Future trends in tire plant automation

VMI is among the main industry players seeking to transform levels of automation in the tire manufacturing industry. Here, Jan Grashuis, VMI’s corporate head of R& D, looks at the process of innovation at his company:

VMI is a fairly small company, compared to the largest global corporations, yet we have done more than any other company to drive transformational change into our core business. We have done that through understanding one great truth, which is that major transformational change can be enabled by making creative connections between small components, techniques and ideas that may not seem to be naturally linked.

In other words, it is the ability to think laterally, to make connections and drive synergies that lead to big breakthroughs. That is what we do, systematically, day after day, and that is why VMI has such an outstanding track record as an innovator. We don’t compete with those corporations with billion dollar R&D budgets: we don’t need to. We focus our attention on the areas that matter most to us and look for the incremental steps that will deliver the big rewards.

The power of hands-off, eyes-off

The best and clearest example of this creative approach in action is automation in green tire production and handling, which is now transforming the tire building industry. VMI calls this approach “hands-off, eyes-off” and takes it to market under the brand name “MAXX”. The rationale is simple. Tire producers want to reduce human influence on tire quality and increase their levels of productivity, so the fewer the touch points, the faster and more consistent the process will be. Using a range of technologies, added incrementally over several years, VMI has created systems that operate without human intervention. Not just “hands-off”, therefore, but even “eyes-off”, as well.

In VMI’s MAXX technology the operator is not needed in front of the machine because a series of devices are connected creatively to replace the operator’s eyes. It’s this combination of advances that make the difference: accurate vision systems, highly reliable servos and intuitive control interfaces come together to create a solution in which machines work like clockwork, for constant cycle times and consistent output. It’s a strategic transformation, driven by the creative ability to see how systems and components could fit together to drive synergies.

Towards the factory of future

VMI’s focused approach has paid off so far, but this is just the start of a much bigger story. Tire building machines sit within a wider end-to-end value chain that begins with compound development and ends with delivery of completed tires to customers. Big prizes will be won by manufacturers that bring higher levels of integration across this wider value chain, and we have a lot of work to do before this vision for the future is achieved.

There are good examples of integrated supply and value chains in other industries, and we can learn lessons from (to give just two examples) consumer electronics and automotive, where robotic assembly of key components enable manufacturers to achieve extremely high levels of “mass customisation” (custom built for millions of individuals). National governments, the EU and many consortia of academic bodies and corporations are pursuing the “Industry 4.0” vision (the 4^th industrial revolution), which will be based on almost complete automation and integration across complex chains of activity.

We share these ambitions and are playing our part in helping to make the concept become reality, yet VMI is more than anything a practical, even pragmatic organisation. We have proved that transformational change comes through many small stages, and the most important requirement for us is to identify the logical next step (and then the one after that and the one after that, as well…)

Quick wins

For us, the next “quick wins” lie in applying MAXX automation technology to other areas of tire development and production. We have now automated our existing indoor tester (the LAT100) and this is now changing the economics of testing in some interesting ways. Other examples will follow.

This latest advance proves that our approach really does work. It is an example of how we focus on the areas where we can make the greatest possible difference and then look for ways to take incremental steps. That’s how a relatively small company, like VMI, can punch above its weight and influence wide areas of the market through targeted innovation.

Innovation solutions

Finally, let’s remember that innovation is a state of mind affecting everything you do. It is not just about machines but also about how those machines operate within their context. That’s why VMI is being innovative about how we package and support our products, as well as how we design and build them. Increasingly, large manufacturers are not so much in the market for products but rather for the benefits those products can bring them. In other words, they buy solutions.

VMI is now routinely providing hands-on services and access to advanced systems for support actions, such as rapid diagnoses, online troubleshooting and proactive intervention, when needed. These actions ensure that our machines deliver to their highest levels of productivity, performance and quality- always. More and more tire manufacturers will need to buy solutions in the future as they seek to reduce (or share) risks and look for any and all ways to seek competitive advantage.

So how to summarise our view of innovation in the future? None of us have control over the entire value chain, but all of us have the ability to make continued improvements in our area of specialisation- which is what VMI continues to do. The big breakthroughs will come when all the creative improvements being made in specialist companies like VMI can be connected together to create an end-to-end continuum across the entire value chain. That requires agreement on standards and a higher level of collaboration than exists today, in a way that is now routine in (for example) the ICT industry. Will that happen? In the end, yes, it must, and we expect to be playing our part in driving positive change for a long time to come, not just in automation but in solutions and integration, as well.