Qingdao Sentury Tyre, a significant Chinese tire manufacturer, has commissioned Cimcorp to provide the turnkey delivery of a new material handling solution for PCR green tires. The system is due to become operational in steps in 2014-2015.
The automation system is based on Cimcorp’s Dream Factory solution and includes green tire handling from tire-building machines to curing presses. Cimcorp’s buffer storage between these process phases as well as the advanced warehouse control system will increase the efficiency of the green tire area of the new factory.
The multimillion euro order includes three independent automation lines each consisting of electric monorail systems (EMS) 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 WCS (Warehouse Control System), which integrates all robots, electric monorail systems, and pallet conveyors into a seamlessly working system.
Through this investment Sentury Tire wishes to increase productivity and improve product quality. According to Mr. Qin Cimcorp’s automation concept ensures a better yield and a higher utilization of the tire-building machines, “We are not able to gain the full benefit from our tire-building machines. Cimcorp’s automation makes it possible.”
Kai Tuomisaari, Vice President of Sales and Projects for Cimcorp, explains, “Total control of the whole process means that more high-quality tires are produced. Smaller buffers and 100% availability of green tires at curing presses increase the yield dramatically.”
Cimcorp Oy is a Finnish company specializing in material handling and intralogistics automation using robotics and advanced software technologies. Cimcorp Oy Group – which consists of Cimcorp Oy in Finland and RMT Robotics Ltd. in Canada – has become a leading supplier worldwide to the tire industry, and is also strong as a supplier to the food & retail and postal services sectors. The group has 280 employees and has delivered 2000 robotic systems across five continents.
Qingdao Sentury Tire Co. Ltd is a tire manufacturer which started mass production in 2009 and was principally engaged in passenger tires and aircraft tires. Sentury’s facilities cover an area of 9.6 million square feet with an annual capacity of 9 million tires in 2013. The whole project is designed into 3 phases: 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 ; 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 electric monorail system transfers green tires
