Return to Double Coin Plants Shows Progress, New OTR and AG Plans - Tire Review Magazine

Return to Double Coin Plants Shows Progress, New OTR and AG Plans

meet with Double Coin executives to get a sense of where the company is headed.

Hosted by China Manufacturers Alliance (CMA), the group included Rick and Ryan Benton of Black’s Tire Service in Whiteville, N.C.; Dan Jensen of Love’s Travel Stops in Oklahoma City, Okla.; Verdo Gregory of Comm­ercial Tire in Fresno, Calif.; Art LeBlanc of Pete’s Tire Barns in Orange, Mass.; Rick Stewart of Action Tire in Atlanta; Jim Parkhouse of Parkhouse Tire in Bell Gardens, Calif.; Jose Rios of Lucy’s Tire/Falcon Tire in Medley, Fla.; and Ross Kogel Sr. of Tire Wholesalers in Troy, Mich. CMA hosts included Mike Yang, president, Aaron Murphy, vice president, and Walt Weller, vice president of strategic accounts.

What the dealers saw were two tire plants every bit as familiar as any in the U.S., as well as an expanded technical center, increased radial medium truck capacity and all-new added capacity for production of giant OTR and agricultural radials, two product areas CMA hopes to open in North America soon.

Since mid-2008, Double Coin has added radial medium truck capacity to its older Shanghai plant and is in the process of boosting production at its Rugao facility, which opened in 2005. Both plants, which carry multiple ISO quality certifications, have also made improvements that allow CMA to successfully gain EPA SmartWay certification; two Double Coin truck tires have already met the standards, and Murphy said more will be submitted for verification.
Watching Double Coin truck tires being built are (from left) Verdo Gregory of Commercial Tire, Dan Jensen of Love's TravelStops, Jim Parkhouse of Parkhouse Tire, and Walt Weller of CMA.
The Shanghai plant is also home to Double Coin’s R&D center – the Tyre Research Institute. Opened in 1993, its 200-person staff works on new products and conducts extensive testing of production samples. It also houses the only OTR test equipment and only radial truck tire noise testing system in China.

It, too, has seen recent expansion as Double Coin began test production of giant 57-inch radial OTR tires, a new R1 ag line, and added medium truck and passenger tire test equipment. The giant OTR test facilities include holography and X-ray shearography testing. Previous passenger tire test efforts have been bolstered by new force and mom­entum test gear, and labs have been updated to address a broader range of rubber compounds and carcass and bead steel wire.

Production of most of Double Coin’s smaller OTR products – 25- to 33-inch – was shifted to the Rugao plant to facilitate the addition of equipment to build 49- and 57-inch radials. While Double Coin had already been producing some 49-inch tires, the company spent 200 million yuan (about $29 million) to increase 49-inch capacity and add all-new building and curing equipment to produce 57-inch tires.

The massive automated component assembly area includes bead winding, carcass construction and tread extrusion. Some compounds are created in other parts of the plant and brought to the new OTR area, officials said. And capacity can be added as the market dictates. The curing room has two in-ground units at present, and Yang said there is enough space for six total. It takes 24 hours to build one 57-incher, and another nine hours to cure it fully.

Currently, several 57-inch radials are in field evaluations, and Murphy hopes CMA can bring the new tires to North America soon.

Since our last visit, the Shanghai plant has increased employment to 2,800 workers, and runs three shifts per day for 342 days a year. Radial medium truck tire capacity increased also and is now at 2.8 million tires per year, with 55% of those tires headed overseas and 90% of those specifically to the U.S.

At 630,000 square meters under roof, the Rugao plant is Double Coin’s largest, employing 2,500 workers, the company said. Medium truck tire production there has hit 2.5 million tires per year, up modestly from 2008’s 2.4 million units.
Art LeBlanc of Pete's Tire Barns sizes up one of Double Coin's test production 57-inch giant OTRradials.
New at the plant is the addition of R1 ag radial production and the 25- to 33-inch OTR radial production moved from its sister plant. New prep and building equipment was added for the new products, as were new curing presses.

Right now, said Murphy, 28- and 42-inch R1 tires are in field evaluations in five geographic regions of the U.S. Barring unforeseen issues, Murphy hopes to have 10 to 15 sizes on the market here by the close of the year.

“Our goal is to develop the product and make sure it conforms to expectation levels, and then broaden the SKUs we offer,” Murphy said. “The ag line is a natural segue from the small OTR tires we are already producing. They (Double Coin) look at being a full line commercial tire producer, so they see this as a natural move. I could see us having a broader ag line in the future, but right now we’re concentrating on the R1 program.”

Two years ago it, appeared that Double Coin was close to breaking ground on a new passenger and truck radial plant in Chungqing, a city of nearly 17 million that is home to several major automakers. At the time, Double Coin had hoped to break into the North American passenger tire market. Those plans, though, were shelved, luckily enough before the U.S. imposed added tariffs on China-made consumer tires.

Double Coin still wants back into the passenger tire market, even domestically, and so it is now considering other locations for a new plant. Murphy said the company could be ready by the time the added tariffs expire in 2012.

Also on the boards are plans for a new CMA distribution center on the west coast. Murphy said the company is looking at a location in southern California similar in size to its 135,000-square-foot Memphis warehouse, which opened in 2007.

A lot has changed in two years, but not Double Coin’s desire to become a major player on the global tire stage. That focus has not wavered, and the success of its planned passenger tire program will play a huge role in the company’s global future.

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