Apollo Vredestein Consulting is exhibiting at Tire Technology Expo this year to showcase its popular tire technology training courses for suppliers, which are run six times a year and updated annually with the latest developments. “We are very open with our course participants,” said project manager, Richard Engberson. “About 50% is learning theory from our experts in the classroom on topics like compounding or extrusion, and 50% is spent seeing the process – it’s a unique view ‘inside the kitchen’.”
Meanwhile, new curing presses and TBMs have raised the annual capacity at Apollo Vredestein’s Enschede factory in recent years from 5m to about 6.3m currently, with a further increase to around 7m on the way. That figure will be almost doubled by Apollo’s new Hungarian factory, due to start production in early 2017, which will have an output of around 6m PCR tires. The increase will pave the way for the company’s first OE fitments in Europe, which are due just under two years from now. An ‘OE readiness’ process is already under way at the company to ensure that the vehicle manufacturers’ requirements will be met. It’s thought that the first OE deliveries will come from Enschede, with production then moving to the new facility in Gyöngyöshalász, Hungary.
Tire Technology Expo runs until Thursday, 18 February in Halls 19 & 20 at the Deutsche Messe, Hannover, Germany. For more information or to register for a free exhibition pass, go to www.tiretechnology-expo.com.
17 February 2016
