AS THE TIRE TURNS

E u ro t i re E m p l o y e e N e w s l e t t e r
January / February, 2011
IN THIS ISSUE:
Select the Correct OTR Tire Design 2
Employee & Company News . . . . . 3
New Eurotire Radial Factory . . . . . . 4
How Things Are Made: Tires . . . . . 4
Safety Always: Hand Protection . . . 5
On the Back Page . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
As The Tire Turns: 2010 EDITIONS:
November/December Edition:
http://news.eurotire.net/201012/index.html
October Edition:
http://news.eurotire.net/201009
August/September Edition:
http://news.eurotire.net/201008
July Edition:
http://news.eurotire.net/201007
June Edition:
http://news.eurotire.net/201006
May Edition:
http://news.eurotire.net/201005
April Edition:
http://news.eurotire.net/201004
March Edition:
http://news.eurotire.net/201003
First Edition February:
http://news.eurotire.net/201002
1
2011:
OPPORTUNITIES AHEAD.
We have a common thread - we are
survey responses received from our
all “Eurotire”. That means something
employees; the right things are being
different to each of us; we are from
done to keep us all moving together and
different parts of the world, generally
in the right direction.
doing different jobs (or similar jobs in
different ways), and we all have different
Of particular interest is the fact that
expectations for our professional lives.
many employees took the survey as
We are a widespread and diverse group.
an opportunity to expand on their ideas
Our unifying banner is Eurotire. One of the
and make suggestions on how our
many challenges facing our management
workplaces can become better. We thank
team is knowing how to understand and
each and every one of you who took the
consistently administer such a diverse
time to do that. For those that chose not
and widespread employee base. It’s
to participate in the survey, we would
not an easy challenge, but is one worth
highly suggest that you make your voice
pursuing. The success of Eurotire relies
heard by participating in the next survey
to the greatest extent on all of us – the
opportunity. Your input is important to
employees.
everyone’s
success.
Future
surveys
will reach wider groups and will target
Many of us recently took an online survey.
specific aspects.
That survey was a direct attempt by our
management team to better understand
The year ahead is full of opportunity for
where we are with employee satisfaction
Eurotire; market demand is growing
- what we need to continue and what
and our message of good quality tires
needs to be changed. The good news is
supported by professional service is
that the survey essentially confirmed that
gaining momentum. Commodity markets
we think Eurotire is a pretty good place
are running high – copper was trading at all
to work. There’s no doubt that there are
time record levels not long ago. Demand
some things that need to be worked on,
for haul trucks (rigid an articulated) and
but over-all we are in good shape and
wheel loaders is growing and rumors
doing the right things which will continue
of tire shortages are
to move Eurotire to being an even better
again. Eurotire is well positioned to take
company for us to work for. This is not
advantage of the opportunities on the
simply a management claim, it confirmed
horizon and we – the Eurotire team – can
according to the substantial number of
make it a successful 2011!
circulating once
AS THE TIRE TURNS
SELECT THE CORRECT
OTR TIRE DESIGN.
Re: Editorial submitted to International Mining
magazine for inclusion in March edition article.
The OTR tire market is biased to the radial
tire design. Without a doubt the radial
design is a safe, value adding design and
extremely cost effective when used in the
correct applications. The same can be said
for the bias ply tire design. Just as one size
does not fit all, one tire design does not fit
every application. Selecting the wrong tire
design for an application can be costly for a
mining operation. Here’s why.
Bias design OTR tires have been available
to the mining industry for many years. In
fact, OTR bias design tires are the original
work horses of the industry and they
continue to be widely used today. In many
mining applications the bias ply design will
provide a lower cost solution and a better
value when compared to Radial tires in the
same application.
