Inspection, testing and palletizing

Flexible buffering and sorting of finished tires in the testing area streamlines the operation enabling continuous curing press unloading and 100% tire availability at the testing machines.

In the finishing process, Cimcorp Dream Factory receives finished tires from the curing presses, buffers and sorts them for testing and palletization in required load formats. The system allows continuous curing press unloading, and changes in the production mix, while maintaining total control of material flow.

Controlled tire flow

From the curing presses, cured tires are conveyed to the trimming and visual inspection stations, and then to the robotic handling area. Robots pick the tires, sort and stack them, according to type, on the floor. When batches are ready for testing, the robots transfer them to the tire-testing process.

Automatic, versatile storage

Fully automated pallet and cage loading is an integral part of Cimcorp’s Dream Factory. A gantry robot sorts finished tires arriving from the testing area into stacks on the floor. Tires are identified and stacked according to type and grade. When there are sufficient tires of one type for a pallet load, the robot loads them onto a pallet or into a cage. Cimcorp also offers systems for automatic palletization of finished tires, whether they are loaded horizontally, vertically or in a rick-rack (also called diagonal or fish-bone) pattern on pallets or in cages.

Dynamic use of space

The space on the floor under the gantry robots is always optimized to suit current production. There are no inherent restrictions, such as fixed conveyor lines for each SKU or racking for storage. The robots can pick tires individually or in stacks and store them directly on the floor. When the production schedule or product mix changes, the floor space can dynamically change with them to accommodate different sizes and types of tires.

Total control throughout the facility

Our WCS manages the material flow and storage, maintaining product tracking and FIFO inventory protocol throughout. Tire testing results are attached to each individual tire code. Based on the results, tires are categorized into specific quality groups, directed to further processes or rejected by the system. The WCS also controls the palletizing process, again maintaining product tracking throughout. Optimizing pallet and cage loading results in better utilization of storage space.

100% tire traceability

Cimcorp’s WCS ensures tire data is tracked throughout the system, and that FIFO and real-time inventory storage are controlled. If a uniformity machine recognizes quality defects in cured tires, the reasons can easily be identified and tracked through the WCS.

Improved efficiency

100% tire availability at the testing machines enhances efficiency. Carefully stacking and storing pallets and cages results in better utilization of storage space and allows more of the plant’s footprint to be used for production.

Flexibility and FIFO control

You can add, remove or modify the number of SKUs at any time and the system automatically adjusts. With WCS in control of handling operations tires are handled in strict FIFO order.