Michelin voted Tire Manufacturer of the Year
Michelin has been voted Tire Manufacturer of the Year in the Tire Technology International Awards for Innovation and Excellence 2010. The awards took place at the Tire Technology Expo in Cologne and were voted for by a panel of 17 internationally-renowned industry experts.
The judges summarised Michelin’s achievements as follows:
‘It has been a busy 12 months for Michelin, with several exciting developments convincing the jury. 2009 saw the company upgrade its global research and development center in Clermont-Ferrand and continue to specialize a number of its industrial operations in France. The project reflects the Group’s commitment to strengthening France’s role as Michelin’s strategic hub and innovation center, and to enhancing the productivity of its manufacturing operations. As part of this commitment, the Group is investing more than €100 million in its Clermont-Ferrand research and development center. This upgrade program is designed to shorten time-to-market cycles for tires and services, and to enable the development of more innovative manufacturing processes. Moreover, to enhance the specialization of its production sites, Michelin is implementing plans to develop its Montceau plant into a high-performance facility for earthmover tires and one of the two largest rubber compound centers in Europe, with the deployment of a €50 million capital spending program. The facility’s current car tire operations will be consolidated with those of other Group plants in Western Europe. The company is also making its Tours plant a benchmark for high-tech truck tires in Europe, with the investment of an additional €15 million to continue upgrading plant installations. To make the facility more competitive, operations will be reorganized and specialized, leading to the closing of the rubber compound unit and the transfer of its production to its plants in Montceau and Cholet. Finally, Michelin is continuing to produce premium tires in France by transferring production at the Seclin facility to Les Gravanches plant near Clermont-Ferrand, and strengthening light truck and SUV tire manufacturing operations at the Cholet plant by integrating light truck tire production from one of the Group’s European plants.
Best of all, Michelin is carrying out this reorganization without any layoffs, implementing a voluntary separation plan open to all employees that mainly involves pre-retirement working arrangements. The plan will enable nearly 495 of the 1,093 employees impacted by the reorganization to take advantage of special early-retirement measures, and the other 598 to benefit from internal placement opportunities.’
