(Credit: Bridgestone)Bridgestone is expanding and updating its truck and tire plant in Tennessee to increase efficiency, production, and advance technology that supports cleaner and more sustainable commercial bus and truck fleets.
Bridgestone says as part of the $550 million investment to update the plant in Morrison the company will introduce artificial intelligence control technology, which will increase digital manufacturing, and use data that will boost operational efficiency and smart manufacturing. The facility, which will be expanded by 850,000 square feet, will also integrate tire-mounted sensors that support data-driven insights to aid fleet management.
Additionally, the upgrades will allow the company to produce tires that are equipped with technology, such as radio frequency identification, that enable more efficient management and optimization of fleet tires. Bridgestone says all of the technologies together will help it take steps to reach its sustainability goals, including becoming carbon neutral by 2050 and using 100% recycled and renewable materials by that year.
Bridgestone’s North American operations are based in Nashville, Tennessee, and the company has been working on several sustainable tire projects and offerings.
Earlier this year Bridgestone introduced a tire specifically for electric buses. The tire offers low rolling resistance and high load capacity intended to increase daily ranges that will maximize bus operation on a single charge.
The company also teamed with Dow to produce a silicone-based tire sealant that will help improve tire efficiency and recyclability. Bridgestone is initially offering it to equipment manufacturers looking to reduce vehicle weight, especially with an increase in electric vehicles.
Bridgestone recently partnered with LanzaTech to develop a tire recycling platform. Part of that deal is to increase the adoption of sustainably sourced chemicals that can help produce reusable materials from old tires.
The expansion of the 32-year-old facility in Warren County is expected to begin before the end of this year with it mostly completed by May 2024. The plant is one of Bridgestone’s most productive and made its 70 millionth tire in October 2021, and produced about 85% of the truck and bus tires in the Americas in 2021, according to Nikkei Asia.
