Road accidents must become a thing of the past. To make that happen, the Continental Tire Division and Chassis & Safety have joined forces, driving towards Vision Zero – a vision of making the roads so safe that there are no more fatalities, no injuries and indeed no accidents.

In this presentation we address the question  how tires and system solutions can contribute to this goal, which technologies are involved, and what that means for tire manufacturers.

We also explore what the tire and system solutions are for the vehicle concepts of the future and how they link to Vision Zero.

Dr. Bernd Lowenhaupt, Sumitomo Rubber Europe

Responding to automotive market trends such as a growing demand for environmentally-friendly materials, the rise of autonomous vehicles and changes in driving conditions, Sumitomo Rubber Industries, Ltd. (SRI) has developed its Smart Tyre Concept, which is supported with our core analysis technologies of Advanced 4D Nano Design and Tyre Lifetime Simulation. The presentation will outline how SRI’s innovative sensing core technology can improve tire performance and by using sensor fusion from road conditions, tire load and speed, can maintain that performance during the life of the tire. 

Stephan Rau, WDK

Tires are among the most regulated products in Germany, Europe and the world. Regulations start with the raw materials, continue over use time and do not stop at the end of life of the product. But regulation is nothing without enforcement. The German Rubber Manufacturers’ Association (wdk) wants more market surveillance and greater transparency and is cooperating with national Market Surveillance Agencies (MSAs) to achieve a level playing field for all stakeholders. wdk's aims to increase political awareness and bring the topics back on a more factual basis.

Jacob Peled, Pelmar Engineering

Merger & acquisition (M&A) activity continued to be an important driver of change throughout the global tire manufacturing industry. This presentation will explore how changes of ownership and consolidations are increasingly changing the face of the tire sector, not least by accelerating the pace of technology-transfer within the industry. 

Paul Settles, LMC International

This presentation includes an overview of developments in the global vehicle market, and will cover demand, production and trade in the global tyre market itself.  An analysis of the potential impacts of increased trade protection on the global tyre market is included.  How developments in electric, hybrid and autonomous vehicles could impact the tyre market in the longer term will also be discussed.

Stephan Helm, BRV

The German replacement tire market sold around 55 million tires in 2017 and is the biggest market in Europe. However, the market has been facing stagnation for several years. The presentation will track the development of the German tire replacement market from 2010 until 2017 and, of course, provide a forecast for 2018. The analysis will include a detailed overviews of the consumer, trucks, motorcycle, agricultural and EM segments. Furthermore, an explanation of the market share and the different distribution channels will be presented. In recent years the German market faced a displacement of distribution channels. The analysis will show the consequences and new possibilities across the replacement tire sector.

Guido Savi, HBC Group

Details to be supplied

Dennis Melka, Mister Tyre Malaysia

In an age of Amazon Prime and immediate on-demand services, consumers still drive to bricks and mortar stores for their tire sales and service. The tire replacement industry (US$40bn annual sales in the USA alone) has, to-date, remained remarkably insulated from the digital disruption and e-commerce that has impacted and often decimated virtually all other bricks & mortar formats across North America.  Inevitably, new digital platforms and mobile service delivery will disrupt traditional tire distribution channels globally.  

Aranzazu Guisuraga, ExxonMobil Chemical

Air retention is important today but there’s work to do to meet current “In- Use” standards. More importantly, the tires of the future will require even better air retention.  This presentation looks at current & future butyl polymer developments to meet changing market needs.

Marc Flederus, Ferm RFID Solutions

Technologies that are redefining the tire industry and its products:

Why ? : There is an increasing interest from regulators regarding the production, distribution, maintenance and use of tyres, from quality as well as safety aspects.

What ? : There are two approaches regarding unique identification of individual tyres with RFID: 1 Improved traceability of tyres and 2 Improved maintenance of the tyre.

Where ? : All over world initiatives are started wrt the adoption of RFID. Not only at the tire producers themselves but also suppliers of this industry are adopting RFID because of the substantial benefits it brings and enhance Industry 4.0 and IoT

David Shaw, Tire Industry Research

The paper will address some of the possible futures around changes in tire technology and business models that may result from the coming revolution in electrification, shared mobility and increased driver automation. Because these futures remain unclear, the author will present some wide-ranging opinions and encourage audience participation around these disruptive changes.

