Tyre industry pioneers, Michelin has a long history. Having begun in 1889, Michelin is now the second-largest tyre manufacturer in the world after Bridgestone and larger than both Goodyear and Contineantal.
Workers at Michelin’s Ballymena plant are to vote over possible strike action. The outcome of an indicative vote on industrial action at the Michelin tyre factory should be known early next week. The vote follows the news that workers at Michelin’s Dundee operation have accepted the terms, while workers at the company’s Stoke-on-Trent site are in the process of postal ballot about the strike action.
Michael Bair, former senior technical and regulatory advisor to the legal department at Michelin North America, has been named senior manager of technical services and sales for Smithers Scientific Services.
In his new role, Mr Bair will be responsible for the development of new tyre business, project management and product analysis. He will focus on business opportunities with various tyre manufacturers, suppliers, government agencies and military organisations, says Smithers in a recent news release.
“Mike has an excellent technical understanding about tyres, their performance characteristics, and proper selection and application,” said Raymond Farmer, Smithers’ vice president and chief operating officer.
The Malcolm Group, one of Scotland’s largest road transport companies, has signed a three year contract with Michelin for the supply of truck tyres for its fleet. The deal covers 335 tractor units and 1,000 trailers, all to be fitted with Michelin E type tyres.
Sébastien Loeb has won his third Monte Carlo Rally. The French driver’s success brings Michelin’s total to 20 wins in the principality since the creation of the World Rally Championship in 1973. In a repeat of last year’s Monte Carlo classification, Citroën and Ford secured first and second places. Sébastien Loeb and the Michelin-shod Citroën Xsara WRC dominated the season’s opening round from start to finish and Michelin’s tyres were competitive from the very first group of stages, which saw Loeb pull out a significant early lead.
This year’s Monte Carlo Rally also marked the introduction a new tyre regulation which, for this event, allowed drivers to use a maximum of 55 tyres from their allocated quota of 80 asphalt tyres and 50 snow tyres (although the latter weren’t actually fitted given the conditions). After consultation with their engineers and Michelin technicians, the drivers had to finalise their choice on the Monday before the event. The 80 asphalt tyres included the three or four compounds they believed would be competitive but the difficulty was determining the ideal quantity of each option for the three-day event. According to Michelin, its one-two finish in Monaco shows that the work put in by its technicians and partner teams and drivers in pre-event testing paid dividends.
Ducati Corse CEO Claudio Domenicali has announced that it is to set-up a special tyre test team in collaboration with Bridgestone, reports MotoGP News.
The MotoGP project will see Japanese rider, Shinichi Itoh, become the official test-rider alongside a group of technicians, including a Ducati Corse engineer.
Michelin CFO, Michel Rollier has met with analysts in order to discuss the main effects of the Group’s transition to International Financial Reporting Standards or IFRS. The company previously used the French GAAP system. Michelin say its wishes, in line with French market authority recommendations, to provide the financial community with all available information. According to the company, adoption of IFRS standards has had consequences both in terms of measurement and presentation. Michel Rollier indicated that the main impact on Group consolidated accounts has been identified.
Michelin has published its latest guide, this time to Great Britain and Ireland. Out tomorrow this year’s guide sees the addition of two new symbols, one indicating a good wine list and the other relaxation and well being facilities.
Members of the Transport and General Worker’s Union (T&G) at Michelin’s Stoke-on-Trent factory will be balloted for industrial action in a dispute over pay. According to the union, the action comes after a majority of members rejected the company’s December 2004 pay deal. The company has refused to alter its lump sum offer.
Michelin representatives expressed their disappointment that the deal was rejected, but confirmed that they were committed to finding a solution. The company also offered the deal to workers at its Ballymena and Dundee plants.
In addition to the recently publicised Tweel and Airless Wheel puncture-proof products, Michelin has unveiled a third concept aimed at pioneering the development of the tyre. As a company Michelin spends around 4.5 per cent of its turnover on research and development, the Active Wheel is just one result of this. Aimed at electric and fuel-cell cars, the Active Wheel is an integrated module, which is made up of a conventional tyre, active electric suspension, a disc brake and an electric motor, which is designed to provide traction and much of the braking power.
According to the manufacturer, the Active Wheel is the result of a total rethink of the movement transmission process. In addition to rolling and driving forward, as any wheel does, the new concept also acts as a suspension unit. The result is that the need for a gearbox, clutch, shock absorbers and transmission shaft is removed, saving considerable amounts of weight.
Michelin is shying away from whole-heartedly backing any one of its products but instead appears to be playing the opening gambit of a long-term strategy. It is conceivable that in a decade or two any one of these innovations will be accepted as standard.
Michelin has resumed production at its joint venture in Shanghai after halting operations to “clear its stock of unsold tyres,” reports news source Bloomberg.
The announcement follows several reports last week that stated the tyre factory would suspend production for months to come following a slowdown in sales in the Chinese market.
When the first Airbus A380 rolls out of the production hangar tomorrow, the giant plane will be fitted with Michelin tyres. Each of the innovative tyres is designed to operate at a lift-off speed of 378 km/h carrying 33 tonnes. The new tyre’s special lightweight construction reduces the A380’s total weight by 360 kilograms, compared with conventional tyres.
Michelin and Airbus have been cooperating for nearly nine years. During this association the tyre manufacturer has achieved outstanding power ratings from the tyre it has produced for Airbus due to its so-called NZG or (“Near Zero Growth”) technology. The tyres use of highly resistant materials reduces the number of plies necessary and therefore the product’s total weight. In addition to this, the tyre does not expand at maximum pressure and keeps an almost even bearing surface. This “Near Zero Growth“ effect means substantially less frictional heat is generated during taxiing.
Michelin has become involved with a project that aims to reduce the number of road deaths in developing countries. The scheme, implemented by the Global Road Safety Partnership will see the tyre manufacturer working together with Shell, Ford, General Motors, Honda, Renault and Toyota to focus on the issue of road safety.
According to the World Health Organisation’s statistics, if present trends continue, road accidents will have increased by 65 per cent in 15 years time.
Michelin reached the 20 million tyre mark at its Waterville plant in Nova Scotia, on Friday.
To mark the occasion the manufacturer donated $1,000 each to 20 local charities chosen by the 1,100 employees, reports Canada east.
Michelin has announced the creation of a new UK/Ireland car tyre dealer accreditation programme. The scheme is designed to help consumers find good tyre distributors where they can expect excellent service. The new programme will be wholly funded by Michelin and managed by an independent company.
In order to achieve accreditation individual tyre outlets will be asked to meet minimum requirements in the services and facilities they provide, the cleanliness of the centre and the quality of the staff and operational procedures. This will be audited annually by anonymous professional shoppers and by an on-site technical inspection.
Production at Michelin’s Shanghai joint venture has been suspended for the past month following a “drastic slowdown in sales in the Chinese car market,” reports the South China Morning Post.
According to an unnamed source at Shanghai Tyre and Rubber, which owns 30 per cent of Shanghai Michelin Warrior Tyre, the production is likely to be halted for another one to two months, because of “continuing hard times.” The venture has yet to record a profit since its establishment in 2001.
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