Bridgestone Invests in Its OTR Kitakyushu Plant

Bridgestone Corporation (Bridgestone) today announced that it will invest ¥25 billion to upgrade equipment for certain facilities at the Kitakyushu Plant, which produces tires for mining and construction vehicles. This upgrade will be completed by the end of 2027. This strategic investment is a part of Bridgestone’s Mid Term Business Plan (2024-2026) to focus on delivering value over volume as it strengthens its off-the-road (OTR) tire business, which drives the Company’s premium tire business.

The Kitakyushu Plant is the strategic global production base for OTR tires, including Bridgestone’s Dan-Totsu products*1 – “Bridgestone MASTERCORE,” and supplies to customers globally. This strategic investment will not only ensure a high quality and stable supply, but also further elevate the level of safety, disaster prevention, eco-friendliness, quality, and productivity. Furthermore, the investment will enhance production technology for the future generation of Dan-Totsu products. Through this investment, Bridgestone is committed to contributing to the local community and supporting the realization of a sustainable society with safety and peace of mind. As the investment focuses on upgrading existing equipment, the production volume will remain at current level. …

… With Bridgestone MASTERCORE at the core, Bridgestone is expanding its mining solutions to maximize productivity and economic value in mining operations. This is achieved by fusing strong physical capabilities with digital technologies. Bridgestone’s physical capabilities include field engineering services at mining sites (Genbutsu-Genba) for tire maintenance and optimal use, supported by a global service solution network of approximately 130 sites. By fusing these strong physical capabilities and the digital capabilities, such as AI-driven tire and vehicle data analytics, Bridgestone aims to evolve and expand its mining solutions. The solutions are further enhanced by vehicle operation data shared from customers based on trusts.

In July 2023, Bridgestone started to offer a new mining solutions service that optimize tire maintenance timing and vehicle operation routes with tire durability prediction model by leveraging AI to build its unique algorithms. This service was firstly introduced to the Spence copper mine (Pampa Norte operation) in Chile, operated by BHP Group Limited & Plc. Bridgestone amplifies the value of its Dan-Totsu products at the stage where customers use tires to solve their problems. The company contribute to sustainability by improving resource productivity since using tires safer, longer, better and more efficiently reduces the number of tires used.

Through the development of Bridgestone MASTERCORE and enhancement of mining solutions, Bridgestone strives to achieve the corporate commitments of « Efficiency: Committed to maximizing productivity through the advancement of mobility » and « Ecology: Committed to advancing sustainable tire technologies and solutions that preserve the environment for future generations » described in the « Bridgestone E8 Commitment. »

Source: Bridgestone