New forms of mobility necessitate new products, new services, and new forms of maintenance and repairs. It is our objective to develop those products and services proactively so we can suit the emerging needs of consumers, fleet managers, retailers and service workshops. In doing so, we move into the digital era and help making it a success for end consumers, business customers and franchise holders.

Enzo Sorrentino, Rockwell Automation

The presentation will explore issues around the digital transformation of tire manufacturing and supply-chain processes. These developments are of high importance to tire producers and, as consequence their machine and technology suppliers. They involve risks and challenges of obsolescence of production assets at brownfield sites and the need to maintain and improve production targets in tandem with the digital transformation.

Daniel Geider, SEW Eurodrive

Innovative intralogistics solutions, such as automated guided vehicles or electrified monorail systems, are becoming more and more important for the tire industry as topics like flexibility, mass customisation and one-piece-flow are influencing nowadays modern production systems. Used as small and agile transport units automated guided vehicles are increasing the flexibility and the traceability in the tire production, for example for supply of curing presses. The presentation will also provide SEW-Eurodrive’s Industry 4.0 vision, including concepts for logistics, assembly and production tasks.

Karol Vanko, MESNAC

Practical experience from running of first Smart Factory, which we opened October 2016. Theory of Smart solutions and expectations will be compared with practical experience and people knowledge after more than one year of operation.

Guido Veit, Zeppelin Systems

The liquid dosing system (LDS) is a closed loop, robust, modular system offering precise injection of liquids at high injection velocities, irrespective of the viscosity. Suitable for silanes, liquid rubbers and all other liquids, the latest systems can inject up to 36 different liquids at each mixer per batch, offering breakthrough results in speed and accuracy. This can be a game-changer in the mixing room, opening possibilities which nobody found necessary a few years ago. 

Jyrki Anttonen, Cimcorp

The IoT and Industry 4.0 bring new opportunities and new challenges. In an old/established industry it is difficult to see what is possible in 10-20 years. Autonomous vehicles will not only be capable of self-driving, but also of adjusting autonomously. Future tires communicate with the autonomous vehicle's control system, sense road and weather conditions and adapt to them. They also monitor the wear as well as tire pressure and temperature. What about autonomous tire plants? Accelerating change challenges tire makers to rethink their manufacturing processes. What if the plants could organize their production autonomously? How automation and digitalisation can improve efficiency and cut costs in tire manufacturing.

Jose Silicani, tire and rubber consultant, leading tire manufacturers

Knowledge is understood primarily as a resource, rapid development of knowledge and information technology (IT), business environments have become much more complicated. A field in which the development of IT is the major force for change in knowledge management system (KMS). The main purpose of Knowledge Management (KM) is making information out of data, then making knowledge out of information

When information is analyzed and processed it becomes knowledge. Knowledge is identifying unrecognized patterns, latent procedures, and data exceptions. Knowledge can be defined as a complicated process that for making valuable judgments according to experiences needs human.

Many organizations in tire industry ecosystem are currently engaged in knowledge management in order to leverage knowledge within their organization and starting to get involved also externally with shareholders and customers. Within this process, digital transformation is currently looking to organize better available data breaking internal functional silos, and data sharing with external partners is to be started

A KM strategy can help tear down traditional cross-functional boundaries. KM entails helping people share and put knowledge into action by creating access, context, infrastructure, and simultaneously reducing learning cycle.

Ineffective communication can result from the use of unknown symbols, concepts and ideas, desire for secrecy, and a lack of motivation for information sharing.

Increased trust leads to a reduced desire for secrecy, motivating data sharing and facilitating greater collaborative communication. Involvement of higher levels of co-ordination could be required to accelerate this process.

Philippe Lallement, Michelin

This presentation will focus on the universal ISO TC31 WG10 RFID tire tags standard, which will be forthcoming as an industry-wide adoption. We will discuss the advantages of having the ability to identify each tire during its entire lifecycle, reasons for implementing a unique identifier, and the consequences in terms of new services availability, especially from the perspective of connected and autonomous vehicles.

Henk Van Tuyl, Goodyear SA

This Goodyear presentation will focus on the application of artificial intelligence in tires of the future. The talk will also explore core ideas about how to engage with users and promote information-sharing as well as developments to relationships within the triangle of manufacture, retailer and product user.

Guenter Lanzer, Siemens AG

Industrial processes in the Digital Enterprise demand total transparency. The ability to gather and process data at strategically relevant points is increasingly a crucial factor for long-term business success. As a result, Industrial Identification is becoming a key technology for the Digital Enterprise.