Sumitomo Rubber identifies €140m saving measures as advances efficiency programme

Tokyo — Sumitomo Rubber Industries (SRI) has identified Yen26.2 billion (€142 million) in “actionable measures” under its Project ARK restructuring and cost-reduction programme which targets to deliver savings of Yen30 billion by the end of 2027.

In its first quarter results published 15 May, the Japanese tire and rubber group said Project ARK contributed Yen2.8 billion in fiscal year ended December 2025, and is expected to contribute a further Yen9.5 billion in FY2026.

The measures are expected to help offset a projected Yen22 billion increase in raw material costs in 2026, alongside currency and pricing impacts.

The programme, unveiled in summer 2025, is aimed at strengthening the group’s profit base through cross-departmental reforms, digitalisation and the elimination of operational inefficiencies. (ERJ report)

According to SRI, the process has three elements: “Cross-departmental” collaboration, “DX and AI utilisation,” and the “visualisation” and elimination of waste.

SRI said examples of major measures under Project ARK include “cross-site management across four Japan-based factories,” including the “integration of power contracts,” as well as reviewing and optimising existing IT services.

Other measures include “promoting the consolidation and abolition of company bases and sales offices” following the unification of Japan-based sales companies and the “integration of HR functions across the business division and factories.”

A major focus of the programme is cost reduction at SRI’s Thailand tire factory, which the group described as reforms aimed at “strengthen[ing] the profit base” through “HQ-local integration.”

According to SRI, a cross-functional team spanning procurement, engineering, logistics, sales and quality functions has been formed between headquarters and the Thailand operation.

SRI also reported progress on two major factory upgrade at the Rayong-based factory, stating that Japanese engineers had been dispatched to support the launch of its new tire-building machine under the “Sun-Titan System,” at Factory 1. (ERJ report)

Mass production, it said, is now “scheduled to start ahead of the original plan,” without providing further details.

At Factory 3, the group said work to install “high-performance production equipment” for premium tire products destined for Europe and the US remains “on track for 2027 operation.”

The Thailand factory reforms were initially expected to generate FY2026 cost reductions of Yen2 billion, according to SRI’s February announcement.

The group has now raised that figure to Yen2.6 billion, including the impact of raw material prices.

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.