News

5 Benefits of Steelastic’s Calenderless Body Ply System

Steelastic’s Body Ply System provides advantages compared to traditional calendered equipment.

Compared to traditional calendering and off-line processing equipment, the calenderless Steelastic Body Ply System provides a variety of benefits. Read on to find out about the 5 top benefits of Steelastic’s extruded steel and textile body ply systems.

Benefit 1: Flexible changeovers to produce a variety of product SKUs

When using calenders for tire component preparation, changeovers can take hours and hours. This inflexibility, especially in a market with growing demand for many different SKUs, is becoming more and more of a problem. With Steelastic’s Body Ply System, changeovers can take as little as 20 minutes, meaning operators can produce multiple SKUs in a single shift with less downtime in production.

Benefit 2: It’s a one-stop process from extrusion to windup

Steelastic body ply system extrusion process

Because extrusion, cutting, splicing, gum edging and windup happen in a single process, Steelastic’s calenderless body ply machine eliminates the need to move and store calendered material between the calender and the offline processing equipment. These efficiency gains, and elimination of work in progress, result in significant cost savings over time.

Benefit 3: Significantly smaller footprint and capital investment

It’s important to consider your total cost of ownership when deciding between calendered and calenderless machinery. Steelastic’s calenderless production process has a modular design and overall smaller footprint than traditional calendering and offline processing systems. With Steelastic’s Body Ply System, you can make better use of your warehousing space and reduce the overall investment in your tire manufacturing equipment.

Benefit 4: Performs as well or better than calendered materials

Since the Steelastic Body Ply System was first introduced in 2017, we have worked with leading tire manufactures to do exhaustive testing of extruded textile and steel body ply in tires. In these tests, extruded body ply material was evaluated against calendered body ply material. Hundreds of tires were built for direct comparisons, testing for uniformity, tensile and elongation, heat shrinkage, peel adhesion, lateral stiffness, torsional stiffness, cornering power, rolling resistance, high speed camber and endurance. Testing validated that Steelastic’s equipment performed the same or better than the calendered alternative.

Benefit 5: It’s the only extrusion-based body ply machine on the market.

Extrusion-based body ply

The first of its kind, the calenderless Steelastic Body Ply System solves challenges the tire manufacturing industry has faced for years. Ours is currently the only extrusion-based system for manufacturing both steel and textile body ply.

Contact Steelastic

Ready to get started with calenderless tire production? Explore Steelastic’s Body Ply System and reach out to learn more.

Continue reading »


4 Common Problems with Calendered Body Ply Production

Calendered body ply production presents challenges for tire manufacturers.

Over the years, we’ve heard tire manufacturers report problems and frustrations with their calendering equipment. That’s why, at Steelastic, we’ve worked to make it possible to manufacture passenger and specialty tires without the need for expensive, inflexible calendering equipment.

Today, lower volume, highly flexible, ‘calenderless’ tire manufacturing is a reality, thanks to the Steelastic Body Ply System. Read on to see how this innovative machine is taking on longstanding tire manufacturing challenges.

Problem 1: Material Quality

With calendered production, materials are layered rather than extruded. Steelastic’s Body Ply System processes single ended textile cord with no possibility for crossed cords. Cords are placed precisely with uniform tension across the extruded strip. The resulting products are superior quality with exact widths, gauges and edge straightness.

Problem 2: Limited Flexibility

Because changeovers are time consuming and cumbersome, it can be difficult for calendered production lines to accommodate the demands of modern tire consumers. This lack of flexibility can prevent manufacturers from effectively responding to an evolving market that is demanding an ever increasing number of SKUs.

Calenderless manufacturing provides the flexibility to produce multiple SKUs with quick changeovers, allowing for enhanced customization and responsiveness. Steelastic’s Body Ply System opens the door to more versatility in tire design and production.

