Flexx belt maker from VMI wins manufacturing innovation award

ERJ staff report (BC)

Epe, The Netherlands - VMI won the category for tire manufacturing innovation in the annual Tire Technology International Innovation and Excellence Awards on 6 February, reported the company in a press release.

Awards judge Prof. Joe Walter said: “The VMI Flexx belt maker combines … advances in disparate components of tire manufacturing technology (such as gear pump assisted cord-rubber extrusion and splice control by optical imaging) while potentially producing more uniform belt plies, both in-line with tire building equipment, and off-line, without the major expense of a calender.”

Walter is adjunct professor of mechanical engineering at the University of Akron, Ohio.

This was VMI's second win in the awards' five-year history.

The awards, in five categories, were presented during a gala evening event at the Tire Technology Expo and Conference, 5-7 February, in Cologne.