Tire Technology International Awards for Innovation and Excellence 2012

Tire Manufacturing Innovation of the Year In recognition of scientific and technological excellence in tire manufacturing

Winner: Goodyear Retread Multi-piece Cushion

Cushion is a main constituent in retreading a commercial truck tire. However, cushion is a homogeneous product that has a short shelf life and is temperature sensitive. Moreover, the basic physics of the material limit the types of chemicals that can be used for the material. To overcome these hurdles, Goodyear developed a multilayered, concentric extrusion process to allow this cushion to be redefined in how it is introduced into dealers’ retread manufacturing processes. This innovative process has now been recognised with a Tire Technology International award.

The cushion is extruded into a single rope with three concentric circular layers, each with its own function in the overall chemistry of the product. The rope is then fed into a small cold-feed extruder that applies the cushion to the buffed casing. The extruder provides sufficient mixing of the layers to reconstitute the cushion into the homogeneous material required to bond the precured tread to the casing.

This method allows the shelf life to be more than double that of current products, which greatly reduces the need to scrap overage materials and also allows for more flexibility in product ordering frequency. In addition, the product is not sensitive to storage temperature, which eliminates the need for any reduced-temperature transportation or storage.

The concentric rings keep the proportion of the layers in the proper ratio, regardless of any stretching or distortion. Disruptions to the feeding of the cold feed extruder do not result in an imbalance of compound proportions.

This product has been evaluated at a number of retreading dealers with excellent acceptance. It is a revolutionary change to a system that generally remains evolutionary in its technology advancements.

Environmental Achievement of the Year In recognition of environmental advances in the tire industry

Winner: Environmental Waste International

Environmental Waste International Inc won over the jury with its revolutionary recycling technology that provides an efficient and environmentally friendly alternative to conventional tire recycling methods.

The company’s new high-tech facility utilises Reverse Polymerisation (RP) technology, which uses microwaves to extract a tire’s oil, along with other valuable by-products, and produces no emissions. Running at a planned recycling rate of about 300,000 tires per year, the plant is expected to produce 240,000 US gallons of oil, two million pounds of carbon black and 600,000 pounds of steel annually. In addition, off-gases produced by the system are used to co-generate electricity that allows it to be energy self-sufficient.

The process does not melt tires, but rather breaks apart their molecular bonds, allowing for reclamation of virtually 100% of a tire’s by-products such as carbon black, oil, steel and hydrocarbon gas without sending any hazardous emissions up a smokestack or residual waste to landfill. This is cleaner than traditional methods of tire recycling such as grinding, shredding, crumbing and incineration.

This is an important accolade in an increasingly significant category of the awards.

Tire Technology of the Year In recognition of real advances in technology

Winner: Bridgestone CAIS

Imagine a technology that can provide real-time road surface condition information to the driver by way of the tires. This concept has been developed by Bridgestone, based on a concept called Contact Area Information Sensing (CAIS), and it convinced the jury.

CAIS is Bridgestone’s name for a technology that collects and evaluates road surface condition information. An accelerator sensor located inside the tire tread detects vibrations in the tread and wirelessly sends that information to the vehicle’s analytical equipment. Capable of sensing instantaneous vibration input data and digitising it using in-vehicle analysis equipment, the new technology classifies the current state of the road surface into seven conditions of dry, semi-dry, wet, slush, fresh snow, compact snow and ice. This information is then transmitted directly to the driver via an in-car display.

By providing immediate road surface information, the technology is intended to allow the driver to be better prepared for rapid changes in dangerous driving conditions, such as ice, snow and rain, and also provide the opportunity to alert other vehicles equipped with CAIS on the same road.

The high precision of this road surface determination technology in various environments has been verified through extended testing over two winters on public roads in Hokkaido, Japan, where dangerous conditions like snow and ice are likely to appear.

