Continental's Hannover-Stöcken plant is pioneering a new era in sustainable manufacturing by seamlessly integrating advanced robotics into its core operations. Since their deployment in March 2025, a team of seven autonomous mobile robots (AMRs) has become the central nervous system for material transport, fundamentally reshaping the workflow for retreading truck and bus tyres.

This shift to automation has profoundly changed the human role on the production floor. Employees, once tasked with the physically strenuous job of manually moving heavy tyres using cranes and trolleys, are now focused on more cognitively demanding responsibilities. Their expertise is directed towards machine setup, process oversight and meticulous quality control, making their work more ergonomic and skilled.

The AMRs operate with sophisticated independence, navigating the production hall using a fusion of sensors, 360-degree cameras and AI-driven software. They efficiently ferry ‘green’ tyres between critical stages: from the building machine, where fresh rubber is applied, to the curing presses for vulcanisation and finally towards inspection. This automated coordination is digitally linked to the plant's order system, allowing for dynamic routing to optimise workflow and manage capacity.

This initiative is a cornerstone of Continental's global strategy to modernize tyre production through digitalisation and smart automation. The success in Hannover has already inspired the rollout of similar robotic solutions across the company's international network, from North America to Asia. The move aligns perfectly with the plant's sustainable mission, which is the ContiLifeCycle process itself. This process breathes new life into used tyre casings by carefully inspecting them, applying new tread rubber and vulcanising them to create a product that performs like new. The environmental benefit is substantial, as up to 70 percent of the original tyre's material is reused, significantly conserving resources.

The human element was crucial to the project's success. Continental ensured widespread employee acceptance through comprehensive training and even involved the workforce in christening the robots with creative names. This thoughtful approach has cemented the AMRs not as mere machines but as valued teammates in a shared mission to make tyre production more efficient, sustainable and future-ready.

Felix Hantelmann, head of the ContiLifeCycle plant, said, “Self-driving robots have been supporting our production workflow for six months now. They handle simple, repetitive transport tasks such as moving a tyre from one point to another. The robots are directly connected to our digital order system, so they know exactly where to go and how to coordinate with each other to get there. They are a valuable addition to our daily operations and help create a safe, efficient and ergonomically optimised production environment.”

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Yokohama Rubber has established a new research and development centre in Hangzhou, China, as the Japanese tyre maker seeks to strengthen localised product development and speed up response times in the Chinese market.

The new facility, named Yokohama China Technical Center, began operations in May within the company’s new passenger car tyre plant in Hangzhou, which started production in November 2025.

The company said the centre would enable the local development of products specifically for the Chinese market, from initial research through to completion, helping to accelerate product launches and improve responsiveness to regional demand.

The centre will consolidate R&D functions for Yokohama Rubber’s tyre and multiple business divisions in China, while expanding engineering staff and testing facilities. Its activities will include tyre development, raw material analysis and evaluation, supplier audits, and mould drawing preparation.

Yokohama Rubber said the new operation would also support research into new raw materials and the development of local suppliers in China.

The company currently operates tyre plants in Hangzhou and Suzhou, alongside multiple business plants in Hangzhou and Weifang.

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Chhattisgarh-based technology company Aarika Innovation has introduced KoolWheel, an automated tyre water spray cooling system manufactured in India.

The product is designed for freight vehicles and school buses to manage tyre overheating caused by road surface temperatures.

The system uses IR (infrared) temperature sensors, a 5-bar pump and solenoid valves to spray a mist on tyres when temperatures exceed a threshold. The hardware operates on a 12V setup and includes a controller that requires no driver intervention. Dashboard indicators and buzzers provide alerts regarding system status and temperature levels.

The company has introduced two variants of the product for KoolWheel Freight, which is designed for trucks, trailers and multi-axle vehicles, covering up to 22 tyres across six axles. And KoolWheel SchoolSafe, which is developed for school buses and coaches, featuring a 50-litre stainless steel tank and an automatic shutoff to prevent battery drain.

The company states the system can reduce tyre temperatures by up to 25deg Celsius and extend tyre life by up to 35 percent. The technology is intended to reduce the risk of blowouts and maintenance costs for fleet operators. The product is currently available in markets including Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan and Telangana.

Swayam Agarwal, Founder, Aarika Innovation, said, “KoolWheel has been created to solve a very real problem faced by Indian transporters and school bus operators every day. Tyre overheating is not just a maintenance issue; it directly impacts road safety, operating costs, and fleet reliability. With KoolWheel, our aim is to offer an affordable, intelligent, and Made-in-India solution that helps fleets run safer, longer, and more efficiently.”

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European tyre major Pirelli is starting production of its Cyber Tyre technology at its plant in Georgia. The facility produces tyres for the US market, including products for the motorsport segment.

The announcement occurred during the SelectUSA Investment Summit. Cyber Tyre is a system that collects data from sensors embedded in tyres. This data is processed through software and algorithms to communicate with vehicle electronics. The system is intended to integrate with driving systems to provide functionalities for mobility and safety.

Pirelli is also introducing the Modular Integrated Robotised System (MIRS) at the factory. This manufacturing process uses robots to manage productivity and quality. The system creates a link between product design and application. This update is intended to increase the production capacity of the site.

The Georgia plant has operated for over two decades and includes a research and development centre. The facility uses natural rubber certified by the Forest Stewardship Council.

Claudio Zanardo, CEO of Pirelli North America, said, “The start of Cyber Tyre production in our Rome, Georgia plant is a significant milestone for Pirelli in this country. It reflects our commitment to bringing advanced technologies like Cyber Tyre closer to the market, further strengthening our industrial footprint and innovation capabilities in the United States.”

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The Yokohama Rubber Co., Ltd. developed a proprietary tyre mould design support system in April 2026, integrating finite element method (FEM) simulations and the company’s own artificial intelligence technology. This new tool is designed to augment the expertise of development personnel, enabling even less experienced staff to efficiently design moulds. It achieves this by providing data derived from numerous virtual experiments, which clarify how different mould design factors influence tyre characteristics.

The system accelerates mould development, lowers costs and minimises the rework typically associated with realising new designs. Furthermore, by fostering a multi-perspective understanding of the links between mould design elements and tyre performance, the tool equips Yokohama Rubber’s developers with fresh insights. These discoveries are expected to aid in creating tyres capable of achieving higher performance levels.

Developed under Yokohama Rubber’s HAICoLab AI concept launched in October 2020, the system addresses longstanding challenges. Mould design critically affects tyre traits, but traditionally understanding this relationship required expensive, time-consuming trial production and evaluations. The process also depended heavily on the tacit know-how of highly experienced staff, leading to variations in accuracy and development time based on individual expertise.

The support system resolves these issues through automated simulations and AI-based prediction and visualisation. It first generates numerous tyre FEM models with varied mould shapes and calculates their characteristics in a virtual space. These results train an AI surrogate model that instantly predicts design factor-performance relationships. By applying explainable AI technologies like SHAP and Partial Dependence Plots, the company’s developers can quantitatively visualise each factor’s impact, easily determining necessary adjustments to achieve targeted tyre characteristics.

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