COLOGNE, Germany (Feb. 28, 2014) — The organizers of Tire Technology International, the annual conference and trade show, have named Continental A.G. “tire manufacturer of the year” and bestowed other honors on Bridgestone Corp., Sumitomo Rubber Industries Ltd., VMI Holland B.V. and the University of Akron.
Hanover, Germany-based Continental took home two awards: tire maker of the year and tire manufacturing innovation of the year, the latter for its ContiLifeCycle retreading system.
Sumitomo was recognized for the “Environmental Achievement of the Year,” the Enasave 100 tire that is produced with epoxidised natural rubber and ultra-pure NR and biomass-derived carbon black instead of synthetic rubber and conventional petroleum-based carbon black.
Bridgestone earned the conference's “Tire Technology of the Year” honors for its fuel-efficient “ologic” tires, which are built with a larger diameter and higher belt tension to reduce tire deformation and therefore conserve energy and cut rolling resistance.
VMI was named “Tire Industry Supplier of the Year” for developing Cortexx, a control portal that employs the same look and feel for user interfaces across all machines, and Maxx ActiZones, segmented safety zones to reduce downtime.
The University of Akron's Tire Mechanics Short Course was honored with a “Lifetime Achievement Award” for outstanding service to the tire industry. The Short Course, taught by tire industry experts associated with the University of Akron, has helped train more than 3,000 tire engineers and scientists in 40 separate courses.