Tire Industry Supplier of the Year In recognition of excellence by suppliers to the tire industry

Winner: Rhein Chemie

Rhein Chemie Rheinau GmbH won this category due to a remarkable series of corporate deals in the past year. The company expanded its product portfolio in 2011 through the acquisition of two businesses from Flexsys America LP, a subsidiary of Solutia Inc. Rhein Chemie has now taken over the Vocol and Santoweb product lines, which strengthens its expertise in high-quality dithiophosphate accelerators and pre-dispersed polymer-bound fibres, enabling it to expand its service spectrum for rubber processors.

Vocol is engineered to be suited to substitute physiologically harmful accelerator systems. Owing to its chemical composition, Vocol is claimed to generate an extremely stable rubber network during vulcanisation, a property that is particularly beneficial for thick-walled rubber articles such as solid rubber tires because it counters the reversion of the rubber network typical of protracted vulcanisation times.

The Santoweb product range comprises pre-dispersed polymer-bound cellulose fibre batches used, for example, as reinforcement materials in the manufacture of drive belts and conveyor belts. Pre-dispersion leads to a high inherent strength, which is transferred to the components. With these new products Rhein Chemie is expanding its portfolio of pre-dispersed fibre additives.

In addition to the acquisition of Vocol and Santoweb, Rhein Chemie made a further two tire industry acquisitions. With the acquisition of the Argentinian release agents and tire curing bladder manufacturer Darmex and the tire release agents business of Wacker Chemie in 2011, the company has expanded its range of solutions for the tire industry.

Rhein Chemie is the only global player offering both curing bladders and release agents for the manufacturing of tires.

Tire Manufacturer of the Year In recognition of achievements by tire manufacturers

Winner: Michelin

It has been an eventful 12 months for Michelin, with several investments, collaborations and R&D developments earning it the coveted Manufacturer of the Year accolade.

At the company’s North American plants, US$200 million has been invested in the Lexington facility in South Carolina to further expand its tire building capacity, and an additional US$50 million has been spent to upgrade equipment and expand production capacity at the Fort Wayne BFGoodrich Tire manufacturing facility in Woodburn, Indiana.

Michelin also joined two new partnerships during 2011. The first, with the Fédération Internationale de l’Automobile (FIA), is designed to develop new actions to foster safer and more sustainable mobility through motorsport technology. This working relationship is built on three policies: the improvement of road safety; the development of innovations in tires within a motorsport competition setting, in order to contribute to improved road use; and new solutions to reduce the environmental footprint of mobility in everyday life. The goal of the FIA and Michelin is to pull out all the stops to ensure that competition makes a serious contribution to improving mobility and, from 2011, to implement concrete actions derived from each of the three pillars of this partnership.

The second agreement is with Amyris Inc, a leading renewable chemicals and fuels company, to collaborate in the development and commercialisation of renewable isoprene. Under the agreement, Amyris and Michelin will partner to contribute funding and technical resources to develop Amyris’s technology to produce isoprene from renewable feedstocks. Amyris expects to begin to commercialise this isoprene in 2015 for use in tire and other speciality chemical applications.

Looking to future R&D, Michelin is also undertaking a top-to-bottom €100 million upgrade of its global R&D centre in Ladoux, France. In the centre, where 3,300 people work, an entirely new, ultra-modern 67,000m² property complex will be built, which will consolidate all Michelin R&D teams and laboratories on the same site, enabling the introduction of new, faster and more efficient work processes.

2011 also saw the return of the Michelin Challenge Bibendum, the company’s global summit for sustainable mobility. It is the world’s only event that brings together car and truck makers, academics, equipment manufacturers, energy suppliers, research institutes, public authorities and non-governmental organisations to create a shared vision of safer, cleaner transportation. At the event, Michelin unveiled five tire innovations and three breakthrough technologies that involve more than just tires, including a self-repairing car tire, a concept truck tire that can carry loads of up to five tonnes, a motorised wheel and a fuel cell.