Problem 3: Too Much Waste

The traditional process of calendered production generates significant material waste and inefficiencies. Calendered manufacturing relies on large, complex machinery with limited adaptability. This requires more labor, more storage and more heavy lifting equipment, wasting time and materials.

With a single process from creel to wind-up, calenderless manufacturing promotes greater efficiency, reduced material waste and a more sustainable approach to tire production.

Problem 4: Difficult Maintenance

Calendered body ply production requires a textile calender and separate offline processing equipment.  These larger machines not only involve significant initial capital investment, but they are also more difficult and expensive to maintain and upgrade.

With Steelastic’s calenderless tire component manufacturing systems, maintenance is easier, less expensive and can be scheduled to ensure production is always maintained. Upgrades are also less time-consuming, reducing downtime and disruptions to the production process.

See the Advantages with Steelastic

Are you interested in seeing the advantages of calenderless manufacturing? We have a full-scale demo facility where you can try out the Steelastic Body Ply System in person. Contact us today to set up a visit.

Continue reading »


Steelastic Offers Advanced Flexibility for Multi-SKU Production

Image shows calenderless tire production equipment, that allows companies to produce more tire SKUs and readily adapt to ever changing market needs.

With the rapidly growing demand for an ever increasing variety of tire options, there is pressure on tire manufacturers to keep up. Large calendering and offline processing machines are known for their ability to mass produce tire components, but their cumbersome changeover process limits the quantity of SKUs they can produce.

At Steelastic, we have worked tirelessly to address this barrier to multi-SKU production. With our calenderless tire component production systems, changeovers are much quicker and easier, so manufacturers are able to adapt to changing market needs with pace.

Read on to learn more about how Steelastic has helped improve flexibility in SKU production for tire manufacturers.

The background: In recent years, we’ve seen the demand for a variety of tire types and models increase dramatically. According to a 2019 report, 625 SKUs cover 80% of the tire market, nearly triple the number (267) reported 20 years ago. Rich Kramer, chairman, CEO and president of Goodyear, reportedly said that if a dealer has two full sets of tires under each SKU, and if they have 10 stores, then they need to keep 50,000 tires in their stores every day.

The problem: In the traditional tire production model, once you set up a calender, it can take hours to change the cords for a different type of textile or steel. The calendering process also results in large volumes of material, which is wound into very large rolls of reinforced rubber. These calendered rolls need to be stored, often in a temperature and humidity-controlled environment before being moved onto off-line processing equipment to manufacture the finished steel belt, or textile body ply. This requires more storage space, additional operators, and equipment, for handling the calendered rolls.

The solution: At Steelastic, our state-of-the-art calenderless technology offers a level of flexibility that traditional large calendering and offline processing machines simply cannot match. With the tire industry experiencing a dramatic increase in SKUs, extrusion-based, calenderless production lines enable tire manufacturers to efficiently produce a wide range of tire variations to address the varied preferences of today’s tire consumers.

Calenderless technology eliminates the need for large, inflexible calendering machines. By embracing a more flexible approach, our tire component manufacturing process allows for quick transitions – 30 minutes or less – between different tire specifications.

The future: The demand for a wide variety of tire SKUs doesn’t seem to be slowing down any time soon. Steelastic’s continued commitment to innovation will help ensure tire manufacturers can stay ahead and respond to evolving customer needs.

Contact Steelastic

Want to learn more about the advantages of calenderless manufacturing for flexibility in SKU production? Explore our calenderless technology or reach out to Steelastic today to discuss your project.

Continue reading »


Single End Textile Cord Case Study

Steelastic’s manufacturing partners, create cost efficiencies for the tire industry and beyond with increased single end textile cord production.

Supporting the Tire Industry and Beyond with Cost-Effective Single End Cord Production

For many years, the use of single end textile cords in production of body ply and cap strip components for tires had been cost-prohibitive. Now, with significantly increased production from leading textile cord manufacturers, tire companies can cost-effectively use calenderless equipment like Steelastic’s cap strip and body ply systems in their extrusion-based tire production lines. Find out how.

