Tag: Manufacturing
Eastman celebrates Crystex insoluble sulphur 75th anniversary
This year Eastman Crystex celebrates its 75th year. The Crystex story began in 1944 when Stauffer Chemical Company filed a patent for its insoluble sulphur product. The name Crystex evolved from “No Crystals” and “Crystals-X” as a literal explanation of the product function and benefit to tyre makers. The brand grew, and high thermal stability grades were introduced. In a short time, Crystex became known for providing robust properties that tyremakers needed as they innovated and operated in more challenging production environments.
UK automotive production drops again as investment dries up
Another blow on the automotive industry’s chin as we inch closer towards a no-deal Brexit. The Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT) has released its latest UK manufacturing figures, and they make a depressing read. British car manufacturing output fell by more than a fifth in the first half of 2019, while commercial vehicle production was down more than 16 per cent and engine production almost 11 per cent. KPMG considers these numbers “worrying.”
Toyo investing 390 million euros in Serbia tyre factory
Toyo Tire Corporation has announced that it is investing 390.5 million euros in the construction of a new tyre manufacturing facility in Indijia City, Republic of Serbia. Construction of the Serbia plant will start in May 2020, with a view to initiating tyre manufacturing operations in January 2022.
Cooper investing US$4 million in Tupelo mixing
Cooper Tire & Rubber is investing a further $4 million into its plant in Tupelo, Mississippi. Local news sources, citing documents filed with the city said the money will be invested in upgrading the Tupelo plant’s mixing facilities.
Kobe Steel makes Germany-based Kobelco Europe its European HQ
Kobe Steel, Ltd. established Kobelco Europe GmbH (KEU) earlier this month to serve as the European headquarters for the Kobe Steel Group. Tsuyoshi Uesugi, will serve as managing director. According to the company, KEU has grown out of the existing Kobelco Machinery Europe GmbH (KME) which is based in Munich, Germany. KME was established in 2012 as a base for Kobe Steel’s Machinery Business in Europe, mainly the marketing of nonstandard compressors and tyre and rubber machinery.
Bridgestone invests €36 million commitment in smart factory project
Bridgestone is investing 36 million euros into the digitisation of its manufacturing operations. The company states this smart factory project will enable Bridgestone to respond faster and more flexibly to evolving customer demands, while enabling production to use less energy and produce less waste. The investment will also fund training fo4r Bridgestone employees to operate industry-leading digital technologies. The tyre manufacturer says this will subsequently help to improve resource efficiency and job satisfaction.
Comau and Leclanché developing automated lithium-ion battery production line
Comau, which specialises in automation products and solutions, has been commissioned to build one of the world’s first automated manufacturing lines for lithium-ion battery modules for transport applications by Leclanché, a leading provider of energy storage solutions.
Digital transformation in the tyre sector
At the start of May, Zivojin Sekulic of GAJ d.o.o. gave a presentation on the digital transformation of the tyre industry at Guangrao Tyre Conference and Expo 2019. Shortly afterwards, he shared details of the presentation with Tyres & Accessories, which shows how digital data is affecting all parts of the distribution chain.
Supply flexibility Mark Aluminium Die Casting keep its place
The UK automotive industry is rich and diverse, from stripped out track day monsters and mind-bending supercars to civilised luxury vehicles and new generation EVs. All need components on short lead times, despite great variance in vehicle production volumes. These OEMs require suppliers who can be flexible and deliver low or high volumes quickly with added cost-effectiveness. This is a flexibility that Mark Water Pumps Limited (MWPL) has brought to the fore of its die casting operations.
Marangoni spins off Meccanica business
Marangoni has spun off its Meccanica, which designs and manufactures tyre-making equipment. According to a company statement received on 14 June 2019, Marangoni Meccanica has now, therefore, been separated from the main body of the Marangoni Group.
UK economy in reverse after drop in automotive manufacturing
The UK economy contracted 0.4 per cent compared with the month before, following a sharp decline in automotive manufacturing, according to data from the Office for National Statistics (ONS). As a result of the contraction, growth for the three months to April slowed to 0.3 per cent.
UK commercial vehicle production falls in April
Commercial vehicle manufacturing in the UK declined rapidly as a result of planned shutdowns in April. Just 2,162 units were produced, -70.9 per cent down on the previous month. The year to date figure remains positive, with volumes up 10.3 per cent as a result of domestic demand, though exports are still the majority, making up nearly 60 per cent of production in the first four months.
Goodyear announces $36M investment in OTR production
Goodyear highlighted its latest off-the-road (OTR) products and solutions for the construction machinery industry at BAUMA, including the public debut of its recently launched OMNITRAC ranges of steer and drive tyres for mixed service trucks. At BAUMA, Goodyear highlighted its EMTrack OTR tyre performance monitoring system and the TL-4A OTR tyre for articulated dump trucks and scrapers. The company also announced that it will make a $36 million investment at its manufacturing plant in Colmar-Berg, Luxembourg.
Can artificial intelligence reduce warranty claims?
At the start of April 2019, Bridgestone formally completed its billion-dollar acquisition of TomTom Telematics. The goal – as ever – is to capitalise on the benefits of big data, leveraging its usefulness in the cause of better tyres and greater efficiency for all stakeholders. Of course, Bridgestone is not the only tyremaker seeking to make the most of tyre data. Many have invested significantly in developing cyber tyres over the course of the last 10 to 15 years, harnessing the fact that tyres are a vehicles’ only point of contact with the road and therefore the only means of generating real-time road surface:vehicle contact data. This same approach also yields tyre condition and performance data, which can be used for everything from motorsport to commercial fleet applications. But what about in the manufacturing process itself?
New chapter in politics parallels new chapter in UK automotive manufacturing
As we all now know, Boris Johnson became the United Kingdom’s new Prime Minister on 24 July. The first thing he did was replace almost the entire cabinet, with a reshuffle of unprecedented proportions. Next, he gave his maiden speech on the steps of 10 Downing Street, with an address that sought to build a platform for economic and political optimism against the recent backdrop of Brexit stagnation. Not only will we leave the EU by 31 October, we are going to do it in style, he effectively said. In doing so, Boris – as he is affectionately known – revealed as much about the changing nature of the automotive manufacturing industry and its suppliers as he did about British politics.
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