Simply put, the radial ply OTR tire is a more
expensive tire than the bias ply design of
the same size. Certain advantages provided
by the radial design, such as greater heat
dissipation and heightened steering control
are of benefit only when haul roads are
long and winding. If mine site conditions
do not require a radial design, a user may
be paying a higher price than necessary
2
for a radial product that is not needed for
the application. A bias ply tire may be just
as effective and will cost Field Engineers
are trained to perform a detailed mine site
evaluation to determine, not which radial
size to purchase, but which tire design
will provide the greatest and most cost
effective benefit to the customer.
Eurotire’s OTR bias and radial tire
products represent robust, state of the art
technology. We have taken the additional
step of combining this technology with
our unique service and support approach.
Known as EuroCARE, this service approach
allows OTR tire users to enjoy the added
value of service and support direct from the
manufacturer regardless of the tire design,
bias or radial, without the need to pay a
premium to third party service providers.
Select the correct tire for the application:
save money, improve efficiency and
reduce tire related down time.
The Bias Ply Advantage
• Bias ply tires are the solution to
minimizing tire costs in short haul
operations.
• Bias ply tires are a reliable solution for
providing greater stability for wheel
loaders.
• Bias ply tires are a cost effective,
reliable solution for tires on auxiliary
mine equipment such as water trucks
and heavy maintenance trucks.
• Bias
ply
tires
provide
lower
replacement
cost
solution
in
applications where there are high
accidental tire damage rates.
The Radial Ply Advantage
• Radial ply tires provide excellent
traction characteristics.
• The radial design affords a flat
footprint resulting in greater flotation
characteristics in soft floor conditions
• Radial design reduces detrimental heat
build-up in long haul applications.
• Radial design provides heightened
steering control in higher speed and
winding haul road applications.
Eurotire OTR tires are capable of providing
a cost effective solution for all haul trucks
and wheel loaders used in modern surface
mining applications. Furthermore, Eurotire
is committed to assisting the customer in
selecting the products and services which
are the most cost effective, value adding
solutions for the customer’s application.
A Case in Point:
In operating conditions with high accidental
damage rates, the cost of using premium
radials increases significantly. Eurotire bias
tires will provide a better operating cost to
performance balance in these applications
due to their lower repair and replacement
costs. There are two key factors to
attaining full value from OTR tires: the
first is in correctly matching the tire to the
application; the second is ensuring that the
tires are properly maintained.
Eurotire’s field service professionals are
dedicated to specifying and supporting
the best OTR tire value proposition for
our customers, just as Eurotire is
Dedicated to Mining.
AS THE TIRE TURNS
EUROTIRE OPENS NEW
OFFICE IN KAZAKHSTAN.
SUCCESS CONTINUES!
EUROTIRE, Inc., New York, NY USA
Jessie Mi, China Office - Eurotire Asia
customers throughout Kazakhstan. Product
warehousing
Second batch of Eurotire 33.00-51 U-11
PR58 E4 tires delivered to China iron ore
mine site on Dec. 31, 2010.
and
expanded
service
facilities and capabilities are planned to be
implemented in the region in the near future
as well. Eurotire’s OTR tire professionals
at the Karaganda office will provide full
Field staff Kang Lin & Liu Wei (China team)
celebrated the New Year of 2011 on the
mine site by coordinating the safe delivery
of 80 pieces’ 33.00-51 U-11 PR58 E4 tires
to the iron ore mine site in China on Dec.
31, 2010. They were keeping working on
the mine site on Jan 01, 2011, the New
Year holiday.
Eurotire Kazakhstan Karaganda Offices in the Trading
Center “Asia”.
sales and EuroCARETM support services
Eurotire announces the opening of its
For additional information and to obtain
new location in Karaganda, Kazakhstan.
EuroCARETM
Karaganda (Qaraghandy) is located in
Kazakhstan customers can telephone +7
Kazakhstan’s
region,
721291-05-60, email [email protected] or
an area rich in both coal and hard rock
contact us through our Russian language
mining. Eurotire’s focus is on providing
website www.eurotire.kz.
northeast
mining
for coal and hard rock mining customers.
support
and
service
in
the world’s emerging mining markets with
exceptional OTR bias and radial tires and
world class OTR tire service and support.
