When Kumho Tire U.S.A. unveiled its RoadVenture MT71 in Moab, Utah, recently, a company official laughed when asked how long it would have taken to develop this tire 10 years ago.
"Oh, at least five years," he said.
"At least," another person chimed in.
The MT71 took just two years to develop.
"Innovations at every level," one of them explained. That it was said so matter-of-factly is indicative of how fast the tire industry evolves.
And it says something of how all technology is changing. We live in that post-WWII vision of the future where the world is interconnected and robots do our bidding. And the demands of such a precise field as tires yield many contributions to our world's overall technical evolution.
Innovation is what makes the tire industry dynamic. It happens at such a great pace, some don't even bat an eye at news of radical discoveries.
The changes in the industry happen so fast, we at Tire Business dedicate two issues a year to the topic.
In the Dec. 9 issue, Hankook Tire & Technology Co. Ltd. officials talk about using artificial intelligence to predict characteristics of tire compounds so accurately the company could eliminate the need for actual testing. There have been a lot of recent advancements, from AI's ability to measure advanced analytical data of a rolling tire rapidly to an "indestructible" rubber/resin hybrid polymer.
And many companies are expanding and investing to meet the demands of the future.
So, what do industry innovations mean for tire dealers?
More work on every level, from education and training to costs associated with acquiring new technology.
Tire dealers are a key to innovation because they ultimately are the ones shaking hands with the people who will be buying the tires and using them on their cars.
As the industry continues to evolve, tire dealers must stay up-to-date of the latest changes in the field to inform their decisions. And they must do so in a way that they can easily share that knowledge with customers.
Each year, tire dealers are going to be faced with a decision of whether to embrace a particular new technology and commit to the training and investment that comes along with it, or to step aside and let another shop take the business. On this note, one thing is for sure, we have never met a tire dealer who is willing to let a customer walk across the street and take his or her business elsewhere.
The drive of tire dealers is representative of the industry as a whole. At every level of the business, there is a sense of: "Yes we can do it, and we can do it better."
As technology makes products better and the work more efficient, there will be plenty of headaches along the way.
But if the hard-working mentality within the business stays strong, the future will be bright.