The first day of Tire Technology Expo 2024 has seen more than 240 industry-leading suppliers exhibiting their innovations. There have been multiple unveilings of new technologies and scientific developments across the show floor, including those from VMI, Hosokawa Alpine, CheeShine, Marangoni Meccanica, Uster Technologies and SEW-Eurodrive.
The VMI booth at Tire Technology Expo 2024 is showcasing its smart solutions that optimize tire building, including new advanced camera-based vision systems, self-learning AI algorithms and self-adjusting processes which contribute to further automation.
Mike Norman, CCO VMI Group, shared his excitement about the show: “Tire Tech Expo is the industry’s leading annual exhibition. This is the natural meeting place for every leading player, from Tier 1 manufacturers to highly specialized technology vendors. As perhaps the leading independent designer, builder and supplier of tire building equipment, there is no better place for us to meet other industry leaders, share ideas, gain insights and showcase our own thinking.”
A new development at the show is the combination of both AI and machine learning algorithms with vision systems and other forms of smart software. VMI says this brings new levels of control, agility and quality to its existing installed base of TBMs.
The combination of capabilities aims to ensure efficient material usage and high-quality splices, leading to increased productivity and improved yield of OE quality tires produced on VM machines. Additionally, as VMI says, smart software enables “smart run empty,” coordinating production runs with material input to minimize waste and improve cassette changeovers between different tire models.
“As AI (and other forms of smart software) become an integral part of tire production, we will see incremental changes and improvements in all these areas,” added Norman.
Outlining trends in smart tire solutions seen at the expo, Norman explained: “We are bringing new examples of how AI is now being introduced into our own systems and will demonstrate these solutions in action. Smart software will also be present (in our SRE solution), and we are quite certain that other forms of AI and ML will be highlighted across the exhibition.
“Specific ideas we want to discuss in more depth include our own version of GenAI; the growing case for single-cell options, with debate around how to merge new technologies and greater integration of different machines/processes within the factory – how to connect SRE with automated materials handling, for example.”
To discuss any of these topics in more detail, you can find VMI at Booth 8054.
