Michelin launches ‘unique’ ag tire building machine at French site

Clermont-Ferrand, France – Michelin has inaugurated a new tire building machine for agricultural tires at its farm tire production facility in Troyes, France.

The new machine, named Cosmos, is “unique” in the group as it uses "a new technology adapted to the specificities of the manufacturing of agricultural tires," Michelin said 17 June.

Such specifications include the size, weight, material technology, and other issues related to the tires.

The project is part of Michelin’s ‘2021-2026 roadmap', which is an industrial strategy aiming to consolidate performance of the site in Europe.

The strategy prioritises “manufacturing tire ranges of tomorrow at competitive costs."

This is expected to be achieved by moving towards "more profitable markets, particularly the high-power tractor market.”

Furthermore, the strategy stipulates that Michelin should improve quality of life at work to make production site more attractive.

For the Cosmos project, the French group said, “multidisciplinary teams worked with the site's production agents in order to develop a solution perfectly suited to their daily uses.”

According to Michelin, the machine has been entirely designed around the group's ‘all-sustainable’ vision.

From an environmental point of view, the new technology reduces the use of solvents at the site by around 20%, compared to previous machinery.

Economically, the machine offers “more flexibility in serving customers, by manufacturing dimensional ranges that are currently impossible to produce on site.”

The industrialisation of new tire sizes, Michelin went on to say, “will also make it possible to position the Troyes site on even more technological and high added value products.”

In terms of human aspect, Michelin said the machinery ‘put people at centre of priorities’.

“One of the objectives was to facilitate the work of manufacturers on agricultural tires, which can measure up to two meters high,” said Michelin.

With the new machine, the ergonomics of the workstations are “considerably improved,” it added.

In parallel with Cosmos, Michelin also undertook a project to modernise the manufacturing workshop at its Troyes site.

In 2022, the facility inaugurated its first robots with the aim of eliminating "difficult and low-value-added tasks" in the workshops. A project to install automated carts is also underway.

Operational since 1963, the Troyes site today accounts for 40% of the Michelin group's agricultural tire production capacity worldwide.

According to the group, in 2022, the site manufactured 220,000 units of farm tires.

It has 750 employees and exports 85% of its production (66% in Europe and 29% in North America).

Some its key clients include OEMs such as CNH groups (Case, Steyr, New Holland) and AGCO (Fendt, Challenger , Massey-Ferguson, Valtra), John Deere and CLAAS.