Discount Tire testing RoboTire system for use in stores

SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. — If trials under way at Discount Tire's test facility in Scottsdale are successful, the nation's No. 2 retail tire dealership could start installing RoboTire robotic tire-changing systems at selected retail stores across the country later this year.

Reinalt-Thomas Corp., the corporate entity doing business as Discount Tire/America's Tire, is an investor in RoboTire Inc., a Detroit-based automotive robotics and automation startup that's been developing an automated tire-installation process for the past four-plus years.

Reinalt-Thomas participated in October in a $7.5 million Series A investment round, along with Automotive Ventures, Detroit Venture Partners, 640 Oxford Ventures and several other "angel" investors.

Management at Discount Tire is "very impressed" with the system's efficiency and precision, according to Tom Williams, chief experience officer for the Scottsdale-based company, but the system's biggest bonus might be its impact on worker safety and shortage of qualified technicians.

"One part of this that I don't believe people are talking about enough is RoboTire's commitment to helping elevate the role of the tire technician through this process — as the RoboTire system will work in tandem with our employees," Williams told Tire Business.

"We're excited about the dedicated training program RoboTire is developing and see that as a huge benefit for drawing a larger and more diverse group of individuals to career paths in the tire industry."

As for rolling it out in the company's stores, "Right now, we're evaluating the technology and determining with RoboTire what a pilot program might entail," Williams said, adding that the company isn't ready at this point to announce an exact timeline for putting units into retail stores.

"Overall, we're excited by advances in the industry like RoboTire that can drive consistency and efficiency — two things that help us communicate and deliver a better customer experience," he added.

Besides the operating/productivity advantages the RoboTire system offers — the system is designed to perform a four tire/wheel change in 20 minutes or less when couple with tire-changing and balancing equipment that can be automated — Williams stressed that the system offers advantages in safety and personnel aspects as well.

"And maybe most important," he said, "the RoboTire system is designed with safety of our people and customers in mind — we can tell that RoboTire has the potential to help locations like ours increase productivity in an inviting, easy and safe atmosphere."

Using a robotic system like RoboTire would take most of the physical exertion associated with basic tire servicing — operating a lug wrench, lifting and moving tires and tire/wheel assemblies, breaking beads, etc. — out of the equation in terms of what a tire tech is expected to do.

Benjamin Wilson, senior manager of operations for RoboTire, told Tire Business at the SEMA Show last November that one of the company's goals is to help customers pay their technicians more by providing a platform that reduces the amount of work techs need to do through automation.

Victor Darolfi, founder and CEO of RoboTire, said the company will push hard this year on developing the concept of the "robo-tech," individuals trained to monitor the automated tire-changing process rather than doing the work themselves.

Bringing more automation into the service bays also could open up the industry to attracting more women or those with physical limiations/disabilities, he added.

Williams said his company is "certainly evaluating the options" to use the system in existing or new Tire Discount stores.

"Bringing new technology into the existing store experience has been a key focus for us over the last 24 months," he said, "from launching our end-to-end touchless experience, introducing mobile tread depth scanners, digital signage, and more."

As for whether the company would favor putting RoboTire units in new stores versus existing outlets, Williams said, "We obviously have a large footprint of existing stores and plan to open 40 or more new stores in the coming months. All that to say, we'll look at the options to introduce RoboTire systems where and when it makes the most sense for our team to provide the best possible customer experience."

One aspect any dealership would need to consider before opting for a RoboTire system is space. The unit as it's designed requires a robot on each side of the vehicle, which necessitates a minimum width of about 28 feet, or roughly one and half to two service bays.

Installing one in an existing shop would require some revamping of the available space.

The vehicle being serviced is raised off the ground with the tire/wheel assembly supported/held in place by a tool designed by RoboTire.

Each robot is programmed to remove the lug nuts, remove the tire/wheel assembly from the vehicle and transport it to the adjacent tire-changing station, where a human operator oversees the used tire demounting and mounting of the new tire.

