Nokian ramps up US tire production to 24/7 

Dayton, Tennessee – Nokian Tyres has added a fourth production shift at its North American factory in Dayton to produce tires 24/7 at the facility. 

In a 22 July statement, the Finnish tire maker said it began the ‘round-the-clock’ production at the factory on 12 July, less than two months after the introduction of a third production shift in mid-May. 

“Adding third and fourth production shifts allows us to keep pace with production goals that will help us grow our presence in North America,” said Dayton factory operations director David Korda. 

“We’re pleased with the quantity and quality of workers we’ve added this year, and we’re eager to help them thrive as our company grows,” he said.

The production milestone also coincides with the factory’s ISO 14001 certification, which Nokian said validates the “strict environmental standards at the facility.”

“ISO 14001 certification is another testament to the fact that we are one of the most sustainable tire manufacturers in the world,” said Dayton factory environmental, health and safety manager Darren Bakkestuen. 

According to Nokian, the factory is “the only tire production facility’ to hold a sustainability design certification of ‘LEED v4 Silver’ for the manufacturing area.

The site’s solar-powered administration building is LEED v4 Gold. 

Nokian began commercial-scale production at the US plant in March 2020. At full capacity, the $830 million (€730 million) factory will produce 4 million passenger and light truck tires annually and will employ 400 people.

Manufacturing all-season and all-weather tires, the facility aims to reduce delivery lead times to North American customers and build tires tailored to the needs of drivers in the region.