Product Development Archives - Page 14 of 19 - Tyrepress

Product Development

Posts

FEA Software Assisting in Apollo’s Growth

According to a press statement issued on December 5 by international 3D and Product Lifecycle Management solutions provider Dassault Systemes, Apollo Tyres is using the company’s Simulia brand Abaqus Unified Finite Element Analysis (FEA) software to evaluate and improve its product performance in order to assist in the tyremaker’s growth as a preferred partner for global automotive OEMs.

As Dassault Systemes points out, the development of a new tyre product requires the evaluation of a complex combination of rubber, steel, and other layered materials. For items such as large, off-road radial tyres, testing even a few physical prototypes is expensive and time-consuming. To circumvent this issue, Apollo Tyres is utilising Abaqus Unified FEA software in the initial stages of all new-product development to evaluate alternative concepts, guide design decisions, and refine product performance.

5th December 2007/by Tyrepress Editors

Conti Acquires 51% of Matador Tyre & Rubber Business

Continental AG has acquired a 51 per cent interest in Continental Matador Rubber s.r.o. based in Puchov, Slovakia. The tyre and conveyor belt business, together with the rubber processing equipment business unit, were separated beforehand from the parent company Matador a.s., which now holds a 49 per cent interest in the joint company. “This shareholding enables us to expand our existing joint venture with the Matador Group in the field of truck tyres. At the same time we are significantly strengthening our production and operations base in central and eastern Europe and making lasting investments here,” explained Manfred Wennemer, chairman of Continental’s Executive Board. The newly founded company will remain a legally independent unit with sole responsibility for its business.

Matador Group CEO Dr. Štefan Rosina said “we have been looking for a strategic partnership for our Passenger and Light Truck tyre business very seriously. Therefore, I’m glad that all conditions of this strategic alliance were successfully carried out and I am sure that this joint venture with Continental will give a new future to our tyre business. We will remain in this joint venture company as an important shareholder and this will enables us to strengthen our position in the automotive sector – our new strategic business for the Matador brand.”

8th November 2007/by Tyrepress Editors

Hankook Tire – Double Digit Growth in 2008

Hankook Tire plans to sustain its double-digit growth during 2008 and continue to develop as a producer of quality high performance tyres. And the Korean manufacturer’s status in this segment will be further bolstered by the company’s recently announced KRW 10 billion (£5.4 million) wet proving ground for the integrated development, production and testing of UHP tyres. This facility is the first of its type in Korea.

In 2008, Hankook Tire will renew its strategic focus on driving retail sales through more intensive marketing activities across all of its major markets, leveraging its growing reputation for producing quality high-performance tyres. The Hankook Tire Masters Program for distributors in Europe will be expanded, and a new distributor education plan for high performance tyres, featuring an emphasis on Hankook Tire’s technological innovation and its benefits for customers, is in development.

29th October 2007/by Tyrepress Editors

Net Profit Trebles for JK Tyre

The financial quarter between July and September has proven to be a healthy one for JK Tyre & Industries, who on October 23 reported that its quarterly net profit had more than trebled from a year earlier, the result of lower raw material prices and better realisations. Net profit rose from Rs 69.8 million (£863,800) to 243.9 million (£3.02 million) in spite of sales decreasing 2.8 per cent to Rs 6.9 billion (£85.4 million) since a year ago.

On top of the growth in net profit, the manufacturer forecast sales growth in the area of 20 per cent for the year ending September 2008. “We are hopeful that in the coming year new product development and tinkering with [our] market mix will continue, which will help us drive volumes and higher profit margin,” managing director Raghupati Singhania informed media. Sales of truck tyres, a product that reportedly generate four fifths of JK Tyre’s revenue, were down during the quarter, however they are anticipated to increase again in the October to December quarter, which corresponds with India’s festival season, traditionally a time for making purchases.

24th October 2007/by Tyrepress Editors

Oudshoorn Rejoins Amtel-Vredestein Board

Vredestein Banden B.V. CEO Robert H. Oudshoorn is to return to Amtel-Vredestein’s Board after a 6-month absence to join new Amtel-Vredestein CEO and Executive Board Chairman, Petr Zolotarev and CFO Vadim Pesochinsky, who joined the Company in July 2007.

Amtel-Vredestein has increased the size of its Executive Board from a maximum of four to six and has nominated four new members. The election of the nominees will be included among the agenda items at an Extraordinary General Meeting of Shareholders (EGM) scheduled for 2 October 2007 in Enschede, The Netherlands.

