Changing with the Times

April 8, 2019 The Rubber Industry’s International Newspaper $99 per year. $4.50 per copy Changing with the times

Symbio’s hydrogen fuel cells are zero-emission and recharge in three to five minutes. Symbio JV to push fuel cell technology By Kyle Brown One of Goodyear’s recent development Rubber & Plastics News Staff deals is to supply Local Motors with an CLERMONT-FERRAND, France—Miche- exclusive tire fitment for its Olli vehicles. lin and Faurecia are coming together to accelerate automotive fuel cell technology. The two companies signed a memorandum Goodyear branches out to address new mobility trends of understanding to create a joint venture in Symbio, previously a subsidiary of Michelin, By Bruce Meyer at such iconic venues as the recent Geneva International according to a Michelin spokesman. The com- Rubber & Plastics News Staff Motor Show. pany will develop, produce and market hydro- AKRON—Chris Helsel, Goodyear’s senior vice president “At Goodyear, our New Ventures team includes our inno- gen fuel cells for light and utility vehicles and and chief technology officer, must need a large score card to vation labs, which we’ve positioned to test, learn and build trucks, as well as for other applications. keep up with the activities of his global research and devel- solutions with players in the new mobility space, from Fabio Ferrari, Symbio founder and CEO, opment team. fast-growing start-ups to more established companies,” started the company about 10 years ago with Working out of four global innovation Helsel said in an email. “And we have a global incubation a goal for commercializing fuel cell technolo- labs, the Akron-based firm has a and deployment team who takes these solutions to market, gy after working with the French Alternative broad range of ongoing projects, working closely with our regional business units.” Energies and Atomic Energy Commission many focused on the future of AI The labs are located at its headquarters in Akron, (CEA) to find the right market for the prod- transportation and mobili- which has access to the regional center of emerging uct, he said. ty, and others looking to automotive technologies; in Luxembourg, with a “They have been developing fuel cell sys- improve the performance close proximity to key OEMs and as the tire tems for about 30 years now. They’re really of its tires that are used in maker’s main connection point in Europe; in good at the technology, and they were look- today’s world. There are Shanghai, which is the hub for the rapid developing for ways to put it into the market,” Ferra- numerous partnerships, ment of electric vehicles as well as a place to ri said. “I worked with them for about one trends to keep up with See our special report that scout for new materials technology; and San year to define where are the right market Helsel and splashes to be made begins on Page 10. See Goodyear, page 21 See Symbio, page 22 Kraton expands Cariflex production in Brazil By Miles Moore Kraton market development director customers, including the demand for ternatives for Cariflex, including a Rubber & Plastics News Staff for Cariflex Polyisoprene Products. Cariflex IR0401 latex, Cariflex IR2GL1 possible sale. Kevin Fogarty, Kraton PAULINIA, Brazil—Kraton Corp.’s “Cariflex is a growing and profitable latex and potential new innovations.” CEO and president, reiterated this planned expansion of Cariflex polyiso- business,” Henderson said. “Whether it Kraton announced early in March during a Feb. 28 conference call in which prene production at its Paulinia facility remains within Kraton or belongs to that it had approved construction of a Kraton executives discussed the compa- is an acknowledgment of the growing another owner in semi works latex ny’s fourth-quarter and full-year finan- demand for Cariflex, according to the the future does not unit in Paulinia for cial results. Houston-based company. matter. production of Cari- The semi works expansion will add However, the expansion should not “In either case, flex IR2GL1 latex. about 1,900 square feet to the Paulinia be taken as a commentary on whether we want the busi- This announce- complex, according to Henderson. or not Kraton will divest the Cariflex ness to be in a position to supply the ment came after Kraton’s Feb. 19 state- “To scale up a product from our lab business, said Philippe Henderson, growing needs of our existing and future ment that it was reviewing strategic al- See Kraton, page 22

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Cooper Standard finalizes AVS divestment to Conti Dow completes spin off, relisting Crain’s Detroit Business NOVI, Mich.—Cooper Standard Automo- growth for its customers, “leveraging three advantaged tive Inc. has completed the divestiture of its MIDLAND, Mich.—Dow Inc. is about to make its debut building blocks—ethylene, propylene and silicones—to anti-vibration systems business to Conti- on the Dow Jones Industrial Average, replacing DowDu- power one of the deepest chemistry sets in the industry.” nental A.G. for $265.5 million, subject to Pont Inc., as the Midland-based giant breaks up into three DowDuPont, formed by the $130 billion merger of chem- certain adjustments. smaller companies. ical giants Dow Chemical Co. and DuPont Co. in 2017, is The firm said in an April 1 news release The company formally spun off from DowDuPont Inc. on splitting into three companies: Dow Inc., DuPont and that the estimated net cash proceeds after April 1, and began trading on the New York Stock Ex- Corteva Agriscience. taxes and transaction-related expenses and change under the trade symbol DOW on April 2. Corteva is expected to officially spin off in June. fees are expected to be about $220 million to “Today marks the beginning of a new and exciting chap- Dow Inc. also joined the S&P 500 on April 2, replacing $225 million. The transaction included facil- ter for Dow,” CEO Jim Fitterling said in a statement. “The Brighthouse Financial, S&P Dow Jones Indices said in a ities in Auburn, Ind.; Mitchell, Ontario; and changes we have made to Dow’s portfolio, cost structure separate statement. Rennes, France, as well as AVS-related as- and mindset are significant. The new Dow is a more fo- Replacing DowDuPont with Dow will maintain the sets in Poland and China, and an equity in- cused and streamlined company with a clear playbook to benchmark’s exposure to the materials sector, and its terest in a joint venture in India. deliver long-term earnings growth and value creation for price weight within the Dow Jones Industrial Average will The divested AVS business has about all stakeholders.” be similar to DowDuPont’s before its breakup, S&P Dow 1,000 employees and offers a comprehensive The company added that Dow is positioned to drive Jones Indices said. portfolio of anti-vibration systems, technologies and products to automotive OEMs that mitigate vehicle noise, vibration and harsh- ness, and enhance ride and handling. U.S. tire trade deficit falls again Continental begins production at Thailand tire plant China remains country’s largest trading partner RAYONG, Thailand—Continental A.G.’s By Bruce Davis car and light truck tire plant in Rayong has Tire Business started production on schedule, two years WASHINGTON—Despite measur- after the company broke ground on the ably lower exports of passenger and $265 million project. light truck tires to the U.S. in 2018, The plant is designed to produce up to 4 China was the U.S.’ largest trading million tires per year for Thailand and the partner in the tire sector for a second Asia-Pacific region by 2022, Continental said, straight year, slightly ahead of Thai- with up to 900 employees at full production. land. The facility is Conti’s sixth tire plant in Overall, the value of imports into the Asia-Pacific region and 20th worldwide. the U.S. of tires of all kinds last year The firm said it improves the balance of increased 7.8 percent over 2017 to Continental’s global manufacturing foot- $14.8 billion, while the value of ex- print and strengthens its production capac- ports jumped nearly 28 percent to ities for Asia-Pacific. $5.23 billion, according to U.S. De- Conti said the Rayong site covers 185 partment of Commerce data. acres, which provides sufficient space for a As a result, the nation’s tire-related potential expansion to up to 25 million trade deficit shrank 6.8 percent to tires per year. $9.6 billion compared to 2017. This is the second straight year the deficit Correction has shrunk. Last year was the first Coin Holdings—started production rounded out the top five. Vietnam time in decades. this past year at its joint venture had the largest improvement, with In the story “Lehigh making headway un- China retained the title as the U.S.’ truck/bus tire plant in Rayong Prov- units shipped rising 31.9 percent to der Michelin ownership,” in the March 25 is- largest trading partner in tires as the ince, and Prinx Chengshan Tire Co. 8.52 million, good for No. 7 on the list. sue of Rubber & Plastics News, Kedar Murthy’s value of its overall exports to the U.S. Ltd. has acquired land in Thailand The average declared value per tire name was misspelled. He is vice president and jumped 21.8 percent over 2017 to as the potential site for a new plant. was $51.37, up 3.7 percent from 2017. general manager of Lehigh Technologies Inc., $2.37 billion. Shandong Linglong Tire Co. Ltd., Among the top 10 importing coun- a Michelin-owned business. China’s increase came largely from Otani Tire Co. Ltd. and Vee Rubber tries, the value ranged from $31.22 higher shipments of medium truck, Co. Ltd. have expanded capacities in for China to $65.97 for Japan. INSIDE THIS EDITION OTR, farm and other non-highway recent years. In light truck tires, Thailand took tires, according to the Commerce De- Of the U.S.’ major tire sector trad- over the No. 1 spot from Canada with partment data, including record ing partners, surpluses were record- a 32.8 percent increase in exports to M&A activity strong shipments of truck/bus tires of 9.22 ed with Mexico and Canada last year. the U.S. to 6.64 million units, while Mergers and acquisitions have caused million units, a 42.1 percent jump In fact, Canada and Mexico account- shipments from Canada plunged 36.2 significant disruption in the rubber and tire over 2017. The value of truck/bus tire ed for 61.6 percent of the U.S. indus- percent to 4.18 million units. South industries, but they also bring many opportu- imports from China increased 56.2 try’s tire-related exports last year. Korea (2.57 million units), Vietnam nities, according to a speaker at the recent percent to $1.11 billion. Mexico took in $1.64 billion worth (2.18 million) and Indonesia (1.9 mil- Tire Technology Expo...... Page 4 By contrast, imports of passenger of tires from the U.S. last year and lion) rounded out the top five. and light truck tires from China— exported $920.7 million to the U.S., Overall, imports of light truck tires Amazon Hose still thriving which are subject to elevated U.S. resulting in a trade surplus of $723.8 fell 5.5 percent to 25.2 million units, import duties—fell 19.9 and 14.1 million, more than double the surplus Commerce Department data show. Amazon Hose and Rubber’s 100-year percent, respectively, from 2017. of $360.2 million in 2017. The average declared customs val- evolution has provided the Florida-based firm Imports of truck tires from China Canada was the No. 1 export desti- ue of an imported light truck tire im- with continued success ...... Page 6 are expected to fall off markedly this nation in 2018 for U.S.-made tires at proved 4.5 percent to $72.35. Average year after the U.S. government im- $1.89 billion, an increase of 26.9 per- prices among the 10 largest import- Conti to unveil products posed elevated antidumping and cent over 2017. Imports from Canada ing nations range from $44.16 (Viet- countervailing duties on the products were valued at $1.58 billion, resulting nam) to $95.62 (Japan). Continental A.G. dislcosed plans to re- earlier in the year. in a surplus of $310 million. Imports of medium truck/bus tires, lease four new tires in 2019 among other de- Thailand is a strong No. 2 with tire The next largest export destination led by China’s 42.1 percent increase, velopments at its 15th annual Gold Trip in imports into the U.S. valued at $2.23 was Australia, which took in $315.6 jumped 17.1 percent to a record 17.1 Cabo San Lucas, Mexico...... Page 19 billion last year, up 20 percent over million worth of products from the U.S., million units. China accounted for 2017. Canada ($1.58 billion), South an increase of 22.5 percent over 2017. more than half of the truck/bus tires DEPARTMENTS Korea ($1.3 billion) and Japan ($1.17 Overall, imports edged up 1.5 per- imported last year. billion) rank third through fifth. cent to a record 149.7 million units. Imports from No. 2 Thailand rose Mexico, Indonesia, Vietnam, Taiwan In passenger and light truck tire 15.2 percent to 2.45 million units, Calendar ...... 9 and Germany complete the top 10. imports, Thailand stood head and while shipments from No. 3 Canada, Editorials ...... 8 Thailand’s status as a major source shoulders above other countries, ac- No. 4 Japan and No. 5 South Korea From the web ...... 9 of tires for the U.S. is expected to keep counting for roughly a quarter of the all declined by double digits. Technical notebook ...... 17 growing, based on the amount of new category totals. In passenger tires, Truck tire imports from Brazil Vol. 48, No. 18. April 8, 2019—Rubber & Plastics News capacity being installed there and the Thailand solidified its status as the more than doubled last year over (ISSN 0300-6123) is published bi-weekly by Crain expected impact of the elevated import No. 1 source of imported products with 2017 to 299,966 units. Communications Inc. Periodical postage paid at Akron and at additional mailing offices. Address all subscription duties on Chinese truck/bus tires. a 12.6 percent increase, to 33.9 million The average declared customs val- correspondence to: Circulation Department, Rubber & Germany’s Continental A.G. and units, or more than twice the 16.8 ue of an imported truck/bus tire rose Plastics News, 1155 Gratiot Ave., Detroit, Mich. 48207- China’s Shandong Yinbao Tyre million units imported from No. 2 1.6 percent to $155.46. Prices among 2912. Postmaster: Send address changes to: Rubber & Plastics News, Circulation Dept., 1155 Gratiot Ave., Group Co. Ltd., for example, have South Korea. the leading import countries ranged Detroit, Mich. 48207-2912. plants under construction, Shanghai Indonesia (12.9 million), Canada from $116.19 (Vietnam) to $286.97 Huayi (Group)—parent of Double (12 million) and Mexico (11.9 million) (Canada). 4 Rubber & Plastics News • April 8, 2019 www.rubbernews.com M&A shakes up, benefits tire industry By Bruce Meyer a personal meeting in a neutral place. the price of transferring technology was Rubber & Plastics News Staff “You want to meet them and look them extremely high, and acquisitions helped Mergers and acquisitions definitely in the eye,” he said. “Then the process spread it around. are a disruption in the tire and rubber will start. Some say in the modern day, “There are several recorded transac- industry, but they also serve many use- you don’t need that. That’s not true.” tions, even recently, which are based on ful purposes, including the transfer of The next step is a memorandum of the wish of the buyer to shortcut a tech- knowledge and technology. understanding. This document gives nological gap,” he said. “Someone tried That was among the points made by certain scope and sets the borders of the to explain to me once that this is similar Jacob Peled, executive chairman of Pel- deal. It sets the terms of price and pay- to buying a cow for a glass of milk. This mar Engineering Ltd., during his talk ment terms, and also confidentiality. is of course not accurate, but it is an im- on the state of M&A in the tire sector at That normally includes a non-disclosure portant factor.” Tire Technology Expo 2019, held March agreement, and often a non-compete Acquisitions also can be a tool to 5-7 in Hanover, Germany. clause as well, according to Peled. shorten the time to market. “The value In recapping some of the trends among That is followed by a period of due of such consequence is high, but not easy deals in recent years, he said many of diligence, where the parties may discov- to calculate,” Peled said. “The effort of the purchases have come in areas that er the price is too high or too low. He developing a market requires often a lot not long ago weren’t so popular, such as said items that must be covered include of time and funds. This can be saved by ag and off-highway tires. legal, commercial, financial and techni- acquiring the company that already has “The movement in M&A related to cal details. “If due diligence is done developed the market.” off-highway tires is by far the most dis- properly, there’s a good chance the deal Many times, acquisition targets have tinct in the tire and rubber industry, will happen,” he said. latent value, assets that aren’t readily and indicates the high interest in tires That is followed by preparation of the apparent and are hid0ing behind depre- that only a decade ago were considered definitive agreement, including the final ciation. ‘primitive’ with minimum technology time table to conclude the deal, followed “It is common to think that the ac- involved,” Peled said. “This certainly is by contract signing and closing. quirer often discovers deficiencies rather not the situation now.” In most cases in major M&A projects, than advantages,” he said. “This is not Among the acquisitions he mentioned a new company/entity is created, the true. There are many positive issues were Goodyear selling its farm tire pro- Pelmar chairman said. Often that is which have a higher value than the book duction in North and South America to RPN photos by Bruce Meyer part of the MOU. The main reasons to value. It can be seen in capital expendi- Titan International Inc., and also licens- Jacob Peled, chairman of Pelmar En- form a new legal entity can be a desire tures, tooling, past overhauling and in- ing the name; Trelleborg’s purchase of gineering Ltd., gives a talk on mergers by both sides to avoid skeletons in the strumentation.” CGS/Mitas; Camoplast’s purchase of the and acquisitions during Tire Technolo- closet, and the “ability to combine the Acquisitions also can be game chang- former Solideal; the Chem China acqui- gy 2019 in Hanover. interests of both sides in a new and fresh ers in the industry. In the rubber indus- sition of the majority of Pirelli; and Yo- format, without too much influence of try, this can take such forms as: raw ma- kohama’s deal to buy the Alliance Tire Evolution of a deal the existing parties to the deal.” terials with revolutionary physical and Group. Many M&As go beyond the companies Pelmar, he said, has encountered a chemical properties; production process/ One deal that Peled said surprised themselves, Peled said, and have a large great loss of time and effort in talks to machinery with evolutionary qualifica- many was Michelin’s 2017 acquisition of influence on the tire industry as a whole. agree on minor issues related to forma- tions; and tire construction that is totally Lehigh Technologies Inc., which produc- Often times, the acquisition itself isn’t tion of a new company, especially when different from existing ones. es micronized rubber powder. They as important as the influence on the done in a later stage of the process. The “With M&A, when one company buys wondered what the industry giant was flow of technology and the impact on firm even had one deal that fell through another, there is an impact on both doing, buying a recycling company. marketing and distribution. because of those types of discussions. companies and the industry in general,” But then Michelin went and pur- “Mergers and acquisitions is an art,” Peled said. “Very often it completely chased conveyor belt maker Fenner he said. “You need to have vision.” Acquisition drivers changes at least one of the parties.” P.L.C. in 2018, along with acquiring The actual process of M&As is pretty One typical reason that causes compa- He counted 26 major M&A deals in 2018 OTR tire maker Camso. The deals are simple, but there are certain principles nies to make purchases is to obtain and 27 the year before. He expects activity the foundation for a new business seg- that generally come into play. Peled said technology and know-how that it didn’t to be strong for the next several years, with ment within Michelin that will focus on both sides must really want the deal; the previously have. In the past, Peled said participation at all levels of the business. material handling, construction, agri- two sides need to benefit more or less culture and power sport. equally; and executive management And Peled said one of the top suppliers typically is involved and on board with of materials into those industries is Le- the accord. high, so the purchase makes much more The industry veteran also is a big be- sense in that context. liever that the process has to start with On the expo floor

