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NETHERLANDS
VMI Group – A World Class Player
VMI-AZ CTC-SB1 – the style of equipment most retreaders would associate VMI with
around the machine are optimal. The VAST machine; VMI All Steel Truck tyre building machine, is less automatic, but not less impressive. With that machine
a daily production of 450 radial all steel truck and bus tyres of high quality
is achievable. Dirk Reurslag, VP
sales and Projects says, “We work with a platform for
MAXX and a platform for VAST. With both platforms we can always offer the right level of automation and customisation, matching the circumstances and available budget of the customer in question. We believe that what we offer is the best available in the market and we are still continually refining and developing. More and more our focus is also on the logistics around the assembly machines and the supply of components to the assembly machine. With ever shorter building cycle times, that becomes decisive for undisturbed production. The right quality components, timely fed to the tyre assembly, are of crucial importance.”
Nonetheless, the development continues and VMI will have announcements this year at Reifen Essen that could have benefits not only for tyre manufacturers, but also tread manufacturers and retreaders. It concerns amongst others an advanced laboratory method for objectively measuring and testing the essential characteristics of different tread rubber compounds. However, final details on a couple of projects are being fine tuned before they are
announced to the trade.
Dirk was able to show some of the FLEXX Technology project VMI is working on. The system includes now VMI’s own gear pump extrusion technology and is meant to produce high quality car tyre steel belt. In the classical system, a calandering room is at the start of the tyre production process, containing heavy machinery. For good quality, also advanced cutter splicer systems are needed to make the calandered material suitable to be used as belt, with diagonally oriented steel cords. With the FLEXX belt maker, this is all combined in one compact machine. By combining the latest available technology in extrusion, handling, cutting and splicing, a high quality output is achieved. It is a process that will, when finalised, enable the establishment of tyre production, in alliance with other VMI equipment, to take place in a much smaller facility at a much lower capital expenditure, and with lower running costs.
VMI is a world class player and the plant at Epe, home of the original company buildings, now used for R&D, has expanded considerably over the years, with room for further expansion if and when it is required. The VMI Group can lay claim to being a leader in the field of tyre manufacturing machinery, it operates at the cutting edge of the industry using the latest manufacturing and production techniques to ensure that its equipment is always to the fore when a tyre manufacturer or retreader is looking to keep pace with the latest in technological advances. There is surely more to come from VMI in the future and we look forward to exciting revelations at Reifen Essen in May.
Without a doubt the VMI Group’s purchase of the extrusion division of AZ Formen put the company at the forefront of rubber extrusion, and certainly the C2C builder from VMI is arguably the most popular extruder in use throughout the global retread market. However the VMI Group is much more than a supplier of extruders. The company operates in four key areas and from its base at Epe in the Netherlands it has become one of the leading suppliers to equipment to the new tyre industry.
Of the four areas two are related to rubber: The tyre sector; with a range of tyre assembly machines, tyre component production equipment and tyre test machines and the technical rubber sector; with a range of extruders and mill room equipment. The other two are smaller niche areas completely outside the tyre and rubber but still related to machines.
The company operates in Europe, from the Netherlands and from Germany through its VMI Extrusion operation. It has a manufacturing plant in China, VMI Yantai Ltd and an assembly and manufacturing plant in Brazil, VMI South Americas Ltda.
This is Retreading Business, so we don’t often look at the new tyre sector, but in this introduction it is worth noting that as the key supplier VMI holds a key position in that market. It has developed an understanding of the precise nature of the technology required to build new tyres, and that includes a considerable level of extrusion knowledge making sure that the
right rubber is applied in the right places in the correct amounts, and in the correct quality.
At Epe the development of automated tyre builders can be seen taking place, removing the room for human error, increasing uniformity, ensuring consistency and reducing costs. The high-end equipment called MAXX Technology being built at the Epe factory takes all the elements of a traditional tyre building plant and by bringing them together with precision engineering and highly developed operations software. VMI is producing tyre production equipment that allow for production of high quality tyres in hands off –eyes off mode. In less than 36 second a fresh green passenger car tyre is produced. So such a fully automatic MAXX car tyre building machine can produce up to 2000 car tyres per day, if the logistics
The AZ RETRAX is a more compact machine, with an output of 120 tyres per 8-hour shift
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