Intralogistics automation specialist, Cimcorp, has secured the biggest order in its history from Chinese tire manufacturer, Qingdao Sentury Tire Co Ltd, for a turnkey material handling solution at its new factory in Thailand.

The order, worth nearly 30 million euros, is for a fully automated handling system based on Cimcorp's Dream Factory solution and will cover the handling of PCR (passenger car radial) green tires from the tire-building machines to the curing presses, as well as finished tire sorting, palletizing, warehousing and shipping. The system will become operational in stages during 2015 and 2016.

Cimcorp’s solution for the new plant – located about 100 miles outside of Bangkok – will feature six independent automation lines, each consisting of monorail systems for the unloading of the tire-building machines and transfer of green tires to the curing buffers; green tire buffer storage; spotting stations; and monorail transfers for press delivery. In addition, Cimcorp’s scope of supply includes finished tire buffers and palletizing stations, rail guided vehicle (RGV) loops, stacker cranes in a high-bay warehouse and shipping buffers in the dispatch area. The material flow will be controlled by Cimcorp WCS (Warehouse Control Software), which will integrate the various technologies – robots, monorails, RGVs, stacker cranes and pallet conveyors – into a seamless system.

Established in 2009, Sentury manufactures and sells tires under the brand names ‘Landsail’, ‘Delinte’ and ‘Sentury’, with 13 ranges and more than 400 sizes. Cimcorp recently supplied the automated handling systems for Sentury’s Qingdao plant in China. Following the success of this project, Sentury is using the same Dream Factory concept for its new facility in Thailand. Commented Qin Long, President & CEO of Qingdao Sentury Tire, “We want to build a modern tire plant with the latest automation technologies to ensure high product quality and high productivity from the beginning. Our experiences with the first project with Cimcorp,” continued Mr Qin, “have convinced us that they are a competent and reliable partner for us for the Thailand project.”

Kai Tuomisaari, Cimcorp’s Vice President of Sales and Projects, explained, “Today’s state-of-the-art tire plants are efficient, well organized, dynamic and lean. This flexible efficiency can be achieved through modular automation and total control of the process flow. This is exactly what we will be supplying for Sentury’s new factory in Thailand.”