Finnish automated equipment specialists Cimcorp has separated its tyre manufacturing and warehousing/distributions sales teams due to increased demand. The new structure of system sales at Cimcorp’s headquarters, which is effective from the beginning of June, is designed to “support the company’s growth and form the basis for…continuing development”.
Test World reports that it is remaining open to “operate and fulfill a busy schedule of indoor tyre and vehicle testing during the global COVID-19 pandemic”. Writing in an email to customers and contacts published 31 March 2020, company representatives said: “Operating within official health guidance to the strictest degree and treating the health and wellbeing of its staff as the utmost priority, Test World strives to minimise disruption to the industry in these unprecedented times.”
Employee cooperation negotiations concerning Nokian Tyres’ workforce in Finland have concluded. The outcome of these negotiations is that all 1,630 employees of Nokian Tyres plc, Nokian Heavy Tyres Ltd, Vianor Holding Oy and Vianor Oy will be temporarily laid off. The length of time that each employee will be laid off depends upon their function within the company, however Nokian says nobody will be laid off for more than 90 days this year or, in the case of Vianor Oy, between now and February 2021.
In addition to the temporary layoffs planned for its factory in Finland and announced last week, Nokian Tyres is implementing changes at its other sites in response to the COVID-19 outbreak. Production output in Russia will be flexibly adjusted “in line with global demand.” While the ramp-up of Nokian’s new plant in the USA continues, the company has postponed recruitment of additional employees. Furthermore, work on the new test centre in Spain has also temporarily stopped, delaying the project.
Nokian Tyres’ supply chain is unaffected, but the company has activated its “global Business Continuity Program” and is carefully reviewing advice in light of the Covid-19 epidemic. According to Nokian Head of Global Security Jukka Rikkinen, one specific change is that Nokian has “temporarily suspended international business travel.”
The European Commission has approved 3.2 billion euros of battery research and development support under EU State aid rules. The funding comes as the result of an Important Project of Common European interest (IPCEI) application jointly notified by Belgium, Finland, France, Germany, Italy, Poland and Sweden to support research and innovation in the common European priority area of batteries.
Test World recently won Inari Entrepreneurs Association Company of the Year due to the importance of Test World across the whole Inari region. Since 96 per cent of Test World’s customers are international, local Finnish companies also benefit from the business of Test World’s customers when they travel to the site.
Test World is starting its full programme of winter tyre and vehicle testing after expanding its outdoor tracks in Ivalo, Northern Finland. The team has added 4km of new tracks to meet the rise in demand for tyre and vehicle test services, making the total length 84 km. Some tracks have been reshaped based on customer feedback and to meet changing requirements.
Upon concluding negotiations with employee representatives today, Nokian Tyres has announced it will make 41 workers at its plant in Nokia, Finland redundant. The tyre maker adds that 11 of these redundancies will take the form of retirement or “other agreed arrangements”. It is also still evaluating the possibility of relocating employees within the group, a measure that may decrease the total number of job reductions.
Nokian Tyres is responding to what it calls the “weak development of the European car and tyre market” with plans to reduce employee numbers at its Nokia production facility in Finland. It appears Nokian Tyres is looking to lay off approximately 50 workers and additionally dismiss an unspecified number on a temporary basis.
Nokian Heavy Tyres is acquiring a Finnish heavy equipment wheel company Levypyörä Oy. With its two business lines, wheels and steel structures, Levypyörä serves several original equipment manufacturers and aftermarket customers in forestry, agriculture and earthmoving applications. Annual net sales of Levypyörä are approximately 18 million euros.
Millbrook’s Test World facility in Finland has been selected as the official partner of Traficom, the Finnish Transport and Communications Agency, to carry out assessments across the studded tyre market. Test World will work with Traficom over a period of three years, beginning this summer.
In the two and a half years since Nokian Tyres first invited motorists to drive into its SnapSkan machine and take photos of their tyres, a million cars have been through SnapSkan units in Finland and Norway. What Nokian has found upon reaching the seven-digit milestone in May is that a tenth of all drivers are taking a risk by driving on tyres with insufficient tread depth. The issue of insufficient tread depth is more pronounced for summer tyres, the tyre maker adds.
The sentencing of nine former Nokian Tyres employees for the misappropriation of business secrets has been welcomed by both the tyre maker and by Black Donuts Engineering – albeit for different reasons. Both parties now look forward to progressing beyond the case, which has been ongoing since 2011.
Tomi Glad; Cimcorp