Tire Manufacturing Innovation of the Year In recognition of scientific and technological excellence in tire manufacturing

Runner up: Micro-Poise AkroMARK PLUS Hot Stamp Tire Marking System

Micro-Poise has combined its multi-pin, multi-colour hot stamp markers with a full tire orientation station, allowing the station to rotate a tire for specific marks, thereby positioning it for both upper and lower plane marks as identified from multiple test system results.

Thus, only one marking station is required in the final finish operation, combining marks identified from uniformity testing and marks identified from dynamic balance testing and potentially from other test and measurement systems, such as geometry or x-ray systems.

Savings to the tire manufacturer include the reduction of floor space required for additional marking stations along the final finish line, reduction in ongoing maintenance, and the simplicity of having one consolidated marking station established for all final finish marking requirements.

Tire Manufacturing Innovation of the Year In recognition of scientific and technological excellence in tire manufacturing

Runner up: Ichimaru-Giken Gas Circulation Unit

In conventional tire curing presses, curing is performed using liquids such as water at high pressure and temperature. But more recently, methods using steam and gases have gone mainstream, and problems have arisen with temperature differentials between the upper and lower areas inside the bladder during curing. For many years, methods that can in a short time reliably and continuously eliminate this temperature differential problem have been explored, but no definitive solution has been found.

With expertise and knowledge gained during more than 30 years as a developer and manufacturer of valves and other main components for tire-curing machines, Ichimaru-Giken has developed the Gas Circulation Unit (GCU), a device that consists of a special induction motor combined with a turbo-type pump and dedicated controller, which can circulate gas inside the bladder to create an even temperature with forced convection. With the temperature differential eliminated, improvements in curing quality can be anticipated. The unit also improves productivity and reduces energy consumption through reductions in tire curing time by more easily controlling temperature.

Tire Manufacturing Innovation of the Year In recognition of scientific and technological excellence in tire manufacturing

Runner up: MTV Cutting-Edge cemented carbide knives

The latest cutting knife technology developed by MTV Cutting-Edge GmbH is a permanent composition of the steel body with cemented carbide powders. Created using laser and plasma welding, MTV’s knives are highly durable. Indeed, by using these knives during daily production, a tire producer can create more than 700,000 cuts for passenger car tires, and about 500,000 for heavy and extra-heavy tires – with one edge, without grinding.

Further advantages of the use of these edges are: reduction of downtimes for knife exchanges; less warming of the materials for cutting; decreased energy consumption of the whole cutting machine; when cutting with a ‘zero distance clearing’ between the two knives there is a self-sharpening effect of the edges – impossible with steel edges; the knives are coated by a specially developed material that can increase the lifetime of the knives, and helps avoid sticking of softer materials during the cutting process; and grinding of the cemented carbide edges is possible up to four times.

Mesnac has just announced a new record using these knives: one million cuts on PCR tires, 700,000 TBR cuts, using just one edge, without grinding. Mesnac states this is four times more cuts than standard knives.

Environmental Achievement of the Year In recognition of environmental advances in the tire industry

Runner up: Lehigh Technologies

To help the tire industry continue its environmental effort, micronised rubber powder specialist Lehigh Technologies has developed butyl-based PolyDyne micronised powders, which, the company claims, can help minimise the effects of rising butyl rubber costs by stretching the butyl compound’s usage. The products are also claimed to help improve the sustainability of customers’ products.

With a focus on the development of sustainable rubber materials, Lehigh has successfully incorporated butyl rubber into its production environment, and the Lehigh Application and Development team has developed formulation protocols to optimise the use of micronised rubber powders in compounds. These sustainable powders help the tire industry better manage costs by replacing high-cost, non-renewable virgin materials, and provide a green solution that doesn’t compromise quality.

Lehigh Technologies is working on making the use of sustainable (100% recycled) rubber powders a competitive advantage for tire manufacturers. By incorporating micronised natural rubber powders into products, manufacturers can improve the sustainability of their products.

