Dunlop expands with £4m UK manufacturing investment

ERJ staff report (BC)

Birmingham, UK – Dunlop Aircraft Tyres will complete a £4m factory investment programme by 18 October, when it starts a new production machine.

Dunlop exports 80 percent of the output from its Fort Dunlop site. It claims to have doubled in size in the last five years, adding several semi-automated production machines to meet rising demand.

The company acquired tire manufacturing and testing equipment from Japanese tire maker Yokohama Rubber Company when the firm pulled out of the aircraft tire industry in 2010.

Together, the new production and testing machines will increase Dunlop’s new tire output by 15 per cent, says the company, with most of this expansion focused on supporting operators of Bombardier and Embraer regional aircraft.

The equipment will also be used to produce tires for Boeing 737 Next-Generation aircraft.

Dunlop chairman Ian Edmondson said: “Every forecast suggests that commercial air travel will continue to expand. We are ensuring that we are well placed to take advantage of that by increasing our manufacturing capacity and developing innovative products.”