Artificial intelligence doubles productivity in tyre assembly

Tyre manufacturing has traditionally been a long-winded process. Raw materials like rubber and carbon black are transformed into numerous components, like the tread, sidewall and bead, before they are built up on a drum and then cured in a press under heat and pressure. Finally, the tyres are tested for uniformity and measured for force variation while running on a simulated road surface.

This typically means long lead times, but new assembly techniques are significantly reducing these.