Bridgestone invests €24 million in new product line for trucks at Puente San Miguel plant

Bridgestone invests €24 million in new product line for trucks at Puente San Miguel plant

Bridgestone, the world’s number one tyre and rubber company,^[1] has chosen its Puente San Miguel plant in Spain to launch a new product line focused on 24 inch radial truck tyres.

This decision will give a significant boost to this company located in the north of Spain and will enable combined agricultural and truck tyre manufacturing at the same time.

Approximately 24 million euros will be invested in this project to buy new machines and invest in the infrastructure required to build a new production in order to upgrade overall plant efficiency. This investment includes implementation of high technology of tyre manufacturing including robots, auto-guided vehicles, high accuracy testing and production machinery, and has a clear environment impact in terms of energy efficiency improvement.

This investment supplements another 35 million euros earmarked under the 2018-2021 strategic plan devised for the Puente San Miguel plant. This amount is added to another one announced last year in Burgos of 70 million euros.

It has been estimated that production will start in 2019, although product development and qualification will take place in the second half of 2018.

As a consequence of this new production, it is expected that approximately 40 professionals will be hired temporarily for the initial years that it will take to launch and stabilise the project, a measure that will also improve employability levels in the area of the river Besaya. Candidate selection will begin in a few weeks.

According to the plant manager, Mr Kepa Hernández, “News of this kind does not only improve the expectations of the Bridgestone workforce, but also of many other local companies that are already working indirectly for Bridgestone and are involved in projects aimed at upgrading facilities and investing in actions like this”.

It has been estimated that daily production figures will climb to 500 tyres per day, that will be added to the current agricultural production, which with the implementation of technological improvements, will allow the plant to be run more efficiently and achieve a higher level of competitiveness in what is a very tough global market.

24" radial tyres for trucks feature a number of characteristics and a design enhancing traction and durability. This makes them highly suitable for markets where they have to be used both on and off-road and are perfectly adapted to transport routes in geographic areas of this kind.

[1] Based on 2016 tyre sales. Source: Tire Business 2017 - Global Tire Company Rankings

Media information: Liesbeth Denys, Head of PR and Corporate Communications, Bridgestone in EMEA: +32 478 78 26 22

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