David Cawthra and Gail Reader wait for visitors to the Rubber Consultants booth. The group is the marketing arm of the Tun Abdul Razak Research Centre.

From left, Gasparino Locarno, Irene Trevisan and Nicola Fedele staff the Ro- Ron Kennedy came to Tire Technology 2019 to tout the capabilities of the Center dolfo Comerio booth during Tire Technology 2019 in Hanover, Germany. for Tire Research, a consortium between industry and academia. www.rubbernews.com Rubber & Plastics News • April 8, 2019 5 Cornish to advise dandelion rubber startup By Miles Moore TKS dandelion’s main rival as an alter- research and development for Yulex There are two pilot plants in Wooster Rubber & Plastics News Staff native NR source. Dandelion rubber Corp., the company that licensed the for dandelion rubber extraction, accord- WOOSTER, Ohio—Katrina Cornish doesn’t have the USDA guayule patent. Since 2013, she ing to Cornish. “That should see ASR has taken on many roles in more than freedom from aller- has been CEO of her own company, En- through the next couple of years, and 30 years as a world-renowned research- genic proteins that ergyEne Inc., which is focused on devel- then they’ll build one,” she said. er in alternative sources of natural rub- guayule does, she opment of high-performance latex gloves ASR is not allied with any other com- ber. said. and other products made from guayule pany that is pursuing the commercial- As of Feb. 28, Cornish added a new As a researcher latex. ization of natural rubber, though such role: scientific adviser to a start-up hy- with the Agricultur- ASR is in collaboration with OSU to an alliance is not entirely out of the droponic dandelion rubber company, al Research Ser vice maximize the amount of rubber from question, according to Cornish. Chicago-based American Sustainable of the U.S. Depart- the TKS dandelion without losing the “We are open to a lot of possibilities, Rubber Co. L.L.C. ment of Agricul- roots, according to Cornish. but ASR is ready to make a lot of rubber ASR chose Cornish for her extensive ture, Cornish devel- “We don’t yet know how much of the itself,” she said. “We know we can grow research into developing hydroponic in- oped and patented rubber in hydroponic dandelions will be the things, and there will be no problem door cultivation of the Taraxacum kok- a method of extract- Cornish latex,” she said. However, ASR and OSU with crop failure. saghyz (TKS) dandelion, as well as her ing protein-free la- should be able to determine that this year. “We are getting good results with general experience in alternative rubber tex from guayule. “We just need enough roots that are growing the plants. We just want to production, bio-based fillers and feed- She later served as vice president of healthy,” she said. make it better.” stocks from agriculture and food processing wastes for value-added products and biofuels. Hydroponic cultivation of the TKS dandelion offers a lot of advantages, Cornish said in a telephone interview from her office in Wooster. Cornish re- What’s on the tains her position as Ohio research scholar and endowed chair of bio-emer- gent Materials at Ohio State Universi- ty-Wooster. “Hydroponics allow for very rapid growth, and there are no weeds, which is the number one advantage to hydroponics,” she said. There also is no dirt with hydroponics, Cornish said, and once you reach a certain level of cultivation, the replication of roots is much faster than with tradi- INSIDE tional farming. “You can have multiple harvests in a year,” she said. is what keeps you going ASR is a wholly-owned subsidiary of United American Healthcare Corp., but that doesn’t mean ASR plans to aim for the health care market, according to Cornish. Dandelion rubber is better suited to industrial rubber products than it is to medical goods, she said. “It’s more of a supplement to Hevea rubber than an alternative to it, like guayule,” she said, referring to the southwestern desert shrub that is the RPN gets new office, address

CUYAHOGA FALLS, Ohio—Rubber & Plastics News is celebrating a new era. After spending more than 30 years at our last office in Akron’s Merriman Valley, as of April 1 we’ve moved to a new location in Cuyahoga Falls along the riverfront of the Cuyahoga River. Still in the heart of the rubber industry, just a different view. In fact, the view is really the only thing that’s changing. RPN is still committed to bringing you the latest updates on the happenings within the rubber industry. The move did not impact any of our operations—our print issues went STRUKTOL® ZB 47 – Developed for high natural rubber compounds out as scheduled, our website continued to be updated and our regularly sched- where heat buildup reduction is required. uled newsletters were sent. You can still reach the staff at the same phone exten- Struktol Intelligent Additive Solutions improve mixing, chemical and physical properties. sions and emails as before. But if you need to send us mail, you’ll At Struktol we’re ALL IN. Learn more at struktol.com. want to take note of our new mailing address:

2291 Riverfront Pkwy., Ste. #1000 Cuyahoga Falls, OH 44221

We look forward to continue bringing you the best coverage of the rubber industry. Intelligent Additive Solutions 6 Rubber & Plastics News • April 8, 2019 www.rubbernews.com Amazon Hose continues A look back to thrive after 100 years By Mike Scott pany a myriad of benefits, including some advertis- Rubber & Plastics News Correspondent ing funds. ORLANDO, Fla.—For more than 90 years, Ama- “We’ll get together with our (preferred) distribu- zon Hose and Rubber Co. had been known as the tors like Amazon Hose once a quarter and go over place in central Florida where businesses and indi- strategic planning,” Smilie said. “Our sales team viduals could uncover hard-to-find items. works with theirs to focus on potential leads and If an OEM needed sewer hoses, Amazon Hose (not jointly call on customers.” to be confused with that other “Amazon” out of Seat- Continental also works with Amazon Hose to devel- tle) would have the part. If a plumber or construc- op strategies for employee training during the year. tion worker needed a special fabricated part, Ama- Smilie said that future growth will depend partially zon Hose would be there with the on the company’s ability to not only of- solution. fer products for sale online, but techni- That’s still true—but the company cal support and knowledge as well. has evolved significantly in the last “That’s the one thing missing in several years. That, as much as our industry with online sales is that many other reasons, is why Amazon once you buy a product on the inter- Hose is celebrating its 100th anni- net it’s yours even if you don’t know versary this year with a nod to its what to do with it,” Smilie said. “We past but an eye on its future. Those can work with our independent dis- first 90-odd years Amazon Hose was tributors to help provide this techni- a smaller, entrepreneurial “counter” cal support.” retail distributor. Today, it’s a Amazon Hose has roughly doubled sales-driven organization with 12 the size of its revenue in the last de- outside sales professionals and a fo- cade coming off the Great Recession cus on developing vendor relation- and suffering through a flat revenue ships and growing newer markets period in 2015-16 when gas prices like agriculture. were low. Donlin expects Amazon Amazon Hose’s original facility in Chicago. Summer Rodman, daughter of Hose to have its third straight year of Gale Petronis, became the third double-digit revenue increases in generation of leadership to join the 2019. About 85 percent of the compa- company. Rodman became CEO in ny’s business in is Florida, but about 2006 and remains in that role today. 10 percent is export business to cus- “The company had an amazing tomers in other countries. business but we saw the need to fo- That growth also has allowed the cus on proactive business develop- company to invest internally. Amazon ment several years ago,” said Presi- Hose built a state-of-the-art 50,000-sq.- dent Jim Donlin, who joined Amazon ft. Hose Service Center in 2014. Hose in 2011. Part of that revenue growth also The company’s product line grew comes with understanding market judiciously as well recently. Custom- trends and customer demands, Don- ers can still get a water filter line for lin said. This year the company is their boat by stopping in to any of Lorena Jacoby, first wom- “immersing” itself with the more Amazon Hose’s retail locations in an to lead Amazon Hose than 46,000 farmers in Florida given Orlando, Tampa or Miami. Yet it their needs for spray and air hoses, now provides pump hoses as long as pump hoses that move water through- 12 inches and can re-band hoses 50 feet or longer out a farm and more. that may have been worn down, preserving the “Farms use a lot of our equipment, many of them more expensive fittings and thereby saving custom- have as many as 50 pieces of equipment onsite,” ers money. Donlin said. “Now we have the right package of Perhaps the most significant reason for Amazon farm products to meet their needs and a sales team Hose’s recent growth has been an added emphasis that can visit them where they are.” on developing and strengthening relationships with As for that “other” Amazon, the similar names all of its 380-plus vendors, but especially its top 20. hurts more than it helps, Donlin said, but that That’s where 80 percent of the company’s business hasn’t prevented it from competing with the online comes from, Donlin said. retailer directly. “It’s become more important for us to work even Donlin said that almost any product his company more closely with those top suppliers because we sells is available on the other Amazon’s website, so his can work closely with them on new solutions that team needs to continue focusing on customer service, are being brought to the market,” Donlin said. solving their problems and building that knowledge One such solution that the company carries is an base that can’t be found strictly online. info chip which can be attached on the inside or “I’ll say we do get a lot of job applications for outside of a hose. It tells a user when that hose warehouse jobs,” Donlin said. “Even though we should be replaced to proactively avoid any unex- may not be the company that (applicants) think pected failures. they are applying for.” Perhaps the most important way that suppliers and Amazon Hose can work together is by strategi- cally planning for sales, said Bruce Smilie, regional sales manager for Continental. The German-based supplier is one of Amazon Hose’s largest partners and Amazon Hose is one of Continental’s “select” distributors. This affords the Orlando-based com-

The firm’s Miami location. Amazon Hose is now based in Orlando, Fla. www.rubbernews.com Rubber & Plastics News • April 8, 2019 7 Gates changes formulation for new belt By Kyle Brown Jung did not provide details on equip- Rubber & Plastics News Staff ment expansion alongside the new line, DENVER—Gates Industrial Corp. but said the company faced challenges P.L.C. is moving to ethylene elastomer in finding ways to work with and manu- for the next generation of its high-torque facture the belt because of the new ma- synchronous belt for industrial markets, terial. Most new equipment related to the PowerGrip GT4. managing the materials, and the prod- The new construction, a change from uct is being produced inside the compa- the previous versions made with chloro- ny’s existing space. prene, gives the belt unique performance One reason Gates is able to work in- characteristics, said Taylor Jung, direc- side its current footprint is that it is tor of synchronous drives, global product sunsetting some of its older products line management. that can be drop-in replaced with the “It is a more capable belt because of new GT4 belt, Jung said. In addition to the materials and the components that the value proposition of the new belt, are brought together both from a mate- Gates is simplifying and updating the rials standpoint and the process that’s product by phasing out older legacy required to manage those new materi- products that will better fit customers als,” Jung said. using earlier platforms. He said the GT4 differs from other “That’s one of the ways we can help belts in two major ways: power-carrying leverage our existing capacity to deliver- capacity and temperature range. He ing this better product,” Jung said. thinks of power-carrying capacity in The timeline for sunsetting previous terms of “power density,” or how much Gates uses a new ethylene elastomer compound for the PowerGrip GT4, which PowerGrip iterations is still being deter- power a belt can carry for a given width. boosts the product’s capacity and temperature range over chloroprene designs. mined, Jung said. The PowerGrip GT2 “The advantage to having a belt with belt will be the first reaching the end of high power density is that you, for a Gates originally started using EE say we don’t have belts in those spaces its production, with an effort to bring given application, can apply a narrower formulations with its Micro-V belts in today. They may just not be getting the customers still using it to the newest belt,” Jung said. automotive markets, Jung said. same level of generation. After That’s a really valuable characteristic “We’ve brought those types of performance out that will be the for users, because a narrower materials into our V belts in of them as they “The advantage to PowerGrip GT3. belt is generally more cost-effec- that space,” he said. “This is will get out of “We work to our tive, he said. And as a drive gets really the first time we’ve GT4,” Jung said. having a belt with customers’ needs narrower, all of the accompany- brought it into our high torque The new EE in terms of what ing materials around it get nar- synchronous range. We’re ex- formulation also high power density they need for mak- rower as well. Companies also cited to do that in a really big is able to better ing changes. The are always trying to build and way—not by making it a special withstand chem- is that you ... can range of users that install equipment in tighter or custom construction as need- ical exposure, we have of this spaces, and any ability to bring ed, but by bringing it to our and Gates is apply a narrower type of product is a belt into a smaller space can standard range, the one we of- compiling a list so vast that those give designers more options to fer on the shelves in inventory of chemicals the belt.” needs are very work around power transmis- on a consistent basis.” new belt resists, different,” Jung Jung sion drives. The belt—which will be avail- Jung said. Taylor Jung said. “We’re really Moving from chloroprene to able in 8- and 14-millimeter tooth “An ethylene going to move di- the EE formulation allows the pitches and in lengths exceeding elastomer belt is going to be a little more rectly to GT4, and then those customers new belt to carry required power across 21-feet—can have applications from resistant to degradation through expo- who have specific part numbers and a greater temperature range, Jung said. pumps to fans to industrial manufactur- sure to different types of chemicals,” utilize unique parts that may need to go While Gates still is in the process of ing machines, Jung said. Because it en- Jung said. through a validation process, we will testing the specific range of tempera- hances temperature range, it can be used The new belt is manufactured in move through at a bit of a slower pace.” tures the GT4 can withstand, it has in- in warmer environments, which opens up Gates’ facility in Arkansas. Plants in Gates is working through final produc- creased on both the high and low end mining and chemical applications where Europe and Asia also are bringing man- tion validation on the GT4, with a targeted compared to previous chloroprene belts. temperatures might be elevated. ufacturing capability online, he said. availability date toward the end of April, “It does end up performing well when “We’re going to have some better per- Europe will come on stream first, and when the first product will start being it’s in the field in those spaces,” Jung said. formance in those stages. That’s not to Asia will do so the following next year. made at full-scale production, Jung said. 8 Rubber & Plastics News • April 8, 2019 www.rubbernews.com Opinion

