Michelin, Conti, Smag to set up JV for sustainable NR

Called Societe des Matieres Premieres Tropicales Pte. Ltd, the Singapore-based JV will develop and deploy a mobile app called Rubberway, designed to map NR sustainability practices.

In particular, the mobile app will identify and evaluate practices and risks within the entire NR supply chain, from rubber-processing plants downstream to plantations upstream.

Set to launch by the yearend, the JV will comply with the objectives of the Global Platform for Sustainable Natural Rubber (GPSNR), of which both tire makers are founding members.

In 2017, Michelin introduced the Rubberway mobile application which was developed in collaboration with Smag and mapped the tire maker’s NR supply chain in different geographical areas.

The technical platform is already used in some NR producing countries such as Thailand, Indonesia, Ivory Coast, Nigeria, Ghana and Brazil.

In the new venture, Michelin will contribute its rights of use as well as its user experience, while Continental will invest in opening up wider use of the application by other tire companies and car-parts makers.

Smag is to share its technological and sector-specific expertise in digital solutions for agriculture.

The natural-rubber supply chain includes around six million farmers, 100,000 intermediaries and over 500 processing plants, the JV partners noted.