Tire Technology International Awards for Innovation and Excellence 2010

Tire Manufacturing and Design Innovation of the Year

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Winner: Kumho

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In September 2009, Kumho unveiled its first laser cut tire at the 2009 IAA in Frankfurt. The unveiling of this concept was the first public viewing of a new type of laser tire etching system. A new type of system that has now become award-winning!

Tires have been cut with a laser CNC before; however conventional CO2 laser cutting machines are relatively crude and leave an undesirable serrated surface finish. The Kumho system uses a YAG laser and leaves a near-perfect surface finish, much the same as a molded tire. In conjunction with developing the technology for use on the finished tire, Kumho is also developing the technology in regards to tire mold applications. Kumho is using the technology for research in a number of different areas: Concept tire design for OEMs, manufacture of low-volume products, race tire performance enhancement, improved snow and ice performance, mold manufacture, cost down, and quality improvement. A key area in which Kumho has developed the technology is pattern design. As the tire market diversifies and complex new systems at POS come into place (tire labelling), Kumho believes that design needs to sell the technology of the product more than ever before.

Laser etching has allowed Kumho to develop such systems as dual-layered tread patterns, and sidewall designs with dramatically improved aerodynamics. These systems are vital in improving the environmental credentials of the tire without sacrificing traditional areas of performance such as wet grip and wear. Kumho believes that laser technology will help improve tire performance and communicate the complexity, ecology and creativity of tire design to the end user.

Environmental Achievement of the Year

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Winner: Goodyear

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The world's first concept demonstration tires made with BioIsoprene technology, a breakthrough alternative to replace a petrochemically produced ingredient in the manufacture of synthetic rubber with renewable biomass, made their debut at the United Nations Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen (COP 15), and have now become an award-winning technology.

The tires made with BioIsoprene are the result of collaboration between Goodyear and Genencor, a division of Danisco, and show the progress Goodyear has made in using a bio-based alternative to the petroleum-derived raw material isoprene in its production process. The development of BioIsoprene could make Goodyear less dependent on oil-derived products. The aim is to lessen industry impact on the environment by applying renewable raw materials in the supply chain.

Tire Technology of the Year

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Winner: SRI

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Sumitomo Rubber Industries (SRI) has, with its new Thermal Control Technology, developed fourth-generation runflat tires claimed to provide excellent ride comfort equivalent to, or better than, standard tires, while maintaining runflat performance. Runflats are growing in popularity, and such technology will remove concerns about ride quality, decided the jury.

SRI examined means to reduce the heat generation by its proprietary "thermal control technology" and gave a birth to the fourth-generation runflat tire. When it runs flat, a tire repeats significant deformation and the sidewall reinforcement layer generates heat at every rotation of a wheel. The company adopted four proprietary technologies, namely CTT Profile, Aramid Casing, High Thermal Conductivity Materials and Dimple Sidewall for the tire, and increased the driving distance of cars on flat tires by 2.3 times, compared with the third-generation runflat tire. With those technologies, SRI was able to decrease the thickness of the sidewall reinforcement layer by 30% and in turn reduce tire's overall weight by 3% and vertical stiffness by 6%, which is claimed to provide ride comfort same as or better than standard tires.

Tire Manufacturer of the Year

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Winner: Michelin

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It has been a busy 12 months for Michelin, with several exciting developments convincing the jury. 2009 saw the company upgrade its global research and development center in Clermont-Ferrand and continue to specialize a number of its industrial operations in France. The project reflects the Group’s commitment to strengthening France’s role as Michelin’s strategic hub and innovation center, and to enhancing the productivity of its manufacturing operations. As part of this commitment, the Group is investing more than €100 million in its Clermont-Ferrand research and development center. This upgrade program is designed to shorten time-to-market cycles for tires and services, and to enable the development of more innovative manufacturing processes. Moreover, to enhance the specialization of its production sites, Michelin is implementing plans to develop its Montceau plant into a high-performance facility for earthmover tires and one of the two largest rubber compound centers in Europe, with the deployment of a €50 million capital spending program. The facility’s current car tire operations will be consolidated with those of other Group plants in Western Europe. The company is also making its Tours plant a benchmark for high-tech truck tires in Europe, with the investment of an additional €15 million to continue upgrading plant installations. To make the facility more competitive, operations will be reorganized and specialized, leading to the closing of the rubber compound unit and the transfer of its production to its plants in Montceau and Cholet. Finally, Michelin is continuing to produce premium tires in France by transferring production at the Seclin facility to Les Gravanches plant near Clermont-Ferrand, and strengthening light truck and SUV tire manufacturing operations at the Cholet plant by integrating light truck tire production from one of the Group’s European plants.

Best of all, Michelin is carrying out this reorganization without any layoffs, implementing a voluntary separation plan open to all employees that mainly involves pre-retirement working arrangements. The plan will enable nearly 495 of the 1,093 employees impacted by the reorganization to take advantage of special early-retirement measures, and the other 598 to benefit from internal placement opportunities.

Tire Industry Supplier of the Year

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Winner: Lanxess

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German specialty chemicals company Lanxess AG impressed the jury with some strong developments over the past 12 months. The company has expanded its €10 million High Performance Rubber R&D Center (RRCQ) in Qingdao, China in order to achieve further profitable growth in Asia. To foster strategic developments, especially in BRIC countries, Lanxess raised its Group R&D investments by 10% in 2009 to ensure top quality, reliability, and innovation for customers and partners, especially in China. The RRCQ, expanded to a total of 3,000m², including an additional 400m² rubber mixing/testing laboratory and a 400m² pilot plant. RRCQ enjoys complete functions, ranging from fundamental research involving the development of new products and techniques, to technical customer support and preparing the commercialization of future inventions. The center also builds upon the company's cooperation agreement with Qingdao University of Science and Technology (QUST) to join forces in R&D and staff training for the rubber industries.

In other developments, the company has extended its range of highly elastic neodymium-polybutadiene (Nd-BR) rubbers with a grade of particularly high viscosity – Buna CB 21. This product, with a Mooney viscosity of 73 MU, is unique among commercially available grades in this rubber family, and features outstanding rebound resilience and particularly low heat buildup, making Buna CB 21 an ideal product for cutting the rolling resistance of car tires. Lanxess has also tied up with the Russian Academy of Science (RAS) – one of the world’s most distinguished scientific institutions and founded over 285 years ago – with a cooperative research agreement. Both parties aim to actively exchange information on scientific trends and innovative research developments as well as initiate cooperation projects. The Group also plans to set up production facilities for rubber chemicals in the Nizhny Novgorod region, where polymer-bound additives and release agents for the rubber-processing and tire industries are set to be produced from 2010. The company has also developed Nanoprene, a polymer additive for plastics and rubber that is now available for industrial application. These microgels, which consist of nanoscale organic particles, can be used to improve the material properties of elastomer and thermoplastic materials. The first major series application of the rubber additive is in the production of winter tires for Toyo.