With the rapidly growing demand for an ever increasing variety of tire options, there is pressure on tire manufacturers to keep up. Large calendering and offline processing machines are known for their ability to mass produce tire components, but their cumbersome changeover process limits the quantity of SKUs they can produce.
At Steelastic, we have worked tirelessly to address this barrier to multi-SKU production. With our calenderless tire component production systems, changeovers are much quicker and easier, so manufacturers are able to adapt to changing market needs with pace.
Read on to learn more about how Steelastic has helped improve flexibility in SKU production for tire manufacturers.
The background: In recent years, we’ve seen the demand for a variety of tire types and models increase dramatically. According to a 2019 report, 625 SKUs cover 80% of the tire market, nearly triple the number (267) reported 20 years ago. Rich Kramer, chairman, CEO and president of Goodyear, reportedly said that if a dealer has two full sets of tires under each SKU, and if they have 10 stores, then they need to keep 50,000 tires in their stores every day.
The problem: In the traditional tire production model, once you set up a calender, it can take hours to change the cords for a different type of textile or steel. The calendering process also results in large volumes of material, which is wound into very large rolls of reinforced rubber. These calendered rolls need to be stored, often in a temperature and humidity-controlled environment before being moved onto off-line processing equipment to manufacture the finished steel belt, or textile body ply. This requires more storage space, additional operators, and equipment, for handling the calendered rolls.
The solution: At Steelastic, our state-of-the-art calenderless technology offers a level of flexibility that traditional large calendering and offline processing machines simply cannot match. With the tire industry experiencing a dramatic increase in SKUs, extrusion-based, calenderless production lines enable tire manufacturers to efficiently produce a wide range of tire variations to address the varied preferences of today’s tire consumers.
Calenderless technology eliminates the need for large, inflexible calendering machines. By embracing a more flexible approach, our tire component manufacturing process allows for quick transitions – 30 minutes or less – between different tire specifications.
The future: The demand for a wide variety of tire SKUs doesn’t seem to be slowing down any time soon. Steelastic’s continued commitment to innovation will help ensure tire manufacturers can stay ahead and respond to evolving customer needs.
Contact Steelastic
Want to learn more about the advantages of calenderless manufacturing for flexibility in SKU production? Explore our calenderless technology or reach out to Steelastic today to discuss your project.