The unprecedented lockdown imposed in March last year turned the supply chain of companies upside down, and the tyre companies were no exception. However, the intensity of disturbance was relatively high for Yokohama Off-Highway Tires (YOHT), which exports more than 90 percent of its production. According to Padmakumar G, Executive Vice President – SCM at YOHT, unprecedented lockdown led to unprecedented initiatives for YOHT. “Most importantly, we learned the importance of being able to react, adapt and set up crisis management mechanisms to weather situations of uncertainty,” says Padmakumar G.

Q) Was Yokohama Off-Highway Tires (YOHT) ready for the unprecedented lockdown?

Padmakumar G: The whole of 2020 was an extraordinary time when ‘business as usual’ was not an option. From the beginning of the year, it was clear that we were braced for a marathon and not a sprint.

At work, we had a unique period of simultaneous supply and demand shocks. Our plants in India were closed for a couple of weeks. As they (plants) were finally allowed to operate, we faced government-mandated operating restrictions and labour shortages that prevented us from running the plants at total capacity.

On the positive side, our plant in Israel was running at full capacity and continued shipments as planned. All sales and administrative employees at global locations were working from home and were doing their best to be accessible at all times. In North America, our network of national warehouses was open, stocked at historically high inventory levels and operating at full local, regional, and national distribution capacity to ensure continued deliveries to locations.

Our competitive position, market share, brand and diversification of our businesses in products and regions helped us see some all-time highs during these challenging times.

Q) Vendors and customers got panicked because of the uncertainties instilled by the lockdowns. How did you keep their morale and confidence intact in those tough times?

Padmakumar G: Unprecedented lockdown led to unprecedented initiatives for YOHT. The acute restrictions and lockdowns created many urgent situations that required immediate attention in the early days of the pandemic. At YOHT, we believe that no crisis should go to waste.

Adaptability, inventiveness and tenacity of our team paved the way to a ‘recovery mode’, and we started planning for the longer-term proactively. We did not face substantial business and operational disruptions – from mitigating the effects of reduced supply to managing disruptions to logistics suppliers and hurdles in meeting their contractual obligations to customers.

YOHT has an agile team that quickly reprioritised the customers’ requirement and ensured critical supply continuation through our multiple sourcing locations. We closely integrated with suppliers, vendors and customers to have better visibility. Consistent communication and streamlining the complexity helped us keep our commitments while keeping the morale and confidence in the most challenging times.

Q) YOHT is mainly into export of products and imports of raw materials? How did you cope up with the supply-demand situation?

Padmakumar G: Prioritisation of critical supply with effective utilisation of available inventories of finished goods, raw materials, and production capacities were the immediate focus in the lockdown situation. What also helped is that we have a wide base of sourcing raw material from multiple sources. We were able to keep our facility running at full efficiency to meet market requirement. We stepped up all measures to ensure that our customers get our products in the earliest shipments.

Q) ATG is now a part of Yokohama, a global giant in the tyre industry. What changes has Yokohama brought in the supply chain?

Padmakumar G: Yokohama has a strong legacy of quality, and its manufacturing and supply chain is very process-driven. The Kaizen processes and digitalisation of our daily supply chain activities helped us improve our process and culture. 

Q) What did you learn from the pandemic?

Padmakumar G: The importance of supply chain resilience and risk management is more apparent than ever. Most importantly, we learned the importance of being able to react, adapt and set up crisis management mechanisms to weather situations of uncertainty. 

Q) There has always been pressure to reduce cost and improve efficiency by shortening the order-to-delivery period. Could you share a couple of examples highlighting the company’s efforts that reduced the cost and enhanced supply chain efficiency?

 Padmakumar G: To shorten the order to delivery, YOHT has initiated Strategic Inventory build-up through S&CP (Sales & Capacity Planning) and effective cost management through strategic buying of raw materials. We have also increased the manufacturing flexibility to reduce delivery in our business of handling 3500+SKU’s.

Q) What new ideas will the company implement at the Visakhapatnam plant to have better supply chain management?

Padmakumar G: Investment in technology that will gain data insights like MES & digitalisation, improving transparency and considerations on sustainability in the supply chain will be key focus areas of our SCM processes in the Visakhapatnam plant. 

Q) What are the current challenges in the business?

Padmakumar G: Current situation of increased raw material cost, an aggressive demand for containers and increased shipping cost are some of the major challenges in SCM across industries. 

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Hankook Tire has secured a notable second-place finish in the Auto Bild winter tyre test published in issue 44 dated 29th October 2026, with its Winter i*cept RS 3 earning an overall score of 1.4 and an ‘Exemplary’ rating in the widely used 205/55 R 16 size. The strong showing placed the premium manufacturer's offering second among the 14 winter tyres evaluated.

The German motoring publication conducted its assessment using a Volkswagen Golf as the test vehicle, examining each contender's braking, handling and safety performance across snow, wet and dry surfaces. Rolling resistance and drive-by noise formed part of the broader evaluation programme as well.

The Winter i*cept RS 3 proved especially formidable in aquaplaning disciplines, recording the field's best lateral acceleration in curves and the second-highest aquaplaning onset speed, prompting testers to describe it as an aquaplaning specialist while also noting its fair price. It ranked among the top three for snow traction and snow slalom, and stopped from 50 kmph on snow in 24.1 metres, with wet braking from 100 kmph measured at 47.4 metres, underscoring balanced everyday winter capabilities.

