Continental’s CARE wins top honour in J2A tire industry awards

The winners of the inaugural Journey to Automation (J2A) Awards, recognising leaders in the field of automation and digital transformation in the global tire industry, were announced at a virtual ceremony 16 Sept.

Continental’s C.A.R.E. (Connected, Autonomous, Reliable, Electrified) project was named as overall winner and winner of the Tire Technology Award.

The six categories of the J2A Awards, organised by European Rubber Journal, are Tire Manufacture – Producers, Tire Manufacture – Suppliers, Tire Technology, Tire Supply Chain, Tire Sustainability and Specialist Engineering SMEs. The category winners were Michelin, Cimcorp, Continental, Rubberway, Trelleborg (TWS) and Black Donuts.

J2A Award overall winner Conti C.A.R.E is an umbrella strategy and tire technology platform covering a range of IT sensor and material-based technologies, all part of a toolkit designed to enable the automotive industry transition to electric, autonomous, and other new mobility platforms.

The award judges praised Continental for successfully combining innovation, IT and physical technology. For example, integrated mini pumps adjust tire air pressure to make fuller use of data generated. The project was also marked out for its proactive approach to meeting OEM requirements with technology that leverages significant impact on the wider automotive industry.

Winner of the Tire Manufacture – Producers award was Michelin for its Connecting Tires to their Ecosystem through RFID. Judges commended Michelin’s achievement in embedding RFID tags in tires and making the process affordable. Applying global-standard RFID to tire manufacturing and through the entire life cycle of a tire will have a highly positive impact on the tire industry.

Winner of the Tire Manufacture – Suppliers Award was Cimcorp for its Improving Data Analytics of the Tire Factory. Cimcorp has developed a tire production dashboard and is leveraging data from different sources to improve the complete flow of tire manufacturing from material handling to finished goods. J2A Award judges recognised that this automation route can significantly improve the efficiency and output of tire plants.

Winner of the Tire Supply Chain Award was Rubberway for Engaging your Supply Chain Towards Sustainability. This large-scale project to improve the sustainability of the natural rubber supply-chain was marked out for having created tools that are appropriate to the operating environment to provide both ease of use and a clear analysis.

The J2A Tire Sustainability Award went to Trelleborg for its CTIS+ Smart Product for Sustainable Farming, Fleet Management and ELT Management. The judges recognised that this was a real advance in preserving the condition of the tire and adapting its performance to varied road surface and field conditions.

The Specialist Engineering SMEs Award went to Black Donuts for its eKanban project, praised by the judges as a very ingenious system that has been successfully implemented in a tire manufacturing plant.

“From the level of support and the quality of the shortlisted and winning entries, the J2A platform clearly has solid foundations and is set to become established as a regular fixture on the industry-calendar,” said Patrick Raleigh, editor of European Rubber Journal.

“At the heart of the J2A programme is the judging process, and we strongly recognise the work of our expert panel in establishing the J2A Awards as an important, new reference point for the digital transformation of the global tire industry.”

The judging process was overseen by a senior official from the International Society of Automation Europe. The judging panel was brought together by European Rubber Journal and Crain Global Polymer Group sister titles Tire Business and Rubber & Plastics News.

J2A Awards 2020 Winners and Highly Commended

Tire Manufacture – Producers
Winner: Michelin: Connecting Tires to their Ecosystem through RFID
Highly Commended: Hankook Tire

Tire Manufacture – Suppliers
Winner: Cimcorp: Improving Data Analytics of the Tire Factory
Highly Commended: VMI Group

Tire Technology and Overall Winner
Winner Continental: C.A.R.E (Connected. Autonomous. Reliable. Electrified)
Highly Commended: Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company

Tire Supply-Chain
Winner: Rubberway: Engaging your Supply Chain Towards Sustainability
Highly Commended: Michelin

Tire Sustainability
Winner: Trelleborg (TWS): CTIS+ Smart Product for Sustainable Farming; Fleet Management; ELT Management
Highly Commended: TRM Retreading Technologies

Specialist Engineering SMEs
Winner: Black Donuts: eKanban
Highly Commended: D&A

The inaugural J2A Awards have been generously supported by Platinum Sponsor VMI Group and Gold Sponsor Rockwell Automation.

Media partners and supporters are: Rubber & Plastics News, Tire Business, IRjournal.com, Automobilwoche, Automotive News Europe, ETRMA, BRV (German Tyre Retail and Vulcanisation Trade Association), The Tire Cologne.

Click here, to watch the full video of the awards ceremony.