Pirelli claims a world first with the launch of a range of FSC-certified (Forest Stewardship Council) tyres. Designed for the BMW X5 xDrive45e plug-in-hybrid, these tyres contain FSC-certified natural rubber and rayon. According to Pirelli, its FSC-Certified P Zero represents “a new horizon for increasingly sustainable tyre production.”
The German Sustainability Award project is hailed as “Europe’s premier award for environmental and social engagement.” Held annually since 2008 and oriented towards the goals of Agenda 2030, the multi-stakeholder, government-supported awards honour those working towards a more sustainable future. Awardees for 2021 include Continental, whose Urban Taraxagum bicycle tyre caught the judging panel’s attention. The tyre is an award-winner in the Responsible Design category.
Members of the Global Platform for Sustainable Natural Rubber (GPSNR) convened the annual General Assembly on 23 September 2020. The event saw the approval of a members’ sustainability policy framework and the creation of a new membership category for smallholder producers of natural rubber.
Adrian Kaczmarczyk (Dipl. Ing. Engineering, MBA) has been appointed Nokian Tyres Senior Vice President, Supply Operations. He will take up the position on 1 November 2020 at the latest. Nokian Tyres current SVP, Supply Operations Esa Eronen will retire at the end of this year after working for more than 30 years in the company.
The natural rubber supply chain is very complex. It includes around six million farmers, 100,000 intermediaries and over 500 processing plants. To bring greater transparency to the supply chain, two ‘top-five’ tyre makers are now cooperating with a third party in a joint venture: Michelin and Continental, together with IT agricultural specialist Smag, have formed a company to further develop and deploy a technological solution for mapping sustainability practices. The client-facing portion of this technology is a smartphone app called Rubberway.
Supply chains will be destroyed because of stricter border controls and, as a result of a no-deal Brexit, we could be forced to buy more local products, according to an expert from the University of Cologne.
In spite of alternatives such as guayule and Russian dandelion, the Hevea brasiliensis tree will remain an important source of rubber for tyre manufacturers. The Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company recognises this and has announced a new natural rubber procurement policy. The tyre maker says this new policy “reflects its strong commitment to the responsible sourcing of raw materials” and believes its implementation and adherence will help address deforestation, land grabbing, and human rights in the areas of the world where natural rubber is produced.
Automechanika Birmingham 2017 represented the perfect opportunity for the UK’s automotive aftermarket to gather as higher technology vehicles continue to push up turnover by 2.4 per cent in 2016. 800 such companies were present at the Birmingham NEC for this year’s show. The aftermarket accounted for £21.6 billion in turnover – a figure boosted by the presence of the more high tech vehicles on Britain’s road in addition to recent record months in new car registrations. Additionally the increasing demand for digital services has helped to boost the online side of the segment, and the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT), which reported the latest figures, states that more car parts, accessories and services are bought online than cosmetics or groceries. Tyres, alongside lubricants and filters, are the most commonly replaced part, and help account for some of the growth in digital sales, though demand for digital devices, including telematics and tyre pressure sensors, has grown fastest. Overall, the SMMT states that the automotive sector makes a contribution to the UK economy of £12.5 billion.
Bridgestone Corporation reports it has been identified as a global leader thanks to its actions and strategies to manage carbon and climate change across its supply chain. The company has been given a position on the supplier engagement leader board set up by UK-based international non-governmental organisation CDP (formerly the Carbon Disclosure Project). It has also received an ‘A’ in CDP’s Supplier Engagement Rating.
28,000 new jobs could be created in the UK automotive supply chain by 2020, according to a new forecast report from industry trade body The Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT).
The report, “The future of UK automotive manufacturing in 2025 and beyond”, identifies growth in vehicle manufacturing and a move to connected and autonomous technology as presenting significant opportunities for British component suppliers in the coming years. It estimates that British car production is set to reach a record two million vehicles annually by 2020 – a 33 per cent increase on the current 1.5 million.
CEVA Logistics has been awarded the contract to provide tyre warehousing and transportation services to Continental in the UK. The new five-year contract is worth more than US$50 million and involves CEVA’s management of the 21,000 square metre Continental warehouse within the Central Park industrial estate in Rugby. The supply chain management company will receive, store and dispatch around three million tyres a year and also manage Continental’s UK transport requirements using both its own dedicated fleet and a network of regional partners.
Nokian