Netherlands-based machinery manufacturer VMI Group says a ruling is expected soon in the case of a Chinese company caught making illegal replicas of VMI tyre building drums. Commenting on the incident, company president and CEO Harm Voortman said vigorously protecting intellectual property is “an essential part” of VMI’s strategy.
The VMI Group has shared the tragic news that its chief financial officer, Auke Dalstra, was killed in the crash of flight MH17 last Thursday. Mr. Dalstra and his wife Aafke were travelling on the Malaysian Airlines flight to a holiday destination.
Landsail has announced that its new run-flat range is expected arrive with UK retailers before the end of March 2014. The range will continue to be expanded throughout the year with fitments for ultra high performance and SUV applications.
The winners of the Tire Technology International Awards for Innovation and Excellence 2014 have been announced, and Continental has walked away with awards in two of the five regular categories. In addition to being named Tire Manufacturer of the Year, the German firm was recipient of the Tire Manufacturing Innovation of the Year award for its ContiLifeCycle facility in Hannover. Other winners included Bridgestone, VMI and Sumitomo Rubber Industries. The awards were presented at a gala dinner held during this week’s Tire Technology Expo in Cologne.
The MAXX, first introduced in 2008, is VMI’s top of the range tyre building machine. Designed for hands-off and eyes-off production and equipped for robotised bead loading and green tyre removal, the MAXX is capable of producing an average of 2,000 tyres a day. VMI claims that code and size changes can be performed quickly when using the MAXX, and the fully automatic unit is set up for easy manual intervention should the need arise.
In addition to launching its FLEXX Belt Maker at this week’s Tire Technology Expo – for which it won the show’s ‘Tire Manufacturing Innovation of the Year’ award – VMI introduced its new tyre production equipment control portal. Called Cortexx, the new control portal is said to be a user-friendly system that employs the same look-and-feel for user interfaces across all machines, making it easier for operators and maintenance technicians to work across several pieces of equipment.
Dutch tyre manufacturing equipment maker VMI Group has announced plans to launch a new “Flexx” belt builder in February. According to the company, this technology offers the ability to produce OE quality belts for products up to UHP tyres in “a flexible and cost effective way.” VMI reports that one way it does this is by utilizing an extrusion process rather than calendaring.
Dutch tyre and rubber machinery manufacturer VMI reports that its former president and CEO, Coos Spanjer, passed away on Tuesday 4 September 2012, at the age of 68.
Shafagat Takhautdinov, general director of Russian firm Tatneft, reported on 25 August that production capacity at the company’s Nizhnekamskshina plant is expected to increase by “one and a half times” to 4.5 million tyres in the near future. This capacity boost will be facilitated by the installation of Maxx assembly machinery supplied by Dutch manufacturer VMI; the equipment is scheduled to be delivered to Nizhnekamskshina by the end of this year. Installation of the Maxx machinery is part of a wider plan to replace “outdated tyres” with the production of a new generation tyres at the Nizhnekamskshina facility, Takhautdinov shared.
At next month’s Tire Technology Expo show in Germany, rubber and tyre machinery supplier the VMI Group will introduce its latest car and light commercial vehicle tyre building machine, the Exxium. The new machine is based on VMI’s patented Maxx technology and can handle 12 to 24-inch rim diameter tyres. VMI says the Exxium combines high production efficiency and tyre quality with the flexibility to handle a wide range of tyre designs, and the unit can produce in both hands-off mode or with the assistance of an operator; an operator is typically required for more complex tyre designs such as those with additional full rubber components, steel and/or fabric chafer strips. Typical Exxium cycle time with a regular tyre is 44 seconds.
VMI Yantai has received its second ISO certification within the last 12 months following its certification according to ISO 14001 by Lloyds Register Company. The Chinese subsidiary of Dutch tyre and rubber machinery manufacturer VMI Holland BV notes that both certifications were achieved “in close cooperation” between VMI Yantai, VMI Holland and parent company TKH Group NV. “TKH takes its Corporate Social Responsibility very seriously,” reports a VMI Holland press statement. “VMI Yantai is also well aware of its social duty and has made corporate social responsibility one of its strategic priorities for the coming years.”
Belarusian tyre maker Belshina is currently redeveloping its on and off-road businesses. A 32.6 million euro upgrade of passenger car tyre production facilities is close to completion, the company reports. The project will be funded in part by loans, with the remainder coming from Belshina and parent company Belneftekhim. Equipment for the upgrade has been supplied by Dutch firm VMI. The upgraded plant will enter operation at the end of 2011 and will reach its planned capacity in 2013. Belshina anticipates the replacement of obsolete equipment and the upgrading of other units will not only increase output volume and enable a larger assortment of products to be manufactured; the tyre maker says production quality and labour conditions will also improve.
On June 23rd 2010, VMI Yantai achieved ISO9001:2008 certification from Lloyd Register Company. This successful certification of the company’s Chinese operation, says the VMI Group, was accomplished in close cooperation between VMI Yantai and the company’s Netherlands based organisation. “The ISO9001:2008 certificate demonstrates the high quality level of the VMI products that are being produced by VMI in Yantai as well as in the Netherlands,” announced a company statement.
In mid-June the VMI Group reported the introduction of its new system for body ply stock splice handling. The company claims its new system offers an advance on previous models in that it not only prevents interference between splices from two different piles – it does this in a manner that reduces scrap and should also facilitate a high level of uniformity.
Body ply stock splice detection is a standard feature on VMI tyre building machines. The system measures the position of all stock splices in the body ply. If a stock splice comes to close to one of the body ply’s ends, the system automatically slices off a piece of material to prevent the stock splice being located too close to its machine splice within the tyre.
Celebrations were held on May 19 to make the opening of the third factory operated by the Chinese subsidiary of Dutch tyre and rubber industry machinery manufacturer, VMI Holland BV. A contingent of Dutch and Chinese delegates were present at the official opening ceremony, with dignitaries in attendance including Mr. C.Cornielje, governor of Province of Gelderland (where parent company VMI has its headquarters), Mrs. Mrs. Li Shuqin, vice mayor of Yantai and Mr. Jiang Zhonger, governor of Fushan district. Also present were VMI Group chairman Coos Spanjer and Cai Weimin, secretary general of the China Chemical Industry Association Tire Branch.
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