Commercial grade industrial and mining tyre supplier Supergrip announced on October 21 it has selected Amerityre Corporation to manufacture and supply a new range of long wearing flat-proof polyurethane tyres. The new tyres, which will be sold under the Supergrip brand name, will be produced in multiple sizes for a variety of commercial applications, and manufactured using the proprietary polyurethane formulations developed by Amerityre.
Marangoni Tread North America has increased Ringtread production at its Madison, Tennessee Alpha-Ring manufacturing plant by 25 per cent. The company reports this greater production will accommodate both domestic and global growth. Specifically, 14 per cent more Ring moulds have been installed at the Madison facility in order to handle North American market growth and provide better service to the North American Ringtread dealer network. On top of this, the Madison plant is now shipping Ringtreads to other global markets, and further expansion is scheduled for next year.
For Bernaerts Tyres International, the Belgium based tyre distributor and wholesaler, Reifen Essen presented the first major opportunity for displaying the company’s latest brand. When T&A spoke to company sales manager Luc Claeys during the exhibition, it was evident this new range, Optima Tyres, is one Bernaerts is promoting with absolute confidence throughout its European markets, including the UK.
“The Optima range was launched late in 2007,” commented Mr. Claeys. “It is our own range, an exclusive private label. And when we say it is our own range, I should point out we aren’t simply purchasing overseas made tyres and selling them under the Optima name. The moulds used in production belong to us and were built to our own design and specifications with heavy investment.”
Amerityre Corporation has bought “a significant portion of the manufacturing assets of Kik Technology, Inc. (Kik), itself a polyurethane foam tyres maker. The assets acquired include tyre models and moulds used by Kik to produce low-duty cycle polyurethane foam tyres. Kik will cease business operations.
“The acquisition of the models and moulds provides Amerityre with the capability to produce a broader range of products to better service the low-duty cycle tire market,” commented Dr. Gary N. Benninger, Amerityre’s President and Chief Executive Officer. “With this expanded variety of tire products and sizes, Amerityre will now be able to offer its customers a Flatfree tyre for every application. For its fiscal year 2006 (February 1, 2006 to January 31, 2007) Kik reported foam tyre product sales of $1,857,666 and $937,645 for the nine month period ending October 31, 2007,“ he added.
The Economic Community Of West African States (ECOWAS) Bank for Investment and Development has granted Dunlop Nigeria PLC a loan of US$8 million. The company was scheduled to sign a loan agreement at the ECOWAS Commission in the Nigerian capital city Abuja on November 23.
“The loan will enable Dunlop to partially finance the modernisation of some existing installations in its factory and procure new moulds for the manufacture of a greater range of products to meet the needs of the local market,” read a statement released by ECOWAS, a regional grouping comprised of 15 African member nations. Dunlop Nigeria will repay the loan over a five-year period.
Coker Tire has announced the release of its new Firestone 820-18 grooved rear tyre. According to the company, this tyre is “recognised as a great choice for fitment on vintage racers, sprint cars, or nostalgic hot rods,” and adds that “these tyres deliver an old-school street look coupled with modern reliability, safety and a comfortable ride.”
Moulds for the 820-18 were created from original Firestone drawings and Coker state that every original detail, right down to the sidewall engravings, has been replicated in the 2007 version of the tyre. The Firestone 820-18 grooved rear tyre features four-ply polyester construction, and in the US will retail for $293.
(Akron/Tire Review) Russian tyremaker Amtel-Vredestein N.V. announced the beginning of test production at its new facility in Voronezh. Amtel tyres will be the first to be produced there, followed by Vredestein and Maloya tyres after new rubber mixing equipment is installed by December.
The new 44,000-square metre facility was modeled after the tyremaker’s Vredestein Banden plant in Enschede, Holland. Voronezh II will initially produce approximately 2.5 million passenger car and light truck tyres per year, which could be expanded up to 4.1 million tyres per year with additional investment, according to Amtel-Vredestein.
This year there was one single goal that Sumitomo Rubber Industries or rather Falken wanted to achieve at the Reifen show in Essen: promoting the new flagship tyre – Falken FK-452. In particular there is now a new unique Falken size which was developed together with O·Z as a wheel manufacturer and aimed at SUV drivers, explains Isamu Ishida.
Kara Gostar Eng. Co. will be showing examples from its range of moulds for the tyre industry at this year’s Essen show. The company was established as a tyre mould manufacturer in 1991 and manufactures 400 sets of moulds per year. A team of experienced and skilled engineers, backed up by updated hardware and software, incorporate the most recent developments in tyre mould production into customer tyre moulds.
Marangoni is exhibiting at Transpotec, which is taking place in Milan from 27 – 30 April. The company will be showing examples of its latest commercial and industrial tyres, including special, heat-resistant compounds and winter tyres for trucks.
Xiamen-based Shengjeng Machinery Co, Ltd was founded in 2000. Since then, the rubber mould manufacturer’s customer base has swollen to include well-known companies such as Chengshin (the maker of Maxxis tyres). The company employs more than 150 people and reportedly turns over $1,000,000 each year. 40 per cent of the moulds they produce are for export.
(Akron/Tire Review) Vredestein Banden has engaged UK software developer INCAT to help it reduce tooling costs, including a significant 50 per cent drop in the amount of time necessary to produce tyre moulds.
Marangoni Tread has added five 70 series tread designs to its range of Ringtread precured tread rings.
The launch reflects “continuing and rapid growth in the importance of 70 series fitments across Western Europe,” says Marangoni, adding that the segment now accounts for 5.9 per cent of 22.5 inch tyre sales across the region.
(Akron/TR) Goodyear Tire & Rubber has sold its closed tyre mould plant in Stow, Ohio, to an Akron area developer. Albrecht Inc, a commercial real estate developer that owns and operates a number of shopping centres in the Greater Akron area, bought the 106-acre site for $4.5 million, said Goodyear. The purchase includes land and a 131,500 square foot factory building, at which Goodyear produced tyre moulds from its opening in 1969 until it was closed in 2002.
Alpharing is Marangoni Tread’s latest innovation. With the use of the new fully automated moulding technology, raw rubber is extruded directly into the core of its ringtread moulds. The concept of retread production technology has undoubtedly been revolutionised by the company. As it makes the move to push sales of the Ringtread range so that it accounts for 70 per cent of its total sales levels, Tyres & Accessories explores what’s behind the new technology and determines what the product can offer to the market.
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