Smithers Rapra has enchanced its tread wear testing capabilities for passenger, light truck and commercial vehicle tyres at its test centre in Ravenna, Ohio, USA. According to the company, the upgraded equipment and software can run a wide variety of drive profiles while supporting benchmarking and development requirements.
Kobe Steel, Ltd. has launched a new tyre testing machine, a tyre uniformity machine called the Librota-GS. According to the company, the new model has the world’s fastest cycle time of 18 seconds per tyre and the world’s highest repeated measurement accuracy.
Kobe Steel is regarded as a top manufacturer in the field of uniformity machines, with an estimated 30 per cent global market share. Kobe Steel plans to supply the new model to tyre makers in North America, Europe and regions throughout the world, aiming to capture further share of the market.
Reifen China, which is described as “the trade fair for the Asian tyre market” is ready to run from 1 to 3 December 2016. The show is being held at the Shanghai New International Expo Centre in the Pudong area of the city.
Reifen China, which is organised by China United Rubber Corporation and Messe Essen will present wheels, tyres, repair material, valves, garage equipment and accessories amongst other products.
Cimcorp is supplying a fully automated handling system to Petlas Tire Corporation at its factory in Kirsehir, Turkey, about 100 miles southeast of Ankara. Based on Cimcorp’s Dream Factory solution, the automation will handle finished passenger car radial tyre-finishing and palletizing areas. Work on the order – Cimcorp’s first project for Petlas – is already underway and the turnkey material handling system will become operational in the autumn of 2017.
Following VMI’s statement saying it had won the latest round of legal wrangling related to a patent dispute with Safe-Run, the Chinese firm, which describes itself as “one of VMI’s biggest competitors in China” put out a counter statement questioning VMI’s perspective.
Shangdong Hengyu Technology has become the latest tyre manufacturer to announce that it is making tyres based on the Nobel Prize-winning material graphene. Other firms using graphene in tyres include bicycle tyremaker Vitorria and fast-growing Chinese manufacturer Sentury Tire.
According to the company supplying Hengyu with Graphene (The Sixth Element Materials Technology), Shangdong Hengyu has developed “tyre formulations” that the companies say demonstrates the positive impact of graphene on the performance of tyres.
Local sources report that Mohammad Reza Nematzadeh, the Iranian minister of industry, mine and trade attended the ground-breaking of Gostaresh Aria Tire’s new tyre production facility in Zabol City, Eastern Iran on 10 March. The ground-breaking marks the latest development in a significant expansion of the Iranian tyre industry.
Cimcorp, a manufacturer robotic gantry-based order fulfilment and tyre handling solutions, is opening a new US-based operation – Cimcorp USA, Inc. (Cimcorp USA) – based in Norcross, Georgia. The firm is making the announcement at the Modex trade show taking place from 4-7 April in Atlanta.
On 1 March 2016 around 100 Chinese Hankook tyre workers protested against the decision to move to a three-shift rather than a four-shift working pattern. However while some sources described this as strike action, Hankook representatives denied these claims and said production has not been affected.
Alexej von Bagh is to take over the responsibility for global Process development at Nokian Tyres as of 1 April 2016. Mr von Bagh will have responsibility for the overall process architecture and process development. Mr von Bagh reports to the president and CEO. “Alexej has been a strong driver in Vianor’s success. Vianor’s processes are world class and business is growing. He will take the planning and execution of the whole company’s process architecture to the top level”, says Ari Lehtoranta, president and CEO of Nokian Tyres.
Qingdao Doublestar Rubber and Plastics Machinery Co. Ltd., the sister company of tyre manufacturer Qingdao Doublestar, has expanded its cooperation with well-known German tyre manufacturing equipment manufacturer HF TireTech Group.
Cimcorp, a manufacturer of robotic gantry-based order fulfilment and tyre-handling solutions, has broadened its Dream Factory solution to include the handling of raw materials and compounds. According to the company, the new product includes an optimized layout design that utilizes 50 per cent less floor space than conventional solutions, can be integrated with specialized software systems and generates cost savings of up to 50 per cent in materials handling capital investment by simplifying the material flow.
At the same time as making plant closure announcements relating to the closure of its Ballymena truck tyre and Pneu Larent (Germany) truck retreading plants, Michelin announced that it is investing in its Italian tyre manufacturing operations.
28,000 new jobs could be created in the UK automotive supply chain by 2020, according to a new forecast report from industry trade body The Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT).
The report, “The future of UK automotive manufacturing in 2025 and beyond”, identifies growth in vehicle manufacturing and a move to connected and autonomous technology as presenting significant opportunities for British component suppliers in the coming years. It estimates that British car production is set to reach a record two million vehicles annually by 2020 – a 33 per cent increase on the current 1.5 million.
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