Bridgestone opens Hungary BIRD plant

ERJ staff report (DS)

Tatabánya, Hungary -- Bridgestone has officially opened its new fully-automated production facility at Tatabánya, Hungary. The € 190 million complex is the first in Europe to feature Bridgestone's fully-automated tyre manufacturing process. Production of high performance and large-rim sized radial tyres for passenger cars and light commercial vehicles is scheduled to reach 8 000 units a day in 2009.

The new Tatabánya plant operates with Bridgestone's revolutionary BIRD (Bridgestone Innovative and Rational Development) technology, the second time only (the first non- Japanese BIRD plant was opened in November 2007 in Monterrey, Mexico) that this has been deployed outside Japan.

Bridgestone said The BIRD production system automates the entire tyre manufacturing sequence from material processing through to final inspection of finished tyres. Not only does the procedure raise productivity by nearly 100% compared to existing company production systems, it also brings significant quality gains - especially in tyre uniformity and balance.

The company added, "The production system is compact, able to handle evolving tyre designs, and can handle small batches - enabling it to respond to demand changes in specifications and volumes. Most importantly, this Japanese technology minimises the environmental impact of tyre manufacturing."

The unit has been producing tyres since January this year and currently employs about 200 said Bridgestone

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Japanese tire maker opens plant in NW Hungary Budapest Times (Hungary)

Bridgestone invests €190 mln in Tatabánya, Hungary Budapest Business Journal (Hungary)