R&D units must Vol. 48 No. 18 Brennan Lafferty, V.P./group publisher David E. Zielasko, Publisher, vice president (330-836-9180)

EDITORIAL STAFF balance short-, Bruce Meyer, Editor (330-865-6124) Chris Sweeney, News editor (330-865-6188) long-term projects Miles D. Moore, Senior Washington reporter (703-256-9275) ocusing the efforts of research and development activities Erin Pustay Beaven, Online content editor (330-865-6106) is a tough balancing act, as there are so many factors oth- Kyle Brown, Reporter er than budget constraints that have to be accounted for. (330-865-6115) F Michael McCrady, Art director For example, there is a big need for players in the rub- (330-865-6148) ber and tire industries to develop new technologies to work materials, with an eye toward renewable materials. But John Dick, Technical editor along with the new automotive drivetrains of the future, it also embraces what he calls the “beyond tires” segment, ([email protected]) such as the electric and autonomous vehicles that have where the connection of the tire to the road is enhanced Keith E. Crain, Editorial director dominated transportation talk in recent years. with sensors to collect and analyze data, and use that in- INTERNET But at the same time, those projects—while the focus of much formation for predictive purposes. Mark McCarron, Digital coordinator attention—are still many years away from dominating the New collaborations in the industry are being announced (330-865-6123) automotive business, if that ever happens. A recent Smithers at a blistering pace. Just recently, automotive supplier Dana SALES STAFF Rapra study forecasts electric vehicles will grow nine-fold in Brent Weaver, Sales manager has become the lead investor in Hyliion, which makes batter- (330-865-6119) the next decade, to nearly 50 million new registrations globally ies and software needed for electric/hybrid solutions used in Peter McNeil, Display advertising sales repre- in 2028. However, even at that time, the U.S. market, while trucking applications. Michelin is teaming up with Faurecia to sentative (330-865-6109) showing strong growth, still only is expected to have about 5 Brooke Stender, Classified advertising sales form a joint venture to focus on automotive fuel cell technology. representative (330-865-6117) million new EV registrations in that year. Other partnerships and projects are aimed at making Lori DiFrancesco, Sales and conference coordi- So there is the balance of spending some of the R&D dol- more of an impact in the current marketplace. Continental nator (330-865-6121) lars with a view on the long term, but still investing to Sarah Arnold, Marketing and events manager and Kordsa have developed an adhesive technology they (330-865-6169) protect and change in evolutionary ways the business that said eliminates the need for resorcinol and formaldehyde, Patrick Cannon, Group sales director will remain vital in the near term. something they hope will become an industry standard. And (313-446-1625) Chris Helsel, Goodyear’s chief technology officer, said machinery firm Steelastic has unveiled what it said is the RUBBER DIRECTORY & BUYERS GUIDE one key for his company is to change “how” it works. While first extruded textile body ply system, an advancement that Sally Dietz, Assistant events manager/editorial the general purpose of the tire remains largely unchanged could make smaller, more flexible tire plants a viable option. coordinator (330-865-6112) since its inception, the environment in which the tire must A top R&D executive at a major tire company a few years work is changing at an ever faster pace. back said his job description was simple: “Think big.” With IT/PRODUCTION STAFF Scott Merryweather, Media services manager That means Goodyear works to protect its traditional everything that is happening in the tire and rubber indus- Anthony DiPonio, Chief information officer tire business with its research on new components and try, that two-word mantra still fits. AUDIENCE DEVELOPMENT Jennifer Mosley, Group director/Audience devel- VIEWPOINT opment (312-649-5312) EXECUTIVE OFFICES 2291 Riverfront Pkwy, Suite 1000, Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio 44221. Phone: 330-836-9180; Edito- rial fax, 330-836-2831; Sales, administration fax: Why runflats continue to lag 330-836-1005 Diana Clance, Office coordinator By Bruce Meyer option, despite being difficult for non-technicians to use. (330-836-9180) When first introduced, runflats were touted because of udi Hein knows a thing or two about runflats. He the inherent safety, including not having to change a flat spent 32 years on special project teams at BMW, with tire in a dangerous situation. But the costs were high and Ra particular emphasis on runflat tire systems. He also the ride not up to par, though Hein said the comfort factor spent a decade at Bridgestone as executive adviser on stan- has improved significantly. Rubber & Plastics News is published bi-weekly dards and regulations. Other hurdles have been eliminated, as runflat tires are by Crain Communications Inc. Subscriptions: U.S., one year $99; two years, Now a retired independent tire expert, Hein spoke at the manufactured around the world, and Bridgestone’s Drive- $178. Group rates, $79 each for five or more recent Tire Technology Expo in Hanover, guard tire is an aftermarket offering that can be fit on copies. Air mail and first class delivery to U.S., U.S. possessions, Mexico and Canada, $164; the Germany, on tires with emergency run- nearly any passenger vehicle, not just the high-end models Middle East and Europe, $219; all other regions, ning characteristics, giving a particular that dominate OEM usage. $293. For surface delivery to Canada, $138 spotlight on runflats. (including GST); Mexico and all other foreign There are lessons to be learned from the slow market countries, $140. Single copy, $4.50. In a world where more vehicles are pro- acceptance of runflats. Foremost among these, Hein said, Rubber Directory & Buyers Guide, $89 per copy duced without spares, many thought run- is even more than two decades after introduction, custom- plus $6 for first class postage and handling in the U.S. and Canada. Four weeks’ notice required for flats would have grown more by now. Hein ers still have little knowledge about the high safety factor change of address. GST #136760444. recalled one long-ago forecaster who said by related to having runflat tires. Printed in the U.S. 2013 about 80 percent of vehicles in Western For new subscriptions and change of address, Perhaps a new perspective for runflat tires, he said, write: Audience Development Department, Europe would be equipped with runflats. could emerge in combination with autonomous driving. Or Rubber & Plastics News, 1155 Gratiot Ave., That remains far from the case, however. runflats, like previous alternative tire concepts, could re- Detroit, Mich. 48207-2912; call 1-877-320- 1726 or e-mail customerservice-rpn@crain. Hein, who was honored with the Lifetime main on the edge of the mainstream tire market, or disap- com for customer service. For subscription Achievement Award at the expo, said while roughly a third pear completely. information and delivery concerns please email [email protected] or call 877-320- of new vehicles no longer have a spare, runflats came on only Stay tuned. 1726 (in the U.S. and Canada) or 313-446-0450 5.1 percent of vehicles in 2018. Conversely, about 1 percent (all other locations) came with a sealant kit and 26.3 percent with a repair kit. Meyer is editor of Rubber & Plastics News. He can be reached Reprints: Lauren Melesio, 212-210-0707; e-mail, [email protected]. Hein said the kits grew quickly because they are the cheapest at [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter @bmeyerRPN. Website: http://www.rubbernews.com

CRAIN COMMUNICATIONS INC WEB POLL RESULTS QUOTE OF THE WEEK Keith E. Crain Mary Kay Crain Chairman Vice chairman “Start somewhere. ... You know KC Crain Chris Crain President Senior executive vice president what your pet projects are, I would Lexie Crain Armstrong Robert Recchia just start with something. Find a proj- Secretary Chief financial officer ect, start small, start collecting data.” G.D. Crain Jr. Gertrude R. Crain Founder (1885-1973) Chairman (1911-1996) —Mike McGrath, director of automotive and manufacturing at the SAS Institute, on how companies should dive into Manufacturing 4.0. www.rubbernews.com Rubber & Plastics News • April 8, 2019 9 From The Web Semperit to restructure medical unit on separate networks and have continued to operate Manufacturers and distributors are able to strengthen “safely, largely without interruption, and in compliance customer retention and increase market share by be- VIENNA—Semperit A.G. is turning its focus to re- with all environmental regulations,” the company said. coming a more attractive partner. structuring its Sempermed medical segment. Momentive said it had found no evidence that any ARPM said the move creates an opportunity to The rubber products maker reported a volume de- customer, supplier or employee information was ac- strengthen its cost savings program through Grainger. crease and an impairment of $65 million at its medical cessed or stolen during the breach. The Upstart Group guides brands looking to grow, with unit in 2018. offerings in product development, supply chain management, The business area, which produces latex gloves, posted ZF to buy Wabco for $7 billion marketing, E-commerce solutions and market strategy. a 7.6 percent year-on-year decline in sales to $366 million last year. The unit also posted a loss of $4.6 million last AUDERGHEM, Belgium—Trucking parts supplier JSC expands production in Russia year compared to a profit of $1.95 million in 2017. Wabco Holdings Inc. confirmed March 28 that it would Semperit attributed this to “unsatisfactory operating sell itself to German rival ZF Friedrichshafen for more YAROSLAVL, Russia—Russian carbon black manu- performance” and increasing “competitive and price than $7 billion. facturer JSC Yaroslavskiy Tekhnicheskiy pressures, particularly in North America.” The all-cash deal is for $136.50 per share To keep up with the Uglerod has increased production volume at The Vienna-based group has allocated 36 months for and represents a 13 percent premium to daily pulse of the its plant in Yaroslavl, by 5.6 percent to more the reorganization measure in anticipation of “problem Wabco’s closing price of $120.75 on Feb. 26. industry, visit www. than 371,000 metric tons per year. complexity” in its medical sector. The plan will target Wabco, based in Brussels, specializes in rubbernews.com. In a written statement, the company at- the structural challenges within business processes and braking control systems and other safety tributed the volume growth to continuous operations from IT to product and market approach. technologies for commercial vehicles. Last upgrades and debottlenecking. Semperit launched a group-wide restructuring plan month Wabco reported record annual sales and earn- at the beginning of 2018 and expects to complete it by ings, posting net income of $418 million on revenue of On the move the end of 2020. $3.83 billion. It employs about 16,000 people in 40 countries. Ace Products & Consulting L.L.C.—Hired Frank Momentive reports network breach Following the acquisition, ZF expects to generate Pappas as its business development manager. about $44 billion a year in revenue. Eriez-USA—Promoted Jeff Kaveney to director of WATERFORD, N.Y.—MPM Holdings Inc., Momen- ZF has done large acquisitions in the past and in 2014 sales and product management. tive’s parent company, has reported a “network security bought TRW Automotive for $13.5 billion to expand into Maroon Group L.L.C.—Named Terry Hill its new incident,” saying it is working on resuming normal op- the self-driving car market. CEO, succeeding Mark Reichard, who will continue to erations as soon as possible. Previously, ZF has said it plans to invest more than serve as executive vice chairman of the firm. Mike The incident, reported March 22, primarily has im- $13.6 billion into E-mobility and autonomous driving. McKenna will add the role of president to his existing pacted the company’s corporate functions, “preventing responsibilities as chief operating officer of Maroon. All access to certain information technology systems and ARPM partners with Upstart Group appointments are effective May 1. The firm, in a sepa- data within the company’s network,” Momentive said. rate move, also hired Susan Reyes to serve as its inside No details about the timing of the breach were released. INDIANAPOLIS—The Association of Rubber Prod- sales account manager covering the CASE and plastics The company said it took immediate action to address ucts Manufacturers is partnering with The Upstart industries, as well as the firm’s packaging business. the problem, implementing its business continuity Group’s Mutual Business Agreement. SI Group—Named David Bradley CEO and presi- plan. Momentive also is working closely with external The agreement creates a mutually beneficial model dent, replacing David Mezzanotte, who held the role cybersecurity experts to restore its affected informa- for manufacturers and distributors to strengthen cus- on an interim basis and is a director at SK Capital tion technology systems. Manufacturing processes rely tomer relationships, according to an ARPM release. Partners, owner of SI Group. Calendar Rubber groups Seminars/conferences Blue Ridge Rubber Group: Spring technical meet- Future Tire Conference: Discussing future of the IN COMING WEEKS ing, May 16, Olde Beau, Roaring Gap, N.C. (Tony Wil- tire industry, June 11-12, Leonardo Royal Hotel Koeln liams, 302-562-1608, [email protected]; - Am Stadtwald, Cologne, Germany, organized by Eu- www.rubber.org/blue-ridge-rubber-group) ropean Rubber Journal. ([email protected]; www. Ontario Rubber Group: Spring techni- iLearn: Fundamentals of rubber tech- tyre-conferences.com) Bourbon Trail Elastomer Group: Spring technical cal meeting ...... April 16 nology...... April 30 meeting, April 16, Hilton Garden Inn Louisville Northeast, Healthcare Elastomer Conference: Inaugural event Louisville, Ky.; Golf outing, May 14, Seneca Golf Course, focusing on trends in elastomers for health care, May 21- Louisville, Ky. (www.bourbontrailelastomergroup.org) 22, Renaissance Schaumburg Convention Center Hotel, Bourbon Trail Elastomer Group: Rubber Roller Group: Annual meet- Schaumburg, Ill., organized by Rubber & Plastics News. Spring technical meeting .. April 16 ing, Cincinnati ...... May 5 Chicago Rubber Group: Spring technical meeting, ([email protected]; www.rubbernews.com/conferences) May 13, Hawk’s View Golf Club, Lake Geneva, Wis. (www.chicagorubbergroup.org) iLearn Innovation Institute: A division of Ace Products & Consulting L.L.C., all courses held at Ace Detroit Rubber Group: Spring technical luncheon Products in Ravenna, Ohio; Fundamentals of rubber and board meeting, May 8, venue TBD. (Jim Eddy technology, April 30. (Christie Robinson, 330-577- [email protected]; www.rubber.org) 4088, [email protected])

