Author: RubberWorld

Bridgestone Retail Operations (BSRO), a subsidiary of Bridgestone Americas, announced that Andrew Richards is the company’s 2023 Automotive Service Excellence (ASE) Master Technician of the Year. Richards was recently honored at an awards ceremony held by the National Institute for Automotive Service Excellence.

Continental has put its new driving simulator for tires into operation. It will be used from now on for new and further tire developments, especially in the original equipment business. An intensive test phase of around twelve months preceded the operational phase. Virtual tire tests will save costs, raw materials and shorten development times. The high-tech system is known as a driver-in-the-loop simulator (DIL), which calculates the exact driving dynamics parameters for the tires and the respective test vehicle. Thanks to its high maneuverability, the simulator can provide Continental’s professional test drivers with subjective driving impressions that are comparable to those from tire tests on a real test track.

As part of the settlement, the Companies agreed to pay the State of Ohio a combined total of $110 million, 80 percent of which the State has allocated to restoration of natural resources related to operation of the Washington Works facility. Consistent with the binding Memorandum of Understanding between the Companies reached in January 2021, DuPont’s share of the settlement will be approximately $39 million.

Under the MOU, the two companies will conduct a joint research and development project for Neodymium-Butadiene rubber using Bio-Butadiene and expand the use of environmentally friendly synthetic rubber in tire manufacturing.

The Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company announced that Joe Burke has been named vice president of its North America Commercial business. He reports to Steve McClellan, president, Goodyear Americas.

The International Trade Commission’s (ITC) issues affirmative preliminary determination on dumped truck and bus tires from Thailand.

HEXPOL Middlefield has achieved The International Sustainability and Carbon Certification (ISCC PLUS) as a Rubber Compounding Processing Unit with mass balance chain of custody. at their Middlefield, Ohio site. The ISCC PLUS Certification was issued on 11.22.23. HEXPOL’s cross functional ISCC Plus implementation team achieved this significant accomplishment in less than 4 months with zero nonconformities found during the certification audit.

On Sunday, Dec. 3, the Goodyear Blimp is scheduled to enter the airspace above the Life Time Rancho athletic resort in San Clemente, California, where the best Professional Pickleball Association (PPA Tour) players will compete in the CIBC PPA Tour Finals. This will mark the first time the Goodyear Blimp will provide aerial coverage for a professional Pickleball tournament and officially designate the sport and the PPA Tour as “Blimpworthy.”

The Association for Rubber Products Manufacturers (ARPM) has announced the launch of a brand-new Virtual Training Academy. This online training portal provides rubber industry professionals with the core information needed for anyone new to the industry and a refresher for industry veterans.

Specim, Spectral Imaging Ltd. announces the upgraded Specim FX50 middle-wave infrared (MWIR) hyperspectral camera. The Specim FX50 is the first and only push-broom hyperspectral camera on the market that covers the full MWIR spectral range of 2.7 – 5.3 μm.
This breakthrough product with enhanced features and capabilities expands the possibilities in industrial sorting, quality control, process optimization, and research by detecting materials that are not detectable with any other wavelength or imaging method, such as hydrocarbons, minerals, oil, and contamination on metal surfaces.