The problem: Previously, the cost of single end textile cord was higher than the loomed textile fabric used in calendered component manufacturing for tires. This meant that tire companies struggled to justify using manufacturing processes that use single end textile cord, like Steelastic’s body ply and cap strip machines.

The need: In the last decade, the tire industry has seen the demand for premium tires increase, along with a huge increase in tire SKUs. Both trends have seen an increased need for single-end textile cords. Premium tire manufacturing requires the standard of quality produced by the Steelastic extruded textile cap strip, and extruded textile body ply systems. And it’s not just tire manufacturers that benefit from the use of single end textile cord. This type of cord is being used increasingly in other industries as well.

The solution: Over the last decade, Steelastic has formed strategic relationships with leading single end textile cord manufacturers around the world. These strategic relationships have resulted in significantly increased production of all types of single end textile cord used in tire manufacturing, which has in turn reduced costs. Now, single end textile cord cost is comparable with the textile feedstock for calendering processes, making the justification of calenderless tire manufacturing processes much easier.

The results: Production volume of single end cord has increased fivefold in 10 years. This has brought down costs for tire manufacturers significantly. Many leading tire manufacturers are now turning to the Steelastic calenderless process for manufacturing cap strip and body ply, with the trend expected to gather pace in the years to come.

Why go calenderless? Extrusion based, calenderless systems are extremely flexible and cost effective. They process single end textile cords with no possibility of crossed cords and deliver extremely precise cord placement. Textile cords are fully encapsulated, and the resulting cap strips and body ply components are of superior quality, with uniform tension and precise tolerances.

Through our strategic relationships with single end textile cord manufacturers, Steelastic has helped to shape the future of tire manufacturing by making calenderless tire component manufacturing a viable reality.

Get in touch

Want to learn more about the advantages of calenderless manufacturing? Explore our extrusion-based cap strip machine or contact Steelastic today to discuss your project.

Continue reading »


Calenderless Tire Component Manufacturing

Extrusion based rubberization of steel cords

Steelastic is the global leader in extrusion-based equipment for tire component production. Our calenderless tire component manufacturing systems improve manufacturing efficiency, increase flexibility, and reduce environmental impact for a wide range of tire applications. All our systems are single operator controlled, taking cord and rubber compound as inputs, and producing the finished product in one process. This guide provides a step-by-step into the calenderless tire component manufacturing process.

What You Need to Know About Extrusion-based Tire Component Manufacturing Processes

1. It Starts with a Creel

The extrusion-based, calenderless process starts with a steel or textile creel. Creels are comprised of many steel or textile cords, individually wound on spools. The steel or textile cords are pulled from the creel by the downstream process under carefully controlled tension. Steelastic’s heavy-duty creels can be equipped with numerous options such as cord breakage detection systems, individual and zonal spool tension control, and creel loading systems, to help maximize your production time and minimize ROI.

2. Extruder & E-Die Head

Next, the steel or textile cords enter the E-Die Head, which is supplied with rubber compound by a smooth or pin barrel extruder. The extruder and E-die combination is used to coat the cords in rubber compound to the desired extruded strip gauge. All Steelastic E-Die’s are designed for quick tooling change. The thickness of the extruded steel belt typically ranges from 0.5mm (0.02”) to 3.0mm (0.12”), but heavier gauge material strip can be extruded for more specialist applications. The temperature of the extruder zones, and the E-Die Head are controlled by a four-zone TCU (Temperature Control Unit), to ensure that the rubber flows consistently through the extruder and that the extruded strip is of the highest quality. The E-Die tooling is made up of the insert, the insert holder and the throat. The tooling combination precisely positions every cord relative to the next cord, ensures the position of all cords in the extruded strip is to specification, and sets the gauge of the extruded strip. The throat element of the tooling also forms a small lip which is critical to splice integrity further down the process.