The tyre's design incorporates a generous shoulder zone for improved traction and lateral guidance during snow-covered cornering, while an inverse V-shaped tread and special 3D sipes deliver short snow braking distances. High tread rigidity bolsters safety on icy roads, and fine tread grooves on the blocks facilitate rapid water evacuation to reduce aquaplaning risk.

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The German Rubber Industry Association (wdk) has urged policymakers in Berlin and Brussels to give the rubber sector a more prominent role in industrial, security and raw materials strategy. Speaking at the association's autumn conference in Frankfurt am Main before roughly 200 company representatives, wdk President Michael Klein argued that rubber serves not only mobility but also security and defence.

Elastomer products such as seals, hoses, membranes and vibration dampers are essential to the operation of modern industrial plants as well as military vehicles, aircraft and logistics infrastructure. Though frequently overlooked, their failure can cripple entire technical systems. Klein therefore called for the rubber industry to be included in security and defence planning at an early stage, particularly regarding the safeguarding of production capacity, raw material supplies and technological know-how. He described industrial resilience as an integral part of national resilience, warning that capabilities not maintained in peacetime cannot be restored quickly during a crisis.

The wdk identifies raw material supply as a pressing concern, contending that Germany and Europe need an independent rubber raw materials strategy covering both civilian and military crisis preparedness. Such a strategy would entail long-term, diversified supplier relationships, strategic reserves of critical raw materials and intermediate goods and the preservation of European processing and blending capacity.

Klein also renewed calls for a sustained improvement in industrial location conditions, citing competitive energy prices, faster permitting, meaningful reductions in bureaucracy and dependable investment frameworks as prerequisites for retaining industrial value creation in Germany. He stressed that economic growth stems from trust rather than regulation.

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The Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company closes its FIA World Endurance Championship campaign this weekend as the 6 Hours of Monza returns, marking the final race for the current Goodyear Racing Eagle LMGT3 tyre specification. Although the Milan-area circuit has appeared on the WEC calendar before, this is its debut in the LMGT3 era, and the November scheduling should deliver markedly cooler conditions than the series encountered during its July 2023 visit to the circuit known as ‘The Temple of Speed’.

Designed for swift warmup, the Goodyear Racing Eagle Medium compound should give professional and amateur drivers alike the assurance to push hard immediately upon leaving the pit lane despite lower temperatures. The layout's long straights and tight chicanes echo Le Mans, and Goodyear engineers have leaned on prior experience at Spa-Francorchamps and Silverstone to ready for the colder weather. Every LMGT3 team will have a designated Goodyear track support engineer on hand to advise on setup and race strategy across the weekend.

Single-stint tyre strategies are expected to be popular, mirroring last month's 6 Hours of Barcelona. If rain falls, the wide transition window of both the slick and wet tyres could open up intriguing strategic options on a drying surface. Beyond closing the third LMGT3 season in WEC, the weekend marks the last appearance of the current Racing Eagle slick and wet tyres; from next season, LMGT3 cars in WEC and the European Le Mans Series will race on new-specification tyres containing 66 percent sustainable material.

Across the Atlantic, Goodyear Racing Eagles will also be in action this weekend in the NASCAR Championship Races at Homestead-Miami Speedway. In addition, the NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Series wraps up next weekend at Pomona Dragstrip.

Stephen Bickley, Goodyear Endurance Program Manager, said, “Monza presents an interesting challenge to round out a competitive WEC season, particularly with the cooler conditions we expect at this time of year. Getting tyres up to temperature quickly will be important, but the fast warmup characteristics of our Goodyear Racing Eagle Medium should give drivers the confidence they need from the start of each stint. This weekend is a significant milestone for Goodyear as we conclude three seasons with our current LMGT3 tyre specification. After last month’s 6 Hours of Barcelona, teams have started testing our new tyres, which we’re looking forward to seeing in racing action next year.”

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Kuraray America, Inc. is commemorating 10 years of production at its Bayport facility, a milestone shaped by a workforce assembled from widely differing backgrounds. Since operations commenced in 2016, the site has drawn staff from the oil and gas sector, from other Kuraray America locations and from Kuraray Group operations in Singapore and Japan as expatriates. That blend of experience and perspective formed the groundwork on which the site was built.

Across its first decade, Bayport has delivered enduring value to the company and its customers, powered by employees who gave their time, passed on expertise, assisted colleagues and helped steer the site towards success. The occasion gains further meaning from its proximity to the Kuraray Group's 100th anniversary in June 2026.

Kuraray America thanked the employees and customers whose backing sustained Bayport through its opening decade and will remain crucial going forward. Jacqueline Unzueta received special mention for leading the anniversary event's coordination, while Hans Vandommele, Charles Neal, Nelson Rodriguez, Takehiro Kanno and Frank Taylor were also recognised in connection with the celebration. The company affirmed its commitment to carrying forward the teamwork, expertise and shared purpose that have characterised Bayport's first 10 years.

Reflecting on the site's growth and his own professional journey, Raymond Myska, Plant Manager at Kuraray America's Bayport site, said, "My own journey at Bayport began in 2017. I joined as Maintenance Manager, and in 2025, I had the privilege of stepping into the role of Plant Manager. Although I wasn't here when the doors first opened, I've had the opportunity to grow alongside this team, witness how far we've come and contribute to the success stories we're celebrating today."

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