TOKYO — Bridgestone Corp. plans to invest $166 million at its Kitakyushu, Japan, earthmover and mining tire plant over the coming three-and-a-half years to upgrade manufacturing.
Bridgestone did not elaborate on what impact the investment might have on the 15-year-old plant's capacity, which is listed as 170 metric tons a day, or on employment, which stands at 575.
Instead, the firm said the project "will ensure a high quality and stable supply," while also elevating the plant's "level of safety, disaster prevention, eco-friendliness, quality and productivity."
Bridgestone said it expects to complete the upgrade by year-end 2027, delivering "value over volume" as it strengthens its off-the-road (OTR) tire business, a core part of the company's 2024-26 business plan,
The project falls under a $2 billion investment scheme at factories worldwide that Bridgestone divulged a year ago in its 2023 Integrated Report designed to "reinforce its structure for producing premium products."
Furthermore, the investment will enhance production technology for the future generation of Bridgestone's flagship Mastercore tires, which it claims realize "ultra-high durability." The tires, Bridgestone said, will combine "new unique technologies" including in-house manufactured steel cord.
"Mastercore enables us to provide the optimal performance customized to each customer's need and the operating condition of each vehicle," said the Japanese group.
Since its launch in August 2020, tires built with Mastercore technology have been used at over 100 mines globally, according to Bridgestone.
Furthermore, Bridgestone is expanding its mining solutions through strong physical capabilities, such as field engineering services at sites, and digital technologies such as AI-driven tires and vehicle data analysis.
The Kitakyushu factory is one of a dozen plants Bridgestone operates with OTR tire capacity globally. The others are in Hofu and Shimonseki, Japan; Bekasi, Indonesia; Amata City and Ransit, Thailand; Bloomington, Ill.; Trenton, S.C.; Puente San Miguel, Spain; Buenos Aires and Santo Andre, Brazil; and Izmit, Turkey.
In 2021 Bridgestone disclosed plans to invest nearly $94 million over four years to make its Shimonoseki plant "greener" in terms of renewable energy use and cleaner handling of waste water.
