Michelin, Bridgestone among Reifen awards winners

Essen, Germany – Michelin and Bridgestone were among the winners of the Innovation Awards at the German tire trade show Reifen in Essen 24-27 May.

The two tire companies topped the “technology and products” category at an awards ceremony, which was held on the eve of the exhibition.

Bridgestone’s DriveGuard runflat, which can be mounted on most car equipped with tire pressure monitoring systems (TPMS), won the in the technology and products category as a development allowing for safer mobility.

French tire-maker Michelin also won in the same category with its X Line Energy Triple A tires. The development, said the judges, is the first to introduce a drive axle tire for trucks with Class A fuel efficiency. In the service concepts and process optimisation,

Germany’s 4JET Technologies was the winner for its Scannect system. This equips tires with an individual, permanent QR code, which can be read by smartphone cameras.

Italy’s ASE Corghi won with Uniformity, which is the “first tire-fitting machine with diagnostic functions”. According to Reifen organisers, the machine will allow so-called “match mounting” to take place on the tire-fitting machine itself.

Uniformity conducts a complete diagnostic process of the individual wheel and/or the vehicle's entire wheel set while carrying out its normal duty of fitting or removing a tire.

According to the manufacturer, this reduces current labour time requirements by at least 25 percent.