Cement Americas

WIN 2015

Cement Americas provides comprehensive coverage of the North and South American cement markets from raw material extraction to delivery and tranportation to end user.

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CEMENT AMERICAS • Winter 2015 • www.cementamericas.com 22 FEATURE BRIDGESTONE TIRE PLANT mentally conscience manner," Nishi- gai said. "As example, the plant uses solar panels to improve lighting and reduce costs. Water conservation was a primary consideration in the plant's overall design. We plan to recycle nearly all of the plant's waste." A MAJOR INVESTMENT FOR THE AMERICAS This is the biggest single investment that Bridgestone has ever made in manufacturing in the U.S., Garfield ex- plained. "Within the walls of the 1.5- million sq.-ft. facility, we will produce many of the world's largest tires – massive off-road radial tires to keep the mining industry on the move," Garfield said. "This plant will help keep Bridgestone front and center in this important market segment throughout the Americas. This was a strategic business decision for our company. It keeps us well-positioned to take ad- vantage of the market now and in the future. By installing Bridgestone's state-of-the-art off-road radial produc- tion technologies here in Aiken, we will be able to respond more quickly and dependably to customer needs throughout the Americas. It will strengthen our relationship with our customer base and strategically im- prove our supply systems globally." It will also strengthen Bridgestone's relationship with South Carolina. When the company made the an- nouncement in 2011, the plans for the new plant and the expansion of the existing passenger tire plant amounted to the single largest capital investment in South Carolina's his- tory. "I'm very proud to say that we are creating every one of the 856 jobs that we said we would three years ago," Garfield said. Currently, nearly 2,000 people are employed at the two Aiken plants. During the next two years, the com- pany will continue to hire people for both of these plants. THE GIANT TIRE MANUFACTURING PROCESS Manufacturing mining-class tires, which can reach a height of 13 ft. high and weigh as much as 13,000 lb., is a complex process. During the first step of the tire manufacturing process, the raw materials are mixed. The various types of rubber and other raw materials that will go into the tire are carefully measured and mixed together in a powerful, three- floor Banbury mixer. More than 30 different components are used to make an off-road radial tire. Next, each part of the tire required for assembly is created. The com- pound from the mixing process is ex- truded through a die to produce the desired profile for different compo- nents. Some of the mixed rubber is flattened, cooled and cut into differ- ent lengths for varying tire sizes. This becomes the sidewall and other parts of the tire. The calendering process aligns hun- dreds of steel cords and binds them to the rubber, creating sheets of re- inforced rubber for various compo- nents of the tire, including the belts and body ply. Steel wire is coated with rubber and then wrapped into a circular shape to create the bead, which is the part of the tire that con- nects to the wheel. Those components are assembled to Bridgestone COO Kazuhisa Nishigai cuts the ribbon. Gary Garfield, president and CEO, Bridgestone Americas, stands to his left. Ron Brooks, plant manager (far right) hosted the event. A technician performs a visual inspection at the new Aiken tire plant.

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