VMI eyes expansion amid 'record' tire-machinery orders

Epe, The Netherlands – Tire & rubber machinery maker VMI registered ‘record' orders in 2023, according to the group's newly issued sustainability report.

The Dutch group is currently benefiting from several tire-industry trends, particularly a “shift of production to the major European and North American markets,” said the report published 20 Dec 2023.

Production closer to the end market has proven its value since the Covid pandemic, said VMI, noting that transportation costs are lower with local manufacturing.

Furthermore, response to changes in demand is quicker, and trade restrictions and supply-chain disruptions have less of an impact, it added.

The localisation trend requires “extensive automation” due to ‘scarce’ workforce and high costs, said VMI, adding that its “technology is a great fit here.”

Another factor, according to VMI, is the “explicit desire” of large tire manufacturers to make their products more sustainable, in increasingly responsible ways.

This, it said, can be achieved by reducing energy-consumption and cutting waste, but also through the development of technologies that further lower the rolling-resistance of tires.

In addition, electric vehicle tires as well as tires made of “more environmentally friendly materials” will help the sustainability targets of tire makers.

“This all requires the implementation of new production technologies, which VMI is well positioned to do,” according to the 2022/23 report.

Further contributing to the machinery maker’s growth is the increasing variety of tires on the market, which is driving demand for enhanced production flexibility and smaller runs.

Reviewing challenges and opportunities presented by the above trends, VMI president & CEO Harm Voortman emphasised the need to align supply-chains capabilities with market demand.

“With such large numbers of orders and high hopes for the near future based on our strong market position, we will also need to expand our production capacity significantly,” said Voortman.

In 2022, he noted, VMI had “heavily invested in expansions”, including the construction of four new production buildings at VMI’s site in Leszno, Poland, which are now in operation.