Energy Polymer Group: Spring technical meeting, ITEC in Focus: Green Tire: Biennial event spotlight- May 16, Arlington Hilton, Arlington, Texas. (www.en- ing green tires, Sept. 25-26, Sheraton Suites, Cuyahoga ergypolymergroup.org) Falls, Ohio, organized by Rubber & Plastics News. (bwea- [email protected]; www.rubbernews.com/conferences) Fort Wayne Rubber & Plastics Group: Technical meetings, June 13, Sept. 12 and Dec. 5, Ceruti’s, Fort International Latex Conference: Exploring new Wayne, Ind. (www.fwrpg.org) applications, changing market dynamics and industry trends, organized by Rubber & Plastics News and Ak- Los Angeles Rubber Group: Summer conference ron Dispersions, Aug. 6-7, Hilton Inn, Fairlawn, Ohio. and TIPS meeting, June 7-9, Paso Robles, Calif. (www. ([email protected]; www.rubbernews/conferences) tlargi.org) International Rubber Journey 2019: Rubber indus- Mexico Rubber Group: Courses on June 6, July 25, Aug. 29, try gathering in Mexico, organized by Lord Corp., May Oct. 17 and Nov. 21, Rubber Chamber Auditorium; 55 year 21-23, Hotel Hacienda Jurica, Queretaro, Mexico. anniversary breakfast, Concamin Ballroom, Sept. 27. (52-55- (www.internationalrubberjourney.com) 55666199; 52-55-55352266; Francisco Martha cnih1@prodi- gy.net.mx; Miguel Bernal [email protected]; Jose Gazano Trade/technical associations [email protected]; www.cnih.com.mx) ACS Rubber Division: 195th Technical Meeting, Michigan Rubber Group: Golf outing, May 30, For- April 30-May 2, Holiday Inn Independence (Cleveland), est Akers, East Lansing, Mich. (Keith Korthals, 989- Independence, Ohio. (330-595-5531; www.rubber.org) 435-7400, [email protected], www.michi- ganrubbergroup.com) International Institute of Synthetic Rubber Pro- ducers: 59th Annual General Meeting, May 13-16, Mid-Atlantic Rubber & Plastics Group: Spring Renaissance Seattle Hotel, Seattle. (www.iisrp.com) technical meeting, May 23, Hilton Garden Inn Exton/ West Chester, Exton, Pa. (Bruce Rhoades brhoades@ International Zinc Association: 2019 International gtweed.com; www.marpg.org) Zinc Conference-Europe, May 15-17, Imperial Plovdiv Hotel & Spa, Plovdiv, Bulgaria. (www.zinc.org) New England Rubber Group: Golf outing, Aug. 6, Blackstone National Golf Club, Sutton, Mass. (www. Polyurethane Foam Association: General meeting, nerpg.com) May 22-23, Vinoy Renaissance Hotel & Resort, St. Pe- tersburg, Fla. (www.pfa.org) Ohio Rubber Group: Golf Outing, June 18, Yankee Run Golf Course, Brookfield, Ohio. (www.ohiorubber- Polyurethane Manufacturers Association: Annu- group.org) al meeting, May 5-7, Caesar’s Palace, Las Vegas. (www. pmahome.org) Ontario Rubber Group: Spring technical meeting, April 16, Mississauga Grand Banquet Hall, Mississau- Rubber Roller Group: Annual meeting, May 5-7, ga, Ontario. (Kathy Lambrinos, 519-851-3711, kand- Hilton Cincinnati Netherland Plaza, Cincinnati. [email protected] (www.ontariorubbergroup.org) (www.rubberrollergroup.com)

Southern Rubber Group: Summer technical meet- Tire and Rubber Association of Canada: Tire and ing, June 24, The King and Prince, St. Simons Island, Rubber Summit 2019, June 11-12, Toronto Airport Ga. (www.southernrubbergroup.org) Marriott Hotel, Etobicoke, Ontario. (www.tracanada.ca) 10 Rubber & Plastics News • April 8, 2019 www.rubbernews.com

Dana becomes lead investor in Hyliion By Chris Sweeney a new element of cost savings to the industry.” Rubber & Plastics News Staff Healy started the company in Pittsburgh, won money MAUMEE, Ohio—Dana Inc., like many automotive through business plan competitions and recently moved its suppliers, is being proactive about the change it sees on headquarters to an 80,000-sq.-ft. facility in Austin, Texas. the horizon. He said the primary driver behind the move was to find new Electrification is driving the automotive suppliers to talent and capitalize on the city’s strong startup market. partner with new companies to enhance their knowledge The firm operates a service and installation center in of electric batteries, which is the driving force behind Pittsburgh and a battery team in California. It employs Dana taking an equity position as a lead investor in about 60 people. Healy said Hyliion has about 75-100 Hyliion Inc. Financial terms were not disclosed. fleets that have reached out to it asking to be early Hyliion develops intelligent, electric-hybrid architec- adopters of the firm’s hybrid-electric technology. tures for Class 8 vehicles that can be installed on new Slesinski said vehicles that are traveling 400-600 trucks or retrofitted on existing trucks. Mark Wallace, miles a day will see a benefit from a hybrid system, but president of Dana commercial vehicle driveline technolo- Hyliion produces the batteries and software needed not necessarily a battery electric system as that would gies, will become a member of Hyliion’s board of directors. for electric/hybrid solutions used in Class 8 trucking mean significant weight increases from the additional “We’ve been working with Dana as a supplier for applications. batteries required to power a Class 8 vehicle. about three years now,” Hyliion CEO Thomas Healy product planning for Dana’s commercial vehicle opera- “We’re seeing the shift happen now,” Healy said. “We’re said. “As we’ve been getting closer and closer, and as tions. “We believe the Class 8 market will migrate to- starting to ship early product to customers and the de- Dana made more of those investments and acquisitions, ward a hybrid solution like Hyliion developed. We’ve mand is greater than what we’re able to supply at this it’s gotten to a point where when you bring these positioned our electrified propulsion systems for all point. They know the trucking industry is shifting toward two organizations together we now have a complete class of vehicles, specifically for on-high line haul.” an electrified mindset. They’re looking at what solutions systems approach for electric and hybrid vehicles.” Based in Maumee, Dana employs nearly 36,000 are available now and if it’s something they can implement Dana said its investment is another step in a people in 33 countries with $8.1 billion in sales for today. That’s where our technology comes into play.” number of strategic transactions to position it as 2018. Hyliion was founded in 2015 by Healy, who saw Under the agreement, Dana said it becomes Hyliion’s the leader in E-propulsion. It’s been busy on that an untapped opportunity within the trucking segment source for traditional driveline components, as well as fully front, most recently acquiring a controlling interest in while studying for his master’s degree in mechanical engi- integrated E-axles—which includes motors, inverters, con- TM4, a Canadian electrification company, and agreed neering at Carnegie Mellon University. He wanted to trols, gearboxes and thermal-management technologies. to buy the drive systems business of Oerikon Group, a know why passenger vehicles had adopted hybrid technol- Hyliion produces the batteries and software needed Swiss-based engineering and technology company. ogy, but semi trucks didn’t, especially because those vehi- for electric/hybrid solutions, and through Dana’s other The firm has made four similar deals in the past three cles cover upwards of 120,000 miles each year. acquisitions the firm can produce smaller motors and years and came close to acquiring England-based GKN. “Fuel is the number one or two expense in a fleet right compressors to provide customers a complete system. Melrose Industries outbid Dana in a hostile takeover. now,” Healy said. “When you can reduce how much fuel “We can collaborate together and design a full system “Dana has been in electrified propulsion systems for they’re using, it makes a huge impact on the profitability with all the engineering capabilities and resources quite some time here,” said Steve Slesinski, head of on the fleet, or the amount they can pay drivers. It adds working together,” Healy said. USC develops self-healing rubber By Miles Moore tured using a 3D printing method that paper said. “For example, self-healable signed photoelastomer ink with both Rubber & Plastics News Staff uses photopolymerization, according to human organs feature functional ge- thiol and disulfide groups. LOS ANGELES—Self-healing shoes, Quiming Wang, assistant professor at ometries and microstructures. “The former facilitates a thiol-ene toys and potentially even tires are USC-Viterbi, and colleagues Kunhao “However, tailoring man-made photopolymerization during the additive within reach, thanks to 3D-printed poly- Yu, An Xin, Haixu Du and Ying Li. self-healing materials into complex manufacturing process, and the latter mers developed by researchers at the The scientists published their re- structures faces substantial chal- enables a disulfide metathesis reaction University of Southern California Viter- search Feb. 1 in NPG Asia Materi- lenges.” during the self-healing process,” it said. bi School of Engineering. als, according to USC-Viterbi. The paradigm for manufactur- “We find that the competition between Polymers that heal themselves through “Nature excels in both self-healing ing self-healing elastomers, the ab- the thiol and disulfide groups governs the application of heat can be manufac- and 3D shaping,” the abstract to the stract said, relies on a molecularly de- the photocuring rate and self-healing efficiency of the photoelastomer.” The result is a 3D-printed material creating new functions for a wide range of purposes, from flexible electronics to sound control, according to USC-Viterbi. A 17.5-millimeter square can be printed out in just five seconds, completing whole objects in about 20 minutes, it said. The researchers demonstrated the material’s usefulness on a range of products including shoe pads, soft robots, multiphase composites and elec- Tyre Pyrolysis Carbon Upgrading tronic sensors, the college said. The self-healing elastomer works as a do-it-yourself technology, according to Wang. We provide turn-key commercial tyre We provide turn-key carbon “If you just put a broken shoe on a pyrolysis plants with performance upgrading plants with performance bench at room temperature, the rubber guarantees and o-take sales assistance guarantees and o-take sales will heal itself in six to eight hours,” he with full marketing and consultation network for all the recovered carbon said. “If you apply heat, at maybe 60°C, services. black rCB sales with full marketing that accelerates the healing process to about two hours.” and consultations for those who Wang said he already has been ap- Give us a call and we can show you how need assistance. proached by several shoe companies best to monetize and reclaim value from interested in the self-healing technolo- your tyre and rubber based waste streams. Jump start your project now and get gy. He declined to name them. a detailed quotation for your carbon While self-healing tires are a possibility, they will take more research to upgrading project now. become a reality, according to Wang. Because tires are tough and complex, the photoelastomer would have to be kleanindustries.com kleanindustries.com stronger than it currently is, he said. T +1 604 637 9609 T +1 604 637 9609 “How would that work?” Wang said. “We would have to include nanoparti- [email protected] [email protected] cles.” No tire makers have contacted USC-Viterbi to date, he said. www.rubbernews.com Rubber & Plastics News • April 8, 2019 11