3. The Cooling Drum Accumulator

The cooling drum accumulator has two important purposes in the process. It both cools the extruded strip to the desired temperature for cutting and splicing operations, and provides the ability to accumulate material. The ability to accumulate material helps the system to continue to extrude material when short downstream stoppages are needed to change wind-up spools, make minor adjustments, etc.

The cooling drum accumulator includes three 406mm diameter, and eight 238mm diameter, jacketed stainless steel cooling drums and utilizes two driven rolls. One roll controls the master line speed, and the other roll continues to pull material out of the extruder when the system is accumulating material. The maximum accumulation time is approximately 5.3 minutes while the maximum accumulation length is 15.9m.

4. Cutting & Splicing Systems

There are two types of cutting systems in Steelastic’s calenderless tire component equipment portfolio: The Classic Cutter and the Next Generation Steel Belt System:

The Classic Cutter has been widely used by leading tire manufactuers with 700+ steel belt, textile body ply and steel body ply systems supplied over 50 years for PCR, TBR, OTR, track, aircraft, and motorcycle tires. The classic cutter provides precise belt width, gauge and edge straightness, highly accurate splice and belt angle and precise cord placement with no possibility of crossed wires.

The Next Generation Steel Belt System was launched to market in 2018 and provides premium quality steel belts / breakers for PCR and TBR Tires, while reducing space on the manufacturing floor. The system maintains precision cord end count positioning, gauge control and overall dimensional stability of the strip. Cutting edge closed-loop control ensures finite adjustments are made to finished belt width, angle and the splice to ensure the finished product remains in specification. The result is high-quality, versatility and efficiency through reduced processing, labor and maintenance costs as well as reducing scrap.

Next Generation Steel Belt System for PCR & TBR tires

5. Gum Edging Systems

At Steelastic, we offer machinery for hot and cold gum edging of steel belts, textile body ply and steel body ply. Both types of gum edging system are designed for flat or wrapped gum application. Both systems can apply gum material on to belt or body ply ranging from 100mm (about 3.94 in) to more than 2,300mm (about 7.55 ft) wide, and with thicknesses of 0.8mm (about 0.03 in) to 3.0mm (about 0.12 in).

Steelastic’s gum edging machines are designed to provide highly precise gum edge positioning and prevent stretching in the belt or body ply material. Applying gum to belt and body ply helps to reduce friction and heat buildup in the finished tire. This leads to a higher quality tire that lasts longer. Learn more about the gum edging process and how it helps optimize tire performance.

6. Finished Material Wind-up Systems

Steelastic has multiple wind-up designs available to accommodate any cassette configuration, reels or spools, to suit the customer’s tire building configuration. Windups can be provided as single, dual tandem, or dual side-by-side configuration.

Reach Out for a Trial Demonstration

Steelastic Calenderless Demo & Trial Lab, Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio

At Steelastic, we want to help our customers improve manufacturing efficiency with our calenderless tire component manufacturing systems. Contact us to schedule a free trial or demonstration.

Continue reading »


Steetlastic: Trusted Around the World

Across borders, cultures and languages, Steelastic is a trusted name in the tire industry. Steelastic has built tire manufacturing equipment for more than 50 years. Known for their exceptional reliability, many of their initial generation of machines commissioned in the 1970s are still running strong. Today, they have 900 machines operating in more than 55 countries on five continents.  

This blog post will explore where Steelastic is present and why companies around the world trust Steelastic for their tire component manufacturing equipment.  

Supporting the tire industry around the world 

North America

Founded in 1970 by Sterling W. Alderfer, Steelastic began in the United States, forming close partnerships with tire manufacturing companies in the Midwest. Headquartered in Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio, Steelastic understands the challenges in the recruitment and retention of operational and maintenance resources in tire plants. In markets with a high turnover rate, Steelastic’s easy-to-operate calenderless equipment enables operators to be fully trained in as little as 2-3 months. (Traditional calendering equipment can take up to six months’ training.)  

