Speakers urge tire makers to embrace shakeups in market

Clemson University photo
Bridgestone Americas' Steve Charles was one of several speakers to address the issue of autonomous vehicles' impact on the market.

HILTON HEAD ISLAND, S.C. — "What happens if you wake up tomorrow and have no customer base?"

That was the question Steve Charles, vice president, product development for Bridgestone Americas Inc., asked of his audience at the 33rd Clemson University Global Tire Industry Conference at Hilton Head April 19-21.

Mr. Charles was one of several industry speakers who spoke about the market shakeup autonomous vehicles (AVs) are causing, and what the industry is doing to meet that challenge.

Other speakers included Eric Chaniot, chief digital officer for Group Michelin, and Jay Spears, director of standards and regulations for Continental Tire the Americas L.L.C.

The disruption caused by autonomous vehicles is the biggest the tire industry has faced since pneumatic tires replaced wooden spokes, according to Mr. Charles.

"This is a perfect storm," he said, driven not only by automated driving, but also by changes in global demographics, technological advances, regulations, changes in societal behavior and the drive toward environmental sustainability.

Silicon Valley is driving much of the disruption in the mobility market, along with ride-sharing platforms, such as Uber, and auto makers developing or acquiring autonomous technologies, he said.

Information technology, with its increased potential for modeling and simulation, has become a paramount issue for tire makers, according to Mr. Charles. Bridgestone recently renovated its IT building in Akron and centered all its data there, he said.

"We have stored the tapes that once filled a building on a card the size of a piece of paper," he said.

• This story appeared in the May 22 print edition of Tire Business

Meanwhile, Millennials are driving less, using ride-sharing services more, and moving to walkable cities with accessible public transportation, he added.

Clemson University photo

Chaniot

There are many possibilities for tire makers in this new situation, Mr. Charles said. These include:

Closer relationships with OEMs;

  • New revenue streams and business models;

  • New partnerships and collaborations with Silicon Valley;

  • Changing the human-machine interface and the driving/riding experience; and

  • New or redefined tire attributes.

This last possibility is one of the most radical of all, according to Mr. Charles. As AVs become more widely accepted, tire makers will de-emphasize speed ratings and concentrate on intelligent tire technology, he said.

These would include tire-to-vehicle cloud communication, real-time monitoring in hazardous conditions and run-flat, non-pneumatic, self-sealing and other technologies in the quest for zero tolerance for tire failure, he said.

Technology first

Bridgestone also is leading the way in sustainability, especially in alternative and diversified sources of natural rubber, according to Mr. Charles.

"Bridgestone is betting on guayule," he said, referring to the company's guayule research and development operations in Arizona.

AVs have thrown down a technological gauntlet to tire makers, according to Michelin's Mr. Chaniot.

"All tire companies must become technology companies first, and tire manufacturers after that," Mr. Chaniot said.

Clemson University photo

Spears

A current-generation iPhone is 1,300 times more powerful than the computer that powered the Apollo 11 mission in 1969, he noted.

"By 2029, we will have computers as smart as a human brain," he said. "By 2050, computers will be 50 times smarter than the human brain. We need to understand that.

"For the first time ever, computers will give us back time," Mr. Chaniot said. "How do we take advantage of this, instead of being afraid?"

Michelin is proposing what it believes is a better way forward, according to Mr. Chaniot.

"If people can move, things will get better," he said. "We now realize that all mobility services have a digital part, and Silicon Valley is super-focused on customer experience.

"Tires have evolved as travelers' needs have evolved," he said. "We want to make sure we have the full level of control over the full life of a tire."

Hybrid and electric vehicles have a role to play in this effort, as does rolling resistance, according to Mr. Chaniot. "Lowering rolling resistance while keeping the same level of safety is a big deal," he said.

Among other ventures, Michelin recently equipped 200 buses in Venice, Italy, with radio frequency identification (RFID).

"This solution can read tire pressures and identify which tires need maintenance," he said.

Soon Michelin hopes to add RFID to all 600 buses in the Venice fleet, according to Mr. Chaniot.

"We are no longer just a vendor, but the provider of a solution," he said.

Managing IT is crucial for tire makers going forward, according to Mr. Chaniot.

"In 10 years, 40 to 50 percent of big companies will be irrelevant," he said. "If we don't want to become irrelevant, we must become technology companies."

Listening to tires

Connected tires are building blocks that will lead to the AVs of the future, according to Continental's Mr. Spears.

"Tires are only about 25 percent of our business," Mr. Spears said. "The products we make — transmissions, brakes, engines, elastomers, fuel systems — could get you about 90 percent of the way to a vehicle."

The big question, according to Mr. Spears, is what a tire can tell us.

"There's a lot of things a tire knows," he said. "Can we get that information out of it?"

Conti is developing a tire module, designed to be glued to the inner liner, to help the company get that information, Mr. Spears said. The module can measure not only tire pressure, but also treadwear, fuel use and carbon dioxide emissions.

"It's a platform for the future," he said.

On the truck side, Conti is developing TPMS systems for 18-wheelers, according to Mr. Spears.

"Every truck tire that drops 10 psi costs you $44 in fuel, $9 in tire wear and $35 in downtime," he said.

A study from the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration showed that a TPMS system on trucks can improve fuel economy by 1.4 percent, according to Mr. Spears. Also, 97 percent of truck tire failures and breakdowns are caused by underinflation, he said.

Telematics systems that read out information to truck fleets in real time also will be a great boon, according to Mr. Spears.

"One company that introduced telematics had a 33 percent reduction in tire maintenance costs immediately," he said. "We need to be able to have this information and tie it together."

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