More than three-quarters of Japan’s top 100 rubber companies saw their sales rise year-on-year in fiscal 2017, an independent study by Japan Rubber Weekly has found. According to the results of this study, 79 of Japan’s top 100 firms operating in the industry reported year-on-year increases to sales, up from 48 in fiscal 2016. Double-digit sales growth was posted by...
Bridgestone Corp. (TYO:5108) has discovered a technique for monitoring and measuring strain-induced crystallization in natural and isoprene rubber at a record-high temporal resolution. The basic technology for this was developed using Spring-8, a large synchrotron radiation facility in western Japan. Natural rubber is less susceptible to cracking than typical isoprene rubber, with one suspected reason for this being the crystallization...
Bridgestone Corp. (TYO:5108) has released its business results for the first half of calendar 2018, showing 1.9 percent year-on-year sales growth to total 1.78 trillion yen ($15.98 billion) for the period. Meanwhile, the company’s operating profit fell 1.4 percent to 199.43 billion yen, ordinary profit was down 2.6 percent to 190.76 billion yen, and net profit was up 2.1 percent...
Bridgestone Corp. (TYO:5108) recently announced that it has developed an earthquake response analysis model for its high-damping bearings, which form part of the company’s lineup of seismic isolation rubber products. These efforts were made in conjunction with Kazuhiko Kasai, an adjunct professor at the Tokyo Institute of Technology, and Masaru Kikuchi, a professor from Hokkaido University. The newly developed analysis...
Bridgestone Corp. (TYO:5108) U.S. subsidiary Bridgestone Americas Inc. recently announced plans to increase its production capacity for off-the-road tires. Taking place at a plant in Bloomington, Illinois, this expansion will cost the company $12 million and is slated for completion at some point in 2020. The project will see the plant begin producing 29-inch, 33-inch and 35-inch tires for small-...
Bridgestone Corp. (TYO:5108) recently announced that it has started a development project targeting the use of driverless vehicles in tire noise tests. Such tests are one of several types conducted using vehicles. By implementing tire noise tests that deploy a self-driving vehicle rather than rely on human skills and know-how, Bridgestone aims to improve the accuracy and efficiency of its...