For this reason, Steelastic has built name recognition and trust in the North American market.  

South America 

In countries like Brazil, Argentina, Chile, Ecuador, Peru, and Columbia, and Costa Rica, Steelastic has developed strong and lasting partnerships. Steelastic is a popular choice, because of its unrivaled flexibility, lower capital outlay, and ease of operation. This allows tire manufacturers in the region to benefit from a much lower total cost of ownership of their tire manufacturing equipment. 

Asia 

Customers in the region are fast understanding the benefits of Steelastic’s calenderless tire component manufacturing equipment versus the larger, more costly and less flexible, calendering equipment. 

Europe 

Steelastic has excellent, long-standing relationships with the leading tire manufacturers in Europe.  In recent times, several of the larger players have partnered with Steelastic during the development of its calenderless tire component equipment. These partnerships are now resulting in Europe being a major growth area for Steelastic’s product portfolio.

Why trust Steelastic? 

Over the past 50 years, Steelastic has built a reputation for trust and reliability. Each of their decisions is built around the following three principles:  

Partnership  

Steelastic’s business strategy is different than most manufacturing companies. When they sell equipment, they come alongside to become true partners in their business. They’ll listen to their needs, adapt and support their customers as true partners in business.  

Flexibility  

When Steelastic developed its calenderless tire component machine portfolio, it built it to support the rubber industry’s diverse and ever-changing needs. In particular, the large growth in tire SKUs is driving the need for significantly more flexible manufacturing equipment. 

Field Support  

Even though Steelastic has built a reputation for dependability and reliability, problems can still arise. Steelastic is dedicated to showing up for its partners, and to supporting them with field service, machine audits, preventative maintenance or training when they need it most. When you choose Steelastic, you’re choosing a partner you can count on.

Ready to learn more? 

Deciding on a supplier for your tire manufacturing equipment is a big decision. We understand that. But if you’re ready to learn more, contact us for a no-pressure conversation. We’re here to learn about your business, your needs, and how we can support you. Contact us today!

Continue reading »


Is it Time to Replace Your Tire Calendering Equipment?

Image shows tires that can be manufactured using Steelastic’s calenderless, extrusion-based system for a high-quality, low-cost solution.

Around the globe tire manufacturers are facing difficult decisions as their aging tire component calendering equipment becomes uneconomical to maintain and operate in the modern multi-SKU environment. Do they attempt to justify very expensive replacement calenders, or do they turn to the most advanced, highly flexible technology available to manufacture tire components? Before they decide, they should ask themselves these questions:

1. Is tire calendering technology still relevant and competitive?

There’s no better time to ask the hard, honest questions than now. Is calendering technology still relevant? Is it still competitive?

For the answer, look to the key industry trends impacting the tire manufacturing industry:

  • Ever increasing tire SKUs demanded by the market.
  • Tires are being manufactured closer to the market in which they are consumed
  • Tire plants are becoming smaller in size and highly flexible
  • Tire manufacturing equipment is becoming more and more automated

Does calendering and offline processing equipment allow tire manufacturers to keep up with these changing industry trends? The answer is increasingly becoming no. Tire manufacturers are turning to lower cost, highly flexible, extrusion-based tire component manufacturing systems.

2. What is the total cost of ownership of calendering equipment versus the calenderless alternative?

Your investment in capital equipment is one thing. The installation, operational and maintenance expenses are another. Before you make a commitment, take some extra time to explore the total cost of ownership.

Read this blog for a quick overview of how the TCO of your calendering equipment, and compare how it stacks up against the calenderless alternative. We’ll dive into how the investment compares in terms of installation, operation and maintenance expenses, so that you can make an informed decision.

3. How does calendering equipment support your future business goals and direction?

Whether your business strategy is to be a tire industry leader or to dominate a niche market, it’s essential to evaluate whether you have the right equipment to compete. Flexibility and the ability to adapt fast to changing market needs is becoming more and more critical. The inflexibility of legacy calendering equipment is proving to be a major bottleneck for many tire manufacturers, who are increasingly turning to the calenderless alternative.