Pirelli sees demand for noise canceling tire system By Kyle Brown cases of electric vehicles, he said. It’s also interesting for Rubber & Plastics News Staff small crossover- and sport-utility vehicles because of the NEW YORK—As cars have gotten quieter, calls for cabin noise. Pirelli C. & S.p.A.’s noise canceling tire system have “Although there are still sources of noise being input gotten louder. into the cabin, this one becomes pretty significant to The Pirelli Noise Canceling System, meant to reduce them. If they can lower it, most of them are interested in noise between the road surface and doing that,” Carpino said. tires, has been available since 2013, A noise level of vibration is generated inside the tire said Steve Carpino, product design cavity while the tire is rotating because of the turbulence and development. of the air, Carpino said. Without any kind of buffer, that Approvals of PNCS tires were at vibration can be transmitted through the suspension sys- 78 in 2017, but reached 150 by the tem and is heard as a “structure-born” noise in the vehicle. end of 2018, according to Pirelli. “It’s a noise inside that cabin that you hear. The cus- That demand comes increasingly tomer doesn’t really care where it’s coming from, they Pirelli’s noise canceling tire system is seeing in- from auto makers in the “premium just don’t want to hear it,” he said. creased demand thanks to new NVH requirements. and prestige” sectors. While manufacturers have done a lot to reduce other about overall expansion or employment in reference to While the technique of putting inputs that generate sound, this noise needs to be stopped the system, but Pirelli has had to expand capacity to some kind of a material inside the Carpino at the tire level, Carpino said. keep up with demand from OEMs. tire to manage noise has been proven The PNCS uses a specific sound-absorbing material “Future expansion will be driven by the OEMs. It’s a to work, there was a point when that technology “wasn’t placed within the tire, taking in air vibration before it technology that can be applied to most tires, but there is really cost-effective for the car manufacturers to address can be transmitted to the vehicle, Pirelli said. The foam an added cost, so it becomes a cost-benefit analysis to the that particular frequency of noise when they had lots of consists of open cells that maximize the working surface OEMs to spec it or not,” Carpino said. other opportunities still on the table for soundproofing of the material, which deadens vibration. The system re- The system benefits the replacement market as well, their vehicles,” Carpino said. “So as premium cars be- duces noise up to 25 percent, quieting the input as because consumers who want to maintain the “showroom came quieter as a result of all these other improve- though the car were traveling on three wheels. feel” will need to replace aging tires with PNCS tires to ments, suddenly there’s this noise they can’t do The black, dense foam could be anywhere from a avoid changes in the vehicle’s experience, he said. Tires anything about.” half-inch to an inch thick, going roughly the width equipped with the system have special markings on the Other soundproofing options can stifle many oth- of the tire, Carpino said. The materials have evolved sidewall, a speaker and sound waves with a bar through er points of entry for outside noise, but road contact since the product’s release in 2013, and manufactur- them next to the PNCS symbol. Maintaining the correct noise is difficult to block because it’s transmitted through ing techniques have had to evolve by necessity as PNCS tire pressure also contributes to containing road noise. the suspension system into the vehicle, Carpino said. tires have become more popular. Going forward, PNCS will broaden to different levels “That’s why an available technology becomes much “As it moves from a very, very low volume of production of vehicles as a way to reach a higher status among con- more interesting, when there’s a real need for it,” he said. for really super specialty vehicles to more mainstream sumers, he said. “Those vehicles have had a lot of noise reduction technol- vehicles, the production process has to become much “It’s something that will probably be expanded beyond ogy applied already. This is one of the ones now available more efficient. That’s really where a lot of the evolution just what we traditionally think of as premium brands that they can use in their toolkit.” has come about in the last couple years,” Carpino said. into some of the second-tier brands that are striving to Pirelli has seen a lot of acceptance from German origi- Pirelli is producing PNCS in the company’s European reach that premium level,” Carpino said. “This is a tech- nal equipment manufacturers, and is beginning to see and Chinese factories, as well as factories in Rome, Ga., nology that’s now available to them that we’ll probably more involving OEMs in the U.S., particularly in the and Silao, Mexico, Carpino said. He did not share details start seeing in some of the other car manufacturers.” Autonomous vehicles put pressure on U.S. cities By Miles Moore Many metropolitan areas in the U.S. pecially in such features as signage and but if you drive less than 8,000 miles a Rubber & Plastics News Staff have planning organizations that are ac- lane striping. year, it might make sense to save the cost WASHINGTON—U.S. cities are trying tively studying the implications of inte- One of Chen’s papers deals with the of purchase, insurance and maintenance.” to prepare for deployment of autonomous grating AVs into urban areas, according synergies between autonomous and elec- Autonomous vehicles will speed this vehicles on their streets, but they face a lot to Chen. While she said there are too tric vehicles. There is good reason, she change, according to Chen. of uncertainties, according to a transporta- many to list in total, she mentioned Seat- said, to believe that if AV deployment in “I don’t think people will stop owning tion expert at the University of Virginia. tle, Atlanta and cities in California’s Bay cities is governed by fleets, the AVs will cars, but if you’re a multiple-car family, “The type of investment they need to Area as being proactive in considering all be electric. you might find that owning one car is make may be beyond their means, and how AVs will affect travel and tax infra- “Refueling autonomous vehicles is much sufficient,” she said. even inappropriate for them to make,” T. structure in their areas. easier with EVs,” she said. “Potentially Although Chen has never studied the Donna Chen said. “Those decisions may Nevertheless, cities are finding it there could be some gasoline-powered fleet tire retailing business, she said that au- have to be made on the federal or frustrating to wait on federal and AVs, but the risks would be very great.” tonomous vehicles, especially if deployed state level.” state agencies on such things as EVs also will be more practical with in fleets, can be expected to change mar- Nevertheless, “cities can have a lot safety and data requirements, ac- fleets in which vehicles travel 150,000- ket patterns for tires, parts, repair and of influence on how AVs are deployed cording to Chen. 200,000 miles in their working lives, maintenance. on their streets,” she said in an inter- “Cities don’t have the pull to regulate Chen said. “Tires on a private vehicle may last five view prior to a scheduled April 3 appear- that, so they are waiting to see what is done As to whether fleet vehicles will make to seven years,” she said. “Shared vehi- ance in Washington. She was a panelist on on the federal and state levels, so they can individual vehicle ownership obsolete, cles, which are used for many more miles the topic, “Cities in the Driver’s Seat for AV make corresponding decisions,” she said. Chen said individual ownership already a day than privately owned ones, will go Deployment,” at the Mobility Talks Inter- While Chen said she didn’t know if cit- is starting to fall, even without autono- through tires much faster.” national, held in conjunction with the 2019 ies are making specific decisions based on mous vehicles. But a vehicle fleet also would reduce Washington Auto Show. the development of self-driving software, “The trend is slight, but Lyft, Uber and the number of vehicles on the road, Chen An assistant professor in the Depart- she said they can do a lot to change key ride-sharing services have made a differ- said. “There will be fewer vehicles and ment of Engineering Systems & Environ- infrastructure to accommodate AVs, es- ence,” she said. “They are more expensive, quicker replacement,” she said. ment at the University of Virginia, Chen is a faculty affiliate of the cyber physical systems research Link Lab and Center for Transportation Studies, according to the university website. Despite the importance of federal and state policies on AVs, there are many things that can be done on the local level to expe- dite their acceptance, according to Chen. Among the most important issues have to do with land use requirements for development and the related requirements for parking space, she said. “There’s a lot of reason to think that with AVs we may see a significant de- crease in the demand for parking,” Chen said. “Otherwise, in 10 or 15 years, space allotted for parking might turn out to be wasted space.” 12 Rubber & Plastics News • April 8, 2019 www.rubbernews.com

Preparing for the future Manufacturing 4.0 brings opportunities, challenges for automotive suppliers

Plastics News photos by Michael A. Marcotte James Ricci, chief technology officer and co-owner of Harbour Results Inc., moderates a panel on Manufacturing 4.0 at the Plastics & Rubber in Automotive conference, held recently in Novi, Mich. The panelists include, from left: Michelle Bockman, vice president of commercial development at HP Inc.; Shaun Karn, president, Baxter Industries, Hi-Tech Mold; Mike McGrath, director of automotive and manufacturing at the SAS Institute; and Matt Myrand, director of advanced manufacturing and supply chain, Faurecia North America. By Chris Sweeney the discussion. “We actually want to be- Inc. and Baxter Enterprises L.L.C. “One machines that are decades old and others Rubber & Plastics News Staff come more proactive and understand of the other pieces to that is work force that have been purchased within the last NOVI, Mich.—As manufacturers move and anticipate issues, ultimately getting development. By utilizing this, we’ve year. There are both environmental and toward a more automated future, there to something that’s totally actionable.” seen a number of different ways how the vibration sensors that can be externally are plenty of questions to work through, Matt Myrand, director of advanced flexibility can help us and we’ve seen mounted to the older machines, allowing and a plethora of opportunities for those manufacturing and supply chain at how computers and machines can help them to gather a sizable amount of data. that can. Faurecia North America, an automo- drive decisions for you.” McGrath echoed those sentiments, say- Automation, machine learning tive supplier, said his company has Michelle Bockman, vice president of ing that while the data might not be as and what to do with all the data a wide diversity of programs at very commercial development at HP Inc., much as a newer machine, it’s enough for produced were some of the issues low volume, meaning it must adapt added that the business drivers behind manufacturers to get a start and capitalize addressed by a panel of industry to customer volumes and products. the movement involve customization on the advantages of the new technology. experts at the Plastics and Rubber in What that could look like in an Indus- and personalization. “Start somewhere,” McGrath said. “I Automotive conference, held recently in try 4.0 shop is machines flexing in and “I would say in the last two years, think everyone in this room would have Novi. The end goal for many companies out based on the products being made. we’re seeing the industrial market move is to create smart equipment, machines Quick, reliable decisions are also a to true industrial applications (for 3D that can self-diagnose, self-correct and key driver for companies. As turnaround printing),” Bockman said. “They’re able communicate. times in the automotive industry be- to use parts in their sub-assemblies and “The idea is not just being reactive and come more rapid, companies are turning in their vehicles. A lot of this is driven by finding out why something occurred on to automation to keep up. cost and time to market. We’re able to the prior shift,” said James Ricci, chief “One of the biggest drivers is cost and make things a lot quicker that you technology officer and co-owner of Har- efficiencies,” said Shaun Karn, presi- couldn’t do before in traditional design bour Results Inc., who also moderated dent of Hi-Tech Mold & Engineering or manufacturing.”

Data mining Karn said collecting data and using it helps predict pitfalls and make better decisions. “There are a lot of different data ag- gregators entering the field,” said Mike McGrath, director of automotive and manufacturing at the SAS Institute. “The big challenge companies have is to take as much data as possible off of the machines, combine that information Solve rubber durability issues BEFORE production. and ultimately glean results and predictive analytics.” Fatigue Analysis Software | Solutions for Developers One key issue, especially for manufacturers who have been around for awhile, is Testing Services and Instruments how to integrate these new features when Mike McGrath, director of automotive the shop is still running older equipment. and manufacturing at the SAS Insti- endurica.com | world-class solutions and training | [email protected] Myrand said his company has a mix of tute, discusses automation. www.rubbernews.com Rubber & Plastics News • April 8, 2019 13

certain issues where you could poten- staff on what not to do and what to do, very tially improve yield, ultimately reducing simple things,” Bockman said. “What we scrap and those kind of things. You would do is go in and do an audit of the know what your pet projects are, I would “You want to utilize facility and put a report together on all of just start with something. Find a proj- the experts, the people its vulnerabilities. There were harder ect, start small, start collecting data. things, especially in securing the older There are a lot of cloud-based systems within your facility, equipment, but there are industrial fire- you can leverage to grab analytics tools because a lot of what walls you can put on your system.” on demand that are very user-friendly.” It varies as to when a company will Karn said his company has a new fa- you’re going to be see a return on investment with automa- cility in South Carolina, and most of tion and data harvesting, but most of those machines have the technology and measuring, they the panel agrees that it usually occurs systems needed for automation and data already know what within a year. One thing Myrand warned harvesting embedded. But the company was that automation is not a replace- has to be more selective when it comes they’re looking for.” ment for lean manufacturing processes, to the older machines used in Tennessee Shaun Karn advising companies to first fix the prob- and Michigan, focusing on items that lem before automating it. are critical issues. He often finds once a “It obviously depends on the investment company starts automating the data and how far you’re going with this,” Karn gathered leads to other things that could number one thing that came to mind to They need to be involved to help identify said. “If it’s pure data collection, just pull- be harnessed and things usually snow- us is the removal of the parts from the what these key things are.” ing things out of the things you have ball from there. machine. What we’re talking about is doesn’t have a lot of cost involved with it. “I think the only issue with older ma- trying to have this flexibility where our Cybersecurity concerns When you start investing in additional chines is you’ll be able to collect the data, robots can move and have other func- Multiple attendees questioned the se- software and newer equipment that’s but getting those machines to automati- tions, to give them flexibility of tasks.” curity of these programs, and overall adaptive, we’ve found usually within less cally self-correct may be a bit of a chal- the panel said those concerns could be than a year we see a payback.” lenge based on technology,” Karn said. Developing the culture mitigated by taking some basic steps. Myrand said at the end of the day, it’s Like any change in the workplace, Karn “Certainly cybersecurity is on the all about staying competitive in the Rubber hurdles said it’s paramount that everyone buys in, mind of a lot of folks,” McGrath said. marketplace. For rubber product manufacturers, and for management to ease concerns Bockman said hacking is typically not “Indirectly, they’re forcing it by driv- there are additional challenges beyond about the new technology for those em- likely, but there are steps companies can ing for a better and better piece price,” the equipment. ployees who feel threatened by it. take to prevent it. For instance, warn Myrand said. “We have to constantly be First, in certain high-quality driven “All the experience can be taught,” My- employees not to use the equipment to optimizing our costs, so lower labor, less industries like automotive, medical and rand said. “It’s the will and the desire and charge their phones as that could open it scrap and high productivity of our ma- aerospace, any time there is a change to the drive to do it. You need upper manage- up to possible vulnerabilities. chines to keep up with the piece price a manufacturing process there are hur- ment support, which means money.” “The first thing to do is to train your demands they give us.” dles around customer approvals. There are many online training op- Jim Fitzgerald—CEO of Flexan L.L.C., tions that companies can utilize. And a contract manufacturer of rubber, ther- McGrath added that companies have moplastic and silicone parts based in the simplified the data gathering process Chicago area—said in a separate inter- into easy-to-use tools. view that automation for rubber compa- “A lot of people when they think about ELASTOMER nies is more challenging than in plastics Industry 4.0 and manufacturing ana- because they’re dealing with a flexible lytics in general get scared and think INNOVATIVE PROCESSING part. This means part removal or ex- it’s heavy coding and things like that,” traction requires different tactics. McGrath said. “Most analytics compa- TECHNOLOGY “The first challenge is not automating nies have converted the hard coding for automation’s sake, but automating portions of it to a drag-and-drop kind of because it’s a better way to do the work environment. As complex as these data that you want to do,” Fitzgerald said. “I elements are, the tools and techniques think you can fall in love with this idea of that are out there today allow for com- having an Industry 4.0 facility, but when panies to train their work forces to oper- ADVANCED MATERIAL ADDITIVES THAT you look back at it you have to ask your- ationalize the types of insights needed.” self was the cost of the investment worth Bockman said it’s important to listen INCREASE PRODUCTIVITY THROUGH the benefit. You have to be practical and utilize the experience already in about what you’re trying to automate.” the company. She found that it’s easier Rey Obnamia, vice president of technol- to teach the software to someone already • Improving Flow ogy and regulatory at IRP Medical, the rooted with manufacturing experience • Improving part release silicone manufacturing subsidiary of the than the other way around. • Reducing mold fouling IRP Group focused on the medical indus- “You want to utilize the experts, the try, said in an interview that his firm al- people within your facility, because a lot • Reducing scrap rate ready is starting to automate with the of what you’re going to be measuring, addition of robots. The focus is trying to they already know what they’re looking make redundant tasks more efficient with for,” Karn said. “It’s just a matter of how With no adverse effect on part quality machine learning to give the company a you get it and extract it. If you look at a more competitive advantage. process tech on an injection molding “We’re trying to find a means of ap- machine, he understands exactly what’s Join in on the secret and successful use of this technology experienced by major plying automation,” Obnamia said. “The influencing this part with a short shot. molders, extruders and compounders for the last + 20 years and try:

