VMI Group has inaugurated a new facility in India. According to the company, the centre will house an overseas extension to VMI’s global engineering operation and will also be the service maintenance and upgrade centre for India.
VMI participated in the Circular Economy Area at The Tire Cologne 2024. Specifically, VMI used the opportunity to showcase its VMI Retraxx 6011 and demonstrate the new automated wingformers upgrade.
During The Tire Cologne 2024, VMI will form part of the exhibition’s Circular Economy area, and here it will introduce a new upgrade for the Retraxx retreading system. This upgrade comes in the form of an optional auto-wingformer setting for the Retraxx unit’s cushion gum extruder. Instead of the operator manually positioning the wingformers to match the width of the tyre, with the new upgrade this procedure is now completely automated.
Smart solutions optimise tyre building and address challenges the industry is facing. New advanced vision systems, self-learning artificial intelligence algorithms and self-adjusting processes contribute to improved flexibility, higher accuracy and consistency. VMI is embracing such concepts and has now introduced the first smart options on the VMI MAXX tyre building machine. These aid the detection of foreign objects, provide intelligent process control and minimise wastage.
Business sustainability ratings company EcoVadis has awarded VMI a Silver EcoVadis Medal for its progress toward sustainability. By achieving Silver status, the machinery specialist is in the top 15 per cent of all companies worldwide that EcoVadis assessed by EcoVadis for environmental, social, and governance (ESG) practices in 2023.
VMI has officially opened its new Southeast Asian service centre in Chonburi, Thailand. The machinery manufacturer says the move from smaller premises to the high-tech facility reflects its “commitment to support the industry in this increasingly important region.” The new service centre will serve the growing needs of VMI customers in the entire Southeast Asian region.
At a conference hosted by VMI Group in Yantai, China last month, the chief executive officer of Black Donuts spoke on why he believes Europe to be an “underutilised opportunity for tyre companies.” Kai Hauvala also shared insights on why Black Donuts believes the European market is an excellent opportunity for foreign tyre manufacturers and why Chinese tyre businesses should consider the region as their next big step.
VMI has launched its new VMI UNIXX Belt Maker, describing it as “a game-changer in steel belt making”. According to the company, the VMI UNIXX Belt Maker produces high quality endless steel belts via a special extrusion process that can handle a wide range of compounds.
VMI is celebrating the opening of three new assembly halls at its manufacturing site in Leszno, Poland. This brings VMI’s total available floor space in Poland to almost 30,000 square meters. The expansion of the VMI operation, which is part of technology company TKH, follows a number of years of strong growth in VMI’s core tyre and pharmaceutical business.
In three decisions made on 13 and 14 December 2022, the IP Tribunal of the Supreme People’s Court of China found in favour of VMI and against Safe-Run in litigation related to patent ownership disputes. VMI considers these decisions a victory “for all innovators everywhere.”
Leading independent tyre building machinery manufacturer VMI has invested in its technical support teams in Yantai, China, Epe, the Netherlands and Stow, USA. It says each expert team is now equipped to provide the same level of support anywhere.
A team of 47 colleagues from VMI facilities in Epe, the Netherlands and Leszno, Poland participated in the Stelvio for Life challenge on Saturday 3 September. With this, they raised over 86,000 euros in the fight against cancer.
According to parent company TKH Group NV, business at Netherlands-based machinery manufacturer VMI was very healthy during the first six months of 2022, with tyre building equipment contributing in no small way to TKH’s 24.0 per cent year-on-year increase in turnover.
VMI has launched a new automatic bead apex assembly system designed to complement its existing bead apexing solution. This addition to the range is called VMI Revolute, and the machinery manufacturer says it offers users the advantages of optimised automation, improved bead apex quality, increased flexibility and enhanced sustainability performance.
Together with its employees, VMI has raised 160,00 euros through a fundraising action and has donated this to Giro 555, the Dutch part of the global Emergency Appeals Alliance. The donation will be used to provide practical support to the Ukrainian people and those affected by the conflict.
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