Discover a Calenderless Alternative

At Steelastic we provide tire component manufacturing equipment that is extrusion-based. This gives you three significant advantages:

It’s flexible.

Looking to increase your competitive edge? Find an equipment solution that offers flexibility, so that you can always cater to your customers’ needs. At Steelastic, our extrusion-based equipment can produce smaller runs, enabling you to produce the multiple SKUs the market is demanding.

It’s lower cost.

Going calenderless is a perfect solution for when you’re looking to increase your profit margin. Not only is the initial capital investment lower than traditional calendering and offline processing equipment, but its installation, operation and maintenance expenses are also lower. This saves you time, labor and materials without impacting the quality, performance and safety of a tire.

It’s built for modular growth.

We believe smaller is better. Our extrusion-based system has a smaller operational footprint and provides much greater flexibility. It is ideally suited to modular growth, allowing tire manufacturers to gradually build capacity, without huge capital outlay on calendering equipment that can remain significantly underutilized for years.

Schedule a Free Trial

Are you ready to explore calenderless tire manufacturing for yourself? Schedule a test run at our facility in Cuyahoga Falls and see how an extrusion-based tire manufacturing system works. Our team of experts will guide you through the process and demonstrate the advantages that calenderless tire manufacturing can bring to your business. Contact us today to take the first step toward revolutionizing your tire manufacturing process.

Continue reading »


5 Ways Steelastic Provides Post-Sale Support

Steelastic employees training in tire component production

Steelastic is your partner for tire component manufacturing equipment. Our breakthrough process has reinvented traditional tire component production.  

But our partnership with our customers extends well beyond the sale of equipment. To optimize your performance and maximize your investment, we offer a range of after-sale services and support, including field service, machine audits, a preventative maintenance program, upgrades and retrofits and aftermarket parts.  

If you need industrial equipment maintenance for your tire component manufacturing systems, you can count on Steelastic.  

1. Field Service

Our field service brings our service team, and their unparalleled knowledge of Steelastic equipment, to you. We help you reach peak performance with specific recommendations for your machines regarding upgrades and preventative maintenance. Having a Steelastic field service technician onsite is convenient, and we can handle:  

  • Start-up commissioning 
  • Relocation 
  • Comprehensive diagnostics 
  • Training 

Find out how Steelastic field service can help you stay productive.

2. Machine Audits 

Steelastic is uniquely suited to provide machine audits for our equipment. After all, we’re the only manufacturer of genuine Steelastic parts. With our machine audits, we offer recommendations on ways to: 

  • Increase your efficiency 
  • Lower production costs 
  • Maximize quality  
  • Extend the lifespan of your tire component machinery 

When Steelastic technicians inspect your machinery, we give you a detailed evaluation of critical components, identify critical spare parts to avoid downtime, and make specific recommendations to improve the performance of your machine. We also offer skilled operation and maintenance training to upskill your team and ensure best practices are embedded.  

Get your machine audits scheduled today.

3. Preventative Maintenance Optimization Program (PMOP) 

What is PMOP? PMOP stands for Preventative Maintenance Program, and it’s an economical way to assure the highest performance for the life of your tire component manufacturing equipment.  

Your preventative maintenance program is based on recommendations specific for your machinery that are made by our field service engineers during our machine audits. This means your preventative maintenance program will fit your exact needs.  

With PMOP from Steelastic, you get regularly scheduled visits and proactive maintenance from our field service technicians, including: 

  • Forecasted maintenance costs per machine 
  • Downtime reduction 
  • Fixed service pricing for the term of the contract 
  • Extended life of equipment 
  • Documented service history 

Talk to us about PMOP and start to see the benefits of manufacturing equipment maintenance from Steelastic.