The Karaganda mining region of Kazakhstan
typifies those emerging mining markets
which are generally under served by larger
- automotive industry focused - OTR tire
manufacturers. Eurotire is dedicated to
mining customers where ever in the world
they may be and whichever product design
Flag of Kazakhstan:
(bias or radial) that a customer selects for
their specific application.
Blue is of religious significance to the Turkic
peoples, symbolizing cultural & ethnic
unity, water and endless sky; the sun is
life, energy, plenty and wealth; and (the
This is the second order from this client
within year 2010. Client ordered their first
batch of 56 pieces’ Eurotire 33.00-51 U-11
PR58 E4 tires in Sep. and fitted on their
Belaz Haul trucks. Eurotire have run on the
mine site for a few months already, client
is very satisfied with Eurotire product,
especially Eurocare technical service
offered by Eurotire China team.
sun’s rays) is abundance and prosperity;
the eagle is freedom, power and the flight
to the future.
Eurotire Kazakhstan initiated in-country
customer
located
support
temporarily
in
2010
in
and
was
Almaty.
This
new office in Karaganda represents a
permanent commitment to our mining
AS THE TIRE TURNS
3
Eurotire continues field performance evaluations on a wide range of radial tire sizes
at multiple customer mine sites around the
world. In addition, discussions are in process
with mining companies who want to secure
future production of Eurotire’s radial tires as
well as Eurotire’s OTR bias tires. Eurotire
is committed to supporting its dedicated
customers in having a consistent supply of
high quality radial and bias tire products in
the months and years to come.
Eurotire’s 1,000,000ft2, world class OTR radial tire development and manufacturing
EUROTIRE ACHIEVES
MAJOR RADIAL FACTORY
MILESTONE.
EUROTIRE, Inc., New York, NY, USA
In 2007 Eurotire announced its plan to build
a new OTR radial tire manufacturing facility in Drobeta-Turnu Severin, Romania. This
location was strategically selected as being
a shipping and transportation hub (for the
efficient delivery of large OTR radial tires
to customers throughout the world) and
its having a ready and highly qualified employee base.
The plan was aggressive - build a state of
the art radial tire manufacturing facility with
on-site laboratory, testing and product development capabilities and have it ready to begin producing radial tires by 2010. Not only
was that plan aggressive, many thought that
it couldn’t be done. Eurotire confirmed that
the plan had gone forward and was in process when a prototype Eurotire radial tire
was displayed at the 2008 MINExpo. Since
that time information regarding the new facility and the products to be created there
was kept secure for competitive reasons.
Eurotire can now confirm that the newest
OTR radial tire manufacturing plant in the
world is fully completed and that limited
production of OTR radial tires was initiated
at that facility in 2010. Field testing and
We (Eurotire employees) are a mix
of people with diverse professional
backgrounds. Not all of us are from the
tire industry. For those that are new to
the tire industry and for those who may
not know the history or details of our
products here’s a brief introduction.
proving of the new radial tire products produced at that plant was started in earnest
at that time as well. Furthermore, additional
sizes, material compounds, and tire designs
have continued to be developed and tested
at that facility. Production levels of certain
tire sizes have already been increased.
The attainment of this goal gains greater
significance from the fact that the output
The basics: A tire is a strong, flexible rubber casing attached to the rim
of a wheel. Tires provide a gripping
surface for traction and serve as a cushion
for the wheels of a moving vehicle. Tires
are found on automobiles, trucks, buses,
aircraft landing gear, tractors and other farm
equipment, industrial vehicles such as forklifts (and loaders), and common conveyances such as baby carriages, shopping carts,
wheel chairs, bicycles, and motorcycles.
capabilities originally planned for the completed facility were expanded while construction was still in process. This will allow
the facility to provide higher manufacturing
volumes when running at full production.