Other new members are Vredestein Consulting Managing Director, Kornelis (Kees) Hettema; Amtel-Vredestein Deputy General Director of Sales and Operations, Ilya Ivanov; and Vredestein Banden Director of Corporate Marketing & Sales, Marc Luyten.

18th September 2007/by Tyrepress Editors

Conti Truck Tyres can Redress Euro 4 Weight Gains

For a truck tyre to contribute to the operating economy of a fleet, it must be maintained at the correct pressure to achieve optimum fuel consumption and ensure low casing wear for long service life. But more significantly, it must possess low rolling resistance, an area of product development in which Continental Truck Tyres Europe has placed a strong emphasis.

Conti reports that extensive in-house testing of its truck tyres against those of competitor brands show Continental products compare well in terms of low rolling resistance, a quality achieved through a combination of tread design, compound and other materials. Research conducted for Continental also shows that its tyres are typically lighter than those of its competitors – enough on an eight wheeler to make up for the inherent weight penalties of the technical changes needed to attain the Euro 4 emissions standard.

This lighter weight benefit has been achieved, according to Continental, by employing a low rolling resistance tread compound and design which enables lower running costs with no loss of durability or strength. With what Conti reports to be the lowest rolling resistance truck tyres available in the market, considerable savings can be made. The company’s 445/45 R 19.5 HTL1 trailer tyre, as an example, offers a saving of up to five per cent in fuel usage over comparable trailer tyres.

3rd September 2007/by Tyrepress Editors

Accuride Appoints New Senior VP Sales and Marketing

On August 20 Accuride Corporation named the successor to H. Larry Taylor, who recently left the company to pursue other career opportunities. Stepping into the role of senior vice president, sales and marketing is Richard Schomer, who brings more than 20 years’ experience of OEM and aftermarket sales with him.

Schomer will be responsible for the strategic global leadership of Accuride’s sales and marketing operation and will work closely with Accuride’s strategic business units to drive product, market and global expansion initiatives.

“We are excited to have Rick join our executive leadership team, given his strong entrepreneurial background coupled with his extensive experience in market and product development,” said John Murphy, president and CEO of Accuride. “Following the successful integration of Transport Technologies Industries, Inc. and as we look beyond 2007, our strategic initiatives will continue to focus on growing Accuride’s business both organically and globally. We believe Rick’s keen strategic visioning ability and proven track record of translating value-added business propositions into sales will be a tremendous asset to Accuride and will assist us in achieving our growth objectives.”

Prior to joining Accuride Schomer served as principal of MR3 LLP, a business consulting firm specialising in market and product development.

21st August 2007/by Tyrepress Editors

Micheldever Releases First H-Rated 18-inch All Terrain 4×4 Tyres

In line with the company’s UK-focused product development, Micheldever/Southam Tyres have just released a number of new General Tire 4×4 sizes, including what the company describes as the first all-terrain 4×4 tyre in the world capable of H-rated performance with an 18-inch diameter. The new sizes are as follows:

255/60hr18 Grabber AT2 – According to Southam, this is the first all-terrain tyre available in this extremely important size for Land Rover Discovery, Range Rover, Isuzu Rodeo and Mitsubishi L200. Drivers and end users have “widely requested an upgrade product over the standard road pattern OE fitments,” according to company representatives. The only 18” ‘H’ rated All-Terrain tyre in the world, the 255/600r18 joins its hugely successful 255/55hr18 stablemate.

8th August 2007/by Tyrepress Editors

Balkrishna Tyres: World’s Widest Off-Highway Range

Founded in 1995, Balkrishna Tyres (BKT) claims to have the world’s widest product range of off-highway tyres, with more than 1,700 stock units of designs, patterns and sizes. This extensive range has seen BKT’s global market share expand rapidly in a short time and BKT tyres are available for agricultural, construction, industrial, earthmover, ATV and turf care applications.
BKT has three tyre factories and one mould-manufacturing plant and the company has the capability to develop 150 new sizes a year, with an extremely fast product development time of eight to 10 weeks. India is renowned for having a qualified and technically expert workforce at a low cost and BKT has the capacity to change 25 moulds a day, which the company says is five times that of its competitors, allowing it to make 150 different types of tyre. Precise and complex planning is the key here. BKT spends between five and six per cent of its revenue on research and development and developed its own radial tyre technology in-house.

Around 65 per cent of BKT’s products are sold in Europe, with other major markets being the USA, Middle and South East Asia and the Pacific Islands.
Agricultural tyres constitute the largest chunk of production at BKT and the company has recently entered the tractor radial segment, with its new ‘Agrimax’ range, available in 85, 70 and 65 series aspect ratios and 95 series row crop tyres.