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RPN photos by Bruce Meyer Above: A look at the full-scale prototype of Steelastic’s Extruded Textile Body Ply Sys- tem at its facility in Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio. At right, a staff member checks as the textile cords are fed into the die. Steelastic completes puzzle with new system By Bruce Meyer lion tires a year,” Dennis said. “That’s less technology possible, he added. ply for the tire. Rubber & Plastics News Staff because you cannot get this equipment About the first year was used toward The machinery firm has been working HANOVER, Germany—Machinery and get a return on your investment un- designing the machine itself, and the with two top 10 tire makers on the project, maker Steelastic Co. L.L.C. has been a less you make that many tires.” rest of the time has been dedicated to- according to Dennis: one to produce pas- bit cryptic in its marketing efforts in He said there are some players in the ward perfecting the splicing technology, senger car radials and the other to produce recent weeks. tire manufacturing industry that are which Dennis said is the key to making aircraft tires. The results from the PCR The Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio-based pro- looking for an option that would make it the system work. tire are not complete yet, but he said the ducer of equipment used in tire compo- feasible to build a smaller tire plant that In traditional calender operations, the partner is excited by the tests thus far. It nent preparation has been urging its cus- would allow for quicker changeovers strips of materials are 6-feet wide, he has been through building and lab testing, tomers and perspective clients to “Think and production of a wider variety of said, and are then chopped up and spliced but hasn’t had track testing yet. Small” or “Go Calenderless.” stock-keeping units. Such factories to make the finished body ply. But with “They’re telling us the splice integrity Steelastic, part of the Heico Tire & could be located in the markets where Steelastic’s technology, the extruded ma- is absolutely superb,” he said. “Harmon- Rubber Group, started the campaign in the tires would be sold. terial is only 10 inches wide, meaning ics, balance, everything is equivalent to conjunction with its unveiling of the The problem until now is that there there are more splices in the tire. or better than calendered material. And firm’s Extruded Textile Body Ply System. was no alternative to produce the textile “The challenge here is with multiple that’s what we needed because there is The company launched the system at body plies. splices in the tire, the splice integrity no way the market would adopt this the Tire Technology Expo, and said it is ‘When I came into the business I said if has to be perfect,” he said. technology without it being comparable the first option on the market that can we had this option you could go full calen- Steelastic has worked to ensure it ex- to calendered material.” replace the textile calender and offline derless,” Dennis said. “Then a tire plant trudes the right lip on the edges of the cutting equipment could put down a million tires a year. You material. After it’s spliced and expanded Market breakthrough that currently is could start with a million and grow by in the tire building process, the cords have Besides the two partners it’s been work- used to produce all 500,000 tires at a time by implementing to align the same as they are in the rest of ing with, Dennis said the rest of the top 10 textile body plies, ac- this small flexible equipment that’s very the material, the company president said. tire makers talked with Steelastic during cording to Steelastic versatile, has low operator input, is easy With the system, more than 300 indi- the Tire Technology Expo, as a number President Ian Den- to change over and is highly flexible.” vidual textile cords come into the die. It are starting to pursue the idea of the nis. He discussed the goes through an accumulation and cool- smaller tire factory. An R&D chief even new offering during Development push ing system, then the 10-inch wide strip was waiting at the Steelastic booth when the expo, held March So over the past two to three years, of rubber-coated textile is fed into the the expo opened so he could be first in line 5-7 in Hanover. Steelastic has invested about $2.5 million cutting system. The section is fed for discussions. Steelastic also said into equipment and research and develop- through, cut and spliced, and a piece is Thus far the equipment maker is look- the new extruded ment costs toward making this calender- created that is the correct size for the ing to move slowly. “We now say we have textile body ply sys- Dennis the capability, but we’re not actually sell- tem is the last piece ing equipment right now,” Dennis said. in the puzzle that would enable tire “We’re asking them to bring in the materi- manufacturers to open up smaller, more al and single end textile cord to our facility, flexible tire plants that would not need and we’ve got a full-scale prototype ma- costly calendering and auxiliary equip- chine in our facility. We’ll make some ma- ment. The other Steelastic options that terial with it, they can take it away, build can be used in lieu of calendering equip- tires with it, and validate it themselves. ment include its extruded steel belt That’s how we’re going to get buy-in.” equipment, which was recently upgraded; And there is also the marketing push, an extruder to produce innerliner and pitching that customers can get a more single compound components; and an ex- flexible production facility and a quicker truded textile cap strip line, needed only return on investment than with calen- for production of some higher perfor- dering equipment. “It’s a little bit out of mance, low-profile tires. left field, but that’s the whole ethos “If you build a tire plant with all of here,” he said. “You can go small and this calendering equipment for the rein- Steelastic photo by Brandon Stimmel flexible. That is particularly of interest forcement layers, there’s a reason there’s The orange textile cord goes into the die head being pulled from the creel, where to new market entrants.” no tire plants making fewer than 4 mil- the rubber is applied around it, before being sent to the cooling drum accumulator. See Steelastic, page 15 www.rubbernews.com Rubber & Plastics News • April 8, 2019 15

Smithers Rapra: EV growth to have big impact on tires By Bruce Meyer Rubber & Plastics News Staff HANOVER, Germany—As the electrification of vehicles continues to make strides during the next decade, there will be a significant impact on the production of tires. That’s the conclusion researchers from Smithers Rapra came away with in doing a research on “The Impact of Electric Vehicles on Tires to YR2028,” a paper presented by Bruce Lambillotte, vice president of technical consulting, during the recent Tire Technology Expo 2019 in Hanover. The three main areas where the growth of electric vehicles will bring about changes in tire production will be with regards to range, vehicle torque and noise, Lambillotte said during an interview at the expo. Smithers Rapra forecast that the growth of electric vehicles will rise roughly nine-fold by 2028, from fewer than 5 million new registrations worldwide in 2018 to nearly 45 RPN photo by Bruce Meyer million a decade later. The Smithers VP said that includes Bruce Lambillotte of Smithers Rapra at the firm’s booth during Tire Technology Expo in Hanover, Germany. all types of EVs, including full battery, hybrids, mild hybrids, plug-in hybrids and fuel cell hybrid vehicles. require that tires be able to sustain its performance ticularly as more public power changing stations are The testing and consulting firm projects that over with improved dry and wet traction capabilities, ac- put into service. To date, he said it’s been somewhat of this period battery EVs will account for about half of all cording to Lambillotte. “It’s something that requires a vicious circle, with not enough EVs on the road to EVs sold, and the battery types—including such offer- refinement from both tire engineering and tire com- justify the investment in charging stations. Likewise, ings as the Tesla and Nissan Leaf—also likely will pounding in the tread areas.” the growth in EVs has been hampered because there have the most impact on tires. With regards to noise, the battery EVs are extremely aren’t enough charging stations. Lambillotte said battery EVs can be characterized in quiet. “Whereas tire noise is a smaller percentage of Typical charge times now can range from roughly 30 a number of ways, one being that they’re typically total noise in an internal combustion engine vehicle, if minutes on a supercharger to as much as eight hours heavier and also limited in traveling range. you take away that engine noise, then the tire noise is for home charging stations. “It does not have the backup of an internal combustion more easily perceived and is a bigger percentage of the While both Europe and the U.S. are starting to get engine within the same vehicle like some of the hybrids total sound being emanated,” he said. more infrastructure, it’s clear that China will be the do,” he said. “So it has range limitations. There has been It is estimated that tires for battery EVs may need to leader in EV growth. The Chinese government is heav- some good battery evolutionary changes over the years, be as much as 30 percent lower in noise generation, the ily supporting the development of EV technology, and is but still its range may be as much as 40 percent less as Smithers VP said. There has been a good deal of work putting most of its resources behind battery EVs. With the range of an internal combustion engine vehicle.” to reduce nose for traditional engines, and some of that China promoting that type, it’s estimated battery EVs Because of this, the tire needs to have good fuel can be transferred for use in EVs. already represent as much as 79 percent of all EVs in economy. Primarily that means good rolling resistance, One area of work for noise cancellation involves putting China, according to the report. Lambillotte said, adding that tires for EVs may need to foam components inside the tire cavity to absorb noise. The reasons for this are two-fold, the Smithers Rapra be as much as 20 percent or more improved in terms of “This may be an area where we’ll see revolutionary research showed. One is that battery EVs will reduce fuel economy than for today’s traditional vehicles. change,” Lambillotte said. “Perhaps we’re already see- the urban pollution issues that have challenged China “Normally we think of OE tires as needing rolling resis- ing this revolutionary change in terms of additional over the past several years, and the other is the govern- tance to meet regulated demands, such as CAFE standards materials used inside the cavity of the tire.” ment believes it will help reduce China’s dependence on in the U.S. or in Europe for tire labeling, especially in the foreign oil. replacement market,” he said. “For here we’re talking for a Growth trends Smithers Rapra predicted that China’s new EV regis- different reason: First and foremost for range.” During the period, Smithers Rapra is expecting 26 trations will jump from a couple million in 2018 to From a tread compound perspective, that typically percent compounded annual growth rate for EVs, par- about 19 million in 2028. has meant higher use of silica to boost rolling resis- The next largest growth area likely will be Europe, tance. But Lambillotte said much of the advantage going from fewer than 2 million in 2018 to about 13 from that aspect probably has been accomplished. million a decade later. There could be other changes that could improve The U.S. will be third, climbing from about 350,000 rolling resistance, such as the height mass spec ratio of units in 2018 to a bit more than 5 million in 2028. the tire. “A tall tire tends to have better rolling resis- Lambillotte said there are several factors that will keep tance, especially if it is a narrower cross section,” he U.S. growth of EVs well below that of China and Europe. said. “And indeed one Tier I tire company is looking in “A special challenge to accelerating growth in the U.S. is that direction of modifying the outside dimensions of the fact that the American consumer tends to want more the tire aimed at improving rolling resistance above range than the Chinese or European consumer, and in- and beyond high silica, low rolling resistance treads.” deed in many cases for good reason,” he said. The factors that will lead to growth in all areas is Torque, noise issues that there finally are becoming more options available Battery EVs can experience what has been described to consumers in terms of the variety of EV modes for as rapid or instantaneous torque, a condition that will sale, and access to more charing stations.

are spending most of their time running the demo equipment in the 100,000-sq.- Steelastic ft. facility in Cuyahoga Falls. “We do expect both of our industry Continued from page 14 partners to buy the equipment very soon,” Dennis added that the technology can Dennis said. “It will probably be in R&D be used for greenfield plants, but also to facilities initially, and then move out expand current plants where the calen- into the production plant. I think that’s dering equipment is at maximum capac- the way it will go for awhile.” ity. “You could nicely add 1 million tires He said Steelastic is targeting 5 per- a year with one Steelastic belt machine,” cent of a potential $300 million market he said. “It brings high versatility and over the next five years, according to the multi-SKU capability. It gives you better Steelastic official. “It’s not huge but scheduling options on production. achievable. It could easily be more than “If you’re going to build 15 million that if people start jumping on this tires, you’re going to buy a calender. If smaller, more flexible tire plant idea.” you’re looking to put a smaller, more And Dennis is appreciative of parent flexible plant in a market where the company Heico’s support of a project that tires are going to be consumed, this is may not give an immediate payback. “In opening all kinds of options for you.” our strategic plan, we’ve laid it out to Steelastic officials aren’t naive to them that this is a long game,” he said. “It think customers will buy the system needs sustained effort and they’ve sup- without validating the process, so that’s ported us with that capital investment to RPN photo by Bruce Meyer where the company is aiming its focus be able to make this and other equipment Steelastic President Ian Dennis shows off the cutting area, where the splices are currently. There are two staffers that a reality.” prepared for the textile body plies used in tire manufacturing. ARE YOU ONE OF RUBBERAre You & OnePLASTICS Of NEWS’ BESTRubber PLACES & Plastics TO WORK? News' Best Places To Work?

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rubbernews.com www.rubbernews.com Rubber & Plastics News • April 8, 2019 17 Technical Crosslinking by electron beaming of polymers for welding cables

By Dan Marginean Electron Beam Technologies Inc. Looking at the history of electron beam- Executive summary The author ing technology, Raychem Corp. in 1957 This paper aims to emphasize the importance of electron beam crosslinking, Dan Mariginean works at Elec- became the first company to process elec- an advanced technology of the future as stated by the Fermi National Accelera- tron Beam Technologies Inc. in the tron beam crosslinked wire, using polyvi- tor Laboratory publication “Accelerators for America’s Future,” which is about research and development polymer nyl chloride and polyethelene polymers. Electron Beam Technologies Inc. laboratory. He is responsible for Bell Telephone adopted crosslinking We produce crosslinked polymeric systems by means of an environmentally new as well as PVC in 1970 and later expanded it to friendly outcome. No byproducts to release and pollute the medium, low heat existing CPE- tetra-ethylene glycol-dimethacrylate, or products to come out of the electron beam accelerator, ease to handle by opera- based formula- TEGDM. Union Carbide Corp. in 1980 tors, and ease to store and preserve as well as ease to transport worldwide. tions for welding developed a compound consisting main- This presentation includes a short history of electron beaming technology; cables. He also is ly of ethylene vinyl acetate and alumi- the beaming principle; crosslinking project; and crosslinking calculations. in charge of num trihydrate. Our company is willing to promote this technology to expand and help other quality control of The U.S. Navy used a new composite companies and end users to prosper and use an environmentally friendly tech- production com- insulated with polyolefins and jacketed nology. Our goal is to provide value-added solutions to our customers’ wire, ca- pounding and with kynar polyvinylidene fluoride. The ble, tubing and accessory needs. extrusion. U.S. Air Force as well as Civil Aviation He received Mariginean adopted EB Crosslinked ethylene tetra at the level of 800 kV that enhanced the While in the vacuum vessel the elec- his bachelor’s in fluoroethylene that can resist at 200°C possibility of beaming low diameter weld- trons are scanned by the scanning assem- inorganic chem- as well as at -65°C. ing cable as well as polymer-coated copper bly. A cooling blower is used as heat re- ical engineering from Technical wires at higher speed. mover from window foil and an exhaust University in Romania. He did an TECHNICAL NOTEBOOK blower is used for removing the ozone industrial master’s thesis on “Pol- Edited by John Dick Beaming principle generated. The power supply is insulated lution reduction in Heavy Metals The electron beam accelerator creates by SF6 gas present in the tank. Plants by Demisters and Electro- Paul Wlos, past president of Electron a beam of electrons and energizes them static Precipitators,” for the Ministry Beam Technologies Inc., adopted the EB to near of the speed of the light. EB radi- Suitable materials of Chemistry in Romania. Technology in 1986, acquiring the first ation is based on the Coulomb interac- Among crosslinkable thermoplastics, He has done graduate course electron beam accelerator capable of a tion of the accelerated electrons with the the following are suitable: PE, HDPE, work at the University of Wisconsin voltage of 1 million volts for polymeric atoms of the penetrating substance. LDPE, ethylene copolymers, EVA, ny- in Milwaukee, Lehigh University, systems consisting mainly of chlorinat- The electrons are emitted from a heated lons, PA6, PA6-6, PBT (polybuthylene Virginia Tech University, the Uni- ed polyethylene polymers, along with tungsten (Wolfram) filament through the terephthalate), chlorinated polyethylene, versity of Wisconsin at Madison, other compatible polymers. vacuum vessel and penetrate a window foil polyacrylates and PVC. McMaster University and the Uni- In 1989 the second electron beam accel- reaching the surface of the desired poly- Suitable crosslinkable elastomers in- versity of Southern Mississippi. erator of 1.5 million volts has been put in meric composition of the cables were elec- clude: natural rubber, silicone rubber, His prior work experience included function, increasing also the level of trons of those are displaced and ions of the synthetic rubber, nitrile rubber, EPDM, stints at MonoSol RX L.L.C.; DGM welding cables beaming in terms of cable polymer are created. The radicals of the SBR, polyurethane, polybutadiene and Chemical Engineering Consultants; diameter and productivity. The third polymer bound to each other, creating the thermoplastic elastomers. Armstrong World Industries; G&W electron beam accelerator has been added crosslinked polymeric system. Electric; Cooper Power Systems; SC Johnson & Son Inc.; and Research & Fig. 1: The diagram of the electron beaming equipment. Properties enhancement Properties that are enhanced with elec- Engineering Design for Chemical tron beaming are: impact strength, deflec- Industry Co. in Romania. tion temperature, tensile strength, tear strength, creep and fatigue resistance, metal active gas, flux core arc welding, stress-crack resistance, abrasion resis- plasma arc cutting, copper rope, EB-flex tance, heat resistance, chemical resistance, standard welding cable, custom design solder-iron resistance, barrier properties composite cables, and bare and insulat- enhancement, fire resistance enhance- ed cable and wire. ment, ultimate elongation improvement, For this study, the radiation units con- hardness control and improvement. versions are: The electron beaming crosslinking • 1 MR = 6.2422 X 1019 eV/g process opposite to the chemical cross- • 1 MR = 9.478 X 10-² BTU/g linking does not need high temperature • 1 MR = 1.09716 X 106 g f cm/g for the process and is environmentally • 1 MR = 2.778 X 10-5 kW Hr. 1 rad = friendly, without yielding noxious fumes 100 erg/g or creating products that later would • 1 GRAY = 100 rad need to be removed. • 1 MR = 1,000,000.00 rad Valgene Raloff, current Electron • 1 erg = 2.3885 X 10-8 Cal Beam Technologies president, claims • 1 erg = 6.2422 X 10¹¹eV that “the use of an electron beam for • 1 erg = 9.478 X 10-¹¹ BTU crosslinking is ideal for our expanding • 1 erg = 0.001019716 g f cm market. Crosslinking is reliable, fast • 1 erg = 2.778 X 10-14 kW Hr. and safe, while allowing our designers • 1 erg = 3.777 X 10-14 HP to use cost-effective materials and poly- • 1 erg = 1.0 X 10-7 J mers that would normally be degraded • 1 erg = 1.0 X 10-7 N m by other types of vulcanization.” • 1 MR = 100,000,000.00 erg/gram Fig. 2: Electron beam system. Our company produces cables target- • 1 MR = 2.3885 X 10 Cal/g ed to withstand the hostile environment • 1 MR = 6.2422 X 1019 eV/g of the welding industry and provides • 1 MR = 9.478 X 10-2 BTU/g wire and cable to fill the following needs: • 1 MR = 1.09716 X 106 g f cm/g Gas metal arc welding, metal inert gas, See Cables, page 18 Fig. 3: An example of welding cables. 18 Rubber & Plastics News • April 8, 2019 www.rubbernews.com Three more tire makers hike prices AKRON—Three tire manufacturers have announced behind Bridgestone and Firestone. It’s advertised as again with the M320Z on-off-road range, which is pro- price increases that either have gone into effect or will go “Tires for Truckers.” duced in Japan, exempted. into effect soon. Toyo Tire U.S.A. Corp. is raising dealer base prices May The U.S. Commerce Department determined a coun- The three firms are Bridgestone Americas Tire Opera- 1 on its commercial tire range by an average of 5 percent, tervailing rate of 42.16 percent for companies falling un- tions, Toyo Tire U.S.A. Corp. and Federal Tire North with the exception of the Toyo M320 on-/off-road tire. der the “all others” rate, which includes Toyo’s operations America. in China. BATO increased prices on all Dayton-brand Finally, Federal Tire North America is rais- truck and bus radial tires sold in the U.S. by 20 ing prices on its entire product line by about percent, effective March 5. 2.5 percent, effective April 1. Bridgestone said the price change is in re- Joe Kao, operations manager, said the price sponse to increased business costs and other hike was a result of “raw materials cost in- market dynamics but declined to be more specific. “Further government actions have made it necessary to creases along with increases in the general cost of doing This is the second price hike on Dayton-brand truck adjust our commercial tire prices,” said Randy Gaetz, se- business.” and bus tires in the past six months. BATO raised prices nior vice president, sales, referring to the recent imposition The increase is a “weighted average” on Federal’s entire Sept. 24 on Dayton truck and bus tires sold in the U.S. of elevated import duties on tires sourced from China. line of tires, according to a spokesperson. The price in- and Canada by 10 percent. The increase is in addition to a 2 percent rise that Toyo crease won’t affect the Xplora MTS light truck tire, which Dayton is Bridgestone’s entry-level associate brand, implemented Jan. 1 on its commercial truck tire line, was released recently. Technical