With over US$300m invested and nearly
Tires for most vehicles are pneumatic; air
is held under pressure inside the tire. Until
recently, pneumatic tires had an inner tube
to hold the air pressure, but now pneumatic
tires are designed to form a pressure seal
with the rim of the wheel.
1,000,000ft2 of high-tech manufacturing
and product development space, Eurotire
has created a true world class radial tire
manufacturing facility; a facility that includes one of the most modern laboratories and dynamic tire testing facilities in all
of Europe.
4
HOW THINGS ARE MADE:
TIRES.
The history: Scottish inventor Robert
Thomson developed the pneumatic tire
with an inner tube in 1845, but his design
was ahead of its time and attracted little interest. The pneumatic tire was reinvented
in the 1880s by another Scotsman, John
Boyd Dunlop, and became immediately
popular with bicyclists.
AS THE TIRE TURNS
Natural rubber is the main raw material used
in manufacturing tires, although synthetic
rubber is also used. In order to develop
the proper characteristics of strength, resiliency, and wear-resistance, however, the
rubber must be treated with a variety of
chemicals and then heated. American inventor Charles Goodyear discovered the
process of strengthening rubber, known as
vulcanization or curing, by accident in 1839.
He had been experimenting with rubber
since 1830 but had been unable to develop
a suitable curing process. During an experiment with a mixture of India rubber and sulfur, Goodyear dropped the mixture on a hot
stove. A chemical reaction took place and,
instead of melting, the rubber-sulfur mixture formed a hard lump. He continued his
experiments until he could treat continuous
sheets of rubber.
Today, large, efficient factories staffed with
skilled workers produce more than 250 million new tires a year. Although automation
guides many of the steps in the manufacturing process, skilled workers are still required
to assemble the components of a tire.
To read more: How a tire is made - material, history, used, processing, parts, components, composition, steps, product, industry, machine, Raw Materials, Design, The
Manufacturing Process of tire http://www.
madehow.com/Volume-1/Tire.html
This material was excerpted with the permission
of www.madehow.com a wholly owned business of Advameg, Inc.
SAFETY ALWAYS.
Proper Workplace Hand
Protection Required.
One could argue that a mechanic’s, machinist’s, and technician’s most valuable tools
are his or her hands. Without them, turn-
AS THE TIRE TURNS
ing wrenches, squeezing air gun triggers
or smoothing a tire repair are almost impossible. As important as they are, hands
don’t always receive the proper care and
protection they deserve. According to the
USA Bureau of Labor Statistics data, about
250,000 serious hand, finger and wrist injuries in private industry occur every year in
the USA alone.
Determining the needs for hand safety is
made easier by involving employees in a
hazard assessment of the tasks performed
in the workplace. The hazard list may include cuts, lacerations, punctures, abrasions or broken bones; or chemical exposure that can cause burns, skin irritation
or absorption of hazardous substances.
Thermal injuries can be caused by contact
with hot objects or working in freezing conditions. Also consider how often and how
long the hands are used in specific tasks,
how much manual dexterity is needed for
each task and the risk of exposure to each
hand hazard.
Equipped with this information, a determination can be made on what type of hand
protection is most suitable. The choices
range from skin barrier creams to various
types of rubber, leather or high-performance fiber gloves.
Skin barrier creams are applied to clean skin
surfaces to form a fast-drying, non-greasy,
non-toxic shield that can protect against
irritants such as grease, oil, coolants, degreasers, acids, bases, adhesives and sealants – even powdered metals and graphite
in some instances. The barrier still allows
the skin to breathe and perspire normally,
yet remains on the skin despite repeated
washings and only needs reapplication every four or five hours.
Gloves can offer a broader range of protection from chemicals, extreme temperatures, abrasions, cuts and repetitive motion
stress and shock. Cotton gloves can keep
hands clean, improve grip, insulate from
mild heat or cold, and provide some protec-
tion from cuts and scrapes. Leather gloves
offer increased protection against rough
surfaces, sharp edges, objects that can cut
or puncture skin, and sparks and heat that
can cause burns; however, this comes at
the cost of reduced dexterity and tactile
sensitivity.