Lehigh also recently launched its Road to One Billion Campaign, which aims to put one billion tires on the road that have been manufactured using the company’s sustainable micronised rubber material. Lehigh hopes this campaign will catalyse an industry-wide effort to increase the environmental contributions of the industry through the use of innovative, sustainable materials. The campaign also aligns with targets aimed at reducing the consumption of oil in the production of new tires. The goal for the campaign is to work with tire manufacturers who are committed to sustainable tire manufacturing, to further reduce the carbon footprint of a tire.

Environmental Achievement of the Year In recognition of environmental advances in the tire industry

Runner up: Yokohama BluEarth

Yokohama has launched an ‘environmentally, human and socially friendly tire’, the BluEarth-1. The environmental benefits are attained through the use of a nano-blend compound with orange oil, an advanced innerliner, and a lightweight, aerodynamic design.

The nano-blend compound controls the chemical reactions of materials at the nano composition level to balance the fuel consumption, mileage and wet grip properties. The compound consists of a super-low rolling resistance polymer bonded with silica at its polymer end, orange oil to make tires softer for more contact surface in the wet and dry, and a fine silica that controls excessive heat for improved wet grip and mileage. The tire has two modes. In steady mode the compound works to ensure lower rolling resistance; in active mode the compound generates heat quickly for better grip. The asymmetric design offers wet grip on the inside edge, and handling stability in the outside area.

The tire is 17% lighter than equivalent predecessor designs from Yokohama. An advanced innerliner loses up to 36% less air than conventional tires, to maintain optimal air pressure for fuel economy.

The social element comes from a five-pitch tread pattern, by which the pattern noises cancel each other out. The human element is a comfortable, quiet ride. Yokohama plans to promote the series globally.

Environmental Achievement of the Year In recognition of environmental advances in the tire industry

Runner up: Michelin / Amyris

Michelin was nominated for its collaboration with Amyris Inc, a renewable chemicals and fuels company, in the development and commercialisation of renewable isoprene, a chemical building block in rubber tires that uses sustainable raw materials.

Under the agreement, Amyris and Michelin have partnered to contribute funding and technical resources to develop technology that produces isoprene from renewable feedstocks. Amyris’s technology can convert plant-based sugars into isoprene, a five-carbon molecule that is the main ingredient in the production of synthetic rubber. Isoprene has traditionally been produced as a by-product of the thermal cracking of naphtha to produce ethylene, or via C4 refinery stream synthesis. As the petrochemical industry adjusts to lighter cracking slates with the advent of shale gas, new sources of isoprene have become necessary.

Amyris expects to begin to commercialise this isoprene in 2015 for use in tire and other speciality chemical applications. Michelin is committed to off-take volumes on a ten-year basis. In addition, Amyris retains the right to market its renewable isoprene to other customers.

Tire Technology of the Year In recognition of real advances in technology

Runner up: Goodyear Air Maintenance Technology

The latest research at Goodyear’s labs could see the end of drivers adding air to their tires. Goodyear scientists have developed Air Maintenance Technology (AMT), which is claimed to enable tires to remain inflated at the optimum pressure without the need for any external pumps or electronics. All components of the AMT system, including the miniaturised pump, will be fully contained within the tire.

Although the technology is complex, the idea behind the AMT system is relatively simple and powered by the tire itself as it rolls down the road. Goodyear has not provided an estimate as to when this technology will be available at tire retailers, but says the timetable is being accelerated due to recent government research grants in the USA and European Union.

The US Department of Energy’s Office of Vehicle Technology has awarded a US$1.5 million grant for research, development and demonstration of the AMT system for commercial truck tires. The grant will be administered by the National Energy Technology Laboratory, and work will be conducted at Goodyear’s Innovation Centre in Akron, Ohio. Goodyear has also successfully applied for a grant from the Luxemburg government for research and development of an AMT system for consumer tires. That work will be conducted at Goodyear’s Innovation Centre in Colmar-Berg, Luxembourg.

