Opinion: Past, present and future - DRAFT

Based on article published in ERJ’s November/December issue:

With the digital era and concepts such as Industry 4.0 now starting to impinge on the tire and rubber manufacturing industries, the sector looks set for some far-reaching changes in the years ahead.

But how well can an industry with centuries’ old technologies and traditions adapt to the digital wave continuing to impact almost every aspect of modern life?

In gauging this, it is worth looking back at the history of the tire & rubber manufacturing industry and remembering the remarkable staying power of many companies and technologies in the sector.

Hutchinson founded in 1853, Continental in 1871, Pirelli 1872, and Michelin 1888, are just some of today’s major rubber companies with a heritage spanning three centuries, while many others, such as Trelleborg, were founded just after the turn of the last century.

This magazine, indeed, has followed the early years of all these companies: European Rubber Journal – originally named the India-Rubber & Gutta-Percha and Electric Trade Journal – was launched back in 1884.

The longevity extends to technology from Samuel Goodyear’s discovery of vulcanisation in 1839 to Fernley Banbury’s invention, in 1916, of the Banbury internal mixer – still widely regarded as one of the most significant ever advances in rubber processing.

And while new alternatives such as thermoplastic elastomers and more recently wet-mixing processes continue to challenge, the dominance of vulcanised rubber compounds and traditional mixing and moulding processes looks set to continue.

What’s more, the above-named companies and many others are now applying expertise in rubber compounding and processing to provide sensor and data-generating products that offer new levels of functionality to industries including automotive, aerospace, medical and energy.

This bridging of past and future can be seen, for instance, at Hutchinson’s new innovation centre at its site in Chalette-sur-Loing in France. The company’s 507 Fab House showcases an array of devices featuring integrated sensors, self-powering, active engine mounts and parts that generate data for condition monitoring of automotive and aerospace parts.

These technologies are displayed using interactive and virtualisation technologies, including immersive 3D rooms designed to enable Huchinson’s engineers and customers to visualise the workings of new materials, parts and systems. The high-tech environment is all the more remarkable given that the building structure was designed back in 1869 by Gustave Eiffel – 20 years before he built the Eiffel Tower.

But while, at least, the bigger players seem to be grasping the opportunities presented by the digital world in terms of their products, digital ‘manufacturing’ is a tougher nut to crack.

Over the past year or so, ERJ has reported on new manufacturing concepts, such as Mesnac’s Smart Factory, Adidas’ Speed Factory and Cimcorp’s Dream Factory, which promise a revolution in levels of automation and product-customisation in the manufacture of both tires and general rubber goods.

However, to fully embrace digital manufacturing, tire and rubber companies will have to adopt standardised IT systems and networks that allow a seamless data flow at all levels from machines to management across the organisation.

The openness involved is likely to be alien for tire and rubber manufacturers for whom many aspects of their operations – not least compound recipes and processing techniques – are anything but standardised and often closely guarded secrets.

European rubber companies will, therefore, have to bring in the new skills-sets, technologies and standards that they have not dealt with in the past – and do so more effectively than Asian rivals less tied-in to traditional manufacturing practices.

The ability to adapt to the demands of digital manufacturing could well decide which rubber companies are still around in the next century.