Nov 2011: Bridgestone All Set For 50th Tyre Facility

Leading tyre manufacturer Bridgestone is all set to invest in its 50th tyre plant worldwide.

The Need for the new Facility

Bridgestone Corporation announced in Tokyo its plans for building a new tyre production plant to cater to the rising demand for radial tyres for passenger cars. The new plant is to be located in Vietnam. Bridgestone tyres envisages a strong and positive growth in the global demand for passenger car radials in the coming years and is gearing up to prepare for the same. The new facility is a step in this direction.

Let the Numbers Talk

Official sources revealed that the company is looking at an overall investment of 286.2 million pounds for setting up the new facility. At its maximal operational capacity, the new plant will produce about a 100 tyres less than 27,500 per day. The total employee capacity of the plant will be 1900.

The Details of the Plant

The construction has already been initiated. It is expected that production in the new facility will commence by the first half of 2014 and will reach its full capacity of 27,400 tyres per day by mid 2016.

The Market Leader Responds to the Increasing Demand

There is an increasing demand for passenger car tyres particularly in the American, European and Japanese markets. Bridgestone has identified this trend and responded like a true market leader by supplementing its production and supply system to ensure that there is no supply shortage in the market. Such a situation is not only disappointing for customers (as they do not get what they want), but can adversely affect market economics, leading to detrimental trends for all manufacturers.

Plans for the New Facility

As per company officials, the new plant in Vietnam will cater mainly to the replacement demands for passenger car tyres for general use in the US, Europe and Japan markets. So the Vietnam plant will essentially serve as a base for exporting the tyres to these markets. In the meantime, to keep up with the increased demand situation, the company has beefed up the production capacity in two of its plants – the Karawang Plant in Indonesia and the Thai Nong Khae Plant. This strategy by itself indicates the seriousness of the situation, which, if not tackled adequately may lead to supply deficit in the market. Bridgestone clearly wants to avoid such a scenario.

Selection of the Site

The new plant is to be located in the Dinh Vu Industrial Zone in Hai Phomng City, Vietnam. The site was chosen after conducting a comprehensive study of various factors such as cost, workforce, location and infrastructural facilities.

The 50th Plant for Bridgestone

Currently, Bridgestone has 47 plants in 20 countries. With the completion of the plant in Pune, India and one in the US, manufacturing large and ultra large tyres for off the road and mining vehicles, this new plant in Vietnam will bring up the number 50 for Bridgestone. Interestingly, it will extend Bridgestone’s presence from 20 to 21 countries.

Apart from increasing the production capacity, Bridgestone is also looking at innovations in its supply system to ensure rapid supply of high quality products to meet market demands effectively.