Toyo Tire & Rubber Co. Ltd. (TYO:5105) has made the voluntary declaration that it is on board with, and will be party to, objectives of the Sustainable Natural Rubber Initiative (SNR-i). Proposed and launched by the International Rubber Study Group (IRSG), the initiative serves to ensure the sustainability of natural rubber (NR). It seeks to achieve an NR economy in...
Bridgestone Corp. (TYO:5108) is looking at leveraging Japan’s forte of manufacturing and rolling out its technology on a global scale, says Yukio Saegusa, director of the company’s Advanced Tire Production System Division. To this end, the company is putting effort into optimizing production and introducing cutting-edge technology. Presently within Bridgestone’s 10 tire factories domestically, Saegusa said that the company has enhanced the...
Bridgestone Corp. (TYO:5108) has introduced a state-of-the-art tire-molding system equipped with information communications technology (ICT) at its factory in Hikone, Shiga Prefecture. The tire-molding system has been in operation since February and uses Bridgestone’s own ICT and artificial intelligence (AI) features to heighten quality and productivity. Dubbed “Examation,” the system takes its name from the concepts “evolutional,” “attractive” and “automation.”...
Toyo Retread recorded its all-time highest production volumes and best ever sales last year at its factory in Otaru, Hokkaido. An important reason for this was that tire casings – the base material for retreaded tires – could be easily obtained. Tire casings have become more readily available because of an increase in the number of factories manufacturing new tires...
The production volume of automobile tire tubes for April was 87,005 tons, a year-on-year decline of 6.3 percent. It marks the 17th consecutive month of production decline, according to data compiled by the Japan Automobile Tyre Manufacturers Association (JATMA). Four of six tire tube classifications saw year-on-year declines in production volume: trucks and buses, 9.1 percent; small trucks, 9.7 percent;...
Bridgestone Corp. (TYO:5108) subsidiary Bridgestone Europe NV/SA (BSEMEA) announced on May 30, 2016, that it would acquire Speedy France SAS, a leading car retail service company. Recent years have seen a string of overseas acquisitions by Japanese rubber companies, mainly tire manufacturers. With demand unlikely to grow domestically, Japanese companies are increasingly looking to expand their overseas business through corporate...
