TIRE BUILDING MACHINES: VMI INTERVIEW part of the tread,” Korte explains. This is where materials such as wood, plastics and other substances from the factory can be unknowingly introduced. Cameras installed underneath this area can be used in conjunction with AI to alert the operator to a foreign object, or to automatically remove this section of material. This additional check can be added to various parts of the production line to increase visibility of any potential defects. Here, machine learning can be used to improve object detection, so that, “Every day you’re improving the performance of the machine,” according to Korte. The same principles can be applied to splicing. If the material is moving unpredictably on the cutting surface, AI and machine learning can create accurate cuts to account for any movement. “You can write routines based on your former splices, and tune and tweak the behavior of your servicer so it’s situated so the splice is always correct,” says Korte. “That’s what we call splice optimization.” Material benefits VMI is also using AI technology to support automatic material changes. When it’s time to replace a cassette, this is generally monitored with a human-machine interface to visually assess when it’s close to the end. With the use of AI, the machine will be able to automatically reel the remaining tread and remove this from the machine. This excess material can be put aside and saved for the next batch that uses this compound. Then a new cassette will be placed into the machine to continue the process. Alongside reducing human intervention, higher levels of automation save the tire maker time. If a machine can produce tires more quickly than before, the company can increase production and sell more tires annually. Even if automation demands higher prices as this technology continues to develop, time savings result in direct cost benefits once the machine is installed within a tire manufacturing plant. UNDER ONE ROOF Does the future of tire building technology involve a simpler solution? “The strategy for the future is to make as many components as possible in the tire building machine,” explains VMI Group’s Gerlof Korte. VMI’s UNIXX platform brings more functions within one machine. An example of this integration would be housing tread extrusion within the tire building machine. There is also potential to include belt production and body ply production in the same machine. Korte believes that more strip winding will be used as the technology progresses. “This means you can easily change over from compound A to compound B in small batches,” he says. This is useful for production tires and also facilitates research and development experiments with new compounds. The idea is to create a ‘mini plant’ within the factory that undertakes more of the tire production process. Bringing several functions into one machine might sound more complicated, but the premise is that it will simplify the production line into fewer machines. “It means a reduction of your upstream,” Korte explains. Tread extrusion, belt and ply production will be brought into the tire building machine so the process can be simplified. Alternatively, if tire makers are focusing on tread extrusion and construction, they could opt for this to be part of the tire building machine to improve flexibility. This push toward machines that incorporate more functions is where Korte sees much of VMI’s focus going in the next decade. This concept is already being applied across VMI’s machines, as seen in its UNIXX Belt Maker, which was launched last year. In keeping with the company’s four main ambitions – automation, flexibility, tire quality and sustainability – the machine is largely autonomous and works to reduce waste with a limited width of the extrusion strip. As the machine can produce thinner materials, it lowers the overall environmental impact of this stage in production. “ As much as possible, new [machine] developments are retrofittable” 34 www.tiretechnologyinternational.com March 2024