Tag: auto tires

OM in the News: The Intelligent Tire

Goodyear’s intelligent tire uses a sensor, machine-learning algorithms and cloud computing.

The tire, once the most basic of automobile parts, is getting a tech upgrade. Goodyear Tire & Rubber is developing a so-called intelligent tire outfitted with a sensor and proprietary machine-learning algorithms.

The hope is that the tires will help self-driving cars brake at a shorter distance and communicate with autonomous driving systems, reports The Wall Street Journal (March 20, 2020). “We see the tire playing a more important role than ever,” said  Goodyear’s CEO. “With the onset of autonomous vehicles, the role of the tire in the performance and safety of the vehicle would increase if we can make that tire intelligent.” (Researchers estimate that 10% to 30% of all vehicles will be fully self driving by 2030).

Goodyear already sells tires that can measure temperature and pressure. The company’s “intelligent” tires have a more advanced sensor to track dozens more measurements such as tire wear, inflation and road-surface conditions. The data is tracked continuously, sent to the cloud and analyzed in real time. The goal is for a self-driving vehicle to adjust and respond to the measurements instantaneously.

For example, if the tire senses that the car is driving over a slick road in cold temperatures, the vehicle will be able to automatically slow down and avoid sudden steering movements, while factoring in the tire’s tread and wear. Experiments showed that self-driving vehicles using Goodyear’s intelligent tires can shorten the stopping distance lost by wear-and-tear on a tire by about 30%. Goodyear’s new technology is expected to be used by consumers by 2021.

Classroom discussion questions:

  1. Referring to Chapter 2 in your Heizer/Render/Munson OM text, how does Goodyear plan to achieve competitive advantage?
  2. What external factors might slow the introduction and success of this new tire?

OM in the News: South Carolina and the Auto Cluster

Here’s a pop quiz: Where did French tire-maker Michelin, just announce it will build a new global factory—China, Mexico or South Carolina? Answer: South Carolina.

What state is about to become the biggest manufacturer of tires in the U. S.? Answer: That would be South Carolina, too, with Michelin’s new plant  (cost $950 million and employing  800  people). Other tire makers in the state are also expanding, reports The Wall Street Journal (April 20, 2012). The port of Charleston  is adding capacity to handle cargo going in and out of the area.

“Ten years ago, everyone thought Mexico would be the place for expansion,” says the head of Michelin– North America. “But we can’t tolerate the level of instability there.” As for China, labor costs are rising quickly and there’s still concern about protecting intellectual property.”

A new survey of 106 big U.S. manufacturers picked up a similar sentiment. Thirty-seven percent of the companies said they plan to bring production back to the U.S. from China, or are actively considering it. Seventy percent said sourcing in China is more costly than it looks on paper.

In Chapter 8, we  write about the unique vitality of manufacturing hubs or “clusters”—the co-location and interconnection of related industries and schools. Silicon Valley is a prime example. So too the tech corridor in upstate New York, aircraft design in Seattle, chemicals in West Virginia, and advanced engineering in Prince George County, Va., where Rolls-Royce and a group of universities recently tied up.

Michael Porter of Harvard, in a 1998 paper “Clusters and the New Economics of Competition,” wrote: “Paradoxically, the enduring competitive advantages in a global economy lie increasingly in local things—knowledge, relationships, and motivation that distant rivals cannot match.”

Discussion questions:

1. Name some cluster zones of business expertise outside the US.

2. Why did Michelin select S. Carolina for its original plant and for the new one reported here?