Bridgestone Restarting Plants, Prioritizing TBR Production
Bridgestone Corp. outlined its plans for restarting production at its factories in and near the hard-hit Kanto region of Japan. Coastal areas of the Kanto region were heavily damaged March 11 by the one-two punch of a 9.0 magnitude earthquake and an accompanying tsunami. The tiremaker said that truck tire manufacture will take priority when
IndyCar’s Silly Season Starts Early With Firestone Announcement
I can’t say I was surprised when my Blackberry buzzed to life late Friday with the news that Bridgestone Americas was closing the book on its IndyCar racing involvement. The writing was on the wall in January when the company passed on renewing its relationship with what’s left of American open wheel racing. And besides,
100 and Out: Firestone Brand Leaving IndyCar After Season
Bridgestone Americas has decided to end its long association with American open wheel racing, and is withdrawing the Firestone brand’s support and sponsorship following this season. Announced after business hours last Friday, Bridgestone said it will also end its sponsorship of the second-tier Indy Lights series.“The partnership between the Firestone brand and IndyCar has been
The Quest for Transparency and Honesty Despite the American Way
For as long as there have been tires, there have been tire prices. And, price increases. And for as long as there have been prices increases, there have been lame excuses. No, not the current blame on raw material and energy costs (those are very real, and very dangerous), but rather the excuses we (the
Bridgestone Joint Research Aims Science at Rubber Production
Indonesia is the world’s second largest natural rubber producer, with figures from the Association of Natural Rubber Producing Countries putting the number of hectares under cultivation at 3,445,000 and those under tapping at 2,773,000. With an aim of further enhancing this production, Bridgestone Corp. has entered into a cooperative research project agreement with two other
Customer Complaints Part 2: Proactive Resolutions
In Part 1 of this customer complaints feature, "If You Win the Argument You Lose the Sale!" I addressed the principles of cooperation and empathy as effective strategies when confronted with customer complaints. To wrap up this topic, this article focuses on the importance and effectiveness of being proactive in your customer complaint interactions. First
Yokohama Sets Lease for Philippines Expansion
To fulfil plans to increase tire making capacity, Yokohama Rubber Corp. has signed a contract to lease a 300,000-square-meter section of land adjacent to the Yokohama Tire Philippines plant, some 60 kilometres northwest of Manila. The leasing contract for the land at the former U.S. Air Force base was signed between Yokohama and Clark Development
The Price Crisis Part III: Futures for Price Discovery
Indian tire manufacturers are still wary of the futures market in rubber and their skepticism has become stronger with rising prices and high duties on imports. But Anil Mishra, CEO of Ahmadabad-based National Multi-Commodity Exchange of India Ltd., the pioneer in electronic commodity trade, says many tiremakers are realizing futures’ advantagesThe Ahmadabad-based commodity bourse, National
The Grand History and Evolution of UTQG – Part II
This is the continuation of a blog entry posted Wednesday. To read the first section, “The Grand History and Evolution of UTQG – Part I,” click here. Below is the report published in the June 1978 issue of Tire Review. The PreludeNearly 12 years have elapsed since Congress passed a law requiring the establishment of
Colo. Woman Killed in Wheel-Off Accident
A 35-year-old woman was killed in Thornton, Colo., yesterday when a truck tire crushed the roof of her car. According to local reports, two driver side rear tires came off a semi traveling south on I-25 Monday afternoon. One of the tires hit the median and went airborne, striking the woman’s northbound Toyota Camry. The