Tire Technology of the Year In recognition of real advances in technology

Runner up: Bridgestone airless tire

Bridgestone earned itself a second entry in this category with a non-pneumatic concept tire that could prove to be a viable and more environmentally friendly alternative to conventional tires. The design is a result of the company’s efforts to contribute to a more sustainable society, with particular emphasis on three areas: ecological conservation, resource conservation and reduction of carbon emissions.

Non-pneumatic tires have a lesser impact on the environment than today’s conventional tires, but previously such concept tires have been impractical to produce for the mass market. Bridgestone developed this technology with the aim of practical implementation.

With a unique structure of spokes stretching along the inner sides of the tires supporting the weight of the vehicle, there is no need to periodically refill the tires with air, meaning that they require less maintenance. At the same time, the worry of punctures is eliminated. In addition, the spoke structure within the tire is made from a reusable thermoplastic resin that becomes flexible when heated, can be processed into a variety of shapes, and becomes hard when cooled. The changes from heating and cooling can generally be repeated, making it easy to both mould and recycle the material. Along with the rubber in the tread portion, the materials used in the tires are 100% recyclable.

Bridgestone is pursuing this technological development with the aim of achieving a ‘cradle to cradle’ process that proactively maximises the cyclical use of resources from worn tires into new tires and the use of recyclable resources.

Tire Technology of the Year In recognition of real advances in technology

Runner up: Hankook Kinergy Eco EV

Hankook’s Kinergy Eco EV has been specially developed for one of the fastest-growing vehicle sectors: electric and hybrid vehicles. With its size of 155/70 R 19, the design has an unusually large diameter of 700mm, which optimises air resistance. In conjunction with its streamlined shoulder area, it can also contribute to a reduction in fuel consumption, particularly on medium and long distances.

The contact area has similar dimensions to a wide-base tire, though longwise. In connection with a high-grip tread compound, this ensures optimal transfer of torque, a feature particularly important given the power delivery of electric vehicles.

New mixing technologies as well as the use of silica nano-particles reduce rolling resistance and also ensure improved grip in wet conditions. The energy saving is reflected in lower power consumption and thus contributes to improving the vehicle’s energy balance and range.

Given the low noise levels of electric and hybrid vehicles, an important feature is the optimised tread pitch, which not only improves handling characteristics but also offers greater driving comfort with reduced tire noise.

Safety-wise, the design features wide, circumferential grooves for protection against aquaplaning, self-sharpening tread block edges for greater grip on wet and dry roads, and wider shoulder blocks to improve traction and curve stability.

Tire Industry Supplier of the Year In recognition of excellence by suppliers to the tire industry

Runner up: Aditya Birla

Following carbon black additive giant Aditya Birla Group’s US$875 million acquisition of Columbian Chemicals Company in 2011, the group has become the world’s largest carbon black producer.

Aditya Birla Group views the carbon black business as a significant global business in its portfolio, with Columbian Chemicals’ R&D capability, and multiple speciality products adding to its carbon black business. Likewise, Aditya Birla’s strength in scale economies, managing large-capacity plants and managing multiple emerging markets, is being leveraged.

The acquisition of Columbian Chemicals doubles the group’s carbon black capacity, from one million tons to two million tons. It also extends its geographic reach, with a global footprint now spanning 12 countries – India, Thailand, Egypt, China, USA, Brazil, Korea, Spain, Canada, Hungary, Germany and Italy – where the group now collectively has 17 state-of-the-art manufacturing units. The deal will help give a foothold in the mature markets of North America, and strengthens the group’s position in Europe and in emerging markets. Expected synergies are in excess of US$50 million.

Tire Industry Supplier of the Year In recognition of excellence by suppliers to the tire industry

Runners up: Micro-Poise

Micro-Poise, a measurement and inspection systems specialist for the tire industry, has seen some remarkable developments over the past year, with a new world headquarters, new European headquarters, a new manufacturing facility in China, new Indian offices, and new technologies.

