Tag: Goodyear

OM in the News: The Intelligent Tire and “Last Mile” Delivery

Alongside the tire jack and the air pump, consider the algorithm as a tool for fixing flats, writes The Wall Street Journal (June 17, 2021). Goodyear Tire & Rubber and Bridgestone are rolling out new intelligent tire features that use sensors and artificial intelligence for vehicles delivering packages from e-commerce sites.

The technology is geared toward vehicles that specialize in last-mile delivery, which refers to the final step in getting packages from a distribution center to the customer. The market for last-mile delivery has picked up as online shopping has soared during the coronavirus pandemic. The volume of parcels is expected to grow to 200 billion in 2025, up from an estimated 100 billion in 2019,

tire

Goodyear’s new technology is called SightLine and includes a sensor and proprietary machine-learning algorithms that can predict flat tires or other issues days ahead of time, by measuring tire wear, pressure, road-surface conditions and many other factors. Sightline’s sensor tracks dozens of measurements such as tire wear, inflation and road-surface conditions and a battery that detects temperature, pressure, acceleration and vibration.

The surge of last-mile deliveries means that a lot of vehicles are on the road, stopping and going, hitting curbs, causing damage to the tires, causing breakdowns and congestion. Last-mile delivery vehicles can go through four sets of tires a year, which is highly inefficient from a cost and sustainability perspective.

Vehicles using Goodyear’s intelligent tires can shorten the stopping distance lost by wear and tear on a tire by about 30%. Helping detect tire-related problems before they happen can lead to fewer breakdowns, less traffic congestion and increased safety for last-mile delivery drivers. Tire manufacturers are also investing more heavily in the field of telematics, which refers to the use of technology to collect and monitor data relating to a vehicle or parts of a vehicle.

Classroom discussion questions:

  1. How can this tire impact the logistics of a firm?
  2. Why is the “last mile” so important in the supply chain?

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: Trying to Close French Factories Can Lead to “Boss-napping”

Workers set tires on fire at this French Goodyear plant where 2 execs were held hostage
Workers set tires on fire at this French Goodyear plant where 2 execs were held hostage

Negotiations broke down last week at a Goodyear tire factory scheduled for closing in northern France, so employees kidnapped the bosses. Hundreds of employees held two senior executives captive, threatening to detain them until the company agreed to pay out “huge amounts of money” to nearly 1,200 workers about to lose their jobs. The revival of the French unions’ “boss-napping” tactic clearly causes concerns of multinationals about France as a place to locate, reports The New York Times (Jan. 8, 2014). “This happened because workers were desperate,” said a French prof. “But it is still an act that will underline the perception that it’s difficult to do business in France.”

Tension at the Goodyear plant flared last year after Maurice Taylor, CEO of an American tire company, Titan International, rejected a government appeal to step in and buy the plant. Taylor described French workers as loafers of minimal productivity. “In the U.S., we call this kidnapping,” he stated. “These people would be arrested and prosecuted. But in France, your government does nothing — it’s crazy.”

France’s rigid labor market and the influence of labor unions has long been a source of aggravation to employers. The country’s 3,200-page labor code embodied what the government acknowledged was a “cult of regulation” that choked business. Procedures for shedding workers when economic conditions deteriorate are lengthy and expensive, and businesses pay high taxes to help fund France’s social welfare system. For an employee earning 1,200 euros a month, employers pay an additional €1,000 in tax and pension costs. Unions at the Goodyear plant had been demanding severance packages of €80,000 ($110,000) plus €2,500 for each year worked.

In recent years, French employees took executives of Caterpillar hostage when talks over revamping the company’s operation broke down, trapped the CEO of the group that owns Gucci, while bosses at 3M and Sony were held in an attempt to get bigger severance packages.

Classroom discussion questions:

1. How else can companies in France deal with overcapacity?

2. Why does the French government seem to favor unions?