One of the major concerns with retreading is the potential that the original carcass will get mixed in with other carcasses and the customer's retread is not done on the original carcass, Conti said. To prevent this, the center is testing a machine that can track and to ensure the carcass is tracked automatically throughout the retread process.
After the shop scans the tire, the RFID technology will then communicate with every other retread machine to confirm the tire model, size and tread. From there the machines are automated to those specifications and ensure the correct carcass gets the tread it needs. This can then help to track the life of the tire as well, the company said.
As the carcass goes through multiple lives, the retread owner can see how the tread and carcass are wearing over time.
To preserve the life of a carcass, the development center also features a non-destructive shearography machine that examines the inside of the tire to find imperfections that are not visible to the human eye. Once the shearography machine identifies the imperfections, the retread operator marks the imperfection so it can be addressed further on in the process.
Since the casing of a tire is key in the retread process, some fleets require that a tire is scanned by shearography prior to its being retreaded.
"This center gives us a unique opportunity to continue to make advancements in the retreading part of our business," Shaun Uys, vice president, truck tires U.S.
"Not only will we be able to continue to improve our process, but we can also now provide our Continental Retread Solutions Partners with hands-on training from miles away."
Continental is testing out virtual-reality goggles to give their retread partners an additional resource. These goggles will allow the Continental team to examine the tire, carcass and retread alongside with their partners and answer any questions or concerns that may come up.