Messe Essen announced the Reifen 2014 award winners on the evening before the show opened, with Yokohama taking the coveted Innovation Award in the Technology and Products category. The Japanese manufacturer presented its process for the visual representation of the aerodynamic and acoustic rolling behavior of tires to the jury, using the Japanese space authority, JAXA’s supercomputer from space research to show that the noise level of a rolling car tire also depends on flow structures in front of the tire, which are subjected to a compression effect. The new results are helping to develop quieter and more aerodynamic tires.
The Environmental and Resource Conservation category award was given to German alloy wheel manufacturer Borbet. Its ‘Nature Wheel’ process supplements the traditional casting of alloy wheels with the utilization of a natural mineral. The light raw material is processed and integrated as a skeleton into the wheel wherever the use of metal is not required statically. That leads to a weight reduction with unchanged strength. The jury said that Nature Wheel is opening up fundamentally new potentials for the production of alloy wheels in chill casting and is raising the product quality.
Italian balancing and assembly machine specialist, Cemb prevailed in the Service Concepts / Process Optimization category. Its Paguro P2 balancing system for truck and bus tires was rewarded, due to a space-saving, manually operated measuring run, which makes it suitable especially for the mobile tire service.
With its Stud Cleaning Tool, the Counteract Balancing Beads company won in the Motor Vehicle Service category, offered for the first time. With a rotating attachment, the user can clean up to 10 wheel studs in three minutes in comparison with conventional wire brushes.
The expert jury assessed a total of 30 applications in the categories: Technology and Products; Service Concepts / Process Optimization; Environmental and Resource Conservation; and, as a new category, Motor Vehicle Service. (Tyres & Accessories)
