Tyres: New Fully Automatic Mixing Room
PIRELLI KICKS OFF CCM, THE NEW FULLY AUTOMATIC MIXING ROOM; FIRST PATENT GRANTED IN USA
THE MIRS PROJECT COMPLETED WITH MODULES FOR MOTORCYCLE AND TRUCK TYRE PRODUCTION
THE FIRST HOMOLOGATION FOR MIRS MOTORCYCLE TYRES ON THE APRILIA RSV 1000
TRONCHETTI: " CCM COMPLEMENTS MIRS, THUS STRENGTHENING PIRELLI LEADERSHIP IN HIGH PERFORMANCE TYRES
Milan, 18 June 2002 - Today, Pirelli presents to the press and the international financial community a completely new development in tyre production: it is the revolutionary CCM (Continuous Compound Mixing) system, an absolutely unique process for the production of compounds, which is able to ensure a quantitative control of materials with a level of precision that has no precedent in its segment of the tyre industry. The new mixing room has been built in the Pirelli area of Bicocca, Milan, Italy, adjacent to the MIRS plant, the new integrated robotized production process introduced by Pirelli in July 2000, which has now become the point of reference in the tyre industry.
The CCM mixing room represents the logical completion of the MIRS project; the production of the compound becomes part of the automatic factory managed on-line. The CCM continuous compound mixing system is covered by seven different families of patents - one of which has already been granted in the United States of America, while other much more recent applications have been filed in USA, Europe, Japan and South America - that give to Pirelli a significant competitive advantage, both in terms of business and value for the company.
The CCM permits the management of the complexity given by 40 components -from polymers to additives, from carbon black to sulphur and silica- the presence and composition of which varies depending on the type of tyre being produced. Built in a record time of 24 months, on an area of 800 square metres and requiring an investment of 10 million, the CCM compound room at Bicocca is today a pilot plant able to produce 250 kg of compound an hour, a figure destined to become an hourly 1000 kg once the room becomes fully operational.
" The new CCM mixing room, which is the result of advanced Pirelli research, is a completely unique system in the world and constitutes the ideal complement to MIRS" , says the Chairman of Pirelli SpA, Marco Tronchetti Provera . " The objective of the MIRS process is to strengthen the leadership of Pirelli in the high range products and in growing and profitable sectors, focusing on the most advanced products in terms of performance, safety and reliability. MIRS technology permits the optimisation of the process, increasing plant productivity and flexibility and accelerating the answer to the needs of an automotive market that evolves fast" .
The Continuous Compound Mixing represents a unique technological breakthrough; the lead time, which is about 24 hours in the traditional mixing process, is greatly reduced to 4.7 hours, energy consumption is lowered by over 20%, the variability of the physical properties of the compound is 70% lower.
" With the creation of the Pirelli CCM, the final objective of the MIRS system has been achieved" , says Renato Caretta , Chief of Engineering Technology for Pirelli Tyres. " And that is to make MIRS a completely autonomous and flexible system, able to produce tyres by a continuous and integrated process. Applying the basic principles of process continuity, modularity and flexibility to the compound room, Pirelli has extended to the materials area the same strategy that is at the basis of the overall MIRS system, to revolutionise the traditional manufacturing cycle." .
The flow of CCM, which requires two double screw extruders that work in continuity, fed pneumatically with the various components, means being able to work in continuous, without interruption and without intermediate storage. The computerized management of the feed flows permits a total control of ingredients and chemical reactions, temperatures and mixing conditions; it also drastically reduces the production of powders which, in the case of the Bicocca compound room, does not exceed the level of 0.3 mg per cubic metre compared with the10 mg/cubic metre limit set by European Union regulations (see table attached).
" In the same way that MIRS guarantees the control of technology, CCM guarantees the control of materials that go into constructing tyres, improving the physical, mechanical and behavioural elements in a decisive manner, adds Enrico Albizzati , managing director of Pirelli Labs - Materials Innovation. " In addition, reduced times of permanence and extremely high process temperatures allow us to adopt new materials for the compound that cannot be used in traditional technology. Thanks to the synergy between MIRS and CCM we will, therefore, have the possibility of introducing a new generation of tyres to the market, with performance unimaginable up to now" .
New applications for the MIRS process
Together with the creation of the CCM compound room, the MIRS programme has taken another important step forward with the installation - at the pilot plant of Bicocca - of the first robotized module for the production of motorcycle tyres. The motorbike tyre field is an area of application in which the potential of MIRS will be particularly beneficial; for a motorcycle, in fact, the tyre plays an extremely important role in ensuring the necessary conditions of safety and grip and determining the performance of the vehicle. The first homologation test for the new MIRS motorcycle tyres for the Original Equipment on the Aprilia RSV 1000 R has been successful. Aprilia says that this first test demonstrated " a great balance between comfort and stability, setting an absolutely new benchmark" , and a " high uniformity of acceleration forces" that permits " precise and balanced handling" , and an " oustanding grip in braking" .
The pilot Bicocca module will soon lead to the installation of the first MIRS motorcycle tyre production modules at the Metzeler factory in Breuberg, Germany. And considerable progress is now being made in the MIRS truck tyre programme; at Bicocca, robots are now 'learning' to handle truck tyres that weigh 50 kilos and more.
Regarding the car and SUV tyres, production based on the MIRS process is working at full speed, with the three modules at the plant at Breuberg, Germany, being used -among others- to make Pirelli Eufori@ Run Flat tyres for the BMW Mini. A fourth line is almost ready to begin production, while the installation of a fifth module is now coming to an end. So Germany is starting to become the main production centre and reference point for Pirelli's MIRS car programme. Two lines are also in operation at the Group's Burton-on-Trent factory in Britain, focalized on HP/UHP tyres and the lines for the North American market.
Pirelli's American MIRS project is also proceeding to plan: the construction of the Georgia factory has already been completed and the plant is close to start-up, with production scheduled to begin in July 2002. By the end of this year three U.S. modules will be in operation, essentially producing SUV and car HP/UHP for the Original Equipment and the North-American Replacement.