Sumitomo Rubber moves to boost efficiency with new tire building system

Kobe, Japan – Sumitomo Rubber Industries (SRI) is stepping up group-wide cost-reduction and efficiency efforts with the installation of new tire equipment at its largest production site in Rayong, Thailand.

As part of the plan, SRI will focus on the “vertical launch” of its new tire building machine under its Sun-Titan system at the facility in Thailand, explained president and CEO Satoru Yamamoto in a 12 Feb annual results call.

The system was introduced late last year and is specifically aimed at producing SUV tires for the North American market, such as the Falken Wildpeak line.

It involves SRI’s proprietary tire manufacturing system, which the group claims will enable it to achieve “high design quality and high roundness as well as weight balance and weight reduction at a high level.”

According to Yamamoto, SRI intends to install the Sun-Titan system and start production at its Thai facility in 2026.

The move will improve the supply of ‘premium all-season’ tires to Europe and North America, he added.

Efficiency measures at the Thai site will also include “closer coordination between on-site operations and headquarters functions, and a vertical ramp-up approach,” SRI said.

The company expects a 3% increase in output capacity through debottlenecking.

Located in Amata City Industrial Estate in Rayong, the facility has been operational since 2006 and has a nameplate capacity of 14,450 tonnes per month.

The measures in Thailand form part of Project Ark, a company-wide cost reform initiative launched in August 2025.

The programme is built around cross-functional collaboration, utilisation of digitalisation (DX) and AI, and the “visualisation and elimination of waste" based on the Toyota Production System (TPS), Yamamoto explained.

Project Ark targets a cumulative cost-reduction effect of Yen30 billion (€170 million) by the end of 2027.

To date, said Yamamoto, measures totalling Yen25.9 billion have been identified.

For the current year, of the Yen10 billion target, Yen4.3 billion has already been incorporated into the financial forecast, with an additional Yen3.4 billion secured.

In addition to the new tire building system, Project Ark includes the introduction of what SRI has previously described as an “in-house new factory,” intended for the production of high-inch tires and premium products.

In November 2025, the group said it planned to introduce and start operation of “a compact next-generation moulding machine” developed by its in-house experts.

The machine, SRI said, is capable of producing high-performance tires “with high precision and efficiency by the end of this year, while maintaining current operations at our domestic plants.”

The compact moulding machine will save 35% of space compared to standard general-purpose equipment, while a “seamless automatic transfer system” will improve productivity and costs, SRI added.