Tire Manufacturing

Overview

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This infographic is used as a general indicative example only.

Actual factory and process configurations could vary, but our industry experts know them all. 

Collecting of Raw Materials

Components per tire type recipe needs to be weighed and transported into the mixer.

Rubber Compound Mixing

Raw materials are mixed into a homogeneous rubber compound. There are two different mixing types in the market:

• 'Banburry' – material mixed between 2 big drums (3-4 stages)
• 'Continuous mixing' – material mixed between two belts (sandwich) for 15-20 minutes

Batch Off / Dip Tank and Wig Wag

The mixed rubber compound needs to be stored on pallets before the next manufacturing steps are coming. To avoid that the rubber sticks together it is dipped in a soapy water bath, cooled and stored with a wig wag unit on pallets.

Fabric / Steel Cord Calendering

This is a mechanical process by which rubber is pressed into textiles (cloth, fabric) or steel cords to form composite sheets. Calendered textiles are used for casing, cap plies and chafers. Calendered steel cord is used for belts.

Ply / Steel Belt Cutting

Finished steel cord (for Breaker Belt, Body Ply) and textile cord (Body Ply, Strip) is cut into appropriate sizes, shapes, and angles depending on the desired contour of the tire.

There are three different cutting methods:

• Guillotine
• Rotary
• Hot blade

Innerliner Calendering

This is a mechanical process by which multiple rubber layers are pressed in a multi-roll calender towards one homogeneous rubber layer. An alternative is rollerhead equipment. The rubber compound plasticized in the extruder is conveyed via a wide extrusion die directly into the roll nip of a two-roll calender.

Tire Building

The first step in final finishing involves the tire-building machine (TBM), with over 40 components that work to form the green tire. 

Tire Curing

Curing is the process of applying pressure to the green tire in a mold in order to give it its final shape, and applying heat energy to stimulate the chemical reaction between the rubber and other materials.

After the tires are cured in the press, they are often cooled down on a conveyor belt and then transported to the trench line (collector line).

Inspection and Finishing

After the curing presses, the tires are cooled before going for inspection and collecting. Finished tires need to be handled with care, so transfer roller belts are used for conveying. 

Storage and Truck Loading

Finished tires need to be stored (short term) before they are transported to the hubs of the sales channels.

This storage has a demand of intralogistics where conveyor belts are often used.
To quickly load and unload trucks it is common to use telescopic loading systems.