6th August 2007/by Tyrepress Editors

Cooper Appoints Robert Welding as Company Director

Cooper Tire & Rubber announced on August 3 that its Board of Directors has named Robert D. Welding as a director of the company, effective immediately. Welding, 58, is president and chief executive officer of Federal Signal Corporation and a member of Federal Signal’s board of directors.

Prior to joining Federal Signal in 2003, Welding was group president of the BorgWarner Driveline Group, a $1.2 billion global business, and executive vice president of BorgWarner Inc. Previously, he served as president and general manager of BorgWarner Transmission Systems, a unit of the Driveline Group. In his 20 years with BorgWarner, Welding held a variety of positions of increasing responsibility in operations and product engineering management. Prior to that, he served in various management and product engineering capacities for General Motors and Volkswagen of America. Welding began his career as a product development engineer in 1970.

6th August 2007/by Tyrepress Editors

Impact of Rolling Resistance on Fleet Operator’s Bottom Line

As fuel prices continue to increase, resourceful fleet operators are seeking ways to offset their rising costs. One answer is to make more efficient use of fuel to lower the cost per kilometre driven, which is where tyre design has a significant influence. Although on paper tyres only appear to constitute a nominal proportion (3 per cent) of the operating costs of a 40-tonne truck in Europe, the choice of tyre directly influences both fuel costs (17 per cent) and maintenance/repair costs (9 per cent) – so ‘tyre-dependent’ operating costs in fact total 29 per cent.

For a truck tyre to contribute to the operating economy of a fleet, it must of course be maintained at the correct pressure to achieve optimum fuel consumption and ensure low casing wear for long service life. More significantly, it must possess low rolling resistance. An it is this area that has received renewed attention Continental Truck Tyres product development teams.

27th July 2007/by Tyrepress Editors

A Well Balanced Range from Gemco

Gemco Equipment Ltd, part of Denmark’s 90-year old Stenhøj Group, is said to be the largest supplier of tyre bay equipment in the UK, and the company offers not one but two lines of tyre changers and wheel balancers – their own Dunlop brand and the highly regarded Mondolfo Ferro range from Italy, for whom Gemco acts as UK representative.

Mondolfo Ferro has been selling their equipment in overseas markets since 1965 and today the company continues its focus on product development to ensure its machines maintain a leading technological edge. In the UK Gemco markets three Mondolfo products of particular interest – the Aquila AS944 tyre changer and the MT2080 and MT2680 wheel balancers.

20th July 2007/by Tyrepress Editors

Images of First Phase of Nexen’s £87 million China Investment Unveiled

Nexen has unveiled visual plans for its China factory currently under construction and due to be up and running by the end of 2007. The new plant will be one of the largest single tyre factories in China and follows a commitment by Nexen to invest £87 million ($170 million) over three years including the construction of a new R&D centre in China at the beginning of 2008. The visual plans of the new Nexen plant also highlight additional employee facilities including a cafeteria and recreational area.

Chairman of Nexen Tire Corporation Byung Jung Kang, said: “The new plant in China will allow Nexen to improve availability and continue to increase the company’s international growth.”

16th July 2007/by Tyrepress Editors

Toyo, Gordon Extend Off-Road Deal

(Akron/Tire Review) Toyo Tire (USA) Corp. has extended its contract with off-road racer Robby Gordon through 2010. Gordon will continue to compete on Toyo Open Country M/T tyres in SCORE International off-road racing circuit, including the Baja 1000, Baja 500 and Dakar rally.

“We are thrilled to continue our relationship with Robby Gordon,” said Steve Weinger, Toyo senior vice president of sales and marketing. “Together we have seen much success including a big win at the Baja 1000. We look forward to more great performances, both at Baja and Dakar and to apply the knowledge we have learned to future product development.

11th July 2007/by Tyrepress Editors

Digital ePen to ‘Revolutionise’ Offsite Data Transfer

An innovative new way of turning hand written paperwork into electronically transmittable data is set to transform the way in which tyre businesses process information from mobile technicians and other remote workers. Using state-of-the-art hardware, experts at Cam Systems have developed an affordable electronic ballpoint ink pen, which allows a workforce to capture information on paper at one location and transmit it via a Bluetooth enabled device, to another.

The so-called Cam-ePen system is expected to be particularly popular with tyre dealers providing on-site service and roadside breakdown assistance. It will also play an important role in capturing workshop records and job cards or timesheets, in fact practically anything that is currently being documented on paper can be adapted. It means paperwork based reports and signature authorizations can be completed instantly with real time data exchange linked to a central data management system.

22nd June 2007/by Tyrepress Editors