Author: RubberWorld

Paolo Pompei (1971, Italian citizen) has strong experience in the tire industry. His latest assignment was at Yokohama TWS, former Trelleborg Wheel Systems, where he acted as President since 2017. Prior to that, he held several leadership positions in the Trelleborg Group, including the position of President of the Business Unit Agricultural tires, and earlier in his career he has worked at Pirelli. Pompei is a Board Member at ETRMA, European Tyre and Rubber Manufacturers’ Association. He holds a degree in Economics with a M.Sc. in International Trade and has additional studies in business administration and management.

Integrated with Dow elastomer technologies, the TRU 32 Pro delivers the same dependable consistency as TRU 32 but with enhanced speed and liveliness, making it ideal for advanced competitive gameplay. Its patented hole pattern creates consistent flight and bounce characteristics that complement the fast, responsive nature of its composition. Manufactured in the USA with imported components, the ball is USA Pickleball approved for outdoor competitive play and introduced new levels of pickleball performance. Building on this design, our teams also recently collaborated on a version specifically for indoor play — the TRU 32 Indoor ball.

Effective July 1, Covestro LLC welcomed Victor Ortega as the new senior vice president for Performance Materials Operations in North America and site manager at its industrial park in Baytown, Texas, the company’s largest manufacturing facility in North America. Ortega succeeds Demetri Zervoudis, who has since retired from the company after a 40-year career.

Elkem announces price increases for its silicones products worldwide. The increase varies by product line, with a minimum increase of 10%, effective 15 August, and as contracts permit.
This price increase is necessary to enable Elkem to continue to invest in the capital needed to support capacity expansion, equipment maintenance and product development to meet customers’ growing needs in a safe and sustainable manner.

Datwyler has succeeded in the first half of 2024 in increasing the operating result (EBIT) to CHF 67.5 million and the EBIT margin to 11.8% despite the slight decrease in revenue. In the same period, revenue declined to CHF 572.5 million in a weak market environment. Adjusted for currency effects, this equates to a decline of 2.4%. The acquisition of attractive new business in all business units shows that the long-term growth drivers in the markets are intact and Datwyler is a sought-after partner for new and existing customers. For 2024 as a whole, Datwyler expects an EBIT margin above the prior year and revenue in the range of the prior year.

Chi Zhang, CEO of KraussMaffei, explains: “For KraussMaffei, sustainability means not only an environmentally conscious attitude, but also responsibility in all areas of the company, towards our environment and as part of our society. Our sustainability report documents that we take our responsibility seriously and that our customers and partners can rely on a transparent and responsible partner with whom they can ensure sustainability in their own supply chain and fulfill legal requirements.” 

The Yokohama Rubber Co., Ltd., announced that it succeeded this month in developing a proprietary tire design support system that uses eXplainable AI (XAI).This new system provides information that is useful in creating the desired tire features. The system supplements the knowledge and experience of development staff while also making it easier for less-experienced staff to design tires. It also contributes to speedier development and lower costs. Observing these features generates new insights and inspirations that will lead to the development of products with higher performance levels.