has been used to establish the equipment The tensile strength increases from • m1 = sample mass before drying needed parameters for the named levels. 1,390.26 to 1,895.86 PSI. Ultimate elonga- • m2 = sample mass after drying Cables tion decreases from 644 to 368 percent. • α = mass loss after rubber crosslinked Analysis Tear strength decreases from 135.07 PPI • ρr= rubber density Continued from page 17 The four samples have been analyzed to 32.27 PPI at 20 MR, a value sub-normal • ρs = solvent density • 1 MR = 2.778 X 10-5 kW Hr./g with the equipment pertinent to the prop- for satisfying the needed property. The crosslinking density is given by • 1 MR = 3.777 X 10-5 HP/g erties of the polymeric system as described The most important parameter of the the following calculation: • 1 MR = 1.0 X 10² J/g below: test upon which we characterize the fi- • Effective number of chains per unit • 1 MR = 1.0 X 10² N m./g 1. Differential scanning calorimeter: nal product is in our case the hardness. volume s melting point and Tg (glass transition This property gives us the pertinent • ΓI = In (1- Vr) + Vr +X Vr/ V (Vr⅓+ Vr/2) Crosslinking project temperature). material to be used for the welding ca- • Vr = rubber molar volume (calculated) A study of the crosslinking of the chlori- 2. Extensometer: tensile strength, tear bles applications mainly for the robotic • Vs = solvent molar volume (106.5 nated polyethylene type polymeric system strength and ultimate elongation. approach of welding. ccm/mol) (at different level of radiation) for welding 3. Extraction apparatus/ASTM D-2765: The experiment shows that the du- • X = CPE or EPDM interaction pa- cables has been initiated for a better under- gel content, swell ratio. rometer increases from 70 “A” to 80 “A.” rameter, (0.49¹°for EPDM) standing of the electron beaming process. 4. SEM/EDX (Scanning Electron Mi- The desired value for this particular Three levels of radiation were chosen croscope/X-ray) using advanced analysis formula was 76 “A” at which value we References and compared with a non-radiated sam- technology, hardware and software): satisfy the flexibility needed for the 1. National Center for Electron Beam Research. ple of the same composition. compositional elements. stress induced by the robotic welding 3D 2. IBA Industrial-white paper: Electron Beam Cross- 1. Sample #1=0MR 5. FTIR (Fourier transform infrared): motion. This means that the radiation at linking of Wire and Cable Insulation, Technical In- 2. Sample #2=10MR chemical moieties compositional deter- 15 MR satisfies the needed properties. formation Series TIS 01812. 3. Sample #3=15MR mination. 3. EPS Manual, NISSIN-High Voltage Co., Kyoto, Japan. 4. Sample #4=20MR 6. TGA (Thermo gravimetric analy- Crosslinking calculations 4. Flory-Rehner Equation (Flory’s First Book) Cal- To prepare the samples, the formula- sis): ash compositional elements content. The data obtained from the gel content culation of Swelling for a Gel Crosslinking Density tion has been produced in a high intensity 7. Shore automatic operating stand and percent swell per ASTM D-2765 will Calculation. mixer and extruded into approximately (provided with Type “A” and “D” durom- help us to calculate the crosslinking 5. Electron Beam Technologies Inc., website publica- 2-inch-wide strip with a dual screw elec- eter): hardness measurement. density per the Flory formulation. tion, 2016. 6. Journal of Physics: Conference IOP Publishing, tron beam technology build extruder. For determination of the crosslinking Series 618(2015) 012032. The strips were milled in a double cylin- Conclusions density it is needed first to calculate the 7. Oxford Science Publications: Conversion Factors, der rubber mill at the desired temperature As seen in the thermal and physical volume fraction of rubber in the swollen gel. 1991. 8. Polymer Journal 2011-43-Aspects Regarding Ra- for producing rubber sheets of desired properties table the Tg (glass transition • Vr = m Φ (1-α) ρr / m Φ(1-α)/ ρr + (m thickness. The flat sheets were then temperature) decreases from 47.74°C to - m )/ s diation Crosslinking of Elastomers. ρ 9. Accelerators for America’s Future (Electron Beam beamed in a high voltage electron beam. 42.5°C by increasing the radiation level. • m0 = sample mass before swelling Technologies Inc.) U.S. Department of Energy-Fermi The radiation levels used were as de- The melting point decreases from • Φ = mass fraction of rubber after National Accelerator Laboratory. scribed, 10, 15 and 20 MR. An algorithm 107.01°C to 99.81°C. crosslinked by EB 10. Polymer Testing of Saint Louis: IN 2016027.

Table 1: Thermal and physical properties (tests and results). Table 3: Theoretical calculations (tests and results).

Table 2: Gel content and percent swell (tests and results).

Table 4: SEM EDX (X-ray) samples qualitative composition. www.rubbernews.com Rubber & Plastics News • April 8, 2019 19 Conti promotes four new tires at dealer meeting By Don Detore • Viking Contact7, a winter tire for the sub-compact, Tire Business compact, mid-size and full-size passenger market and CABO SAN LUCAS, Mexico—While it’s been notably compact, mid-size and full-size CUV and SUV market; and quiet so far in 2019, Continental Tire the Americas • General G-Max Justice, a product specifically for L.L.C. explained its reason in the wake of a disruptive agencies such as police departments, governmental en- 12 months in the tire industry. tities and low-enforcement agencies. According to Bill Caldwell, vice president of sales and The CrossContact LX25 will come in 41 sizes, cover- marketing for Conti, the tire maker is continuing what it ing 16- to 22-inch rim diameters, with speed ratings of has done in the past to forge a successful business T, H and V, providing 84 percent market coverage. platform: Focusing on producing a quality prod- It is backed by a 65,000/70,000-mile limited uct and partner with distributors “who support treadwear warranty, a 60-day trial period and our brands and support dealers who want to a six-year limited warranty. sell our brands the right way. The CrossContact LX 25 will replace the “So there’s not really an initiative or a trig- CrossContact LX20, though the LX20 will ger or a catalyst for us to change that course continue as an OE-exclusive fitment. right now,” Caldwell told a record 375 dealers, The TerrainContact H/T will focus on pickup including 62 attending the event for the first trucks and full-size SUVs, also covering 16- to time, at Conti’s 15th annual Gold Trip in Cabo San 22-inch rim diameter sizes. It also will have 24 Lucas. metric sizes, including 10 light truck metric sizes in rim The General Session, held the morning of March 12, was diameters of 17 to 20 inches. the main event of the five-day getaway that Conti rewards The TerrainContact H/T fills a gap in the Conti port- its top dealers. Nearly 100 premier dealers spent two extra folio, sandwiched between the TerrainContact A/T and days in Cabo San Lucas, including a night at the Cabo the CrossContact LX25. Both the TerrainContact H/T Wabo Cantina, a popular and the CrossContact LX25 Continental hosted 375 dealers, including 62 attending nightclub and restaurant will launch in July. the event for the first time, at Conti’s 15th annual Gold founded by rock musician “So our plan of attack Orders are being accept- Trip, held at the Hyatt Ziva Los Cabos resort in Cabo San Sammy Hagar. ed on the VikingContact 7, Lucas, Mexico. Continental, Caldwell said, going forward is to remain which the tire maker rolled builds, develops, designs and out previously. The tires market tires. And, he told not a competitor of yours, begin shipping in August. dealers, he knows what but a partner of yours and Beginning April 1, as a they do best: Sell to con- prelude to the release of the sumers. ensure that we support G-Max Justice, Conti will “So our plan of attack go- become an approved vendor ing forward is to remain not you in the right way.” for the National Association a competitor of yours, but a of State Procurement Offi- partner of yours and ensure Bill Caldwell cials. The designation lasts that we support you in the for five years. The tire right way,” he said. “(We are) making sure we have maker said the product offers longer wear and durability distributors that support us, and we want to make sure and has been tested with the Michigan State police. they’re successful as well.” The product is available in six sizes that fit four newer Within the last 15 months, the top three tire makers police vehicles as well as two sizes for older vehicles. in Rubber & Plastics News’ Global Tire Report expand- Travis Roffler, Conti’s director of marketing, high- ed the wholesaling end of their businesses. Bridgestone lighted components of the tire marker’s sports market- Americas Inc. and Goodyear formed a 50-50 joint ven- ing strategy, including: ture, TireHub, while Michelin North America Inc. • Continued college basketball involvement, that en- formed National Tire Wholesale with Sumitomo Corp. tails new deals with programs at Maryland, Purdue, of America. Xavier, Texas Christian, West Virginia, Auburn and Continental, meanwhile, continued its strategy of Washington; taking steps to boost its brand awareness through its • Continued partnership with Dan Patrick, a former marketing efforts, while also working to increase and ESPN sportscaster who hosts a popular radio show; improve its product portfolio. and NASCAR legend Richard Petty; Joe Maher, product manager for passenger and win- • Expansion of the company’s professional soccer spon- ter tires in the U.S., introduced four tires that Conti sorships, including the FIFA Women’s World Cup and Ma- will release in 2019: two in the light-truck/SUV/CUV jor League Soccer, which will feature four franchises enter- market and two in niche markets. They are: ing the league within the next three years; and • Continental CrossContact LX25, a replacement • New fishing spots with pro fishermen representing product for the CUV, SUV and light truck market; the General brand. • Continental TerrainContact H/T, a replacement Roffler said Conti’s involvement with these sports as tire for on/off road performance for the same vehicle well as its sponsorship of IMSA, amount to 16 billion Joe Maher introduced four new products to dealers. segment; impressions worth $313 million in exposure value.

