JK Tyre: Putting India on wheels

Imagine if you are tired, what would you do? Obviously, you will take rest. However, ‘Adam’ works 24 hours tirelessly to bring in the best quality tyres for Indian, and as well as for overseas customers. Welcome to a world of automation at JK Tyre’s Mysuru plant.

“JK Tyre has been using robotics technology since 2003, and we are using 14 such robots nicknamed ‘Adam’ in our Mysuru plant,” JK Tyre Chairman Raghupati Singhania told DH.

JK Tyre and Industries, part of the Rs 28,000-crore JK Organisation, has a global presence in 100 countries across six continents, backed by production support from 12 plants — nine in India and three in Mexico. The company recently unveiled its 10 millionth radial truck tyre here using a robot. JK Tyre and Industries has said it will combine its several R&D centres under one roof to set up a research centre in Mysuru.

“Technology is back. Our R&D centres currently spread over different locations are going to be brought under one roof in a world-class research centre here with an investment of Rs 100 crore ($15 million). It will house the most modern and advanced equipment manned by highly experienced engineers and scientists with deep insight into material resource, designs, aesthetics and structures,” he said, adding that the centre will start with 200 scientists, whose number will double during the next one year.

Noting that JK Tyre pioneered radial technology in India, being the first to produce such tyres for trucks and buses in 1999, he said it is R&D which helps the company remain ahead, as tyre technology is ‘ever evolving and developing rapidly’. “JK Tyre is going greener, not only in manufacturing processes and plants, but also in products,” he said.

“The green tyres that we produce have low rolling resistance, which helps in saving fuel. Besides, we are constantly reducing our carbon footprint by reducing energy and water consumption — two critical resources in tyre manufacturing,” the chairman said.

“Ours is the first Indian company to have completed the ‘Carbon Footprint Verification Process’ as set down by the British Standards Institute. This year, we achieved total energy benchmark levels of 10.9 giga per tonne, which makes JK Tyre among the top five worldwide in the sector,” he said, revealing that all JK Tyre plants have “zero-water discharge”.

Going back to history
JK Tyre took over the state-owned Vikrant plant and turned it into a state-of-the-art facility with an investment of over Rs 1,200 crore. Today, JK Tyre contributes significantly to the local economy providing direct and indirect employment to over 13,000 people. With one of India’s largest tyre capacities at 3.5 million truck/bus radials per annum, JK Tyre is the undisputed leader in this vertical. Singhania said, “Starting in 1977, when we set up our first tyre plant in Rajasthan with an annual capacity of 5 lakh tyres, we have come a long way. Today, JK Tyre has grown multi-fold by setting up greenfield plants, expansion of its existing capacities and acquisitions, including that of Vikrant Tyre in Karnataka, as also a tyre company in Mexico, apart from the latest one — acquisition of three plants of Cavendish Industries in Uttarakhand.”

JK Tyre is truly a multinational company with 12 plants globally with a future ready capacity of 350 lakh tyres per annum. After the recent Rs 2,200 crore acquisition of Cavendish, JK Tyre has also entered the high growth segment of two- and three-wheeler tyres. “Today, we manufacture a complete range of tyres — from a 3-kilo scooter tyre to the 3.7-tonnes Ultra Large OTR (off the road) tyre,” added Singhania. An official said, “Employees working in the Chennai plant are trained in Mysuru. We hire unskilled people and train them here.”

At the plant
The company has three plants in Mysuru. At plant one, truck bus bias (conventional tyres) and light truck nylon steel radial tyres are produced. At plant two, all steel truck bus radial and all steel light truck radial tyres  are produced. At plant three, off the road (OTR) tyres and India’s largest size tyres are manufactured.

“When JK management took over the Vikrant plant, they first replaced old machines. Due to higher demand, we have continuously upgraded our capacity. We started with only 20,000 tyres per month. However, with 3,400 tyres produced per day at plant one, none of our competitors are unable to compete with us. Our product performance is doing very well,” claimed an official.

At the JK Tyre Mysuru plant one, the time-line is 2 minutes and 36 seconds. It means that a fully manufactured and tested tyre rolls out of the assembly line every 2 minutes and 36 seconds.

“If you are driving a car, your safety is in the tyres. Every action is performed by tyres like acceleration, braking and load. The performance criteria is defined by tyres. Over 30% of your car fuel is consumed by the tyres,” the official said.

After hours of moving from one stage to another, it is really impressive to see the yellow robots. These Adams can lift weights of 25 kg to 75 kg close to 1 km. Believe it or not, they can sense objects coming in between.  From the tyre-building area to preparation (curing), these robots work on wi-fi (wireless fidelity) system. They pick up tyres from the machine division to the curing division.

Focusing on the quality requirement, these robots carry the tyres. Moreover, to ensure there is no contamination of oil, dust or grease for new tyres. Inspection hoist — Believe it or not, with usage of bar code, inspection happens in 29 seconds for each tyre.

The stickering on the tyre is done to identify the person who has inspected the tyre. Plant three began in 2009 with a mix of imported and domestic machines. The main operators who build and cure tyres are ITI-qualified. Currently, it has 142 technicians and many helpers. “We make right from small OTR size to largest. Coal India and BEML are our biggest customers,” an official said.