FOUNTAIN HILLS, Ariz. — Discount Tire/America's Tire has installed and brought online a RoboTire automated tire-changing system at its store in Fountain Hills, a move that represents a "significant milestone in (RoboTire's) efforts to revolutionize the tire replacement industry."
Discount Tire is using the fourth generation of RoboTire's tire-changing system, the Detroit-based company said, which uses machine learning, artificial intelligence, high-definition cameras, proprietary software and advanced robotics to change four tires on a passenger vehicle in less than 25 minutes.
RoboTire, which is made in the U.S., can be easily integrated into tire shop operations, and RoboTire provides operator training for a service center's current tire technicians, the company said.
The systems remove, lift and install tire-and-wheel assemblies, helping to reduce technician injuries that can occur with repetitive heavy lifting, RoboTire said.
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Discount Tire technicians will operate the systems and provide tire pressure monitoring and balancing services as needed.
"At Discount Tire, our priority is to continually innovate on the services we offer to give the best possible experience to our customers," Tom Williams, chief experience officer at Discount Tire, said.
"We are excited to be the first to market in our space with RoboTire's technology. With our Discount Tire expert people operating RoboTire systems, we will make the workplace safer and the experience easier as we hope to continue to reduce customer wait times and take care of more and more customers."
Discount Tire did not say why it chose the Fountain Hills store for its first RoboTire installation. Fountain Hills is a northeast suburb of Phoenix adjacent to Scottsdale, where Discount Tire is headquartered.
Discount Tire is an investor in RoboTire, which closed its Series A investment round in late 2021.
RoboTire is ramping up manufacturing at its Plymouth, Mich., headquarters and will be scaling the delivery of systems throughout North America in the coming months, the company said.
"Discount Tire has been a proven leader in the tire and wheel industry for more than 60 years. We are excited to expand our partnership with them to enhance safety and efficiency in their stores and help increase the number of customers that can be serviced on any given day," Victor Darolfi, RoboTire founder and CEO, said.
"RoboTire's systems will drastically change how tire stores and service centers like Discount Tire approach changing tires, employee and vehicle safety, and customer satisfaction."
