Steelastic has built a calenderless manufacturing cell in its Akron, US facility to enable tire manufacturers to test run their own materials for tire reinforcement components. The company’s extrusion-based manufacturing processes for belt/breaker, body ply, cap strip and innerliner eliminate the need for expensive and inflexible calendering and off-line processing equipment.
The compact, single-operator machines used in this cell have been developed in response to a growing demand for more flexible, highly automated and lower capital outlay manufacturing systems. “This dedicated manufacturing cell is a key component of our drive to help manufacturers worldwide convert to more versatile, smaller footprint systems, necessary to profitably manufacture shorter runs of multiple tire types,” said Ian Dennis, president of Steelastic.
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