Bridgestone adds aircraft tire retreading warehouse
Bridgestone Aircraft Tire USA, which operates a 160,000-square-foot aircraft tyre retreading facility in Rockingham County, North Carolina, is expanding with a new warehouse in nearby Madison.
Bridgestone Aircraft Tire USA, which operates a 160,000-square-foot aircraft tyre retreading facility in Rockingham County, North Carolina, is expanding with a new warehouse in nearby Madison.
First ChemChina sent shockwaves through the tyre market by successfully purchasing Pirelli in 2015. This year another Chinese firm – this time tyremaker Qingdao Doublestar – made waves by offering an US$830 million bid for 42 per cent Kumho Tire in mid-March. The obvious question is what is the next tyre-related investment to come out of China?
At present, Bridgestone Corporation produces new aircraft tyres at two facilities in Japan, and the company has announced plans to build a third plant for manufacturing these products. This plant is one of two that Bridgestone will set up in Thailand; the second will be dedicated to the retreading of aircraft tyres. A total of 15.0 billion yen (£103.8 million) will be invested in the two facilities, and both are scheduled to commence production in December 2019.
During the course of the 2016 Paris Motor Show, Tyres & Accessories took time out with Florent Menegaux (Michelin chief operating officer in charge of product and core business).
Our conversation covered four key areas: Mobility – that is, Michelin’s increasingly evident philosophical evolution away from simply being a tyre maker towards being a mobility provider; Products and services – in other words the traditional well-established product centres the company is best known for (as well as the innovations connection to and rising from these areas); Experiences – what has traditionally been known as the maps and guides part of Michelin’s operations, but which is increasingly seeking to connect the firm’s excellent brand and content with technology and monetisation options; and finally distribution – the actual means of getting products (and services) from the manufacturer to the end-user via the professional supply chain.
Bridgestone recently announced its intention to increase capacity for radial aircraft tyre production at its Kurume plant in Japan. The company has now amended the statement it released on 17 October, changing the investment amount; rather than investing US$2.1 billion in the project as previously reported, Bridgestone states that the actual investment figure is 2.1 billion yen (£16.5 million).
Capacity for radial aircraft tyre production at Bridgestone’s Kurume plant in Japan is set to increase in response to an anticipated rise in demand for these products over the medium to long-term. Bridgestone Corporation will invest a total of US$2.1 billion in the project; while the company hasn’t reported the size of its planned capacity increase, it states that the project should be complete by the end of 2018.
Birmingham-based Dunlop Aircraft Tyres Ltd (DATL) has confirmed that the company is looking for new investors. And this means that “initial discussions” with “a number of interested parties” are already underway.
According to the company’s executive chairman Ian Edmondson, the goal is to find a suitable partner to help the company continue to move forward at its current rate of positive growth: “Our shareholders are now seeking to find a new investor who is in a position to help the business maintain the outstanding growth record that it has delivered in recent years.”
While the vast majority of the UK’s tyre production and retreading capacity refers to trucks and a relatively small amount of car tyre retreading still takes place as well as some specialist earthmover retreading, one of the nation’s largest retreaders makes aircraft tyres. Dunlop Aircraft Tyre Ltd or DATL as it is known has demonstrated strong growth in recent years and is majority-owned by private equity. Put the two together and it begs the question – is Dunlop Aircraft Tyre Ltd (DATL) up for sale?
A new Michelin subsidiary has been set up to facilitate the expansion of the company’s activities within China’s aviation segment. Frank Moreau, president of Michelin Aircraft Tyre, describes the establishment of Michelin (Shanghai) Aircraft Tire Trading Co. Ltd (MSAT) as “an important step” for the Michelin’s aviation tyre business in China.
Goodyear (Thailand) Plc is set to invest 5.63 billion baht (US$162 million) over the next 10 years adding radial aircraft tyre production technology to its Pathum Thani province-based factory in order to meet growing demand in the Asia Pacific region. The first phase of the three-phase expansion is targeted to begin operations by 2018.
All C Series jets produced by Bombardier are to be exclusively fitted with Michelin Air X aircraft tyres as standard, and the first of new this series, the CS100, took to the air on its maiden commercial flight this week. The flight from Zurich to Paris was made with launch operator Swiss on 15 July.
Boeing Company subsidiary Aviall and Michelin have announced plans to create a global strategic collaboration agreement. According to Michelin, the new agreement will align its aircraft tyre business with Aviall’s global distribution footprint and result in improved logistics and supply chain models. The tyre maker anticipates improved service to FBOs (field-base operators), MROs (maintenance, repair and operations) and fleet operators around the globe.
The Federal Aviation Authority (FAA) has approved Dunlop Aircraft Tyres’ facilities in China and the USA. The FAA-14 CFR Part 145 approval means operators of US-registered commercial aircraft are able to fit the company’s products. The company has a global tyre distribution and retreading network, and is opening its first distribution and retreading facility in North America in order to support aircraft operators throughout the Americas.
Beginning in July 2016, Michelin will be the sole source tyre supplier for the main landing gear on the Boeing 777-300ER (Extended Range), 777-200LR (Long Range) and the 777 Cargo final assembly line. This range of long-haul aircraft, which can transport 400 passengers on flights covering distances of up to 7370 nautical miles (13,650 kilometres), will be fitted with Michelin’s new-generation Near Zero Growth (NZG) technology radial tyre, the Air X.
Business minister Anna Soubry visited Dunlop Aircraft Tyres’ Birmingham plant to hear how the manufacturer’s further investment plans will help it expand its product range and increase international sales. The world’s only specialist manufacturer and retreader of aircraft tyres was one of four companies in the West Midlands that the minister visited during a fact-finding day in the region.
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