The company is now in full production at its new world headquarters, located in Streetsboro, Ohio, USA. This state-of-the-art facility is specifically designed to be responsive to global customer deliveries while improving lean manufacturing techniques.

In addition, the company’s new European headquarters in Lübeck, Germany shares the current facilities of Collmann GmbH, an x-ray technology company Micro-Poise purchased in September 2010. This facility allows Micro-Poise to build new machinery, rebuild existing equipment and better service and support customers in Europe, Africa and the Middle East.

In China, Micro-Poise recently expanded its Beijing manufacturing facility, which enhances its ability to react to increases in manufacturing demand for all customers in Asia, while its India sales, service and support office in Chennai is dedicated to the Indian tire and automotive market. The Korea sales, service and support office in Seoul supports all customer needs for the Korean and Japanese tire and automotive markets.

On the product front, in addition to the AkroMARK PLUS Hot Stamp Tire Marking System with Full Orientation capability (also runner-up in the Tire Manufacturing Innovation of the Year category), in the past year the company has launched new Effective Radius Measurement and Effective Radius Variation technology as an add-on to its tire uniformity test machines, and new Universal Measurement & Testing instrumentation.

Tire Industry Supplier of the Year In recognition of excellence by suppliers to the tire industry

Runner up: BASF

Notable developments in 2011 for chemicals giant BASF include setting up a research initiative called Joint Research Network on Advanced Materials and Systems (JONAS) in collaboration with the universities of Strasbourg, Freiburg and Zurich. The aim is to work jointly to strengthen the scientific base and understanding of modern materials and systems, and expand the international research network for polymer research such as bio-based and biodegradable polymers.

Another initiative is participation in the EU-supported research project BIONEXGEN (Next Generation of Biocatalysts), which brings together 17 partners from industry and academia who share the common goal of developing a new generation of biocatalysts for more sustainable production processes in the chemical industry. Research activities will include new biocatalytic amine syntheses and the use of enzymes for the synthesis of functional polymers from renewable feedstock. This will help the company further reduce the number of resources needed to produce chemicals.

On the production side, in order to expand its presence in the Middle East region BASF is building a state-of-the-art plant for customer-specific antioxidant blends (CSB) in Bahrain. Construction of the new facility started in September 2011. It will become one of the world’s largest CSB plants, with an annual capacity of about 16,000 metric tons. The new plant is planned to be operational by the end of 2012.

Tire Manufacturer of the Year In recognition of achievements by tire manufacturers

Runners up: Apollo Tyres

Apollo Tyres is currently in its second phase of global expansion, with revenues growing by some 50%. February 2011 saw the company formally inaugurate its ninth global tire manufacturing unit – its fourth in India. Located on the outskirts of Chennai city, this greenfield facility showcases some of the best practices available across the globe in tire manufacturing. The highly automated plant makes extensive use of robotics and IT-driven systems, and produces 7,000 PCR and 1,300 TBRs per day.

Looking to further raise revenues, the company has also entered the Sri Lankan market through a tie-up with Ideal Motors, the automobile distribution and marketing arm of the Ideal group of companies. The initial focus will be on passenger vehicle and cross-ply truck and light truck tires, gradually expanding over time to include Apollo’s entire range currently sold in India, including truck-bus radial, agriculture and off-highway tires.

Apollo has also announced its plans for the Middle East market. The region, the world’s largest free trade zone, and the largest tire distribution hub in the region, has traditionally been one of Apollo’s strongest export markets, outside of India, accounting for about 30% of export revenues. The Middle East has an infrastructure and tire usage very similar to India’s, which is why Apollo’s products have always enjoyed high acceptance there. To aid sales, Apollo has opened its first and largest office outside its operations in India, southern Africa and the Netherlands. This 2,000 square feet office located in the JAFZA Free Economic Zone will be the company’s base in Dubai, and the reporting base for employees in Iran, Saudi Arabia and Turkey.

