In addition to Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co., which won the Tire Manufacturing Innovation Award for its
Retread Multi-Piece Cushion, other tire industry companies, including Bridgestone and Michelin, were honored at the Feb. 15 Tire Technology International Awards for Innovation and Excellence in Cologne, Germany.
Bridgestone Corp. earned the Tire Technology of the Year Award for its Contact Area Information Sensing (CAIS), a system the tiremaker says can provide real-time road surface condition information to the driver by way of a sensor within the tire tread that detects vibrations and wirelessly sends information to the vehicle’s analytical equipment. In doing so, it classifies the current state of the road surface into seven conditions: dry, semi-dry, wet, slush, fresh snow, compact snow and ice. This information is then transmitted directly to the driver via an in-car display.
“This technology from Bridgestone really impressed us,” said Adam Gavine, editor of Tire Technology magazine. “It’s an ultra high-technology development which can potentially make a genuine contribution to road safety.”
Michelin took the Manufacturer of the Year Award in recognition for a year that saw massive internal investment and the development of significant new partnerships with the Federation Internationale de l’Automobile (FIA) and Amyris Inc. The first of these is focused on developing new actions to foster safer and more sustainable mobility through motorsport technology, while the second centers on a collaboration in the development and commercialization of renewable isoprene. Under the agreement, Amyris and Michelin will partner to develop Amyris’s technology for producing isoprene from renewable feedstocks. Amyris expects to begin commercializing this isoprene in 2015 for use in tire and other speciality chemical applications.
In terms of investment, during the course of last year Michelin directed $200 million towards its Lexington, S.C. plant to expand capacity, while an additional $50 million was spent upgrading equipment and expanding capacity at the Fort Wayne, Ind., BFGoodrich facility. Additionally, 100 million euros was spent upgrading Michelin’s global research and development center in Ladoux, France.
Also taking honors were Environmental Waste International, which won the Environmental Achievement of the Year award for developing a recycling technology that provides an efficient and environmentally-friendly alternative to conventional tire recycling methods; and Rhein Chemie Rheinau, which was named Tire Industry Supplier of the Year after it expanded its product portfolio in 2011 through the acquisition of two businesses from Flexsys Ameri ca L.P., a subsidiary of Solutia Inc.