4. Upgrades, Retrofits and Rebuilds  

We build Steelastic machines to last, and upgrades, retrofits and rebuilds help make that happen. We offer several packaged upgrades that enhance flexibility, automation, traceability and efficiency.  

You’ll find component upgrades such as our cooling drum accumulator, strip gauge monitoring system, pressure follower controller, automatic belt width adjustment tooling and 360-degree bead apex inspection system.  

We can also provide customized solutions that extend the lifespan of your machinery, whether you need a single-module retrofit or a full-system rebuild.  

Steelastic systems are built to last, and with our upgrades, retrofits and rebuilds, you have a cost-effective way to further extend the life of your machinery.

5. Steelastic Parts 

If you need parts for your tire component manufacturing equipment, you want genuine Steelastic parts. We can help you stock the right number of critical spares, so you handle both preventative and breakdown maintenance as effectively as possible.  

Critical spares and recommended parts help keep your stockroom efficient, so you can quickly replace high-wear items without losing productivity. When you partner with Steelastic, you stay optimized and reduce downtime.  

We can even design and manufacture semi-custom parts for your systems. 

Get genuine Steelastic parts for your machinery. 

Get the Support You Need for Tire Component Production 

If you want support for your tire component equipment after the sale, talk to Steelastic. We’re your partners through the lifetime of your machinery, and we’re ready to help you optimize your ROI. 

Continue reading »


Optimize Tire Performance with Gum Edged Steel Belt

A small amount of friction on your steel-belted tire can lead to big problems. Steel belts in a tire are crucial to maintaining its shape and stability. Even a little bit of friction can cause them to deteriorate more quickly, reducing the performance and longevity of the tire.  

Many new tire manufacturing specifications require the addition of a gum strip to minimize the risk of friction. But even so, not all steel-belted tires are created equal.  

As steel belts have become thinner to minimize rolling resistance, they are typically stretched during the gum edge application process with legacy equipment.  Stretching can narrow the belt and change the bias angle, as well as affecting the gum edging placement accuracy.   Typically, in order to limit these affects the equipment must be operated at a slower production rate which minimizes production outputs.   

At Steelastic, we are committed to finding innovative solutions that move your tire production forward. In doing so, we’re excited to offer our range of hot and cold gum edging systems. 

What is Gum Edging? 

Gum edging is the rubber strip that adheres to the edge of a tire’s steel belt, either top applied or wrapped around the edge of the belt. The rubber strip, or gum edge, protects the steel from friction that creates heat and wear and tear on the tire.  Gum edging is also applied in some tire specifications to textile body ply material. 

“It’s a small component that has big ramifications for the industry,” said Bob Irwin, Steelastic’s Vice President of Sales & Marketing.  

Benefits of Gum Edging on Steel Belts 

Bonding 

The gum layer’s main purpose is to provide a surface to which the tire’s outer rubber layers can adhere. This ensures a strong bond between the steel belts and the rubber, which is crucial for the structural integrity and performance of the tire. 

Protection 

The gum layer helps protect the steel belts from corrosion, abrasion, and other forms of damage. This is particularly important in ensuring the longevity and durability of the tire, especially in harsh operating conditions. 

Smooth Transition 

The gum layer provides a smooth transition between the steel belts and the rubber tread, reducing stress concentrations and improving the overall ride comfort and handling characteristics of the tire. 

The Future is Now  

Steelastic’s Hot & Cold Gum Edging system has been continually enhanced over the last ten years and provides unrivalled quality, flexibility and operability to leading tire manufacturers globally.  

Tire plants can incorporate Steelastic’s gum edging systems into their current extrusion lines or specify them when buying new extrusion-based tire component manufacturing equipment. This allows tire manufacturers to keep pace with modern tire manufacturing trends as the tire industry continues to evolve.  

Reach Out to the Tire Experts  

If you’re looking to improve the quality of your tires, explore Steelatic’s gum edging systems. To visit our facilities and see our gum edging systems in action, contact us today.  