Tire Manufacturer of the Year In recognition of achievements by tire manufacturers

Runner up: Pirelli SpA

There have been many impressive developments at Pirelli over the past 12 months. The company has opened its new technology hub outside Turin, which brings over 1,200 staff together in the group’s most technologically advanced and efficient plant in terms of product and production process innovation, as well as in terms of sustainability and the quality of the work environment.

This US$214 million hub will run the most modern technology developed by Pirelli research, including Next MIRS, the latest generation of Pirelli’s robotic tire production system, and the new compounds production system (PTSM). The plant’s output, consisting of eco-friendly, high-performance and ultra-high-performance tires, could exceed 3.5 million tires a year when fully operational.

The company also plans to strengthen its position in South America by building a new US$500 million radial truck tire factory at its Merlo site near Buenos Aires. The first phase of the project aims to deliver an annual production capacity of 700,000 units and employ around 700 people. The second phase is planned to create a potential production capacity of 1.4 million units at full operation, and employ around 1,200 people. The plant is intended to satisfy increased demand for radial tires in a country where economic growth is attracting new investment from the automotive industry.

Meanwhile at the Slatina plant in Romania, €160 million is being spent on extending the tire factory. It will be completed in 2013 and is hoped to expand the company’s production capacity and enhance its overall competitiveness in Europe. Annual production at the tire plant will rise from the expected seven million pieces at the end of 2011, to 10 million pieces by the end of the extension project. The factory, initially 100,000m², has now grown to 160,000m², and will increase to 175,000m², becoming Pirelli’s biggest car factory. These investments have been aided by revenues that have grown by 18% in the past year.

Pirelli has also grabbed the public’s interest by becoming the official tire of Formula 1. The company designed, manufactured and supplied a completely new range of Formula 1 tires in a short time scale, and has produced a reliable and high-performance product, together with a high level of technical support for the teams, and a highly complex logistical operation that has worked faultlessly throughout the year.

Tire Manufacturer of the Year In recognition of achievements by tire manufacturers

Runner up: Hankook

Hankook Tire is enjoying a successful 70th birthday, with a 21% increase in sales. To help meet demand, the company has completed the second expansion phase of its Rácalmás plant production unit. Construction work on the expansion of the company’s European production site started in September 2009, and the factory’s 1,900 staff can now produce approximately 12 million tires per year.

The company invested an additional €230 million to build this second production unit in Rácalmás, bringing total Hankook investments in Hungary to €550 million. The new 58,000m² unit has doubled the factories’ production volume and allows for the additional daily output of up to 17,000 tires, bringing total production to approximately 34,000 tires per day.

Several other investments are being made. First, Hankook is creating a new primary R&D centre in the South Korean city of Daejeon, which will house all of Hankook’s R&D facilities in the region under one roof. With an area of 66,000m², the facility will be completed in 2013 and will become Korea’s largest research and development centre for tires. The current centre will be converted and used for research work on new production technologies and for tire testing. The focus at the new centre will be on environmentally friendly materials and technologies, which the company hopes will increase demand for its products and pay for the investment.

The company has also broken ground on two major new plants. The first, in Chongqing Liangjiang, is the company’s third plant in China, and is part of a US$954 million commitment to the region announced in November 2010. The 530,000m² plant, which will produce mainly TBR and PCR tires, is expected to commence part operations in August 2012, with completion due by the end of 2015, when it is projected to produce 4,500 TBR and 30,000 PCR tires per day, with a capacity of 11.5 million tires per year.

The second new plant, Hankook’s seventh in Indonesia, represents a US$353 million investment. The 60ha site in Bekasi, West Java, will act as an export base for the North American and Middle Eastern markets, and as a regional business hub for the emerging Asian market. Initial production capacity will be around six million tires per year, with approximately 1,400 workers joining by 2014, a figure set to double by 2018.

Hankook’s investments in Indonesia are part of the company’s commitment to produce 100 million tires annually by 2014 as a mid-term business goal, as well as to accommodate global growing demand.