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.
Momentive Performance Materials Inc., has announced its collaboration with Sumitomo Rubber Industries, Ltd. on the development of Enasave Premium tyre, which earned the best rating (AAA) for rolling resistance under Japan Automobile Tyre Manufacturers Association’s (JATMA) labelling system. Launched at the Tokyo Motor Show, 2-11 December 2011, Enasave Premium is Sumitomo’s flagship tyre in its fuel-efficient tyre range.
Gebhardt from Bavaria has presented anew tyre rack aimed at tyre manufacturers and wholesalers. ECOTIRErack is entirely manufactured in Germany in domestic production and is designed to feature optimized exploitation of cargo space (a 20 per cent higher exploitation of cargo space for the transport of empties) and high quality.
Getting things done quietly has never been Titan International's strong suit, so the fact the firm apparently bought out two companies back in September may come as something of a surprise. Tire Review reports that Titan acquired tyre and retread mould maker Ohio Machine & Manufacturing Co. and wheel production equipment maker Automation International Inc. Both deals closed in September, according to chairman and CEO Morry Taylor, who disclosed the deals during a 13 December telephone presentation to financial analysts.
Following the installation of a new cooling tower for process water, Michelin has managed to slash some 1,500 MWh from its Dundee plant’s annual energy consumption. The key to the savings is the new installation’s AC drives, which were supplied by Emerson Industrial Automation company Control Techniques. These AC drives control the speed of fans and pumps and match supply with demand; Emerson comments that when the cooling plant is idling, its energy consumption is now the equivalent to that needed to boil your cup of tea.
Workers at Cooper Tire & Rubber’s Findlay plant may still be locked out but at Cooper’s facility in Tupelo, Mississippi, employees reached one million man-hours without a lost-time incident during the course of this week. The achievement marks the second time Cooper's Tupelo employees reached the million-hour mark; in September 2010 they also passed a million hours without a lost-time case.
A month after announcing plans to build a passenger car tyre factory in Vietnam, Bridgestone has stated it will establish a passenger car radial manufacturing and export company there in February 2012 for this purpose. This new operation will be named Bridgestone Tire Manufacturing Vietnam Limited Liability Company and be 100 per cent Bridgestone-owned. Company capital will be US$307.8 million.
Pyreco, the company behind the proposed Teeside tyre pyrolisis plant, have given a series of presentations to potential suppliers. Richard Tweddle, manager of Pyreco addressed members of the Energy and Environmental Industries Forum this week (12 December), to discuss plans for its planned £85 million pyrolysis plant.
The plant, which will be the first of its kind in Europe will be situated in Wilton on Teesside, and will use specialist technology to deconstruct tyres into their constituent parts, including carbon black, steel, oil and gas.
Recognising that the integration of the information required for next year’s tyre labelling legislation will be something of a challenge for tyre business, tyre and wheel data provider DriveRight has announced that it has formed EC1222.com. According to DriveRight, EC1222.com will run as an independent body providing “a seamless system to provide labels to all factions within the tyre retailing and manufacturing industry.”
Cooper Tire & Rubber has appointed Cynthia A. Niekamp to the company’s Board of Directors. Niekamp is senior vice-president of PPG Industries’ automotive OEM coatings business, a position she has held since 2010. She joined PPG in 2009 as vice-president of the automotive OEM coatings business.
A collaboration between Italian engineering company Stema Service Srl and Control Techniques Italy has resulted in a substantial contract with one of Italy’s “leading tyre manufacturing groups.” According to the companies, the project, with Unidrive SP AC drives used throughout, has produced energy savings, increased production and resulted in a reduction in maintenance costs.
On the evening of 10 December, the management and employees of Denmark’s Starco celebrated half a century in the business. The 50 year anniversary was commemorated at a function at the home of company CEO Peer Ejlersgaard and at regional Starco premises worldwide.
The Westlake tyre brand is named after one of China’s most popular domestic tourist destinations and a 2011 addition to UNESCO’s World Heritage Sites – the freshwater West Lake in the centre of Hangzhou, the home town of its manufacturer Hangzhou Zhongce, located around 180km south-west of Shanghao. Shen Jin-Rong, Hangzhou Zhongce president and chairman, reflects with pride on the link between what is seen as a premier Chinese location and the tyre brand named after it: “Westlake is our tyre brand and also the best place in our city.” The Al Dobowi Group distributes the brand in several European territories through its Eskay Tyres subsidiary; the newly exclusive distributor of the brand in the UK was announced as Axle Group Holdings at the end of September – owner of the Viking International wholesale arm and the National Tyres & Autocare retail chain (see T&A October’s Wholesale feature and the Related News link below). Tyres & Accessories travelled to the town from Shanghai with representatives from the Al Dobowi Group to see the development of Hangzhou Zhongce’s manufacturing facilities, and to witness the growth in interaction between the manufacturer and European dealers of its Westlake brand.
Goodyear Tire & Rubber has warned aviation customers around the world that shortages of its cross-ply aircraft tyres may occur as of February or March 2012. This potential supply issue has arisen due to the severe flooding that has affected Thailand since October and disabled Goodyear’s main aviation tyre manufacturing facility in Bangkok. In order to ensure the best possible supply to its customers Goodyear says it will, in addition to increasing production at its aircraft tyre plants in the US and the Netherlands, obtain aircraft tyres from other manufacturers.
Toyo’s new tyre plant in China’s Jiangsu Province is officially open. On 8 December Toyo Tire & Rubber held a ceremony to mark the entry of the Toyo Tire (Zhangjiagang) Co. Ltd. passenger car and light truck tyre factory into the company’s global manufacturing network.
Cooper Tire & Rubber has announced its entry into an agreement to acquire the assets of an existing tyre plant in Kruševac, Serbia. Although Cooper’s statement on the deal did not name the Serbian company, the tyre maker’s interest in investing into Kruševac-based firm Trayal has been known since mid-2011. The agreement to acquire Trayal’s passenger car tyre business was signed on 8 December by Hal Miller, president of Cooper's International Tire Segment, and Serbia’s minister of Economy, Nebojša Ćirić.
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