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.