The robot then moves the assembly to the balancer, where again an operator oversees that operation. The robot then transports the newly balanced tire/wheel assembly back to the vehicle and places it on the axle-end studs and re-installs the lug nuts.

Thus the process does require sufficient space on either side of a vehicle in the service bay for the tandem robots to operate.

At the very least, it requires dedicating at least one service bay solely to tire changing.

Discount Tire is perhaps better suited to using a robotic system like RoboTire than other dealerships since its business model is essentially 100% tire and wheel replacement.

The dealership doesn't do alignments or any other sort of undercar automotive service, hence improving the efficiency of the tire/wheel replacement procedure could pay huge dividends.

As for dealerships that do carry out other services that rely on inspection of a vehicle's wheel-end mechanicals — shocks, brakes, suspension mounts, etc. — RoboTire is looking at the use of cameras mounted on the robot's arm that could be programmed to scan the wheel well after the tire/wheel assembly is removed.

That scan could then be read by computer software designed to look for wear and/or potential safety issues. Discount Tire/America's Tire stores use a mobile tread-depth reading system that its developer Zebra Technologies claims can help increase tire techs' productivity and improve the quality of information gathered.

Alternatively, dealerships could invest in drive-over scanning units that can check a vehicle for alignment and other other under-car issues.

Founded in 2018 by entrepreneur Victor Darolfi, Detroit-based RoboTire Inc. has patented a system that uses robots to change a set of tires in under 15 minutes, or what the company claims is a fraction of the time human operators can perform the task.

The company's goal is to introduce "manufacturing-level" automation to traditional automotive repair shops, thereby transforming the traditional financial and operational considerations used by fleet operators and automotive service providers for tire and wheel services.

"Our focus is to revolutionize the way tires are changed, and collaborating with Discount Tire — an iconic automotive and tire industry leader — will make our innovative technology more widely available to consumers who need both speed and service as part of their daily lives," Darolfi said.

Darolfi is an engineer by training, who has worked for a number of engineering-oriented companies over the past 17 years, including Intier Automotive, Bosch Automotive, Space Systems Loral, Lockheed Martin, L2F Inc. and Spark Robotics.

He earned a degree in mechanical engineering from Kettering University and a master's degree in engineering management from Santa Clara University.

In conversation with Tire Business at the 2021 SEMA Show, Darolfi said his "inspiration moment" for the RoboTire Concept came one day a few years back when he had to sit in a tire dealership's waiting from three hours waiting for his vehicle.

"I knew nothing about tires," he said, "but my background with robotics led me to believe there was an opportunity here. The was a big need from the labor perspective."

Once the germ of the idea started developing, Darolfi knew he needed expertise in software engineering and a mutual friend put him in touch with Will Mapes, a business development specialist with software experience.

The pair then assembled a small team of experts to develop the idea and start building prototypes.

RoboTire has had a unit in place for roughly two years at Toole's Garage in Stockton, Calif., where it's been undergoing long-term testing.

Dave Toole, owner of the business, said a mutual friend put him in touch with Darolfi and he agreed to devote space at his repair shop to the first prototype for "beta" testing of the system.

The third member of the RoboTire executive team is Benjamin Wilson, senior manager, operations. He brings tire service industry experience — 15 years overall, including eight with Virginia Tire & Auto — to the project.

At the 2021 SEMA Show, RoboTire and Hunter Engineering Co. had working models of the system in operation at their respective booths. RoboTire has worked closely with Hunter in developing its system, taking advantage of Hunter's work on automating the tire-changing and tire/wheel balancing processes.

As a result, a fully functioning RoboTire system will incorporate an automated tire changer and tire/wheel balancer. This will allow one operator to oversee the process.

RoboTire did not disclose the projected cost of purchasing and installing a system, nor the projected time to amortize said investment.