Toyo Tire opens first European production site in Serbia

Toyo Tire Corporation officially opened a new passenger vehicle tire factory in the Municipality of Indjija, the Republic of Serbia, on 14 December last year. Prior to this, production had partially started in July 2022 as the factory became operational with all equipment being installed. The President of the Republic of Serbia Aleksandar Vucic and a long list of distinguished guests attended the opening ceremony.

The new factory in Serbia features state-of-the-art technologies, such as enterprise resource planning (ERP) and manufacturing execution system (MES), to visualize processes. By precisely linking the status information of each piece of highly productive manufacturing equipment, this “smart factory” unlocks a higher dimension of production management system optimization.

Adjacent to the factory building is a testing ground with a straight track of 720 m and a total length of 1690 m. The company will carry out test runs to gather data on tires, the results of which will be used to promptly verify compliance with finely-segmented laws/regulations and certification requirements in Europe, allowing Toyo to deliver attractive tires to the market in a more timely manner.

Also laid out on its premises is a solar power system, one of the largest in the country (electric generating capacity: 8,4 MW), which not only provides 10,15 GWh of electricity output but also helps to reduce 7100 tons of CO2 emissions per annum.

The new factory is expected to reach its full capacity of approximately five million tires per annum (based on tires for passenger vehicles) during the second half of fiscal 2023. While meeting local demand in its home region of Europe, it will also cater strategically to the company’s main market in North America.

Photos: Plus PM Consultant