Qingdao Sentury joins hand with Finnish Cimcorp for green tires

Qingdao Sentury Tyre has signed up Finnish company Cimcorp Oy to supply a new material handling system for PCR green tires, for staged start-up in 2014-2015.

The project is part of a three-phase expansion at the Chinese tire maker: the first phase (2009 - 2014 ) will see 15 million annual capacity in passenger tires and 80 thousand aircraft tires; The second phase ( 2015 - 2018) will see another 18 million annual capacity.

Qingdao Sentury will reach 50 million annual capacity after the third phase (2019-2022), which includes a full range of summer and winter tires for PCR, UHP, SUV,CUV, LTR, VAN, A/T and M/T, as well as aircraft tires.

Cimcorp’s turnkey delivery features an automation system based on its Dream Factory technology to support green-tire handling from tire-building machines to curing presses. Buffer storage between the process phases and warehouse control software will increase the efficiency at the new plant, the supplier said.

The multi-million-euro order includes three independent automation lines each consisting of electric monorail systems (EMS). They are used for unloading tire-building machines and transferring green tires to the curing buffers; green tire buffers; spotting stations; and electric monorail systems (EMS) for press delivery.

The material flow will be controlled by Cimcorp warehouse control software, which integrates all robots, electric monorail systems, and pallet conveyors into a seamlessly working system.“Total control of the whole process means that more high-quality tires are produced,” said Kai Tuomisaari, Cimcorp vice president of sales and projects. “Smaller buffers and 100% availability of green tires at curing presses increase the yield dramatically.”Qingdao Sentury Tire started mass tire production in 2009 and has principally engaged in making passenger tires and aircraft tires. Its facilities cover an area of 9.6 million square feet with an annual capacity of 9 million tires in 2013.