Michelin has gained the Supplier Relations and Responsible Purchasing Label (Label Relations Fournisseurs & Achats Responsables, or RFAR), a recognition given to distinguish French companies that demonstrate lasting and balanced relationships with their suppliers. This distinction follows the recent receipt of a certificate of maturity for purchasing practices in relation to the new ISO 20400 sustainable procurement standard.
The Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT) has introduced a new two-day conference aimed at improving quality across the automotive supply chain. The inaugural Automotive Quality Management Systems (AQMS) Conference is the first event of its kind in Britain, taking place at the NEC, Birmingham, on 20 and 21 November 2018.
Standard Motor Products Europe (SMPE), one of the UK’s largest independently owned automotive parts manufacturers and suppliers, is working towards its ISO14001:2015 accreditation, reflecting the company’s commitment to tier 1 customers and improved environmental performance.
Specialists in the field of radio frequency identification (RFID) and experts from the tyre and wheel industries met in Brussels earlier this month to discuss proposed international standards for RFID tyre tags. This first meeting of the ISO/TC31/WG10 Workgroup was held between 11 and 14 July and put flesh on the bones of four standards initially drafted in China with input from Mesnac. The Workgroup was convened by Dong Lanfei, an engineer within Mesnac’s Internet of Things business unit, with Pierre Loiret from Michelin acting as co-convenor.
The Michelin tyre factory near Chennai, India has been granted ISO 9001 and ISO/TS 16949:2009 Quality Management System Certification. The certification was carried out by the Technical Union for the Automobile, Motorcycle and Cycle Industries (UTAC).
On 23 June, Bridgestone’s tyre factory in Burgos, Spain was granted ISO 50001 certification for energy management. The facility is the first Bridgestone manufacturing plant in Europe to achieve ISO 50001 certification, and the second in the world after the Wilson County facility in the USA. Bridgestone’s European Technical Center near Rome, Italy, is also ISO 50001 certified.
In mid-2013, Lanxess’ Rhein Chemie Additives business unit opened a new facility in the Lipetsk Industrial Park, around 300 miles southeast of Moscow. Although the plant has produced polymer-bound rubber additives for almost two years now, Lanxess states “it was clear” that “lasting commercial success” with tyre and rubber industry customers in Russia wouldn’t be feasible unless the facility achieved the appropriate ISO certification, and therefore it set about obtaining this at the start of last year.
Cooper Tire & Rubber says its tyre factory in Texarkana, Arkansas has been certified as a gold level ‘Superior Energy Performance’ (SEP) facility by the US Department of Energy. The plant was recognised for implementing ISO 50001, and Cooper earned gold distinction by meeting the SEP programme’s additional standards, namely achieving a more than ten per cent improvement in energy performance over three years.
The Sumitomo Rubber Group’s first tyre factory in Latin America has been awarded both the ISO 14001 Environmental Management System Standard and the OHSAS 18001 Occupational Health and Safety Standard. Certification of the Sumitomo Rubber do Brasil Ltda passenger car radial plant in Fazenda Rio Grande, Paraná state took effect on 30 September 2014. The accrediting body for both certifications was Lloyd’s Register Quality Assurance (LRQA).
Vacu-Lug Traction Tyres, the Grantham-based commercial tyre remoulding specialist, has been awarded OHSAS 18001 status. This BSI certification for Occupational Health and Safety Management supplements the company’s two existing accreditations for quality and environmental management. Upon announcing its OHSAS 18001 accreditation, Vacu-Lug noted that it is the first retreader in the UK to hold all three standards, and as such the company has “set a new benchmark for the industry.”
Tyre, rubber, plastics and composites specialist Smithers Rapra has announced that its operation in Suzhou, China has been certified to test to the United Nation’s Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE) R117 standard by TÜV NORD. The company says adding the ECE R117 standard test capabilities for rolling resistance and road noise will support international tyre makers with testing systems that ensure the highest product integrity.
In order to strengthen its Japanese-market retreading activities and meet an anticipated increase in demand for retreaded tyres, on 1 January 2014 Yokohama Rubber integrated its two domestic retreading businesses into a single entity. The new Japanese retreading company is called Yokohama Tire Retread Co., Ltd. and sees Sanyo Retread Co., Ltd. merged into the larger Yokohama Tire East Japan Retread Co., Ltd. operation. Atao Kishi, former head of Yokohama Rubber’s commercial tyre development division, has been named the new operation’s president.
In response the demands of a more diversified market, the Remog group reports that it has implemented “major changes” designed to help the company adapt and take up the challenges before it.
The headline news is the incorporation of BF, which is already part of the group into Remog S.p.A’s operations. However the company made it clear that the continuity of the distribution of both lines of products branded Remog and BF will remain.
