rose by another 6.3 p.c. compared with the previous year to approximately 60 p.c. of total turnover. As a member of the international manufacturing combine, however, the German factory also supplies the distribution organisations of its European sister. In this Michelin Germany also showed a slight improvement. Total tyre production – measured in tonnes – rose by 2.6 p.c. Sales were up by 4.6 p.c. Michelin sold 8.8 p.c. more light truck and nine per cent more truck tyres in 1999. In winter car tyres in particular the company recorded significant sales growth over the previous year, partly due to the launch of the new products Michelin Alpin and Michelin Pilot Alpin. “Our target for 1999 was the modernisation and enlargement of production capacity to improve our competitiveness”, said Dr. Klaus Neb as spokesman for the management. In the course of last year the company invested a total of about 128 million DM in its five German factories and plans to make another significant investment this year in modernising and increasing capacity, especially in the truck tyre factories. Neb is convinced that these high investments will pay off. “Although economic development will differ from country to country, we expect further growth in Europe for the year 2000.” Read more in NEUE REIFENZEITUNG 5/2000.
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