Rubber gloves can protect hands from
chemicals and moisture, and can provide
insulation when working with electricity.
However, natural rubber latex gloves are
not resistant to organic and petroleumbased chemicals. Nitrile gloves offer some
protection from petroleum-based aliphatic
hydrocarbons and fuels. Other chemicalresistant glove materials include neoprene,
butyl rubber and polyvinyl chloride.
Disposable gloves offer the user protection
without much loss of dexterity. Smooth
finishes provide flexibility while rough or
ribbed finishes provide better grip. Work
gloves can feature various fabrics, such
as Spandex for the back of the hand and
neoprene in the knuckle padding for flexibility, PVC for enhanced grip and synthetic
leather for palm protection. Gel pads in the
palms can cushion impacts, and various
man-made fibers (such as Kevlar and Spectra) provide high strength, thermal stability,
abrasion resistance and a cool feel on the
hands.
Reprinted with the permission of Tire Review www.tirereview.com
5
On the back page...
A FRIENDLY REMINDER.
NEW EMPLOYEES.
To all employees:
Bill Rayman
Engineering, Romania
RECOGNITION
OF LEADERSHIP.
Patents are an important part of maintaining
control of our unique tire designs and
Alex Gan has joined Eurotire as Corporate
protecting them from infringement by our
Controller based in New York. Alex’s
competition. We also gain recognition for
responsibilities
being a leading designer and manufacturer
include;
accurate
and
detailed accounting reporting, back office
operation
infrastructure
implementation
development
of
of
of OTR tires.
development,
internal
controls,
administration
There have been several recent cases of the
company email system being used to distribute non-business related information and
materials. Please note, it is against corporate
policy for anyone to distribute inappropriate,
non-business related messaging, whether
to individuals or to a large group, using the
company email system. In addition, distribution of company business related information
by mass email is limited to those employees
who have been authorized to do so by senior
management. No further distribution of emails
containing non-business related content
should be made. If you have questions please
contact your supervisor.
This US patent was granted to Bill Rayman,
and
Engineering – Romania, and assigned to
accounting methods and practices, and
Eurotire for our unique radial tire tread
new global implementation of ERP system
pattern. We have other design patent
with SAP B1.
applications in process. (Bill Rayman is a
tire designer with 20 years of mold making
and 20 years of tire engineering experience.
He is a specialist in OTR machine vibration
and bounce resolution.)
HAPPY BIRTHDAY!
Send your birth dates to: newsletter@
eurotire.net
Catre toti angajatii,
Au existat cateva cazuri recente in care sistemul de email al companiei a fost folosit pentru
a distribui informatii sau materiale neavand
legatura cu domeniul in care ne desfasuram
activitatea. Va rog sa luati la cunostinta, ca
aceste actiuni sunt impotriva politicii companiei indiferent daca acestea sunt trimise
catre o singura persoana sau catre un grup
de persoane. De asemenea, distribuirea informatiilor legate de companie prin mass e-mailuri este limitata doar la acele persoane care
au fost in prealabil autorizate de un manager
sa o faca. Daca aveti intrebari va rugam contactati-va superiorul ierarhic.
Steven Winterburn has joined Eurotire
as the Technical Services Manager based
Thank you for your attention,
Mikhail Schulman
January 1
industry for 18 years primarily in Ghana,
Mike Bloor
January 2
as well as in Tanzania and Guinea. His
Pravin Modh
January 4
in Ghana. Steve has worked in the tire
experience includes project management
and technical roles such as:
tire safety
Avrohom Spadone
Dennis Monskiy
March 4
training, fleet and site surveys, V-Box
Zalman Lipsker
March 8
and
improvement
strategies
among many others. Welcome Steve!
Victor Le
Vice President,
Marketing & Corporate Communications
February 15
methods and work procedures, tire fitter
surveys
Kent B. Henschen
March 29
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