Travis Roffler, Continental’s director of marketing, highlighted components of the tire maker’s sport marketing strategy. Continental plans to roll out four new tires in 2019. 20 Rubber & Plastics News • April 8, 2019 www.rubbernews.com

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est. 1961 33 0 - 8 6 5 - 6117 Visit us at: [email protected] www.straton.com rubbernews.com www.rubbernews.com Rubber & Plastics News • April 8, 2019 21 said. “It’s taking the data, interpreting it through data analytics, and helping Goodyear the car drive better and the car owner to be more efficient. As the only link to the Continued from page 1 road, the tire will remain at the core of Francisco, right in the middle of the mobility today and tomorrow. world’s most impactful tech hub, and also “But tires will evolve. And we will where many of companies working in the work with various companies—big and ride-sharing economy are located. small, new and old, traditional and At the San Francisco site, Helsel said startup—to introduce innovations that Goodyear’s goal is to connect with auto become solutions.” makers, suppliers and mobility-related startups working on the next generations Balancing act of vehicles and service models. “This of- With all these balls in the air, Goodyear fice works to optimize tires and service has to strike the proper balance between solutions for autonomous vehicles and R&D projects that need to be pushed to ride-sharing fleets; to utilize tire and ve- market now, with others that may be the hicle data to plan for tire replacement building blocks for developments that may and service; and to connect with mobility not be commercial for years. leaders to accelerate Goodyear’s innova- To Helsel, that means that as a tire tion platforms,” he said. company Goodyear must change how it Goodyear is collaborating with Envoy Technologies Inc., an electric vehicle car-shar- works, embracing ideas and approaches Being a trendsetter ing service, to improve urban fleet operations. coming out of the tech sector. “And we With the wide array of emerging tech- have,” he said. “While the essence of the nologies, it can be difficult to decide ing tire performance and learning.” trends of FACE. tire hasn’t changed significantly since which platforms and technologies to • Connected vehicles: “Instead of a In addition, Goodyear began a pilot the early 1900s, the environment in pursue. Goodyear’s CTO said the firm light on the dashboard with a symbol program with Envoy Technologies Inc., which it’s used is changing faster than internally refers to today’s trends that that people largely don’t recognize, imag- an electric vehicle car-sharing service, at any time since the invention of the are driving the auto industry as FACE, ine you get a message to your virtual as- where Envoy will use the tire maker’s car. But everything about that experi- standing for fleets, autonomous, con- sistant that alerts you of the issue, the predictive tire servicing program to ence is changing.” nected and electric. likely cause, and how to resolve it, or forecast and schedule tire maintenance On the traditional tire side, Goodyear “Today, as a global population, we drive proposes a one-click solution which could and replacement. looks at new component materials that about 10 trillion miles,” Helsel said. be the closest available service station or “Wireless sensors in tires can collect can influence tire development, he said, “Some analysts project that number is even a mobile service that comes to you. data to help run fleets better, along with along with the importance of renew- going to double by 2030, accelerated by And it’s what today’s consumers expect— combining the data with our algorithms to able-resource-based materials. “Recent trends toward EVs, AVs, car-sharing and always being connected and informed predict tire wear, eventual replacement Goodyear breakthroughs include the more. Considering that, we are looking at through their electronic devices.” and smart scheduling of needed service,” use of rice husk ash silica and soybean some great potential opportunities for • Electric vehicles: “Of course, the fo- he said. “We even can install tires on-site oil technology,” Helsel said. “Goodyear’s more tires. In electric vehicle forecasting cus of EVs is on transitioning away from as the vehicles are at their charging sta- innovative industrialization of soybean alone, there are expected to be 57 million fossil fuels. But the batteries and drive- tions, with the use of mobile service vans.” oil technology, for example, proves that tires on such vehicles by 2020.” trains of electric vehicles are also much Those programs are in addition to research and development in sustain- Breaking down the letters of FACE, different. In some cases, the vehicles are year-long pilot program with Tesloop, a able materials can benefit not only the Helsel shared these insights: up to 30 percent heavier and create more city-to-city mobility service that exclu- environment, but also tire performance.” • Fleets: “We see variations around torque, which results in higher stress sively uses Tesla electric vehicles, and Beyond the traditional technology, two basic consumer fleet models, car and wear on tires. And this is on top of Goodyear’s initiative to participate in though, the firm is embracing the “be- sharing and ride sharing, the difference range anxiety. We are tailoring our autonomous vehicle and intelligent tire yond tires” segment that is emerging in being who owns the vehicle, an individu- products and solutions to meet these testing at Mcity. The latter is a Univer- the industry. Besides its work with sen- al or a company. In either case, it’s about specific needs.” sity of Michigan-led public-private part- sors and data collection and analysis, he minimizing cost of ownership while nership designed to enhance connected said the Internet of Things is allowing maximizing uptime to keep that vehicle Partner up and automated vehicles and supportive Goodyear to advance connections be- on the road and making money. We Goodyear is not shy about entering technologies. tween the tires and the vehicle control know this business really well, from our into partnerships to further study the “With Local Motors, and with Mcity’s system, and directly to the customer’s current commercial trucking business. relationship of tires in emerging tech- autonomous vehicles, we continue to dashboard or smart phone. So from the perspective of a tire compa- nologies. Most recently, it struck a deal learn more about tire performance re- “On one side, we are integrating to ny, there are two jobs to be done—lower- with Local Motors Inc. to supply the quirements in AVs and we discover more improve performance, safety and the ing maintenance costs and providing firm’s eight-passenger Olli autonomous about how a ‘perfect’ driver can have an customer experience with real-time in- predictive maintenance for those fleets.” vehicles with an exclusive tire fitment. impact on tire performance,” the Good- formation about road conditions and tire • Autonomous vehicles: “When you It also will supply tires to three autono- year executive said. conditions,” Helsel said. “And we are de- take away the driver, you take away the mous shuttle buses operated by Luxem- In deciding who to partner with, he said veloping information systems for con- feel of the road that would have come bourg’s Sales-Lentz Group S.A. many books on innovation suggest it’s all sumers to make it easy to know when a through your hands on the wheel and Helsel said Local Motors is one of the about disrupting someone else. Helsel and tire should be replaced, what tire is your feet on the pedals. In an AV, that job first suppliers to have Level 4 autono- Goodyear take a different view. needed based on vehicle and driving is best done at the point of contact with mous shuttles in operation. “This, in “Shouldn’t we instead be talking habits, and tying into our supply chain the road—the tires. Most of the top vehi- addition to a cutting-edge 3D manufac- about how the traditional and the start- to make sure we have the right tire, at cle manufacturers have announced plans turing approach, makes Local Motors a up can work together for a better fu- the right time, at the right place to meet for highly autonomous technology to be key company with which to learn and ture?” he asked. “Instead of ‘out with the the demand.” ready for the road by 2025, so it’s coming. build future solutions together,” he said. old and in with the new,’ what if we fo- We are actively working with test fleets The Olli, he added, also brings together cused on disruption in the form of and early adopters in this field, monitor- under one architecture the four core disruptive collaboration?” He said the startup pitches Goodyear hears are from small companies that have agility, a good complement to a large corporation like Goodyear that brings experience and the resources to bring projects to scale. “If we find common ground where we can work on joint projects, we disrupt together, rather than each other,” Hel- sel said. “This collaboration is all the more important as we shape a new mobility ecosystem.” That doesn’t mean it doesn’t continue to collaborate with traditional companies. He said Goodyear is working with OEMs and others to put sensors in tires, then outfitting them on vehicles to help gather data, sync that with the vehicles, and generate real-time driving adjustments to improve the performance of the car. “It’s not just about putting sensors in The Aero concept, unveiled at the Ge- Goodyear completed a year-long pilot program with Tesloop, a city-to-city mobility tires; we have been doing various forms neva International Motor Show, is both service that exclusively uses Tesla electric vehicles. of that for years,” the Goodyear CTO a tire and propeller. 22 Rubber & Plastics News • April 8, 2019 www.rubbernews.com Cooper Tire hits manufacturing milestone at Arkansas plant TEXARKANA, Ark.—Cooper Tire & Plant Manager Scott Cole said in a excellence they exhibit daily. Rubber Co. employees at its Texarkana statement. “We have been committed to “Our theme for this celebration is light truck tire plant had plenty to cele- building quality products for more than ‘sustained excellence,’ because that is a brate when the 400 millionth tire was 50 years in Texarkana, and that dedica- key piece of what has brought us to this manufactured on site last month. tion and drive has been essential to the point,” Cole said. “These educators The tire, a Discoverer STT Pro, was plant’s success.” demonstrate sustained excellence in produced Feb. 8 at the 55-year-old plant Employees, local dignitaries and com- their work every day, and providing and marked a major milestone for the munity members gathered recently to them with new Cooper tires to help them facility, which has produced more tires celebrate the plant’s achievement. As get safely where they need to go is our than any other Cooper Tire facility. part of the celebration, which was orga- way of saying thank you.” “For perspective, 400 million tires, nized around the theme of sustaining The Texarkana plant, represented by stacked end-to-end, would stretch nearly excellence, Cooper donated 19 sets of United Steelworkers Local 752, employs Cooper’s Scott Cole (left) and John 200,000 miles or the equivalent of eight tires to local teachers and other educa- a total of 1,700, according to a Cooper Bodart pose with the 400 millionth tire trips around the world,” Texarkana tors, an expression of gratitude for the news release. produced at the Texarkana, Ark., plant.

“It’s four times smaller and five times lighter if you viable option, Ferrari said. compare a battery to fuel cells,” he said. “Of course we will be able to take some competencies Symbio One drawback is a lack of widespread refueling sta- from Michelin and Faurecia to more rapidly grow in the tions, but as the system becomes more popular, those right direction,” Ferrari said. Continued from page 1 will be easier to sustain, Ferrari said. Because of their Symbio already has several staff members at the sales segments to start, and at the end of the study, I decided regular routes, light commercial vehicles such as fleet and technical level coming from Michelin, and Ferrari to create the company.” vehicles can make a good choice for hydrogen systems. hopes to have some employees joining from Faurecia as The company worked alongside Michelin for several “The good thing is that you’re not going to holiday well once the final agreement is signed, he said. years before Michelin came in as a shareholder in 2014. with this vehicle, so they come back to the parking lot Ferrari is working on the next steps for Symbio’s pro- With Michelin’s concurrent sustainable mobility re- every night, so it’s easy to put in the right position, and cess through the JV, which includes planning for the new search, the two companies found a stride working to- to optimize the business model for this working condi- build of the company “to be compatible with the objectives gether, especially on projects aimed at boosting the tion,” Ferrari said. I have now in terms of market and production,” he said. flexibility of electric vehicles, he said. Symbio has a capacity to produce about 1,000 fuel cell Ferrari said Michelin bought Symbio in February, Sending a message systems per year and plans to scale up to producing more introducing it as a subsidiary of the Through the JV, Michelin and Faurecia are sending than 100,000 per year. group. The company will be owned a message to the industry to pay attention to fuel cell “It’s a huge step for us,” Ferrari said. “The market is equally by Faurecia and Michelin systems, Fohlen-Weill said. forecasting for that, so we have to go that direction for sure.” through the JV. “As this common vision appears, we say, the markets Growth of that magnitude means a requirement for Faurecia, a French automotive need to receive a strong signal from OEMs,” he said. “If expansion of the company’s facilities, starting with its systems supplier, found common two worldwide leading companies, manufacturers, say production facility near Lyon, France, Ferrari said. As ground with Michelin in hydrogen they both invest and believe in fuel cell technology, it demand increases, there could be continued develop- as a solution for powering vehicles, will give a very good, positive signal to the rest, and to ment near that facility. Symbio has its headquarters according to Eric Fohlen-Weill, the market.” and R&D at its location in Montagny, France. head of corporate communications Fohlen-Weill said fuel cells are a mid- to long-term Symbio, which has 120 employees, also will need to for Faurecia. solution for the automotive industry, but the time to bring on a larger staff, though the goal total is still be- “Both companies believe that hy- Ferrari develop the technology is more immediate as manufac- ing established, he said. drogen will be complementary to bat- turers are planning future vehicles. “I think we will at least double the size of the compa- tery electric vehicles,” Fohlen-Weill said. “We believe that competitive fuel cell systems will be ny in the next year, because we have large objectives,” While battery electric vehicles are useful for various on order around 2025, so companies like Symbio need he said. “It all depends on how we see the growth and applications, the system doesn’t adapt well for trucks as to be a backbone to strong shareholders who are able to how we want to invest, at what pace we want to invest, an example, he said. Trucks see regular, intense use for finance those kinds of activities until it is happening,” to be exact.” Details about investment surrounding the long distances, and can’t be left charging for 2-3 hours. he said. “With companies like Faurecia and Michelin, JV were not disclosed. “Those two key elements are already available with it’s possible. We really believe in this energy vector.” His objective is to have some results for the structure of hydrogen solutions,” Fohlen-Weill said. “You can have Faurecia will bring the knowledge and work it’s done the JV going forward by June, but it could reach into more than 1,000 kilometers of autonomy with a hydro- with the CEA to develop a new generation of hydrogen September. The new company still needs to undergo scru- gen solution, and the refueling time is 3-5 minutes. So tech, and Michelin will provide all the activities that tiny through antitrust regulations. With that goal in hydrogen is a suitable solution for light commercial ve- Symbio has done, Fohlen-Weill said. mind, Ferrari would like to have the first phase of produc- hicles and delivery vehicles.” Michelin also will provide research and development tion with the new plant underway by the end of next year. Hydrogen is additionally useful because even after a day and production activities, according to the company “The market is really starting now,” Ferrari said. full of making deliveries, “at the end of the tailpipe, it’s only spokesman. “We really want to be ready for this market, so we real- water. It’s a zero-emission solution,” Fohlen-Weill said. Both companies will help the developing Symbio gain ly have to accelerate. It’s a huge exercise to grow like A hydrogen system uses more simplified architecture access to the right people to spur reach into the automo- that in a short time frame, but it’s mandatory. It’s a and reduces price, Ferrari said. tive market who will be able to sell the solution as a good goal to set.”

plastic elastomer latex offering purity, strength and softness while reducing Kraton the allergens frequently found in medical gloves and other dipped goods. Company Name Web address/Email Phone# Page Continued from page 1 It does not replace any previous Dyna-Mix Inc. www.dyna-mix.com 304-265-6152 9 pilot unit to the Paulinia commercial grade of Cariflex, Henderson said. [email protected] unit, the scale-up factor is currently Rather, it is complementary to Cari- over 1,000,” he said. “The semi works flex IR0401, a proven material for Endurica LLC www.endurica.com 419-957-0543 12 unit will bring a capacity that enables surgical gloves, condoms and other [email protected] a scale-up factor of about 100 versus dipped goods since 2001. the lab pilot, making it a truly inter- Cariflex IR0401 is produced in Ja- Ergon, Inc. www.ergonnsa.com 601-933-3148 24 mediate scale between lab and full pan through a contract manufactur- [email protected] commercial scales.” er, according to Henderson. Kraton Kraton will begin production in the makes solid Cariflex IR at its plant in HollyFrontier www.HollyFrontierLSP.com 800-395-2786 23 semi works with its existing staff, Belpre, Ohio, he said. Corporation [email protected] and determine employee needs at the The Paulinia complex will not re- Klean Industries Inc. www.kleanindustries.com 866-302-5928 10 operation once activities there ramp place any Cariflex production in Japan up, according to Henderson. or Ohio, according to Henderson. “The Lord Corporation www.lord.com 1-877-ASKLORD 7 The semi works’ primary function fact that we can supply Cariflex IR0401 RHD Polymer & [email protected] 502-254-9596 13 is not to make a given line of product, latex from multiple lines and sites is a but to allow innovation, product port- supply security advantage,” he said. Chemical LLC www.rhdpolymerandchemical.com folio extension, process and quality However, to meet the growing Sanyu USA, Inc. www.sanyuusa.com 419-897-9262 11 improvements, and raw material needs of customers, Kraton is consid- [email protected] testing, Henderson said. ering whether to build another Cari- “Therefore, the semi works might flex production unit in Paulinia, next Struktol Company of www.struktol.com 330-928-5188 5 be used to produce limited volumes of to the existing one, he said. America [email protected] a new product, such as Cariflex IR- Kraton also continues to review its 2GL1 latex, during the commercial options regarding the Cariflex unit, VMI Group www.vmi-group.com 330-929-0815 2 ramp-up phase,” he said. according to Henderson. [email protected] Cariflex IR2GL1, according to “An announcement will be made Kraton, is a next-generation thermo- when a conclusion is reached,” he said. A reader service from to Rubber Industry Advertisers CRITICAL STOPPING...

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