A ceremony was held yesterday to mark the official opening of Bridgestone’s new OTR tyre factory in Thailand, marking the conclusion of a long and at times less than certain construction and preparation programme. The ceremony was attended by Bridgestone Group executives as well as members of the Board of Investment, Thailand, Rayong Province, and Japanese Embassy.
The tyre plant that Prinx Chengshan is building in Thailand is expected to enter operation next year, and the tyre maker reports that it will extensively use intelligent manufacturing systems to achieve greatly enhanced efficiencies. It says production efficiency will be increased by 20 per cent in the new plant. The production cycle itself will be shortened by 20 per cent, work efficiency increased by 40 per cent and raw material wastage reduced by 80 per cent.
Just over two years after groundbreaking, Nokian Tyres officially opened its new North American production facility. A ceremony was held at the Dayton, Tennessee plant on 2 October to mark the start of operations. The facility is currently engaged in trial production and is expected to be ready to make tyres for commercial use in early 2020.
Prinx Chengshan reports that “steady progress” is being made at its new tyre factory in Thailand. Construction work commenced on 31 March and the purchase of key equipment by invitation to tender has now been completed. The company estimates that all steel production workshops, mixing workshops, and supporting public works will be completed by the end of this year. Production at the site should commence in 2020.
Kenta Kuribayashi has been named president of Toyo Tire Corporation’s tyre production subsidiary in Europe, effective 1 September. He has taken on this role in addition to serving as president of Toyo Tire Europe GmbH and as chairman and chief executive officer of Toyo Tire RUS LLC.
An official opening ceremony is being held today for Nexen Tire’s new tyre factory in Žatec, Czech Republic. Numerous dignitaries have attended the event, including Petr Očko, the country’s Deputy Minister of Industry and Trade, Travis Kang, Nexen Tire’s global chief executive officer, and Byung-Joong Kang, the company’s chairman.
The likelihood of seeing BKT tyres ‘Made in the USA’ appears even more uncertain following an earnings call held by Balkrishna Industries Ltd. (BKT) on 13 August. Although the tyre maker reported three days earlier that the 20,000 tonne per annum factory project was just “in abeyance”, comments made during the call suggest the pause on work is more than temporary.
In just a few months’ time, Toyo Tire Corporation will begin research and development work at a new site in Europe. The tyre maker is setting up an R&D centre in Willich, Germany to support its future factory in Serbia, and intends to start operations there in the autumn. Having a local R&D presence in the vicinity of vehicle manufacturers and related companies will, says Toyo, be beneficial in terms of the quality and freshness of the information gained.
Yukio Hasegawa has been named the new president of Toyo Tire Corporation’s subsidiary in Russia, effective tomorrow. He succeeds Kenta Kuribayashi in this role. Kuribayashi remains chief executive officer of the Toyo Tire RUS LLC operation (and president of Toyo Tire Europe GmbH) and will additionally, as of tomorrow, become the Russian subsidiary’s chairman.
Trial production at Nokian Tyres’ new factory in Dayton, USA has begun with the production of the very first test tyre. Nokian Tyres says the manufacture of the Nokian eNTYRE 2.0 in size 205/55R16 marks the start of a half-year trial period in which “thousands” of tyres will be produced for “testing and machine calibration purposes” prior to the commencement of series production in early 2020.
The foundation stone for a new Continental motorcycle tyre factory in Thailand was laid yesterday. The facility in Rayong province will be built alongside the Continental passenger car tyre plant that entered service in March.
It appears that Sentury Tire has paused its project to set up a tyre factory in the USA. Local newspaper the Valley Times News shares that work has been “placed on hold indefinitely.”
Following a month of orientation, Nokian Tyres has sent the first group of employees hired for its new factory in the USA on a six-week training experience at its facilities in Russia and Finland. The training trip’s aim is to equip members of the Dayton, Tennessee plant launch team with the skills they’ll need when beginning the production process ramp-up ahead of the start of commercial production in 2020.
A groundbreaking ceremony has been held for the new Prinx Chengshan Thailand factory in the WHA Eastern Seaboard Industrial Estate EISE 3 in Chonburi. The new plant is amongst the first to be set up in the industrial park, and Prinx Chengshan notes that a launching ceremony for the park was held today.
A ceremony has taken place to mark the start of work on Linglong Tire’s new tyre factory in Serbia. Company chairman and chief executive officer Wang Feng greeted guests at the site of the future plant on 29 and 30 March to launch the new subsidiary, Linglong International Europe D.O.O. Zrenjanin (LLIE), and to hold the tyre maker’s global partner conference.
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