Continue reading »


5 Problems that Steelastic Can Solve for Tire Manufacturers

A tire manufacturing plant that could use calenderless, extrusion-based tire manufacturing equipment from Steelastic.

Are you facing challenges as the tire market continues to evolve? At Steelastic we have supported the tire manufacturing industry for more than 50 years and understand the unique pain points that tire manufacturers encounter. That’s why we’ve developed innovative tire manufacturing solutions to address these problems and help your business thrive.  

Let’s explore five common manufacturing issues that Steelastic can help to solve: 

1. Managing Inventory

Managing inventory of ever-increasing tire SKUs can be a challenge for tire manufacturers. With Steelastic’s calenderless, extrusion-based system, you gain the flexibility to respond quickly and efficiently to changing customer requirements.  

Our extrusion-based tire manufacturing equipment gives you the ability to produce smaller runs, quicker. With Steelastic, you can quickly adapt and adjust your production to meet market requirements, reducing the risk of excess and obsolete inventory. By choosing Steelastic, you can streamline your operations and ensure that your tire inventory remains optimized and aligned with customers needs.  

2. Aging Calendering Equipment 

If your calendering equipment is aging, you may be faced with expensive and time-consuming upgrades. At Steelastic, we provide a calendering machine alternative, which are extrusion-based systems that provide a quick return on investment (ROI). With our advanced technology, you can replace outdated calendering, and offline processing equipment, with state-of-the-art solutions that offer enhanced flexibility, efficiency, and ease of operation.  

Say goodbye to costly repairs or replacements and embrace the benefits of calenderless tire manufacturing equipment, which have significantly lower total cost of ownership (TCO), and increased flexibility, when compared to traditional calendering methods. 

3. Insourcing of Tire Components 

If your tire manufacturing plant is struggling with limited warehouse space while insourcing tire calendered material, it’s time for a change. 

Steelastic’s extrusion-based tire manufacturing equipment has a smaller footprint, increased flexibility, and more tailored production output when compared to traditional tire calendering methods, making it perfect for transitioning to manufacturing tire components in-house. By choosing Steelastic, you can optimize your space utilization and say goodbye to the inventory challenges that come with insourcing calender rolls. Our calenderless, extrusion-based equipment helps turn inventory more quickly, allowing you to align production with customer demand effectively. 

4. New Tire Plant Start-Up 

Are you considering building a new tire manufacturing plant? Starting a tire plant requires careful consideration of capital investment and the need for a justifiable ROI. Leading tire manufacturers are increasingly choosing Steelastic’s equipment to manufacture their tire components in new plants. And for good reason.  

Our technology offers a cost-effective solution that delivers fast returns on investment (ROI). With Steelastic, you can kickstart your new tire manufacturing plant and build capacity in a modular fashion, adding capacity incrementally as production demand increases.  Tire manufacturers see this as a significant differentiator versus the calendered alternative, where initial capital outlay, and production capacity can far outweigh requirements. 

5. Your Tire Manufacturing Plant Can’t Keep Up 

Is your tire manufacturing plant struggling to meet increasing production demand and ever-increasing SKU requirements? At Steelastic, our calenderless, extrusion-based systems are the solution you’ve been searching for. Our equipment provides the ability to grow modularly, allowing you to quickly expand your production capacity and keep pace with market demands.  

Our extrusion-based tire component equipment is known for its streamlined efficiency and flexibility. At Steelastic, we’re proud to provide tire manufacturing equipment that outperforms the limitations of traditional calendering processes, ensuring that your plant can keep up with the ever-growing demand for tires. 

Reach out to Steelastic  

At Steelastic, we understand the challenges that tire manufacturers face. With our industry-leading equipment, you can overcome these pain points and experience increased efficiency, profitability, and customer satisfaction. Contact us today to schedule your free trial run in our facility in Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio. Discover how Steelastic’s solutions can transform your tire manufacturing business. Together, let’s drive towards success. 

Continue reading »