Recently, nearly 20 people from the global supply chain management team of Bridgestone, the world’s second largest tire giant, made a special trip to domestic humanoid robot companies to inspect and select smart logistics partners to promote the intelligent transformation of their global supply chain.
During the inspection, the two parties focused on docking a new generation of humanoid robot products that can achieve sub-millimeter precision grasping, a visual recognition accuracy of 99.5%, and an autonomous power swapping system that can achieve 7×24 hours of continuous operation. Its performance is exactly in line with the industrial pain points of Japan’s shrinking labor force. At present, the two parties have agreed to explore cooperation opportunities in multiple dimensions.
In the important town of the domestic rubber tire industry, relevant departments and the industrial Internet platform recently held a special event on artificial intelligence empowering the transformation of the rubber industry, attracting the participation of more than 50 local rubber tire companies.
As the largest rubber tire production base in the country, the local area is building a rubber tire industry brain to create an industrial empowerment base for “AI + Industrial Internet”. It will focus on promoting the large-scale craftsman factory project, extracting the experience of front-line craftsmen to incubate large-scale models and digital technicians in the industrial field, and promote AI to accurately empower the entire link of tire R&D, production, and circulation. At the same time, the industrial brain will also carry multiple functions such as government monitoring, smart investment, and corporate supply chain collaboration to help the traditional tire industry belt complete the digital upgrade.
In overseas markets, the application of intelligent technology is also rapidly implemented: SmartBay recently released by American companies
The AI platform can automatically complete tire changing and dynamic balancing operations without removing the wheel, compressing the tire changing time of a single vehicle from the traditional 75 minutes to 30 minutes, and increasing the work efficiency of a single technician from 4 to 24 per hour. Currently, the platform has a monthly rental model of US$4,900.
Opening services to terminal stores; this year, French car companies also released the “Calvin-40” humanoid robot specially used for tire handling, which can shorten the tire production process by 30%. The company plans to deploy 350 units of the same robot in the production system by 2027.
Currently, the European and American markets have simultaneously promoted intelligent transformation in terminal services and manufacturing, and robots are reshaping the working methods of the tire industry from different aspects.
Domestic tire industry chain companies have also begun to lay out intelligent transformations: tire machinery companies have taken the lead in crossing over into the field of humanoid robot body manufacturing, with products that can take into account both industrial logistics and home service scenarios. In 2024, they have achieved a significant year-on-year increase in orders; the domestic PS2A intelligent forming machine has compressed the tire forming cycle to 38 to 38
In 40 seconds, the efficiency reaches 3 times that of traditional equipment; leading tire companies realize equipment self-learning optimization through AI algorithms, reducing factory labor costs by 50%; there are also companies that are the first to implement full-process “black light workshop” operation. Currently, who will become the first tire company in China to introduce large-scale applications of humanoid robots, which has become the focus of the industry.
Judging from the current industry status, the penetration of robots and AI technology into the tire industry is showing the characteristics of “multi-point blooming”, and the industry as a whole is in the critical stage of “transition from single-point demonstration to system integration”.
Four major trends deserve special attention in the future: First, humanoid robots will accelerate their entry into the production front line. Japan, Europe and even China are facing long-term pressure from the reduction of young blue-collar workforces. Tire manufacturing will become one of the industrial scenarios where humanoid robots will be implemented on a large scale; second, AI large models will reshape the tire research and development process. AI can simulate the impact of material formulas and process parameters on finished product performance, significantly shortening the new product development cycle. At present, domestic companies have achieved “one-time success” adaptation of new products in overseas markets through AI simulation; third, the division of labor in the industrial chain will welcome
To reconstruct the future, equipment manufacturers will transform into a two-wheel drive of “solutions + robot bodies”, and the business model will also be upgraded from the traditional “selling equipment” to “selling production capacity + selling services”; fourth, the global competition in the tire industry will enter a new stage of “intelligent racing”. Who can take the lead?
AI is deeply embedded in the entire supply chain, production and after-market services, and whoever can take advantage of the dual advantages of efficiency and cost will be able to seize the window period of this round of technological change. If Chinese tire companies can seize the window period of this round of technological change, they are expected to achieve a leap from “following” to “running parallel” and even “leading” in the global market.
At present, AI and robotics technology are no longer “innovation highlights” that add icing on the cake, but are “core variables” related to corporate operating efficiency and survival mode. For domestic tire companies, the most important thing is to complete the leap from “wait and see” to “implementation action” as soon as possible, truly move intelligent technology from the showroom to the production workshop, and seize the initiative in global competition.
